The wonderful season of Advent is upon us this Sunday and Christmas is just a few weeks away. May I wish you much peace and joy at this time of the year for your loved ones and family and a very happy and blessed Christmas when it arrives.
My wife Cathy and I are having two Christmas drinks parties which you are welcome to attend. The first is Saturday 20th December at the Vicarage from 8pm to 10pm and the second is drinks before Midnight Communion from 9pm to 10.45pm on Christmas Eve. Please email me at tillotsons@gmail.com if you can come to both or either. Thanks. You would be warmly welcome. The Vicarage is to the left of the Church and Church hall on Church Street. This is our gift to you so please do not bring drinks or snacks with you but please let us know if you are coming so we have enough for those present.
Our Christmas Fair this Saturday from 10am to 2pm at the Church hall. Full details on this poster below.
PLEASE NOTE THERE IS AN ADVENT CAROL SERVICE THIS SUNDAY 30th NOVEMBER at 4pm. This is completely different from a Christmas Carol service as the music will be on an Advent theme (so no Christmas carols) but it is still very much worth coming along. I hope to see you there.
On Sundays in Advent I will be conducting three discussions at the church on Sunday evenings which you are most welcome to come to.
ADVENT DISCUSSIONS
ALL FROM 7.45pm to 9.15pm AT ALL SAINTS CHURCH in the SOUTH CHAPEL
Sunday 7 December
Engaging with the spirit of atheism and agnosticism
in our culture – how can I respond?
This will be a personal talk about my observations
after 20 years in the ordained ministry at changes to our society and what I
have learned from this. There will be an opportunity to have a conversation on
this topic after my initial talk.
Sunday 14 December
Finding God in doubt, suffering and searching - how
can we respond?
I have noticed that many people are a mixture of
faith and doubt, including may of us who have attended churches for many years.
In what way can doubt be a healthy side of our spirituality, and when can it be
harmful to our spirituality? Does the suffering in the world, or that we
personally experience, put us off faith in God or make us more likely to become
believers?
Sunday 21 December
Becoming the
church in the 21st century - how can the church respond?
This final evening will be an opportunity to think
creatively about the future of the church with a specific focus on All Saints.
What new ideas can we come up with to engage with people in our parish and to
attract people to the life of faith and also, we hope, participation in church
life too?
Please note I have written a number of pieces on my Blog recently. If you have not yet read them and would like to please click here:
Please also note that I will be running a course for 13 weeks from the beginning of January to the end of March on Tuesday evenings at the Vicarage. I realise this is a long time but I believe that there are a number of people who would learn from the course.
Full details are here
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