ChadNet – no 306

ChadNet – no 306 – Sunday 1st February 2026

ChadNet - the eBulletin of St Chad’s Church, Pattingham with Patshull

Welcome to this week’s edition of ChadNet – the eBulletin of St Chad’s Church, Pattingham with Patshull.

In this week’s ChadNet:

View from the Pews

Jill Parker

Holocaust Memorial Day

On Tuesday 27th Holocaust Memorial Day Commemoration was held in the Mayoral Suite at the Wolverhampton Civic Centre which I attended as Vice Chair of Interfaith Wolverhampton. The event was entitled ‘Bridging Generations’ with the  main speaker being Mindu Hornick, a Holocaust Survivor.

She told her story . Born a Jew in Czechoslovakia, aged 12 the German army invaded and she was forced to live in a ghetto. Later being out on a train for two days with no food, water or sanitation she arrived at Auschwitz-Birkenau Concentration Camp. The trials she endured there were described calmly but in graphic detail. (There is a film ‘Mindu’s Story’ made for Holocaust Memorial Day in 2019 which can be seen on YouTube and is well worth watching.) Having survived, at the end of the war she came to Birmingham speaking no English and began a new life.

It wasn’t until after the death of her husband she started to talk about her experiences and decided to become an ambassador to promote tolerance and challenge prejudice. He didn’t want to talk about what she’d endured and, with respect for his wishes, she shut that part of her life away. Having lost all her family her survival, she says, is a miracle and she sees her work now to use her experiences to educate others, especially those of different generations.

Four short readings told of other  genocides and the fact that we must stand up as humanity is still scared by the belief that race, religion, disability or sexuality make some people’s lives worth less than others.

Rev. Matt Hird, the Rural Dean of Wolverhampton, lead prayers in the Christian tradition for all present and reminded us of the part we can all play to make a better world.

Ellie Wiesel, Holocaust Survivor and Nobel Peace Prize Winner: ‘The survivors had every reason to despair of society, they did not. They opted to work for humankind, not against it.’

Jill Parker

(As always this View is the personal view of the author.)

Would you like to write a View from the Pews?

We welcome contributions for View from the Pews from anyone who would like to write one. It does not need to be on any particular subject. If you would like to write one please send it to or contact Henry Ibberson ( / 01902 701136).

.Contacts

The Vicar’s post is half time so Merry will not be working every day. Her usual working days are Sunday, Tuesday and Wednesday but this is subject to change. Her phone number is 07486 066065 and her email address is  When she is not working she will not normally answer the phone, listen to messages or respond to emails. 

Calls to  the old phone number (01902 700257) are forwarded to Merry’s phone.

Emails to will be received by the churchwardens.

Contact details for church officers can be found on the Contacts page of the church website. You can use if you are nore sure who to contact and the churchwardens will be able to forward it to the correct person.

Notices, which should be received by Friday afternoon for inclusion in that week’s ChadNet, and other communications in relation to ChadNet should be sent to

Articles for the magazine should be sent to the editor, Mike Moss, at or to  (Mike will acknowledge emails so if you do not get an acknowledgement he may not have received your email).

Sunday 1st February – The Presentation

At 10 am there will be a Family Service, led by the Bellringers, in church. It will be followed by a short service of Holy Communion, led by the Vicar. Coffee, tea and biscuits will be available after the service.

In the Parish Prayer Diary we pray for those who live and work in:
The Greenway, The Square, High Path, Green Close.

In the Trysull Deanery Prayer Diary we pray for:
St Anne, Lower Penn.

This week

The church will be open every day. Look out for the “church open” sign outside the porch.

On Tuesday Prayers for Peace will be said in church at 6 pm. Please do join us and if you would like more information please contact Mary Hayward ().

On Wednesday at 10.00 am there will be a service of Holy Communion according to the Book of Common Prayer, led by the vicar, in church which will be followed by tea, coffee and cake.

After the service the church will be open from 10.30 am until at least 11.00 am as a Place of Welcome when anyone who wants to will be welcome to share in the coffee, cake and chat, whether they have been to the service or not. Those attending will receive a warm welcome.

At 6 pm on Wednesday the Pattingham Shower Singers meet in church. All are welcome – just come and sing and have fun! If you need more information, contact Alix at .

At 7 pm on Wednesday Choir Practice takes place in church. Anyone interested in joining the choir should contact Martin Fox or any member of the choir.

Sunday 8th February – Second Sunday before Lent

At 10 am there will be a service of Holy Communion, led by the Vicar, in church. Coffee, tea and biscuits will be available after the service.

At 6.30 pm there will be aService in the Iona style, led by the Vicar, in church.

In the Parish Prayer Diary we pray for those who live and work in:
Letchmere Close.

In the Trysull Deanery Prayer Diary we pray for:
St Bartholomew, Penn.

Crafts and Pancakes

This will take place in church on Tuesday 17 February – Shrove Tuesday – from 12 noon until 2 pm.

Amongst other crafts you will have the opportunity to design the cover of the church’s Easter greeting card which will go out to every household in the parish. Food (pancakes!) and drink will be provided. It’s free, donations welcome.

It is a family event so all under 16’s must be accompanied by an adult. No need to book, just turn up.

Lent

The Christmas season finishes this Sunday with the feast of Candlemas. We are now looking forward to Lent and Easter.

