November 2020 Magazine
St Mary’s Wistaston & St Luke’s Willaston
Christian Life Online Magazine
November 2020
This month in the Christian Calendar we celebrate:
01 All Saints’ Day
30 Andrew the Apostle
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In this month’s Magazine – click to see more
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An Open Letter to the Nation
From the Archbishops of Canterbury & York
Earlier this month the Archbishops published an open letter to the nation,
below is an extract, the link to the full letter is below
Dear Friends,
These are deeply challenging and difficult times for us all. When we are surrounded by fear and suffering, it can be hard to feel hopeful. This coming winter feels like it will be longer and darker than usual.
There is a story in the Bible where Jesus and his disciples are caught in a storm. The disciples are understandably terrified as the wind and waves threaten to overpower them. “Why are you so afraid?”, Jesus asks. This year, we too have been caught in a storm which often feels overwhelming. And yet we can look to Jesus, in the boat with us, who calms the storm and comforts us in our fear.
We are writing to share our belief that whoever you are, and whatever you happen to believe, you are loved by God. Beyond measure. We also want you to know that we are praying for you, particularly asking that Christ’s love will comfort us, calm our fears, and lead our nation and our world through this terrible pandemic. We have asked every church to pray each day at 6 p.m. We invite you to join with us. You’ll be able to find simple resources on the Church of England website and social media channels.
There are three other responses that we want to encourage everyone to consider —
First, let’s be calm. By only buying what we need and not hoarding, or by reaching out to our neighbours as we did during the first lockdown, we can be stronger together in ways that are impossible if we go it alone. When things go wrong — as they always will with such complex challenges — let us look for good and right ways forward together.
Secondly, let’s be courageous. There are many reasons to be fearful at the moment, but the story of Christ calming the waves calls us to give our fears to Jesus and have faith in Him. The British willingness just to get on with things is one of our very best characteristics — let us not be paralysed by fear. We will all need each other’s courage in the months to come.
Thirdly, let’s be compassionate. So many of us are holding so much pain — our own and the pain of those we love. We will need to be gentle, kind and patient with each other. In the first wave we showed we are a nation of compassion and kindness. Let’s dig deep and keep that love for our neighbours strong in this second time of struggle.
Even though there is much darkness around us, there are also many points of light in the weeks ahead
Soon it will be Christmas. At his birth Jesus was also called Emmanuel. It’s a word that appears in lots of carols. It means “God is with us”. And this is the message of Christmas: in Jesus, God is with us, sharing our darkness and our struggles, bringing comfort and joy. It is the source of our hope. As the Bible says: “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.” (John 1.5) Let us shine in the darkness of this winter.
May God bless you and keep you, and all those you love.
The Most Revd & Rt Hon Justin Welby
Archbishop of Canterbury
The Most Revd & Rt Hon Stephen Cottrell
Archbishop of York
Click here for the Full Letter
Online Worship and Individual Prayer for November
Holy Days in November
Articles are taken from Exciting Holiness which is available online for most saints days at: almanac.oremus.org
All Saints
01 November
From its earliest days, the Church has recognized as its foundation stones those heroes of the faith whose lives have excited others to holiness and has assumed a communion between the Church on earth and the Church in heaven.
Celebrating the feast of All Saints began in the fourth century. At first, it was observed on the Sunday after the feast of Pentecost; this was to link the disciples who received the gift of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, the foundation of the Church, with those who were martyrs, giving their lives as witnesses to the faith. In the eighth century, a pope dedicated a chapel to All Saints in St Peter’s at Rome on 1 November. Within a century, this day was observed in Britain and Ireland as All Saints’ Day.
St Andrew
30 November
Though Andrew is named among the apostles in the gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke, it is in John’s gospel that most is learned about him. Andrew was a Galilean fisherman, mending his nets, when Jesus called him to follow him, which he promptly did. He then seems to have remained with Jesus until the end. He was there at the feeding of the five thousand and then later, when some Greeks in Jerusalem wanted to see Jesus, Philip brought them to Andrew who told Jesus of their desire. Tradition has him travelling on several missionary journeys and eventually being martyred by being crucified on an x-shaped cross. He became the patron saint of Scotland because of a legend that his relics had been brought there in the eighth century.
Ladies First Mince Pie Evening
Ladies let’s forget this second lockdown for a short while and enjoy each other’s company by having our first festive mince pie/mulled wine…. together on Friday, 20th November at 7.00 pm on Zoom. If you are able to join Sue and I simply email Joy on chaplowjoy@gmail.com and she will send you the login details
Information from the Annual Parochial Church Meeting held on 25 October online and in church
Appointed as Warden
Joy Chaplow & Sue Squirrell
Elected to the PCC for 3 Years
Joan Cadman, Mike Felton & Chris Horne
Elected to the Deanery Synod for 3 years
John Molloy, Simon Bartholomew & Howard Barker
Sidespeople: duly elected as per the Trustees’ Report. We welcomed Camilla Green as new member of the team and gave thanks for the long service of Neil Cadman who has now stepped down.
Rev Paul’s Poppy Run
Update: Paul did his run on Sunday 1 November and as we publish he has raised an incredible £1300.00 – Thanks to all those who have donated. If you wish to you can still use the link below to donate. All monies go directly to the RBL Poppy Appeal.As the traffic through our buildings is vastly reduced this year, and our remembrance services can only be attended by a few people, it was decided that one of the clergy team should give the Poppy Run a go. I won! I will be joining a virtual community of fellow runners across the UK and completing my own run. I’m going to run 11k around our parish as close to the boundary as is safely possible. By taking part in this challenge I’ll be raising funds to support the Royal British Legion. Many thanks, Rev Paul.
