September 2018 Ministerial Musings: Gratitude
September 2018 Ministerial Musings: Gratitude
September 2018 Ministerial Musings: Gratitude
Ministerial Musings
Gratitude
September comes into our life with a metaphorical hand full of gifts. At
the beginning of the month, we will have our Heritage week-end, a
splendid opportunity to show our larger community who we are and
what we possess. It will be a time of “grace”, when past, present and
future will meet in our endeavour to present our legacy, our
custodianship and our vision for tomorrow. Treasures of hand, mind
and soul born out of faith and dedication will be presented in talks,
walks, displays – words, silence, music, images bringing alive the fruits
of a rich and passionately built up heritage for a grateful posterity.
At the end of the month we will hold our Harvest festival, a time of
gratitude not just for the fruits of the Earth, but for all the blessings
and gifts of our life.
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Are we here for the gifts of our life or are we afraid of our impossible
task of reciprocating?
Jesus taught his disciples: “...by their fruits you shall know them” and
September gives us both traditional and new ways of presenting and
sharing the fruits of our life.
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May the harvest of our heritage and life be abundant in sweet and
recognizable fruits, nourishing for all and shared with gratitude and joy.
Mária
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STEWARDS
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DIARY DATES FOR AUGUST
COMMUNION SERVICE
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THANKYOU
Thank you to Dorothy Allen for the donation of £110 realised on the
occasion of her 90th Birthday Celebration.
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There are now posters and flyers ready for everyone to take and display in
various places about our action-packed Heritage Weekend from the Friday
7th – Sunday 9th September. There will be six short interesting talks and
displays on “Women Firsts” and the Suffragette /Suffragist Movements to be
held in the Chapel. The Big Schoolroom will host exhibitions on Artwork by
Noriko and other local artists; details about the End of WWI and the people
on our War Memorial and photos of people and places within a mile of
Mansfield OMH. The story of the Old Meeting House will be featured in the
afternoon as well as the chance to walk around the town on a guided tour of
places of interest.
The Mayor of Mansfield will open the weekend on Friday at 10.30am and give
a short talk about her role and afterwards, before Derek’s first series of short
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talks, the proceeds of our Jars of Grace Appeal will be presented to the
second charity for this year, “Helen’s Trust”.
On the Sunday there will be a free concert by “The Singers”, a choir of girls,
conducted by the award-winning Meryl Chambers at 3pm followed by
refreshments. We would greatly appreciate any biscuits and cakes for this
event.
Please contact all your friends to let them know what’s happening, give them
a flyer and bring them along. Details and a poster are also available on our
website and Facebook page. Please send them on to anyone who might be
interested in supporting our events.
If you have any artwork or photos for the exhibitions, please let us have
them by Friday, 31st August.
We need as many people as possible to steward and help serve tea and
coffee throughout the weekend, so please sign up on the list at the back of
Chapel. If you can only help greet our visitors for an hour, it will be most
appreciated.
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THE FOOD BANK
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Thank you for collecting your ring pulls from drinks cans for the Purple
Community Fund, a recycling project. The ring pulls are used to make a
range of handcrafted goods and the sale of these products supports
children and their families in the Philippines. If you would like to find
out more, you can visit their website p-c-f.org or ask Viv for more
details.
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DISPLACED
Alistair Hamilton
Footnote - In the 21st Century Men, Women, Children and Animals are
still being displaced.