Monday 12th December 2022

I hope you are well.
 
Thank you to everyone who helped to make last night’s Carol Service a success.  The choir sang beautifully, Jo’s solo was sublime, the musicians played with gusto, the readers all spoke clearly and with meaning and the technical team did us proud.  Particular thanks to James Harvey for all his hard work in arranging the music and putting everything together.  Thank you too to Ann Toley and her team for their hard work in managing the post-service refreshments, which were very welcome on a cold night! Although we were not able to livestream the morning service this week, the Carol service is available to watch here.
 
As you may know, Caroline and I both succumbed to Covid last week so have been out of action all weekend, and several others from our church community have also been unwell.  It was frustrating to watch from the side-lines, but we were so proud to see how everyone pulled together to make all the Sunday Services happen and enjoyed watching the livestream last night.  A huge thank you goes to Ruth Robinson who was left to carry the can at short notice but worked hard and managed exceedingly well – thank you Ruth.
 
Last week the heating engineer came and spent a day flushing through the Church underfloor heating and cleaning all the filters.  The Hall heating is fine.  Whilst our church heating works in ‘normal’ winter weather it really struggles in sub-zero temperatures, so this week has been a challenging test.  The engineer has been back today to make further adjustments and we have asked if there is anything else that can be done to improve things to help this winter.  In the longer term we may have to look at replacing the existing system (which would be very disruptive and expensive) or having some kind of supplementary heating.
 
Next Sunday (18th) we have our usual morning services at 9am and 10.30am and then gear up for Christmas itself.  A reminder that on Christmas Eve our 4.30pm service of Carols, Christingles and Nativity is a great opportunity to involve children by encouraging them to dress up as a character from the Christmas story.  This service is always a lot of fun, so do come and bring your friends.
 
Don’t forget we ask for donations at all our Christmas services to help those locally and in other parts of the world who need our financial support.  This year our gifts will be divided between the Ealing Churches Winter Night Shelter and Tear Fund – organisations who support homeless people in Ealing and across the world.  If you are going to be away over Christmas, you can still make a donation via our website here. 
 
Have a good week, keep warm and keep well.

With my love


Steve