BHC Sermon Series for the season of Lent
Dear Friends,
Last week Muddy Church at Tuesley Minster Field reflected on the 1200 year history of Christian worship in the parishes of Busbridge, Hambledon and Godalming, before planting bulbs as a symbol of the revitalised Christian life we pray to be part of in the new Godalming Minster. The planting exercise was dubbed “Daffodil Discipleship”. They were actually Iris bulbs as it’s too late for daffs, but let not that get in the way of a catchy title for Muddy! Look out for either flower in the Busbridge woods this spring and summer and remember what they mean to us a disciples at this time in this place. Muddy next meets on Hambledon Village Cricket Green on 5 March.
This Sunday everyone is invited to the first session on Gifts of the Holy Spirit which will follow the 6PM service at Busbridge. John Valentine and Simon Taylor are leading the 6 40 minute sessions to equip everyone as disciples in and outside of the church. More details >>
The other important invitation is for Monday 27 Feb (7.30PM) when Richard Lloyd from Mission Enabler team @CofEGuildford will be joining us to explain the 6Ws for getting the best out of small groups. Richard is a great evangelist for small groups and how they can “unlock church” for everyone in its community. If you are not a small group member, it will give you a good reason to join or start one, and existing members will be inspired, enthused and encouraged to get even more from their group!
And there’s more. Read on for events and activities coming up.
Sunday 12 Feb:
Eternally blessed
SERMON series "Transformed Life"
Readings: Ephesians 1: 1-4
Busbridge
9.30AM Contemporary
Busbridge Church & online
Led by: Patrick Samuels | Speaker: Simon Taylor
No 0-11s Children’s groups this week for half-term, but children are welcome to mess about during the service!
Join us for coffee and donuts in the Yew Tree Café between services
11.15AM Classic Service
Busbridge Church & onine
Led by: Keith Harper | Speaker: Simon Taylor
6PM Evening Service
Busbridge Church
Led by: Sarah Rowden | Speaker: Simon Taylor
Hambledon
10AM Morning Worship [Holy Communion]
with Children’s Club
Hambledon Church & online
Led by: Simon Willetts| Speaker: Hilary Pettman
Coming Up:
See the events coming up next and look up dates further ahead in the full calendar.
Dates for the diary:
Next Messy Church 19 Feb, 4PM at Hambledon Village Hall
Lent begins on Ash Wednesday 22 Feb with a BHC benefice service - Holy Communion with Ashing - at 8PM at Busbridge Church.
Notices
Would you like to know more about Spiritual Gifts? The Diocese recently ran a two day training event with Jackie Pullinger about the sensible, careful exercising of Spiritual Gifts. About 20 people from BHC, St Mark’s and St Peter & St Paul’s attended (there were limited spaces and our church context meant we got extras) and all were blessed by the event. Jackie talked about exercising these Gifts of God positively with grace and love. A free 1 hour follow up webinar on ‘leading in the power of the Holy Spirit’ is being provided by the Diocese, which anyone can attend. If you’d like to know more about this area of God’s work and our church family, please attend. Wednesday 22nd February at 11am (book here) and Thursday 2nd March at 2pm (book here).
Small Group Info Evening - 7.30PM Monday 27th Feb. All small group members, and those who would like to find out about them are invited to a session with Richard Lloyd, from the Mission Enabler Team at Guildford Diocese. Richard will share his thoughts and enthusiasm for Small Groups, and offer tips on how to make sure they support you in discipleship, and the mission of the whole church. Find event details here.
Last few spaces available on the 'The Bereavement Journey' - a 6 week course for those who have been bereaved at any time, starting Tues 21 Feb - 28 March 2023, 7-9PM in the Old Rectory. Contact Sandra Wilkin e: pastoral@bhcgodalming.org for more details. To watch the promo video and to register, see: The Bereavement Journey.
Ad for our new Worship Pastor - the closing date for applications is 13th Feb. Please pray and share, share, share! An updated job ad for our new 5-11s Children’s is coming out shortly.
Get Involved
Busbridge&Hambledon Church runs on the generous giving of time and talents of its members, led and supported by the clergy, ministry leaders and other staff. Everyone has a valued part to play in the life of the church, and we believe it’s key to feeling like you belong to the BHC family. If you are not already serving in one or more roles, please think about committing to something now. The commitment can be small. Most areas would welcome more volunteers, but support is urgently needed for the following:
Pancake flippers for the PrimeTime party on Shrove Tuesday - please contact Penny if you can help with hospitality on 21st Feb.
Busbridge Electoral Role Officer - thanks to Maggie J for her 7+ years of service. Maggie’s successor will need to be available in advance of the APCMs in April/May each year, and a confident IT user (ChurchSuite, email and excel).
Busbridge AV Production Team - Sound desk, laptop and/or livestream operators needed for 9.30am, 11.15am and 6pm - one Sunday a month. Training provided! See https://youtu.be/BDYQFjQx3-s and please contact Patrick Elshen to find out more.
Elsewhere
World Day of Prayer - Friday 3rd March - Godalming Prayer Gathering at 10.30am
Godalming Baptist Church Life Issues talks: See the full 2023 Life Issues programme.
Sat 25 Feb 'Self-Harm' led by Suzette Jones at GBC. 10.00am-12.15 (coffee from 9.30am) Please do consider coming to find out more about this huge issue in our society today. Suzette will look at the signs of self-harm, how do we react, where help can be found, what we can do. To book a place contact Sally Pollard-pollard3@hotmail.co.uk or tel-01483-428646.
For news from all the other local churches, see:
Churches Together Link Up - Feb 2023
Don’t forget about…
Minster Update. The Minster Transition Steering Group have published a January Update, which can be found here.
Mid-week Prayer Gatherings
Reflective Prayer Mons at 8.45am online.
Busbridge Morning Prayer Weds at 9am online.
Hambledon Morning Prayer takes place on Wednesdays at 9am. All welcome.
Busbridge Saturday Prayer Meeting + PrayerFest 0-30 8-9am 2nd Saturdays of the month [11th Feb]
***Send prayer requests to prayer@bhcgodalming.org***
Groups & Activities
The Men’s Group meets for breakfast at 8.15am on the first Saturdays of the month. Topic for 4th Feb: Freedom of Expression. See the calendar event for details.
The 2023 Prime Time programme for Jan-Jun is now available, and the next event is the Shrove Tuesday pancake party on 21st Feb. For all events and details, see Prime Time.
The 2023 Nexus programme is now available, and the next event is a talk on 2nd Feb is about the Normandy Healing Garden. For all events and details, see Nexus.
VACANCIES
We are truly blessed to have talented and faithful teams of volunteers from the church family coordinating worship and children’s groups for the time being, but we wait expectantly for the right people to take up the positions so that these crucial ministries can fully flourish and soar!
Busbridge and Hambledon Churches are open daily for private prayer.
Yew Tree Café
at Busbridge Church
The Yew Tree Café at Busbridge Church is open 8.30am-4pm weekdays in term time, and 10am-2pm on Saturdays and school holidays.
Pastoral Care
PASTORAL CARE & PRAYER MINISTRY TEAM AVAILABLE
If you, or someone you know at church, are in need of support and care, please contact Sandra Wilkin via the church office, or e: pastoral@bhcgodalming.org.
To contact the EMERGENCY prayer chain, email prayer@bhcgodalming.org or call 01483 421267.