From February 2008 the price of FOCUS will increase to 40p. Reminder letters to subscribers will be included with this issue of FOCUS. Anyone wishing to start subscribing - £4 per year – can obtain a form for completion from Jean Hoynes.
MRS MABEL AUSTEN writes:
“Just to say a big thank you to Aycliffe and St
Mary’s for all my cards and good wishes
received on my 90th birthday."
PARISH CENTRE AND PARISH OFFICE
Will any member of the congregation, who wishes to borrow ANY equipment from the Parish Centre, please check with Jill Sarjeant first. We have lots of bookings at the moment and to hire the hall out with only half of the tables, chairs, kettles etc does not show St Marys in a very good light. Also if anyone uses the office, could you please remember that it is a working area and not a dumping ground? PLEASE LEAVE THE ROOM AS TIDY AS YOU FOUND IT.
Jill Sarjeant
NEW ARRIVAL
Congratulations to Gladys Dickinson who became a great-grandmother again on the same day as St Mary’s was busy with the Bazaar! Gladys’s grand-daughter Naomi
and her husband, Andrew, up in Yorkshire had a bouncing baby boy whom they have called Isaac Andrew. Proud parents and Isaac are reported to be doing well.
AUTUMN BAZAAR
Once again the stalls were filled and some old faces and some new brushed up their selling skills for the annual St Mary’s Bazaar on 3rd November.
Despite reasonable weather, we were significantly down in the number of visitors who came through the door this year and so it is very pleasing to see that, thanks partly to some generous donations from members of the St Mary’s family who were not able to attend on the day, the total amount raised has once again exceeded £2,400. There are a few expenses to be taken from that but the major part will go into church funds and make a valuable contribution to the running costs of the church.
Thanks again to all who helped and thanks to those who came and spent. Without you, of course, it just could not happen.
John Paul
OPPORTUNITIES TO SERVE
Two Opportunities to Learn, Grow and Serve in your local hospital
“Meeting your spiritual needs is just as important to us as your physical care”
So reads the large blue posters displayed throughout the five hospitals that make up the East Kent Hospitals NHS Trust – Buckland, Kent & Canterbury, Royal Victoria, Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother and William Harvey hospitals.
To achieve this, there are Chaplaincy teams working at all sites. They are each headed by a Team Leader Chaplain and are made up of Lay and Ordained, part-time and volunteer teams members. Our aim is to have at least two dedicated team members for each ward and major department across all our hospitals.
There are currently two particular roles to be filled:
. Volunteer Lay
. Ordained Chaplains and Chancel Helpers
If you feel you would like more information about either or both these important opportunities to serve others, please give Paul Kirby a ring on 07811 134383.
