st. thomas’ church, wednesfield church news...5 the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness...

50p December 2016/January 2017

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St. Thomas’ Church, Wednesfield Church News

Angels sang at the birth of Jesus, ‘Glory to God and peace on earth.’

May this be our prayer and our experience in Wednesfield this Christmas.

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St Thomas’ Church News December 2016/January 2017

St Thomas’ Church, Wednesfield In the Wednesfield Team Ministry

Sundays Weekday communion services 8.00 am Holy Communion Wednesdays: 10.00 am 10.15 am Family Eucharist Fridays: 10.00 am (with Junior Church and Tots Church) 6.30 pm Evening Worship Baptism: Sunday afternoon, monthly

Clergy

For enquiries relating to St Thomas’ please contact: Team Rector: Rev’d Nick Watson 01902 731462 Wednesfield Rectory, 9 Vicarage Road E-mail: [email protected] Curate: Rev’d Ness Tobin E-mail: [email protected] 07854 773432 For enquiries relating to St Alban’s please contact: Team Vicar: Rev’d Sam Leach 01902 732317 St. Alban’s Vicarage, Griffiths Drive, Ashmore Park E-mail: [email protected]

Officers

District Wardens: Mrs Norma Thompson, 17 Frome Drive, Wednesfield 01902 305170 Mr Clive Postle, 118 Amos Lane, Wednesfield 01902 733169

Parish Wardens: Mrs Kathryn Godwin Mr Carl Taylor Organist and Choirmistress: Mrs Gillian Edwards, 16 Greenfield Lane, Fordhouses 01902 783264 Parish Office: St. Thomas’ Church 01902 723310 Secretary: Margaret Walker E-mail: [email protected] The office is normally staffed 9am-12noon on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday Requests for Baptisms and Marriage at St Thomas’ – please come to St. Thomas’ Church at 6.30pm on a Friday evening or telephone Reverend Nick Watson on 01902 731462. Do you have an article for the magazine? Or any ideas of what you would like to see included? If so please have a word with Joanna Watson at Church, leave articles in the parish office, or email them to [email protected].

Find us on Facebook - St Thomas’ Church Wednesfield

Follow us on twitter @wednesfieldteam

mailto:[email protected]



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I wish it could be Christmas every day…

It just struck me that I shouldn’t really have got to my eighth Christmas here before quoting one of our best-known cultural exports, courtesy of Noddy Holder and Slade… There aren’t many songs more likely to get everyone joining in with a raucous yell of ‘It’s Christmas’ than ‘Merry Xmas everybody.’ I may see if I can get it into a service this year…

Like most vicars, though, I usually recoil at the song ‘I wish it could be Christmas every day’ by Wizzard, which often goes along with Slade’s masterpiece on party and shop playlists.

We love Christmas (or at least most of us do!) for all sorts of reasons, and the ones that aren’t specifically ‘Christian’ aren’t necessarily bad ones! Gathering the family together, remembering our own childhood and watching the excitement of today’s children, even the joy of just singing together songs that we all know, are good things to celebrate. On top of that, Christmas comes just when the year is darkest and getting cold. Long before Jesus was born, people in Northern climates gathered both to pray and to celebrate around the winter solstice (21-22 December) at the turning of the year from darkening to light.

It’s no accident that we celebrate the birth of Jesus at the same season. As we don’t actually know the date of Jesus’ birth, one plausible theory is that 25 December was deliberately set to celebrate the fact that a light even greater than the Sun is shining into the world. St John’s words at the beginning of his gospel (words we’ll hear just before midnight on Christmas Eve) say it beautifully.

It’s into a world with plenty of darkness that the light of God’s love shines in the birth of a child. And not just any child, but the child who brings together all the promises God has made down the years; a child who will grow to show us how to love God and one another, and to help us to see that in the end we can’t separate those two things.

Of course, if every day was Christmas then the excitement and magic would soon wear off, and most people have already had enough turkey by the second week of January, enough chocolate by… maybe not. We celebrate this wonderful truth, that God’s love is seen when he becomes one of us, once a year because that’s just about enough to keep us from forgetting.

But it’s true every day. The reality of Christmas, God with us, is just as true in February or June as it is in December. The love of God is still being born into the world, and now it’s not in a stable in Bethlehem but in each moment that we allow God to reach into the world through us.

Every time one of us acts with love towards another, that is Christmas. That is God being born into the world. Every time one of us knows that God is with us in the darkest days – whether as we pray or as someone brings encouragement and care in God’s name – that is Christmas.

Christmas is a day each year. Christmas is a season when we as a church celebrate God’s coming among us. Christmas is also a state of mind and a way of life – not necessarily wrapped in coloured paper and hung with tinsel, but lifted out of the ordinary by this one thing. God is with us.

