It is with much sadness that I have to report that Wally Milsom passed away in his sleep on Tuesday night. Wally was not able to get to church as often as he would have liked recently, but I know he will be much missed. The last time we saw him was at Michaels memorial service when he seemed to be in good health.
The sign-up sheets for the Carol Service (22nd) and Christmas Lunch (21st) are now available. The sheet on which you can indicate your favourite carol is on the wall at the back of the church. The sheet for the lunch is on the notice board at the bottom of the stairs.
The BB have prepared the annual KMC Christmas Card for signing and donations will again go to the Charity ‘Crisis’. You will find it in the Church from this Sunday.
Current Kingswood Foodbank needs are cartons of fruit juice, sanitary towels, tinned fruit, potatoes & veg and chocolate. And any Christmas items. Thank you all very much.
Advent in Denmark. The Danes – like many other countries – have an Advent wreath. However, it is usually not made of holly or pine branches, but of bread. These dough wreaths both smell and taste very delicious and even have their own name, Jule Brod.
We have received a letter from Lynda Stone: it is on the table at the back of the church for anyone who wants to read it,
On 10th December 1948, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), the first global statement on human rights was adopted. So, on 10 December each year, we celebrate Human Rights Day
Lectionary 8th to 14th December. Malachi 3.1-4; Luke 1.68-79 (Benedictus); Philippians 1.3-11; Luke 3.1-6. A loving plan. This passage is known as the Song of Zechariah. The elderly priest has been mute since he refused to believe the angel Gabriel’s message that his wife Elizabeth would bear a son who would be ‘great in the sight of the Lord’. Here, filled with the Holy Spirit, he breaks his silence and praises God for fulfilling his loving plan to free his people from their enemies. On this second Sunday of Advent, think about how the prophets prepare the way for people to turn towards God and look at the loving plan of salvation that he has prepared.
Christmas Fayre. Thank you very much everyone who supported our Christmas Fayre, particularly those who were there on the day, selling items and then clearing up. I am going to make a mention of Helen and Steffie as I am aware of how many hours they put in before the event. We raised £506 on the day, compared to £612 last year. I was not surprised to see that we raised less than last year as footfall seemed to be well down. And I was not surprised that the footfall was down given how bad the weather was. I am not disappointed with the amount raised and I hope no one else is, it is a good amount.
Those of you who have access to the internet might like to listen to a reworking of some old carols. Or to watch this this years Methodist Church Christmas message: https://www.methodist.org.uk/
The BB are restarting collecting used postage stamps, this time for ‘Age Concern’. There will be a jar at the bottom of the stairs.
Saturday Coffee Mornings. We will not hold any in January and February but will do so on 8th March and 12th April with our Brownie Packs hosting them. We then need volunteers, please, for 10th May, 14th June and 12th July. The Coffee Morning on Saturday 14th December, to be hosted by Sue, Carol and Bob, will raise funds for St. Peters Hospice, in memory of Michael Stapleton.
We have received this message from Ross who leads Turnaround (formerly the Bristol Methodist Centre): “I wanted to firstly say a huge thank you from all the staff, trustees and volunteers of the centre for how generous you have all been with your support of the centre and if Harvest was anything to go by, you all excelled yourselves in providing support, meeting our needs for the centre. In my seven years at the centre, I've never seen the storeroom shelves so full, you not only gave, you gave in abundance and it's been greatly received. Our food donations for October weighed 1663.76kg (which if people need it broken down amassed to 3668 pounds or 262 stone or 1.67 tons). So, thank you all for all your support!
Shoeboxes. Thank you everyone who contributed. We collected 65 and also acted as a hub, helping pass on 62 more
I have heard from Martin Slocombe that his mum, Doreen, has moved into a care home in Cadbury Heath.
The New Room is now taking bookings for their Carol Concerts. Both are on Wednesday 11th December. One is from 1 to 2pm and is free (although there will be a retiring collection). The other is from 6 to 7pm and will be by candlelight. There is a charge of £5 for this one.
S Glos Council is giving out, free, “Warm Packs”. These include, amongst other things, a blanket, torch, hat, hot water bottle, gloves and thermal flask. You can get a pack from any S Glos library or from the Civic Centre.
The recent Coffee Morning hosted by the Knight family raised £80 for Epilepsy Research Institute UK. Thank you everyone who supported it: the Institute have sent their heartfelt thanks to us.
Coming Up:
- Our annual Christmas Lunch will be on Saturday 21st December
- The Carol Service will be on the morning of Sunday 22nd December
- There will be a Christmas Day Service, with Naomi Sharp
- Christmas Fun Finders will be on Thursday 2nd January
- The Covenant Service will be shared with our friends at Potterswood at their church on Sunday 12th January
- The Warm Space week in February will run from 17th to 21st.
The purpose of Kingswood Methodist Church is to respond to God's Love in Christ and to live out that love in God's world.