A 90 piñata started the smashing celebration!
Clergy past and present celebrate 90 years since the laying of the St Mark’s Foundation stone.
Dear Friends
Godalming Minster celebrated 90 years since the laying of St Mark’s foundation stone at a special service at Franklyn Road yesterday. Present and past incumbents, and the now Mayor of Godalming, Councillor Paul Rivers, shared their testimonies and poignant memories of the life of the church, and the immeasurable contribution it has made in the Ockford Ridge and Aaron’s Hill community. The worship was joyful, the talks were inspiring the tea that followed was top notch! Credit and thanks was rightfully given to those who have served so faithfully over the years and continue to do so today. Prayer, Patience and Persistence are the 3 Ps (coined by Revd David Tomlinson) which aptly sum up 90 years of St Mark’s Franklyn Road. A further celebration will take place on 18th December to mark the consecration of St Mark’s in 1934.
In the notices this week:
Churches Together Bandstand Service this Sunday, 10.30am
Save the Date for the St Mark’s 90th Thanksgiving Service
Holiday Club
Sunday 1 September: Holiday Club Finale & Farewell to Patrick and Sheila (All Age service followed by a BBQ) - everyone’s invited!
News from John and Sue
We’re Hiring - job ads for 2 Associate Ministers
Alpha Courses this Autumn
Other dates for the diary
This Sunday
Sunday 10 August
10.30am Godalming Churches Together Bandstand Service
Join us in the Jack Philips Memorial Park at the Bandstand!
no morning services across Godalming Minster
Welcomers needed! If you can help to welcome and hand out service orders please email michaeleashing@aol.com, and/or arrive by 10.05am in time to don a Hi-viz vest and take to your station.
6pm Evening Worship
Brighton Road (Busbridge)
18 August
Flowing Water : Life and Healing
Readings: Ezekiel 47:1-12; John 7.37-39
Continuing our Sermon Series “Water, water, everywhere!”,
Services
3rd Sunday services are taking place as usual:
9am Choral Eucharist
Church Street (St Peter & St Paul’s)
10am Classic Service
Brighton Road (Busbridge)
The Classic service will be followed by coffee and cake in the Busbridge Old Rectory Garden, which might last a bit longer than usual. Please plan to stay and enjoy a good catch up, or the chance to meet new people.
10am Morning Worship
Hambledon (St Peter’s)
10am Morning Worship
Franklyn Road (St Mark’s)
10.30am ALL AGE Contemporary Service
Church Street (St Peter & St Paul’s)
6pm Evening Worship
Brighton Road (Busbridge)
The rest of August…
25 August
Wedding Water: Simply the Best
Readings: John 2:1-12
10am Minster-wide Bank Holiday Service at Church Street
6pm Evening Worship
1 September
11am Holiday Club Celebration Service & BBQ
when we will be saying goodbye to the Samuels
at Brighton Road
9am and 10am services take place at Church Street, Hambledon and Franklyn Road beforehand. Church in the Park (Muddy) and Classic will fuse at the 11am Holiday Club Service. All welcome at 11am, or to come along for the BBQ at about 12 noon!
Look up services for next Sunday and find more information about congregations and service times on ChurchSuite, or the Sundays page on the web site. If you are on a rota, ChurchSuite will ping you a reminder by email, but you can also use the ChurchSuite app to check yourself.
Notices
SAVE THE DATE: 13th October for John & Sue’s farewell and harvest lunch
We are delighted for John and Sue that they have accepted the offer of a clergy retirement property. This has not been an easy period of waiting and John and Sue’s faithfulness is something that we have all witnessed. Our love and prayers go with them as they prepare to move.
This opportunity has come sooner than expected, so there will be a number of chances to say farewell. John and Sue will be at the Classic Service (10am) on 22nd September, at Hambledon (10am) on Sunday 29th September, and at the Choral Eucharist (9am) on 6th October.
John and Sue’s final service will be Sunday 13th October at the Church Street Contemporary, followed by a bring and share farewell and harvest lunch. Please put this date in your diary. All are welcome to the service and lunch. During the lunch, we will be giving John and Sue a gift of love and gratitude. To contribute to this, please see ways to donate.
