St Peter's Yaxley

…reaching out in love and faith

Exciting Announcements

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We are pleased to announce that the Reverend Sarah Hare will be our new vicar, here at St. Peter’s Church, Yaxley. We are delighted that Sarah is coming to SPC and we look forward to her ministry.


Sarah is currently a Team Vicar to 14 churches in the Wenlock Team; within the Diocese of Hereford.
We invite everyone to attend Sarah’s licensing on the evening of Tuesday 3rd September, which will mark the start of an exciting new chapter for SPC.


We are also pleased to announce that Becky Dyball, currently Assistant Curate at Ramsey and Upwood, is to be Priest-in-Charge of Sawtry, Glatton and Holme with Conington. At the time of writing a date is still to be arranged for her licensing.


Please remember Sarah & Becky in your prayers as they embark on a new journey in their lives.


God Bless,
Laura

Laura Ashley, St. Peter’s Parish Communications Officer
07939 449255, lauraashley@saintpeters.co.uk

The Freedom in Forgiveness

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A recent trip to Rwanda reminded me of the huge power there is in forgiveness.

It is now 25 years since the Rwandan genocide when almost 1 million people were brutally killed in 100 days. The country has moved forward massively since those days as much work was done, and continues to be done, in terms of forgiveness and reconciliation. Families of victims and perpetrators now live side by side, not always without tension and conflict, but there are many amazing stories of forgiveness.

A group from St. Peter’s Church went to Rwanda in 2014 and participated in building a house for one of the widows of the genocide. Remarkably, the land for the house was donated by a neighbour whose family had been killed by the widow’s husband.  How hard that must have been? There are many other examples of forgiveness we could quote but we all know how incredibly hard it is when it becomes personal to us.

There is however, such a release and freedom in being able to forgive and to receive forgiveness.  It is a very healing process and it restores relationships. We all need forgiveness because we all ‘mess up’. The beauty of Easter is that it reminds us that Jesus Christ freely offers us forgiveness, no matter what we have done. The cruel, barbaric death by crucifixion of an innocent man, the Son of God, means He took the punishment for all the wrong that we have done so that we can be set free and our relationship with God can be restored.

The wonderful thing is that the story does not end there and at Easter we celebrate the most significant event in human history, Jesus Christ rising from the dead. Forgiveness liberates us, the Resurrection gives us hope.

We would love for you to join us at St Peter’s this Easter.

Holy Week Meditations: Monday 15th to Wednesday 17th April, 7.30pm Bring & Share Reflective Family Meal: Thursday 18th April, 7.00pm (please book in advance)

Good Friday:      11am All Age Service & 2pm Hour at the Cross

Easter Sunday: 9am Traditional Holy Communion Service & 11am Morning Worship with Holy Communion

God Bless,

Seeing the opportunity, not the obstacle

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When this issue lands on your doorstep it’s likely we’ll be approaching, or have just started, Lent.

Lent begins on 6th March; Ash Wednesday. Most people enjoy tucking into their pancakes on Shrove Tuesday but how many of us think about why we celebrate this day, and then go on to participate in Lent?

Lent marks the lead up to Easter. So, what are we really doing when we take part in Lent? As Christians participating in Lent, we are replicating the 40 days that Jesus spent in the desert, resisting temptation. It is a time of reflection and preparation.

Traditionally, Lent was a time to give something up, however, in recent years it has been recognised that Lent can be a time to give. Jesus lived a life characterised by His generosity and love, He noticed people’s needs, He gave his time, and ultimately, He gave his life and changed the World.

Campaigns such as #40acts, 40 generous acts in 40 days, recognise that through generosity, we can begin to change lives, in the same way Jesus did! Generosity happens when we see the opportunity not the obstacle, let’s seize these opportunities and see our community thrive further; let’s live the lives Jesus wanted for us.

Lent is concluded in the final week before Easter; Holy Week. At SPC we will be marking this week with four evenings of Meditations led by our Home Groups, taking place Monday to Thursday, from 7.30pm. On Good Friday, we have time for reflection at 11am & 2pm services and our Easter Sunday celebrations will be taking place at our 9am & 11am Holy Communion services. At our 11am service we will be inviting the young people whom have been preparing to receive Holy Communion, to take their first communion with us.

Everyone is invited to all our services and events, to come along and experience the love of Jesus.

God Bless,

Laura

Laura Ashley, St. Peter’s Parish Communications Officer

07939 449255, lauraashley@saintpeters.co.uk

As We Enter A New Year…

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Dear Friends
As I write this we are preparing for Christmas and the birth of Jesus, God’s Son, sent to earth for us. By the time you read this, Christmas Day will have come and gone, and we will be thinking about a New Year, maybe about New Years resolutions or just what this year may hold for us or not.


