St Peter's Yaxley

…reaching out in love and faith

A Prayer for St. Peter’s

by

Being the Light of the World

We proclaim that Jesus is the Light of the World.

In Him was life, and that life was the light of men.  The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it  ( John 1:4,5 ).

We declare that St Peters is the light of God, set on a hill. And it is to be a beacon of hope and life and light to all that is around it in Yaxley.  We declare that God’s church here at St Peters will make a difference to this area.

Lord we thank you for the church of St Peters and that it stands on a hill seen from any direction. 

It is a place where the light of the world shines into the community from the provisions, and the people that you have gathered there in your name. 

We thank you for the presence and power of your spirit when we are gathered together and for that same strength and power of your holy spirit in us spread out around the community when we are not all together in one place. 

Alone or together we cry out to you at this time: eradicate COVID 19 and heal our planet from it’s ravages.  For all those who have been struck down by depression, health issues, job losses and relationship conflicts, in the name of your son Jesus we ask you to heal and restore them to full health and heavenly father comfort those who have suffered loss at this time.

Lord we give you thanks and praise for the building adaptation taking place that through it your light would shine out further and stronger into this community changing peoples’ lives, giving them hope for the present and the future.  Thank you  for the giving and the planning to make this possible. In Your name we bless all those working on the project with your  protection and your presence.

We pray your blessings and the power of the Holy Spirit  on all those groups who will be using the new facilities now and when we can meet together.  We pray for the Holy Spirit to give us all visions and dreams as to how the adaptations can be used and developed to meet the needs of the wider community, for your Kingdom to come closer and wider and your name to be lifted up and glorified in this place.

Blessing

We bless you people of St Peters in the name of Jesus Christ to rise up and be the light of the world, that all those in darkness will be affected and drawn to your light.  We bless you to shine out for the Kingdom of God.  We bless you to repel the darkness in the area in which you are based.  We bless you to be in the world but not of it, and therefore to be different and to be effective in Yaxley and surrounding community.  We bless you to be the aroma of Christ.

Amen

A new and changed world

by

Dear Friends,

We are excited that the building work has started in St. Peter’s which, when completed in the autumn, will give us more toilets, better kitchen facilities and serving area and a new room upstairs. We went back into the church building for Easter and since then have been online for our worship services. However, we are now making plans to return to the church building at the end of May. By the time that you read this, we should be back in the church building for one service at 9.30am. You are really welcome to join us, but you will need to let us know if you will be coming to a service to ensure that we can maintain social distancing until we know what the easing of lockdown restrictions in June will mean for us – please just email or phone me if you would like to attend. We will also be continuing with one service online at 11.00am. You will find us on our YouTube Channel.

We are looking at the book of Acts in our church services at the moment. This is the book that follows the four Gospels that outline the life, work and teaching of Jesus. Acts is the point where those first friends of Jesus start the first Christian church and community. The book of Acts is fairly fast paced and we see these first Christians navigating a new and a changed world for them. Their world changed completely but they set about to build new community and spread the news about Jesus. There was nothing easy about this and they came across many twists and turns, hurdles and barriers.

I don’t know about you, but the first time someone gave me a date for an event this year, it was wonderful to write something in my diary rather than rubbing it out. It is lovely to see through this magazine and the Facebook page that places are starting to open, events are being able to be planned and we need that hope. We know that there is much to rebuild, much has changed. We have lost loved people, we have lost opportunities and have all been impacted in some way. At St Peter’s we will be looking to restart events and groups slowly over the next few months, but we know that some will not start until the Autumn due to the building work and while we take time to understand new guidance and changes and plan.

Do join us on a Sunday for our services. Explorers will be running again in half term from the 31st May so keep your eyes open for more information and do come and explore with us.

With every blessing for the coming weeks.

