Dear friends, I would like to thank you for all your prayers during the recruitment process. I am delighted to inform you that we have appointed two outstanding individuals from our congregation for the roles.
Rev Julie Partridge has been appointed as Pioneering Community Worker and Hannah Hossain as Children and Families Worker. Ian Anderson (FRA vice-chair), Victoria Ashdown (Diocesan Mission Enabler for Communities), Christine Shuman (Fetcham Infant School headteacher) and Emma Coy (Diocesan Mission Enabler for Children and Families) joined Janet and I on the interview panels.
The interview panels were incredibly impressed with both candidates and unanimously supported their appointments. Below is a short response from Julie and Hannah after they accepted the offer for their positions:
“I am delighted to have been appointed Pioneer Community Worker for St Mary’s. I am looking forward to working with both the church and wider community of Fetcham, developing the outreach activities that have already begun through St Mary’s, and building on the relationships we have with other organisations so that, together, we can best serve our village.” Julie
“I feel privileged to be working at St Mary’s, working with the families and children at church and within the community of Fetcham. It’s an exciting time with many opportunities to develop links, friendships, intergenerational activities, see and hear God in unexpected ways and walking with others along their journeys.” Hannah
I would like to encourage you to continue to pray for Hannah and Julie as they settle into their roles. This is such an exciting time in the life of our community. My hope and prayer is that many more people experience God’s love through His children’s service in our village and beyond.
Congratulations Julie and Hannah! Every blessing, Rev Pouya Heidari, Rector
Christingle Food Support Request – Sun 4 Dec, 4pm: Please help with the Christingle tea this Sunday afternoon by providing some of the following: Sandwiches: ham/cheese/marmite, Fairy cakes/traybake, Crisps/snacks, Grapes. Bring along to church on Sunday morning. Also, if anyone is free to help serve tea/coffee/squash after the service, that would be great! Contact Pam Egles families@stmarysfetcham.org.uk. Thank you!
Homemade Stall – Sun 4 Dec: Come and buy your Christmas presents and raise money for Homework Clubs and Apprenticeships in Nairobi’s slums. Note there is no HMS in January.
Secondhand Books – Sun 4 Dec: Stock up for the Christmas break with books and puzzles. The books are also displayed at the Community Café on Monday mornings and sometimes for the rest of the week, so pop in and have a browse. Money raised buys books for the homework clubs.
Christmas Gifts: We are collecting presents for various local causes, see below. Please don’t feel under any obligation to donate as many of us are having to be more careful with our finances this year. Thank you for all the generous gifts that have already been donate – please keep putting items in the big box in the church hall.
1) The Meeting Room’s Christmas Day Lunch at the village hall,
2) The children of CAP’s (Christians Against Poverty) Mole Valley’s clients
3) Surrey’s vulnerable teenagers
4) Supermarket Gift Cards for local supermarkets for B@titude clients.
Lisa Cullen from The Meeting Room has suggested possible presents for the Christmas Lunch guests. All gifts should be given by Mon 12 Dec. Full details by the big box in the hall or on the website. Thank you!
Little boxes of fairy lights Toiletries (for both male and female)
Mini torch – packs of batteries Chocolates
Water bottles Reusable coffee mugs/flasks
Hand warmers Hot water bottles
Socks – male and female Notepads and pens
T shirts – male and female Hand cream
Carol Service – Wed 7 Dec, 6:30pm: We are delighted to be hosting the Carol Service supporting Transform Housing again this year. The collaboration is with Fetcham Park House and Mole Valley Chamber of Commerce and the keynote address will be made by the Bishop Jo. After the service all are welcome to enjoy refreshments and nibbles at Fetcham Park House.
Sun 11 Dec – No 9.30 service: In order to give the choir a chance to rest their voices, there will be no 9.30am service on Sun 11 Dec. You are encouraged to attend the 8am for communion or the Eleven15 on Sunday morning.
St Mary’s Candlelit Carol Service – Sun 11 Dec, 6.30pm – Join us for our traditional carol service which is followed by mulled wine and mince pies in the hall. If you could please provide some mince pies or help on the evening, please let Corinne know, corinne@stmarysfetcham.org.uk. Thank you!
Christmas Craft Evening: Everyone had an amazing social evening last Friday whilst enjoying some Christmas craft making. A big thank you to all who ran a craft and helped with refreshments and a big thank you to everyone who attended to make it such a great evening, particularly to Liz who co-ordinated the evening! A brilliant £165 is being passed to our Christmas Gift Appeal
A Christmas Café – Sun 18 Dec, 3-5pm: The young people of St Mary’s are hosting an event and would love you to come along! Come to the church hall on 18th Dec between 3-5pm to receive some festive cheer, win some festive prizes and enjoy some quality time with your friends and family as you sip cosy drinks and eat yummy Christmas treats in the cheerful and festively decorated Church Hall! There’s no cost – just come, bring a friend and receive some Christmas joy! Chat to Nathan for more info.
Would you be happy to bake a Christmas cake? One of the prize-winning activities we would love to have at the youth-hosted Christmas Café is guess the weight of the Christmas cake – the closest guess gets to take the Christmas cake home. If you could make a Christmas cake for the event it would be great to hear from you! Thank you so much! Nathan
Tombola donations: One of the activities that will be present for everyone to enjoy at the youth-hosted Christmas Café on the 18th Dec, is a Tombola! We would love people to be able to win some Christmas prizes so if you have anything that you would like to donate for the Tombola then please get in touch with Nathan at youth@stmarysfetcham.org.uk (items could be anything: Christmas decs, food, gifts, toys etc)
Community Fridge and Coffee Shop will be closed on Mondays 26th December and 2nd January. The will re-open on Monday 9th January.
