On-Line Services – w/c 19th March
This Sunday’s YouTube service is available now on the Pool Mission Area YouTube channel: Pool Mission Area – YouTube. This week’s service for Mothering Sunday has a reflection on women, both in the bible and modern day life. Alternatively, the direct link to the service is: https://youtu.be/7l05Ub9jsLU.
Zoom daily prayers are every week as follows:
Monday 8:00 am Morning Prayer (15-20 minutes)
Monday – Thursday & Saturday 5:00 pm Evening Prayer (15-20 minutes)
Zoom Link:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81257665101?pwd=OHFiQzdYM2t5eFE3bHZkTWFNQm13Zz09
Meeting ID: 812 5766 5101
Passcode: Prayer
Teddy Francis-John’s You-Tube Channel
You are invited this week to join us for our Bible story story The Story of Moses part 2 – YouTube
Teddy Francis-John
On-Line Giving
You can now give a one-off or monthly recurring donation to Guilsfield Church on line using this QR code and your smart phone or tablet. Please also see our campaign poster, which explains what to do: Guilsfield Giving-Poster. Giving a little helps a lot with carrying out our mission and ministry, as well as maintaining the fabric of our beautiful church.
Elevenses Pop In Cafe
Our Wednesday Pop-up Cafe has moved from 08:45 to ‘Elevenses’ from 10:30 am to 12:00 noon. It will now start after the mid-week Communion service; please see the Elevenses Pop Up Cafe poster for details and put up or share the poster to publicise. Do come along, join us and bring your friends and neighbours; all welcome.
Holy Week and Services
Please the details of the services Holy Week and Easter below:
Please note that the Maundy Thursday Supper with Eucharist is at Pool Quay and you will need to sign up in advance to get supper.
Pilgrimage to Pantasaph Friary – Tuesday 4th April
We are hoping to go on a one-day pilgrimage to Pantasaph Friary on Tuesday 4th April to walk the outdoor Stations of the Cross. If you would like to join us, please sign up on the sheet at the back of the Church or let Caroline know. We will be sharing cars and may stop for lunch at Gladstone’s Library in Hawarden on the way.
On-Line Services – w/c 12th March
This Sunday’s YouTube service is available now on the Pool Mission Area YouTube channel: Pool Mission Area – YouTube. This week’s service has a reflection on the woman at the well. Alternatively, the direct link to the service is: https://youtu.be/iAbJaluiwEY.
Plant a Tree for an Eco Friendly Diocese
The Welsh Government and Coed Cadw, the Woodland Trust in Wales, are offering thousands of trees to households in Wales, free of charge. This can be done by planting on your behalf or collection of a free tree at one of their local pick-up hubs. A list can be found, along with more information about the project at: Wales Tree Giveaway: My Tree Our Forest – Woodland Trust
Planting trees and donations can be a great way to get your Church in the EcoChurch scheme.
Winners – Guilsfield Church and Community Prize Draw
The winners of our new Guilsfield Church and Community Prize Draw for February are:
and a further £75 has been added to the Community Fund pot, which now stands at £142, to be distributed twice annually to local clubs, clubs and good causes, as agreed by the Church Committee. If you would like to take part, please pick up an application form from church and return to Rev’d Caroline. There is still plenty of time to get your entry in for the March draw. The final third of the entry money each month goes towards church funds.
Lent Groups: ‘Great is the Mystery of Faith: Exploring Faith Through the Words of Worship’
Please see Lent Groups Poster for the lent groups at Guilsfield which are being led by Rev’d Caroline. The link to the book referred to on the poster is: https://chbookshop.hymnsam.co.uk/books/9781848250550/great-is-the-mystery-of-faith
Wednesday Mid-week Eucharist and Pop-up Cafe
From Wednesday1st March our mid-week Eucharist service will move permanently to 10:00 am to be followed by the Pop-up Cafe, which moves from 08:45 am.
Coffee Morning at Llandrinio
The next coffee morning at Llandrinio Church is on Thursday 9th March 2023 10.00 a.m. – 12 noon . Everyone welcome. See Poster for forthcoming coffee mornings.
Turkey and Syria Earthquake
Please see Prayer for Turkey Syria for a Christian Aid prayer and the following link for the Christian Aid Appeal page:
Turkey and Syria Earthquake Appeal – Christian Aid
MA Meeting dates for 2023
Please see Meeting Dates 2023 FINAL for Mission Area meeting dates for 2023, for your information; this is an amended version, as there was an error in the previous document which has now been corrected and highlighted in red. Your church representatives on the MAC and other Committees should be able to let you know the latest information after these meetings.
Serendipity Magazine goes Mission Area Wide!
Serendipity magazine is going Mission Area wide in March. It has been the magazine for Welshpool, Belan, Castle Caereinion and Pool Quay priced at £1 per copy with an annual subscription costing £10 i.e. 2 free copies per year for subscribers.
Free copies of the new Mission Area version of Serendipity will be available in all churches across the Mission Area at the start of March.