Rev Sarah
01733 248690/07498 230858 yaxleyvicar@gmail.com

Our condolences and prayers are with the Royal Family

by

Dear Friends,

As I write this, the news is that His Royal Highness, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh has died. Much has been said already about his character and his long service to our country and his support of his wife, our Queen. We send our condolences and our prayers are with the Royal Family as they mourn this loss.

This is the statement from The Bishop of Ely:
I express with you my sadness at the death of Prince Philip. We give thanks to God for his life and service. Our hearts and our prayers reach out in sympathy for Her Majesty the Queen in her profound loss after 73 years of loving marriage and shared duty. We pray also for Prince Philip’s children, grandchildren and great grandchildren.

We thank God for the Prince’s deep sense of duty in his support of the Queen and the service of his country. We remember his keen intelligence and wit, his promotion of the initiative and growth of young people through the Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme, his promotion of new technology and scientific research and his patronage of hundreds of good causes. We also remember his fine record as a serving naval officer and his sporting gifts and passions. We are thankful for his Christian faith and his commitment to clergy support and development through St George’s House at Windsor.

Most of all, we praise God for the example of a person dedicated to his family and its wellbeing over more than seventy years with the joys and the sacrifices which come with such a commitment.

We thank God that Prince Philip now enjoys the fullness of the resurrection life. We pray for Her Majesty that she will know all the consolations of her own deep faith in this time of mourning.

God save the Queen!

Yours ever in Christ, + Stephen Bishop Stephen Bishop of Ely

This month of May has a particular focus of prayer for the church as we approach Ascension to Pentecost – the time when Jesus went to heaven and sent The Holy Spirit. There is a National call to prayer called Thy Kingdom Come. Please join us in praying for our country at this time. We can pray at anytime, anywhere.

Thy Kingdom Come is a line of The Lord’s Prayer

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name; thy kingdom come; thy will be done; on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory, for ever and ever. Amen.

Our village, country and our world continue to need our prayers, do join with us to pray The Lord’s Prayer this month.

With every blessing Rev Sarah 01733 249690/07498 230858

Annual Report 2020-21

by

I don’t think that any of us could have envisaged that as we approach the anniversary of a year since lockdown began in England, that we would continue to be in lockdown a year later due to the Coronavirus Pandemic. We are people of faith and hope and the vaccine and recent roadmap to end lockdown brings us hope and we continue to pray for an end to this pandemic.

Read the full report here

Thank you

by

Dear Friends

I write this as we are just entering Lockdown 3.0 as it seems to be known. I am not sure that any of us would have thought last summer that we would be back to this place again. We have taken the decision at St. Peter’s, that we will not be opening the church building for Sunday Services at this time to keep people safe. Our services continue online as well as the weekly mailings that are sent out.

It can be hard to wonder what we have achieved over the last weeks and months but on the last Sunday of December we did a look back at 2020 after we looked through some of our social media for the year and realised how many things had gone on. We are so very grateful to the community of Yaxley for your support, especially through the work of the Foodbank. Our amazing volunteers continued throughout last year and will carry on volunteering in this year. The community of Yaxley and our surrounding villages have been so generous in their donations that there were days that we could barely get out of the front door due to the number of donations, so thank you 😊. We were able to make more Christmas packages than other years and sadly we expect the demand to continue, and probably increase, but Foodbank is still running on Monday and Thursday afternoon from 3pm to 5pm in the church and no vouchers are needed. Like so many individuals and organisations in the village, we do not want to see anyone go hungry due to their circumstances.

You may also have been involved in Explorers, (all age activities) which launched in the summer holidays, ran again in October half term and we started again in Advent through to Epiphany. Our Explorers bags were collected by so many people, in fact 170 went during December and I loved seeing so many people out and about on the Nativity Trail. We enjoyed Christingle and singing Away in a Manger on our doorsteps and seeing your photos of your crafts and activities. Explorers will take place in February half term so look out for more information on this during the month and make sure that you join in our Explorers activities.

