Please pray for those on the prayer board and for those being baptised here this month. Please pray for Edith Cumner and Joan Knowles, whose funerals took place in May.

St Michael’s News June 2017

St Michael and All Angels, Lower Church Road, Sandhurst, Berkshire, GU47 8HN www.stmichaels-sandhurst.org.uk

Office open: Monday, Tuesday and Friday 10.00 am–2.00 pm; Thursday 9.45 am–1.45 pm. Open for counselling: Wednesday 9.45 am–1.30 pm. E-mail: office@stmichaels-sandhurst.org.uk Tel. 01252 873030

Rector: Rev. John A. Castle Email: Rector@stmichaels-sandhurst.org.uk Tel. 01252 872168

OUR PURPOSE AS A CHURCH Knowing God for ourselves. Growing as individuals and as a church.

Showing God’s love in the world.

The Volunteer Church As a churchwarden, I find myself asking people to take on tasks within our church, and this has led me to consider why volunteering should be seen as a benefit and not just another thing to do.

Volunteering: Gives our lives greater purpose. There are lots of important and quality places to

volunteer your time. When you serve your church, your efforts could result in someone’s life being changed by meeting Christ for the first time.

Gives us a broader perspective. Serving others allows us to focus on larger issues: the ‘we’ rather than the ‘me’.

Gives us friendship. There can be a special relationship made when you serve God together. St Michael’s is full of friendships built through joint service.

Helps others. Living an internally focused life benefits no one. Serving others improves the quality of other people’s lives and our own.

Will one day result in a greater reward.

One day God may say to us, ‘Well done my good and faithful servant.’ At sporting events those in the stands pay to watch the game. Those on the field get paid! The same is true for church volunteers, benefits come by taking part.

Sue Campbell (adapted from ‘The Volunteer Church’ by Brian Dodd)

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WHAT ’ S HAP PEN I NG

St Michael’s spring clean

If you came into church on Palm Sunday you may have noticed the smell of lavender furniture polish or that your favourite cobweb was missing. The previous day, a small army of volunteers spent the morning sweeping, dusting, cleaning and vacuuming to prepare St Michael’s for Easter. Many thanks go to Sue Campbell for coordinating it (and ensuring we had all the necessary cleaning supplies), everyone who gave up some of their Saturday morning to help and those who provided the highly appreciated refreshments. Clare Hardy

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Dr Howard Stilliard Fund The Dr Howard Stilliard Fund is one of the charities we support. Of

all our charities it is the one closest to home and with the greatest

connection with St Michael’s.

Dr Howard Stilliard was a general practitioner at the Owlsmoor Surgery,

and had been a partner in the Sandhurst Group Practice for fourteen years

when he was tragically killed in a car accident in April 1994, at the age of

41, leaving a widow and two young sons.

Howard was held in high regard by his patients and colleagues and was

devoted to serving the community in which he practised. He was very

much a family man, and had a particular interest in the welfare of young

people. Howard was a regular worshipper here, at St Michaelʹs Church, at

the 9.30 am service.

The fund was set up in his memory by his widow with donations from his

patients, colleagues, family and friends. It is a registered charity, No.

1058643, with trustees representing Sandhurst Parish Church, the

Sandhurst Group Practice and the Stilliard family.

The aims and objectives of the fund are to promote the welfare and

enterprise of young people resident in Sandhurst, College Town and

Owlsmoor by making financial contributions towards the cost of projects,

courses and or equipment, especially where statutory funds are not

available. In general, small projects which will benefit the local

community are given priority.

St Michaelʹs Church has been a supporter of the fund for many years, for which the trustees are very grateful.

John White

Berks Explore seeks a Local Development Officer Explore is a registered charity that works in schools and youth

establishments, enabling young people to appreciate the life skills that

produce healthy and enduring relationships, families and marriages. Explore

is looking for a confident, friendly individual with good administrative and

communication skills to fill the role of part-time Local Development Officer in

Berkshire. For more information visit

http://www.theexploreexperience.co.uk/ or talk to Liz Percival.

