Online Advent Calendar: The first door is opening today!

The first door on our special advent calendar can be opened today!

Each day a new surprise is waiting for you.

Click here for our advent calendar…

You can also find the calendar by clicking on the banner on our homepage or by going directly to www.denhamparish.church/adventcalendar

 

 

From Christoph: The Great Christmas Invitation!

Dear friends,

Christmas is coming and it will not be cancelled, no matter what the media may suggest. In fact, this Christmas the message of comfort and joy – that God is with us and becomes one of us in Jesus – is more needed than ever. Sometimes we tend to forget that Jesus came into a world of crisis: a nation oppressed by an occupying superpower; a young, pregnant mother, having to go on a long journey with her fiancé; a manger as the bed for her newborn son;  soon after the birth, they become refugees in another country to save his life.

Jesus knows all about Christmas in a Crisis!

We have a fantastic Christmas programme, no matter what the COVID regulations will be in December and we need you to get out “The Great Christmas Invitation”!

This week we ordered 500 more issues of the Christmas edition of Denham Parish News and 1,000 Christmas flyers (attached as a PDF). I don’t want us to throw a single one away at the end of Christmas. So how can you help?

If you live in Denham, could you distribute our magazine and Christmas flyer through every letterbox in your street?
If you don’t live in Denham, could you ‘adopt’ one or two streets in Denham and do the same?
If you are not able to get out at this time (and everyone else!), would you please email the attached Christmas flyer to friends, families and neighbours and put it on social media?

Your contribution will be crucial in letting everyone know, so please be part of the Great Christmas Invitation. 

How does it work?
Please email office@denhamparish.church and let Victoria know which road you will cover and how many copies you require. Once we run out of church magazines you can still distribute the Christmas flyer; but wouldn’t it be great if your neighbours received the magazine, too? So please don’t wait – send off your email today. If you’d like to help with distribution, but aren’t sure which roads to cover, just tell Victoria and she can assign you a road or two.

To distribute the PDF simply download it here…

 

Are there other ways in which you can contribute to Christmas this year?
Yes there are!

  • It’s not too late to contribute to our online advent calendar – this could be something thought-provoking or funny or a selfie in your Christmas jumpers (maybe holding a sign with a short Advent message?). Please email me your contribution by the end of Tuesday, 24 November.
  • Invite us to sing carols on your street: As you will see in our Christmas flyer, we’d like to take carols on the road – a short 7-minute programme of carols, a thought and a prayer. Would you like us to come to your street? Please email me with the details (your street, which day/time would work – Mon 21 to Wed 23 Dec) and then let all your neighbours know!

You will find the latest updates (and various links to register etc.) on this Christmas page, which is now live and will be updated continually.

 

Every good work of God begins in prayer
This coming Saturday, 28 November, we are inviting you to take part in a day of prayer. Set aside on hour between 7am and 9pm. You can register by clicking here… and before Saturday we will provide you with a simple suggestion how you could spend the hour in prayer (find it at on our blog (The Latest) from Thursday next week). The sign-up sheet allows multiple people to book the same hour slot, so please choose the time that works best for you.
From Monday, 30 November, we are offering daily advent prayer at 6pm from Mon to Fri. Again, the links will be available on our website (click “The Latest” in the menu).

With my best wishes for a hope-filled Advent and Christmas 2020,

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(Christoph Lindner, Rector)

An Interview about Avocados and Human Rights

This morning Christoph interviewed our church family member Emily Dugan, about an article she researched and wrote recently about an Avocado farm in Kenya and why we need to know in the UK. We’ll play the interview at Sunday Worship, tomorrow at 10.30am on our YouTube channel and FaceBook page.

Marking Remembrance Sunday: “We will remember them.”

Due to the national lockdown coming into effect on Thursday, 5 November, there will be no Remembrance Sunday Service at St Mary’s Church. 
Please join us for our online Remembrance Service 
at 10.30am.

However, our online Remembrance Sunday Service this coming Sunday at 10.30am WILL go ahead! Here are two ways in which you can take part in the remembering this year:

Make a Poppy Tree

Make a poppy (weather-proof, please) and attach it to the netting around the yew tree in front of St Mary’s Church (please bring a peg, too). There are many creative ways in which you could make a poppy. For inspiration, you may want to watch this video…

If you attach your poppy before Saturday morning we can include it in the pictures of the tree in our online Sunday service.

“We will remember them”: Join a chorus of voices

We are inviting you to record a short video of yourself, saying “We will remember them”. We will then combine all the faces and voices for our response on Sunday (at our online service). Please spread the word and send your video to rector@denhamparish.church by the end of Thursday.
Should your video be too large to email, please use wetransfer.com.
(By sending us a video you give permission for it to be used online.)

Whether you can contribute in these ways or not, do join us for our ONLINE Remembrance Service this Sunday at 10.30am and spread the word. You will find the service here on our website at www.denhamparish.church/blog.


There will be a short wreath laying ceremony on Sunday at the War Memorial in the churchyard. However, due to government restrictions, we can only accommodate community representatives laying a wreath, members of the armed forces, uniformed organisations or veterans. 
If you qualify, please register beforehand by contacting our Rector on email (rector@denhamparish.church) or leave a phone message (01895 834733).
We are planning to record this short ceremony onto video to show it on Armistice Day.

New National Restrictions from Thursday 5 November

IMPORTANT UPDATE ON SUNDAY 1 NOVEMBER:
Latest government guidance indicates that from Thursday, 5 November, places of worship will be closed. We are seeking clarification for Remembrance Sunday.

The clocks have gone back!

The clocks have gone back – we hope you’ve enjoyed the extra hour sleep!

Sunday Worship starts at 10.30am (live from the Rectory) but if you think we are late, you might just be a tad early 🙂
See you then!

(Find the service with all the links in the post below)

Updated Electoral Roll Published

Our updated Electoral Roll has now been published. Click here to view it…

Don’t forget to register for our APCM on 11 October, either at St Mary’s or on Zoom. Click here to register…

All about APCMs and Electoral Rolls…

A Walk Around St Mary’s Church – Denham History Online

Thank you to Denham History Online for posting a walk around St Mary’s Church to co-incide with our church festival.

You can read it here…

Catch up on our Celebration service…

Take a virtual tour of the White House gardens…

Watch our virtual choir sing Amazing Grace…

 

What do the latest changes in COVID regulations mean for the church?

Here is what our Archbishop has written:

This Sunday we have two services at St Mary’s – as part of St Mary’s Festival: at 9.30am and 11am. We still have a few places for both services.

Sign up here…

Christoph’s August Update

An update from our Rector, Christoph Lindner, on the life of our church and a reflection on one of the prevalent symbols of this season. Please find the links mentioned in the video below

Download our latest Denham Parish News…

 

Take part in our community survey…

 

Find out more about the APCM and Electoral Roll…

(Christoph mentioned three main purposes of an APCM but never got to the third: it is to elect church officers and to receive a report on all activities of the church).