St Augustine's Parish Church News
Locking, August 2019
Dear Friends,
This week I have had the privilege of having
a student from Churchill School with me for work experience.
It’s been a very good time and she has shadowed me on
visits to people in their homes, in a care home to take Communion
and to pre-school. Casey has been with me for Christianity
Explored and for a wedding and Messy Church. It’s been
a week full of different experiences. I have also learned
a lot and it’s been good to chat with her.
So many people write off young people these
days. When did you last sit and chat with a young person –
your own child or grandchild or a neighbour or family member?
We might well be surprised at what they say. I asked Casey
to write down her thoughts on how she sees the world and the
future – she says I can share it with you.
‘It’s
a big beautiful world, with cruel and dreadful people. Everywhere
we go and everything we do can affect the way we see things.
Young, innocent and vulnerable children are being brought
into a world where people think it is okay to act on things
with violence. It’s unfair that they will grow up not
knowing what peace and comfort is as the world is slowly and
definitely becoming chaotic. Each day, one by one the hope
for this planet is quickly burning out, like a fire. It’s
damaging to us physically and mentally to have to fear what’s
going to happen next, Not knowing the consequences and circumstances
to certain situations, Not knowing who or what could be gone
in an instant. People are just like weather. You never know
how or when it will change but you know that one day it will.
It’s frightening that every single person on this planet
no matter who or where you are will lose someone important
to them, not being able to laugh and smile with that person
ever again. We are all aware of tragedies such as death but
we all still seem to take people and things for granted. Sometimes
we get so involved in our own dramas and fixed on the problems
we have that we never really take the time to appreciate what
we have whilst it’s still here. We are blinded by our
own happiness and success that we forget that other people
are suffering and in need of help too. Thousands of innocent
people are dealing with serious mental health issues at such
a young age due to the loss of someone close to them. Teenagers
especially find it difficult and challenging to say or express
their grief and sadness, making them distance themselves from
the people they feel safe and protected around. Time is precious
and should be treasured because in one moment or second everything
could be different or could be gone. We should pay more attention
to the people we care for and love because one day deep down
we will regret not doing so. We need to be more thankful and
grateful towards the people that have raised us, supported
us and provided for us. Once we appreciate the love and blessings
we already have then that is all the happiness we will ever
need.’
Such wise words from such a young person. I
pray it will spur you on to reflect on them and to listen
to the words of young people in your lives.
Have a great summer!
Bless you
See Notice Board
for What's On this week
Calendar of Events
over the next few weeks.
Church Tower and Bells
Restoration Project
Click Here for Events
this month in Locking
Board Games Galore
Sunday 18th August 3.00pm - 6.00pm
St Augustine's Chruch Centre
All Welcome. Individuals and families.
Bring your own favourite board game or table top game to play
Many games available. Refreshments provided
Service in the Park
Sunday 25th August - 10am in Locking Park.
Summer open air service - come and
sing your favourite hymns in the great outdoors. If you
have a hymn or worship song you would like please contact
Anne o
After the service there will be a BBQ in the
Vicarage garden.
All are welcome to come along.
Songs of Praise
with refreshments
Sunday 1st September 10.00am
The Show Marquee
St Mary's Field Hutton
All Welcome
Harvest Supper
Saturday 14th September 7pm
in Locking Church Centre
All are welcome
Please ring the Benefice Office 01934 822857 to register your
place
Harvest Celebration Service
for all the family
Sunday 15th September at 10am in church
Please bring non-perishable food items to
church which
will be donated to Somewhere to Go in Weston-super-Mare
Men's Breakfast
You are warmly invited to a Men’s Breakfast
Saturday 5th October 9.00am at
St Augustine’s Church Centre, Locking.
Bring a friend! All men welcome.
LITTLE ARK TODDLER GROUP
We meet on Wednesday afternoons from 1.30 to 3.00 pm in the
Church Centre in term-time.
We have lots of toys there including some lovely new ones
we have recently purchased and activity tables
where the toddlers (and their carers!) can have fun with play
dough or other craft activities.
We like to sing as well and our vicar Anne comes to tell us
a Bible story.
We look forward to welcoming some new members so do join us
for a chat, play and cup of tea/coffee.
Any help from Mums or Carers to go on a Rota once a month
would be welcome.
