The Deepings, local activities and businesses
| The Village | Church | Children's Activities | Other Churches |
Contact |
The Priory and Parish Church of St James, Deeping
To:
Scripture readings for Sunday
Our home page
A year ago we were deeply involved in our campaign to get our parish funding programme under way for January: the social events, the leaflets and the letters were all ready for the launch at Harvest Thanksgiving, and the prayer had been going on for months already alongside the hard work of the committee. The result of all that work and the giving which arose from it has been a transformation of the parish finances: for the first time in some years we are paying our way within the diocese and the national church and we are able to move forward the ministry of the church locally without having to be unduly concerned about whether we can afford it (although we always try to minimise cost, of course, this being good stewardship of the resources entrusted to the local church).
I hope that it is apparent to all concerned with the Priory Church that things have changed for the better as a result of our greater freedom from financial worries, but I must caution against complacency. We are not rich, and the forthcoming works to the chancel roof will drastically reduce the cash available for further building work, of which the electrical system needs urgent attention. For day-to-day ministry, though, there is no problem.
To move forward again now, it is time and talents that are needed! In order to serve the village effectively in Christ’s name, we should like to relaunch the READY CALL facility and the first stage is to revise the list of volunteers. If you can offer yourself just occasionally to do odd jobs for the housebound or sick who have no-one else to help, then please fill in the form provided in this magazine or from church and return to church or to the Vicarage (it can be faxed on 345877). No-one’s time is heavily taken up by this scheme, but it is of great value to those few who need it.
Volunteers are also invited for the tasks of visiting the bereaved and those preparing for the baptism of their children, and also for helping to lead the marriage preparation course. Please contact me if you would like to help with any of these ministries, or if you would like to ask for details of what is involved. Training will be given, of course, and the time involvement would be up to you. We should like to have all of these tied up by the end of October so that the facilities can be advertised in November and fully operational by the 21st, the anniversary of the end of the funding campaign, when a celebration lunch is planned.
'... among you, whoever wants to be great must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be the slave of all. For the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.' (Mark 10: 43-45)
'Truly I tell you: anything you did for one of my brothers here, however insignificant, you did for me.' (Matthew 25: 40)
3rd October, Harvest Thanksgiving:
10 am: 2 Corinthians 9: 6-15; Luke 12: 16-30
6 pm: Deuteronomy 26: 1-11; 2 Corinthians 9: 6-end
10th October, 19th Sunday after Trinity:
10 am: Philippians 4: 19; Matthew 22: 1-14
17th October, 20th Sunday after Trinity:
10 am: 1 Thessalonians 1: 1-10; Matthew 22: 15-22
6 pm: Hosea 6: 1-3; Mark 2: 1-12
24th October, Last Sunday after Trinity:
10 am: 1 Thessalonians 2: 1-8; Matthew 22: 34-46
31st October, All Saints Sunday:
10 am: 1 John 3: 1-3; Matthew 5: 1-12
11.30 am: Revelation 7: 9-17; Luke 6: 20-23
7th November, 3rd Sunday before Advent:
10 am: 1 Thessalonians 4: 13-18; Matthew 25: 1-13
A special celebration for all ages
Sunday 31st October at 11.30 am
(coffee from 11 am)
Lively music - Simple teaching - Friendly welcome
David Green, the new organist, and his wife Anne have just moved to the area from Plymouth to enable Anne to take up a teaching appointment in Stamford. David served in the Royal Marines Band Service for ten years playing piano/organ and trumpet. On leaving the Royal Marines he read music at Dartington College of Arts and since then he has taught music in schools and piano privately at home.
Alongside his career in the Royal Marines, college life, and teaching, David has held a variety of church music posts. When serving at Deal in Kent David was the organist to the busy civic church. Fortunately he never seemed to be needed for Sunday engagements with the RM Band (the fact the Staff Band Bandmaster was a prominent member of the congregation may go some way to explain this situation!).
After serving at Deal for a number of years he and Anne moved to Devon where David was based at the Royal Naval College Dartmouth. Here as well as RM Band duties David was Director of the College Choral Society and the College Organist, staying on in these posts after leaving the RM Band.
A short spell living in Totnes followed while David was studying at Dartington after which he and Anne moved to Plymouth where David was appointed Director of Music at Emmanuel Parish Church. At the end of August they left Plymouth for Uffington.
David and Anne are looking forward to life at the Priory Church here at Deeping St. James. In the brief time that they have been part of the congregation they know that this is the right place for them, not only in the churchmanship, but also in the genuine welcome and friendship that they have received. We in turn are delighted to have them and look forward to their contribution to the worship and fellowship of our community.
Sunday School has begun again after the summer break and it is great to see everyone back with renewed enthusiasm. The children have already been busy cutting, painting and sticking with the topic of 'God Keeps His Promises'. The children are learning Psalm 145:13 "The Lord is faithful to all his promises" and over the next few weeks our activities will be based around this theme.
