May Services at Ansley Churches
| 1st May
Easter 3 |
St John’s | 10.30 a.m. | Morning Worship |
| 8th May
Easter 4 |
St Laurence’s | 10.30 a.m. | Morning Worship
|
| 15th May
Easter 5 |
St John’s | 7.00 p.m. | Morning Worship |
| 22nd May
Easter 6 |
St Laurence’s | 10.30 a.m. | Morning Worship
|
| 26th May
Ascension Day |
St John’s | 7.00 p.m. | Special Service |
| 29th May
After Ascension |
St John’s | 10.30 a.m. | Songs of Praise |
From the Registers
Baptisms
On Sunday 24th April the first two baptisms since the start of the pandemic were held at St Laurence.
Emerson Stanley James Ingram (whose baptism had been planned for April 2020) and Rosie Elizabeth Ward were baptised. We welcome them into the church community and pray for them and their families.
At a recent meeting of the PCC it was agreed that a New Members Service would be held on Sunday 25th September. We will be inviting babies and children who have been baptised this year plus their families and friends to join us at this service.
Wedding
Bethany Shannahan and Daniel Smith were married at St Laurence on Tuesday 12th April.
Their wedding had originally been planned for April 2021 and it was the first at St Laurence since Covid–19. Fortunately the weather stayed dry for them. It was lovely to hear the church bells ring out in celebration after the service, The groom’s parents were able to join in the ringing. We wish Bethany and Daniel much happiness in their future life together.
Funeral
The funeral has taken place of Mrs Evelyn Camm on Thursday 24th March on a bright spring day at St Laurence’s Church, Ansley. Evelyn lived to be 82 and for the majority of her life ws in very good health. She lived in the Nuneaton area all her life, having been born and married in Stockingford, before moving to Greenmoor Road and then to Chapel End in the mid 1970s where she raised her three children. Evelyn was very happily married to Tony for over 30 years until his untimely death aged 58 in 1992. Evelyn worked at George Eliot Hospital for over 25 years.
The service was led by John Hitchcock, who kindly stepped in when the Reverend Paul Rich contracted Covid just hours before the service was due to take place. Reverend Rich is the father in law of Evelyn’s eldest son. Following a beautiful service, Evelyn was laid to rest with Tony at Bucks Hill Cemetery.
Evelyn worshipped at St Laurence in her later years. She is very sadly missed by her three children, her daughters in law, grandchildren and great grand children, other close family members and by many close friends and neighbours.
Ascension Day – Thursday 26th May
This year the joint Benefice service will be held at St John’s at 7.00 p.m. This service will be led by the members of the Girls’ Brigade who have met at St John’s for some years now on Thursday evenings. This will be the first service in which they have participated since the start of the pandemic.
Lent Collection
This amounted to £260 which has been sent to Water Aid, a charity we have supported for many years.
Disasters Emergency Committee Appeal for Ukraine
A collection plate for this appeal for the people of Ukraine will be in church over the next few weeks.
The church will continue to be open on Tuesdays from 11.00 a.m. to 4.00 p.m. for prayer and contemplation for Ukraine.
Holy Week and Easter
It was so good to be able to have our usual Maundy Thursday supper and communion service at St John’s. We also welcomed members of the Wesley Hall Methodist chapel from Old Arley.
The sun shone on Easter Day when we welcomed over 40 people to our Easter Day Communion service at St Laurence. The church had been decorated with many daffodils and other spring flowers. The usual Easter lilies, donated by firends of the church from Birchley Heath, were on the altar. We thank the donors for this contribution. We are pleased to have welcomed some new residents of the parish to recent services.
Interregnum
An applicant came for interview but decided that the post was not for him. The vacancy will be re-advertised by the diocese. This will not incur an extra cost as the four parishes had agreed at the outset to pay a premium so that future advertisements would be included. Please continue to pray that the search for a vicar may be successful.
Tea Dance at Wesley Hall Methodist Chapel, Old Arley
This will be held on Saturday 7th May from 3.00 p.m. to 5.00 p.m. in aid of their Building Fund. Tickets cost £10.
The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee
This will be celebrated during the extended bank holiday weekend from Thursday 2nd June to Sunday 5th June. The PCC has agreed that the 2000 history display will be set out around the church, including additional items and some from the last twenty years. The church will be open from 11.00 a.m. to 4.00 p.m. on the Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Do come along and find out about the history of this area. Light refreshments will be available in the Annexe on these days.
A Jubilee Social will be held on Friday 3rd June in St John’s Hall at Ansley Common. More details will be circulated.
The Sunday service on 5th June will be at 10.30 a.m. in St John’s. The church will also be represented at the Big Lunch that is being organised by Ansley Parish Council from 12 noon to 6.00 p.m. in the Recreation Ground in Ansley Village.
If you are able to help for a few hours on any of these days do please let us know. Your time will be greatly appreciated.
PCC APCM Report – next month.
Fabric
On Easter Bank Holiday Monday a group of people led by Dennis Price, a member of Ansley Village Art Group, met to paint the North Aisle of the church, much of which had been replastered in 2009. This long awaited project had been planned for Easter 2020 but had for obvious reasons been delayed. The paint had been stored behind the organ for the last two years.
A scaffolding tower had been borrowed which enabled safe access to the higher parts of the walls. The team of volunteers set to and by the end of the day most of the painting had been completed. On the Tuesday the finishing touches were done and and a start made on returning everything that had been cleared from the area. The whole church was then cleaned on the Wednesday. We hope you will agree that it looks much better. Thank you so much to everyone who helped with this work.
We hope that before too long we will be able to paint the rest of the church. Access to the nave ceiling will be an issue to tackle. Hopefully the cost of the paint will not increase too much. A specialist lime based paint has to be used that is suitable for old buildings such as our church.
Magazine
This year some local businesses have withdrawn from advertising in this publication. It has been decided by the PCC to remove one sheet of A4 paper from the magazine e.g two sides of advertisements and two sides from the insert. The printer has not increased the cost of publishing for many years so it was decided not to decrease his payment. These decisions will be reviewed if circumstances change in the future.
Flower Festival Forward Planning
As with so many items the price of flowers is rising and buying imported flowers increases our carbon footprint. Therefore it has been decided that we should try to grow more flowers for the festival this year in our own gardens. If you have some space and would be happy to put in and grow on bedding plants, please contact Margaret Antill on 07788917822. If the plants oblige by flowering at the right time, the flowers will be used in our displays.
Prayer Requests
If you would like someone or a particular situation remembered in prayer during this time of disruption, please make contact by email or phone one of the following.
Margaret Antill 018 2787 4520
Margaret Oliver 014 5582 2822
Moreen Freestone 024 7638 1833
Diana Kealey 024 7639 5089