NEWSLETTER - JULY/AUGUST 2008

SERVICES AT ST PETER’S

 8.00 am              Holy Communion

10.15 am             Sunday Club (in the Rectory)

10.30 am             PARISH COMMUNION

                         (followed by coffee in the Rectory)

To arrange Baptisms, Weddings, Wedding Blessings, Funerals

or to discuss any other pastoral matter, please contact the Rector

by phone (01273 474356), or e-mail dandj@bastide8.wanadoo.co.uk

                                     The Rectory

                                         Offham

                                          Lewes

                                        BN7 3PX

FROM THE RECTOR

FUND RAISING

Since the appeal for the new Church Room at St Peter's Offham was launched in May, more than £12, 000.00 has been raised through donations and our two fundraising events. Of these, the delightful afternoon in the gardens of Mount Harry House and Mount Harry Lodge raised £700 and the splendid Midsummer 'Glyndebourne' Concert just over £3000. More are in the pipeline: the Barbecue at Aylwins on July 20th, the David Lang talk on September 26th in Beechwood Hall, the Supper for 65 people at Pickets on October 26th, the Christmas Fair and Market in November. Others are already on the cards for next year, including a fashion show. Obviously it is important that these should raise money or there won't be a Church Room but we do have a concern that the events should also be good social occasions, bringing people together from all parts of the parish and beyond. Other non-fund raising events will continue as before. For example, 80 people aged 9 months to 90 years gathered on June 29th for the parish picnic and also celebrated his 90th birthday with Bill Hudson.

WHAT CAN I/WE DO?

All the events above have been offered by an individual who has then set about organising them, often drawing in  in other people to assist. In this way more and more people can be involved and so feel ownership of the new Church room. If you would like to organise an event or would like to offer to help with one please let us know. An event can be big or small, a concert or a coffee morning - all are important.

May God bless you all,

Derek Bastide

HAMSEY SERVICES

Both July 6th and August 3rd will be Hamsey Sundays. There will be 8.00 am Holy Communion and 6.00 pm Evensong in Hamsey Church. The 10.30 am Parish Communion and Sunday Club remains at Offham.

ST PETER'S WEDNESDAY GROUP - JULY

As an experiment our meeting in July will be an afternoon rather than an evening one when we shall welcome our dear friend, Tony Shephard, to talk mainly about his work for St John Ambulance and his recent distinguished award of Serving Brother. Another of Tony's good works is his amazing support and fund raising for a nursery school in the Gambia. One of our young people, Lucy Costall, is spending six weeks working at the school this summer and will be joining us to share some of her experiences.

Do join us if you can for a real Rectory tea party - there'll be cucumber sandwiches and cream scones! It is, of course, open to all who are interested - there's no need to be a regular churchgoer - just come and join us.

Date:       Wednesday, 23rd July

Time:       3.30 pm

Place:      Offham Rectory (hopefully in the garden)

Subject:   Tony's Charities: St John Ambulance & the Gambia Nursery school (with Lucy)

ST PETER'S WEDNESDAY GROUP - AUGUST

We all had such a good evening at Fun Pots in April decorating plates, dishes, bowls and egg cups that we thought it would be a good idea to return. I have booked a similar sesssion for 7.00 pm on Wednesday, August 27th. Hopefully some more youngsters will be able to join us this time (Esther painted a great plate last time), as it's school holidays. Could you let me know before August if you would like to come.

Date:      Wednesday 27th August

Time:      Meet 6.30 pm at the Rectory (7pm at Fun Pots, Haywards Heath)

Cost:      £5.00 studio fee

Judith Bastide

SUNDAY CLUB TRIP

The Sunday Club trip to Drusillas is actually for all Church youngsters - and anyone else who would like to join us!)

Date:     Thursday 24th July

Time:     Meet at the Rectory at 10.00 am with packed lunches, sun hats, sun tan cream. We'll sort out car sharing nearer the time.

Cost:      £5 (subsidised by the Church and Tesco vouchers!)

Do let me know if you would like to come. So far there are 25 going and it could be a really big group.

THEATRE VISIT

A trip to the Chichester Festival Theatre is being arranged to see The Music Man at the matinee performance on Saturday 26th July. Tickets are £11. Please let Judith know if you would like to come (474356).

PARISH REGISTERS

Baptisms

June 22nd      Lily Aldridge

                        Holly Sawyers

                        Joshua Skinner

Marriages

June 7th         Jon-Paul Jefferies-Hill and Samantha Hill

June 21st       Paul McNally and Katie Clayton

Funerals

June 9th         Hadley Aquilina

~ NEXT FUNDRAISING EVENT - BARBECUE JULY 20TH~

Bill and Lucinda Rendall are organising a barbece on Sunday, July 20th at 12.30 pm at Aylwins, Offham. Cost is £10 per ticket (£5 concessions for children and seniors). This includes sausages and burgers, salad and puddings, and a free drink. A vegetarian option is available. There will also be swimming, tennis and the garden to enjoy. Swimming will be supervised by Tom Costall who is a qualified lifeguard. Tickets will be issued in advance (to give some idea of numbers) and can be obtained from the Rendalls (278292), the Glovers (400981), and the Rectory (474356). In the (unlikely) event of grim weather, the barbecue will be cancelled.

CHURCH ROOM FUNDRAISING

As most of you will be aware, permission has been granted for the construction of the new Church Room next to the church in Offham. Although we already have a substantial amount of money to pay for its construction we still need to raise a further £50, 000.

We are planning to raise this money in three ways:

 - A programme of fundraising events

 - Sourcing grants

 - Seeking donations

Fundraising events already planned include coffee mornings, open gardens, cream tea afternoons, a flower festival, musical events, a Christmas Fayre and a bring a buy shop every Sunday in the church. Please keep an eye on the Newsletter, posters around the parish and our website for details.

I have been asked to lead a small committee which has been formed to coordinate the fundraising and we would welcome any offers and ideas which would help to boost income. In addition to raising funds we also hope that these events will be enjoyable social occasions.

Any donations can be handed in at church on Sundays or sent to Roland Gough. Cheques should be made out to Offham Church. In order to maximise income from donations you can, if you are a taxpayer, make a goft aid declaration which will increase the value of your gift to us by 28%, a not insignificant sum.

Dave Glover

01273 400981