St Thomas à Becket
Pews News
Priest-in-Charge: The Reverend Lucy Sullivan
Tel: 01243 941 551 Email: mthrlucy.pagham@gmail.com (Rest day: Friday)
Churchwarden: Mr Alex Brockhurst
Tel: 07792 544259.; Email: churchwarden@paghamchurch.org
Churchwarden: Mr Mike Wake
Tel: 07899 705632; Email: churchwarden@paghamchurch.org
Safeguarding Officer: Mrs Jan Brockhurst
Email: safeguarding@paghamchurch.org
Find us online: www.paghamchurch.org // @StThomasPagham
SUNDAY 4th DECEMBER 2022
second Sunday of ADVENT
Sunday 4th 08:00 Holy Communion
ADVENT 2 09:30 Parish Family Eucharist
Monday 5th 09:00 Morning Prayer (church)
Tuesday 6th 17:30 Evening Prayer (zoom)
St Nicholas 19:00 Tuesday@7 Eucharist
Wednesday 7th 17:30 Evening Prayer (Zoom)
St Ambrose
Thursday 8th 09:00 Morning Prayer (church)
Conception of the BVM 10:00 Holy Communion
Friday 9th No public services today
Saturday 10th No public services today
Sunday 11th 09:30 Parish Eucharist
ADVENT 3 18:00 Festival of Lessons and Carols
(St Richard’s Church, Gossamer Lane)
Hymns
Entrance: 527 On Jordan’s bank
Gradual: 303 I cannot tell
Offertory: 406 Long ago, prophets new
Final: 405 Lo he comes with clouds descending
The Collection plate– If you would like to make an offering, please use the contactless Payaz machine or the collection plate, both can be found at the back of church. Thank you for your generosity.
Registered charity number 1134842
The Collect (Opening Prayer) for the Second Sunday of Advent:
Almighty God, purify our hearts and minds, that when your Son Jesus Christ comes again as judge and saviour we may be ready to receive him, who is our Lord and our God. Amen.
Old Testament reading: Isaiah 11: 1- 10
A shoot shall come out from the stock of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots. The spirit of the Lord shall rest on him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. His delight shall be in the fear of the Lord.
He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide by what his ears hear;
but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked. Righteousness shall be the belt around his waist, and faithfulness the belt around his loins.
The wolf shall live with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the kid,
the calf and the lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them.
The cow and the bear shall graze, their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
The nursing child shall play over the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put its hand on the adder’s den. They will not hurt or destroy on all my holy mountain;
for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.
On that day the root of Jesse shall stand as a signal to the peoples; the nations shall inquire of him, and his dwelling shall be glorious.
Psalm 72: 1- 7 the response to the psalm is “In his time shall the righteous flourish”
New Testament reading: Romans 15: 4- 13
For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, so that by steadfastness and by the encouragement of the scriptures we might have hope. May the God of steadfastness and encouragement grant you to live in harmony with one another, in accordance with Christ Jesus, so that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Welcome one another, therefore, just as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God. For I tell you that Christ has become a servant of the circumcised on behalf of the truth of God in order that he might confirm the promises given to the patriarchs, and in order that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. As it is written, ‘Therefore I will confess you among the Gentiles, and sing praises to your name’; and again he says, ‘Rejoice, O Gentiles, with his people’; and again, ‘Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles, and let all the peoples praise him’; and again Isaiah says, ‘The root of Jesse shall come, the one who rises to rule the Gentiles; in him the Gentiles shall hope.’ May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Gospel reading: Matthew 3: 1- 12
In those days John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness of Judea, proclaiming, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.’ This is the one of whom the prophet Isaiah spoke when he said,
‘The voice of one crying out in the wilderness:
“Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.” ’
Now John wore clothing of camel’s hair with a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey. Then the people of Jerusalem and all Judea were going out to him, and all the region along the Jordan, and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.
But when he saw many Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, ‘You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruit worthy of repentance. Do not presume to say to yourselves, “We have Abraham as our ancestor”; for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham. Even now the axe is lying at the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
‘I baptize you with water for repentance, but one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing-fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing-floor and will gather his wheat into the granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.’
