Prayer Evening
This evening Vanessa Naish will be leading ‘Gathered to Pray’ focusing on the Persecuted Church. If that sounds remote from us in Corsham, I urge you to come along as Open Doors have prepared some very illuminating and encouraging first-hand stories that we will be sharing. Please take this prompt to consider whether you can support the work of our mission partner, Open Doors, either with a one-off gift or more regularly. CBC recommends you do this directly and prayer diaries at the back of church contain details on how, as well as plenty of information for your prayers. Details for sending Christmas cards to persecuted believers are also available at the back of the church.
Midweek Service
Eric will be leading and preaching on Wednesday 5th December, starting at 2pm. The reading is Psalm 145 and there will be communion. All welcome. Refreshments follow at 3pm.
*** Farmyard Nativity! ***
Thank you to all who helped in the ‘work party’ at the farm yesterday, a job well done! Tickets are selling out fast, only a few remaining, if you haven’t booked yet go to www.born-in-a-barn-live-nativity.eventbrite.co.uk to get yours. There will be refreshments served at the Nativity so we are looking for donations of mince pies and gingerbread men and cookies (bought or homemade; recipes can be provided if you want to make gingerbread but don’t have one!). Please check the “best before” dates on the boxes to ensure they are in date for the 15th December. Please speak to Rhiannon if you are able to make a donation. Donations can be left at church from Sunday 9th December until Friday 14th December (or passed directly to Rhiannon). Please continue to pray for this amazing event.
Carols by Candlelight Service – 16th December
Once again this year it would be great to get a band together for the carol service,to give the occasion a certain something extra! So if you play an acoustic instrument and would like to be part of the band, David Morrell would love to hear from you. If you have not been part of this before, please let David know what you play, and to roughly what standard, together with your contact details if you’re not already in the church directory. Many thanks. David Morrell (davidsuemorrell@gmail.com)
Women’s Christmas Meal – 10th December
We are ordering curry from Haq in Corsham for our Christmas meal! There will also be delicious home-made puddings. This is an invitation to ALL the women in our church and you are welcome to invite friends as well! Monday 10th December @ 7.30pm. Cost £10pp. PLEASE SIGN UP ON THE SHEET AT THE BACK!!
Men’s Bible Study
Tuesday 4th December @ Priory Street, 7:30pm – “Jesus as King.”
Christmas decoration workshop
Come and make some decorations for your tree on Saturday 8th December between 10am and 12pm at Priory street, all are welcome. Children must be accompanied by an adult. Volunteers are needed so if you would like to help at this event, please contact Rhiannon. Thank you.
Elections
Elections of Safeguarding Deacon, Elder and Fabric Deacon will take place at the January Church Meeting on 21st January. Nominations for these positions will open on 23rd December and close on6th January 2019. Adrian Pillinger and Martin Sheringham have indicated their willingness to be renominated for positions of Elder and Fabric Deacon respectively.
Church Directory 2019
Please take the time to complete the information for the new church directory if you are new to this fellowship or if any of your personal details have changed. There is also a section to complete if you would like specific information on any aspect of church life. You may complete either online or the paper copy which can be left in the white box on the table at the back. (Blank forms at the back). Remember…please write clearly!!
Corsham Foodbank – Feeding Back to You
The Christmas Hamper project will be run again this year, and we expect to be blessing in excess of 50 households. If you would like to support this project by donating edible seasonal treats with a post-Christmas best before date, please leave them in or by the collection bin in the porch at Priory Street. Tonight is the deadline! Items which would enable us to bless children would be particularly welcome.
Christmas Service Offerings – 2018
On Saturday 15 December, the offering taken at the Farmyard Nativity Events will be given to Compassion UK’s “Most Needed Fund” and will be used to support the work of their Child Survival Programme in many poor communities across the world.
On Sunday 16 December, the offering from the Carols by Candlelight Service will be sent to support the work of the Oasis Centre, our mission partners in Austria working alongside refugees. In February, we will be sending out a Building Team to renovate a toilet and make it fully accessible for the disabled; the money will be put towards the costs of this work. If you are able to gift aid your donation,special yellow envelopes for your monetary offering are available on the table at the back of the building. Please do mark them “NATIVITY – COMPASSION” or “CHRISTMAS – OASIS”. When the offering is taken on the day, only the contents of the yellow envelopes, and loose cash/cheques will be included in the offering total. Blue envelopes will be treated as regular giving to the general work of the church. Please do pray about how you can contribute towards this offering, and speak to Paul Garcia (COTG Rudloe), Michael Prior (Priory Street 9.15) or Roger Hammett (Priory Street 11.15) should you wish to clarify these arrangements.
…This week…
Monday: Mums’ bible study, 9:30am
Tuesday: Men’s bible study, 7:30pm
Wednesday: Midweek service, 2pm
Thursday: Toddler Group, 10am; Corsham Money Debt Advice Centre, 7:30pm
Friday: Corsham Money and Debt Advice Centre, 9:30am; Encounter, 3.45pm; Engage, 4:30pm; Energize, 5:30pm
Saturday: Christmas decoration workshop, 10am
… Looking ahead over the next days, weeks and months…
10th December: Men’s fight night, 8:00pm
10th December: Women’s Christmas event, 7:00pm
15th December: Nativity @ Castle Combe farm
16th December: Carol Service, 6pm Priory Street
18th December: Corsham Town Carol Service, 6:45pm
19th December: Midweek Christmas service, 2pm
23rd December: Nominations open for various leadership roles
23rd December: DIY Nativity at Rudloe, 10am
24th December: Christmas eve service, 6pm/ Carol singing in Rudloe, 6pm
25th December: Christmas day joint service, 10am @ Priory Street/ 10am at Rudloe
30th December: No evening service
**2019 Church Meeting Dates**
21st January
15th April
15th July
21st October