What's new across both churches

WE WELCOMED JO SCHAEFER as our Children & Youth Worker as she began work this week. To get in touch with her about children’s work please use her work email address: MMChildrensChurch@gmail.com

ST. MARKS PATRONAL SERVICE this Sunday - 21st April at 11.15am. As many of you will know, the Saint’s Day for St. Mark is Thursday 25th April (he died in 68 AD). Special prayers will be said during the Service and we will celebrate our Patron Saint afterwards with some ‘bubbles’ and cake. The guest speaker will be Trina Simpson.

PLEASE NOTE: THE ST. MICHAEL’S APCM has been changed to Sunday 26 May, at 3.00pm in the Church

PLEASE NOTE: There will be no Sunday School at St Mark’s this Sunday, 21st April, at their 11.15am service.

THE CRAFT, COFFEE AND CHAT GROUP MEETS NEXT TUESDAY, 23 April from 10.00am - 12noon in the Church Room at St Michael’s. All craftspeople - knitters, crocheters, quilters, scrapbookers, sewers, etc. - are very welcome. We mostly work on our projects, although sometimes we join forces for a combined project. We meet on the fourth Tuesday of each month throughout the year. Hope to see you on Tuesday!

MEN’S CURRY & QUIZ NIGHT, next Thursday, 25 April, 7.30pm at the Curzon Indian Restaurant (137 Guildford Road, Normandy GU12 6DF). Cost is £15 (cash please) for buffet plus the cost of drinks. Please sign up on the sheet in church or email the Parish Office so we have an idea of numbers, many thanks.

PARISH COUNCIL PARISH ASSEMBLY AT 7.00PM IN THE VILLAGE HALL, SUNDAY 28TH APRIL. St. Mark’s Church has been kindly invited, together with all village organisations, to take part in this showcase event, to meet the village and represent our church family with a table and display. Last year, we had a wonderful selection of photographs, items and books, beautifully displayed, which demonstrated our church’s variety of worship, events and community involvement. So much has happened at St. Mark’s since 2023 and our table this year will display these new, exciting events and our future growth and optimism! It’s a great opportunity! Do please spare a moment on the evening of the 28th to pop along to the village hall to support us and enjoy meeting other village organisations. It’s surprisingly interesting! Thank you!

The next ALPHA course begins on Tuesday 30th April in the Church Room at St Michael’s, Pirbright, from 8.00-9.30pm. Please join us for cheese, wine, thought-provoking videos exploring the basics of the Christian faith followed by conversation in small groups where you can share thoughts and ideas on the session's topic. The course runs for eight weeks (not 28 May). To sign-up, please email the Parish Office.

PLEASE NOTE: THERE WILL BE NO ST. MARK’S MINI MARKET IN MAY (i.e. SATURDAY 4TH MAY)! Instead, do please join us at St. Mark’s May Fair on bank holiday Monday, 6th May, at Manor Fruit Farm, Glaziers Lane, Normandy from 2.00pm to 4.30pm. N.B - the HEARING AID CLINIC on Saturday 4th May, WILL take place in the Church Hall from 10.00am to 12noon.

ST. MARK’S MAY FAIR ON MONDAY 6TH MAY! Are you able to help, please?!  There are many ways in which your volunteering would be gratefully accepted: cake-making, selling raffle tickets, donating bottles (or cans) to the tombola, spare an hour or two of your time to help at one of the stalls (between 2 and 4.30pm), setting up beforehand or helping to clear up afterwards! Thank you!

ST. MARK’S MAY FAIR GRAND RAFFLE TICKETS! There are amazing prizes! Please don’t miss out on winning one! They are now on sale until the May Fair 6th May! Only £1 a ticket! Please ask at the Parish Office or Judy or Gill! Thank you.

PLEASE NOTE THAT THE MID-MONTH COMMUNION SERVICE at St. Michael’s WILL BE ON TUESDAY 14TH MAY rather than 21 May.