May you have a happy and blessed Christmas – throughout the New Year!

The Rev’d Nick Watson

Letter from the Rector

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

2 He was in the

beginning with God. 3 All things

came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being 4 in him was life, and the life was

the light of all people. 5 The light

shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.

John 1:1-5

The Ashmore Park Choir present their annual

7.30pm Tuesday 13th December, in St Thomas’ Church Tickets: £5 (children £2.50)

Seasonal refreshments

All proceeds go to support CHRISTIAN AID

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Christmas at St Thomas’ and St Alban’s churches

Everyone is welcome - join us as we celebrate Jesus’

birth!

Sunday 11th December

10.00am Christingle, a family service to make Christingles and get Christmas started!

St Alban’s

4.30pm Christingle, with carols by candlelight and collecting wrapped gifts for the Hope Families Project

St Thomas’

Tuesday 13th December

7.30pm Ashmore Park Choir Concert, supporting Christian Aid St Thomas’

Saturday 17th December

10.30am Christmas Crib Service - an all-age retelling of the Christmas story with songs, craft , videos and fun

St Alban’s

Sunday 18th December

6.30pm Service of Nine Readings and Carols - traditional Christmas worship by candlelight

St Thomas’

7.00pm Carols by candlelight - with readings, videos and space to think and pray; followed by mince pies, mulled wine, hot chocolate…

St Alban’s

Christmas Eve - Saturday 24th December

4.30pm Christmas Crib Service, with the Instant Nativity Play! Everyone is welcome - come as a Nativity character if you’d like to!

St Thomas’

11.15pm Midnight Communion with candles and carols St Alban’s

11.30pm Midnight Mass - as traditional as Christmas gets! St Thomas’

Christmas Day Sunday 25th December

10.00am St. Alban’s

All-age Christmas Celebration

10.15am St. Thomas’

All-age Christmas Communion

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Week 1 – Advent Hope

Lord Jesus, light of the world, born in David's city of Bethlehem, born like him to be a King: Be born in our hearts this Christmas, be king of our lives today. Amen.

Week 2 – The Old Testament Prophets

Lord Jesus, light of the world, the prophets said you would bring peace and save your people in trouble. Give peace in our hearts at Christmas and show all the world God's love. Amen.

Week 3 – John the Baptist

Lord Jesus, light of the world, John told the people to prepare, for you were very near.

As Christmas grows closer day by day, help us to be ready to welcome you now. Amen.

Week 4 – The Annunciation to Mary

Lord Jesus, Light of the world, blessed is Gabriel who brought good news; blessed is Mary your mother and ours. Bless your Church preparing for Christmas; and bless us your children, who long for your coming. Amen.

Christmas Day – the Light of the World

Lord Jesus, Light of light, you have come among us. Help us who live by your light to shine as lights in your world. Glory to God in the highest! Amen.

Advent Wreath If you remember Blue Peter, or you worship at Church, you’ll be used to the idea of an Advent Wreath – traditionally four coloured candles around a white central candle. One of the coloured candles is lit each Sunday of Advent, and the central one on Christmas Day.

In church we usually use three purple and one pink candles for the Sundays of Advent. Originally the pink one was used on the third Sunday of Advent, to mark that as a more ‘relaxed’ bit of Advent. We use it instead on the fourth Sunday of Advent, which is linked to Mary the Mother of Jesus. It seems more appropriate then, somehow! Many people use red candles instead.

Why not make your own Advent Wreath, and say these prayers (which we’ll also be using in church)? They go with the traditional themes, but of course you may prefer to think of your own! The week starts on Sunday – 27

th November, then 4

th, 11

th and 18

th December. You can find some great ideas for making an

advent wreath on www.pinterest.com.

It’s not just about the chocolate The word “Advent” is often just linked to calendar, and that generally means chocolate! But Advent is a great opportunity to do something different. Here are some ideas:

Support a charity - instead of opening the door of an advent calendar and having a chocolate each day, why not give something to charity each day? One practical idea is to find a box and put something for a foodbank in it each day, then take it there on Christmas Eve - or bring it to church and we’ll do that for you.

Advent challenge - the Bible Society has an online advent calendar, which each day challenges you to do a small, practical act of kindness every day, to share goodwill and make a difference. They provide three challenges every day throughout Advent and you choose the one that best suits you. The challenges are simple, practical, Bible-based and life-affirming. you could be buying someone flowers, babysitting … or even just giving a smile. See www.biblesociety.org.uk or search for #adventchallenge on facebook.