(Continued on page 5)

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is for everyone under school age and their carers. Itʹs

on the 2nd and 4th Thursdays of the month from 9.30 to 11.15 am in the

Pastoral Centre (not school holidays). Come and join us for songs, craft

activities, drinks and toast, a Bible story and prayers, and an opportunity

for play (children) and chat (parents). NB – Dads also welcome!

Parish Communion (9.30 am). During term time, there are age-

related activities in the Pastoral Centre for children aged 3 up to school

year 5 every week, and for Year 6+ on the 2nd and 4th Sundays of the

month. They should come to the Pastoral Centre by 9.25 am to be

registered. The group leaders bring them into the church for the last part

of the service. A crèche is usually available for under 3s during the Parish

Communion on the 2nd, 4th and 5th Sundays in the Pastoral Centre.

Please ask one of the welcome team.

During school holidays children should come into the church with

their parents at the beginning of the service, and will be invited to join a

leader after a few minutes of the service to watch a video in the Pastoral

Centre. The group leaders bring them into the church for the last part of

the service. For young children staying in the service there are play-bags

– please ask one of the welcome team.

The Family Service is held on the first and third Sundays of the

month, including school holidays. It is informal and child friendly, with

action songs and an interactive talk, and is a place you really can come to

with small children and not worry how they will behave! Refreshments

are served in the church from 11.00 am; worship

begins at 11.15 am and lasts about 45 minutes. Come

and meet other families and make friends. We need

help with refreshments and welcoming, so please

email Kirsty Dunlop at kirsty@tcb-arrow.co.uk if

you’d like to volunteer!

Weekday Youth Activities. Impact, for Years 7–9, is on Monday evenings, and a group for years 10–13 meets on Fridays. Contact our youth worker, Esther Bonsu, esther@sandhurstyouth.org.uk for more information.

CH I LDREN AND FAM I LY

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For applications (with CV and covering letter) please contact

rosie@theexploreexperience.co.uk. Closing date for applications: 20th June

2017

More tea, Rector?

John Castle would love to call in on you for a chat

over a cup of tea or coffee. Please sign up on the

sheet at the back of church to invite him over.

Do you feel guilty about your prayer life?

Then join the club! However, you donʹt need to stay with this sense of failure

and guilt. You could take a small step on the way to a deeper relationship

with God. Thereʹs lots of help available, so why not check out the prayer page

on the church website, which has been extensively updated. Thereʹs advice

and some new useful links for daily prayer, prayer topics etc. Go to: h:p://

www.stmichaels-sandhurst.org.uk/prayer.html.

Church Prayer meeting: Please come and join us to pray for our church.

The next meetings will be:

19th June, 10.00–11.00 am: 4 Dale Gardens – Rosaria Toohey is host.

27th June, 7.30 pm: 7Ackrells Mead, Little Sandhurst – Karen Symons is

host.

Everyone is most welcome, come and join us on the journey to see where God

wants us to go and how we are going to get there. If you need a lift please

contact me on 01252 872161

Karen Symons

The Lent appeal – Thank You! The Lent Appeal for Sebastianʹs Action Trust raised £750. This includes gift

aid. Emma

On the social side Our Produce & Plants Sale on 7th May raised over £300, with the sale of ‘left-

over’ plants on the 21st bringing in another £34. So thank you to all who

donated plants or cakes, or just came along and bought. Also on 21st May, 23

people came along to the Parish Lunch at the Bird-in-Hand and enjoyed a

convivial get-together whilst being well looked after by the staff there. The

(Continued from page 3)

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next Parish Lunch won’t be until the autumn, and in the interests of variety I

would welcome suggestions for alternative venues. One or two have already

been put forward.

On Sunday June 11th we are holding a Summer Garden Party in the Rectory

garden from 2.30 till 5.00 pm, with lots of games for children, music and

cream teas. Tickets are on sale in the Parish Office and from Steph Martin,

Sara Kaufman and Ann Harris, and cost £10 for adults if bought beforehand,

£12 on the day. This includes a glass of summer cup. Children under 16 will

be free – they will be given a soft drink. Please do get your tickets early as it

helps with assessing the catering, and please bring your own picnics, rugs

and garden chairs etc. There will be disabled parking at the Rectory, (Continued on page 8)

Sandhurst Counselling Service

Tel: 01252 873030

Email: info@sandhurstcounselling.org.uk

Web: www.sandhurstcounselling.org.uk

Registered Charity No: 1143572

Exci�ng news! The Mayor, Cllr Hazel Hill, has named SCS as Mayor’s charity this year.