Denbies Park Run Volunteer Take Over – Sat 10 Dec, 8:30-10am: A few of us in the Leatherhead Deanery and St Paul’s Dorking are organising to take over the volunteers at Denbies Parkrun just for Saturday 10th December to cover the roles including marshalling, time-keepers, bar-code scanners, tail walkers, finish tokens, pre-event set up and post-event pack down! We’re still exploring options of what we can give runners at the end of the race – we’d love to give them a flyer with Carol Services times for each of our churches for example, maybe a goody bag or just some gingerbread stars and a drink. If you would like to volunteer please contact Rev Pouya.
Bereavement Café – Wed 7 Dec, 10-11.30am: Bereavement affects people in different ways and Christmas is a difficult time of year for some. If you feel you could benefit from a friendly supportive environment and a chance to chat with other bereaved folk, please come along to the church hall on the first Wed of the month. We will be running on Wed 4 Jan 2023. The Bereavement Café is run in conjunction with the Princess Alice Hospice where all our “listeners” have been trained.
Other information
Thanks to everyone who has donated warm clothes. The Rotary are very grateful and are now busy bagging and labelling ready to co-ordinate with the wider district who will arrange the logistics to make sure it all gets to the Ukrainian people in need.
CAP Quiz – Sat 25 Feb 2023: Pop this one in your diary and start pulling your dream team together! CAP will be holding a fundraising quiz night in Dorking for their Mole Valley debt centre. Teams of up to 8 players. More details, including how to enter, will be out in January.
Pevsner’s Surrey – Fri 16 Dec, 7-9pm: Don’t miss this opportunity to go to Fetcham Park House to hear the excellent speaker, Charles O’ Brian speak about his revision of Pevsner’s Surrey (The Buildings of England). To find out more click here. This is an important authoritative volume and Charles is well worth hearing – if you have any doubts, ask Martin Roberts, Bill King or Sarah Mackay, who heard Charles’ fascinating talk earlier this week. Space is limited for this free event so RSVP to administration@fetchampark.co.uk.
Road Trippers: This local friendly, family-run company has issued their Spring & Summer brochure full of exciting placed to visit and things to do. Pick one up from the hall foyer or visit : www.road-trippers.co.uk
Prayers
Please pray for June Williams in residential care
We continue to pray for those who are unwell: Vera Cameron, Anais Featherstone, Lynn Alsop, John Cooper, Elaine Mead and Don Lamberth.
Diocese Calendar of Prayer: in December we pray for the deaneries of Farnham and Godalming. Download here
We welcome you to join us at St Mary’s:
Monday Morning Prayers : 8:00-8:30am
Saturday Morning Prayer : 9:00-9:30am
Private Prayer in Church : Monday to Saturday 09:00 -16:00
Usual Sunday Services
8am Communion Service : said Book of Common Prayer
9:30am Communion Service : sung Common Worship
11:15am Worship Service : no longer live-streamed
Monday Morning Prayer : 8-8:30am
10am Thursday : Communion Service
Diary Dates:
Check your MyChurchSuite to see what’s going on and to get more details or prebook. Here’s a brief summary:
Sun 4 Dec – Vision Sunday : Growing Good “Hospitality”
Sun 4 Dec – Homemade Stall and Secondhand Books
Sun 4 Dec – Christingle, 4pm and food/drink afterwards
Wed 7 Dec – Bereavement Café, 10-11.30am
Wed 7 Dec – Transform Carol Service, 6.30pm and
refreshments at Fetcham Park House afterwards
Fri 9 Dec – Messy Church, 3:30-5:30pm
Sun 11 Dec – no 9.30am Communion Service
Sun 11 Dec – Candlelit Service, 6.30pm and mince pies/mulled wine after
Fri 16 Dec – FM Life, 1:30-3pm
Sun 18 Dec – Carols at The Bell, 6pm
Sat 24 Dec – Crib Service, 4pm
Sat 24 Dec – Midnight Service, 11.15pm
Sun 25 Dec – Christmas Celebration 10am
Sun 1 Jan – Said Communion Service 9am only
Mon 9 Jan – Community Fridge & Coffee Shop returns
Sat 21 Jan – Who Let The Dads Out?!
Sat 28 Jan – Afternoon Tea, 3-4.30pm
Sat 25 Feb – CAP Quiz Night in Dorking
Weekly Regulars
Mondays – Community Fridge 10-11am (not open on Bank Holiday)
Mondays – Community Coffee Shop 10-11.30am (not open on Bank Holiday)
Running in Term Time
Mondays – The Drop-In (School Yrs 7-13) 4-5.30pm
Tuesdays – Youth Night (School Yrs 7-13) 7.30-9pm
Fridays – Footprints Baby & Toddlers 10-11.30am
Friday – Messy Church (all the family) 2nd of the month 3.30-5.30pmSundays – Activ8 for under 11s and Sunday Youth for 11+ during 11.15 service
Rev Pouya Heidari: rector@stmarysfetcham.org.uk 01372 375660 (day off Friday)
Parish Office : office@stmarysfetcham.org.uk 01372 375000 (Mon-Fri 9-12)
Keep up to date with St Marys:
Website: www.stmarysfetcham.org.uk
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/stmaryschurchfetcham/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/StMarysFetcham
My ChurchSuite: Log in
Hearing Aid Supplies: contact Jacky on 01372 602092 or family.breadmore@gmail.com