Joe Smith launches his book at St Mary’s

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Saturday, 13 November, 3pm

St Mary’s Church, Denham

We are delighted to announce that local resident Joe Smith will be launching his new book Cushty at St Mary’s Church on Saturday, November 13 at 3pm.

Cushty is Joe’s account of his colourful life and times. Born in 1971 Joe was born into a Romany gypsy family and spent his formative years travelling the country in his family caravan. As a child he showed promise as a boxer, but it was as a boy golfer, encouraged by his grandfather, that he soon excelled. When Joe was just 16 he won the London Junior Open, receiving his trophy from Denis Thatcher.

However, at Joe’s local golf club there were some that resented a gypsy kid winning all the plaudits and he was eased out. Joe rejected golf, stung by the prejudice, and became involved in boxing, bare-knuckle fighting and eventually crime. The love of a good woman and some hairy experiences living on the edge eventually caused Joe to return to golf where he became a professional and reached the British Open qualifiers.

Joe is now a successful businessman, an award-winning author, a proud family man and last but not least a Christian and member of St Mary’s Church. He will be pleased to chat to you about his book and his extraordinary, turbulent and rewarding life.

Everyone is welcome. Joe will speaking frankly about the ups and downs of his life. This event is suitable for anyone aged 12 or older.

Tickets are free. Please sign up as we are still limiting numbers to keep everyone safe.

You can buy Joe’s book after the event and Joe will be pleased to sign it.

Click here to sign up for the event…

Our new service pattern at St Mary’s

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NEW: 9am Service at St Mary’s

From Sunday, 17 October:

  • Weekly service with Holy Communion.
  • A quiet and shorter service – about 45-50 minutes.
  • Sometimes we will sing a hymn at the end.
  • No need to sign up for this service.
  • Please continue to wear a mask.

 

AS BEFORE: 10.30am Service at St Mary’s

  • Weekly service, with Holy Communion on the second and fourth Sunday
  • On Sundays without Holy Communion,  we sometimes welcome children for baptism or a thanksgiving for a child.
  • We continue to keep people safe by maintaining social distance. Therefore we continue to ask you to sign up in advance at https://www.denhamparish.church/events/
  • We will do our best to accommodate those who turn up without signing up. Please help us to manage numbers by signing up in advance.
  • This is an all-age service,  especially suitable for families with children. On most Sundays there will be a Sunday Club as part of the service.
  • Please continue to wear masks.
  • Refreshments after the service
  • We continue to stream this service live on YouTube with live chat. The service will be available afterwards for streaming.

An Update on our Lent Appeal: Bibles in Ncham

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Our mission partner Samuel Kpagheri (Wycliffe Bible Translators) has now purchased 96 Bibles in the local Ncham language and they are being distributed to villages in Togo over the next weeks.

Samuel writes: “May the Lord abundantly bless you for all that you have been doing for
me, my family, my ministry and for my community.”

Thank you to everyone who has been partnering with him in enabling local people to read the Bible in their heart language.

Alongside translation into local languages run literacy programmes, which have been transformative in educating people and giving them better life opportunities.

 

Your harvest gifts – thank you!

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Thank you to everyone who contributed to our harvest gifts last Sunday! Here is Nnamdi Maduka delivering your food gifts to Hillingdon Foodbank in New Denham.

You have given £200 to our mission partner SHOC/Trinity supporting homeless people in our area.

We have also received a total of £250 in vouchers for supermarkets, which will support local people and families through direct gifts and through Give & Share.

Harvest Gifts for 3 October

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HARVEST GIFTS for Sunday 3rd Oct

Please bring your gifts to our Harvest Thanksgiving Service on 3 October at St Mary’s (10.30am)
Alternatively you can drop off your gift at our church office in the week.

Supermarket vouchers are a great alternative to food gifts and can bless people in need. We will deliver them to people in our parish and through our Give & Share team.

Our service offering will support Trinity/SHOC – one of our mission partners, who support homeless people in our area. You will also be able to make a donation by credit card / contactless on the day.

If you bring food gifts, please consider bringing some of the following, which we will donate to Hillingdon Foodbank in New Denham:

  • Tin Potatoes
  • Tin Spagetti
  • Tin Fruits
  • Pasta
  • Jam
  • Sugar in small packs
  • Long life Milk
  • Rice pudding or Custard in tin or small packs
  • Apple or Orange Juice
  • Toilet Roll

‘Help us be heard’: The plight of Afghan Christians driven increasingly underground

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The Christian church in Afghanistan is becoming increasingly hidden, according to the charity, Release International.

It says Christians are now fleeing the cities for more remote areas in a bid to remain unseen by the Taliban regime.

There are believed to be fewer than 10,000 Christians still in the country after the Taliban regime took control last month.

Read the full story here…

BBC Report: Young more likely to pray than over-55s

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Young people in the UK are twice as likely as older people to pray regularly, a new survey has found.

Some 51% of 18 to 34-year-olds polled by Savanta ComRes said they pray at least once a month, compared with 24% of those aged 55 and over.

It also found 49% of the younger age group attend a place of worship every month, compared with 16% of over-55s.

The associate director of Savanta said the numbers could reflect the move to online worship during the pandemic.

Chris Hopkins added that there were “a few theories” as to why young people made up such a large proportion of the religious landscape.

“Firstly, as the demography of the UK changes, minority faiths do tend to have a larger proportion of practising young people, and therefore as the population of these groups increases within the UK, so will the prayer habits of the population at large,” he said.

He explained it was important to “factor in the impact the pandemic has had on the ability to engage with one’s faith” with virtual prayers and services being held online.

“It is possible that the pandemic opened up more avenues to prayer to young people, and this is reflected in the findings,” he said.

Click here for the full story…

Oberammergau 2022: We have some places left!

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In 2022 Oberammergau in Bavaria will, for the 42nd time, be staging the Passion Play telling the story of Christ’s Passion, from His entry into Jerusalem and ending with the Resurrection and Ascension.

Our Amersham Deanery Pilgrimage to the Oberammergau Passion Play, which was planned for 2020, has been rescheduled for 2022. Due to the postponement, we have had some cancellations and places are available.

Please download the brochure to find out more and to register…

Dare like Jesus: Christ-shaped courage

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New series of talks starting this Sunday (19 September) at our 10.30am service

During lockdown our ministry team took part in the “ChurchNext” programme to explore what our next steps as a local church might be. One theme emerged early on: God is asking us to put a DARE behind PRAY | WELCOME | SHARE. This series is about Christ-shaped boldness, not foolhardy bravery or ostentatious derring-do.

Our courage must be grounded in the Father love of God, shown by Jesus and mediated by the Holy Spirit.

The photo at the top is a visual representation of the goal of this series: God is gently nudging us to step into the river of his purposes for us and for the world, but he will not abandon us as we do.

Future themes: The courage to …

  • be compassionate
  • be vulnerable
  • take responsibility
  • obey
  • dream
  • witness
  • heal

Our small groups will follow the same themes. Contact our church office if you’d like to join one…

210908 Rector’s Update

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As the new term gets under way, Christoph has recorded an update to help us stay connected.

(7 minutes)