There is a fundraiser on Saturday 17th June 2017.

For a hog roast at the Bird in the Hand with a Quiz.

£10.00 per head. Tickets from the pub or from

Sandhurst Town Council. Please get a team together

for a great evening. There will be a raffle. If you can

donate any prizes please bring them in to the office.

Upcoming events Love puddings

Just puds at Sandhurst Town Council – search pudding club

9/9/17 at 7.30 £12.50 per head.

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Choose Sandhurst Counselling Service as your Co-op local cause.

Do you have a Co-op card? When Co-op

Members buy Co-op branded products and

services, the Co-op will give one per cent to

a local cause. Go online at co-op.co.uk/

membership, log in with your card number

and email, and make Sandhurst

Counselling Service your cause.

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otherwise please park at the school. If it’s wet, we will use the Pastoral

Centre. Donations of Pimms, or suitable raffle prizes, will be gratefully

received.

PS: We will need help with setting up on Friday 9th June at 6.30 at the

Rectory. Please come along and lend a hand for an hour or so – if you can let

me know you are coming so much the better.

Our family fruit picking day will be on Saturday 24th June. Karen Allen and

Angela, our Family Worker, are taking the lead on this so please watch for

confirmation of time and venue. The format will be as last year, except that

cream teas will be served at the school not the Pastoral Centre, as the latter is

in use. The purpose of this event is to ensure Karen, and perhaps you as well,

have plenty of fruit for making jam, but if you have other fruit or vegetables

that you are willing to donate for making preserves, Karen will welcome

them. Just have a word with her first.

Finally, a few dates for your diary. The Harvest Supper will be held on

Saturday 30th September – Harvest Sunday is the following day. We will be

holding an Indoor Bowling evening in October, the provisional date is

(Continued from page 6)

Baptists and Anglicans make up a group that took part in the Prayer walks that were part of the ‘Thy Kingdom Come’ Initiative in May.

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Keeping the faith on holiday

Are you going away on holiday this summer? Why not make your

holiday a time of spiritual as well as physical and/or mental refreshment?

Here are some ideas:

Reading material: in addition to taking a novel, why not pack your Bible

and daily notes (available from the back of church for free) and find 10–15

minutes a day to keep in touch with God with a little reading and prayer?

If youʹre a Kindle user, you can download the ESV version of the whole

Bible for £0.00 (yes, free!), the Good News Bible for £2.54 or the NIV for

£6.99. Other e-readers have similar offers.

For a short daily reading with prayer on the internet, try

www.sacredspace.ie, or www.rejesus.co.uk. For daily bible study,

www.wordlive.org offers a short Bible passage each day with both a

simple explanation and a more in-depth study if you prefer. It is a good

way of getting familiar with the different books of the Bible.

There are also some Christian books – biographies and other material –

available for borrowing on the bookshelves in the Pastoral Centre.

Donʹt skip church on Sunday just because youʹre on holiday!

If youʹre in the UK, you wonʹt be far from a church. Youʹll find a warm

welcome, a change of scene and maybe some great ideas to share with us!

If you have children with you, try one that looks like it will be welcoming

to them – even if itʹs not Anglican!

You can find churches: • in the UK: www.achurchnearyou.com, or www.findachurch.co.uk; • in Europe & Turkey: http://europe.anglican.org/where-we-are/church-

locations;

• Elsewhere: www.ics-uk.org/churches. A directory of English church

services abroad is available at the back of church (please donʹt remove

it – copy down the details for your use later).

Saturday 21st October. There will be only around 50 tickets available for this

and it will be a bring-your-own drinks and nibbles evening. More about both

of these after the summer break

Chris Harris (01252-871881)

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Go to Sandhurst Pride (www.sandhurstpride.co.uk) if you need information about local services and amenities.

