NEWSLETTER
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Mandy's Musings
“Out of the mouths of babes…” often comes unexpected wisdom. I have spent some time with children in church this week, and they have asked me all sorts of questions: “Where do you live in the church?” “Where do you get dressed?” and “What is your favourite place in the church?” There is something wonderfully amusing about the idea that vicars actually live in church and make it their home. Yet it is not only children who have thought this. On more than one occasion, Royal Mail and delivery drivers have left my parcels at the church doors! The idea of home occupies a great deal of space in our minds. Our earliest memories of home may be bound up with family, warmth, love and hospitality. But that is not true for everyone. For some, childhood homes hold painful memories rather than associations of love and security. As adults, many of us spend years creating a home for ourselves and for the families we form: a safe and secure place to which we can return, rest and relax. In today’s costly world, however, it is increasingly difficult for young people to establish homes of their own. Many need far more support to do so than previous generations did. When I think about Jesus and home, there is no simple or traditional model to draw upon. Instead, his story speaks powerfully to our modern, global world. His life began in unsettled circumstances: he was born in a stable, away from home, and in his infancy his family fled as refugees to a foreign land. When they eventually settled in Nazareth, we are told little about the house in which Jesus grew up, although we do know that he was raised by loving parents. At around the age of thirty, Jesus left Nazareth and began an itinerant life. Yet throughout his life, “home” for Jesus was found in being with his Father—God in heaven. And so we return to our churches, and to the children’s questions. I hope our churches feel like home to all who worship with us: places where we gather with others in the presence of the God who loves us. I hope they are places where people feel safe, where we look out for one another, and where, in God, we find our deepest rest.
Every blessing,
Mandy
Online Bible study home group
There has been interest in starting something like this so we are launching a study group to start on Wednesday 21st October at 8pm. It will run fortnightly on the 1st and 3rd Wednesdays of the month. To begin with, we will look at the first letter of John. Please contact Mandy or the Benefice Office to register your interest and to get the link.
Coffee and Chat
7.45pm, Thursday 29 October
10 The Limes, Harston
Discussion of some poems by RS Thomas
Christmas Choir
You are invited to join us for this year's Christmas choir. We will be singing traditional congregational carols and some four part harmony choir carols. Sight reading is not necessary and there are no auditions.
We will be singing at the following services: (You can join for any of them - you don't need to commit to them all.)
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Sunday 13 Dec 4pm at Hauxton, 6pm at Whittlesford
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Sunday 20 Dec 4pm at Newton
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Monday 21 Dec 6.30pm, Carols by candlelight at Harston
Rehearsals are from Sunday 1st November at 6pm in Newton church.
Contact Alastair Oatey to find out more and sign up.
In Conversation with the Bishop of Ely
7.30pm, Wednesday 14 April 2027
Save the date for our In Conversation with the Right Reverend Sarah Clark at All Saints' Church, Harston
Children's Church Choir
Sundays at 4pm
147 High Street, Harston
Join us to sing and have fun on Sunday afternoons, including a drink and snack.
Come along to make friends, have fun learning songs and playing musical games.
Children of all ages are welcome, from babies to teens. Children under 5 to be accompanied by an adult.
For more information please contact Rebecca:
Food Hub
Wed & Sat 11.30-12.30pm in Harston Baptist Church email: harstonfoodhub@gmail.com
Harston Community Food Hub has two separate sections that operate in different ways and have different aims.
FOOD BANK
The ‘Food Bank’ provides emergency food support to residents of Harston and the surrounding villages (mainly Hauxton, Foxton, Newton, Haslingfield, Barrington and Shepreth). It is part of a network of food banks that operate in South Cambridgeshire. Bags of non-perishable food are made up using food donated or bought with donations. Support from the food bank is intended to help people through a crisis.
FRESHFOOD LARDER
The ‘Fresh Food Larder’ distributes fruit, vegetables and bread and is part of an initiative that helps to avoid food waste. Donations of surplus stock are picked up from local supermarkets and farm shops by volunteers (often the night before) or brought in by local growers. Whilst much of the food is collected by people visiting the food bank, food from the fresh food larder is available to everyone no matter where they live or the circumstances they are in.
Trumpington Memory Cafe
Every third Wednesday of the month,10am-12 noon at The Pavilion, Paget Road, (opposite Anstey Way), Trumpington, Cambridge, CB2 9JF
Run jointly by Trumpington Parish Church and the Rotary Club.
A place where people with varying forms of memory loss can visit with their carers and support each other and have fun. Call 01223 840268 to book a place and please give your name(s).
Free admission to Ely Cathedral
All electoral roll members are eligible for a free pass to Ely Cathedral. If you would like one, please fill in this form and ask Mandy or a churchwarden to sign it. You can then present the form at the Cathedral to get your pass.