January Magazine

January  Services at Ansley Churches

1st January

Christmas 2

No service    
8th January

Epiphany 1

St Laurence’s 10.30 a.m. Morning Worship
15th January

Epiphany 2

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

Epiphany 3

St Laurence’s 10.30 a.m. Morning Worship
29th January

Epiphany 4

St Laurence’s 10.30 a.m. Memorial Service

From the Registers

Interments

On Monday 21st November a Service of Remembrance was held in St Laurence Church for Audrey Winspeare aged 90.  Audrey was a well respected member of the village who had lived on the St Lawrence Estate for 65 years.  She had 5 children, 21 grandchildren and 26 great grand children.  It was a great tribute to her that 4 of her grandchildren and one of her great grandchildren spoke at the service.

Audrey had worked at the George Eliot and later as a classroom assistant, when she particularly helped with cooking lessons in home economics.  She was very much involved in village life, making cakes for village and church events.

During the service her cremated remains were interred in the churchyard with those of her much loved husband, Ralph.  We extend our condolences to her many family members and friends.

The ashes of Brian Thorpe were interred in a family grave on 1st December.

Energy Saving at St Laurence

If the weather is particularly cold during January or February, it has been suggested to the PCC that services could be held in the Annexe to save on energy bills.  The Memorial Service will definitely be held in the church.  If the weather is mild, the Annexe may not be needed but we hope our congregation will consider this possibility as acceptable if we do have a cold spell this winter.

Memorial Service

This annual service will be held in St Laurence Church on Sunday 29th January at 10.30 a.m. to remember loved ones.  If you would like to remember someone at this service please write the name on a list that will be in church, or ask a church member to do this for you.  Listed names will be read out during the service.  You do not have to be present at the service yourself.

Prayer Meeting

The next prayer meeting will be held at 2.00 p.m. in St John’s Hall on Tuesday 24th January.  This is an informal meeting to reflect on what is happening in the parish and to pray for people and situations as the need arises. You are very welcome to come along, whether you have been before or not.

Ansley Tots

This is a new parent/toddler group which will start meeting in Ansley Village Church Hall on Monday 9th January at 10.30 a.m.  If you would like any information about this group, please contact Emma by email at e.j.jackson@hotmail.com

Christmas Tree Festival 2022 – Interim Report after the First Weekend

Two of the early entries in the Visitors’ Book were:

“Amazing-Hard work & brilliant thought in all.”

“Stunning display of trees.  Thank you for a lovely experience!”

It was great to hold the first ‘normal’ festival since 2019.  The trees were very well shaped and a good height.  A previously booked holiday prevented two people from decorating their ‘Peace in Ukraine’ tree.  Fortunately two Ukrainians, staying with a church member, were able to decorate this tree in their country’s traditional style.

There was a steady flow of visitors over the first weekend,

The final report will be in next month’s magazine.

Schools at St Laurence

About 40 children and a good number of parents, carers and staff from Arc School Ansley used St Laurence as a performance space during their last week of term. The following message has been received from the school:

“I have been asked to pass on thanks on behalf of the school for your support in allowing us the use of the church for our ‘Smashout’ and also for joining us for the performance.  It was also very much appreciated that you offered one of our parents a space at the back of the church for individual prayer.

A small group of children from Arc School Arley were welcomed into church in  the morning on Thursday 15th December.

Children from Nursery Hill School, Ansley Common came with staff, parents, carers and grandparents to present their end of term nativity in the church.  The children behaved very well and those who spoke did exceptionally well this year, they spoke slowly and clearly for all to hear.

It was good to be able to return to pre Covid times by welcoming local schools into the church again.

Concert on Saturday 17th December – Report next month

Spurgeons Coffee Evening

A further £21 was received in support of Spurgeons just before Christmas, and has been sent to the charity.  This brings the total to £316.

St John’s Christmas Fayre

There was a steady flow of people and Marie noted that her pickles sold out.  Although the White Elephant stalls had quite a lot of items left unsold a good quantity of items had been sold during the afternoon, so these stalls were very worthwhile.  The final total was £245. Many thanks to everyone who came along and made it such a happy event.

Warwickshire & Coventry Historic Churches Trust

A cheque value £228.50 was received by our treasurer on 20th December from the organisation above.  This is the 50% of the sum raised from donations as a result of D. Kealey’s sponsored walk in September. Thank you to everyone who supported this event.

Salvation Army Clothes Bank

The income from the Clothes Bank in the car park has raised just over £40 in 2022, which is enough to pay the cost of our green bin.  Thank you to those who have recycled items in this way.

From the PCC

Interregnum: We have been advised that the joint PCCs will have a meeting with the Archdeacon on Saturday 21st January.  Please pray for this meeting as we seek to find our way forward.

Finance:

Church Lighting: We have been successful in receiving a grant of £1968 from the County Council’s Green Shoots Fund.  This is to help with the cost of changing church lighting to LED bulbs.  This work will be carried out as soon as we have permission from Coventry Diocese.  At present we have halogen bulbs in the nave and the floodlights which use more electricity than LEDs.  The halogen bulbs will require new fitting units.  Over 40 bulbs will be changed in all.  At the same time we are applying for permission to improve the lighting along the paths.  This will be a help to all who visit the churchyard in the evening.

Donation: We are very grateful to the family of Mildred Goddard who requested that donations in her memory be for the benefit of the church.  The total received was £641 which has been placed in the Fabric Fund to help keep the building in good repair.  Thank you to everyone who contributed to this sum.

Energy Use: 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.

Fabric:

Altar Frontal: An excerpt from the church magazine for April 1907 reads, “The beautiful Communion Frontal, seen for the first time on Easter Day, is the work of Mrs Heaton and a gift by her to the Church.”  The PCC have recently submitted an application to The Repair Shop for help to repair this item which was damaged accidentally some years ago.

Parish Magazine:

Thank you to everyone who distributes the church magazine each month.  The deliverers will be collecting the annual subscription of £3.60 over the coming weeks. Thank you to all who subscribe to the magazine.

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

Moreen Freestone    024 7638 1833

Margaret Oliver         014 5582 2822

Diana Kealey            024 7639 5089