To sponsor Paul please visit here: http://bit.ly/poppyrun
Remembrance Sunday 2020
Remembrance Sunday was very different with many outdoor services cancelled and churches closed for communal worship.
Against that backdrop we help an Act of Remembrance within our Online Worship live from St Mary’s War Memorial. Take a look at the photos and video. Many thanks to Craig Shaw for playing the Last Post Reveille for us and Simon Bartholomew for the outdoor camera work.
We are short on the funding for the completed War Memorial Project, now completed. If you can make a donation no matter how small, please click here.
Our clergy were also involved in the Willaston Remembrance Service & the Memorial Hall Online Service. You can view them at the links below.
Memorial Hall Remembrance Service
A Personal Reflection from Archdeacon Ian
https://youtu.be/BAAIQRDPKmE
You can view this month’s, and previous month’s, Chester Diocesan News using the Magazine Menu above or click the image.
Produce for sale for church funds
Update on Produce Sales……..
We have had a fantastic response to the Produce made by Chris and Mike Horne.
So far, £388.50 has been raised towards church funds and the orders are still coming in! Thanks for your support.
Please Note, the hyacinths have now all sold. Those already ordered will be delivered as soon as possible after w/c 14th December.
Thanks again to Chris and Mike for providing the delicious goodies. You can still order jams, pickles etc and the list is available on the church website blog.
Sue
Chris Horne, mobile: 07756 575835
Sue Squirrell, mobile: 07817 746288, e-mail: sue.squirrell@thedrey.co.uk
Click here to see what’s available and call Chris or Sue to order
On Saturday 14th November I am arranging a virtual quiz night including two interviews about faith in the modern army.
The evening will start at 7:00pm.
It would be great if you could support this night in aid of our war memorial refurbishment project.
Join Us On Zoom Meeting ID 2176168124
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/2176168124
Thank You
Simon
Food Bank News
Here’s our monthly Foodbank data for October that you may wish to share with your congregations:-
Donations of food received weighed 3,739kg and we were able to help 190 people during the month
If you are able to donate, we are currently short of long-life cakes/puddings, chocolate and sweets, sugar, custard, and crisps.
We are open Monday to Friday between 9.30am and 3.30pm for donations at our rear entrance.
Thank you for your ongoing support.
Best Wishes,
John Rivers
St. Paul’s Centre, Hightown, Crewe CW1 3BY Tel: 01270 586186
Email: pantry@stpaulscentre.org.uk
https://www.justgiving.com/campaign/StPauls
Website http://stpaulscentre.org.uk/
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/stpaulscentre/
Christmas Toy Appeal & Food Bank Appeal
Our friends at Wells Green Methodist Church have arranged an afternoon to help us support the local Food Banks (especially with Christmas Treats) and The Salvation Army Christmas Toy Appeal (please note that due to Covid restrictions the Salvation Army can’t accept actual toys this year and are asking for cash donations). They will be open on Saturday 28 November, 2 pm – 4 pm for you to drop off Food Bank items and cash donations for the Salvation Army Toy Appeal.
Ways to Give to church whilst you shop at no cost to you
Take out a new home insurance policy with Ecclesiastical (our church’s insurers) and they will give our church £130. https://www.ecclesiastical.com/individuals/home-insurance/trust130/
We’re are registered with easyfundraising, which means you can help us for FREE. Over 4,000 shops and sites will donate to us when you use easyfundraising to shop with them – at no extra cost to yourself! All you need to do is sign up and remember to use easyfundraising whenever you shop online. It’s easy and completely FREE! These donations really mount up, so please sign up to support us at https://www.easyfundraising.org.uk/causes/stmaryswistastonpcc/?invite=2QY49G&referral-campaign=s2s
November Offer
During this new lockdown period, our commitment to helping local causes across the UK remains our biggest focus.
We’ve been working on ways we can best support the causes dear to you and make your fundraising job as easy as possible.
Until 17th November, you can earn a £5 bonus donation* for every new supporter who registers to support St Mary’s Wistaston PCC on easyfundraising.
Share the link below to invite someone new to support your cause:
https://www.easyfundraising.o
Giving to our church Online or by Phone Banking
It’s simpler than you may think
Online One off giving
You can give via our very simple online giving partnership with Give a Little and Sum Up. Simply click the button below. Sum Up take a small transaction fee from what you give.
Giving via your bank
You can give via your bank via online banking or telephone banking. If you do it this way we receive 100% of the money you give, there is no transaction fee. Here are the details you need to make a payment directly into the church bank account. For phone banking you may need to take a look at a statement from your bank and it normally has the details of how to do this on the back. You can give once or set up a monthly payment. Please remember to never give passwords over the phone and only call the official number on your statement.
Account Name: St Mary’s Wistaston PCC
Sort Code: 08 92 99
Account No: 65067004
Ref: << your initial & surname>>
Easyfundraising
A very simple way to give, if you shop online or do click and collect, is through Easyfundraising – it doesn’t cost you a penny as by using Easyfundraising a percentage of what you but gets given to the church.
In total we’ve raised over £1600 through Easyfundraising. For more information on this please click the button below.
Do you want to keep in touch with the latest news from us?Then join our Email Newsletter ListClick the email icon to join via our website
From the Church Registers – October 2020
Funerals
5 October 2020 Hazel Malvina MOSS 78
7 October 2020 Millicent Emmie CAMPBELL 101
14 October 2020 Margaret Thelma RIMMER 84
Weddings
None this month
Baptisms
None this month
If you have an article for a future edition of this online magazine please click to Submit an Item or email the editor at editor@magazine.stmaryswistaston.blog