Our regular term time community groups start back again at The Chapel and St Mary’s from 8th Jan 2024. Have a look at what’s on and do pop in to join us!
Join us this Sunday 17th December 2023 at 6:30pm at St Mary’s for Carols by Candlelight. A wonderful service and a super start to the Christmas break. All welcome! St Mary’s, Vale Rd, GU12 5JE
Saturday 25th Nov—Christmas at The Chapel on Wharf Rd: Join us 2pm-5pm for festive fun, amazing cake sale, raffle, free card making craft, second hand toys, clothes and more. Free admission.
Saturday 2nd December St Nicholas Day Lantern Walk (time slots start from 4pm): An atmospheric lantern walk from The Chapel on Wharf Rd to St Mary’s on Vale Rd, finishing with a bonfire party, hot chocolate and sweets from St Nicholas! Text / WhatsApp to book: 07730 609446
Sunday 17th December Carols by Candlelight 6.30pm: Come and share the joy of singing our favourite Christmas Carols by candlelight at this very special service at St Mary’s. Let’s rejoice! (free / donations)
24th Dec—Christingle Journey (time slots start from 3pm): Make Christingle, visit the Inn, see the Wise Men, stoke the shepherd’s bonfire, and get a selfie with baby Jesus! Not forgetting Revd Neil’s amazing pizza! Text to book 07730 609446 (Children’s Society donations welcomed)
24th Dec—Christmas Communion 11.30pm: Come and celebrate the birth of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, and the first communion of Christmas.
25th Dec: Christmas Day Service Join us to celebrate our Lord Jesus’s birth. Children welcome, why not bring along your favourite present to show & tell?
Christmas Donations: This year we are asking for donations of Christmas treats & gifts for local food parcels please, and we are fundraising for tree planting in Uganda as well as local refugees. To donate items for any of our projects please contact us, or you can follow this link and select a project to support by donation. Thank you! https://givealittle.co/c/75npOYB3aZl4vFFBN2Ve3p
Keeping in touch: Visit us at Community Cafe on Fridays 10:00-13:00, Sunday services at 10:30am Email parishoffice@ash-vale.org.uk | Facebook @StMarysAshVale | Church Blog is available online here: www.ash-vale.org.uk and includes The Parishioner Magazine. Project Manager Tel.: 07730 609446
‘The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel’ (which means ‘God with us’)
Matthew 1v23 (NIV)
Do you ever feel like you’re on your own? Just you, no one else… Do you ever fell like no-one is interested, that no-one sees you or hears you? Well, I’ve got news for you! Because, as we learn in Matthew chapter 1, God is with us: Immanuel.
The truth is, you are never on your own, and as it says in our communion prayer:
“Though we chose the path of rebellion, you would not abandon us.”
In fact, you became us! Again, as it says in our communion prayer:
“embracing our humanity, Jesus showed us the way of salvation; loving us to the end”
Have you noticed that it says “God with us” rather than “God with me”? That’s important. We are a family, and especially at Christmas we come together to celebrate the fact that God is with us. ALL of us, not just people who go to church.
And as we remember at Christmas that God actually IS with us, we realise that He is here, even at a time in our history where we see wars, famine, uncertainty about our future—not only our future but the future of the world. Christmas is something we do together with God. And it’s not just for children, it’s for everyone.
Our resident composer Matt Weeks wrote a beautiful song which we will be singing this Christmas called ‘Emmanuel’. Here is the first verse:
Expectantly we wait for you
You are a faithful God in all you do
Your promises have been fulfilled
When a baby boy was born to us
Was born to us
Lord Jesus Christ…
You can find the whole song and listen to the melody here:
We would love you to join us to celebrate the truth that God is with us and has not abandoned his own. One of my favourite parts of Christmas is our Christingle event on Christmas Eve in the afternoon, and the Midnight service, as we wait with anticipation and celebrate the greatest love of all, the love of God for us. Emmanuel.
There is a warm welcome waiting for you at St Mary’s. Our Christmas events are below, come and join us!
Saturday 25th Nov—Christmas at The Chapel on Wharf Rd: Join us 2pm-5pm for festive fun, amazing cake sale, raffle, free card making craft, second hand toys, clothes and more. Free admission.
Saturday 2nd December St Nicholas Day Lantern Walk (time slots start from 4pm): An atmospheric lantern walk from The Chapel on Wharf Rd to St Mary’s on Vale Rd, finishing with a bonfire party, hot chocolate and sweets from St Nicholas! Text / WhatsApp to book: 07730 609446
Sunday 17th December Carols by Candlelight 6.30pm: Come and share the joy of singing our favourite Christmas Carols by candlelight at this very special service at St Mary’s. Let’s rejoice! (free / donations)
24th Dec—Christingle Journey (time slots start from 3pm): Make Christingle, visit the Inn, see the Wise Men, stoke the shepherd’s bonfire, and get a selfie with baby Jesus! Not forgetting Revd Neil’s amazing pizza! Text to book 07730 609446 (Children’s Society donations welcomed)
24th Dec—Christmas Communion 11.30pm: Come and celebrate the birth of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, and the first communion of Christmas.
25th Dec: Christmas Day Service 10:30am Join us to celebrate our Lord Jesus’s birth. Children welcome, why not bring along your favourite present to show & tell?
Christmas Donations: This year we are asking for donations of Christmas treats & gifts for local food parcels please, and we are fundraising for tree planting in Uganda as well as local refugees. To donate items for any of our projects please contact us, or you can follow this link and select a project to support by donation. Thank you! https://givealittle.co/c/75npOYB3aZl4vFFBN2Ve3p
Keeping in touch: Visit us at Community Cafe on Fridays 10:00-13:00, Sunday services at 10:30am Email parishoffice@ash-vale.org.uk | Facebook @StMarysAshVale | Church Blog is available online here: www.ash-vale.org.uk and includes The Parishioner Magazine. Project Manager Tel.: 07730 609446
The annual St Nicholas Lantern Walk & Bonfire party is on Saturday 2nd Dec 2023 – it’s time to book your places!