Our (Wednesfield) Christmas - the Lichfield Diocese Online Pastor is running “#OurChristmas”, and at St Thomas’ we’re going to link to that and make it “#OurWednesfieldChristmas”. Each weekday we'll be reflecting on a different part of the Christmas story, and everyone is encouraged to respond with a photo that relates to it. We’ll share the reflection on the church facebook page (St Thomas’ Church, Wednesfield) and on twitter (@wednesfieldteam). You can just read the reflection and think about it through the day, or you can make a comment, or add a photo. Each Sunday we’ll share what’s been going on in Church.

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Mothers’ Union News From 25

th November until 16

th December, Mothers’

Union is holding 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence. Mothers’ Union is highlighting this with a clear message that this is not ok. At least one in three women globally will experience some form of gender-based violence in her lifetime: and globally, women between the ages of 15-44 are more likely to be maimed or die as a result of male violence than through cancer, malaria, traffic accidents or war combined.

St. Thomas’ Branch of Mothers’ Union are supporting this through prayer and are hanging leaves with prayers on the Prayer Tree. We hope you too will pray for our cause and perhaps add your prayers to the Prayer Tree.

At the time of writing this article we have not yet had our Christmas Meal. I do hope you will all enjoy it.

As we come to the end of a year of the Mothers’ Union 140th celebrations, congratulations to our branch of

St. Thomas’ MU, who have received 5 special certificates from Mothers’ Union in the Diocese. I understand that not many branches have achieved this! A big thank you to all our members for their hard work this year.

We now look forward to a new year of 2017. The Mothers’ Union Theme for 2017 is Faith In Action. This follows on from our year of celebration in 2016 when we gave thanks for God’s faithfulness to Mothers’ Union over 140 years and acknowledging that:

Thus far the Lord has helped us.1 Samuel 7:12

The annual subscription for 2017 is £22.50. This works out at only 44p a week, a wonderful gift to those whose life has met with adversity. It can be and has been a life changing gift to many around the world and also here in the UK. To learn more about this, please come and see me.

Subscriptions are not due until 2017, so we will not be collecting them until the New Year, in January.

May I wish you a blessed Christmas and a peaceful New year and looking forward to seeing members and anyone who would like to come and join us at our AGM with Communion in St. Thomas Centre on Wednesday 11

th

January 2017.

.Jill Ellson, Branch Leader

Children and communion

Sharing communion together is one of the things that makes the church family what it is. We gather round God’s table to remember Jesus and to recognise him in each other. Somehow as we do that, God brings us together with the whole church as the Body of Christ – called to live with his love for each other and show that love to the world.

We don’t have to understand exactly how that all happens for it to ‘work’ – but we do need to come to God’s table with the right heart and mind.

Traditionally, the Church of England has linked receiving communion with being confirmed, and for adults and older children that’s still the best way to do things. But communion is the family meal of the church, and so in recent years we’ve been allowed to admit children from worshipping families to receive bread and wine at God’s table. The guidelines require that children should be aged 7-10, though we may be able to ask the Bishop for leeway at either end if there’s a strong reason. With the parents or grandparents who bring them to church, children will think about why this ‘meal’ is so special, and how the service fits together. We’ll meet

once a month after church to talk and pray together, and if we agree that the children are ready we’ll admit them to communion, perhaps at Pentecost or St Thomas’ Day.

If you’d like to know more, or you and your children or grandchildren would like to take part, please ask me, or stay after church on Sunday 15 January, when we’ll get things started.


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From the Church Councils

District Church Council (DCC)

The DCC met on Wednesday 21 September and on Wednesday 16 November.

We spent most of our time meetings reviewing how groups of DCC members are working on the different areas of the Mission Action Plan – including…

reaching out more effectively to those who work, shop and relax on the High Street;

building on our current ministry to local families through baptism;

using tracking of worship attendance to help us care better for each other;

being clear about the roles of different people and groups in the life of the church;

involving more people in leading worship;

developing new ways of worship, such as ‘Café church’;

making worship more accessible, starting with a review of service books;

using video and sound more fully in worship;

improving publicity and attendance around evening worship; and

strengthening and developing the work of our ‘welcome’ team.

We considered faculty applications for damp-proofing to the church and the installation of an external tap to help us to keep improving the planting of the churchyard.

We’re also spending time at our meetings reflecting on how we work better together as a DCC. We’ve reflected on what the church is for, and on what the DCC is for – and out of this we’ve set out a ‘code of practice’ for the DCC and improved our management of meetings.

We regularly review our financial situation. We still need to improve our income, especially from regular giving. Against that background, we decided unanimously to continue our support to other charities and mission agencies, local and global.