John and Sue will move to Cornwall soon after 13th October. Please pray for John and Sue as they begin their retirement from parish ministry.
John’s moving soon means that our two clergy posts which are being advertised can progress smoothly.
We are now advertising two exciting Associate Minster roles for Franklyn Road and Mission and Evangelism, and for Hambledon and Discipleship. The jobs are advertised on New Wine, The Church Times, CofE Guilford and Pathways. Please do pray and share the ads with prospective candidates. Please see our vacancies page for details, pray for the right candidates, and help share the ads!
Minster members might like to read the Godalming Minster Parish Profile as it has a helpful description of how far we’ve come as a Minster in just a few short months. The profile has been written with input from many people, including congregational team members in Hambledon and at Franklyn Road, clergy, LLMs, the PCC standing committee and others. It has been a fantastic team effort. Page 6 outlines some of the vision material we’ll be preaching into at the Minster Vision Sunday on Sept 8th 2024. Put this date in your Sunday diary and be at a service!
Coming Up
August
Click the image above to sign up now!
Holiday Club 28-30 August
Holiday Club is now full on Friday 30 August, with a few spaces remaining on Weds and Thursday! Please pray for all the children who are coming, and for the team leading them.
This is the first Godalming Minster Summer Holiday Club! It’s for primary age children in school years R-6. Invitations are going to the our church schools next week, and spaces are limited this year.
You are never too old to look for the greatest treasure, and this Holiday Club will be as much fun for older members of the crew as our young buccaneers. If you’d like to join the adventure, please get in touch with Jenny Lansdowne e: jenny.lansdowne@godalmingminster.org.
September
Sunday 1 Sep - 2 happy endings: Holiday Club Finale & Farewell to the Samuels
Godalming Minster will host the Holiday Club finale, and say a fond farewell to the Revs Sheila and Patrick Samuels at a special 11am All Age service at Godalming Minster Brighton Road. This will be followed by a fun filled BBQ in the Busbridge Old Rectory Garden. The 11am service replaces Muddy/Church in the Park and the Classic service, and allows for the other congregations to join the 11am service and/or the BBQ.
The congregations will have the chance to say goodbye to Patrick during July (14th July at Classic, 21st at Choral Eucharist and Contemporary, 28th at Franklyn Road). Sheila’s last Sunday is 1st September (Patrick will be returning from his new parish) and we would like to present them with a gift of appreciation at the BBQ. To contribute to this, please see ways to donate.
Next up at Nexus - Penguins Galore with Frances Shaw, Thu 5 Sep at 8pm
NEXUS Talk - Antarctica and Penguins Galore - Frances Shaw
Frances and Peter Shaw were fortunate enough to go on an amazing journey to the southernmost part of our world for an Antarctic adventure. It must have been exhilarating and Frances will share their experiences with us.
We’ll get to see magnificent landscapes and incredible wildlife as we ‘visit’ the islands on route from South America and then in Antarctica itself.
Come along and enjoy this awe-inspiring adventure without needing to don layers of winter clothing!! Guests: £5.00 contribution towards speaker costs,
An end of summer social… Come along and sing favourite hymns and enjoy a glass of Pimm’s afterwards, all being led by Rev Simon Willetts. There will be a box in the church to submit your choice on arrival, with a sentence or two saying why you've chosen the hymn, and we'll try to include as many as possible.
We’re running Alpha!
Weds evenings 25th Sept – 27th Nov & Thurs lunchtimes 26th Sept – 28th Nov
Rev Lesley Mason is leading the courses this Autumn, and we’d like everyone to consider whether they would like to join in as a participant, or as a member of the team who helps lead, host and cater for the 12 sessions. Look out for invitations, posters and social media posts and please share them and encourage people along.
To find out more or register for a place go to https://godalmingminster.org/alpha
The sign up button takes you to the Wednesday evening course, but gives the option to sign up for Thursday lunchtimes instead.
To volunteer to help host, cook or set up please use the form below.
