roots down walls down
Come and join us at St Mary’s for our Summer fair!
Saturday 23rd July, 12-3pm (Save the date in your diary now!)
St. Mary’s Church, Ash Vale, GU12 5JE
Prizes, Refreshments, Music, Competitions and much, much more
Free Entry
If you would like a stall please contact our wonderful Church Warden Martin who is organizing the event. You can contact him on mlindsay500@outlook.com or text our Project Manager with a message to pass on to him: 07730 609446.
We look forward to welcoming you!
Forest Kids is a new project in Ash that gives children and young people a chance to take part in bush-craft and nature activities in a woodland whilst learning about the Christian faith. Taking part in activities outside is proven to improve people’s mental and physical wellbeing and is also likely to cultivate an interest in and care for the natural environment.
The project comes from a long held dream to combine our love of the outdoors and Jesus. We really want to give other people, especially children a chance to explore both. So last summer we found a woodland near Ash and bought a house nearby and we’ve been working hard getting the woodland ready for people to enjoy.
Just before Easter, we were delighted to welcome some families from the Chapel and St Mary’s to come and join us for a picnic, Easter egg hunt, to hear the Easter story and build dens, not forgetting toasting marsh mallows and making s’mores around the fire.
At the end of April some of our lovely friends and family came and got really stuck in to clear some of the large amount of rhododendrons and tree stumps and to create the beginnings of an amazing natural play area.
Our aim is to have small groups of children from the local area coming to weekly sessions, including their families in some of the activities too, so we’re now looking for interested children and adults to come and get involved.
There’s all sorts of ways of being involved, from sending your children along to the regular weekly sessions when they start, to praying for us, supporting us financially, doing practical stuff in the woods to make it super great fun for the children on our Woodland Activity Days, to helping with the weekly sessions or transport.
If you’d like to find out more, come and have a look at our site or get involved in some way, please do get in touch – we’d love to meet you!
Sarah, Anne & Peter – The Forest Kids team.
To book on or for more details contact us on
07731 681963 or at facebook.com/forestkidsash/
Why not join us on 21 May for our Woodland Activity day 2-4pm?
Contact us to book: 07731 681 963
Parishioner letter—Rev neil
Easter 2022
The Cover Image this Easter is inspired by a new song “Come to the Table” by Matt Weeks which you can hear most Sunday’s at St Mary’s.
If you use social media, you may enjoy the ‘anniversaries’ that pop up every now and then, reminding you of what happened on this day in previous years. My timeline recently has been full of images from our early lockdown – our first Evensong in the carpark 2 years ago, ringing the bell, pancakes on the astroturf… It makes me realise that the last time we ‘did Easter’ the ‘normal’ way was 3 years ago! We had a few socially distanced people in church in 2021, but finally this year we are allowed to gather in greater numbers and celebrate with a shared feast.
Continue reading “Letter from The Vicarage – Easter 2022”You are warmly invited to join in with local Easter events at St Mary’s on Vale Rd, and at The Chapel on Wharf Rd.
Easter is our major festival of the year when we remember the death of Jesus and celebrate him rising from the dead.
Lent is the period before Easter when Christians remember the events leading up to and including the death of Jesus Christ. Last Sunday Neil spoke again about the opportunities to reflect together during Lent:
Continue reading “What’s on at St Mary’s & The Chapel this Easter 2022”Did you know? Ellen at the local Co-op in Ash Vale is fundraising for Cancer Research. She will be covering 5k this Summer, doing the Race 4 Life. if you’d like to contribute, its very easy to do. She has a collecting tin at the kiosk so people can pop their pennies in when they shop. Thank you for your support!
(ps – remember to show your Co-op card when you shop, to support local charities too!)
Revd Claire Holt invites you to Easter services at St Pauls on Poyle Rd.
Maundy Thursday:
Prayer stations 7am – 7pm
7pm re-enactment of last supper
Good Friday:
Exploring Easter 10am – short service, outside activities and egg hunt
2pm readings and hymns
Easter Day
5.30am sunrise
8am communion
10am family service with communion (after the service?)
StPaul’sChurchTongham
– a growing community of faith
Did you know? The Chapel will soon be welcoming a Thursday morning Yoga group run by Maria. Have a look, and why not book today?
I’m excited to be starting a new yoga class after Easter on Thursday mornings at 10am in The Chapel on Wharf Road. Do have a look at my website and let me know if you would like to join for a free trial class.
My classes are suitable for everyone, especially those managing back problems. The focus is on restoring strength and elasticity to the spine. No class is ever completely alike! So come a long to a few before you decide if this is the right class for you.
Maria
website: www.ameditationinmovementwithmaria.com
Did you know? Jono and Debi Retallick are two of our Artists in Residence at The Chapel in Ash Vale. As well as local community arts (remember the giant heart lantern at Love & Light?) their work reaches much further afield, both nationally and internationally.
This photo is of Jono working on the ‘Fields of EveryWhen’ project. Here is one of the many embroideries from the Royal school of Needlework, ready to be photographed and digitised to go on the 25m high balloon!.. See more at g-foew.art
Jono Retallick
Director
M+R
musson+retallick Limited
Civic Trust Award Winner 2017
Darc Award Finalist 2016/17/18/21
tel +447779169851
http://mussonretallick.com/
instagram @jonoretallickartist
For our Easter 2022 issue of The Parishioner we have a poem to share with you, on the theme of the passion. This was written by Joanna Pearson, a talented poet who is also a member of Chapel Poets. We have some news from the Chapel Poetry for you too.
Continue reading “Poets Corner”by Matt Weeks, Musician in Residence
Lecturers Geraldine Latty and Carey Luce from the London School of Theology (LST) brought some students to the studio at The Chapel to record a new song written by Geri, Carey and Matt Weeks called ‘Holy Spirit Will You Fall On Us’. It’s written in 4 parts for a choir to sing. Hopefully we’ll be trying it out at St Mary’s soon and see how it goes!
Continue reading “Chapel Music News”