Newsletter - March 2025
Easter is very late this year, but finally Lent is about to get underway. All are warmly invited to our 7pm Ash Wednesday Eucharist (on 5 March) when there will be the opportunity to receive an ash cross on your forehead. During Lent we remember the 40 days Jesus spent in the wilderness. Many people choose to observe Lent by fasting or giving something up. Traditionally this has been some kind of food or drink, but some people prefer to give up something different like social media. The whole point, rather than doing something that makes up grumpy for God(!), is to make time and do something positive that deepens our faith and improves our life. This can include reading the Bible, prayer, volunteering, donating to charity or doing something to help the environment. To join our WhatsApp Lent group, please message Lindsay on 07780 144448.
This Lent, St Philip’s will be supporting two charities. The first is ShelterBox’s Tent for Lent appeal. ShelterBox provides tents and other much needed supplies to families across the world who are displaced by war or natural disaster. On Sunday 23rd March we will be welcoming a guest speaker from ShelterBox in our 10am service, so do come to hear more about their vital work. We’ll also be supporting the Bishop of Southwark’s Lent Call in support of the mental wellbeing of children and young people recovering from trauma, both here and in our link dioceses in Zimbabwe and Jerusalem.
This year’s Annual Parochial Church Meeting (APCM) is on Sunday 23rd March. Coffee and cake will be served in the church after the service, then the meeting will follow. Immediately before the APCM there’s a very short but important meeting in which we elect our Churchwardens. This year, Michelle Pegley is standing down as Churchwarden, having done a heroic job during the Vacancy. Michelle has done a huge amount for St Philip’s and we are enormously grateful to her for the immense amount of time and energy she has poured into the role. In preparation for the APCM, we are compiling the annual report, which gives a great insight into all that goes on at St Philip’s throughout the year. Once completed, the annual report will be published on our website, with a few hard copies available in church.
Finally, as we look forward to Spring, keep an eye out for the appearance of the bulbs which were planted just outside the church on a very cold winter’s morning by two of our ‘Holy Dusters’. The “Holy Dusters’ work very hard each month to ensure the church is kept tidy and polished. They’re always looking for volunteers to help, so if you’re free on the first Wednesday morning of each month, do please let Lindsay know.
