19^th January 2020 – The Second Sunday of Epiphany

Welcome
St Andrew’s Church welcomes allcomers, whether this is your first time or thousandth time in church. You are welcome whatever your age, gender, marital status, disability, race or sexuality. You are welcome whether you have a deep and mature faith in Christ; are uncertain and still seeking; or have no faith. If you are new to church, please do take a welcome leaflet to be found in the pews; and do not hesitate to ask one of the welcomers if you have any queries.

Children’s Church
Children’s Church are pleased to welcome Emma back from her maternity leave. In her new role of Youth Worker she will be joining us at Children’s Church on the third Sunday each month to work with the 9+ age group. In the spring term she will be joining us this Sunday (19th January) and on 16th February. We have spaces for pre-school and primary aged children to join us for stories, games and craft.

Prayer Available
Please note that there is always someone willing to pray with you after the service about any need or concern you have. Please feel free to approach one of the prayer team direct or ask one of the clergy.

Week of Christian Unity
The programme for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity has been finalised as follows:

Do make an effort to support at least one of these gatherings. The prayer meetings will last 30 minutes and the services an hour. We need cake for both services. Please let Greg know if you are able to provide anything.

Norah Hall
We are extremely grateful to Norah, who has given a much appreciated legacy to St Andrew’s.

Holiday Club 2020
Following the success of our two previous holiday clubs, we are planning to hold this event again in 2020 on 20th, 21st & 22nd July. We need a minimum of 6 volunteers each day to help with crafts, games and serve drinks and fruit. We currently have 4 volunteers, so if you can help, even if it is only for one day, please contact Hilary on 07980 596646. A decision as to whether we can run the holiday club will be made in the new year, so please get in touch asap. You will not be expected to run any activities single handedly and full training and information will be given. At St Andrew’s we are committed to safeguarding all our children and young people, so we will safely recruit all volunteers and expect a DBS check to be completed with the help of our Safeguarding Officer.

We are now Contactless!
As we move more and more towards a society that uses plastic to pay rather than cash, we are finding people attending services who are asking if they can make their collection or give donations using a contactless bank card. I’m please to say that we are now able to meet this request, as we have a contactless card reader for St Andrew’s. If you wish to give your weekly collection or make a donation in this way, please speak to one of the Churchwardens who will help you do this. It’s quick, your privacy is protected and we can also issue a receipt to a phone or email address. We will not be making the card reader available when the collection is taken during the service. There are however, blue cards at the back of church you can use and place in the basket at the time of the collection, then use the card reader before or after the service. These blue cards are used by people who make their giving to church by Direct Debit. If you have any questions please speak to one of the Churchwardens who will be happy to help.

Parish Weekend 15^th to 17^th May 2020
Following two successful weekends we are doing it again in 2020 and would love you to join us. WHAT IS IT? A weekend away for members of St Andrew’s/St Andy’s to come together for Bible teaching, worship, prayer and fellowship. WHERE IS IT? Shallowford House, Staffordshire (about an hour’s drive from Coventry). WHO IS IT FOR? Everyone, including children. WHAT DOES IT COST? The cost is £160 per adult with reduced prices for children. If you want to know more? Speak with Sue Masters (07958322026, susanmasters@sky.com) or with Greg. Book now with a small deposit to secure your place on the weekend.

Praying Together
Our Nation is in crisis and our world is troubled. “PRAYING TOGETHER” – an opportunity to hold our community, our troubled nation and specific areas of the world in prayer will be held tonight at 6.30pm. All are welcome to join us. See members of the Prayer Ministry Team for further details.

Church Cleaning
We are looking for, hopefully, 6 volunteers to help clean the church. This means we could have 4 teams of 2, so it would only involve having to clean once a month. Denise and I would cover a five-week month. It only requires about 1 -2 hours of your time, and is an important ministry within the church. At the moment we clean on Fridays, from 10am to approx. 11.30am., but you could suit yourselves. If you are able to oblige, please have a word with me or Denise. Thank you for your consideration. Jackie Lynch.

PowerPoint
We are looking for an additional volunteer who would be willing on an occasional basis to operate the PowerPoint for the screens on Sunday morning. The volunteer would be expected to help once every couple of months or so.

Tots Praise
Tots Praise is going to have a holiday through January and February, restarting in March.

The Link Magazine
It is now a year since the Link was discontinued as a paper magazine distributed to every home in the parish. It is still much missed. However, please don’t forget that all the content is still available to read online on the St Andrew’s website on the first of each month.

Drama Club
Our drama club for 8-12 year olds has just started a new term. We meet at Our Lady of the Assumption Catholic Church on Tile Hill Lane from 6-7pm on Tuesdays. To find out, more speak to Greg or Emma. All welcome.

Social Calendar
Rod Stewart – Feb 8^th (tickets £12 available from Rosemarie Over)

Sermon Series
During Lent, we will be having a sermon series that will explore the different elements of the Sunday morning service (Confession, hymn singing, the creed, the Peace, the Eucharist). We hope you will find this helpful.

Consultation
There is a consultation event at the Green Club on Thursday Jan 23^rd from 4-7.30pm relating to the proposal to build 60 new houses just off Pickford Green Lane.

Tastelife
St Andrew’s will be running a new group for those suffering with eating disorders (anorexia, bulimia, binge eating, overeating etc.) and also those caring for sufferers. It begins on Thursday 6^th February for 8 weeks. The course which helps sufferers to break free of their eating disorder is nationally accredited by the University of Brighton. Places need to be booked in advance. For further information, please speak to Greg or Rosemarie.

Social Committee
Rosemarie Over and Jackie Lynch do a magnificent job planning social events to enhance the life of the church, but we need a couple of more people to help with this. The committee meets approx. 5 times a year, although there is work to be done between meetings (booking venues, organising refreshments etc.). Anyone interested in helping should speak to them or Greg about it.

Transport for Medical Appointments
St Andrew’s new service, offering lifts to medical appointments at Coventry doctors and hospital has started. To book a lift, please contact Julie on 07756 918847 or administrator@standrews-eg.org.uk. It is important that as much notice as possible is given. We are enormously grateful to all our volunteer drivers who have freely offered their time. We still need more volunteers if you willing to offer a lift, perhaps once a fortnight. This message of thanks shows how valuable the service can be:
“I just wanted to take this opportunity to thank you for organising my lift to Walsgrave Hospital today. I would like to put on record how fabulous both Hilary and Steve were getting me there in plenty of time. As I really didn’t know where I needed to go when I got there Steve escorted me to the outpatients’ department and to the correct reception desk for my clinic. The have certainly redeemed my faith in the human race, particularly at this time.”

Altar Flowers
This week’s altar flowers were kindly donated by Liz Reed.

Prayer List
Please pray for Rita Weston, Barbara & Jack Bartlett, Jane Caswell, Jean Carter, Beryl Poppitt, Colin Sanders, Flix Haynes, Josie Yates, Beryl Lee and Rosemary Pottinger. To add names to the list please contact Julie at administrator@standrews-eg.org.uk or 07756 918847.