As well as information about services across the Mission Area and all the usual articles, there will be information about upcoming events and news about recent events. In each magazine there will be a subscription form so that if people wish to continue to receive a copy, they can subscribe for £8 for the remainder of 2023. Full details will be on the form.
If any church wishes to place details of an upcoming event or good news of recent events in the March magazine, please can they send information to the editor: Gary Williams at wyddfa111@aol.com
Many thanks to all who have worked hard to make this possible!
Coffee Mornings at St John’s Pool Quay
There is a weekly coffee club raising money for St John’s between 10:00 am and 12 noon every Wednesday.
There is also a Saturday coffee morning on the first week of every month, again between 10:00 am and 12:00 pm. All welcome to attend! (next one 4th March)
Xplore Science!
Workshops will be starting in January next year at Montgomery and Guilsfield. They are for families and involve fun experiments linking science and faith. More details on Science and Faith Flyer 1. If you would like to know more, please e-mail Jampa King at: JampaKing@cinw.org.uk.
Safeguarding
The Zoom Part B Zoom training is now fully booked and we understand that new Zoom sessions should be available in due course. When new Part B sessions are arranged, we will circulate details.
However, in order to do Part B training, please could you ensure that you’ve completed your online Part A training at the following link:
An update for the Spring 2023 safeguarding training dates. The training dates are live on the Church in Wales website https://www.churchinwales.org.uk/en/clergy-and-members/safeguarding/safeguarding-training/
It is requirement that all clergy, churchwardens, licenced readers, vergers, MAC members, MA safeguarding officers and anyone who has a role working with children, young people or adults at risk, complete safeguarding training. The training needs to be renewed every three years.
The following dates are currently available (local & Zoom dates in Bold):-
Module B – Understanding Safeguarding and the Church
18 April 13.00-16.00 St Marys Church, Overton, LL13 0DT
You must book your training session. When you fill out the form, please add the date and name of the course https://www.churchinwales.org.uk/en/clergy-and-members/safeguarding/safeguarding-training/
The safeguarding training is designed to equip attendees to engage positively with the protection of children, young people and adults at risk in a practical and informed manner. It is committed to ensuring that the Church is safe and welcoming for all, and designed to help attendees understand the statutory requirements of safeguarding and how these are carried out in the context of the Church in Wales.
A Prayer for all in Pool Mission Area (with thanks to Rev’d Bethan)
God of grace and truth, we thank you for calling us to be pilgrims together within our parishes and also as members of Pool Mission Area.
In our praying and thinking, talking and deciding may we be inspired by your Spirit to envisage a vision for the future.
Prepare us to use our resources well, to co-operate with our partner churches and to share faith, hope and love with all we can around us, through and with our Saviour and Friend Jesus Christ.
Amen
Standing Committee Bulletin
The latest Diocesan Standing Committee Bulletin from their meeting on 29th November can be read here: Standing Committee Bulletin 24 Nov 22 FINAL.
Prayers in the Cost-of-Living Crisis
The Archbishop of Wales is calling for prayers for those impacted by the cost-of-living crisis. As part of the Food and Fuel campaign, Archbishop Andrew is launching a prayer booklet which includes prayers from each diocese.
The booklet is available to download from the Food and Fuel campaign hub at Cost of Living prayers – The Church in Wales. The Prayers were launched in the Food and Fuel Newsletter. You can sign up to receive these at https://www.churchinwales.org.uk/en/about-us/our-campaigns/food-fuel/.
Cost of living crisis – join the Church in Wales’ campaign
The Church in Wales has launched a campaign to help tackle Wales’ cost of living crisis. Households across the UK are being forced to make a stark choice between food or fuel – a choice no one should have to make. The cost of living crisis is having a detrimental impact on the health, wellbeing and development of children, families and older people in our communities. It is always the poorest and most vulnerable who are hardest hit. There are a number of different elements to the campaign and you’re encouraged to sign up for the weekly newsletter to find out how to get involved.
In addition, Bishop Gregory and all the Church in Wales bishops are supporting an initiative to accompany this campaign in which we create ‘A gift for Christmas.’ This will be a box full of toiletries only (shower gel, sprays, sanitary products etc). We do not wish to prescribe what each box contains nor how large the box but are simply wishing to commend the idea. Our hope is that every congregation will participate and produce at least 10 boxes. You can find out more here.
You can sign an open letter to the supermarkets asking them to do more to help people who are struggling financially. Click here for more details.
On-Line Services – Compline
Also, there is a service of compline (night prayer) available on the Pool Mission Area YouTube channel: Pool Mission Area – YouTube The theme is giving reassurance of Christ’s light to help and protect us in the dark places in our lives. This service can be accessed at any time, as can all the previous Sunday services. Alternatively, the direct link to the service is here: https://youtu.be/B7mGRThBr_w.
‘THIS WORKS!’
There is now a section on the Diocesan website called ‘This Works’. It shares inspiring stories of activities and events going on around the Diocese which may give you ideas for your church. You can find the information by clicking on this link: https://dioceseofstasaph.org.uk/faith-in-action/this-works/.
