2 – CANDLEMASS

10.30 a.m. Holy Communion

6 9.30 a.m. Holy Communion

9 – ASH WEDNESDAY

10.30 a.m. Holy Communion & Ashing ceremonies

13 9.30 a.m. Mattins

20 9.30 a.m. Holy Communion

9.30 a.m. Sunday School at Bethany Lodge

27 10.30 a.m. Holy Communion (NB)

Welcomers Coffee

6 Joyce Peace Jean Burkitt

13 Joan Conner

20 Barbara Burgess Di White

27 David Peace Joyce Peace

6 Mrs Y Burwell Mrs G Wastling

13 No flowers Mrs J Jackson & Mrs J Pallister

20 in Mrs J Jackson & Mrs J Pallister

27 Lent Mr & Mrs M Sellers

Wednesdays: Holy Communion at 10.30 a.m.

Coffee is served afterwards

Saturdays: Morning Prayer at 9.00 a.m. (8.15 on Feb 26)

Holy Communion: 8.45 a.m. on Feb 26

11.00 a.m. on Feb 5 & 19

6.30 p.m. on Feb 12

Evening Prayer at 6.00 p.m. on Feb 12 only

Deanery Synod meets on Tuesday February 1, 7.30 p.m., at Christ Church.

Ash Wednesday, February 9, marks the start of Lent, and there is a special service, with the traditional ashing ceremony, at 10.30.

Christingle: There will be a Christingle service for all ages at Kilham on Sunday February 13 at 5 p.m. (sorry for getting it wrong last month); all proceeds go to the Children’s Society, and it’s great fun! Come along!

Lambing Lunch: Come to a Lambing Lunch at Low Caythorpe on Tuesday February 15! Tickets are £7 each, from June Sellers on 420237.

I’ve been having a bit of fun with some statistics – and how about this one: In the 1990s, the average weight of Americans travelling by air increased by 10 lbs per person (!). As a result, airlines burned 350 million more gallons of fuel at a cost of $275 million.

The relevance? Over-eating is bad for the environment as well as for the person concerned. And yes, I know I’m no string bean myself; but this Lent, I aim to look not just at how my spiritual life is doing, but how my physical life is doing.

Lent starts on Ash Wednesday, February 9, so why not join me? If we overeat (or over-drink), we are making ourselves less healthy, and so there will potentially be an extra cost for healthcare, as well as the human cost if we die early from heart disease. So perhaps the old-fashioned idea that you give something up for Lent might not be quite as daft as some people seem to think it is in this materialistic generation. Here’s to less of me – on religious grounds!