Team Service at St Mary’s on Sunday 16 October at 6pm
St Luke’s feast day is 18 October. As a way of marking St Luke and his original profession the Team Service
at St Mary’s on Sunday 16 October at 6pm will centre around the theme of Healing and Wholeness.
This will be a quiet, meditative service with opportunity to explore, in different parts of the church,
this particular expression of God’s love for us. Everyone is most welcome.
Fairford Fireworks
5 November in Fairford Park
 Gates open at 6pm
Children £2; Adults £4;
Family Ticket £10 (2 adults, 3 children)
Tickets available from PTA, 7A and The Deli
Proceeds to Fairford Primary School and St Mary’s Church. Supported by Flying Start Nursery.
Café Church
Sunday 2nd October & Sunday 6th November 4.00 to 5.30 pm in the United Church, Milton Street.
 Please join us and
meet friends, play games, talk about issues, hear stories, do crafts, have informal worship & food.
We welcome anyone –any age!
For more information contact Joanne Roberts on 01285 711386.
Organised by Churches Together Around Fairford.
Charity of the Month: October
ABF The Soldier’s Charity
The charity for October, new to St Mary’s, was billed as the Army Benevolent Fund but in 2010 the charity was
rebranded ABF The Soldier’s Charity, the most important development for a decade. The name demonstrates that support
given is based more to the soldier and less to the Army. Over the year more than 4000 soldiers, former soldiers and
their families have been helped financially and with other support. The charity has set itself the goal of increasing
income to match increasing demand. Great value is placed in working in partnership with other service charities including
SSAFA Forces Help, the British Legion, also Help For Heroes; the latter funds grants to many serving soldiers who have been wounded.
There are many events throughout the year; for example the British Military Tournament at Earls Court, the new
‘The Soldier’s Challenge’ (an urban physical adventure event in London) and the Big Curry campaign help to raise funds.
If you can help in anyway please pop a donation into the box by the south door. There is literature by the south wall.
Further information is available from ABF The Soldier’s Charity, HQ Garrison Support Unit,
Ward Barracks, Bulford Camp, SALISBURY Wilts SP4 9NA. Tel: 01980 672337.
Web soldierscharity.org.
Previous Charity Fundraising
Recent collections for charities have included £22.52 for Mission to Seafarers (July) and £54.77 for
Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, the August charity. To both of these amounts the PCC will add further monies.
Christian Meditation Group
Our Christian Meditation Group resumes on 8th November and every Tuesday at 4pm in the Parish room of St Thomas of Canterbury
Catholic Church, Fairford. This is an ecumenical group and all are welcome: beginners to meditation, ‘old-timers’, the merely curious!
We’d love you to join us - why not taste and see if this form of prayer might be for you?
Christian meditation is an ancient form of prayer; rooted in the Gospel and St Paul, it was taught by St John Cassian and the 4th
century Desert Fathers. Meditation, also known as contemplative prayer, seeks God in the silence and stillness beyond word and thought.
Rediscovered by the Benedictine monk, John Main, this prayer tradition is very relevant for contemporary men and women today in our
busy and noisy world. The one hour meeting includes quiet music, a short taped talk on meditation or a reading, a period of silent
meditation and time for shared reflection and/or questions.
For further information contact 01285 713696/ email.
|
Bible in Flowers & St Mary’s Café - Results
The combination of a magnificent flower event and a Café/Draw have once again produced spectacular results.
The Bible in Flowers weekend drew in visitors from far and wide, then the Café fed and watered them - and sold ALL
the raffle tickets to boot! The totals taken were as follows:
Grand Draw £1,344.81
St Mary’s Caféé £1,356.80
Bible in Flowers Donations £1,131.20
Total £3,832.81
Obviously this all took a lot of organisation and hard work by Heather and Alison, Barbara and Becky; they were all supported
by many other people, to whom we are also very grateful, but without the efforts of these four expert fundraisers St Mary’s
would be almost £4,000 poorer.
Christmas Coffee Morning
Bring & Buy Sale
Christmas Draw (1st Prize £100, 2nd £50, 3rd £25 plus others)
on Saturday, 10 December, 10am-12 noon
This will be the last event to raise money for St Mary’s Church funds in 2011. Please write the date in your diary –
come and meet your friends for a pre-Christmas coffee and chat. The Draw will take place at 12 o’clock; tickets will be on
sale from early October – please try to sell some tickets for us.
Please also help by providing items for the Bring & Buy stall – including cakes and produce but no jumble please – and for the
Bottle Stall. Items can be left with Eric Graham in the Community Centre from Monday, 5 December.
Messy Space, Sat 15th October
2.00 – 4.00 p.m. Fairford Community Centre
Adults and Children (recommended 4 years upwards)— £2 per child (max. £5 per family)
Season Tickets available – speak to Joanne Roberts or Maureen Partington
A project of Churches Together Around Fairford.
Fairford WI
Vauxhall Motors of Cirencester must be thanked for a wonderful evening on Sept 6th, which included learning about
motoring laws from the community police, to trying on 3D glasses. There was also instruction, from checking oil
and tyre pressures to how to change a tyre. Refreshments were served and we all enjoyed it so much we ran over time.
At our Wednesday meeting, Pam Clements talked on unusual accessories. She had a vast array of items and held us
spellbound with her entertaining talk. Pat Harwood won the competition for an unusual accessory with a lovely miniature sewing kit.
The Palmer Hall Rep, Pat Stevens, raised a magnificent £300 for the halls 75th anniversary. Thanks were given to the W.I.
for their help stewarding at the horticultural tent at the Traction rally.
Future trips include a visit to the BBC ‘Good Food Guide’ show, Waddesdon Manor at Christmas and the Wyvern show ‘Crazy for you’.
Our October meeting is our Harvest supper, with a talk by Bill King, on The Home Front. In keeping with the theme the
competition will be a wartime recipe. Don’t forget your cutlery etc. Do come and join us, new members are always welcome, ph 01285711373.
|
