Hello and welcome to the latest and the first What’s on!
It seems like a very different world than the one which we read about in our last edition. The world has changed and so has our church, but there are somethings that seem familiar and I hope that some things are fresh and new.
As this comes into our churches I hope you will have been to or perhaps are planning to attend one of our Pet Services. I had hoped to be outward looking and hold these services in the village green spaces, but this summer I have been caught in heavy rain showers more times than I care to remember so we have decided that having the services in church will be so much safer…. What can go wrong!
September will launch our family services, this time the group as a whole have planned an exciting programme with faith, fun and food as the focus.
Look out for our fliers and come along to our new style services.
Also in September we are having a sermon series, each Sunday we will be looking at the Pastoral Principles, if you are intrigued then have a look at Hilary’ piece which explains it all beautifully.
This is another step towards normality of some sort, I am so proud of how we have coped during the last year or so, but I would ask that you help support our churches, pop in and say hello, come and sing or pop in for coffee, it will be lovely to see you!
Carolyn
| Pet Service The Ness Group are holding a Pet Service in each church followed by a bring your own picnic. Please do bring your beautiful pets along, have a little sing song, and a blessing for your animal. The date of the remaining services are: Sunday 22nd August – Langtoft Church – 4pm Sunday 29th August – Thurlby Church – 4pm Every Thursday The Choir meet at St Michael’s Church, Langtoft at 6.45pm for their choir practice. If you would like to join the choir, please give Debbie Howard a ring on 01778 349576. Saturday 18th September – 10am – 12 noon St Michael’s Church, Langtoft will be open for their Cake and Bacon Butties morning. Every other Saturday in the month the church will have coffee mornings. Please do come and join us. Family Services The Family Services are to start again in the Ness Group. Each month the pattern will remain the same and we hope you will follow the services around the churches. 1st Sunday in the month – Thurlby – 10am 2nd Sunday in the month – Baston – 10am 4th Sunday in the Month – Langtoft – 10am |
In September/October we are going change to the usual pattern of each minister developing their own sermon or talk, and instead follow the same themes across all churches for 6 weeks.
Starting on Sunday 12th Sept. we will be exploring the Pastoral Principles, published by the Church of England in 2019. We will still use the lectionary gospel readings from Mark’s gospel but looking at them in terms of Prejudice, Silence, Ignorance, Fear, Hypocrisy and Power. It is hoped that the delivery of these addresses will allow the congregation to respond during the service, and afterwards, sharing their ideas and experiences.
These 6 big areas of our lives are often hidden from others and lived out without regard to what our faith teaches us. We know there are big issues to face in the future for our local churches, the diocese and the world. We need to find ways to talk honestly and openly about them as part of our growth as Christians. Hopefully this series will be a start and that the questions within each service and on take-away sheets will help continue the discussions and strengthen both church communities and our outreach.
Do try and read the gospel in advance of each Sunday and reflect on it and the theme for that day. So the pattern is:-
| 12th September | Prejudice | Mark 8. 27-end |
| 19th September | Silence | Mark 9 30-37 |
| 26th September | Ignorance | Mark 9. 38-50 |
| 3rd October | Fear | Mark 10. 3-16 |
| 10th October | Hypocrisy | Mark 10. 17-31 |
| 17th October | Power | Mark 10. 35-45 |
We hope that you will find this change helpful and be willing to take part.
Hilary