20 years ago when I was nursing, I had volunteered to work the night shift for the night of 31st December 1999 and 1st January 2000 – the new millennium which I can’t quite believe is 20 years ago now! I have never seen so many staff in the hospital for a night shift and worried looking technicians and managers walked in and out of the ward as we waited to see if planes would fall out of the skies or whether all of our technology would go down at midnight. It came and went without event (although you can usually never describe an NHS night shift as being without event!) but nothing changed, the pumps continued to do their work, the blood pressure machine didn’t break down and the electrical system continued to light the ward lights and work the bell system. There was activity for a few hours and we realised all would be well and we continued our work for the night.


As we go in to a New Year we may be going in to this with anticipation, worry, sadness or regret or we may be excited by new opportunities, new possibilities. I am struck thinking again about that Millennium, that there was so much worry and anxiety, yet all continued on. The Bible tells us to “cast all our anxiety on to God, because he cares for you” (1 Peter 5: 7). I hope that whatever the New Year holds for you, that you know the love of a God who cares for you whatever your circumstances.


With every blessing in this New Year
Rev Sarah (Vicar)


01733 248690/07498 230858/vicar@saintpeters.co.uk

Where has your journey taken you this year?

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Dear Friends

I have enjoyed my first few months as Vicar in Yaxley, thank you for your warm welcome.

This year has been a journey in many ways, not least, travelling across the country to a new place, new church and new people.  Our Christmas story is one of journeys, Mary and Joseph travelling to Bethlehem, shepherds leaving their sheep, Wise Men travelling many miles.  The focus of our story is a baby born and placed in an animal feeding trough.  This baby was Jesus also called Emmanuel a word which means God with us. Jesus came to the world out of love for you and for me, to share his life with people and to enable people to come to know him and God his Father.

These journeys were not planned, they were inconvenient and difficult and this year may have been a hard one for you.  It might also have been one of new and exciting opportunities.  Wherever your journey has taken you this year, I pray you will know the peace that Jesus came to bring us and the love that is there for each one of us.  Please join us over the Christmas season to celebrate afresh the birth of Jesus.

With every blessing for a happy and blessed Christmas and New Year 

Rev Sarah.

The nights are drawing in

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My Gran would say “the nights are drawing in now” although she would often start saying that in July or August which is a little depressing!

However, as we enter November, this becomes very easy to see as even with the changes of clocks at the end of October, it is usually dark when I wake up and is certainly dark when I go to bed. The daylight seems to be there for so little of our waking time.


Our seasons change and as we go into November in some ways the world seems to slow down a little, in others, we move into slightly mad panic planning and buying for Christmas. November often has a slightly sombre feel in the church as we move into a time of Remembrance. At the beginning of November, we celebrate all the saints – all those people who have gone before us, or maybe those saints that we know in our lives today. We also remember All Souls, thinking of those loved ones who have died, and we see no longer.

This year on Sunday 3rd November at 3pm we will be holding an All Soul’s Service or Service of Remembering those who have died and who we miss. Letters have been sent out to relatives of those people in our village where our retired clergy have taken a local funeral this year, but everyone is welcome to this service. If you would like the name of your loved one read out in the service, then please do let me know.


The following week (10th) we will commemorate Remembrance as we remember those who lived and died in service of our country. Do please join us at any of our services that day (9am, 11am and 3pm).


With every blessing in this season,
Rev Sarah (Vicar)
01733 248690, 07498 230858, vicar@saintpeters.co.uk

Proposed Servery, Toilets and Upper Room Project

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We would like to start by thanking all of those of you who already give generously to St. Peter’s – in terms of time, money and in so many other ways. Without your support the ministry at St. Peter’s would not be sustainable.

As Churchwardens we have, over recent years, become aware that the provision of toilet facilities within St. Peter’s are becoming increasingly insufficient for our growing church family, and the time has come for us to provide two more, taking the opportunity to also establish a new servery and an additional Upper Room to accommodate our growing Junior Church. In conjunction with the PCC, our Architect and the Diocese of Ely Board, it has been agreed that the best way forward is to remove the current servery (and adjacent cupboard), replacing them with two new toilets, at the same time establishing a new servery in the current coffee area, with a new ‘upper room’ above.

A scheme has been developed, approved by the PCC and the Diocese of Ely Board, and gone out to tender. Tenders have now been returned and the overall cost of the project, including the necessary window renovations and fees, is estimated to be ~£156,000.

We have not entered into any contract with the most suitable tenderer, instead, we seek to establish first whether we might be able to raise sufficient funds to pay for the project.

