Crown of Thorns

Sunday 22 March 2009, 4th Sunday of Lent
Mothering Sunday

Prayer & Reflection

The Benefice Prays For:

Our Thoughts and Prayers Are Asked For:

Lucy, Ann Andrew, John Wilkinson, and Paul Daly

For the souls of the departed:

Hugh Pope, and Phyllis Talbot

We celebrate the birthdays of:

Chris Pearce (22nd), Madeleine Chapman and Annie Matthews (25th), and Doreen Redfearn (28th).

Contact Details

Gift Aid: If you are a taxpayer, please maximise your giving in the Offertory Plate by using the Gift Aid envelopes provided.

St Mary’s notices can be sent to the Parish Office at info@stmarysmoseley.co.uk, or by phone: 0121 449 2243 (mornings) by 10:00 a.m. on Wednesday. Voicemail messages can be left at any time. Also see http://www.stmarysmoseley.co.uk.

St Anne’s notices can be sent to Revd Rosemary Donovan at info@st-annes-moseley.org.uk, or by phone: 0121 449 1071 by Thursday. Also see http://www.st-annes-moseley.org.uk.

Loop

St Mary’s has a loop system for the hard of hearing, in the centre block of seats. Turn your hearing aid to the ‘T’ setting.

For Children and Young People

St Mary’s Children’s Groups

Children aged 3 – 11 meet on the 2nd 3rd and 4th Sundays during the 10:00 a.m. service. They continue worship in their groups and meet their leaders at the back of the church after the collect for the day. All children are welcome. There is a crèche facility at all 10:00 a.m. services.

St Anne’s Children’s Groups

Children meet on the 1st 3rd and 4th Sundays during the 10:15 a.m. service. They leave with their leaders after the first hymn. All children are welcome.

St Mary’s and St Anne’s Youth Group

The Youth Group meets on Wednesdays at 7:30 p.m. in the Piggott Room at St Mary’s.

Mothering Sunday Footwear Collection Today

As part of our Mothering Sunday giving to Moseley Hall hospital, we would like you to donate slippers to boost the stock of charitable footwear for patients. All donations — all adult sizes, women’s or men’s, new or second hand, sensible styles (no heels or slip-ons) — are welcome and will be collected next week. See Jo Cartmell at St Mary’s for more details.

MedAir Collection

Following David Pitches’ moving reflections about his work in Congo (delivered at Evensong last Sunday at St Mary’s), there are appeal envelopes and literature about his work. Please do give generously and place in the collection plate on the Welcome Desk.

Annual Giving Sunday at St Mary’s

Please collect a pack from the back of church if you have not already done so. Please return by next Sunday after which a volunteer will collect it from you.

Four Wednesday Lunches during Lent

Please support these important events. See Wednesday Lunches during Lent. Your donation will help to raise funds for Christian Aid.

Stitches of Hope

Thank you to all who have completed squares so far. Please come to 87, Salisbury Road on Friday 27 March at 7:00 p.m. to help sew up the blankets. It would be good to have one or more blankets completed by Easter and please ‘carry on knitting’! Kate Stocks

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Sunday 22 March 2009, 4th Sunday of Lent
Mothering Sunday

Readings
Service First Reading Second Reading
Morning 2 Corinthians 1:3-7 Gospel: Luke 2:33-35
Evening Exodus 6:2-13 Romans 5:1-11

Services
TimeSt Mary’sSt Anne’s
8:00 a.m. Holy Communion
Celebrant: Revd Jeremy Dussek
Preacher: Claire Maxim
 
10:00 a.m. Sung Eucharist
Celebrant: Revd Jeremy Dussek
Preacher: Claire Maxim
Hymns: 448,21,337,354
Anthem: Ave Maria (Lindley)
 
10:15 a.m.   Community Worship
Officiants: Revd Rosemary Donovan & Lis Sparrow
6:30 p.m. Evensong
Officiant & Preacher: Revd Peter Hansell
Hymns: 426,383,27
Psalm: 13
Anthem: How Beautiful Upon the Mountains (Stainer)
Healing Service
Officiants: Eric Dwyer & Revd Frank Berry
Hymns: 211,14,311
Psalm: 13

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Mid-week services to which all are welcome

Day Time St Mary’s St Anne’s
Mon-23-Mar 9:00 a.m. Morning Prayer  
Tue-17-Mar 7:00 p.m. Lent Series and Worship  
8:30 p.m. Holy Communion  
Wed-25-Mar 9:00 a.m. Morning Prayer  
Thu-26-Mar   No Morning Prayer  
4:00 p.m. M*A*S*S at Moseley C of E School  
Fri-27-Mar 9:00 a.m.   Morning Prayer
1:00 p.m.   Funeral of Hugh Pope

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Next Sunday 29 March 2009, Passion Sunday

Time St Mary’s St Anne’s
8:00 a.m. Holy Communion  
10:00 a.m. Sung Eucharist  
10:15 a.m.   Sung Eucharist
6:30 p.m. Evensong Evensong

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Future Dates for Your Dairy

See also: Calendar of Future Events and Lent 2009

Date Time Details
Lent 2009   Course, other events and Lent Calendar. See Lent 2009
Fri-27-Mar 6:30 a.m. — 7:30 p.m. Brownies To raise awareness of a charity called the Railway Children, the 154th Birmingham (2nd Moseley) Brownies invite you to their display on at Cambridge Rd Methodist Church. Admission charge in aid of the charity.
7:00 p.m. Stitches of Hope Thank you to all who have completed squares so far. Please come to 87, Salisbury Road to help sew up the blankets. It would be good to have one or more blankets completed by Easter and please ‘carry on knitting’!
Kate Stocks
Apr-09   Youth Group Retreat at Beaudesert Camp. Booking Forms available from Rosemary.

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Thought for the week by Jokhim Meikle

Straight to the point

I love that this is called ‘Mothering’ Sunday as opposed to just ‘Mother’s’ Day, because it invites us to ponder and own those qualities of mothering inherent in each of us, man, woman, young and old: qualities of nurture, compassion, and comfort. Life brings the lessons and gifts of mothering to us all and they are mixed with extremes of joy and pain. In fact, today’s readings call our attention as much to the suffering and compassion of mothering as to its comforts.

I think of suffering here in the sense of ‘allowing’, of accepting whatever God calls upon us to bear. For a mother, the joys of nurturing and loving a child bring with them the inevitability of loss and the need to let go. There is not one without the other. For all of us the very unconditionality of our loving holds within it the possibility, even the inevitability, of loss, whether by death or simply that a child leaves home and no longer requires the kind of nurturing love given in its early years. Whether a mother or not, we are called upon in our loving to know and freely give nurture, comfort and compassion and to bear the pains of whatever sword might pierce us, as it did Mary. Faith invites us, in our suffering, to be open to God’s compassionate mothering, his ‘being with us’, just as we know what it is like to be with another in their suffering. Faith can lead us beyond the limitations of self to a place where we are invited to let go of our own suffering in order to know and to feel held in the comforting compassion of God.

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Collect for today: Sunday 22 March 2009, 4th Sunday of Lent
Mothering Sunday

Merciful Lord, absolve your people from their offences, that through your bountiful goodness we may all be delivered from the chains of those sins which by our frailty we have committed; grant this, heavenly Father, for Jesus Christ’s sake, our blessed Lord and Saviour, who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.

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