February Magazine

February Services at Ansley Churches

  5th February

Candlemas

St John’s 10.30 a.m. Morning Worship
12th February

2nd before Lent

St Laurence’s 10.30 a.m. Morning Worship
19th February

1st before Lent

St John’s 10.30 a.m. Morning Worship
22nd February

Ash Wednesday

St Laurence’s  7.30 p.m. Holy Communion
26th February

Lent 1

St Laurence’s 10.30 a.m. Morning Worship

From the Registers

Interment of Ashes

The ashes of Jean Thorpe were interred on 12th January into the grave where those of her husband had been placed on 1st December 2022.  Sadly Jean died on 2nd December, the day after the interment of her husband Brian’s ashes.  We extend our condolences to Jean and Brian’s family and friends at such a sad time.

Ash Wednesday

There will be a Holy Communion service on Wednesday 22nd February at 7.30 p.m. at St Laurence.  This will be a Joint Benefice Service for Ansley and Arley

World Day of Prayer

This year’s service will be on Friday 3rd March at 10.30 a.m. in St John’s Hall, lead by Brenda Cart.  It has been devised by Christians living in Taiwan.  The theme is taken from Ephesians 1:15-19 and has the title, “I have heard about your faith.”  There will be an opportunity to share in the service and light refreshments will be served.  It has been very interesting over the years to hear about the Christian church in other countries.

Prayer Meeting

The next meeting will be at St John’s Hall on February 21st at 2 p.m.  Sue Pearson will lead this meeting.  You are welcome to come along, listen and/or join in as you wish.

Open Church

The church will be open to visitors for private prayer or a time of reflection each Tuesday 11.00 a.m. to 4.00 p.m. from March to November and each Sunday 12.00 a.m. to 6.00 p.m. from June to September.

Ansley Tots in Ansley Church Village Hall

The organisers of this new group were delighted that they had 13 families with14 babies at their first meeting in Ansley Village Church Hall.  The group will be meeting again on Monday 6th February at 10.30 a.m. and the first Monday of the month thereafter.  Please contact Emma by email at e.j.jackson@hotmail.com for information.

Seventeenth Christmas Tree Festival 2022

It was good to be able to hold a ‘normal’ festival this year. Right from the start things ran smoothly. All the trees were booked, including several by new individuals, groups or organisations.

When the trees arrived on the 28th November they looked so impressive, all a lovely shape with plenty of rich green branches.

Many people commented on the originality of the tree titles and the variety of things used for the decorations. Many hours were spent by lots of people making intricate objects that went onto different trees.

The church was a hive of activity during the week of preparation with people and groups coming to do their ‘bit’. For many it was several years since they had had the opportunity to meet in church.

One tree much commented on was titled ‘Peace in Ukraine’. The people who had booked it were unable to do the decorating due to a mix up of dates. However there were two people from Ukraine staying locally, and they made the decorations for that tree.

It was good to welcome Jess, Jo & Richard for their concert of traditional English music on the last Saturday. For the past two years we had missed gathering in church for this pre-Christmas event, so it was greatly enjoyed this time.

We also welcomed again the children and parents from the local ARC and Nursery Hill Primary Schools for their respective end of term carols and nativity readings.

As in past years we had some very encouraging comments in our visitors book i.e. ‘Tree-mendous!!’, ‘Fantastic!’ and ‘Stunning’, ‘Amazing-hard work and brilliant’, ‘Lovely atmosphere’.

By the end of the event a total of £2371 had been raised of which £600 has been sent to the Mary Anne Evans Hospice and a further £96 given to the churchyard fund from the Remembrance Tree stars.

The cake that was raffled was won by a lady known as “P” who was delighted.

It is estimated that nearly 1000 different people entered the church during the event. It was good that we were able to welcome each and every one of them.

Thank you to the many people involved in putting this event together, providing support during it and clearing up at the end.

With God’s good grace we had another wonderful festival.

From the PCC

Interregnum:  The meeting of PCC members from the Parishes of Ansley, Old and New Arley, Fillongley and Corley took place on 21st January.  The conversations went well, with some positive outcomes, which it should be possible to share with congregations on Sunday 5th February

Finance:  When the theft took place at the Harvest Service, a Lay reader told us that God would bless us.  In January the minister of Nuneaton Community Church said that no one can take anything from God.  They were both right.  We have been given a very generous donation by that community church.  We are very grateful and thank God for this.

Energy Saving at St Laurence

As this magazine was being prepared two services had been held in the Annexe.  Do remember that the annexe has storage heaters.  They have been adjusted to provide warmth for the Sunday service.  If you have felt cold please let us know so the settings can be adjusted.

We are continuing to monitor the costs of gas and electricity in all our buildings and especially in the halls following the increase in hire charges.

Churchyard:  On Monday 20th February, from 9.00 a.m. onwards, we will be clearing the Christmas wreaths from the churchyard to ensure it is ready for mowing.  Any help on this  day would be greatly appreciated.  At the same time we will be carrying out the annual safety check on the gravestones. Two gravestones have fallen this winter. It is our responsibility to keep all visitors safe by taping off any stones that are unsafe.  Every effort is made to contact families when this is necessary so that suitable repairs can be made.

Annexe:  We are very grateful to Debbie Smith for the generous donation of an electric piano.  This will be placed in the Annexe and will prove very useful now that we are holding some winter services there.

Ansley Village Church Hall:  The PCC are very hopeful that the water collecting on the road in front of the hall will soon be dealt with.  The new traffic calming chicane caused the problem and we understand that the County Council are arranging works to solve the problem in early February.

The PCC is aware that the Hall Committee has not been able to meet as it did before the pandemic.  Issues are arising that need to be addressed, so the PCC agreed that the Hall Committee should be reformed.  This committee will be answerable to the PCC.  It seems to be a good opportunity to invite some of the local community to become involved, bringing ideas and recommendations to enable the hall to meet the needs of users, both now and into the future.

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Prayer Requests

If you would like someone or a particular situation to be remembered in prayer, please make contact by email or phone one of the following.

Margaret Antill          018 2787 4520

Margaret Oliver         014 5582 2822

Diana Kealey            024 7639 5089