Last week we dealt with the 'Birth of Isaac' and the children of Climbers and Scramblers made templates of the baby Isaac with some detachable clothes. The Explorers were kept very busy with a cross word and word game. As well as these activities we also like to sing lots of different songs and hear stories from the Bible.
New for this term decorating the Children's Corner in Church, we have some display boards where you will be able to see examples of the children's work. Please feel free to browse and ask the children any questions you may have about their work.
As always, we would like to thank everyone who has helped with the Sunday School because, without the support of the parish, Climbers. Scramblers and Explorers would not be as successful as it is. We seem to be constantly growing and wish to continue to do so. Once again thank you.
The Climbers and Scramblers meet in The Vicarage and the Explorers in the Church Hall every Sunday (except when there is a Family Service) at 9.50 am and finish in the Church with the rest of the congregation at around 11.00 am. If there is anyone who would like to come along and join in, then please contact either Alison Warrick on 01778 345890, Jane Thompson on 01778 341089 or myself on 01778 343370.
We hope to be able to write an article for the Parish Magazine on a regular basis so that we can keep the parish informed of all the exciting things we get up to. So watch this space
Petra McCabe
Bristol, 1786. Thomas Clarkson breaks into the hold of a slave ship. The horrors he finds there lead him into a struggle which will take over his life... and change the world.
Into this are woven stories from around the world — of those forced to walk the tight-rope of life with no safety net. Balancing Act reveals some alarming similarities between the object of Clarksons campaign and the object of ours...
Balancing Act is a compelling contribution to the worldwide Jubilee 2000 campaign to release poorer countries from the devastating new slavery of debt. An exhilarating, heart-stopping piece of theatre, it turns the spotlight onto the human stories behind the statistics, reminding us of other ordinary people who fought for freedom two centuries ago against the dark commercial sins of their age.
The play will be performed at the Deepings Comprehensive School on Saturday 2nd October at 7.30 pm. Tickets at £7.50 can be obtained from the National ticket hotline 0645 613000 - Access and Visa accepted.
It was a new experience for me to drive a Combine Harvester on Keith Olivant's farm at Benniworth. The air conditioned cab and the electronic equipment contrasted sharply with the picture on the Christian Aid card which had slipped out of my office book earlier that day: Friada Nordez in Mozambique using the sharpened edge of a snail shell to harvest rice by hand. Harvest Festivals these days always create in me a similar mixture of contrasts and emotions: gratitude for the good things in life which I enjoy; pain at the plight of the world's hungry and guilt that I ought to be doing more for them. How does one hold all that together, and bridge the contrasts? More importantly, how does one fashion one's own life in that costly creative endeavour one finds in Jesus of Nazareth.
The obvious point to make is that in so many ways his efforts appear to be futile, mirroring the frustration we feel when our own poor efforts seem to get us no further forward. The poor Jesus championed remained poor. The mind of a people which he tried to change remained much as before. He showed them the way which leads to peace. They stuck to their own way and thirty years after his death organized an uprising which was ruthlessly crushed. Here, then, is creative endeavour in danger of going for nothing. So what else is there to say? Why bother to remember the history of Jesus Christ?
The answer lies simply in the testimony of those who felt the immediate impact of his costly endeavour. They described it in different ways. Some testified to their release from destructive guilt. For others the fear of death had been overcome. Where there had been no tomorrow, now there was a future. Seemingly impossible divides between individuals and communities had been bridged. Seemingly impregnable powers that dictated the character of the world had been threatened. So impressive were their experiences that some even suggested that this man's costly endeavours had inaugurated a new creation. The coming glory had not only been discovered and revealed, but in a fragmentary way possessed.
Too often development - feeding the hungry, thirsting for justice, lifting the poor - is commended to Christian people exclusively in terms of law. It is their duty. But Christian morality is not only about law, it is about the Gospel. It is not only about what ought to be; it is good news about what is the true nature of the case. That news, hard as it may be for us always to believe, is born out of our experience of the history of Jesus of Nazareth, and of God's history of him, and the marvellous creativity of God's costly love. That news is not that you ought to live creatively, as you undoubtedly should, but that life - our life in God's life and God's life in our life - is fundamentally creative. With God we are busy making a world, and with God it is conceivable that we shall succeed. At the end of the day we shall see the world that we have made, just, and festive in all its glory, and with God we shall see that it is "good."
Ingredients
Method
Can be served as a cake or a pudding.
This is only an extract from some of our magazine. Residents of Deeping St James can subscribe to the printed version.
Back issues are available on line as follows:
November 1997;
December 1997;
January 1998;
February 1998;
March 1998;
April 1998;
May 1998;
June 1998;
July 1998;
August 1998;
September 1998;
October 1998;
November 1998;
December 1998;
January 1999;
February 1999;
March 1999;
April 1999;
May 1999;
July 1999;
August 1999;
September 1999.
Here are listed other news and information sites which may be of value.
The Deepings, local activities and businesses
Church Times, weekly national church news
Anglican Communion News Service, worldwide news of Anglican churches
Lincs County Council news and information
Ethos, Ethics at Work
The Parish Church of St James, services and contacts
Zetnet, our Internet Service Provider