Advent Carol Service & Mince Pies
Our annual Advent Carol Service will be held in church this evening, Sunday 3rd December, at 6.30pm. This is a wonderful start to the season of Advent, beginning in candlelight with an augmented choir leading the congregation.
After the service there will be mince pies & wine (or soft drinks) provided by the choir and served in the Church to all from the congregation. Do come if you can and prepare yourselves for Christmas.
Nativity Set Festival
Several years ago, we held a successful Nativity Set Festival in church. We are holding another on Sunday 17th December. If you have a Nativity set (or sets) that you are willing to share with other people for a few hours on that day, we would really like you to join us. We will be setting up on Saturday 16th December between 3.30pm and 5pm. We hope that many of the sets will be accompanied by a brief story of how or why you acquired the set.
The sets will be on display through the Christingle service in the morning, and afterwards as well. The main festival will run from 1.30pm to 4pm on the Sunday, with mulled wine and mince pies on sale. At the same time, we are hoping that children from Godmanchester will take part in a colouring competition showing scenes from the Nativity story with the entries to be displayed around the church. There will be four age groups for this. Further details will be given nearer the time. In the meantime, if you can lend a set, or help on the day with the various tasks that make an event run smoothly, please let me know. 01480 374809 or ruthekblom Ruth Ekblom
Parish News Subscriptions
This is a reminder that the £9 subscription for the Parish News is now due. Please give your subscription to whomever delivers your magazine. Payment may be made in cash, or by cheque payable to ‘St Mary the Virgin Godmanchester PCC’.
Thank you for your continued support.
Any queries please contact me at this correct number (there is an error in one of the numbers in Parish Mag) 01480 393392 Anne Francis
Food Hampers for Maaya
Once again, we are asking for donations to make up food hampers to feed a family for a month in and around our link parish of Maaya in Uganda. Each hamper costs £40, but of course any contribution is welcome. Please place donations on the special plate in church on Sundays, or through the doors of the Vicarage or 20 Post Street.
Also, we are still collecting ink cartridges, used or new, for our Uganda link. Please place the cartridges on the green box, which is on top of the hymn books cabinet near the south door.
If you are interested to know more about our brethren in our Lord Jesus Christ in Uganda, the most recent edition of Friends of North Kigezi Diocese’s newsletter is at the table near the south door. Robert Francis
Thrive Youth Café Godmanchester
Thrive is planning to open a Youth Café in Godmanchester in January 2024. It will be open on Tuesday afternoons for 2.5 hours, located in GMC Baptist Church. Thrive, which is a C of E youth charity that St Mary’s supports, is looking for volunteers to help at the café. In addition to the usual setting up and tidying away, volunteers will be there to engage with the young people who come by listening to them and providing advice and mentoring if appropriate. There will be a ‘Volunteer Info Evening’ at All Saints Church in Huntingdon on 12th December, where you can find out more. Appropriate training will be provided. If this is of interest, please email Ruth Hunt of Thrive: ruth. Alternatively, speak to me Robert Francis 01480 393392.
DIARY
Sunday 3rd December – Advent Sunday
08:00 Holy Communion
08:00 BCP Holy Communion (St Mary Magdalene, Hilton)
09:30 Sung Eucharist with Healing
18:30 Advent Carols
Monday 4th December
18:15 Evening Prayer [Monday – Saturday inclusive at same time on Zoom] (please email luciliazevado for access)
Tuesday 5th December
Wednesday 6th December
07:30 Prayer Group
11:00 Holy Communion (The Chestnuts)
14:30 Joint Holy Communion (Zoom)
Thursday 7th December
09:45 Holy Communion
Friday 8th December
10:00 Bible Study (Zoom)
19:30 Choir Practice (Church Hall)
Saturday 9th December
Sunday 10th December – Advent 2
08:00 Holy Communion
09:30 Sung Eucharist
11:15 United Service (Methodist Church, Hilton)
18:30 Evening Prayer