CHURCH LIFE

    Sunday 30th January 2022

“Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you,” declares the Lord.”  Jeremiah 1.8

There is also a PDF version of this notice sheet, with additional graphics and full colour, which you may prefer for your own use or to pass on to friends and neighbours.

VIEW and DOWNLOAD HERE 

Flourish 2022

Saturday 12 March 2022 10am-4pm
Speaker – Clare Harrison
Theme – Deborah – ‘The Power of a Story’
Tickets – £12.50 (includes lunch, drinks and cakes)
Tickets and further information can be found at www.flourishladies.co.uk or by email to info@flourishladies.co.uk

Furness Network Youth Church
Weekend Away 

We are running a weekend away for young people from 4 March 2022 until 6 March 2022. For more details, please contact Ruth Hutchings at
youth@ulverstonparishchurch.org

Altar Flower Guild

A belated thank you to all who helped with the church decorations for Christmas, both physically and financially, it was much appreciated. We would love to have some younger and more able people (men or ladies) to help with the altar flowers as getting up the steps to the main altar is not so easy as it was! Three of have been involved now for over thirty years. It has been, and still is, a pleasure to quietly work with the flowers without interruptions. Please think about joining us. You don’t have to be a great flower arranger, we all have our own styles and ideas as those of you who go to the Flower Club meetings will know. Please think about it and contact me on 583727. I am usually at the 8.30 am service or St. John’s on the 2nd and 4th Sundays. Flowers are paid for by members of the congregation, usually in memory of a loved one or an anniversary. Thank you.

Margaret Taylor

Using Church Suite – Top Tips
Organising a rota swap

If you are scheduled to serve on a date that you can no longer do, you can arrange a swap with another person on Church Suite.
Please see below for a step-by-step guide. 

1. Log in to Church Suite
2. Go to ‘My Rotas’ (which has a star next to it on the left-hand side of the screen);
3. Go to the date/event/service which you are serving at and for which you want to organise a swap.
4. Click on the three dots next to your name.
5. Click ‘Organise Swap’.
6. Select the person you are swapping with and the return date that you are covering in their place. If applicable select ‘Return Swap’.
7. Click ‘Save Changes’.

 The system will send an email to you, the person you have swapped with and the person(s) coordinating the rota. The rota will be
updated to reflect the swap.
Please note that when rota members are recording a rota swap or signing up to dates on a rota, they are prevented from processing
the change if it will result in a rota clash for another rota member.

Parish Priorities

At the January meeting of the PCC, we agreed three key priorities for the church in 2022:
1) Welcome children and young people into the church family,
2) Combat the causes and effects of climate change, and
3) Reshape our buildings for mission. Over the next few weeks, these priorities will feature in Church Life so that you can have the opportunity to support them.
This week, we are sharing priority 1, to welcome children and young people into the church family. The associated objectives are:

• The church family recognises the imperative to bring younger people and families* into the church;
• We have seen a measured +10% increase in numbers in each of our ‘levels of engagement’ – toddlers, children, young people, young families;
• We have re-established 3 children’s / youth groups on a Sunday morning;
• We have a team of 4 volunteers and growing for each Sunday children/youth group;
• Training for children / youth volunteers has been provided;
• We have champions for children from the congregation; and
• We are ready to take on 2 Interns in Sept 2022.

* young families are those with school age children.

“Hello” from ‘Kim’s Corner’!

I realise that giving myself nearly half of the newsletter and calling it a ‘corner’ is very self-indulgent, but this week’s topic is very important; I need to rehome two plants because, to cut a long story short, I kill plants.

It all started with Stephan the Stephanotis Floribunda. My Mother sent him to me for Easter (I would have preferred an egg). He had white flowers and was very demanding; ‘not too much water or sunlight’. Stephan and I parted ways when all that was left of him were a few twigs and a plastic arch holding him in place. The post-mortem was inconclusive.

Then came the Secret Santa Succulent. Also known as an unkillable plant. The Succulent had four stems, required watering once a month and didn’t like direct sunlight. Within three months, two stems had wizened up. The Succulent still lives, but resides in Leeds as my Mother thought it was ‘for the best’.

The Succulent was followed by Olive the Orchid. Olive was a gift from a friend and I was told ‘not to water’ her. I was advised to ‘mist’ her instead (very high-maintenance if I do say so myself). Olive and I enjoyed some time together and even managed a two-hour road trip when I moved back to Leeds in 2020. My Mother took custody of Olive and the last time I saw her, she was next to the fireplace in the lounge.

Shortly after moving back to Ulverston, my Mother then gave me Geraldine the Geranium. My Mother (with clearly a very short memory) assured me that Geraldine would be low maintenance and that I ‘could handle it’. Geraldine has pink flowers, sits on my window shelf and gets watered twice a month. I don’t know how much longer she is going to last but a friend popped over this week and said she clearly needed a bigger pot. Not promising.

To add to this ongoing saga, a friend of mine stayed last weekend and brought me a ‘house warming plant’; another orchid, Olivia. Olivia is still in her plastic packaging and she’s sat next to Geraldine. I’ve heard them plotting against me. I haven’t misted Olivia yet because I only have Dettol kitchen cleaner spray and even I know that Olivia doesn’t need to be 99.9% free of bacteria.

So, there we have it, I’m Kim, ‘Killer of Plants’ and I write this piece for two reasons: 1) I wondered if anyone would like to adopt Geraldine or Olivia? and 2) I implore you, if you were thinking about buying me a plant, please do not. Similarly, if you hear that anyone is thinking about buying me a plant, please emphatically discourage them from doing so.

P.S – Pictures of Geraldine and Olivia are available on request.

FACEBOOK GROUPS you might find useful

‘Ulverston Parish Church’
‘UPC – Church Family’
‘Faith 4 Furness Families’
‘Self Isolation Ulverston’

STAY CONNECTED, APART

We would love to hear from you!
Send your news, encouragements, prayers or pictures to office@ulverstonparishchurch.org