SOUTHAMPTON DISTRICT
(Winchester, Eastleigh and Romsey Circuit)
WESSEX SYNOD
(South West Hants Group)
Wednesday 26th February
Service of Holy Communion
and Imposition of Ashes
for Ash Wednesday
7.00 p.m.
Safeguarding those at risk: To find our policies on Safeguarding Children and Vulnerable Adults, and with regard to Domestic Abuse and Violence please click here;
Our primary Safeguarding contact: safeguarding@stfrancis-valleypark.org.uk
Our Minister, Rev’d. Dr. Sarah McClelland reflected on her first impressions of our Church at our Annual Church Meeting on Sunday 7th April 2019. Click on this link to hear her comments:
Happening this week at
St. Francis’.
Our “Duty Churchwarden” until 23rd February is Alison Rhodes; Duty Warden from 24th February – 1st March is Dunni Ajayi
Note: St Francis’ School Breakfast Club (7.30 a.m. – 9.00 a.m.) &
St Francis’ After School Club (3.15 p.m. – 6.00 p.m.)
held each weekday in School Terms.
Saturday 22nd February:
Sunday 23rd February: Sunday next before Lent (Quinquagesima) 8.45 a.m.: Said Holy Communion (Rev’d. Dr. Sarah McClelland & Phil Watts); 10.00 a.m.: Parish Communion (Rev’d. Dr. Sarah McClelland & Phil Watts);
4.00 p.m.: Messy Church (Messy Church Team).
Tuesday 25th February: 8.00 a.m.- 8.30 a.m.: Morning Prayer (Northumbria Liturgy): Chapel (Please use Office Door entrance).
Wednesday 26th February: ASH WEDNESDAY 09.00 a.m. – 12.00 noon: St Francis’ Rendezvous Community Café: Large Meeting Room; All Ages most welcome – activities and crafts for all ages;
7.00 p.m.: Said Holy Communion and Imposition of Ashes for Ash Wednesday (Rev’d. Dr. Sarah McClelland)
Thursday 27th February:
Friday 28th February: 12.00 noon – 2.00 p.m.: MHA Test Valley Stay at Home Scheme Social Club and Café: Large Meeting Room
Saturday 29th February: 1.00 p.m,: Wedding Service: Nikki Roxburgh and Ian Davidson.
Sunday 1st March: First Sunday of Lent 8.45 a.m.: Said Holy Communion (Rev’d. Dr. Sarah McClelland); 10.00 a.m.: All Age Worship with Holy Baptism (Rev’d. Dr. Sarah McClelland & All Age Worship Team).
MESSY CHURCH
Craft, Activities, Refreshments, Celebration.
The fun way to do church
for all the family.
Next Session:
Theme: Rock v. Sand
(The importance of a firm foundation)
ST FRANCIS’ RENDEZVOUS
COMMUNITY CAFE
Café Open every Wednesday 9.00 a.m. – 12.00 noon. All members of the Community of all ages most welcome. Creche with toys, and craft activities for children. Community Information Point for Local Community, Health and Benefits Information.
St Francis’ Church in action: To find out more about what else we are doing through the coming year please look at our Parish Calendar and Weekly Notices pages.
What were we doing in 2018? To read about the Ministry, Mission and Witness we undertook, and how we used the Financial Resources gifted to us in 2018, please click on St Francis Annual Report 2018 – v1.0 Final
What are our strategic plans for Ministry and Mission in the coming months?
To read our latest Parish Mission Action Plan (pMAP) please click on: St Francis Valley Park – pMap 2017 – 2020 – v 2-2,
Data Protection:
To read our Data Protection Policies please click here. Please let the Parish Office know if you no longer wish us to hold your information.
To contact us:
For our contact details please clickhere.
Some of our Home Groups develop their studies around the central theme of our Sunday worship and study. Our teaching theme this week focusses on:
Sunday next before Lent:
The Transfiguration of Jesus.
Key Reading:
2 Peter, Ch. 1, vs.: 16 – 21;
Matthew, Ch. 17, vs. : 1 – 9.
We are nearing the end of the short season of “Ordinary Time” in the Church’s calendar. Historically known as Gesimatide (from the three Sundays before Ash Wednesday, named Septuagesima, Sexagesima and Quinquagesima), this is a period of transition. We move from the celebratory seasons of Christmas & Epiphany toward Lent and Holy Week, culminating in the “darkness” of Good Friday before the “light” returns on Easter Day. We begin to think more about the deeper meanings of the Gospel and the Christian faith.
In many ways this cycle of celebration and sombreness – light and gloom, reflects the cycles of human life – the highs and lows which we all experience:
For group or individual reflection:
What have been the milestone moments in your life – joyous or sad?
At the heart of the passage from 2 Peter is the recollection of an event which is pivotal to Peter’s understanding of Jesus as Messiah – God’s son, and of the truth of the Gospel Peter is reflecting on. It is an event which, with the hindsight of his thirty plus years of ministry after Jesus’s death and resurrection, was life-changing: even if transforming him from Simon the Galilean fisherman to Peter, the rock on which Jesus built His Church, took some time to fully come about, as the Gospels testify, and needed the coming of the Holy Spirit to complete.
Have there been any really life-changing, transforming events in your life?
Was God at work in these moments? Were you aware of Him then, or only later?
In Matthew’s account, while Peter, James and John experience a life-changing, transforming event on the mountain-top, Jesus is transfigured – a uniquely Biblical word. They witness Christ’s “glory”: Jesus revealed as Divine – as God, seen as an intense white light (See also John, 1) – an precursor perhaps of Jesus resurrected body.
In this moment Jesus is shown as both fulfilment of the Ten Commandments (the Jewish Law), given when Moses met with God on a mountain-top, and as successor to the prophets (bringing God’s people back to Him), represented by Elijah who also met with God on a mountain. Jesus, the Christ, who in His divinity stands above both Moses and all the Prophets, yet is the friend of sinners, and our friend if we so choose.
Where else does God affirm Jesus as His son with whom He is pleased?
Where does the Apostle John refer to “having seen Jesus’ glory” (2 Peter 1, 17)?
How might our faith be strengthened from the experience of Peter, James and John of transforming power of the transfigured Christ?
Phil
Please click here to go to all of our 2019 Lenten Course Study Material on Prayer and for a selection of recent sermons and homilies on current study topics.
Evening Study of the Book of Exodus:
During Epiphany and Lent 2020, our informal worship on 1st and 3rd Sunday evenings (@ 6.00 p.m.) will focus on a study of the Book of Exodus. To gain an overview of this important book of the Old Testament, in which God renews His Covenant with the Israelites, click on these links to watch two short videos:
Exodus Part 1: Chapters 1 – 18: The Israelites, who have settled in Egypt become enslaved and under Moses, and with God’s help, eventually flee from slavery in Egypt:
Exodus Part 2: Chapters 19 – 40: God re-establishes the Covenant He had made with Abraham, gives the Israelites a framework for living in harmony with God and each other, and commits to dwell among them in the Ark of the Covenant.
Please note: The Minister’s day off is Friday. For emergencies please contact the Duty Warden on that day.
General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR):The new data protection regulations, relating to the holding, management and use of personal data by organisations came into force on Friday 25th May 2018. St Francis’ Church takes its responsibilities under GDPR very seriously. You can read our Data Privacy Notice here. If you are a member of St Francis’ Church, or wish to remain in close contact with us, you may give us consent to hold, manage and use your personal data by downloading a Full Data Consent Form 2018 – 27-04-18 and completing and e-mailing it to us at <admin@sfvp.org.uk>.
WESSEX SYNOD
