News from the churches WITH THE Christmas festivities over (and hopefully the snow!) we can start to consider what the New Year will bring us. Christian Unity One of the most important events in January, for the Churches Together in Birstall and Wanlip, is the week of Christian Unity which takes place from 18th - 25th January. As in previous years, the week will be marked by "frugal lunches" with all donations to Christian Aid. The first will be on January 20 at the Methodist Church and the second at St. Theresa's on Jan 23 (both at 12.30pm). If you wish to take part in either of these events please sign up to the list in any of the churches. On Wednesday 24th at 7.30pm there will be a service at St. James followed by refreshments, to which all are welcome.
Film night Looking forward a little further, the next very popular film night at St. James will be on February 7, when the recently released film "Victoria and Abdul" will be shown. There is no charge for this entertainment and refreshments are available at the interval.
Keep In Touch The free magazine produced quarterly at St. James "Keep in touch" is now available in its winter edition from either St James Church in Birstall or Wanlip church.
Confirmation Anyone who would like to be confirmed into the Anglican church is invited to contact the Rector, Vince Jupp on 2674517 to join the confirmation course which will be starting on 8th February. From Birstall Parish Churches
this year, as we were able to remove all the chairs and use the whole of the main church for displays and stalls. This was as well as using the concert hall and other spaces for many other local groups. We managed to raise over £7300, and also nearly £600 for the Defence National Rehabilitation Centre. We would like to give a huge thank you to all those who volunteered to help, make, bake, etc.
Memorial Service Aside from the preparation and celebration of Advent, in December we held our annual Memorial Service, for those who have been touched by a bereavement. This year over fifty people attended this valuable time of reflection and remembrance. In January we will be holding a Covenant service, for anyone who would like to renew their commitment to God. Whether it is a rededication of your personal faith, your serving the church or community, or maybe something new you would like to promise to God, do feel free to come along. For two Sunday evenings in January we will be holding informal worship in one of the smaller rooms. It is an opportunity to sit together in a cosy environment on cold winter evenings, to chat together, get to know people, and experience worship in a different way.
Methodist Women in Britain - carol service and Christmas party These groups of ladies were very busy in in early December. We would like to say a huge thank you to all those who helped make these events such a success, whether it was decorating the church, playing music, taking part in the service, or bringing food for the festivities. The seventy people in the carol service enjoyed a mix of carols, traditional
Pews We have now removed all the pews from the church, having managed to find homes for them in other organisations, and replaced them with our lovely new chairs. This means our Walk in the Light project can now move on to the final phase, by creating a new pedestrian walkway through the car park, and having a lockable cycle storage rack outside.
Christmas The Christmas Festival was a great success
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bible readings and narrative accounts of some biblical characters, taking us through some of the main events of Jesus birth. Special thanks to Rev Paula Hunt for her meaningful prayers, cheerful support and special blessing at the end. Also we managed to raise £130 for Inter Care – a medical aid charity for sub-Saharan rural areas. In the following week we had our Christmas party in the Coffee Shop, and we magically transformed it into an amazing Ice Palace. It looked very cold, so it was a good thing the heating was on while we had our feast-full sustenance and sing-along afterwards!
like to hear these lectures but are not able to 19 attend, then they can be downloaded from the Chapel’s website: www.evingtonchapel.org.uk For further information about BIBC please ring 0116 2214883. From Anne Taylor, Birstall Independent Baptist Church
Christmas Bazaar
Memory Lane Afternoon Teas & the Luncheon Club Twenty people came along to our special afternoon tea in December. Cakes of every description were provided by the team of
Our Christmas Bazaar took place on December 9. Thanks go to the organisers, those who donated items ,made cakes and knitted items for sale and, of course, to all those who came and made the event such a success.
Concert
volunteers; we had monologues and Christmas music – some wore halos and played percussion instruments. This bi-monthly group meets in the Coffee Shop, to help those with memory loss and their friends. Our next ‘get together’ will be in February – look out for the publicity in the Coffee Shop.
Nativity On Wednesday 13 December 68 people of the Lunch Club were delightfully entertained by the Methodist Pre-School. The Nativity story was recounted by our Minister Rev Paula Hunt, there were adequate numbers of donkeys, sheep, camels, shepherds and wise men, all attending the stable where Mary and Joseph had their special baby Jesus in a manger. Many thanks to the Pre-School staff for all their hard work encouraging the children to sing the Christmas songs and act out the story. The people attending the Luncheon Club really enjoyed the entertainment, and there were a lot of smiling faces in the audience! Afterwards we enjoyed a delicious Christmas meal together and some Christmas songs with Eileen and John – thanks to everyone who made this possible. I nearly forgot, we also had a visit from Father Christmas; well we are all young at heart! From Birstall Methodist Church New Year All at BIBC wish you a very Happy New Year and hope that you may know every blessing in 2018. A New Year is a time for beginnings, so if you haven’t yet joined with us for one of our services, may we encourage you to do so? You can be assured of a warm welcome. Also, you may like to find out more about Christianity by attending the free, short course which we offer. For details of this ‘Introduction to Christianity’ course, please contact the number below. Sunday Services and New Venue From January 7, 2018 we are moving our Sunday services to Room PT1 in The Palmer Tomkinson Centre at The Cedars Academy, Wanlip Lane, Birstall (LE4 4GH). The services start at 10.45am. A Sunday School for junior children is available during the service. Our visiting speaker on January 28 will be Pete Harrison (Thurlaston). We would like to thank all the staff members at Highcliffe Primary School who have been so friendly and helpful over the years: it has been much appreciated. Evington Chapel Lectures The third lecture in the series on ‘Stars of the Reformation’ will be given by Roland Burrows (Cradley Heath, West Midlands) on January 20 at 7pm and the subject is ‘John Calvin’ (1509-1564). Admission is free and all are welcome. The chapel is situated on High Street, Evington, LE5 6FH. If you would
We held our Christmas Concert on December 17 featuring our choir and musicians(conducted by Chris Lowe) along with local group Turlough. The audience enjoyed a varied programme of carols, Christmas songs and poems, joining in heartily with those well known to them! Chris Lowe was also on duty as Director of Music for the Leicestershire Catholic Schools carol concert at De Montfort Hall, in aid of Menphys on December 8th. Co-compere for the evening was Brian Kennedy from Sacred Heart, Rothley. A number of our young parishioners sang with choirs from Bishop Ellis School (Thurmaston) English Martyrs School (Leicester) de Lisle School (Loughborough) and Ratcliffe College (Ratcliffe on the Wreake).
Christmas After four weeks of Advent preparation, our Christmas services commenced with the Crib service on Christmas Eve, which saw excited youngsters performing a spirited and moving version of the Nativity story under the enthusiastic direction of Katie Lowe. In the evening, we celebrated the first of the Christmas Masses. Thanks go to our teams of flower arrangers for beautifully decorating both churches for Christmas and to all those who made the celebrations so joyful. From St Theresa’s, Birstall
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