This Sunday - Advent series continues

Last Sunday we began an Advent series, taking our inspiration from the Truro-born ‘festival of nine lessons and carols’. Over the coming weeks we will work our way slowly through the wonderfully rich prologue of John’s Gospel, which is the climactic ninth lesson in this famous service.

This Sunday is also the first Sunday of Advent and we will be lighting the first of our advent candles as we think about waiting, both for the celebration of Jesus’ first coming and His second coming in glory. Sunday Club and Sunday Youth are running again. Refreshments will be served before and after the service and our livestream will also be broadcast. After the service there will also be a cake sale to raise money for the postage costs of the Operation Christmas Child shoe boxes. Thank you to all who took part in donating/packing this year, the forty-seven boxes will soon be collected to be sent abroad. Any contributions of cake for the table also gratefully received.

Wreath making event - this Saturday

Last chance to book onto our wreath-making evening! Designed to bring guests to, this relaxed and enjoyable event will include a wreath-making demonstration, time to create your own beautiful wreath, and a short interview with a Christian about what Christmas means to them. Mulled wine and sweet and savoury canapes will be served, and materials to make the wreaths will be provided. Tickets are £15 and can be bought on the church website or by clicking the image above.

In order to provide the materials for people to make wreaths, we’d be very grateful for any contributions of greenery that you might have growing at home. We are looking for: Fir, Pine, Spruce, Cedar, Yew, Box, Privet, Bay, Rosemary, Eucalyptus, Euonymus, Other variegated leaves, Laurel, Ivy. Please contact Grace, Heather or Hanna if you can offer something.

Women’s Breakfast, Saturday 3rd December, 8:30am

Join us for our last Women’s Breakfast of the year. Christmas can often trigger a wide range of emotions! So right at the start of the festive season, we will take some time together to reflect on the true hope of Christmas and discover in the Psalms what brings true ‘Joy to the World’.

Click on the image above to book a place, all dietary requirements catered for.

CAP Christmas Appeal -

A reminder that any donations of supermarket vouchers and/or hampers would be greatly appreciated by CAP. These can be handed in to the Church Office and the closing date is 1st December.

A reminder about the Thanksgiving Service for Ann Amos here at St Kea, All Hallows, on Monday 28th November at 2:30pm.

Day of Prayer and Thanksgiving

As we come to the end of another year our PCC has decided to hold 24hrs of prayer and thanksgiving. We know next year will be challenging for many people with the cost of living and we know 2023 will be challenging for us a church, not least financially. (You can find out more about our finances just below).

However, when our PCC met last week we talked about many different causes of thanksgiving including financial thanksgiving. Our deficit for 2022 is significant, but much smaller that we had feared at one point.

In Philippians we are encouraged to…“Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God”. So from 8am on Friday 9th December into Saturday 10th December we are asking if people will commit themselves to prayer for one hour.

This is being organised by Sian Goddard and Jenny Stevenson, do contact them to sign up for a slot - their details are on Church Suite. Click on the link below to find an FAQ for the event.

Everything we do is funded by you

We are really grateful for the regular giving support of our church family, especially as the cost of living rises and we face increasing calls on our finances. Even though times are tough, we really need your help because our planned regular giving in October was £870 less than a year ago – that’s equivalent to more than £10,400 over a full year! As you know, we run a tight ship and have already frozen all non-essential spending to make sure we can cover the cost of our staff and clergy, keep heating and lighting our buildings, and support the vital ministries – such as Christians Against Poverty - funded from our central pot.

To give you an idea of the gap between our income and expenditure, here’s a snapshot of how things stood at the end of October:

October              First ten months

Income                                £17,865               £182,519

Expenditure                       £21,532               £204,945

Surplus/(deficit)               (£3,667)               (£22,426)

Some generous new givers have already signed up with the Parish Giving Scheme and will start their giving partnership with St Kea/Christ Church next month. Thank you! But this really is a team effort, so if you are new to our church and are in a position to help, might you too consider partnering with us financially? And if you are already a church member, is there any chance you could increase your giving a little, or contact the Parish Giving Scheme on 0333 002 1260 and ask to set your giving to increase automatically by inflation each year?

We thank you all for your generosity and support at this time. We shall update you all again next month.

Weekly Prayer Points

This week’s prayer points:

1. Pray for the wreath making event this Saturday. Pray that it will be a relaxed, fun evening and that guests will respond well to the interview.

2. Please pray Christ Church (formerly St Kea Truro) to be rejoicing in Jesus as they gather to pray this week, have a lunch event next Sunday and as they invite people to their Christmas services.

3. Please pray for Compassion UK. They say that what sets them apart is that they are - Christ Centred, Church Based and Child Focused. Pray that they continue to successfully find sponsors for the many children that they help.

Don't forget you can find information about our church events on the ChurchSuite calendar. Click the image above to navigate there.