“I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.” Rev 3:20
Dear All
I hope you have had a good week. This Sunday our service will include Holy Communion.
Lent 2023
I do hope you are enjoying and being blessed by following the Purpose Driven Life book. Just a reminder that if you haven’t collected your book these are available in church, one per family. The cost of the book is £6.05 each. There is a note inside each book explaining how you can pay or make a contribution towards your book.
Daniel – Kenya
Joe has recently spoken to Daniel and writes: “I have had a phone call from Daniel this afternoon. He sends his prayers and best wishes. He is also hoping to visit again next year.
He has asked if there is any way the church might be able to help with their plight. Due to cost of living rises (everything right through to water, has gone up 2-3 x in price), plus no harvest for 8 years, they are facing huge challenges economically, with hunger, and also young people dropping out of education, either because of the cost, or because of hunger. This is on top of those who are already out of education.”
If you feel able to make a contribution to this appeal from Daniel, please do either put your money in an envelope marked “Kenya” in the offertory box or donate through the church bank account, marking up your donation with a reference of Kenya, followed by your surname(if you have a Gift Aid form in place). The closing date for donations will be 14 March, at which time we will pass the donations over to Kenya.
Kitchen and Galley
Andrea writes: “On 19th February we had about 70 people stop to lunch after church. It was encouraging as a team of helpers worked together. It was obvious we need to sort out the kitchen and galley cupboards. Monday afternoons are best as the nursery finish at lunch time.
I would like to do this on Monday 20th March at 2pm. If anyone is free to help me please let me know. Thank you Andrea”
Coronation Celebration 7th May
We are beginning to plan for this. The initial ideas are to have a Café Style service in the morning, bring a lunch and then in the afternoon an Afternoon tea and activities which we can invite friends and the local community to. If you are able to help with this in anyway or have ideas for the afternoon, please do speak to me or Andrea.
Prayer Ministry Workshop Saturday 25 March 10-11.30 am
Jill writes: “We’re going to be holding a prayer ministry workshop at Plume on Saturday 25 March from 10.00-11.30 am. It will be a practical morning to help us all have more confidence to step out in faith and pray for one another. If we remove the word ministry, we’re left with a very familiar word, prayer. And this workshop will look at what praying for each other can look like, following the New Wine model of prayer ministry and praying in the power of the Holy Spirit. We will all be praying for one another and we will all be learning together. The work of the Holy Spirit is to build and encourage the Church so that we can be more like Jesus, love each other more and serve those around us. If you’re someone who has never prayed for anyone else and would like to – or someone who used to pray for other people, or someone who does it all the time – then this is for you, no matter your age or how long you’ve been a Christian. And please pray – ask the Lord to be in this and ask the Lord to encourage you as you come to this.
For some of us, Saturday mornings don’t work. If this is you, could you please speak with one of the elders or with Jill Ball and we will arrange an alternative workshop at a time that suits most people.”
Warm Welcome Hub
The sofas and coffee tables should arrive on Monday – these have been purchased through a grant from Essex County Council.
Please do think who you might be able to invite to come along and share in coffee/tea/soup and cake and chat. Please do remember this project in your prayers and if you would like to be involved with helping on the rota or providing a cake, speak to Sue Watt.
Help on Sundays
We would like to restart having volunteers to help with the unlocking and locking up of the church buildings on a Sunday morning.
It will basically involve arriving at about 9.30am to unlock the fire doors and gates and the paddock (in consultation with the duty elder and door steward). Following the service there will be the need to ensure all doors and gates are locked, all windows closed and all lights are turned off. You would be the last person to leave the church.
If you can help with this, please do let us know by e-mailing admin@plumeavenuechurch.org.uk or speaking to Liz or Jo Barnard-Edwards.
This week
There will be prayer meetings on Wednesday and Saturday mornings at 9.30am and the Zoom details will be e-mailed early in the week. The Bible Study homegroup on Zoom will be meeting on Tuesday 14th March (not this week) at 7.30 pm as we continue the Lectio course.
With love and blessings.