Coffee Rota 4th June Kate Bettison Jennie Rolfe

11th June Dorothy Hill Alan Bunton

18th June Janet Pilbeam Jo Arthy

25th June Hilary Smith Rosaria Toohey

House Groups meet each week at these houses

If anyone would like to join a group please speak to Karen Symons (01252

872161) or email Karen@2symons.com for more details

Newsletter. Please send emails to newsletter@stmichaels-sandhurst.org.uk

or leave written requests with the church office. Deadline for the July edition

is 26th June. You will normally be able to view or download a colour copy of

the newsletter on the website a few days before it is distributed in church. If

you would like to receive that version of the newsletter as an email

attachment please contact David Hunt at david.hunt@bcs.org.uk.

2nd and 4th Mondays

1.00 pm Sara Kaufman & Karen Carter

138 College Road 01276 31389

Monday 8.00 pm Rupert & Sheridan Cremer-Evans

11 Sylvan Ridge 01344 777137

Tuesday 7.30 pm Elizabeth Ritchie 28 Wiltshire Avenue, Crowthorne 01344 762147

Tuesday 8.00 pm John & Sue Campbell 2 School Hill 01344 776655

Tuesday 7.45 pm Linda Lemmon 34 Albion Road 01252 874525

Tuesday 7.30 pm John & Steph Martin 25 Templar Close 01252 873316

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Little Sandhurst Nursery Group. Daily! Contact Karen on 07730 340734 or email: enquiries@LSNG.co.uk for details.

Line Dancing. Every Monday evening in the hall from 7.00 pm, £5.50

includes raffle. Just come along and have fun. Tea and coffee available or

bring your own drinks. Ring Sue or Arron on 01344 485097 for

information.

Rainbows meet on Tuesdays: 5.00–6.00 pm (5–7 year olds).

3rd Guides meet on Tuesdays: 6.30–8.30 pm (10–14 year olds).

Pilates takes place in the large upper room most days and evenings. For

more information ring Carl on 01344 762712.

The Rock and Pop Foundation Guitar tuition sessions are on Thursdays. For further information please

call 0844 879 3305 or visit www.rockandpopfoundation.com.

CHURC H CA LEND AR

ACT I V I T I ES AT T HE PAST ORAL CENT RE

Date & Time Venue Event Contact

Sun 11th June 2.30–5.00 pm Rectory garden Summer Garden

Party Social Committee

Sat 24th June time tba

tba Family Fruit-picking day

Karen Allen

Sat 30th Sept Pastoral Centre Harvest Supper

Find us on Facebook

http://www.facebook.com/StMichaelsSandhurst

Follow us on Twitter (@StMichaelShurst)

https://twitter.com/#!/StMichaelShurst

If you have any comments, events, news or updates for the website, please email David Hunt on david.hunt@bcs.org.uk.

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J UNE C HURC H S ERV I CES

Sunday 4th June – Pentecost – Theme: The outpouring of the Spirit

Acts 2:1–21 (p1093); John 7:37–39 (p1072)

8.00 am Holy Communion

9.30 am Parish Communion (Traditional)

11.15 am Family Service and Holy Communion

6.30 pm Contemplative Evening Prayer

Sunday 11th June – Trinity Sunday – Theme: Who is God

Isaiah 40:12–17, 27–31 (p724); MaQhew 28:16–20 (p1001)

8.00 am Holy Communion

9.30 am Parish Communion (Informal – led by St Michael’s youth)

11.15 am Baptism of Emily HaQon and Alexander Pell

6.30 pm Ecumenical Service at St George’s Church

Sunday 18th June – 1st after Trinity – Theme: The Mission of the Church

Romans 5:1–8 (p1132); MaQhew 9:35–10:23 (p974)

8.00 am Holy Communion

9.30 am Parish Communion (Reflective)

11.15 am Family Service and Baptism of Wallis and Grace Robson-Malone

6.30 pm No service

Sunday 18th June – Wedding

2.30 pm Kevin WaQs and Katie Hill

Sunday 25th June – 2nd after Trinity – Theme: Don’t be afraid!

Romans 6:1b–11 (p1132); MaQhew 10:24–39 (p975)

8.00 am Holy Communion

9.30 am Parish Communion (Community feel)

6.30 pm Choral Evensong