To Know God and to Make God Known

 Celtic cross

 

Noticeboard

Our public worship services take place on

Sundays at 11am in church

The church building is open daily 10am - 4pm 

Notices 3rd March 2024

For more information please click Community Help Sleaford 


Thursday 7th March
10.30am – 12.00pm Coffee and Chat in the Church Room
7pm – Men’s Group meets at The Horseshoes.

Friday 17th March
Deadline for APCM reports

Wednesday 13th March
2pm – Ladies Group meets in the Church Room

Monday 29th April
2pm Mission and Ministry Committee meets at Angela’s house


For details of Lent lunches please click 
Lent Lunches


We are hosting the Lent lunch on Monday 25th March and need someone to organise this.
 Please speak to Rev Rebecca if you are willing to help. 

Lent Courses
We will be holding two sessions. The first will run on Tuesdays from 1.30pm to 3.00pm in place of Cornerstone:

5th March at Ted and Sue's home, 21, Abbey Road
12th March in the Church Room
19th March at Chrystabel's home
The second session will run on Wednesday evenings at 7pm. If you are interested, please let Rev Rebecca or Maria know and they will let you know the place. The sessions continue on Wednesday 28th February

Cakes during Lent
As it is traditional to give something up during Lent, there will only be plain cakes or biscuits served with coffee and tea after the services during Lent. Please still stay to chat. As there will be no flowers in church during Lent, the coffee money will be donated to Cancer Research. 

 Rectory Communications
We are experiencing problems with the rectory phone and internet connections.
 If you phone the rectory, you will be invited to leave a message.
 The internet is also down so it may take time to respond to emails.
 You can phone the church on 07719 952205
 

Coffee and Chat
We are going to start a weekly meeting to enable members of the congregation to get together. It will take place every Thursday morning from 10.30am until 12.00pm in the Church Room. 

 HELP NEEDED for St Barnabas Hospice
They are launching their Easter fundraising project again this year. They will be making and selling knitted Easter crème egg covers (with egg included!) and are looking for some help.
If you are a knitter or have a group that could help, they would love to hear from you.
If you have any wool or yarn that you don’t need, they would love it for their knitters!!! 

 Cornerstone
Cornerstone will now meet fortnightly.  The next meeting will this Tuesday 19th March at 1.30pm. 
Cornerstone will meet on the 1st and 3rd Tuesdays of the month and will hold a social on the 5th Tuesday in a five week month.

Warm Space
The Salvation Army are running the Warm Space again. Taking place on Friday’s 11.00am – 1.00pm.  All very welcome. Bring your friends along too!! 

 Thank-you
Thank-you to everyone who responded to Rev Heather’s advent challenge to provide a United Nations’ Refugee Survival Kit.  We were, in fact, able to supply to survival kits and keep two family’s warm and safe as a result of your donations.

 APCM
The annual meeting for St Botolph’s Church is on Tuesday 23rd April at 7pm in church.  You can only vote at this meeting if you are on the Electoral Roll (see below).
For those who write reports, please email them to Maria by Friday 17th March 2024

Electoral Roll
This is the register of people who attend St Botolph’s Church regularly and call St Botolph’s their main church.  It is important for our records that this accurately reflects the people who attend.  If you’re not sure if you’re on this roll or if you have joined the church in the last twelve months and would like to be included please speak to one of the Churchwardens or one of the Welcome Team who will be able to give you a form to fill in. 

Ladies’ Group
There will not be a meeting in February as this falls in Lent.  The next meeting will be on Wednesday 13th March at 2pm in the church room. Please speak to Rev Heather for more details.  

Men’s Group
This meets for a meal at the Horseshoes on the first Thursday of each month.  Please speak to Charles Coulson for more details.  

 Prayer Corner
Please have a look at the prayer requests board and pray for people. There are also prayer cards available for you to use or give away to others, please take one if you'd like too. The books on the shelf in the prayer corner can be borrowed or taken if there is one you would like to read.