The purpose of this letter is to ask you all to consider if you might be able to support this project, by giving a one-off donation and/or pledging a certain amount each month for three years.

It should be noted that, with the PCC currently holding £51,500 in its Project Fund, and having already spent £11,500 on window remedials and some of the fees, we need to raise a further £93k. So if 41 people/families gift-aided £50/month, for three years, all costs would be covered and we would be able to instruct a contractor to undertake the works during January/February/March 2021.

Details of the scheme, including the drawings and the specification, can be found on the noticeboard at the back of church, but if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to speak to Paul or Mark.

Click here for a pledge form which we pray you will be able to fill out and return.

Thank you,

Paul Russell & Mark Jarrett, Churchwardens

Click here to view the slides shown during the service in church to launch the appeal.

Hello & Thank You

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I am writing this just a few days after I was licensed as Priest-in-Charge (Vicar) of St Peter’s Church, Yaxley by The Bishop of Ely.  It was an incredibly special service and friends and family came from all over the country.  There was also an unexpected surprise, as people from The Wenlock Team of Parishes which were my previous parishes in Shropshire came to support me for this service.  The community of St. Peter’s Church worked incredibly hard to ensure everything ran smoothly and I would like to thank them.  Along with friends and family and so many people from St. Peter’s Church community, were also many different representatives from Yaxley.  I would like to take this opportunity to thank each and every one of you for being there and part of such a special evening.  It is going to take me a good while to get to know people, names and places, but do say hello if you see me out and about and I will eventually get there!  Thank you for coming to support me.

Simon and I are really excited to be in Yaxley and part of the St. Peter’s community.  People have been so helpful as we try to find our way around the village and this side of the country.  I was ordained 6 years ago and have been in Shropshire for these 6 years and before this, I was a nurse working mainly in cancer care for 13 years.

Thank you for your welcome to the village and I am looking forward to getting to know people here.

With every blessing,

Rev Sarah (Vicar)

01733 248690 / 07498 230858

vicar@saintpeters.co.uk

Fostering & Adoption Support

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You may have seen in our social media recently the statistics around children in care in the UK. This year 40,000 children will be taken into care, that’s twice the amount that can be seated into the 02 arena! In Cambridgeshire there are currently over 700 children awaiting loving homes.


Due to the circumstances around the need for adoption and fostering, many adoptive & foster parents face major challenges with children who have multiple difficulties, such as special educational needs, attachment disorders and insecurities. Therefore, parents can become physically and mentally exhausted; which is why a group of people from St. Peter’s Church are getting together to discuss ways in which we, as a community, can support these families who are doing something amazing. We will be guided by the charity, Home for Good, who’s core aim is to find a home for every child who needs one, but we also need help from the community.


We are holding an initial meeting in September at SPC, to discuss ideas of what the support will look like and our hope and prayer is that this will also be guided by others in our community who want to be involved. If you are an adoptive or foster parent, please do come along and talk with us about how we can help support you. If, like many of us involved in this initiative, you’re not an adoptive or foster parent but it is on your heart – come along and chat, share ideas or just listen. Everyone has gifts to offer and we would like to use these gifts to provide the best support that we can for families in our community who are working hard to provide for children who otherwise would not have a loving family.


We look forward to meeting you in September! Look out for the meeting date on our social media and on the Yaxley Gazette Facebook page and if you express an interest with us, we will ensure to inform you of the meeting details, once confirmed.

If in the meantime you’d like to hear from the charity who will be assisting us, you can listen to their talk from their visit in June, by clicking here. 

Yaxley Foodbank

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Firstly, we would like to thank all those local people who so generously support the food bank. Without your regular donations, we wouldn’t be able to continue to help vulnerable families in our community.

This year, we have been busier than ever, having already given out over 2 metric tonnes of food from our base at St. Peters Church. This has meant that with the busy summer holiday period fast approaching our stocks of food items are significantly lower than usual for the time of year. During the school summer holidays, when school meals are not available, we provide weekly food parcels to a number of families struggling to make ends meet. This means we give out a large amount of food during this period.

We would like to make an appeal to the folk of Yaxley and the surrounding villages. Would you consider placing a few items in one of the collecting baskets around the locality?

We are particularly short of the following items:
Tinned meat and fish
Tinned vegetables
Tinned potatoes
Tinned fruit
Long life milk
Long life custard
Tinned rice pudding

Our baskets are in the following locations:
Yaxley Co-op
Yaxley Lakeside Surgery
William de Yaxley School
Fourfields School
Yaxley Infants School
Farcet Primary School
Austin Hall
St Peters Church
St Mary Magdalene Church Stilton

Thanking you all again for your continuing support.
St. Peter’s Church

For all enquiries, please call or email Laura