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
Registered charity number 1134842
SUNDAY 18th DECEMBER 2022
fourth sunday of ADVENT
Sunday 18th 08:00 Holy Communion
ADVENT 4 09:30 Parish Eucharist with Sunday School
Monday 19th 09:00 Morning Prayer (church)
19:00 ‘Sounds Familiar’ Christmas Concert
Tuesday 20th 17:30 Evening Prayer (zoom)
Wednesday 21st 19:30 –‘In the bleak midwinter…’ Quiet Carol Service
Thursday 22nd 09:00 Morning Prayer (church)
10:00 Holy Communion
Friday 23rd No public services today
Saturday 24th 16:00 Crib Service
Christmas Eve 21:00 Bethlehem Midnight Mass
Sunday 25th 08:00 Holy Communion- St Richard’s
CHRISTMAS DAY 09:30 Parish Eucharist for Christmas Day
Hymns
Entrance: 128 Come thou long-expected Jesus
Gradual: 259 Hail to the Lord’s anointed
Offertory: 605 Sing we of the blessed mother
Final: 480 O come, O come Emmanuel
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.
The Collect (Opening Prayer) for the Fourth Sunday of Advent:
God our redeemer, who prepared the Blessed Virgin Mary to be the mother of your Son: grant that, as she looked for his coming as our saviour, so we may be ready to greet him when he comes again as our judge; who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
Old Testament reading: Isaiah 7: 10- 16
Again the Lord spoke to Ahaz, saying, Ask a sign of the Lord your God; let it be deep as Sheol or high as heaven. But Ahaz said, I will not ask, and I will not put the Lord to the test. Then Isaiah said: ‘Hear then, O house of David! Is it too little for you to weary mortals, that you weary my God also? Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Look, the young woman is with child and shall bear a son, and shall name him Immanuel. He shall eat curds and honey by the time he knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good. For before the child knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land before whose two kings you are in dread will be deserted.
Psalm 80: 1-8; 18- 20 the response to the psalm is “Restore us, O God of hosts”
New Testament reading: Romans 1: 1- 7
Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy scriptures, the gospel concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh and was declared to be Son of God with power according to the spirit of holiness by resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord, through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles for the sake of his name, including yourselves who are called to belong to Jesus Christ, To all God’s beloved in Rome, who are called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Gospel reading: Matthew 1: 18- end
Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. Her husband Joseph, being a righteous man and unwilling to expose her to public disgrace, planned to dismiss her quietly. But just when he had resolved to do this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, ‘Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.’ All this took place to fulfil what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet:
‘Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
and they shall name him Emmanuel’,
which means, ‘God is with us.’ When Joseph awoke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him; he took her as his wife, but had no marital relations with her until she had borne a son; and he named him Jesus.
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: Kathleen Bryant.
Anniversary of death: Francis Atkinson (18th); Richard Kimbell (18th); Alix Sullivan (18th); Samuel King (19th); Llewellyn Burnett (19th); Robert Breakspear (19th); Cecil Smith (21st), Sylvia Harvey (22nd), Mary Cornell (22nd); Philip Ray (22nd); Christine Taylor (23rd).
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: We give you thanks, O Lord, for these heavenly gifts; kindle in us the fire of your Spirit that when your Christ comes again we may shine as lights before his face; who is alive and reigns now and for ever. Amen.
Next week’s readings: Christmas Day
Isaiah 9: 2- 7; Psalm 96; Titus 2: 11- 14; Luke 2: 1- 20.
Christmas Cards
The Christmas card noticeboard is now ready at the back of the church. Why not pin a card for the whole church community to this board, as we share Christmas greetings among the parish, and save those cards you have purchased for those you won’t be seeing?
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.
‘Sounds Familiar’ Christmas Concert
On Monday (19th December) evening at 19:00 we host the ‘Sounds Familiar’ Christmas concert. Tickets are available on the door and includes a mince pie and wine. Children are free. Do come along and enjoy this festive treat!
‘In the bleak midwinter’…’God is with us’
Wednesday 21st December 7:30pm: A quiet and reflective carol service on the longest night, particularly for those seeking a space of quiet and stillness in the bustle of this week. Carols sung by the joint choir of St Thomas à Becket and St Richard’s, Aldwick, at Pagham church. Followed by mulled wine and mince pies. Do be sure to share the ‘Great Invitation’.
Christmas Charities
At Pagham church, as part of our mission to the wider church, we are committed to supporting the work of many charities and each year we aim to support one local and one global charity through the generous donations of those who attend our Christmas services (Crib service, Midnight Mass and Christmas Morning). The charities we will be supporting this year are: Family Support Work: The Sussex Charity for Children https://www.familysupportwork.org/ and Five Talents https://www.fivetalents.org.uk/ who work with the Anglican Church in rural areas of eastern Africa to enable those who have little to no access to financial services to begin Savings Groups where they receive training and support to set-up and grow small businesses. Please do consider supporting our charities by making a contribution at our Christmas services.
Christmas gifts to the church
As we approach the end of the year, conscious of the difficult financial situation many of us will be in, I write to share that unfortunately the church is also in a similar position. At the time of writing, we have just received a £1000 bill for energy costs for this month (and I assure you we have dropped our usage as much as we possibly can), and we face an end of year deficit of ~£5000.
We haven’t done a Generous Giving Campaign in the last three years, however, if you have been considering amending your regular giving, or giving a one of gift to the church in this Christmas Season, please know that it would be very gratefully received and put to very good use as we continue to grow our mission and outreach in this community. A Generous Giving Campaign will follow in February, so if you don’t feel able to change your giving now please do give it some thought as we approach this. Thank you Mthr Lucy
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 Said Eucharist St Richard’s, Aldwick.
Millennium Light
The eagle eyed among you will notice that the Millennium light is once more illuminated. Very many thanks must go to the Men’s Group who have generously funded the repair of this, and to Alex Brockhurst for fitting the parts.
Music at Pagham Church
For the last year or so we have been very grateful to Alison Blenkinsop for supporting the music of the church by playing the organ, helping choose hymns, and encouraging the choir. Alison will be stepping down from this informal ministry after Christmas, and so we find ourselves with a changed landscape for our music provision. For the time being, Jenny will continue to play for us on the first Sunday of the month, and for other services we will use recorded hymns- there is a wonderful provision for this through the ACNY website, which was well used as part of our online services in 2020/21. If you have any questions or concerns about this then please do contact me on the phone/ email and I will be happy to talk this through with you. Mthr Lucy
Hogwarts Open House
Carole-Anne and Peter Pocock host a Hogwarts themed open house at 11 Church Lane- open evenings 17:00- 20:00 until the New Year, raising money for their sailing charity.
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.
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.