This would just involve putting out the toys and doing the
drinks etc. For information contact Gail on 07818 677635.
FAIRTRADE COFFEE MORNING
The Fairtrade Coffee Morning - The Mustard Seed- is held
in Hutton Village Hall each Wednesday morning from 1000-1200.
There is a variety of Fairtrade Goods on sale as well as the
sale of Fairtrade drinks and home made cakes to eat.
It is a good time of fellowship and an opportunity to meet
people too. Members of both Hutton and Locking church attend.
BAPTISM
Baptism is a very special occasion when a
person is publicly welcomed into the
church and makes a commitment to the Christian way of life
(either by parents / sponsors on their behalf or if the
person is old enough, bythemselves), where sins are washed
away and the Holy Spirit is at work in the person’s
life
in a special and personal way. Have you had a time when God
was at work in your life in a special way? Would you like
to share your ?
Perhaps you are thinking about baptism - either
for yourself or your child.
Give Rev Anne Wilkins a ring on 01934 823556.
CHURCH CENTRE HALL BOOKINGS
Large Hall with kitchens - Small Hall - Green Room
Click Here for more information about
booking the Church Centre
Lay Pastoral Assistants [LPA’s]
St Augustines Locking has 4 Lay Pastoral Assistants.
They form a pastoral team who care for people in the parish.
Each person has been fully trained and appointed by the Bishop
to do this work. This enables us to be out in the community
making visits and showing God’s love in a practical
way. All visits are confidential and we hope that you will
pass on this information to neighbours who you feel may benefit
from a chat with one of us. Contact Rev Anne Wilkins on 01934
823556 if you would like someone to contact you.
Favourite Sayings
Remember - it takes half as many muscles in
your face to smile than it does to frown!
Thoughts
If we could Shrink the World
If we could shrink the earth to a village with
a population of precisely 100 people with all the existing
human ratios remaining the same, there would be...
57 Asians
21 Europeans
14 from the Western Hemisphere, both North and South
8 Africans
52 would be female
48 would be male
70 would be non-Christian
30 would be Christian
70 would be non-white
30 would be white
89 would be heterosexual
11 would be homosexual
6 people would possess 59% of the entire world's
wealth
80 would live in sub-standard housing
70 would be unable to read
50 would suffer from malnutrition
1 would be near death
1 would be near birth
1 (yes only 1) would have a college education
1 would own a computer
When we consider our world from such a compressed
perspective, the need for acceptance, understanding and education
becomes glaringly apparent.
It you have never experienced the danger of
battle, the loneliness of imprisonment, the agony of torture
or the pangs of starvation - you are ahead of 500 million
people in the world.
If you can attend a church meeting without fear,
harassment, arrest, torture or death you are more blessed
than three billion people in the world.
If you have food in the refrigerator, clothes
on your back, a roof overhead and a place to sleep - you are
richer than 75% of the world.
If you have money in the bank, in your wallet
and spare change in a dish somewhere - you are among the top
8% of the worlds wealthy.
(Found at the Eden Project)
Humour
Give me a sense of humour, Lord, Give me the
grace to see a joke,
To get some humour out of life, And pass it on to other folk.
A little boy was attending his first wedding.
After the service, his cousin asked him, “How many women
can a man marry?” “Sixteen,” the boy responded
at once. His cousin was amazed that he had an answer so quickly.
“Why do you say that?” “Easy,” the
little boy said. “All you have to do is add it up, like
the minister said, 4 better, 4 worse, 4 richer, 4 poorer.”
Deliver us
I had been teaching my three-year-old daughter
the Lord's Prayer. Then one evening at bedtime she attempted
it solo. I listened with pride, as she carefully annunciate
every word, right up until the end of the prayer. 'Lead us
not into temptation', she prayed, ' but deliver us some e-mail.
Amen'.
One liners
Give God what's right - not what's left.
Man's way leads to a hopeless end - God's way
leads to an endless hope.
A lot of kneeling will keep you in good standing.
To be almost saved is to be totally lost.
When praying, don't give God instructions -just
report for duty.
Bibles that are falling apart are usually owned
by people who aren't.
