NOTICE BOARD
ST BARNABAS THIS WINTER
3rd February: Barn dance in church with live band at 7.30. Tickets now available from the Friends at Friendsofstbarnabas@gmail.com Please sign up at church. This will provide a great opportunity for us to get together as a community , to get to know each other better, and to share great music and food together. Please support the church by making every effort to join us. Tickets, including supper and a welcome drink, are £15(£10) concessions.
Sunday 5th February at 10.30: Eucharist. Worshipping Together for Candlemas. With Choir. 6pm A Meditative evening service with music.
Sunday 12th February at 10.30: Eucharist. The Second Sunday before Lent with Young Worshippers and crèche. With choir.
Sunday 19th February at 10.30: Eucharist. The Second Sunday next before Lent with Young Worshippers and crèche. Guest preacher John Richardson ,on working with other churches. John is the Ecumenical officer for the Diocese of Southwark.
Monday 20th February at 8pm: PCC Meeting. In the Upper Room. Top of the agenda will be our architect’s 5 yearly report, and discussion of our priorities in taking care of the church building.
Wednesday 22nd February at 8pm: Solemn Eucharist for Ash Wednesday
Wednesday 29th February at 8pm: Lent course begins. See pew sheet for details or events page.
Sunday 26th February at 10.30: Eucharist. Worshipping Together for the First Sunday of Lent.
Sunday 4th March at 10.30: Eucharist. The Second Sunday of Lent. Young Worshippers and crèche. 6pm Choral Evensong. Following the pattern of the Book of Common Prayer.
Sunday 11th March at 10.30: Stewardship Sunday. We celebrate the life of our church and reflect on how to fulfil our financial responsibilities. Young Worshippers and crèche. With choir
NEW CHOIR
We are delighted that Emily Griffiths has agreed to run choir for us. Emily is a music graduate with an expertise in singing, and will be helping us out at least once a month during the coming year. To be a member of the choir it is essential that you can read music to a reasonable standard and be able to sing- auditions will be required. We are particularly looking for some confident male singers. All practices will be at 9.30 on the Sunday that the choir will be singing, so that music can be practised at home before hand. The next 2 choir dates are 12th February and 11th March. We are hoping that on appropriate occasions those keen on singing but not as skilled musically will be able to augment the formal choir. Emily’s email is emilylouisegriffiths@gmail.com
ST BARNABAS EVENTS
We are delighted to be able to announce further details about our programme for the spring and summer. On the 24th April the acclaimed , Whitbread prize winning poet , Michael Symmons Roberts, will be giving a reading see-www.symmonsroberts.com
On the 16th May, philosopher, Mark Vernon ,will be joining us again and in June the wine writer, Tim Atkin, the games designer ,Chris Bateman, and the environmental journalist, Mike McCarthy will be with us. Like the previous festival we are hoping that this will provide food for thought, at an affordable price, right on the doorstep for people in the local community. We are hoping to raise at least £2,000 for charities, including the Ace of Clubs, and Trinity Hospice . Further information will be available soon here and can be found now on the Events Calendar.
FRIENDS OF ST BARNABAS
It is really good to hear that so many people are getting involved with the Friends. It is very early days yet but hopefully by working together on this we will strengthen the communal life of St Barnabas, at the same time as raising funds for repairs to the church and reaching out more to the local community. Thanks to Tor and her team for their hard work.
February 3rd: Barn Dance in church.
A NEW RESOURCE FOR LEADING YOUNG WORSHIPPERS
From September a new aid to teaching at Young Worshippers is available. It is called Feasting on the Word, and is an initiative launched in the USA. A group of skilled academics, teachers and pastors have produced a curriculum aimed at developing understanding of Christianity for all ages. Due to a very kind donation from an ex parishioner ,who appreciated Sunday school when he was a child ,we have been able to buy into the scheme for a year. Ian will let the leaders know how to log onto the web-site.
OTHER ACTIVITIES
The Monday club meets at 2pm most weeks and provides an opportunity for senior citizens to share refreshments and entertainment. The Under 3’s is a drop in group aimed at parents with small children. Coffee and biscuits are served in a welcoming and safe Christian environment. Singing is usually accompanied by Cyril Birkbeck on his trumpet!
ST BARNABAS BOOK CLUB
We are in the process of deciding the next book to be read.
CHURCH OF ENGLAND SCHOOL PLACES
Please note that all of the local Church of England schools require evidence of attendance at church on at least 2 weeks every month for a number of years before the application date. They also require other evidence of involvement, such as long term committed support for the life of the church and its mission.
There is a signing in sheet at the back of the church on Sundays and you will also find some notes about the local schools and procedures for application and admissions criteria in the same area.
SINGING AND MUSIC AT ST BARNABAS
If you have an interest in getting involved with this side of parish life please do get in contact with Michael Parfett, our organist and director of music. Lavenham singers take on some challenging pieces- last year they performed parts of Vivaldi's Gloria during a Sunday morning service. We have a music group who play every 6 weeks or so and a spontaneous choir practices directly before the morning services on the occasions that they are available.
