ChadNet – no 247

ChadNet – no 247 – Sunday 15th December 2024

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

You may have enjoyed walking through a Christmas Lights extravaganza at a garden centre or a Stately Home or you may be walking up the church path standing on the stars leading into our beautifully decorated church or looking at the star on the tower this week.

Stars and light shine out to bring hope in a world which can have so much darkness and sadness. We hear in John that ‘ The light shines in darkness and the darkness can never extinguish it’. This is the light which can never be extinguished, the light of hope that Jesus brings into our lives .

We are blessed to live in peace in this village in a community which has come together to decorate the church so beautifully with stars of all shapes and sizes. Each of us is special and unique and these stars show creative talent and the effect of people working together to produce a spectacle in this ancient church . Often people come in for significant occasions in their lives and we hope all who enter to celebrate the Star Festival will know the light of Christ in their lives, the light that never fades and come back to celebrate .

Jill Parker

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

We do not have a Vicar at the moment. For matters which would normally be dealt with by the Vicar the churchwardens are the first point of contact. The Vicarage phone (01902 700257) is redirected to the churchwardens. When they are not available a message can be left on the voicemail and they will return the call when they are available. 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 (note – this is different to the address used before November 2020 which no longer works).

Sunday 15th December – Third Sunday of Advent

At 10 am there will be a service led by the Youth Group in church.This will be followed by a short service of Holy Communion, led by Revd Sue Watson, to which you are all most welcome. Coffee, tea and biscuits will be available after the service.

Follow the Star continues from 12 noon to 3 pm.

At 4 pm the Christingle Service will be held in church. The new Bishop of Wolverhampton, the Rt.Revd Dr Tim Wambunya, will be attending and will deliver the blessing.

As usual there will be Christingle oranges for the children, and the collection taken and given to the Children’s Society to help fund their work with those less fortunate than ourselves.   Please give as generously as you are able, there are collection candles available from the font in Church. 

For those who kindly have house boxes please bring them along to the service too, or hand in to a sidesman at any service before Christmas – Chrissie Ringrose can collect boxes if necessary, just call her on 07580238567. 

In the Parish Prayer Diary we pray for those who live and work in:
Nurton Hill Road, Holyhead Road, County Lane, High Park.

In the Trysull Deanery Prayer Diary we pray for:
St Peter, Kinver.

This week

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

On Monday from 9.00 am to 3.00 pm Experience Christmas takes place in church.
Pupils from St. Chad’s First School are being welcomed into church accompanied by their teachers to ‘Experience Christmas’! This involves them working in small groups, moving around to different parts of the church where they can share the Christmas story in a very different way. Church members will be working with the small groups and their teachers, allowing the children to experience key parts of the Christmas story, helping them understand the celebration of the wonderful gift of Christmas – the birth of Our Lord Jesus Christ.

At 11 am on Tuesday the funeral of Carolyn Mary Weston takes place in church.

On Tuesday Prayers for Peace will be said in church at 6 pm. Please do join us and if you would like more information or are willing to lead a session, please contact Mary Hayward ().

At 7.00 pm on Tuesday the choir will be singing carols in The Dartmouth Arms, Burnhill Green. All are welcome to join them.

On Tuesday evening there is a PCC meeting..

On Wednesday at 10.00 am there will be a service of Holy Communion, led by Revd Sue Watson, 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 the Pattingham Shower Singers meet in church for an hour. 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.

At 9.30 am on Thursday the school Christmas service takes place in church.

At 12.30 pm on Thursday the funeral of Thomas Edgington takes place in church.

At 7.30 pm on Friday the choir will be singing carols in The Pattingham Club. All are welcome to join them.

Sunday 22nd December – Fourth Sunday of Advent

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

At 6.30 pm the Service of Nine Lessons and Carols, led by Philip Sims, will be held in church.

In the Parish Prayer Diary we pray for those who live and work in:
Rudge Road, Lower Rudge, Spoonley Gate, Upper Ludstone, Worcester Road.

In the Trysull Deanery Prayer Diary we pray for:
Christmas Services across the Deanery.

Christmas Eve and Christmas Day

Services for Christmas Eve:

At 4 pm the Crib Service, led by Iain Coleman, takes place in church. This is particularly suitable for children and families. Help to build the Nativity Scene.

There is NO Prayers for Peace this week.