What’s on Where
See the events coming up next and look up dates further ahead in the full Minster Calendar.
Church Family News
THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH
We're deeply grateful to our friends in the church family for all the loving kindness shown recently, following the loss of our beloved son Graham. You were so helpful at a very sad time - God bless you all. With much love, Janet and Alan
Mission Update
URGENT LIST
Tuna
Pasta sauces
UHT semi skimmed milk
Tinned Peas / Carrots and Tomatoes
Biscuits and crackers
Orange/Blackcurrant squash
Orange/Apple 1 litre juice cartons
Tea bags/Coffee/Hot chocolate
The latest shopping list can be found here. Please take a look and add a few items to your next shop.
Karen, the community centre coordinator, updates the shopping list each month with items most needed. You can find the latest shopping list for March on the Foodbank page.
Elsewhere
Saturday, August 24th, The Ukrainian communities from Godalming, Guildford, Haslemere, and Cranleigh united to mark Ukraine's Independence Day. Our goal is to remind everyone that Ukraine is currently fighting for our right to be an independent country and people. We are organizing a Ukrainian charity event (as we did in February) to raise money for the volunteers of Ukraine Mission once again. They directly deliver help where it is needed – to rescue services in cities and towns near the front line, paramedics, struggling people, and more.
The event will begin at Crown Court at 11am (official part) and programme of cultural folk arts will continue in the Wilfrid Noyce Community Centre.
Godalming Bandstand Concerts summer 2024 programme can be found here.
The National Trust Munstead Wood are running Chance to Chat sessions at Godalming Museum from 10-12 noon on the third Saturdays of the month. More details >
Life Issues 2024 - a programme of talks and course run by Godalming Baptist Church.
Can we pray for you?
***Please send prayer requests to prayer@godalmingminster.org***
Mid-week Prayer Gatherings
Monday Morning Reflections on Zoom
If you would like to start your week in quiet reflection over a passage of scripture do join us at 8.45am on Mondays using the link above - you will be very welcome. For any further information please contact: Gertrud Sollars or Shan Hallam.
Wednesdays at 9am:
Morning Prayer at Godalming Minster Hambledon
Morning Prayer on Zoom via link above.
Community & Fellowship
The Hub at Franklyn Road provides a free lunch and time to socialise every Tuesday from 12-2.30pm. Open to all in the area, and across the Minster. (Donations of homemade cakes are always welcome.)
Nexus meets on the 1st Thursday of the month, with talks and activities for church members and the community. More about Nexus.
The Men’s Group meets for breakfast at 8.15am on the 1st Saturdays of the month. See the calendar for details.
Hambledon Coffee Morning and Hearing Aid Clinic takes place 3rd Wednesdays of the month at 10.30am.
The 2024 Prime Time programme is now available. For all events and details, see Prime Time.
Get Involved / Join a team
We're passionate about people feeling like they're a part of our church family and one of the best places to do that is as part of a team.
No matter your age or experience, there's a team that you can join, serving alongside others and getting to know people better in the church. You can find out about all our opportunities to serve and offer your time and talents on the Join a Team page.
Don’t forget about…
MyChurchSuite is an app for members of Godalming Minster to check dates, rotas, church emails, look up church members and sign up to events (without having to enter your details again and again!). Contact the Minster Office if you’ve lost your login details or would like to request an account. See more instructions.
Yew Tree Café
at Godalming Minster Brighton Road
The Yew Tree Café at Godalming Minster Brighton Road is open 8.30am-4pm weekdays in term time, and 10am-2pm on Saturdays, and 9.30am-4pm during school holidays. There’s wi-fi and power for those that want to work, and Prime Time hosts a drop in session for anyone who’d like a coffee and a chat every Monday from 10.30-11.30am.
Please note the café will be closed on Saturday 3rd August.
PASTORAL CARE & PRAYER MINISTRY
If you, or someone you know at church, are in need of support and care, please contact Sandra Wilkin via the Minster office, or e: pastoral@godalmingminster.org.
To contact the EMERGENCY prayer chain, email prayer@godalmingminster.org or call 01483 421267.