Parochial Church Council (PCC) The PCC met on Wednesday 23 November. Main items for discussion (as well as our usual update on the life of the churches and prayer together) included,

revision and readvertisement of the Families and Children’s Worker post;

finance, including the Parish Share and setting fees for weddings and funerals for 2017;

reviewing the work done at St Alban’s after the flood in the summer and planned work at St Thomas’;

planning for the coming year

Deanery Synod Deanery Synod met on Wednesday 19 October at 7.30pm, in the St Thomas Centre. Rev’d Jeff Leach brought us up to speed on keeping church accessible to all, along with other issues around ability and disability.

We began to think about the Archbishops’ call to prayer, ‘Thy Kingdom Come’ from Ascension to Pentecost 2017. If you have ideas for how we could pray together as a church, parish or deanery, please let us know!

Rev’d Nick Watson

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Are you a church member? Some years ago, the then Archbishops of Canterbury and York issued this ‘Short guide to the duties of Church membership for members of the Church of England.’

In a meeting with other Rural Deans a few days ago, we talked about the idea of Church membership and what we expect from those who consider themselves members of a local church. One of the things that does seem to be true is that it’s those churches which ask a lot of their congregations (including in giving!) that seem to be growing most steadily in number.

The Church of England has a strong tradition of not having a definite ‘membership’ in the same way that some other churches do. You don’t need to sign up to anything to worship and get involved; and we try to be here for everyone in the parish when they need us. But many of us consider ourselves to be church members. So how do we live up to the code the Archbishops set before us?

How about a New Year challenge to help you decide on some resolutions? Why not look prayerfully at the guidelines and choose up to three where you believe that you could be doing more or doing it better – and tell one of the clergy or a Christian friend that you’re going to work on these with God’s help this year.

Being a member of the Church is a privilege. It’s also a big responsibility, for it brings a call to grow more fully into being yourself and into being like Jesus. The good news is that the church – and God himself – stand ready to help!


As baptised and confirmed members of our Church, we are called upon to play a full part in its life and witness. That means we should:

Follow the example of Christ in home and daily life, and seek to grow in faith.

Read and study the Bible prayerfully.

Celebrate together in Sunday and weekday worship God’s love for the world.

Receive the Holy Communion faithfully and regularly.

Pray daily for the coming of God’s kingdom of justice, mercy and peace, seeking to promote the common good by prayer and example.

Express our Christian faith in work and leisure; in the life of our neighbourhood and nation; in our concern for the peoples of the world and the future of the earth.

Dedicate our personal gifts and talents to Christ in the service of the Church and the community.

Give generously for the work of the Church at home and overseas, and for other charitable causes.

Support Christian values, especially relating to marriage, children, family, neighbours and community.

George Carey, Archbishop of Canterbury David Hope, Archbishop of York

Congratulations to Doreen! On 6 November, Bishop Clive confirmed Doreen Nightingale together with people from other churches in the Deanery. Confirmation is the service where we declare our faith, making for ourselves the promises that our parents and godparents made for us at our baptism if we were baptised as babies, or ‘confirming’ promises we may have made ourselves as adults. Preparing for confirmation gives us the chance to think through with others what our faith means to use, and how it helps us to live more fully. Anyone over the age of 10 ¾ who’s a regular worshipper at church can prepare to be confirmed. The next opportunities are on 26 March and 3 December next year, so you’ve got time to think about it! If you’d like to know more, please talk to me or Rev’d Ness – or ask Doreen what it’s all about!

Rev’d Nick Watson

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What’s on in… December

1 Thursday 10.45am Funeral of Edna Williams

2 Friday 7.00pm ExtraCare charity fashion show in church

3 Saturday 10.30am Church Christmas Fair

4 Sunday Advent 2

8.00am 10.15am

4.30pm 6.30pm

Holy Communion (said) Family Eucharist with Junior Church Holy Baptism Taizé-style worship

5 Monday 2.00pm ‘Hands of Friendship’ group in St Thomas Centre

6 Tuesday 9.15am 1.30pm 7.30pm

Tom’s Tots meet in St Thomas Centre St Thomas’ School Carol Service Shared Leadership Team meet at the Rectory

7 Wednesday 10.45am 12.30pm

1.30pm 7.30pm

Bible Study in Church (following 10am communion) Charities Trustees’ meeting in St Thomas Room St Thomas’ School Carol Service Bible Study in Church

8 Thursday 1.30pm Perry Hall Primary School Carol Service

11 Sunday Advent 3

8.00am 10.15am

4.30pm

Holy Communion (said) Family Eucharist with Junior Church Christingle Service

12 Monday 7.30pm Mindfulness and Meditation in St Thomas Centre

13 Tuesday 9.15am 1.30pm 3.45pm 7.30pm

Tom’s Tots meet in St Thomas Centre Young Ones Day Nursery Nativity Service Wodensfield Primary School Christingle Service Ashmore Park Choir Christmas Concert