  Project in the Precinct
Our brothers and sisters at New Life Church have opened the new youth resource in the Precinct which is called “Mosaic”.
All the churches within Churches Together in Sleaford and District have been invited to support this very important resource. Regular activities will start again in September when the young people return to school. The New Life team would welcome our support with the initiative. If you would like to help, please contact the New Life Church office on 01529 413603 or by email on 

Chaplaincy Opportunity
Lincoln chaplaincy team is looking for someone who might be interested in becoming a police chaplain. The role involves regular visiting at the police station, being a friendly and steady Christian presence, offering to pray for people and situations and being connected to the wider chaplaincy service for training and support. If you would be interested or know of someone who might, please speak to Rev Rebecca in the first instance. 

Alpha Course
Our new Alpha group continues to meet on Wednesday evenings starting at 7pm.
If you are interested please contact 

What happens now?
After this, St Botolph’s will officially be in an interregnum or vacancy. Rev Philip Johnston, the Rural Dean for this area and the priest for St Denys’ Church in Sleaford will take over the official role of care for St Botolph’s Parish for the time being. Luckily, Rev Rebecca will continue to serve her curacy at St Botolph’s so will be with us until at least June 2024. During this time Rev Philip and Rev Lorna Brabin-Smith Partnership Dean will meet with the Churchwardens and the PCC.

 Time to Change Together - Update
At present, the Covenant Pledges from our Local Mission Partnership will pay for approximately 2 full-time priests. Currently, the Partnership has 3 full-time priests: Rev Philip Johnson, Rev Captain Chris Harrington and Rev Mark. Rev Rebecca is not counted in this number while she is serving her curacy. When Rev Mark leaves, his post will not be filled by someone new but the church will be supported, as with all churches in our Local Mission Partnership by Rev Rebecca, Rev Philip and Rev Chris working together. You can read more about Time to Change Together and look at the map of churches in our local mission partnership on the noticeboard at the back of the church./ 

Fundraising
Do you have any fundraising ideas? We are planning a quiz night, a concert and a tabletop sale. What else could we do? Are you able to get involved or organise an event? 

  Screens in church
If you’d be interested in learning how to use the screens or the sound desk so that you can help to support services, please let Rev Rebecca know who will be organising some training next month. 

 Morning Prayer - Don't forget that Morning Prayer is on Zoom Mondays and Thursdays at 9.00am.  
It's a great, prayerful way to start the day. Why not follow the link from the weekly email or contact Maria for the details of how to join? 

There is no morning prayer on Bank Holidays  

Wanted for the Diocese - Assistant Heating and Lighting Adviser
The DAC would like to appoint an Assistant Heating and Lighting Adviser in order to help its existing Adviser with the casework load. The person interested should have good knowledge of commercial heating and lighting installations and this would suit someone who has recently retired. Ideally they should have good working knowledge of green and renewable energy. This is a voluntary role but for which reasonable travelling and subsistence expenses are payable. For further details, please contact the DAC Secretary, Steven Sleight.

Prayer
After the 11am service, there will be an opportunity to ask for private prayers in the prayer space at the front of the north aisle. During coffee time, just make your way there and there will be someone who can sit and pray with you.

 Leaf Mould - There is plenty of leaf mould near the lych gate that is free to a good home – please help yourself.

 Welcome and Coffee
Could you help with this important part of Sunday mornings? We need help welcome people to church and others to help make coffee after the service. Coffee is a social time when we can chat after the formal service so it is important to keep this going. If you can help, please speak to Jaki Lowder or email Jaki on lowder2@btinternet.com 

 Time to Change Together 
There is a map on the noticeboard at the back of the church showing the area of our Local Mission Partnership. Each week we will email with the newsletter a photograph of one of the villages in our partnership, please pray for the Christian community in that place. Please pray for all those who minister and worship within this partnership, that we would work generously and collaboratively to serve all the communities represented. 

Giving
Anyone interested in starting to give via green envelopes instead of through the collection plate please talk to Jan or David.

Information packs are also available for people who might consider giving by direct debit instead of by envelope or standing order.

There is now a card reader available after the service if you would like to make your collection donation ‘cashless'. Please see Rev Rebecca or David Pursell if you are interested