February Services at Ansley Churches
| 2nd February
Candlemas |
St John’s | 10.45 a.m. | Holy Communion
|
| 9th February
4th before Lent |
St Laurence’s | 10.30 a.m. | Morning Worship
Annexe |
| 16th February
3rd before Lent |
St John’s | 10.30 a.m. | Morning Worship
|
| 23rd February
2nd before Lent |
St Laurence’s | 10.30 a.m.
|
Holy Communion
Annexe |
From the Registers
The ashes of Anthony (Tony) Allton, who died at the age of 85, were interred in the churchyard with those of his late wife on Monday 13th January. He lived in Birchley Heath for many years. We offer our condolences to his family and friends.
It was Tony who, in April 1973 while working for Ron Morewood, discovered first the low light window in the south wall and then the one on the north side of the chancel.
These windows were covered over in 1760 when the chancel was extended, making space for the altar room and installing the original box pews in the chancel.
Candlemas at St John’s
We hope you will be able to join us for this service, the official end of the Christmas season in the church’s year.
Leading your church into growth
You are welcome to join this course at St Giles, Exhall. It begins on 11th February at 7.30 p.m. and runs for six weeks.
Two notices for early March
- The Ash Wednesday service for the Ley Group will be held at St Wilfrid’s Church at 7.00 p. m. on Wednesday 5th This service marks the beginning of Lent.
- Living Hope, a Lent course from the Church of England, will be on Tuesday evenings at 7.30, beginning on 11th The sessions will be held around the Ley Group – details next month.
World Day of Prayer 2025
The service this year comes from The Cook Islands. It will be held at St John’s, Ansley Common on Friday 7th March at 11.00 a.m. We look forward to welcoming you.
Christianity Explored – Come and meet the man who made history.
St John’s Hall, Ansley Common on Friday afternoons, 2-4pm, from
7th February for 6 weeks. Details from Janet or Andy Down.
Prayer Meeting at St John’s
The next meeting will be Tuesday 25th February at 2.00 p.m.
Christmas Tree Festival 2024 – Final Report
Well, we made it! God certainly had a hand in getting this event ready on time. With illness, injuries and other commitments our usual team was very depleted. However offers of help arrived just in time, particularly with bringing the trees into church. We are so grateful to Mark Woods for his help with this. Then there was the extra help received from others who appeared each day during preparation week, especial.lly on the Friday. To everyone – Thank you.
The first weekend approached with weather forecasts warning that the effects of Storm Darragh would be felt all over the country. We did wonder if we would have any visitors at all on the first day! However our area did not experience the full force of the storm and many people braved the strong winds and grey, gloomy skies.
The church was never empty of visitors from 11.15 to 4.45 on that day. The bright colours and the twinkling lights, along with the peaceful atmosphere inside the building, provided a strong contrast to the stark conditions outside.
The second weekend was very different the weather was ideal We certainly had a good number of visitors all the time. This number was increased by the people who came to the Hood Lane Lantern Trail. They all came into the church where carols were sang and many looked at the trees.
During the next week we have the children from the ARC School Ansley with their parents and carers for their end of term concert. The bus brought the children from Nursery Hill and parents came to see their Nativity on their last day of term. The church was full for this event.
The Christmas Cake that was raffled was won by a delighted Carole Harvey.
Our traditional Nine Lessons and Carols service brought the 19th Christmas Tree Festival to a fitting end.
Comments from two of our church members
“I had the great honour of being part of the Christmas Tree Festival at St. Laurence’s church for the first time this year.
I have to say it was absolutely spectacular, I was overwhelmed how beautiful the church looked and how much effort was put into making it look so wonderful.
This event is extremely important to the community as I’ve had a couple of friends who participated with decorating their own trees.
Each tree had a symbolic meaning I felt captured the essence of love, hope and peace.