15 Thursday 7.00pm Coppice Performing Arts College Christmas Concert (time tbc)

17 Saturday 1.00pm Marriage of Stephanie Harrison and Samuel Bond

18 Sunday Advent 4

8.00am 10.15am

6.30pm

Holy Communion (said) Family Eucharist with Junior Church Christmas Carol Service

21 Wednesday 7.00pm Choir singing carols at Sainsbury’s – come and join in!

24 Saturday 4.30pm 11.30pm

Christmas Crib Service First Eucharist of Christmas

25 Sunday Christmas Day

10.15am 6.30pm

Parish Christmas Eucharist No evening service

30 Friday No parish office this evening

31 Tuesday 8.00pm New Year’s Eve party

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What’s on in… January

1 Sunday Christmas 1

10.15am 6.30pm

Family Eucharist for the New Year No evening service

8 Sunday Epiphany

8.00am 10.15am 4.30pm 6.30pm

Holy Communion (said) Family Eucharist with Junior Church Holy Baptism Holy Communion

9 Monday 2.00pm Hand of Friendship group meets in St Thomas Centre

10 Tuesday 9.15am 7.30pm

Tom’s Tots meet in St Thomas Centre Worship Committee meet at the Rectory

11 Wednesday 7.15pm Mothers’ Union Annual Meeting and Eucharist in Church

12 Thursday 7.00pm Wednesfield in Bloom meeting in St Thomas Centre

15 Sunday Epiphany 2

8.00am 10.15am 6.30pm

Holy Communion (said) Family Eucharist with Junior Church Evening Worship with prayers for healing

17 Tuesday 9.15am Tom’s Tots meet in St Thomas Centre

18 Wednesday 10.45am 7.30pm

Bible Study in church (following 10am communion) Bible Study in church

19 Thursday 7.30pm Mindfulness and Meditation in St Thomas Centre

22 Sunday Epiphany 3

8.00am 10.15am 6.30pm

Holy Communion (said) Family Eucharist with Junior Church Evening Worship and prayer for Christian Unity

24 Tuesday 9.15am Tom’s Tots meet in St Thomas Centre

29 Sunday Candlemas

8.00am 10.00am 6.30pm

Holy Communion (said) Parish Eucharist Evening Praise ‘Light of the World’

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Mental illness - making a taboo subject normal

One of the most intriguing stories I think I have ever read in the gospels is one in Mark’s gospel where we are told that Jesus met a man who lived among tombs and spent his days howling and self-harming. (Mark 5). He had been restrained with chains and shackles but had broken them apart and lived on the outskirts of society; out of control and alone.

It doesn’t take much imagination to figure out that the man is mentally unwell, and suffering from a number of conditions, which he names ‘Legion - for we are many.’

His state of mind is obvious and loud. Yet we know that not all mental illnesses are as obvious. There are many forms of mental illness - one site I looked at while writing this article named 32, including stress and loneliness. And we know that many people suffer from it at some time in their lives; approximately 1 in 5 adults in the U.S. - 43.8 million - experience mental illness in a given year.

So, it’s as common as a cold, yet its hidden, unspoken of and taboo. We might be mistaken for thinking that this is the only story in the gospels about mental illness. But if we think about the people who came to Jesus for physical healing, and think about what this would have meant for them socially and emotionally, there are very few who would not have been suffering mentally. One such person, I believe, is the paralysed man whose friends lowered him through the roof to see Jesus (Luke 5 verse 17). Instead of saying, ‘You’re cured,’ Jesus said, ‘You are forgiven.’ I don’t believe that God makes people unwell as punishment for sins, and neither do I believe that having a mental illness makes you unclean. But I do wonder if the paralysed man had done something that was troubling him, which affected him physically - and Jesus’ words were what he needed to hear.

So what do these stories tell us about mental illness? Well, after the man among the tombs was cured he wanted to stay with Jesus. But Jesus sent him back to his home town. Perhaps there’s something to be said about returning to former things. Perhaps returning home also says something about mental health being right there, under our noses. But how would his people remember him? As a madman, or as the young man that had brothers or a wife or a job? ‘We are Legion for we are many.’ We are many things to many people and mental illness does not define the whole of a person; in fact, it doesn’t define the person at all.

But perhaps there’s something to be said about using our experiences to help others - sharing enough, but not all. Saying ‘I get you’ is, perhaps, enough to get us talking and make a taboo subject normal.

