SUNDAY 10th June
St Michael’s 8.00 am – Holy Communion
St Michael’s 10.30 am – Sung Eucharist
St Michael’s 12.30 pm – Baptism
St Mary’s 10.30 am – Sung Eucharist
WEDNESDAY 13th June
St Mary’s 9.30 am – Holy Communion
THURSDAY 14th June
St Michael’s 12.30 pm – Holy Communion
FRIDAY 15th June
St Mary’s 9.30 am – Holy Communion
SATURDAY 16th June
St Mary’s 8.30 am – Holy Communion
SUNDAY 17th June
St Michael’s 8.00 am – Holy Communion
St Michael’s 10.30 am – Sung Eucharist
St Mary’s 10.30 am – Sung Eucharist
Parish office,135 st. mary street. SO14 1NX Tel: 023 8033 0851
http://www.southamptonchurches.com; email: admin@sccpcofe.co.uk
office open monday – friday 9am to 5pm closed for lunch 12.30 – 1.30. The office is closed all day every tuesday and we would appreciate no visitors on this day
CONFIRMATION COURSE: 7 – 8 pm Wednesday at the Parish Office, 135 St Mary Street. Open to all, not just to those who wish to be confirmed.
PARISH OUTING TO THE ISLE OF WIGHT: SATURDAY, JUNE 16th. Pickup at St Mary’s 9.00, St Michael’s 9.15. Return 6.30 Cowes ferry. The eucharist at St Mary’s on that Saturday will start earlier at 8.30 am for any who wish to attend.
EVERY FRIDAY MORNING AT ST MARY’S: 10.00 am – 12.00 noon COFFEE MORNING; 10.30 am BIBLE STUDY
SUPERMARKET VOUCHERS FOR SCHOOLS: If anyone is collecting vouchers for schools from Tesco, Sainsbury etc., please consider giving them to St Mary’s school. They make a big difference to the equipment we can get for the children. Please bring any vouchers to either church and we will pass them on to St Mary’s school. Fr Steve
JUBILEE CHORAL EVENSONG: ST MARY’S on 24th JUNE at 5.00 PM. This evensong will feature music from the Coronation of Her Majesty the Queen and will offer our thanksgiving for the last sixty years.
SERVICE OF ANOINTING FOR HEALING: The next Service of Anointing for Healing will be on Monday, 18th June at 12.00 at St Mary’s. Please feel free to stay for tea/coffee after the service.
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 13th: “LIVING WITH DEMENTIA – A JOURNEY”. An evening offering information and shared experience for people affected by this condition in themselves or those around them. Above Bar Church, 7.30pm. For more information contact SCFT, 023 8021 6003
THE 4C’s CLUB: CRAFT - CHAT - COFFEE - CAKE. The Parish Office main room will be open on Fridays, from 2 – 4 pm, for the 4C’s Club. Bring along your knitting needles, crochet, cross stitch or any hobby that you enjoy doing. You can even bring your library book and join us for coffee and a chat. Please see Hazel or Marion for more details.
CHRISTIAN AID: Many thanks to all those who gave donations in Christian Aid Week (£419.58) and to Rosemary and Ruth for running the very successful plant sale (£265.35) – a grand total of £684.93, plus another £87 which can be added as Gift Aid.
To hear stories of inspiration and hope that this money will bring, all are invited to the event below (see also notices in the churches): Loretta Minghella, Director of Christian Aid Speaking at the 11am Eucharist, Sunday 24th June Winchester Cathedral. Bring a picnic for lunch in the Dean’s garden afterwards!
STEADFAST in PRAYER
In the beginning…
A sex education DVD I show in school shows a microscopic sperm reaching the egg to form a baby and a voice-over says “This is called conception. Here you see the winning sperm breaking into the egg. This is what happened when you were made. And because you’ve been made from a winning sperm, that makes all of you winners too… from the start!”. It sounds cheesy but the children love the sentiment – it usually causes a smile.
For Christians, we can be born of the Holy Spirit. God has given us a Spirit that longs for what we cannot see and brings us the gifts of love, worship and faith to our souls. These gifts often take a lifetime to live out and we often don’t notice them unless we pay attention to the Spirit – through prayer, listening to the Bible and giving in acts of charity. We are all part of God’s family and should support each other in our faith – having the grace to recognise we are all winners.
In the end…
The finals! Jesse Jay a coach on The Voice (a TV show in which competitors sang to win a recording contract) stated: ‘You have to believe you are a winner, before you are a winner.’
God has already won spiritual life for us. God believes in us more than we believe in God. For Christians, no matter how old and wrinkly we get, the Spirit within us is renewed day by day, even when we cannot feel it.
Because God has sowed and planted and given life to the seed even though it may be overgrown and hidden, it will never be destroyed or extinguished completely: it will grow and shine, gleam and burn. It will never cease to turn towards God. (Origen)
Revd Becky
