St James The Great
Old Milverton, Leamington Spa, Warwickshire
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Safeguarding
St James Church takes its duty and obligation to protect all extremely seriously. We have adopted the national Church of England’s robust procedures and guidelines. We recognise that the care and protection of children, young people and adults involved in Church activities is the responsibility of everyone who participates in the life of St James Church.
October Monthly update from Rev. Sue
The Sunday Club: will not be meeting this autumn
Access to the Parish Room: Whilst we are not unlocking the hall before each Sunday service, the key is always available from one of the churchwardens should anyone wish to make use of the toilets.
Churchyard Clearing: Thank you to the small but hardworking band who came along for our churchyard clearing morning in September. Your efforts are always greatly appreciated.
Annual Parochial Meeting: St James Annual Parochial Meeting will be held on Thursday 22nd October at 7.30pm. This is the meeting where the various committees of the PCC report on their activity for the year ended December 2019. Our intention is to hold the meeting in church but, if numbers wishing to attend exceed our current social distancing limits, we may have to re-arrange this as a Zoom meeting.
Everyone is welcome to attend an APCM but only those on the electoral roll are entitled to vote on any resolutions or appointments. After the meeting, we will post the meeting reports on the church website, so that everyone can read about what we have been doing on your behalf.
If you wish to attend the meeting, please email or telephone Michael Rayner on 01926 831522, michael@oldmilverton.uk as soon as possible to help us monitor numbers.
Looking ahead into the autumn
- All Souls: the restricted numbers allowed in church mean that it will not be practical to hold our usual All Souls service this October. We will keep a note of all the funeral services held this year and make sure we remember those people at our service in 2021.
- Remembrance Sunday (November 8th): we are hoping that this will take place as usual, with its regular start time of 10.45am.
- Sadly, we have taken the decision not to hold either a Carol Service or a Nativity Service this year.
Contact Details: Sue Fairhurst is taking a break until the end of October and won’t necessarily be answering the phone! If you need to speak to someone in that time, please call either Carol or Michael.
Eco-tips for October: With World Vegetarian Day on 1st October and the UN World Food Day on 16th October, here are three food-centred eco-tips for you:
- By occasionally having meals with meat and dairy alternatives you can help ease the pressure on water globally. If you've already taken this step maybe try making more days meat/dairy-free. If you do choose to eat meat think about looking for something organic and local.
- Choose to buy items that are labelled organic or Fairtrade/Rainforest Alliance/ Eco-Social, or that have an indication of sustainability, for example “palm oil from sustainable sources or palm oil free and plastic free”. These products don't always cost more than alternatives, but when they do you can be assured that somewhere a small-scale farmer and their community are benefitting environmentally as well as economically.
- When shopping for vegetarian ingredients try to keep food miles low by looking for British pulses and grains. You can find some in supermarkets and smaller stores and some are available online.
Thought for the month: Thankfulness in scarcity and plenty
“For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land — a land where bread will not be scarce and you will lack nothing. But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your ancestors, as it is today.” (Deuteronomy 8: 7, 9 & 18)
We are not, as a church, celebrating Harvest Festival this year. That feels very strange, particularly as we worship in a place surrounded by farmland and the evidence of God’s great bounty towards us, a bounty that the book of Deuteronomy describes.
In our world of 24-hour supermarkets, with their shelves bursting with both fresh and packaged foods from all around the world, it can be easy for us all to take food for granted. Whilst we may not be holding a Harvest Festival service, we should still take time to be grateful for the land and people who produce the amazing variety of food we enjoy and to thank our God, from whom they all spring.
Let’s not forget, though, that we are the lucky ones: hidden hunger still exists in the midst of this modern ‘land of plenty’ and the number of people turning to foodbanks for help has increased greatly during the pandemic. Supplies to those foodbanks are usually augmented by gifts from harvest celebrations at churches and schools: this year, that bounty may not be as great, as limits on social gatherings may mean that, like us, other folk feel unable to hold their usual Harvest Festivals.
While life is going well, it’s so easy to assume that foodbanks are for others, not for people ‘like us’. But illness, redundancy, bereavement, unexpected increases in living costs and, this year, the effects of the coronavirus on people’s lives can leave folk in situations which are completely beyond their control. “Remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth” says our scripture quote. Harvest is a good time to remind ourselves that the true source of all our wealth and our ability to produce it is God himself: shouldn’t we express that gratitude by helping others, by generously giving to those in need just as God gives so generously to each one of us?
This harvest time, when you go shopping, I encourage you to remember those who need to use our Foodbanks and to put something into the collection boxes. And as you do so, I invite you to pray that through the food they receive, they will also taste something of God’s great love for them – a God who both sees their immediate need, and who cares passionately about their future. Remember too, the abundant generosity he shows in all our lives, both in times of scarcity and in times of plenty, and be thankful.
We thank you Creator God, for the harvest of our countryside: fertile, diverse and beautiful, supplying so much of what we need. We praise and thank you for shelves that are laden and cupboards that are full; for food that is always available, varied and affordable; for a healthy appetite and the means to satisfy it. Let us not forget those who live in poverty, uncertain of where their next meal will come from and remind us to share our abundance of good gifts with others, so that none may go hungry.
With love, Sue
Coming up...
Remember to bring a face covering if you come to a service - everyone welcome, numbers restricted - let Michael know michael@oldmilverton.uk
Sunday 27th September - 10.30am Harvest Festival at St James
Sunday 4th October - 10.30am Holy Communion at St James
Sunday 11th October - 10.30am Matins at St James
Sunday 18th October - 10.30am Holy Communion at St James
Sunday 25th October - 10.30am Morning worship at St James
Saturday 31st October - 10am to 12pm churchyard clearing day
Services online with St Mary Magdalene, Lillington - to join these services go to www.lillingtonparishchurch.org and click on ‘live streaming' on the left of the screen
Sundays at 9.30am - Holy Communion
Tuesdays at 7.00pm - Night Prayer
Wednesdays at 10.00am - Holy Communion
Thursdays at 7.00pm - Night Prayer
Baptism
St James Church is in Old Milverton Village, but our congregation is drawn from all parts of Leamington, Warwick and Kenilworth. We hold a service every Sunday morning at 10.30am and offer a family friendly, fairly traditional style of worship. On the last Wednesday afternoon of each month, we have a quiet, reflective half hour service to help us recharge our batteries midweek.
The current church was built in 1880, but this has been a place of worship for nine hundred years. Our churchyard is on several footpaths that run across to Leamington and down to the River Avon at the Saxon Mill, Warwick, and is a lovely place to stop and relax on a sunny day, to take in the views and soak up the peaceful atmosphere.
We think of ourselves as the St James ‘family’, but a family that welcomes new members and enjoys meeting new people.
As part of the Diocese of Coventry we have a shared mission of “Worshipping God…making new disciples…transforming communities”.
Come and meet us
Ali Foster © 2013