And just as there are many forms of mental illness, so there are many ways to show love. Some of us are good at talking and encouraging, others at doing things for people, others at sending messages.

Jesus told the paralysed man to ‘get up and walk.’ Just putting one step in front of another is enough for him to do, enough of a challenge. To keep going. Perhaps, then, a way to help those with mental health is to do what the paralysed man’s friends did - carry him when he needed it, and walk with him when he didn’t.

Rev’d Ness

Do you remember the ASB?

If you’ve been worshipping in the Church of England for a long time, you may remember the changes in worship which came through the 1960s and 1970s, leading to the publication of the ‘Alternative Service Book’ in 1980.

This book, which included all the services then in regular use in the Church of England, readings, psalms and more, was intended to be temporary, and initially was only authorised for use in church until 1990. Soon the church authorities realised it needed a bit longer, and so it was reauthorized until 2000. That’s when it was replaced by ‘Common Worship’ – not a single book, but a whole set of books and other resources which are now the basis on which individual churches plan their own worship.

Since 2000, the ASB has no longer been ‘legal’ for use in worship. It does, though, contain a lot of things which we may still treasure. For example, I was ordained using the service in this book, and its words still mean a lot to me. You may have been baptised, confirmed or married using these services.

We still have at the back of church a set of ASB books. We’re not allowed to use them in church worship, and it seems wrong to keep them. So if you’d like one, please take one! Ask one of the wardens or clergy. At the end of December we’ll dispose of any that are left, so please take one if you’d find it helpful for your own prayers .

Rev’d Nick Watson

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Christian Aid News

Celebrating Jesus, the light who came into the world, at Christmas we fill our homes with light and laughter, family and friends. But for more than 65 million people who are fleeing from conflict and crises a joyful home is a distant memory. Forced out by the darkness of violence and fear, they're searching for safety and refuge.

Angelique, Celestin and Georgette are just three of the millions who need our help this Christmas.

Angelique was forced from her home and all that was secure in her life. Captured from her house in a small village in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Angelique was repeatedly raped by armed men. But that was nowhere near the end of her ordeal. Because she had been raped, her husband rejected her. Angelique was homeless and abandoned to darkness.

In his 16 years as a priest in the DRC, Celestin has witnessed more darkness than most. He’s seen his own bishop killed by armed groups, and nine other priests slain in front of him.

Celestin had to flee – but now his ministry brings the light of Christ to others who’ve been forced to escape from horrific violence. He is now a priest in a relatively safe community – so it's become a sanctuary to many distressed survivors of violence. Local host families show extraordinary generosity and kindness to newcomers, but their few resources are often already stretched. There is hope beyond the darkness of violence.

In November 2014, Georgette was captured by armed men, held captive and raped for four days. Fleeing for her life, she and her family found some solace living in a host household. Georgette was given support by our partner Sarcaf to buy and sell cassava flour. This helped her get back on her feet and pay for three of her children to go to school. She has also received psychological support to work through her horrific experience. However, the family continue to face poverty and hunger. Help to bring light to families like Georgette’s who are escaping darkness.

We can bring a little light into the darkness at this time by supporting Christian Aid’s Christmas Appeal, which focuses on the needs of victims of violence such as these. As in the past, appeal envelopes will be available from Sunday 18

th December.

Please take one and return it with your gift to one of the Christmas or New Year services.

On a lighter note, don ’t forget to let me have your Winter Quiz entries by December 10th and come along

to the Ashmore Park Choir Christmas Concert on Tuesday 13th December when the names of prizewinners

will be announced.

Finally, keep the evening of Friday 10th February free. That’s the date of our next unmissable Quiz

Evening at the Goodyear Pavilion.

Roger Poole

Looking for a Christmas gift that will last all year? Why not buy a Wednesfield Calendar!

£6 each or two for £10 Available from: St Thomas’ Church (open most mornings 9-12) and Newstop (Wednesfield High Street) All profits will go towards maintenance of the church

Wednesfield Calendar 2017

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Bishop Michael’s First Address to Diocesan Synod

Diocesan Synod is the Church of England’s equivalent of a County Council – representatives of the Deaneries get together to pray and discuss issues affecting the whole Diocese of Lichfield. At the last meeting, on 5 November, Bishop Michael set out his vision for the Diocese as he gets used to being our bishop. The whole address is available to read or hear on the Diocesan website (Lichfield.anglican.org) – these are just the headings and a few quotes to give you a feel for it!

