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Wanted – Part Time Children and Family Worker

Are you interested in being part of the relaunch of Kidlington Community Hub?  Do you have a passion for working with children and families?

Kidlington Community Hub at St Johns is looking for a Part time Children and Family Worker to support open access Children’s Services to the residents of Kidlington and surrounding areas.

We are looking for a person with a ‘can do’ attitude to lead stay and play sessions, co-ordinate and support volunteers and work in partnership with other agencies.

For more details and an application form just click here.

PRINCE PHILIP, DUKE OF EDINBURGH

10 June 1921 – 9 April 2021

We are deeply saddened by the death of His Royal Highness Prince Philip the Duke of Edinburgh and offer our sincerest condolences to the Royal Family.

A PRAYER ON THE DEATH OF HRH THE DUKE OF EDINBURGH
God of our lives,
 we give thanks for the life of Prince Philip,
 for his love of our country,
 and for his devotion to duty.
 We entrust him now to your love and mercy,
 through our Redeemer Jesus Christ. Amen.

You can find more on the diocesan website and on the royal website, both of which offer an online book of condolence.

A short reflection from Christ Church Cathedral is available here and you might like to know of the following services which will be live-streamed:

• Evensong from Christ Church at 6pm on Friday 9th (also to be broadcast on BBC Radio Oxford) see YouTube link
• Requiem in Remembrance of HRH The Duke of Edinburgh at 1.05pm on Saturday 10th, see YouTube link

Our usual online services are continuing after Easter but we will also be holding some “in-person” services. Every week there will be a service of Holy Communion at St Mary’s Kidlington on Wednesday morning at 11am. We will also celebrate Holy Communion on Sunday afternoons at 3pm at one of our churches, starting with St Mary’s Kidlington on 11th April and St Mary’s Hampton Poyle on 18th April. As usual, it is necessary to book for all the services, just see here. We will be monitoring booking numbers and extra services will be introduced as seems appropriate.

The one difference between now and former times is that congregations are now allowed to sing if they are outside. So if you do book in to a service please be prepared to be invited to sing a hymn outdoors at the end, or indeed in warmer weather to be outdoors for other parts of the service, if appropriate, at the leader’s discretion. This feels like something to celebrate as the first hint of being able to open up a little more. If, however, you don’t want to be involved in singing please feel free just to slip away. There is no compulsion.

All the extra services for this special season are now listed in the Calendar. We are delighted that this includes a number in-person as well as some extra online . To ensure the safety of everyone attending in-person services numbers are restricted and it is essential that you book a place in advance – just go to the Booking page.

Most services will be an appropriate adaptation of familiar services from previous years. But you might be wondering what the “Garden of Gethsemane Service” is – so here’s more information: This is a reflective service inside St Mary’s which will focus on Jesus’s time in the garden of Gethsemane. We will listen to Scripture, reflect and pray, and listen to some music/singing. A chance to be with Jesus in his suffering, and to pray for all those who suffer in different ways. The service will last no more than an hour and those who wish are welcome to stay for as little or as much as the Vigil as they would like to.

The World Day of Prayer is an annual event that we share with brothers and sisters in ‘Churches Together in Kidlington’. This year the service will be on Zoom on Friday 5^th March at 7:30pm (contact us for Zoom login details if you don’t already have them).  It has been prepared by the Christian women of Vanuatu with the theme “Build on a strong Foundation”.  You can download a basic service sheet here (unfortunately the only version available omits the words of the songs).

As usual, there is a spot in the service for making an offering, but of course this has to be done differently this year. Donations go to help the work of World Day of Prayer in England, Wales & Northern Ireland and projects run by Christian charities around the world. If you wish to donate you can do so:

• by text: send message to 70085 using the phrase 2021WDP and then adding the amount you wish to donate i.e. 2021WDP 5 (to donate £5)
• online: go to www.wwdp.org.uk and click on Donate; put KIDL3501 where it says Church attended
• by cheque: made out to WDP and with KIDL3501 on the back; post to World Day of Prayer, Commercial Road, Tunbridge Wells, Kent TN1 2RR

You have an option of bringing a stone or pebble to the service.

On Shrove Tuesday 2021 we made parish history with our zoom Pancake Party. Hosted by Susy, quiz devised by Lesley Heffer, and with tech support by Andy, this was a phenomenal success and sheer good fun. And thanks to Felicity for gathering together some pictures and poems from the event, just see here.

You are invited to join the chaos and fun of our first ever Zoom Pancake Party at 6pm on Shrove Tuesday. It’s never been done before (in this parish) and we are not quite sure exactly how it will pan out, but we know it will be fun and there will be lots of laughter! There is a Pancake Trivia quiz, and the chance for you read out the poems you have found or written on Pancakes or Shrove Tuesday. When it comes to the pancakes themselves there is a simple recipe below and we will have three competition classes:

• best tossed pancake (style and charisma, staying within camera range)
• best decorated pancake
• pancake decorated to look most like a member of the staff team

Zoom numbers are the same as zoom coffee. The party will last 45 minutes to an hour and is followed by a Celtic Eucharist for Shrove Tuesday at 7. 30pm on Facebook / web site as usual on Tuesday nights.  

Pancake recipe:

Ingredients:

• 100g plain flour
• 2 large eggs
• 300ml milk
• 1 tbsp sunflower or vegetable oil, plus a little extra for frying
• Whatever your favourite toppings  / decorations are…..

Method:

• Put 100g plain flour, 2 large eggs, 300ml milk, 1 tbsp sunflower or vegetable oil and a pinch of salt into a bowl or large jug, then whisk to a smooth batter.
• Set aside for 30 mins to rest if you have time, or start cooking straight away.
• Set a medium frying pan or crêpe pan over a medium heat and carefully wipe it with some oiled kitchen paper.
• When hot, cook your pancakes for 1 min on each side until golden, keeping them warm in a low oven as you go.
• Serve with lemon wedges and caster sugar, jam, chocolate, marshmallows, sprinkles, custard, asparagus, mushrooms or whatever takes your fancy.

We’ve got a great selection of recipes for baking special Lent and Easter goodies: gingerbread men, chocolate truffles, shortbread rounds, pretzels, apple blondies, pancakes, rocky road, peanut butter cheerio clusters, hot cross cookies, easy souffle cheesecake, resurrection rolls and chocolate Easter nests. You can download the booklet here.

We have started to add material covering the period of Lent to Easter, see Lent and Easter 2021 . More will be added over the coming days. but do start to explore.

We will be holding two services to mark Ash Wednesday on February 17th:

Pause for Prayer at 10am will be a Service of the Word with readings and liturgy, led by Felicity. There will be space to ash yourself during this service (see below about ashes). You can join this service at any time afterwards even if you can’t make 10am. Download the service sheet here.

The Eucharist with sermon and music will be at 8pm live on Zoom using the same numbers as Zoom coffee. This is a new way of doing liturgy for us. We will be able to see each other (unless you prefer to keep your camera turned off) so we will be more aware of worshipping together. We can sing together like we do in the sing-alongs. But we will not be doing a recording of it so you can’t join this service afterwards. (There are plusses and minuses). The order of service is available here.

You can collect a small brown envelope of ash from any of the churches from now on. Or you may like to make your own by burning your own palm cross, or lighting a match and using the residue, or even snuffing a candle wick out.

We also have a Prayer Walk for Ash Wednesday with readings, reflections, and simple activities. This is designed for Ash Wednesday but can be done at any time in Lent – so why not use it on your walk when the weather is kind? There are copies of the walk leaflet at the back of our churches or you can download it here.