PLANT SALE AT ST. MARK’S – Saturday 18th May (NOT 25th as stated last week). Details later! (Our plant team will also have plants for sale at the May Fair on 6th May, if you cannot wait until the end of May!)

ST. MICHAEL’S PLANT SALE, SATURDAY 11 MAY, 11.00AM – 2.00PM Our annual Plant Sale and BBQ takes place in St. Michael’s beautiful churchyard. We feature locally grown annual, perennial and vegetable plants, hanging baskets, garden paraphernalia, cakes, coffee and, of course, our fabulous sausage sizzle with yummy sausages from Fulk’s, our village butcher. As this event has grown over the years, we need your help to make it a success. Could you look after some plants and grow them on for us. Please contact John Clough on johnc.1969@hotmail.com / 07889 428531 if you’re able to help. We need more small pots, 3-6 inch diameter, small divided plant trays either 6 or 12 holes and hanging baskets in good condition, preferably with liners. If you have any to contribute, please leave them either in the Church office at St. Mark’s or around the side of St. Michael’s. If you have plants to contribute to the sale, please let Jay know (sjaykleinberg@gmail.com). They must be clearly labelled and in good condition. We look forward to see you at the Plant Sale!

PRAYER MEETINGS: We will be starting a joint Prayer Meeting on the third Sunday of the month at each church alternately starting on SUNDAY 19 MAY AT ST. MICHAEL’S. Please join us at 6.30pm for an hour – hand-out cards are available in church with the dates and venue, please take one. 

ST MICHAEL’S NEW ORGANIST, DAMIAN will be playing in ‘Summer Music on the Hilltop:

WOKING FOODBANK

HELPING WOKING PEOPLE IN CRISIS

At this time of Harvest, we are celebrating God’s generous gifts to us through his creation.  This year though, there is a different and challenging back drop and we need to respond to the problems of escalating food and energy prices which are creating difficult choices - to eat or heat - for very many who were already struggling.

The Trussell Trust and its network of food banks are working hard to meet increased demand for emergency food parcels.  For the first time since the height of the pandemic, foodbanks have provided more than 2 million parcels.  Whilst supporters continue their generous donations, they aren’t always keeping pace with need so they are also needing to purchase food and other essentials to supplement donations. With the rising cost of food, this is already placing an increased financial burden on individual food banks.

St Michael’s has been supporting the Woking Food Bank and providing a collection point for donations at Linnards on the Little Green.  Please keep supporting this!  All donations are very welcome but you can access their website to find out their particular needs week by week and also by donating money via www.woking.foodbank.org.uk/give-help.

A message on the Foodbank’s website is also appealing for funds for a new Foodbank van so that they can provide an even more flexible and inclusive service including developing the concept of a ‘mobile pantry to bring desperately needed food directly to homes and community/social centres.

As we celebrate God’s harvest this year, let us also help to make sure that everyone can receive its riches.

There is a call to prayer for Ukraine, and a plea to help refugees,  on the Diocesan website      https://www.cofeguildford.org.uk/ .  Also if you are looking for ways to support Ukraine – look at our Twitter account @PirbrightChurch for a list of the charities involved in support for Ukrainian people.  Top of the list is the
Disasters Emergency Committee – give online at www.dec.org.uk, or phone 01204 770822, or  https://www.justgiving.com/dec or by post to
DEC Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal, PO Box 999, London EC3A 3AA

If you give to DEC the UK Government will match your donation. 

TIME TO PRAY APP can be used for daily quiet time, for reading the Bible and for praying. It is a short, simple service of prayers, psalms and readings that can be done at any time of day. The app presents everything you need to carry out prayer during the day, with variations according to the day of the week or the season.  You can install it on your phone or on your laptop.  To  install it, please go to: Time to Pray - Apps on Google Play.  If you would prefer a podcast instead, please go to: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/time-to-pray-common-worship-day-and-night-prayer/id264931305