Growing Together: A Midlands Diocese I am a Midlander – though from the east, not the west – and I rejoice to be back in the Midlands. It irritates me when people underrate this part of England, because it is the Midlands that hold our country together, and they are neither mediocre nor boring as people sometimes suggest. We here in Lichfield are in a region of remarkable variety, creativity and opportunity – a great representative slice of England, with some very dramatic bits at the edges, including some slivers of Wales. And we are called to mirror this landscape in our life together as a diocese.

Working Across Boundaries: A Mercian Diocese Mercia was Mercen-rice, the kingdom of the borderlands (‘the marches’). Historians are not absolutely sure which borderlands those were, but certainly boundaries run through this diocese.

Boundaries are important because they define places, but for Christians who serve the universal Kingdom of God they must not become barriers. Cutting across all geographical boundaries, the aftermath of the Referendum on EU membership revealed deep divisions within our society, and our work of Transforming Communities must take on board the need to build bridges across difference.

So I want us to foster and sustain a culture where clergy, lay ministers and the whole people of God expect to work collaboratively and generously together, while maintaining the distinctive calling and gifts of each ministry.

Walking in Faith: St Chad’s Diocese Chad’s holy and humble witness is threaded through the landscape, history and spirituality of this land. Think of leadership in this diocese, and you have to think first of him.

We do not really know what Chad’s strategy for mission was, though given the lasting results of his work it must have been effective; but we do know the pattern of discipleship he embodied, and the cultural change it made among the pagan Mercians of his time. I do not yet know what a strategy for mission in the Diocese of Lichfield for our own time will look like, but I do know the culture of discipleship within which it needs to be set. That will be a relational culture, where we all are prepared to travel far to get to know, to encourage and support one another. It will be a hospitable culture, where we are not afraid to welcome one another, to trust one another, to be enriched by one another. And it will be a prayerful culture. All we undertake together must be soaked in prayer, for our only strength comes from God’s grace. And any leadership that I or my fellow bishops can offer to you must always be a leadership which comes from our own followership of Jesus.

Bible Study

In our monthly bible discussion groups we’re looking together at some of Jesus’ miracles. We meet at 10.45am (after the morning communion service – why not come to that first?) and at 7.30pm. We’ll discuss the same text in the morning and evening, so come to whichever is easier for you.

Wednesday 7th December – We’ll read the familiar stories of Jesus’ birth

from Matthew 1:18-2:12 and Luke 1:26-38 and 2:1-20. We tend to think of both accounts together, in the usual ‘Nativity Play’ story. So we’ll take a bit of time to look at them separately and compare them. What does each of them tell us about Jesus, and about the meaning of Christmas?

We’ll decide January’s passage for discussion at the December meeting - and we’ll get together on Wednesday 18th January to look at it. Any suggestions to me or Rev’d Ness please!

What to bring… Just your usual Bible and an open mind! Don’t worry if you’ve never taken part in discussing the Bible before – all questions and thoughts are welcome!

Rev’d Nick

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Tuesdays 9.15-11.15am school term time

Tom’s Tots is our baby and toddler group, which meets in the St Thomas Centre. We have a lovely ever-increasing group of families coming along to play, chat and do crafts too!

If you are a parent/carer of pre-school children why not come along - or perhaps you have friends or neighbours who might be interested? We ask for £1 per family, including drink and snack, and other refreshments are on sale.

And new helpers are always appreciated! For more details call 01902 731462.

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Mindfulness and Meditation Time to be still and rest - 20 minutes of non-religious ‘mindfulness’ or awareness meditation, a short break and 20 minutes of Christian meditation. Feel free to leave after the first part if you prefer; we offer this as a gift to all in our community, whether or not you consider yourself to be a Christian.

Sessions in the St Thomas Centre, led by Rev’d Nick Watson - for more details, call 01902 731 462.

7.30-8.30 pm, Monday 12th December and Thursday 19th January

May they rest in peace and rise in glory. This is an unusual article, but it’s been an unusual month and a hard one for St Thomas’. We have commended to God’s care three of our church family who have been at the heart of the congregation for many years, and it seems right to mention them. The text of the addresses I gave at their funerals will be available on the ‘Church magazine’ page of the church website for anyone who would like to read them in full.

RIP Joe Blackmoor Even in the later stages of his life, during which I have known him, Joe was a large and genial presence at St Thomas’. Always in the back seats he and Jack Turner had occupied when they served as churchwardens together (Joe from 1994-2003), Joe was a gentleman and a gentle man.

With Vi through the happy years of their married life, Joe gave help and encouragement to others – through his work, through Probus and through Church – or just through giving someone a lift or a bit of quiet help. He loved music, loved God and loved people.

The main reading at Joe’s funeral was from Philippians 4:4-9. Let’s take Joe’s positive approach to life and his joy in the world, and in his memory obey St Paul’s command to ‘rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice.’

