December 2019
1st 8.00am Holy Communion [Advent 1]
10.00am Prayer Time (Lady Chapel)
10.45am Family Communion
4th 9.30am Holy Communion (1662) (Tansley)
12.30pm Wedding
5th 2.00pm Longmeadow Service
6th 7.30pm Cromford Community Band (Tansley)
Tansley Christmas Tree & Nativity Set Festival: 7th-10th, 11.00am-4.00pm
8th 8.00am Holy Communion [Advent 2]
10.00am Prayer Time (Lady Chapel)
10.45am Family Communion
4.00pm Bank Road Messy Church (MMURC)
9th 9.30am Experience Christmas for School in Church
11th 9.30am Holy Communion (1662) (Tansley)
1.00pm Wednesday at One (Lady Chapel)
12th 2.30pm Café Carols (Imperial Rooms)
15th 8.00am Holy Communion (1662) [Advent 3]
10.00am Prayer Time (Lady Chapel)
10.45am Family Service
16th 2.00pm Valley Lodge Service
17th 9.30am Infant Carols
2.30pm Years 5 & 6 Carols
18th 9.30am Years 3 & 4 Carols
9.30am Holy Communion (1662) (Tansley)
11.00am Lilybank Service
1.00pm Wednesday at One (Lady Chapel)
7.30pm CAROL SERVICE
22nd 8.00am Holy Communion [Advent 4]
10.00am Prayer Time (Lady Chapel)
10.45am Family Communion
4.00pm Town Christingle (Park Bandstand)
24th 3.00pm Crib Service [Christmas Eve]
11.30pm Midnight Mass
25th 10.45am Family Communion [Christmas Day]
29th 8.00am Holy Communion [Christmas 1]
10.00am Prayer Time (Lady Chapel)
10.45am Family Communion
Baptisms
27.10.2019 Poppy Draper
3.11.2019 Reuben Spencer
Weddings
Funerals
Dear Friends,
As I write this, our community is picking itself up after the worst flooding in years and our prayers and grateful thanks go out to the Emergency services, the Council workers and volunteers who have worked tirelessly to clear up the aftermath. In the face of difficulties, the true community spirit emerges to help and support the affected. After an initial knock-back, there’s a determination and hope to put things right, bringing out the best in people – something that can get overshadowed by a constant feed of grim stories from round the world.
This month we celebrate that it’s into the darkness and disorder of this creation that God steps to bring light and love. The tiny baby in a manger in Bethlehem is none other than the Lord of the Universe come in our flesh and blood to show us the way to eternal life. In the incarnate Lord, God graces us with the Divine Presence and blesses humble matter. Through the earthly life of Jesus of Nazareth, God experiences what it is like to be part of a time bound creation and in turn reveals to us the inner nature of the God we worship as self-giving Love.
Behind all the glitz and glitter, the baubles and feasting, God enters our world – “eternity shut in a span”, as one phrase used in the Christmas services puts it. God, the Lord and Creator of all things, humbles Godself and takes on our humanity to bless and dignify it. Jesus reveals through his life the Divine compassion and grace that desires for all to come to a deep relationship with our heavenly lord.
Behind the nativity scenes and the wealth of carols is a simple message of God’s incredible Love that spills over to embrace us and draw us (if we choose) into the Divine embrace. Good news to the world to celebrate – Light has come into the darkness and the darkness can never overcome it.
May God bless you all this Christmas-tide
Richard
JOYCE DAVEY (1927-2019)
When you look round All Saints’ church there are all sorts of reminders of Joyce Davey: the lending library in the vestibule to encourage exploration of the Christian Faith; the Children’s Corner which she was part of setting up; the lit candle in the Lady Chapel before Sunday service which Joyce instigated; the order for preparation before Communion (In the back of the Sunday service books) was requested by Joyce as an aid to worship; and especially round this time of year, the Posada journey of Mary and Joseph round the parish in the lead up to Christmas was organised by Joyce every year.
Joyce has been an active prayerful presence in our church family for many years, serving on the PCC, as Deputy Warden, Children’s society representative, study group leader, organiser of the reading rota (Often contacting me in October to clear up what services were required the following May!), member of the choir, playing the piano for Evensong.
Constantly active, even into her nineties, but based on a deep life of prayer and study. She was a spiritual seeker who wanted to know more and draw closer to her Lord. She was an encourager of others and will be remembered for always being smartly dressed with a lovely smile and a beautiful speaking voice which she made best use of in reading the lesson at Sunday Service. A few years ago it was a pleasure to recommend Joyce for a Bishop’s Badge which she wore with pride.
She will be greatly missed and our thoughts and prayers are with Peter and the family at this time. May she rest in peace and rise in glory.
USPG PROJECT REPORT (Matlock Bank)
‘Education for Change’ – Plantation Community Development in Sri Lanka
‘Education for Change’ began in 2013 as the Colombo Diocese’s response to the needs of the communities of the tea plantations. Approximately one million tea plantation workers and their families, are disadvantaged in terms of housing, health and education.