Ash Wednesday

Ash Wednesday is on 18th February and there will be services of Holy Communion at 10 am and at 6.30 pm (note the earlier time than in previous years) at both of which Imposition of Ashes will be available for those who want it.

Lent Course

Join us for our Lent course

An Unlikely Lent
Exploring Faith in Unexpected Places

The first session will be in church during the first full week of Lent (w/c 23rd February) – watch out  for the date.

Tea and coffee provided.
Further sessions in people’s homes.

 

Look out for details of other events in Lent and Holy Week soon.

Easter Day is on 5th April.

Century Club

The winners of the January Century Club draw were: 

  • 1st Prize – £150
    • Helen Smith – ball 7
  • 2nd Prize – £100
    • Philip Sims – ball 1
  • 3rd Prize – £50
    • Brian Nicholson – ball 83

Congratulations to all of them.

There is currently one vacancy for the Century Club. For an annual subscription is £60 there is a chance every month to win £150, £100 or £50.  If you would like to join the Century Club or for more details, please contact Alan Smith on 07757 688518 or or see the website at <https://www.pattinghamchurch.org.uk/web/information/century-club>.

Pastoral activity

A message from the Vicar

As I’m still fairly new in post I would like to get to the bottom of where we are at with pastoral care in the parish. Please could you let me know any pastoral support you might be giving?

Please also contact me if you are interested in providing some pastoral support by calling people, visiting people, taking home communions or being part of a bereavement team to support funeral families.

Please call (07486 066065) or email ().

Merry Smith
Vicar

Old Responders – Wednesday 18th February

This event will take place in the Village Hall on Wednesday 18 February from 2pm – 3.30pm.

It offers a further opportunity to learn basic first aid skills which may save a life and is specifically tailored for older and retired people in and around Pattingham. It is run by a fully trained instructor, enabling you to ‘get down to it’ using a defibrillator, learning CPR, wound care, treating farming injuries and other techniques. 

Places are limited so please contact Alix or Keith as soon as possible to book your place on 07527 237862, or come and see us at Shower Singers in church on a Wednesday evening.

The event is free of charge, courtesy of the church and The Midcounties Co-operative.

The Well – the Wolverhampton Food Bank

The Well

The Well continues to need our donations and prayers. The box remains at the rear of the church for donations of food and toiletries and the wishing well for donations of cash.

Thank you for your generosity.

If you wish to know more about the work of The Well, or would like to know how you can support it in other ways, do connect via their website, where you can sign up to the newsletter and link to their Social Media pages: <www.thewellwolverhampton.co.uk>

Dementia Friendly Church

Weekly Prayer 

Becoming Dementia Friendly Church 2024-25

Loving God
You have been more patient with me and with humanity than we could ever expect or deserve.  Grant me the same loving patience.
Let me view the failing memory with the same compassion as I would a greater difficulty in walking.  Help me to be supportive ,not demanding.  School me to control my voice, so that I answer the seventh identical question as sympathetically as I did the first.
May I never be guilty of sounding as though this failure of memory is the fault of the one I love.
And when I fail, continue to be patient with me.
Amen

(Prayers for Dementia and  how to live well with it. Fay Sampson)

If you would like to suggest (or write) a prayer for inclusion in this series please let Tracey Williams, our Dementia Friendly Church Co-ordinator, know.

From the Memorial Book

Those whose anniversaries occur between 25th January and 8th February.

Ivy Rhodes – 25th January 2001
George Lloyd – 27th January 2000
Rex Pellow – 27th January 2011
Walter James Matthews – 29th January 1988
Ethel Brough – 30th January 1979
Dorothy Eileen Cooper – 30th January 2020
Edna Joan Custance  – 30th January 2022
Norman Bartlett – 31st January 2003
John Stuart Hague – 1st February 2010
Sean Peter Mark Lingford – 2nd February 1995
William Ritchie Farquharson – 2nd February 2007
William John Evans – 2nd February 2010
Gordon Kennedy Morrison – 2nd February 2016
Nigel Martin William Vaughan – 4th February 2000
Beville Bentley – 7th February 1999
David Stephen Patrick – 8th February 2008
Brian William Broxton – 8th February 2011

You can see all the pages of the Memorial Book on the Memorial Book Online page of the Church website.

Giving to the church

Details of the various ways in which you can give can be found on the Giving page of the website.

We have a JustGiving page to enable people to make one off donations. It’s at www.justgiving.com/pattingham-church. You will be asked if you want to make a contribution on top of your donation. If you do it will go to JustGiving and not to charity. If you do not want to make such a contribution select “other”. If you are a taxpayer please consider gift aiding your donation.

You can make a bank transfer to our bank account (Account name: Pattingham Parochial Church Council – Sort Code: 20-97-78 Account No: 50655023).

If you are paying by cheque please make the cheque payable to “Pattingham PCC” or “Pattingham Parochial Church Council“.

ChadNet

This bulletin is sent to those who have requested it. We now have 154 subscribers but there may still  be some people who are not aware of it and would wish to receive it. The weekly bulletin for each Sunday will normally be sent on the preceding Friday or Saturday. Additional bulletins may be sent if required. It is only being sent to those who have requested it.

If you know of anyone who might be interested please tell them about it and ask them to sign up using the form on the website (www.pattinghamchurch.org.uk/web/information/chadnet/sign-up-to-chadnet/) or by email to

St Chad’s Church, Pattingham with Patshull Registered charity no 1151604