MA Voices
We are starting a short series of online recordings. This will be called ‘MA Voices’ . We are looking for people who would be willing to be recorded by Rev Tim Hawkins to talk for about 3 or 4 minutes about anything they do for their local church or for the Mission Area. It could be bellringing, singing in the choir, flower arranging or it could be about how they became a Christian. We would love people across the Mission Area to chat about a whole variety of things. If you would like to be involved, please contact Tim by e-mailing him at: timstjhawkins@icloud.com.
Navigating Trauma
The Mission Area is considering training people to run Navigating Trauma groups. Navigating Trauma is a programme for people who’ve experienced suffering and who still feel the effects in their lives, perhaps years later. They haven’t been able to make sense of what’s happened, and it still haunts them. For many there’s a sense of brokenness that they can’t change. The 6-12 week programme aims to help people understand the effects on them of their traumatic experiences, and bring the healing effects of the Christian message in the Bible and prayer into their lives. There is more information about the programme on the website:
Navigating Trauma – Bible Society
If you are interested in helping people who have had difficult experiences, can commit to a 5 day residential training and running at least two groups a year, please contact Helen Hayes on drhelenhayes@gmail.com for further discussion.
Daily Hope
DailyHope, a free national telephone line, offers music, prayers and reflections as well as full worship services from the Church of England at the end of the phone.
A Church of England initiative in partnership with CONNECTIONS at Holy Trinity Claygate, and Faith in Later Life
The line – which is available 24 hours a day on 0800 804 8044 – has been set up particularly with those unable to join online church services during the period of restrictions in mind; to provide comfort and spiritual nourishment to the most isolated in our society.
Churchyard
We’re beginning to look at managing our church yard to protect its biodiversity. We know we’ve got lots of snowdrops, and we’re trying to identify more of the wild flowers that grow there. We also know that slow-worms have been spotted there, and bats certainly roost in the church and possibly the yew trees as well. We would welcome any volunteers to help us. Contact Caroline 554245 for more information.
Church Finances
Like many organisations Covid has hit our finances hard. It costs almost £1000 per week to keep the church open and staffed, which is almost entirely raised by the regular giving of our congregation of about 50 people, and our fund raising activities (which haven’t been possible recently) In 2020 we recorded a shortfall of £14,900 and have a projected shortfall of £11,900. We had just received a grant of £7300 from the Covid Heritage Recovery Fund, for which we are very grateful, but we’re still £19,500 out of pocket. We have had to make a substantial withdrawal from our reserves which means that we will no longer have the income from those investments, which may precipitate a downward spiral necessitating further withdrawals and subsequent decreases in income if we are not able to stabilise the situation. If you are able to help us all donations will be very gratefully received, either through the vicarage letterbox (please mark the envelope “for the Treasurer” ) or on-line where you can make a one-off, regular, monthly or annual donation at:https://www.churchinwales.org.uk/en/clergy-and-members/gift-direct/start-donating-your-church-or-parish/(select ‘Pool A232 Guilsfield, St Aelhaiarn, Guilsfield’ from the drop-down menu in the ‘Beneficiary’ box and ‘One-off’ or the frequency you wish to give from the drop-down menu in the ‘Frequency’ box).
Breathing Space Service
We have started a new kind of service on the Third Thursday evening each month starting at 8:00pm, particularly aimed at people who don’t find that traditional church services help them to encounter the Divine. Breathing Space will allow us time to step back from the busyness of life and spend time reflecting on a theme. The format will be welcome and opening prayer, a short bible reading and introduction to the theme, recorded music will play while we interact with an assortment of “prayer stations” eg lighting a candle, writing or drawing a response (anonymously!) or simply sit and ponder. A priest will be available for prayers and anointing for healing. When we have all returned to our seats we will conclude by saying the Lord’s Prayer together & the priest will bless us. It will probably last about 30-45 minutes. – cancelled until further notice
‘Guilsfield Gets Together’
The Dementia Friendly Guilsfield monthly ‘Guilsfield Gets Together’ café is held on the first Friday of the month from 10:00am to 11:30 am. Come along on the first Friday of the month for this opportunity to have a cup of team or coffee and meet up with friends and neighbours. All welcome; please do come along to the Old School and enjoy the cakes; £2 per person. – cancelled until further notice
New!!! – ‘Wander and Ponder’ Trail
There is a new way to appreciate and learn about St Aelhaiarn’s Church; why not pick up a leaflet and follow the ‘Wander and Ponder’ Trail? As you wander around, you will see and find out a little bit more about the meaning and reasons for some of the items and images in the Church. The leaflets can be found on the table part of the notice board to the left of the door as you enter the Porch. The Trail will be changed several times during the year to feature different items and reflections; so, if you enjoy it, do look out for the new leaflets and come back again to enjoy the peace and serenity of our beautiful church.
Guilsfield History Walk
A leaflet with instructions for a short walk around Guilsfield pointing out some of it’s history and beginning at the Church is available to view, print and download at Guilsfield History Walk.
Facebook Page
Why not visit our new Facebook page at www.facebook.com/guilsfieldchurch and see the latest news, pictures and information about what has been happening at Guilsfield Church.
St Aelhaiarn's Church, Guilsfield 