I do know from talking to people within the community about the Christmas Tree Festival, that this is an important event that brings everyone together. I can honestly say I have never seen a church looked so beautiful and I am very proud to be a part of St Laurence’s. I do hope that this continues for many more years to come.” L.C.
“It was our absolute delight and pleasure to not only visit the Christmas Tree Festival but also take part in the preparation and also dressing one of the trees. From start to finish, it is such a wonderful community focused event with families remembering their loved ones through decorating a tree, businesses giving back to the community and local groups celebrating their year. The Festival is never complete without the amazing knitted creations and the Clangers (Bell Ringers) Tree was definitely one of my favourites.
For me, this year, the tree where we could remember loved ones and those taken too soon was really poignant and I was glad to be able to place our friend’s granddaughter’s name on this tree and also place a prayer for the family who were grieving. It is so important to remember at Christmas time that this season isn’t always a happy time for everyone and I felt that, this year, the Festival provided a great balance of celebration, joy, remembrance and prayer. Well done St. Laurence’s on yet another triumph!” J. D.
At the end of the festival we had raised £3,020 and a donation of £755 (25%) was sent to the Mary Ann Evans Hospice, for which they were extremely grateful. A further £122.45 was given for the stars on the Remembrance Tree and has been added to the Churchyard Fund.
At a rough guess it is estimated that over 1,500 people will have come through the church door from the day the trees arrived and by the time they were taken out on the 6th January.
St Laurence Churchyard
Area for the Burial of Cremated Remains (ABCR)
We are pleased to let you know that the central memorial is now complete, except for a few landscaping touches. This new area offers residents and those associated with the parish the opportunity to have somewhere to inter their loved ones ashes. The church will arrange for names and dates to be inscribed, if wished, on a shared commemorative plaque as a fitting tribute to their lives.
The area will provide a lovely haven of peace and reflection. Two benches are set within a grassed area, surrounded by the rural landscape.
Those who lost their lives as a result of the Covid Pandemic will be remembered with a special plaque. An area planted with beautiful crocus bulbs will mark the place of remembrance for the children of the Aberfan disaster on 21st October 1966. In total 144 lives were lost, 116 children and 28 adults of which 5 were junior school teachers. An area for remembrance was set up nearby after the disaster but had become overgrown as years passed by. Daffodil bulbs had been planted originally but had disappeared. The crocuses are a purple flowered variety called “Remembrance”.
It is rewarding to see the plans come to reality and our thanks go to everyone who has contributed to this project.
This area will now be known as the Memorial Garden.
History of Ansley St Laurence Flower Festival
(Continued from January 2025 magazine.)
The Voice of Flowers – Part Two
Interest grew as the year progressed. Except for a few ‘hard nuts’ of the PCC, most folk thought it could be done. The vicar (who told me years later that he’d had very cold feet about the venture) was most encouraging. He suggested that, although not everyone could do the arranging, anyone with a garden could grow a few flowers and so have a finger in the pie.
The local doctor told me he was making a point of looking at the gardens of patients before he visited them. Then, by dropping hints, he aroused their interest and often got the promise of blossoms for the Festival.
In 1961 the National Coal Board had put some ugly iron girders in the church to support the arches while they mined the coal beneath.
When our first Flower Festival week arrived, we gathered masses of evergreen and smothered the ironworks. We also wired jam jars to where we could to display flowers. This was a big job and very tiring but when done gave the church a festive air.
While some toiled in the church, others worked in the churchyard, fixing lights etc..
Many villagers cooked cakes and provided refreshments.
During the week of preparations, several families in the parish were involved in some way and every few minutes folk would arrive with arms full of flowers which they would place in buckets before having a quick look inside just to see how it was going.
Those who had promised to attempt the arrangements set to work in various states of confidence or nervousness but eventually one and all stood back and surveyed his or her work with joy. (To be continued.)
Prayer requests: If you would like someone or a particular situation rembered in prayer, please make contact by email or phone one of the numbers on the front cover.