Churches March 2023

Special Service

Mothering Sunday: 19th March at 10am - Holy Communion. 

Flowers will be distributed during the service.

Weekday Services and Events

Wednesday 22nd March at 10am - Holy Communion which will be followed by coffee.

PCC Meeting

The next meeting of the PCC is Wednesday 8th March at 6.30pm in St. Helen's Meeting Room.

St Helen's Contact Details

Vicar: Audrey McCartan  708806

audreymccartan@btinternet.com

Website: www.achurchnearyou.com

Wardens: David Pringle  788283 (Treasurer)

Stephen Gibson

Back to top

For our other group meetings, please see the Group Activities sections.

Visitors are always very welcome to all our events.

Contact Ian Pagan 788263 idpagan@btinternet.com

Website: www.longhorsleymission.org.uk

Back to top

Thought for the month

BBC, The Repair Shop…

Watching treasured possessions being restored to usefulness, or to their original beauty, and the emotional response of their owners on seeing them repaired is heartwarming. In the hands of skilled craftspeople even the most broken objects are put back together; a piece of shattered porcelain intact again, the repair invisible; furry childhood friends once more bright eyed, washed and huggable, that missing smile sewn back on. 

Often the owners don't want perfection; the worn teddy, an old radio or tattered flying helmet are their history, an intrinsic part of who they are, a past to be remembered when life moves on. Balding fur, dents and wear, a reflection of a life lived, and unique to that life.

I love to watch the patience of the restorers. Piece by piece, they dismantle precious items, understanding how fragile the materials are. With firm but gentle persuasion, knowing just how much pressure to apply without breaking it, a resistant piece is removed, then painstakingly cleaned, never with harsh chemicals or abrasives, but with gentle methods and solutions, cotton buds and patience, until every speck of dirt or corrosion is gone. Heirlooms are polished and oiled, paintwork refreshed, old leather softened, fragile material strengthened, missing parts replaced, then, piece by piece, put back together to make a new version of the old.

Each craftsman, skilled in their expertise, know the inner workings of the objects in their hands, and the love and care which they put into each repair is evident. Their reward, to see the restoration complete and the joy it brings.

You can probably see where I'm going on this. God made man. He therefore knows our inner workings. You only have to look around to see how damaged mankind is, how far we are from God's original creation. We try and make clumsy repairs but they rarely last and often just create damage somewhere else. We are not the experts, God is. He can and does restore us if we come to his repair shop. He knows we are fragile, he sees how broken we are, and can fix us. Jesus while on earth mended broken bodies; by his sacrifice he cleaned us up, removing the dirt and corrosive effects of sin. Through him we can be a new, properly functioning, beautiful version of our old selves, fully restored to God.

Lesley Smith, Longhorsley Mission

Back to top