Know your Ten Commandments
Henry, who was very elderly, was unhappy because
he had lost his favourite hat. Instead of buying a new one,
he decided he would go to church and steal one out of the
entrance porch when the worshippers were busy praying.
When Henry arrived at the church an usher intercepted
him at the door and took him to a pew where he had to sit
and listen to the entire sermon on 'The Ten Commandments.'
After the service, Henry met the vicar in the
vestibule doorway, shook his hand vigorously, and told him,'I
want to thank you Father for saving my soul today. I came
to church to steal a hat and after hearing your sermon on
the 10 Commandments I decided against it'.
The vicar answered, 'You mean the commandment
'Thou shalt not steal' changed your mind?' 'No; retorted Henry,
'the one about adultery did. As soon as you said that, I remembered
where I had left my old hat.
Extracts from church notices and newsletters
(not Crosslinks!)
This afternoon there will be a meeting in the
south and north ends of the church. Children will be baptised
at both ends.
For those of you who have children and don't know it, we have
a nursery downstairs.
Weight watchers will meet at 7.30pm at the church. Please
use the large double door at the side entrance.
Eight new choir robes are currently needed, due to the addition
of several new members and the deterioration of some of the
older ones.
Don't let worry kill you. Let the church help.
This evening at 7pm there will be a hymnsing
in the park across from the church. Bring a blanket and come
prepared to sin.
At the evening service tonight, the sermon topic will be "What
is Hell?".
Come early and listen to the choir practice.
The Minister unveiled the church's new donations campaign
last Sunday:
"I upped my Pledge - Up Yours".
Thursday night - Potluck Supper. Prayer and medication to
follow.
Remember in prayer the many who are sick of our church and
community.
Tuesday at 4PM there will be an ice cream social. All ladies
giving milk will please come early.
Wednesday, the Ladies Liturgy Society will meet. Mrs. Jones
will sing "Put Me In My Little Bed" accompanied by the organist.
Thursday at 5PM there will be a meeting of the Little Mothers
Club. All wishing to become Little Mothers, please see the
minister in his private study.
This being Easter Sunday, we will ask Mrs. Lewis to come forward
and lay an egg on the altar.
The service will close with "Little Drops of Water". One of
the ladies will start (quietly) and the rest of the congregation
will join in.
Next Sunday, a special collection will be taken to defray
the cost of the new carpet. All those wishing to do something
on the new carpet will come forward and get a piece of paper.
The ladies of the church have cast off clothing of every kind
and they may be seen in the church hall Friday.
A bean supper will be held on Tuesday evening in the church
hall. Music will follow.
The rosebud on the altar this morning is to announce the birth
of David Alan Belzer, the sin of Rev and Mrs. Julius Belzer.
The 1991 Spring Council Retreat will be hell May 10 and 11.
The Vicar is on vacation. Massages can be given to church
secretary.
Mrs. Johnson will be entering the hospital this week for testes.
The Senior Choir invites any member of the congregation who
enjoys sinning to join the choir.
The minister would appreciate it if the ladies
of the congregation would lend him their electric girdles
for the pancake breakfast next Sunday morning.
Hyms for all People
The Dentist's Hymn: .............................Crown
Him with Many Crowns
The Weatherman's Hymn: ....................There Shall Be
Showers of Blessings
The Contractor's Hymn: ........................The Church's
One Foundation
The Tailor's Hymn: ........................... ...Holy, Holy,
Holy
The Golfer's Hymn: .......................... ...There's a
Green Hill Far Away
The Politician's Hymn: .........................Standing on
the Promises
The Optician's Hymn: ..........................Open My Eyes
That I Might See
The Gossip's Hymn: ....................... ....Pass It On
The Electrician's Hymn: .......................Send The Light
The Shopper's Hymn: ........................ .Sweet By and
By
The Estate Agent's Hymn: ....................I've Got a Mansion,
Just Over the Hilltop
The Massage Therapists Hymn: ...........He Touched Me
The Doctor's Hymn: ............................The Great Physician
AND for those who speed on the highway -- a
few hymns:
45mph.............................God Will Take
Care of You
55mph.............................Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah
65mph.............................Nearer My God To Thee
75mph.............................Nearer Still Nearer
85mph.............................This World Is Not My Home
95mph.............................Lord, I'm Coming Home
Over 100mph....................Precious Memories