Prayers of Intercession
The sick and those who care for them: Rosie Sims, Terry Haskell, Barbara Crew, Karen Cox, Jim Fowler, Sheila King, Dawn Spurway Pearson, Nicola Simpson, Betty Smith, Mike Hatzfeld, Andrew Naylor, Colin May, Tyler Rankin, Max Davey, Leslie Francis, Dickie Roots, Colin Wood.
Recently departed:
Anniversary of death: Brian Jenkin, Greta Garland (4th); Jack Vagg (5th); Charles Martin (6th); Dorothy Hender (8th); Olive Bringan (10th)
We pray for peace and especially for and with the people of Ukraine. We pray for all those caught up in conflict, and for those seeking safety and refuge on these shores.
For urgent prayer, contact Gillian Purvis (267597) or Pat Rush (262561) to start the Prayer Chain.
Post Communion Prayer: Father in heaven, who sent your Son to redeem the world and will send him again to be our judge: give us grace so to imitate him in the humility and purity of his first coming that, when he comes again, we may be ready to greet him with joyful love and firm faith; through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
Next week’s readings: Third Sunday of Advent
Isaiah 35: 1- 10; Psalm 146; James 5: 7- 10; Matthew 11: 2- 11
Prayer Diary
To work alongside the new version of Pews News there will be a yearly prayer diary to be taken home and used in your daily prayers, this will be ready for collection shortly.
Advent Meditations
Join us Mondays 5th, 12th and 19th December, at 14:00 in St Andrew’s Chapel, for advent reflection and meditation using the World Community of Christian Meditation method.
Christmas Services
Please be sure to pick up a flyer from church with all the Advent and Christmas service details. This year we explore the ‘Great Invitation’ of Christmas, so why not take a few extra flyers and invite someone new to join us for Christmas at Pagham church.
Festival of Lessons and Carols
Sunday 11th December 6pm: Traditional service of Lessons and Carols with the joint choir of St Richard’s and St Thomas à Becket, followed by mulled wine and mince pies. This promises to be a great evening service for Gaudete Sunday, do be sure to share the ‘Great Invitation’.
Sunday 1st January 2023
On Sunday 1st January the services will be as follows: 08:00am Holy Communion St Thomas à Becket, Pagham. 11:00am Sung Eucharist St Richards, Aldwick.
Easyfundraising
Did you know St Thomas a Becket’s Church – Pagham is registered with #easyfundraising, which means over 7,000 brands will now donate to us for FREE every time you use #easyfundraising to shop with them. These donations will help SO MUCH, so please sign up to support us – it’s completely FREE and doesn’t take long.
https://www.easyfundraising.org.uk/causes/paghamchurch/?utm_campaign=raise-more&utm_source=social&utm_medium=facebook&utm_content=rm-gs-f1.
Friends of Pagham Parish Church fundraising Family Quiz
The annual Christmas quiz is available for £2 at church, or from Alison Blenkinsop, 261131/07784 544981. Every entry has a chance to win a prize! Closing date is 8th January, and winners’ names will be drawn after the morning service on 15th January.
Chichester Diocesan Pilgrimage to the Holy Land 6th – 13th February 2023, led by The Ven Dr Edward Dowler, Archdeacon of Hastings
Flying to Tel Aviv, the pilgrimage will take us to the Galilee region and then to the city of Jerusalem. The Pilgrimage takes in the key sites associated with Jesus’s birth, death, resurrection and earthly ministry, and also have the opportunity to visit Qumran and the Dead Sea.
This is the experience of the lifetime: the opportunity to draw close to Christ, to understand the
Scriptures in a new light, and to have an enjoyable and interesting time in varied and beautiful
places. Further information, including a full itinerary and cost is available on the diocesan website. If you have any questions, you are welcome to contact Archdeacon Edward directly: archhastings@chichester.anglican.org or Mthr Lucy who will be assisting on this pilgrimage.
Urgently needed this week: 1Ltr UHT Fruit Juice, UHT milk, Pasta Sauce, Rice Pudding, Tinned Fruit, Tinned Custard, Tinned meat, Jams/ spreads, Instant Mashed Potato, Pasta.
Please also consider adding some Christmas ‘special/ treat’ items too.
Items for the next pew sheet should be with Mthr Lucy no later than Wednesday 17:00.