St Peter and St Paul’s Church News

Christmas Fair December 7th saw the hall and church decorated ready to receive many visitors between 10am and 2pm. In the hall were a variety of stalls, including an amazing cake stall laden with the most delicious home made cakes plus stalls with glass and china, stocking fillers, toys, Christmas decorations and beautiful hand made crafts as well as a raffle. A new feature was a table advertising the ‘Follow That Star’ initiative, which reaches out to people who are not regular church-goers in the Christmas season. The star that many people will have seen shining out from the south window of the church is a symbol of this initiative. The church was decorated with candles and greenery in all the windows. as well as many nativity sets loaned by members of the congregation. There was a memory tree (generously donated by G.E.Gamble) which was almost filled by the end of the day with the names of many departed loved ones. Refreshments included the ever favourite bacon butties! The result of all this enjoyment on a beautiful sunny day was that the sum of £1453.45 was raised for church funds, slightly more than last year. We are extremely grateful for the number of people who came and supported this event which helps to maintain your beautiful parish church. St. Peter and St. Paul’s Ladies Friendship Circle The speaker at our meeting on November 25th was Wendy Nye-her subject ‘The History of Greeting Cards. Wendy told us that the sending of messages went as far back as Roman times when as most people could not read they carved shapes on to pieces of wood. Through the ages the custom of sending cards has seen many changes. The early cards were quite decorative and mainly sent by the upper classes. it seems it was an American man thought up the idea of buying some cards and he went around the country selling them. The man’s name was Mark Hall. When became established he wanted to have a name that related to his business, and after a great deal of thought came up with the idea of reversing his own name and so we now all associate with HALLMARK. This is a name we all associate with greeting cards to this day. Wendy also brought along many cards and Christmas items which she makes and sells for various charities. There were so many items to choose from but many were purchased in preparation for the coming Christmas season. On Monday Dec.16th. We held our traditional Christmas Carol Service. We were fortunate to have Valerie Cobb who came along with her portable key-board to accompany the singing. We were pleased to welcome several men who came along ‘to give depth to the singing’ We all appreciated the quiet time away from the hustle and bustle of this time of year and it gave us the opportunity to concentrate on the true meaning of Christmas. Some of the readings were well known but others were new to us. After the service we all enjoyed mince pies which had been supplied by several of the ladies. We look forward to our regular meetings in 2020. On February 10th the ever popular Felicity Austin will tell us about Syston in the Twentieth Century. On Feb. 24th we will have a Pancake Party. Visitors are always welcome at our meeting 7.30 p.m. in the Church Hall. Doreen Payne Bring and Share Party Lesley Middleton coordinated a great time of fellowship on Sunday 15th December. Those who wanted to wore festive sweaters and ‘interesting’ head gear! Revd Lee and his family wore a great selection of hats! The food was amazing, (thank you Gamble and Hollis for your support), and as is usual the home made puddings were fantastic. There was a free raffle. The first prize was won by Terry Farmer, a large basket filled with all manner of food and sweets. Prizes were generously donated by members of the congregation. All agreed it should happen again. Thank you Lesley!?Christmas Services These began with the ever popular Christingle Service late on Christmas Eve. As usual this was well attended as a packed church heard the story of the Nativity and received a lit Christingle and heard Revd Lee explain the symbolism of the decorated orange. The church was darkened while everyone sang the Christingle song. As the families left the church, shortly afterwards the bells rang out to call people to the Traditional Carol Service. Once again the church was packed to sing traditional carols and hear the bible readings telling the story of the first Christmas. The special church choir sang three carols during the service. Later in the evening at 11.30pm was the Midnight Mass attended by many people glad to take a step out for a quiet reflective time for Communion and to sing favourite carols. More people than ever attended this service. For those unable to attend at midnight there was a delightful Service of Holy Communion with Carols at Barkby Church. Collections at the services were £322.09 from the Christingle service for The Children’s Society and the collection through Advent and the Carol service was £733.62 for the charity Shelter.