At 11.30 pm the “Midnight” Service of Holy Communion by Extension, led by Philip Sims, takes place in church. For those who are still awake this is a wonderful way to celebrate the birth of Jesus as Christmas Day starts.

Services for Christmas Day:

The morning service will be at the later time of 11 am.

At 11 am on Christmas Day there will be a Christmas Morning Communion Service led by Revd. Mary Thomas. All are welcome to come and celebrate with us the birth of Jesus.

There will be NO Shower Singers and NO Choir Practice.

Teddy Tombola

At the recent Pattingham Christmas Lights switch on event, we were very fortunate that the organisers gifted us a free stall to do a Christmas Teddy Tombola!

The aim of the tombola was to raise as much money as we could for Ukraine. Admittedly, we were really nervous before the event, despite the encouragement and support of our Tuesday evening Prayers for Peace group. The war had disappeared from the headlines in recent months and would anyone really want a Christmas Teddy Bear at all?  To our surprise, in appalling weather, the stall sold out in under 45 minutes and we were moved and humbled by some of the comments and donations given to support Ukraine.

£50 was the final sum from twenty teddy bears. Every penny has gone to UNICEF and to children living day to day with the war and its consequences in Ukraine.

A massive THANK YOU to anyone who provided an email contact, gave me a teddy bear, had a spin on the tombola wheel then said “keep the teddy for a little one” and handed over their £2.00 anyway, the list could go on and on.

We just wanted to say that every little helped and thank you! We hope and pray that soon there will be peace and justice for the people of Ukraine.

Mark and Jill Baker

(The acknowledgement and thank you from UNICEF is on the website at <https://www.pattinghamchurch.org.uk/web/news-and-events/teddy-tombola/>)

Century Club

A reminder that annual subscriptions are due on 1st December. The annual subscription is £60.

There are likely to be some vacancies. 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

The Well – the Wolverhampton Food Bank

The Well

Christmas is known as a time to celebrate by giving gifts. It reflects the greatest gift ever given – God giving Himself to the world as a vulnerable baby, sharing our humanity. He has shown us the depth of His love for us by truly being God With Us.

Christmas is also a time when we share food with others as we celebrate.

Each December many of our supporters share food with strangers by giving donations to The Well.…so the annual Reverse Advent Calendar is back by popular demand. The idea is really simple – put the item on the list into a box/bag each day during December leading up to Christmas. Then donate it to the Well to help the hungry and vulnerable in our area this Christmas. Please give as generously as you are able.

Please choose an item/s from this list to donate to The Well: 

  • UHT Milk 
  • Tinned Ham 
  • Tinned Vegetables 
  • Cooking/ Pasta Sauce 
  • Tinned Fruit 
  • Custard / Tinned Cream 
  • Gravy Granules 
  • Jam / Marmalade 
  • Rice / Noodles 
  • Christmas Pudding 
  • Christmas Cake 
  • Brandy Sauce /White Sauce 
  • Special Biscuits 
  • Non-alcoholic Sparkling Drink 
  • Chocolates 
  • Gift Toiletries

NB:We can only receive food within its Use By/BBE’ date.

Please leave your donations at the back of the church or for collection please call Alan on 07757 688518

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

Lord we bring all those suffering with memory loss and the army of your angels that care for them daily, administrators, all in Social Care, the policy makers and its implementers concerning the health and well-being of those living with memory loss.
We also bring to you those at Alzheimer`s research who in their work are striving to discover drugs to alleviate the symptoms of memory loss and halt the progress that results in such devastating life changes.
Lord, pour out your healing balm on all those hurting today, bring a sense of being loved to all those who feel desperate and unsupported.
Let them be still and know that you are God.
Amen

(Lichfield Diocese “Share a prayer” 2023)

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 8th and 22nd December.

Norman Alfred Bramall – 8th December 2021
Robert James Hayhurst – 9th December 1994
David John Jennings – 10th December 2012
Robert Lewis Pass – 10th December 2016
Alec Christopher Harley – 10th December 2016
Eliza Newton – 16th December 1953
Brian John Darrell – 16th December 2013
Raymond William Haden – 17th December 2005
Margaret Alice Gardener – 19th December 2003
Stanley Charles Bentley – 21st December 1989
Elsie May Nickholds – 21st December 1999
Audrey Mary Vaughan – 21st December 2008
Paul Anthony Piper Snape  – 21st December 2023
John Stanley Scriven – 22nd December 2008
Graham Bartlett Smith – 22nd December 2019

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 138 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