May Services at Ansley Churches
| 7th May
Easter 5 |
St John’s | 10.30 a.m. | Holy Communion
Coronation |
| 14th May
Easter 6 |
St Laurence’s | 10.30 a.m. | Morning Worship |
| 18th May
Ascension Day |
St Wilfrid’s
Old Arley |
07.00p.m. | Special Service |
| 21st May
After Ascension Day |
St John’s | 10.30 a.m. | Morning Worship |
| 28th May
Pentecost. |
St Laurence’s | 10.30 a.m. | Morning Worship |
From the Registers
Register entries for May will be in next month’s magazine.
The Coronation of King Charles lll
There will be celebrations for the coronation in the parish, with flags and bunting on display, a Big Lunch on Ansley Recreation Ground and street parties or informal gatherings of family and friends. Thank you to the local organisers of events for this celebration.
Ansley Bell Ringers will be contributing to the celebrations by ringing the bells at St Laurence Church, Ansley between 9.00 a.m. and 10.00 a.m. on Saturday 6th May.
There will be coffee and cake after the Sunday service at St John’s to mark the Coronation.
Ascension Day
This year the Ascension Day Benefice Service will be held at St Wilfrid’s, Old Arley. The service will start at 7.30 p.m. The organisers are pleased to announce that the Midlands Brass Ensemble will be playing the hymns and music at the beginning and end of the service. Everyone from Ansley Parish will be very welcome. It will be lovely to hear the traditional Brass Band, so do tell family and friends about it.
Prayer Meeting
The date of the next Prayer Meeting is 30th May at St John’s. It is encouraging to meet and share thoughts and prayers, to listen to each other and to ponder on what is read and said.
Plant Sale at Ansley Village Church Hall.
There will be a plant sale at the hall on Sunday 28th May. A substantial number of bedding and other plants will be available. Do advertise this event to friends and family. The group organising this sale also placed and watered the colourful planters that could be seen in the village last summer. Refreshments will be available, tea, coffee and cakes.
Holy Week and Easter 2023
We had three lovely services, beginning with Maundy Thursday at St John’s. Everyone sat around the table and began with a bowl of soup, then the Communion Service was held and this was followed by most people choosing a favourite hymn. Everyone sang the first and last verses of these hymns.
Easter Sunday saw the highest number of worshippers at the church for some time. It was so special to be able to receive Communion using the chalice for the wine. We are very grateful for the donation of over seventy hot cross buns for the refreshments after the service. There were more than intended so everyone was able to enjoy as many as they wanted, while also taking some home for others to appreciate. There were none left at the end!
The evening service was special as it was the first Communion for the members of the evening congregation since the start of the pandemic three years ago.
From the PCC
We were pleased that the Reverend Steven Medley from the Leys Group Mission and Ministry Leadership team was able to attend our recent Annual Parochial Church Meeting.
The Reverend Gail Philip is recovering well from her operation but is not quite back to full working days. She will be meeting with the MMLT members in early May though.
Finance: Donations:
At the end of 2022 St John’s congregation had agreed to send some money to charities. They were not sure at that time which charities would benefit. They decided on £50 for Great Ormond Street Hospital and £50 for Cancer Research UK. The payments were sent to these charities in March, so should have been in last month’s magazine.
The annual Lent collection for Water Aid from St Laurence amounted to £150.10.
£70 has been sent to the World Day of Prayer organisation for their work.
To date St John’s congregation has raised £124 for the Disasters Emergency Committee’s Turkey/Syria earthquake appeal. The amount of St Laurence’s collection for the same cause will be notified once the collection has been completed.
Fabric: Clerestory Windows
When some plaster appeared on the floor of the church it was realised that work needed to be done to the three clerestory windows on the south wall of the nave. Permission was obtained from Coventry Diocese and, at short notice, just after Easter, our contractor brought in a scaffolding tower and managed to have the work finished in under two days. The tower enabled the task to be done much quicker than if normal scaffolding had been erected. Once closer access was possible it was discovered that the windows, last replaced in the 1990s, had been fixed in place with cement and not lime mortar. The cement sets too hard for the sandstone and then falls away causing the problem. These windows have now been refixed and are weatherproof. However, lime mortar does make an awful lot of mess and we are very grateful to the people who came in and formed a working party to give the church a good clean.
Annual Parochial Church Meeting:
Electoral Roll: The number of people on the Electoral Roll at the APCM was 57, an increase of three from last year. Although people are reminded about the Electoral Roll before the APCM takes place, it is possible to join at any time of the year. Just ask the Electoral Roll Officer, or a Churchwarden, for a form. Similarly if anyone wishes to be removed from the Electoral Roll, they can notify the Officer at any time.
- Antill and D. Kealey were elected as Churchwardens.
- Oliver and P. Rees were elected as Deputy Churchwardens.
- Truelove and P. Rees were elected as Deanery Synod Representatives for the next three years.
Linda Jackson was elected to serve as a member of the PCC.
PCC Committee members are elected on a rota, each serving for three years. The members were pleased to welcome Linda Jackson on to the committee this year.
The churchwardens would like to thank the members of the PCC for their contributions during the past year. There are so many people who contribute to the life of our church, so this seems a suitable time to say thank you to them too. It comes to quite a list and they are being noted in no particular order. Thank you to the church cleaners, the bell ringers, the helpers at events like the Flower Festival and the Christmas Tree Festival, church members who liaise with families to arrange baptisms, weddings and funerals, those who play the organ or the piano for our worship, the servers of refreshments after Sunday worship and our grass cutter, David, plus all the volunteers who keep the churchyard neat, tidy and safe for our visitors or do tasks to help maintain the building and car park.
Thank you to everyone for your prayers, help and support…
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