One of the things we are passionate about is prayer and we continue to pray for our community of Yaxley and for an end of this pandemic. If we can pray for anything for you, please let me know.

Look after yourselves and stay safe.
With every blessing
Rev Sarah – yaxleyvicar@gmail.com 01733 248690/07498 230858

The Gate of the Year

by

Dear Friends,

As I write this, we are drawing to the end of one of the strangest and most unexpected years (not that you need me to tell you that!) I have been thinking that this time last year Coronavirus and Wuhan were distant news articles. I do not think that any of us thought that it would come close to our shores, let alone become a worldwide Pandemic that would put us into lockdown for several months closing down much of our country. As we head towards the end of the year, it is often a time when we look back on the year that has been, and we look forward to a New Year with new chances and opportunities.

You may well be wondering what the next year has in store for us? We may be walking into the next year with quite a lot of trepidation knowing that it will not be easy. As you look back on 2020, what stands out – toilet paper? Home-schooling? Loss of job or relationship? Loss of loved one? Maybe there are equally some good things that you can look back on – More time with family? A slower pace of life, realising what is important to you?

I obviously cannot tell you what next year will bring, but I know a God who has been with me all my life and yes, even in this year. As I walk into 2021 I do so believing and trusting in a God who does know the way.

“The Gate of the Year” is the popular name given to a poem by Minnie Louise Haskins. The title that she gave it was “God Knows”.
The poem, written in 1908 and privately published in 1912, caught the public attention when King George VI quoted it in his 1939 Christmas broadcast to the British Empire. The poem may have been brought to his attention by his wife, Queen Elizabeth. (Thank you to Wikipedia)

And I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year:
“Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown.”
And he replied:
“Go out into the darkness and put your hand into the Hand of God.
That shall be to you better than light and safer than a known way.”
So I went forth, and finding the Hand of God, trod gladly into the night.
And He led me towards the hills and the breaking of day in the lone East.

With every blessing in this New Year

Rev Sarah 01733 248690/07498 230858
yaxleyvicar@gmail.com

Virtual Yaxley Nativity Trail

by

Welcome to the Virtual Yaxley Nativity Trail!

We didn’t want those of you who weren’t able to get out and walk the trail to miss out, so have moved the trail online!

You’ll see some photos of the stops along the way and be able to access the audio of the children telling the Christmas Story.

Stop 1

 

Stop 2

Stop 3

Stop 4

 

 

Stop 5

 

Stop 6

Below is the audio in full.

 

Thank you to everyone who made this trail possible! 

Christmas is NOT cancelled!

by

Dear Friends

You will have heard or seen the news headlines at some point this year saying “Christmas is cancelled” I can assure you it is not! Christmas took place over 2000 years ago in a stable in Bethlehem when God came to earth in the form of Jesus. This has been the strangest year ever for all of us in different ways and our celebration of Christmas may also be strange and probably different. However, the message of the angels was one of peace and joy:

And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favour rests.” Luke Chapter 2.

Matthew’s Gospel Chapter 1 tells us this:
“Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel, which means, “God is with us.”

Jesus, Emmanuel is God with us on earth. In all that may be strange and different this year, God came and walked on earth with us. In this season that may be different, in this time when we could be fearful, we can remember that Christmas cannot be cancelled and God walking the earth changed everything for all time.

May you know the blessings of Emmanuel in this Christmas season.

Rev Sarah.

Happy Christmas from St. Peter’s Church, Yaxley. Please do join us throughout December with our Explorers activities and in our services, which will be online on St. Peter’s, Yaxley YouTube Page. There will be a service in person on Christmas Eve for our Midnight service (starting 11.30pm) and Christmas morning at 10.00am IF Coronavirus restriction allow. We will need people to book in for services in church so please do contact the Parish Office on 07939 449255 or by email. Do follow our Facebook pages – St. Peter’s Church, Yaxley and/or Community of St. Peter’s Church, Yaxley for more information.

