Events in Holy Week

The church will be open during the day throughout Holy Week to allow space time for prayer and reflection. Do come along and see the display of Easter Gardens made by St Andrew’s Infant School telling the Easter story.

Easter Egg Quiz Trail – Over Holy Week there will be an Easter Egg quiz trail around the church and grounds open to everyone. Collect your answer sheet from the back of church or print one from our website (click here for link), and follow the clues around church to find out more about the Easter Story. Bring your answer sheet along to our Worship for All service at 10am on Good Friday and collect your Egg prize!

There will be 3 short reflective services on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday at 7.30pm. Why not take some time out to stop, be still and reflect on the meaning of Easter.

On Maundy Thursday at 7.30pm there will be a service of Holy Communion with foot washing followed by the stripping of the altar and a vigil. Before the service there will be a light supper from 6.30pm, do join us if you are able.

Good Friday Worship for All at 10am will explore the Easter Story with creative prayer, Easter Songs, an interactive talk and lots of Eggs! All are welcome!

An Hour at The Cross on Good Friday at 2pm is a quiet reflective service.

Easter Sunday Holy Communion at 10am is a service to celebrate Easter. Do join us, all are welcome!

“What a difference a week can make in politics” the saying goes. What a difference a week away from the garden can make, I say!  I returned from a week’s holiday to find my grass, which I’d cut the Friday before we left, looking like it hadn’t been mowed for a month. It wasn’t just my garden either, the grass in the churchyard seemed to have suddenly become a wild meadow, all within two weeks of the contractor cutting it. Now the gardeners out there will know that a wet period, followed by a warm sunny period, is the perfect scenario to give plants, flowers and yes grass, a massive growth spurt and last week certainly provided that.

It reminded me of a story of a four-year old telling his Grandma “ I know where God lives” Grandma’s curiosity made her ask “where’s that?” The little boy responded by saying “he lives in the woods, Grandad showed me”. Later that night she asked her husband “what have you been telling our grandson? He tells me you have shown him where God lives” Her husband chuckled and said “As we walked through the wood, we were making footprints on the ground, and I told him that even though we can’t see God, we can see the things he’s done. The animals, trees, grass and rivers are like God’s footprints.  

The writer of Psalm 147 also pointed to the evidence for God within our creation saying “Sing to the Lord with thanksgiving. He covers the skies with clouds; he supplies the earth with rain and makes the grass grow on the hills. Praise the Lord” . Maybe as we look at the length of the grass at this time of year, and the fact it’s growing so quickly, we should see it as God’s footprints and praise the Lord for his goodness!

Nick Tooby
Churchwarden

Church Opening

The church is now open for live worship every Sunday and for private prayer on Thursdays. Due to limited seating, places may be reserved by contacting Julie on a first come, first served basis. As before, we urge you if you have an invitation not to forget and if you are suddenly unable to attend to let us know at the earliest possible moment. Face masks continue to be required. If you see anyone not wearing a face mask, it is because they have medical exemption. We are not allowing any other exception. It is imperative the rules are strictly adhered to. This means gelling hands immediately upon arrival, taking your pew straight away as directed by the steward including whether to sit by the wall or the aisle; not moving from your place at any point during the service; and leaving promptly afterwards. To reserve a seat please contact Julie at administrator@standrews-eg.org.uk or 07756 918847.

After booking a seat, if you find that you are unable to attend a service please inform one of the churchwardens so that it can be offered to another person.

Holiday

The parish administrator, Julie Crow, will be on holiday from Thursday 3rd – 13th June. Any urgent queries should be addressed to one of the churchwardens whose phone numbers are provided at the end of the bulletin.

Bulletins this Friday and next week will only be available on the church website and Facebook page until the week beginning 14th June when an emailed bulletin will resume.

Sunday service is now fully booked for 13th June. Please email Julie if you wish to reserve a seat for the service on 20th June. There are still spaces available for the Children’s service this Sunday, see information below.

Recruitment of Volunteers at St Andrew’s and St Andy’s

We would like to highlight that all church volunteers must be safely recruited and some volunteers are also required to undergo a DBS check and complete safeguarding modules. This isn’t St Andrew’s being picky, it is a legal requirement stipulated by the diocese for every volunteer role.

As lockdown eases, we must now be vigilant and ensure all the necessary checks are completed.

If you are a church volunteer and have not yet been safely recruited, please contact Julie (Parish Administrator) at administrator@standrews-eg.org.uk or Linda Chylinski (Parish Safeguarding Officer) at onelindilou@gmail.com to arrange for this to be completed.

All members of the PCC must ensure that they complete Parish Safeguarding module C0 (Basic safeguarding Awareness) which is available online.

Visit to Pontesbury

Greg & Fran are inviting members of St Andrew’s to a Thanksgiving service on Monday 21st June at 7pm. The service will be held at St George’s in Pontesbury.

The three available arrival times are 2.30pm for the full guided tour; 6pm for buffet or 7pm for service. If you would like to attend please confirm to Julie or one of the churchwardens by Friday 18th June.

You will need to make your own arrangements to travel to and from Pontesbury.

Dogs in Churchyard

Due to an increasing amount of dog fouling in the churchyard we must ask dog owners to keep their dogs on a lead and ensure that any poop is bagged and binned.

Help Needed for an English Conversation Class

Are you a native English speaker? St Andy’s have started running a conversation class for refugees and asylum seekers in the Tile Hill area. We need volunteers to help run the conversation class on Wednesdays, 11.15am-12, currently meeting on Zoom. All you need is to be able to speak English and love God! If you are interested, please contact Sue Best (susanbest369@btinternet.com/07837488721).

Building our Faith (Wednesdays)

Our zoom Bible study continues this Wednesday at 7.30pm. The theme is The Holy Spirit and all are welcome to join us.

The zoom access codes are:

Meeting ID: 812 4505 0020  Passcode: 295068

The zoom access codes are available from Sue Masters on 07958 322026.

Youth Work

We are looking to safer recruit volunteers for our Youth work. If you feel you could help with either the Drama Club, Rock Solid or the Youth Wellbeing course then please get in touch with Emma at standrewscovyouth@gmail.com

Foodbank Donations (Fridays)

To donate to Central foodbank, Sue Barnes is coordinating this so please contact her to drop off food at her house. Contact Sue at susanbarnes1960@outlook.com

If you are unable to give food you can also donate online here: https://www.trusselltrust.org/rddonate-checkout/

Sunday Coffee Gathering (Fridays)

The access codes for the 11.15am Sunday gathering are:

Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88959758216?pwd=RXJ2SWdWNW5DMlhKOXJsak1GUzRCdz09

Meeting ID: 889 5975 8216 Passcode: 504896

Please Pray

Please pray for St Andrew’s as work continues to take place in the process of finding a new vicar.

Do send Julie your favourite bible verses or hymn verses, names for prayer and any birthdays, celebrations or articles for inclusion in the bulletin. Julie can be contacted on 07756 918847 or administrator@standrews-eg.org.uk

Church Contacts

Churchwardens: Nick Tooby – 07951 925772 and Becky Crowe – 07875 552518

Parish Administrator: Julie Crow – 07756 918847