Christ Church, Longridge

At lunchtime today a white van drew up outside the church and collected 148 shoeboxes covered in attractive Christmas paper and full of presents for deprived children in Eastern Europe.  The two men who collected them were delighted to see so many as they had received very few at their previous collecting points and one church appeared to have got the wrong date altogether so their boxes will probably not make it for this Christmas.   Our boxes looked very good indeed even though we have not managed to do quite as many as last year.    Many people worked very hard during the year so that so much could be achieved.  Several ladies have knitted enormous numbers of hats and scarves.  The Monday Craft Group have contributed in many ways but especially in the rather tedious task of covering the boxes and many more people from both Christ Church and Fulwood URC and indeed from our neighbours round about have contributed a wide range of toys; toiletries; stationery and lots of other things as well as cash to cover transport.   It really is a ‘tour de force’ so thank you to everyone who helped.   Don’t forget to start saving your empty shoeboxes now so we can make a good start for next Christmas.

This year, as usual, the people of Christ Church are inviting church and community organisations to take part in a number of Advent and Christmas activities.  This year we are having a Christmas Tree Festival.

The church will provide a six foot Christmas Tree for each organisation which wants to take part and the organisation is asked to decorate it on a theme related to Christmas.  The theme is entirely the choice of the participating group but to get you started, here are a couple of ideas.  You could choose a Christmas Carol or song e.g. While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks By Night or The Twelve Days of Christmas and use as many items mentioned in the song as possible or you could use items related to Christmas all beginning with C (or any other letter) or anything else that connects with the Christmas Season or the Christmas Story.   We would love to see the trees decorated with hand- made decorations but this isn’t compulsory.      There are no prizes but over the |Christmas period the Church will be open for the community to view the trees and any donations made by those who come in will be given to the Salvation Army’s Food Bank in Preston to help feed local families in need.

If you would like your school, class or organisation to take part by decorating a tree, please contact Carol Spencer(see details below) before November 22^nd so that we can order the right number of trees.   We need to know the name of the organisation; the name of a contact person and an address; phone number or email address so that we can keep in touch.

The trees will need to be decorated between Friday December 2^nd and Saturday December 10^th.   We will be happy to arrange to have the church open and someone in attendance to help,  at a time that is convenient to you.   We are quite happy for large groups such as a school class or just a couple of representatives to be involved in decorating the trees.

To ‘book’ a tree  or to answer any queries you may have, please contact Carol Spencer at Christ Church, or 20 Market Place or on 01772 782829 or at carols@christchurchlongridge.org.uk.

We are looking forward to making this a real community activity suitable for all ages.

The times at which the church will be open for viewing the trees have not yet been finalised but we will let you know once these are available and refreshments will be available.

It has become a tradition at Christ Church to take part in the creation of ‘shoeboxes’ full of small presents for needy children and young people in eastern Europe.   This year we are launching the appeal at a service at 10.45 am on Sunday November 6^th when our minister will speak and show films about this work.  Rev. Helen visited Belarus last year and so has first- hand experience of what happens to the shoe boxes.  Gifts to be put in shoe boxes or complete shoe boxes or donations towards transport costs can be left at Christ Church any time after November 6^th.

Our other Christmas Services are as follows:-

On Wednesday December 14^th at 10.00 am there will be a service specially designed for pre- school children when most of the Christmas Trees should be on show. 

Sunday December 18th      10.45 a.m. Family Carol Service

Sunday Dec. 25^th  ( Christmas Day)     11.00 a.m.   Morning Worship  (come and show us one of your presents)

You are also invited to join us and all the other churches by the Old Station on Saturday December 17^th at 11.00 am for the Blessing of the  Crib.

Radio Lancashire is once again organising ‘Lancashire Sings Christmas’.   Come and sing Carols on the radio on December 22^nd.  Watch Out for details.

We look forward to seeing you over the Christmas Season and wish you a peaceful and blessed Christmas.

Last year the Monday Craft Group organised a successful Craft Fair.    This year we are planning to repeat the exercise.   The Church will be open from 10.00am to 4.00pm on Saturday November 5^th with stalls of hand crafted goods for sale.    Do you have a craft hobby?   Would you like to put the things you make on display or have an opportunity to sell some of your products?   There will be tables of different sizes available and must be booked in advance to facilitate organising the event.    If you would like a table or display area, please see Hazel Scott or John or Carol Spencer before October 10^th.    Stalls are free to the Craft Club members who will make a donation to church funds.   Anyone who is not a member of the Monday group will be charged a fee.  The tariff hasn’t yet been finalised but the fee will depend on the size of table (small round; small rectangular and large rectangular) and will be somewhere in the region of £5 to £10.  We are sorry we can only accept stalls which sell hand-crafted goods.  We hope to have another day when people who want to sell other kinds of goods in aid of charity can take part.  Watch out for further information. This could be an ideal opportunity to do some Christmas shopping or even get hand-crafted Christmas cards.  Light refreshments will be available for sale all day so come and start November on a bright note.

It seems no time since we closed for the summer but very soon we will be meeting again.  It was a lovely evening when we had planned a walk along the canal from Guy’s Court – some taking a short stroll by the canal, others walking much further and others sitting by the canal, enjoying the evening sun.  When all had returned it was time for supper which we all enjoyed.  Before we begin our next programme we have a Coffee evening on Sept. 5^th from 7.00 pm with refreshments; a Bring and Buy Stall; plus one or two guessing games.  Do come along and join us if you can.

Then on the following Monday Sept. 12^th our meetings begin at 7.30 pm when we may have a surprise speaker or someone we all know well.  The new programme will be available on Sept. 5^th.   All are welcome and I’m sure, when you see our programme, you will find something to interest you.

Olive

Olive has not been at all well in these last few months and so it is not surprising that after many years of indefatigable service to Christ Church and its predecessors (Longridge Congregational Church and Longridge United Reformed Church),  she needs to step down from most of her responsibilities.   Indeed we are extremely grateful that she has managed to continue for so long as she has certainly earned the right to an honourable retirement. Continue reading »