#335: Special Back to School email for Bertie and all of his friends
Bertie here, once more, full of energy and raring to go for an exciting term to come. There is so much to look forward to! Not least, everyone getting back together again and seeing all of my friends and receiving loads and loads of small cheese samples from all over the round cheese which we call earth. Here are the highlights which are quite literally stopping me from sleeping!
PS- I was asked recently which app/ tool I would use if I was trying to talk to a Ukrainian mouse about which local cheese they have to try- the one which is recommended is an all called Say Hi.
Coming soon!
This Sunday is Bag Blessing Sunday: do come along and do tell your friends as well- the choir are back and so are J-Club.
There is also a lot on the following week, with Ride and Stride and Heritage Day on the 10th of September at St Paul’s- see previous emails for info on how to volunteer to help and how to sponsor Andrew Harte as he cycles round busily raising money for the parish.
Poster to follow- after the conversations we had last term about deepening our faith we are thrilled to be putting on a six-part course on the Creeds. We will meet from 8 to 9.30pm on Thursday evening in the Rapsey Room (the smaller room upstairs in the Parish Rooms) to listen and reflect and share and learn and explore together. We are hoping that looking at the creeds will allow us to think about the Bible and what we believe and history and who God is and why any of this matters. We are also looking for a mixture of people who are new to being a Christian and others who might be a little more confident. We will start on the 15th of September for 6 weeks- do please let us know if you would be keen to come. And also, do please tell us if you would be happy to be coffee monitor for the sessions? See you there. And thanks.
And this Quiet Day should be outstanding- run by this parish but being held at Winnersh because the rooms there are so good- do come along and do invite friends and family and neighbours as well because it will be an excellent way of spending time with God. Give yourself a treat- come along.
Help sought
A small group are meeting on Friday morning from 9.30 to 10.15 to do another bit of tidying in and around the Children’s Chapel. Do come along if you would like to help out.
And a message from Andy Clark about the Churchyard Team:
Just a reminder that it is Churchyard Working Party this coming Saturday – Saturday 3rd September. There is still lots to do so any help is always appreciated. See you Saturday.
Cara gave out a sermon response sheet on Sunday which we are all going to use from time to time as a way of making sure that we are communicating well and that our preaching is as good as it can be. The form attached is the one we are using- do feel free to use one of them at any point to offer feedback to Richard or Cara.
The Arc is a new piece of art which is being created to go outside the new Carnival Pool. The aim is to write people’s thoughts and ideas on Wokingham and living in Wokingham on the metal curves which make the installation. If you would like to be part of it, or to share your memories, look at the arts4wokingham website- arts4wokingham.com
And Liz Jackson, the Assistant Archdeacon, has sent this email about learning to teach English as a foreign language to people from Ukraine and Hong Kong:
For those of you still interested in supporting newly arrived Ukrainians (and others) to learn English, our online English classes begin again in September. To help you we have two training events coming up:
Learning to teach English as a foreign language:
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/84671324923?pwd=eXpqcW9Oa3ordm1MbS81b1htNGN2QT09
14th September at 7pm (online) – please follow the link above.
The aim of this session is to give you an introduction to teaching English to people for whom it is a second language. We will cover some of the basics, some techniques for supporting students, adapting resources and do a bit of teaching practice too. You are welcome to join us.
IT for teaching online (using ZOOM)
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/87204921601?pwd=NStHM2VKTEhjK3VYaEo5bmE2UDlyQT09
If you plan to teach online, you will need to build some basic IT skills. I will go through these on the 7th September at 7pm. You are welcome to join.
Ideas and Suggestions
Several people have mentioned feeling a little isolated or overlooked recently- why not sit down for a second as you read this, think about the people who used to come to Church who you don’t see anymore and then write them a card or put a day in your diary for you to visit them- Louise Cole in the office can tell you which nursing home someone is in or give you an address for you to post something- or you could come along to Alexandra Grange and West Oak when it is communion as a great way of catching up with the people who have moved in there. Write a letter! Send a card! Pop in! Remind people that they are missed and not forgotten. And if it is you who feels a little bit out of things, then do speak to Louise and we will arrange to have someone friendly and warm to come and see you or to chat on the phone.
And we have been asked to advertise this local charity Craft Fair on the 11th of September:
As well as giving to support the parish in the usual ways we are starting to use this QR code as well- why not be one of the first to test it out by giving a small donation just for fun… If you need to add a QR code so that people can scan it on a smart phone and make a donation (with the option of gift aid). Please use the attached image on the Order of Service or on the Pews News
It looks like this:
When you scan it, it takes you to the give.net page to make a donation to the church- and just to be clear, using it might be the most exciting things that happens all day but it will cost you real money to really use it.