A Changing World

by

Dear Friends,

I am writing this from The Holy Island of Lindisfarne, a tidal Island off the North East Coast of England. It is cut off from the mainland twice a day when the North Sea covers the causeway. It is a place that I love to come to with so much nature and beauty but there is also such a rhythm to this place as everything is dependent on the tides.

I am writing this at the start of October and so it is difficult to know what the rules and regulations will be by November. I am in a part of the world that has been quite badly hit by Coronavirus, the island that I love looks a little bit different at the moment, but the rhythms of the tides don’t change. The island is known as being a particularly important place for early Christianity after Irish monks settled here in the 7th Century and took the Christian Gospel from here to many places around the country. I love sitting and looking out to a small Island known as St Cuthbert’s Island and if you get the tides right you can walk out to it but you have to be careful not to get stuck as the tide comes in (which nearly happened on one occasion!) In all that has gone on in this year, sitting and watching the tides and the sunsets, reminds me of the constants that we do have in this world that some things will never change and the Bible tells us that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever – Hebrews 13:8. With all that is going on in the world, it can be hard to remember this. But God is unchanging even through the rocky road that 2020 has been.

God is unchanging, but we have had a few changes in the life of our church:
We re-opened St. Peter’s Church building for worship on the 4th October and plan to hold a 9.30am Service of Holy Communion in person every Sunday. You will however need to book in as such, as we can only get a certain amount of people in the building safely. If you would like to attend a service, please email me or call 01733 248690/07498 230858 or contact Laura by email or on 07939 449255. Our 11am service continues online on our St. Peter’s Church, Yaxley, YouTube Channel.

As the nights become darker earlier, we have stopped our open church on a Thursday evening for private prayer. We have also decided to postpone Alpha until 2021, but will let you know dates.

As we live in a changing world with an unchanging God, may you know His comfort, peace and presence with you in this month.

With every blessing Rev Sarah

Update 02.11.2020: Due to a second lockdown, the church building will be closed for services, from Thursday 5th November, until further notice.

Autumn Days

by

Dear Friends,

Over last weekend, it seemed to go from summer to autumn literally overnight. I had to go searching for jeans and warmer cardigans and on some days, I managed to resist the urge to turn on the central heating, on other days, not quite so much!!! As I write this, schools are returning and my goodness what a lot of thought and effort has gone into our schools re-opening this term – well done to all those who work in our schools and to our families as well. I found myself the other evening singing the song autumn days by Estelle White, which we used to sing in school. It talks about all of the lovely things that we think about in autumn which is one of my favourite seasons – grass being jewelled, swallow curving in the sky, shoes so comfy that they’re worn out and battered and the taste of apple pie. It made me smile a few years ago in previous parishes, when a school sang this at their Harvest Festival – it brought back many memories and it was funny to think that the song was passing down the generations.

The chorus to the song says: “So I mustn’t forget. No, I mustn’t forget. To say a great big thank you I mustn’t forget.” As we go into October, we will be celebrating our Harvest Festival. I have loved seeing the pictures that people have taken in Yaxley across the fields, of sunflowers, combine harvesters and amazing views of nature. This year, our Harvest Festival will be different due to our ongoing Covid 19 situation but we will still gather most likely through the wonders of YouTube to give thanks for all that God has given us.

I have heard so many people saying this year, in all that we have individually and collectively gone through that they have learnt about the things that are important to them. They have learnt that we don’t need so much stuff, they have learnt that what we value is our relationships with each other in our families and with our friends. That we value and want to care for our planet and we want it to be able to live, breathe and continue for those that have just started school this term and for many generations beyond.

As we go into this month, let us remember to say thank you to each other for the little things, the big things and everything in between. Come and join us for our Harvest on the 4th October at 11am as we give thanks for the work of our farmers, our produce packers, for distribution networks and workers and for our God who created the beautiful world we live in and those we get to share our lives with.

With every blessing for this coming month. Rev Sarah.