Latest News at St Marks

Dear Readers,

Could someone please explain where the summer went?  I don’t so much mean the weather, rather the fact that it’s September already! 

August is such a quiet time for St Mark’s Church: there are far fewer meetings than usual; all the schools are closed and so there are no assemblies to lead; lots of our people are on holiday so congregations are smaller; the church calendar has no particular high days or holidays in it.  Now, please don’t misunderstand me – I’d hate it if things were that quiet all the time, but it just amazes me how quickly August seems to pass.  (I appreciate that those of you with young children have probably been counting the days!)

Of course, the expression, ‘the calm before the storm’ should alert us to the fact that, come September, everything revs up in a rather alarming way!  Here are just some of the events to look forward to:

            ~ we will soon begin our ‘Considering our Faith’ course (on Sunday afternoons in church – let me know if you’d like to join us);

~ at our 10am service on September 5^th we will be receiving the Children’s Society boxes from our generous sponsors, and hearing a speaker from that organisation;

~ on the 8^th I will be meeting parents outside the school gates at the Infant and Junior schools to find out what St Mark’s can do to help them and their children;   

~ on the 19^th one of our new format evening services will be on offer, with a fascinating guest interview;

~ on the 29^th the first of our parish training courses, in food hygiene, will take place;

~ on the 27^th our Parochial Church Council will resume its meetings, with some very exciting future plans to discuss and then,

~ the month is rounded off, and the new one begun, with the Harvest Supper on Saturday 2^nd October.

Something that, of course, continues throughout the year is our regular pattern of services at 8am, 10am and 6pm every Sunday.  If you haven’t been to church for a while, why not come and see the St Mark’s of 2010?  We are a friendly lot, and love to see new faces.  Interestingly it is the traditional services, using the Book of Common Prayer, which are growing the most, so if you worry that ‘church is not the same as it used to be’, our morning communion at 8am and service of Evensong at 6pm are the ones for you.  On the other hand, if you prefer contemporary language and services that end with a cup of coffee, the ten o’clock will fit the bill. 

Whoever you are, whatever the strength (or otherwise) of your beliefs, you will always find a welcome at your parish church.

Your servant,

Alex