Rev’d Nick Watson

RIP Shirley Arnold Shirley was part of a close and loving family which has long been at the heart of St Thomas’. Her funeral brought together her own ‘natural’ family and the wider church family of which she was and of which so many of the family remain very much a part. In particular, the Mothers’ Union gathered to commend to God’s care one of their own.

Shirley and her brothers and sisters were unusually close, the more so since the death of her husband Dennis and of her in-laws. After almost 50 years together and then recent years apart, we rejoice to know that they are reunited in God’s love. Shirley was a private and quiet person in public, and a lover of peace and harmony.

Shirley had also chosen for her funeral words from Philippians – 3:14-4:6. Within that reading is the call to work for unity and peace between one another; in her memory let’s do that.

Rev’d Nick Watson RIP Edna Williams Edna passed away on 6

th. November. She was a well-loved member of St Thomas’s Church for more than

30 years. Following her working life spent in the Ear, Nose and Throat Department of the Royal Hospital, Wolverhampton, she involved herself in many aspects of church life – welcoming new people, flower-arranging, distribution of the church magazine, coffee mornings, as well as taking people to hospital for appointments. She took on the supervision of Bereavement Visitors, a system very much appreciated by our local doctors. Unfortunately, ill-health stopped her in her last couple of years and she missed being useful to people who needed her help. R.I.P. Edna.

Margaret Carroll

The death of those we have loved as a church hurts, however deeply we believe in the resurrection to eternal life. But we rejoice to know that we are still united with our brother and sisters in the life and love of God. To Him be glory forever.

Rev’d Nick Watson

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You are invited to St Thomas’ Church

New Year’s Eve Party 8 ‘til late In the St Thomas Centre

Bring food to share, and bring your own drinks.

And if you’d like to, bring along your favourite CD and a board or card game!

Please sign up in the St Thomas Room.

Offering the hand of friendship

Our social group is aimed at anyone who likes a chat and a cuppa. We provide the cuppa, you bring your friendship. This is an opportunity to get out of the house for a couple of hours, a chance to catch up with old friends and to make new friends, an opportunity to share and care about each other.

We meet on the first Monday of each month, from 2pm until 4pm in the St Thomas Centre. Future dates are:

Monday 9 January

Monday 6 February

Everyone will be made most welcome.

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From the registers Holy Baptism

‘Shine as a light in the world, to the glory of God the Father’

30 October Amy Louise and Jamie Lee Stephenson, adult children of Dawn Harrison and Andrew Stephenson

6 November Olivia Mae Lee, daughter of Katie Evans and Kyle Lee

Kendall Ann Louise Blewitt, daughter of Kimberley Evans and Craig Blewitt

Rory William Bowen, son of Fiona and Joseph Bowen

Abel Lucas James Gill, son of Stephanie Wilkinson and Alexander Gill

Confirmation

‘Confirm, O Lord, your servant with your Holy Spirit’

6 November at St Mary’s Church, Bushbury – Doreen Nightingale

Marriage

‘Those whom God has joined, let no-one put asunder.’

1 October Kellyanne Davenport and Adam Barnett

26 October Natalie Richards and Jack White

Funerals

‘God will show us the path of life; in his presence is the fullness of joy.’ (Psalm 16:10)

7 October Gaynor Maiden (57)

18 October Raymond Chambers (81)

26 October Alfred Alexander (88)

27 October June Horden (77)

1 November Mavis Harrop (88)

2 November Betty Lavender (83)

4 November Robert Senior (89)

9 November Tony Westwood (75)

10 November Joseph Blackmoor (90)

Sheila Aston (83)

11 November Shirley Arnold (81)

15 November Charles Holbeach (81)

23 November Lillian Porter (79)

30 November James Shenton (89)

Graham Meredith (71)

1 December Edna Williams (91) In Memoriam

In loving memory of our much loved husband and

father, David Richards.

In loving memory of Joe Blackmore From Kath

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Do you have friends or family in New Cross Hospital? Why not send them a

request?

Ring - (01902) 695099 and ask to be put through to Radio Wulfrun

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Log on - www.radiowulfrun.co.uk

Write - Radio Wulfrun c/o New Cross Hospital

Wolverhampton WV10 OQP

Text - 07807 539789

If your Group would like us to mention any event "on air", please contact us with details.

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Top quality local meats including our own Free Range Pork

Fresh Fruit and Veg Home-made cakes

Our famous Carvery Roast every Sunday

Monthly Thursday suppers 6.30 - 8.30

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Sundays

Tearoom 11-3 Tuesday - Sunday

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st. thomas’ church, wednesfield church news...5 the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness...

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