Start your adventure at The Chapel garden, on Wharf road (GU12 5AY) and enjoy a walk by the light of your lanterns to St Mary’s on Vale Road (GU12 5JE), where we enjoy the garden, meet St Nicholas, and enjoy a hot chocolate & food by the bonfire.
Start times are staggered, from 4pm-6pm, so that everyone has their moment to say hello to St Nic. Text or WhatsApp to book! 07730609446 (Dress for the weather and bring a torch!)
If you don’t have a lantern we can send you instructions to make one, or you can have one of our paper ones made by volunteers on the night. It’s a lovely experience, and a great way to start Advent, seeing all the lanterns in the dark! See you soon xx 💕⭐️✨
Please mark your diaries for the Chapel Project ChristmasFair. Join us at The Chapel on Wharf Rd, Ash Vale, GU12 5AY on Saturday25th Nov2-5pm
It looks like a wonderfully festive day for the community. Why not visit the Ash Fantasia event in the village from 12, and then come over to us from 2pm for even more festive fun and Christmas bargains! Nearly New, cakes and biscuits, gifts and games, amazing raffle, children’s society stall, hotdogs for tea and a free Christmas craft for the kids. Please pop in and support your local Chapel Project. See you there!
Would you like to join in and volunteer, or donate a raffle prize? Please do get in touch! 07730 609446 Facebook: @AshValeChapel
Christmas Appeal: The Ash Villages Food Parcels project will be packing and delivering food parcels for (we estimate) 40-50 families in Ash, Ash Vale, Ash Green and Tongham in the week before Christmas, and we like to send gifts for the children and Christmassy treats along with the emergency essentials if we can. Can you help? Anything our wonderful community can donate will be amazing, and add some lovely Christmas cheer to the parcels. We will share out whatever is received from the community between the families on our list on the day.
Need some inspiration? How about donating Christmas puddings, custard, mince pies, treats, crackers, nibbles, stuffing mix, gravy granules, cranberry sauce, sweets, nice toiletries, warm socks, gloves, tangerines, chocolate coins, children’s toys, board games, juice, squash, hot chocolate, pretty napkins… what ever you would you be pleased to receive if you were in need yourself. (We can’t take alcohol sorry!)
Dropping off donations: All items need to reach us at St Mary’s church (GU12 5JE) or at The Chapel (GU12 5AY) by Thursday 14th December please. Contact us if you need to book a time 07730 609446 or you can pop in to donate whenever we are open.
It’s October! The annual Love and Light Party will be on 31st October as always. It’s on a Tuesday this year, after school at 4-6pm at The Chapel on Wharf Road GU12 5AY. If you would like to join us you are very welcome! Text or phone or WhatsApp to book your places please asap so we can be sure to cater! 07730 609446
What’s happening? Join us from 4pm onwards for snacks, crafts and games, Martin will start the disco at 4:30pm, and we will have sparklers at 5pm if the weather permits. Hotdogs and s’mores for tea, and a party bag to take home if you book in advance. Book today! 07730 609446.
What does it cost? We don’t exclude anyone based on their finances. We do ask for donations please – give what you can, to help cover the costs of the event. Some people can afford more than others, and every penny counts. Thank you! https://givealittle.co/campaigns/0e5ae7c4-ccad-4f64-806f-0bdda20b8876
Can we dress up? Yes of course! Nothing too scary please, as there will be little ones about. We have some UV lights for the disco so wear something neon if you want to glow up! You do you – come as you are or dress up as whatever you like.
Volunteers are always needed please for setting up / serving drinks and food / prepping party bags / helping out / welcoming / clearing down. Text or phone us if you can help, or speak to Alex when you see her. Thank you!
Just a gentle reminder to please book your tickets ASAP for the Celebration of Youth Party on Saturday 21st October 2023. The team will be purchasing the food soon, so we will need to know numbers. Please contact the Parish Office ASAP if you would like a ticket. Email parishoffice@ash-vale.org.uk of you can of course contact Karen P direct.
The raffle is looking very nice – we have had some lovely prizes donated by friends and neighbours, and Sally from the Co-Op community Pioneers has donated 2 bottles of wine Thank you Sally! Please bring some cash for the Raffle so we can raise lots of funds for the childrens society on the night.
The evening includes some wonderful dancing, a live Jazz band, food, fun and a disco. We can’t wait to welcome you! Doors open at 6:15 for a 6:30pm start. Food and soft drinks provided within the price of your ticket. (BYOB if you would like something stronger!)
You can pay for your tickets online here, or notify Karen and pay cash on the door:
This link takes you to our dedicated “give a little” page for the event. If you can’t make it, why not chip in a donation to help top up the total? All proceeds after costs will be going to The Childrens Society. Thank you for your support!
The local Food Parcels team would like to say a big Harvest Festival *THANK YOU* to everyone at St Mary’s church, and everyone who dropped off their wonderful food donations for the harvest collection there. This amazing generosity is what helps the project to keep going and enables us to keep helping families in need. These donations are a big blessing.
Thanks to Revd Neil Lambert, these lovely tins and packets, toiletries and treats have now been packed, collected and transported, and are now safely on the shelves at the #AshVillagesFoodParcelsProject and will go out in the food parcels in the next week or two. Thank you all so much for your support! It really matters, and every tin makes a difference.
