Special King James Bible Service,
10am Sunday 20 March
This year sees the 400th anniversary of the King James Bible. To mark this anniversary our 10am service
on Sunday 20 March will be a Book of Common Prayer Sung Communion (no 8am service that day), with readings
from the King James Bible. These two publications made the worship and Word of God accessible to all
so it is well worth celebrating. If this is not your preferred form of worship, please still come along.
There will be a reciprocal service later, with more modern words and music.
Lent
Lent is a time of penitence for the fact that the suffering of the cross was ever necessary – and a time of
preparation for the fact that, through the Resurrection, God has transformed death from an end to a beginning:
a New Life in Christ; eternal life. But before we celebrate the glory of the Resurrection we need to stand
at the foot of the cross, acknowledging our failures and shortcomings.
Traditionally, the penitential nature of Lent has been expressed though fasting, although these days many
choose to take on some sort of discipline that will develop and deepen their spiritual life and understanding of faith.
For details of a Lenten Course, Lenten Daily Prayer and Lenten Bible Study, please see the
Study and Prayer Page.
Charity of the Month: 2011
The Charity Committee has selected the following Charities:-
January: The Bible Lands Trust
February: Church Mission Society
March: The Elizabeth Foundation
April: Jerusalem and Middle East Churches
May: The Bible Society
June: a Diocesan charity
July: Mission to Seafarers
August: Junior Diabetic Research Foundation
September: Royal Agricultural Benevolent Institution (for Deaf Children)
October: Army Benevolent Fund
November: Helen House
December:
9 Lessons & Carols: The Children’s Society
Crib Service: CRISIS
Suggestions from members of the congregation for charities to be included in the annual list are always welcome
and this year includes two – The Elizabeth Foundation and the Junior Diabetic Research Foundation. It is planned
to run soup/bread and cheese lunches to raise additional funds for these two charities – please watch out for the
dates and come and support us.
The small plastic boxes to raise funds for The Children’s Society (in place of the Elephant Boxes previously
used for USPG) will be collected for the first time in the spring. If you would like to support the scheme by
having a box at home please let Jo Williams know. The Children’s Society raised a fantastic £2.2 million through the
house box scheme in 2008 and it would be nice if we played a part in this in 2011.
Parish retreat 2nd to 4th September 2011
Our parish retreat is taking place at Nympsfield again this year, a delightful Cotswold village between Tetbury
and Stroud. We have been returning here for several years, as the accommodation and facilities are so good, and it
is very near to us. We leave Fairford between 4:00-5:00 on the Friday and return after lunch on Sunday. We all
have our own rooms; and the cost of all this with excellent home cooking is £96.
This will be a time of quiet reflection and consideration about our devotional lives in our busy timetables.
If you would like to join us, please let Joanne Roberts
know as soon as possible.
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Annual Parochial Church Meeting
The Church AGM will be held in the Farmor Room of the Community Centre on Sunday 10th April 11.30 - 12.30.
All welcome.
Messy Space, Sat 19th March
2.00 – 4.00 p.m. Fairford Community Centre
Family Crafts and Coffee Shop
This month: Pyrography
Adults and Children (recommended 4 years upwards)— £2 per child (max. £5 per family)
A project of Churches Together Around Fairford.
Café Church
Sunday 6th March and Sunday 3rd April 4.00 to 5.30 pm in the United Church, Milton Street.
Please join us and meet friends, do crafts, listen to a story, play games, informal worship, share food.
Open to all - ages 0 to 100+!
For more information contact Joanne Roberts on 07881 903045
Organised by Churches Together Around Fairford with support from an Extended Services Grant from
Gloucestershire County Council.
Fairford Men's Society
The January meeting was held on 22nd in the Community Centre, where we listened to Air Vice Marshal Gerry Willis,
who gave a very interesting talk entitled Around the World in 45 minutes. He showed us, with the use of projector
and laptop, his travels around the world since 2005. We all enjoyed his amazing experiences of our world,
its people and terrain.
Our next meeting will be held in the Church Room, Fairford Community Centre, 3.15pm on March 31st.
Our speaker will be The Rev Brian Atkinson. All are welcome to join us.
Items for Inclusion in the Parish News
must be submitted by the 10th of each month. It may not be possible to include late items.
The editor of the month reserves the right to use editor’s judgement as to the size and shape etc
of articles submitted. Do not worry if you cannot arrange the layout - that’s the editor’s job.
Send an Email to: stmaryspn@gmail.com
or place in envelope clearly marked ‘Parish News’ and
take to the Parish office (open 10am—12 noon Mon – Fri)
(if the Office is closed) put it through Fairford Community Centre letter box,
or post to
Parish News, Parish Office, Fairford Community Centre, High Street,
Fairford GL7 4AF (don’t forget the stamp).
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