Advent & Christmas 2017
Those who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint. (Isaiah 40: 31)
This Advent, across the Diocese of Chichester – and therefore in this parish – we embark upon a Year of Prayer. Prayer is many things (and possibly as many as there are people praying), but one thing that it is, which is sometimes overlooked, fits in very well with the season of Advent. And that is waiting. I don’t so much mean waiting for God to show up when we pray or waiting for Him to answer prayer. Is not our merciful loving Creator always with us? Does not our Father know what He is about and certainly more than we know for our good and the good of all His creation? Both Advent and prayer itself are opportunities to wait upon the Lord, in the sense of waiting with Him, of being and resting in His presence. These coming weeks in the run-up to Christmas can all too easily involve a lot of weariness and even fainting. Perhaps if we wait for and upon the Lord we will find true strength. May this Advent and Christmas set us on our course for this new Christian year when we might just soar with eagles’ wings!
Mark Eminson – Vicar
(All events at St Thomas à Becket Church unless otherwise stated)
Sunday mornings in Advent (3, 10, 17, 24 December):
8.00am Holy Communion
9.45am Parish Eucharist
Sunday evenings in Advent 5.00pm:
3 December Advent Carols & Readings
10 December Evening Prayer
17 December Christingle
Weekdays in Advent:
Morning Prayer 9.20am Monday-Thursday & Saturday (8.30am Friday)
Tuesdays 7.00pm Eucharist
Wednesdays 10.00am Holy Communion
Wednesdays 7.00pm Compline
Carol Services:
Tuesday 12 December 9.00am Rose Green Infants
Tuesday 19 December 7.30pm Carols at The Bear Inn
Wednesday 20 December 10.00am Rose Green Juniors
Thursday 21 December 7.30pm Chichester Voices Choir Concert
Christmas:
Christmas Eve 5.00pm Crib Service
Christmas Eve 11.30pm Midnight Mass
Christmas Day 8.00am Holy Communion
Christmas Day 9.45am Family Eucharist
Sunday 31 December First Sunday of Christmas
8.00am Holy Communion
9.45am Family Eucharist
5.00pm Christmas Carols
Sunday 7 January The Epiphany
9.45am Parish Eucharist
Sunday 28 January Feast of Candlemas
9.45am Family Eucharist with Sunday School Play