Lent Groups

Lent groups will be happening from Thursday 7th March for 6 weeks.

There will be 2 groups meeting: one in Morley Hayes on Thursdays at 7.30pm: the other will meet in Breadsall Church (at least initially) on Friday evenings at 8pm. We will be using a book called Cover to Cover: Who is the Christ?, copies of which should be available this week. We are meeting jointly with Morley and Smalley churches who will be our sister parishes once Kate arrives.

Electoral Roll

The electoral roll is subject to a complete renewal in 2019. All existing persons on the roll will need to apply to join the new roll, being prepared before the Annual Meeting. The closing date for applications for the new roll will be 17th March 2019.

Forms will be available in church shortly.

Appointment

The Diocese has announced the appointment of the Rev Kate Plant as Priest-in-charge of Breadsall and Morley with Smalley. Mrs Plant will take up her post in the Spring.

Please watch for confirmation and place for her licencing, and pray for her and her husband as they prepare for the move.

Extraordinary Meeting 27 January

There will be an extraordinary meeting of the church and parish to be held at the end of the Morning Service on Sunday 27th January at around 11.30 in Church. The sole item will be to vote on a proposal to extend the maximum term for Churchwarden by 1 additional year.

Christmas Card 2018

The pupils from Breadsall School again have provided the church with a difficult choice for the cover of this year’s xmas card. We finally chose the following design by Millie – watch out for the card coming through your door in the next week or so.

To all the other entrants – thank you for your entry. We intend to have them all displayed in the church for the next few weeks.

Vacancy advertised

The position of Priest-in-charge for Breadsall, Smalley and Morley has now been advertised on the Derby Diocese website. Please pray that the right person will see and respond to this advert and that an appointment can be made in the New Year.

ypig? Weekend at The Peak Centre

Last weekend, October 5th -7th, ypig? (young people interested in God) went away to the Peak Centre at Edale and had a wonderful time. Most of us travelled up by train on Friday evening, arriving at around 8pm where Claire had already unpacked the food and prepared pizzas. After all the excitement of trying to make beds and playing parachute games it was time for bed and, amazingly, quite a lot of sleep!

On Saturday a lot of rain was predicted which was a concern as we had planned a walk and other outdoor activities. However, thank you to praying friends, the weather was actually fairly good in the morning and improved throughout the day. The walk went ahead, as did the den-building in the woods and the evening campfire. Sunday morning saw us climbing the walls – literally, before packing, cleaning up and leaving.

During the course of the weekend we spent time looking at “Who is King?”, thinking about the God of Creation and his solution to our world by sending Jesus. Many thoughtful questions were asked and our prayer is that this group would draw closer to the God who loves them.

Contactless Payments

The church now has the facility to accept contactless donations. So, if you forget your wallet, envelopes or just want to make a donation using your credit or debit card, we can accept it. Please talk to the wardens. Initially, it will only be available at the main Morning Service.

Thought for the month

As I sit and write this, the sun is shining outside and there are a few daffodils and snowdrops bravely showing themselves in the garden. I have noticed the increasing sound of birds singing and their presence at the bird feeder. Today I was driving out in the Derbyshire countryside and was so thankful for the beauty all around. There are sheep out in the fields, buds appearing on the trees and shrubs, and wonderful views and vistas. We are so privileged to live where we do – and I don’t just mean Derbyshire, I mean in a country that has such diversity and richness in its nature. The weather we have determines this “green and pleasant land”. Of course we are often plagued by the weather, from localised flooding in recent times and hosepipe bans in the past and everything in-between. We hear on the news that “Today was the hottest day ever recorded”,- the wettest day, the snowiest day and so on. Our weather is always a topic of conversation. Yet there can be no doubt about it, our weather patterns seem to be changing and this thing we call “global warming” is affecting us here in the UK as it is affecting every part of the world.

During Lent this year our churches are going to be looking at how God has entrusted his world to our safekeeping and how we can make a difference for good. We can make excuses and say that whatever we do as individuals makes very little difference when we look at the big picture, but anything and everything we do does help. So whether you are cutting down on your use of plastic, recycling or upcycling, thinking of buying an electric car, flying less, growing your own vegetables, using more public transport – whatever it is, just go for it, because there is no doubt that we need to consume less and consume better in order to preserve this wonderful planet we call home.

Jane Williams

y:pig Sport Relief Challenge

The girls from y:pig successfully negotiated a challenge for Sport Relief on Friday 23rd March. Three teams of 3 took part in a 4 legged race over a short course around the village and Greenway. Here is one photo of the final team climbing the slope to the Greenway.

The girls have raised £130 so far. The winning team is shown below: