All Saints’ Church Gift Day and Celebration Service
All Saints’ Church is holding a ‘Gift and Open Morning’ on Saturday 29th October, between 10am-1pm when the church will be open for visitors to make donations, make suggestions or just come and explore our beautiful building. Do drop in for refreshments; we will have bacon sandwiches on offer, along with coffee and cake! There will also be stalls as in previous years. It’s an opportunity to meet those who currently care for and work to improve your church and its local surroundings. It will be really good to see you and we would also love to hear your suggestions on how we might serve the village in new ways in the future.
Following our Gift Day, everyone is warmly invited to our All Saint’s Celebration service the following morning at 10.30am.
Dear Friends,
All Saints’ church has been at the heart of Haslingfield for over 650 years. It stands proudly in the centre of our village as a beacon of God’s love and light, reminding us of all the people who have worshiped in it and cared for it over the centuries. It is a beautiful building that is open daily for anyone who may want a peaceful space to sit and think, or pray.
The church community at All Saints’ strives to be a living church, serving the village through weekly and festival services, christenings, weddings and funerals, close links with our village school, and concerts amongst other things.
What we’ve been up to
Over the last year you might have enjoyed tea and cake with us as we celebrated the Queen’s birthday celebrations in Juno, or a burger, browsing the bookstalls and a spot of teddy-bear parachuting at the church fete in September. Perhaps you have enjoyed a cup of tea and a slice of cake at one of our monthly coffee mornings, donated food to the East Anglia Children’s Hospice at our Harvest celebration, or attended our Remembrance Sunday service.
You might have joined in our Christmas celebrations, including the Christingle Service on Christmas Eve, the DIY Nativity followed by the tea party, or the Village Carol service where we joined with other Christians in the community, as we do at Harvest. Most recently you might have danced at the Ceilidh in support of Little Owls.
We have been busy looking after the church building, with new seating arriving last year and extensive work on the church roof this autumn. We are working too on improving the lighting, heating and flooring in the main body of the church. The entire inside of the church desperately needs complete redecoration – we are planning for that too.
We have also been busy making our church a happy and welcoming place for families of all ages – a new dedicated creche has been created for under-3s, while our Little Saints (aged 3-7) and Super Saints (7-11) groups provide space for our young people to meet together, play, learn and have fun.
Open to everyone
The church is here for everyone: those on the church’s membership list (electoral roll), those who are in sympathy with the church’s work, and those who want to help maintain our historic building.
Can you help?
Thank you for your generous financial support and good will in the past to All Saints’. Giving by the church congregation provides around £1950 month. But the cost of running All Saints’ is in the region of £2568 month. This is simply the running costs and does not take in account the money needed to ensure any further work that will be necessary on our building in the future. In spite of generous giving towards the current work on the Nave roof we will still require a further £10,000 to finish the project. Making up the difference depends largely on the generosity of the people of Haslingfield, either at fundraising events or with direct donations. This could be a single or regular donation enhanced by Gift Aid, but in whatever way you choose to give – even in giving your time – we value tremendously the support of those in the village. Please can you help? If you can, please give your gift directly to the wardens at the Gift and Open Morning on the 29th October or to our treasurer David Gale at 1a Lilac Close. Your support is invaluable, and greatly appreciated.
Thank you for sharing with us in enabling the church to make its contribution to the village’s life.
For any further information or enquiries, please contact:
Rev’d Rebecca Gilbert, The Vicarage, Broad Lane, Haslingfield (01223 817805)
Churchwardens: Neil Staples (Badcock Road), Jenny Gore (Barton Road) Treasurer: David Gale (Lilac Close) www.allsaintschurchhaslingfield.org