In 2007 only 5.6% of the tea plantation population had attained their General Certificate in Education, compared to 11.3% of the general population. The church aimed to empower these communities, and education was considered to be one of the most important factors in bringing about long-term change. In 2019 ‘Education for Change’ continues to provide vital support for the children of the tea plantations communities. Access to pre-schools, extra tuition and higher education opportunities has had positive and long-lasting effects. Children are now growing up with big career ambitions not only for themselves, but also so they can support their communities in the future.
The Colombo Diocese, and its plantation community development programme has had challenges in 2019. In April, Sri Lanka faced fear and uncertainty after the Easter Sunday attacks. This brought a halt to ‘Education for Change’ project activities for almost three months. Fortunately, since July the church has been able to restart its pre-schools, classes and other activities slowly, but steadily.
Achievements so far
· 288 children have been supported through the churches education programme in five pre-schools in the areas of Sheen, Passara, Gonakale, Templestowe and Nuwereliya;
· 163 children attended tuition classes to help students aged 6 to 16 in the areas of Templestowe, Ragala, Kondakala, Gonakale and Beverly.
· Five students were supported with their higher education including advanced level qualifications and undergraduate degrees.
· Increase in the number of girls accessing education; out of the 120 children that attended the pre-schools 61 were girls.
· Improved quality of teaching through the church providing training seminars for teachers once every three months so that they are up-to-date with the latest teaching methods.
|
|
USPG PROJECT REPORT (Tansley)
Welcome to the autumn report for Partners In Mission Church of South India, including the work of Green Schools, and ‘Justice for Girls’ programmes.
Green Schools in South India
The unwillingness of developed countries to cut their carbon emissions is significantly affecting human life in poor countries such as India. India is home to 14 of the world’s most polluted cities, with one in every eight deaths related to air pollution. There is a link between air pollution and poverty. 60% of India’s population still rely on biomass such as wood, charcoal and animal dung for cooking. Noxious fumes from burning biomass contribute to air pollution, are a risk to people’s health and increase child mortality.
The Church of South India (CSI) has prioritised eco concerns as a one of its main focus areas. It is the first church in India to state ecology as part of its constitution and mission. The church runs nurseries and schools across South India, and saw the opportunity to help children to become global citizens with a concern for the environment, and an understanding of environmental issues. They developed the ‘Green Schools Programme’ in partnership with the Centre for Science and Environment in New Delhi, which is a leading national NGO on the environment.
Achievements so far
· 60 teachers have been trained on environmental issues, and how to carry out an environmental audit in their schools.
· 22,100 girls and 20,800 boys have benefited from assessing their school’s green credentials, participating in environmental
projects such as food gardens, and plastic and waste reduction, and engaging the communities surrounding their schools in environmental projects.
· School children have developed teamwork and collaboration skills through working on the environmental projects, and have displayed improved behaviour through having a calming space to tend trees, plants and vegetables.
· School children have improved well-being and nutrition through learning about fruit and vegetables from the school food gardens, and being able to make more educated food choices.
Justice for Girls in South India
Discrimination against women in India is prevalent among rich and poor, as happens in other countries including the UK.
To help tackle gender inequality, the Church of South India (CSI) has put girls at the heart of its campaign for justice. As part of the ‘Justice for Girls’ initiative, congregations have been trained in children’s rights and abuse. Churches are encouraged to report cases of abuse to the child helpline. The church also runs ‘Justice for Girls’ in schools and communities, where they create safe spaces for children to talk openly about gender equality and about abuse and how they would like to be protected. Children from all backgrounds are involved in the project, including street children and children with disabilities.
The children then take this knowledge back to their families initiating conversations about the rights of girls with a hope that this will help society move towards greater inclusion of girls. Thanks to the campaign surrounding ‘Justice for Girls’, girls have started to march in the streets to assert their rights to equality.
Achievements so far
· A Children’s Synod was conducted in May 2019 which involved 800 children including children with special needs.
· 55 participants from across the dioceses of the Tamil and Malayalam attended a dissemination workshop at the CSI headquarters. Participants were actively involved in understanding the context of a child in India, the vulnerabilities they face, legal provisions available and how the CSI commits to addressing these through the policy. Participants were led through sections of the CSI Child Protection Policy draft by the Girl Child Campaign team and gave their feedback.
· Increased awareness in the community of gender justice, and the importance of girls and women’s participation in society.
· Empowerment of children through giving them a voice so that they are safe, and free to discuss how feel and the issues that that affect them.
Prayers
Please remember the below in your prayers:
· Pray for the protection of girls and boys in India and other countries including their human rights.
· Give thanks to the staff of the ‘Justice for Girls’ initiative as they work tirelessly to promote the rights of children in South India.
· Pray for the Church of South India as it works towards the inclusion of children’s rights.
Thank you for your continued prayers for the USPG-supported work of the Church of South India.
On behalf of USPG and the Church of South India, thank you once again for being a Partner In Mission. We hope you have enjoyed reading about the life-changing difference that your support makes.