St Andrew's Church

The Reverend Jonathan Plows

Rectorwtv@gmail.com

01722 790616

St Andrew's Church Facebook Page

What's On at St Andrew's Church (StAC) 2023

Regular Church Services

These occur on the first Sunday of every month at 9.30am.

Special Church Service / Events / Celebrations

These include special services of worship, events and celebrations to bring new and old friends together at our Church, Village Hall or other venues.

30th November, St Andrew's Day Celebration, 6pm. StAC.
9th December, Christmas Tree decorating and crafts, 3pm. StAC.

Christmas is fast approaching and our yearly festive event is happening on Saturday 9th December at 3pm. As well as our usual fun we are very lucky this year that Father Christmas himself has made time in his busy schedule to pay us a visit in his cosy festive grotto, each child will recieve a small gift and a chance to get a photo.

Although this event is free please email Laura at laurablake20@icloud.com to book your children in as we need to know numbers for their free gift.

Raffle tickets and memory stars will be sold throughout the month round the village and also on the day. First lot of village visits will be this coming Saturday 18th, 2 members of the church events committee will be coming round the village, please let me know if you would like them to visit you to purchase memory stars and or raffle tickets.

17th December, Carol and Crib Service, 4pm. StAC.
25th December, Christmas Day Service, 9.30am. StAC.

If you would like to support our Church financially, please contact our Treasurer, Mrs Nikki Softley via email: nikki.softley@btinternet.com

Volunteering for Church Cleaning

I would like to say a big thank you to all the volunteers who help with cleaning at St. Andrews Church; it is very much appreciated and many hands make light work.

It has been decided to dispense with the cleaning rota and let everyone know the dates that cleaning will take place, so that, if you are available to help on those dates, you can just come along at 10:00am. The church will only need a dust, polish and de-cobweb and sweep once a month on the Saturday before our regular services, which are the first Sunday of each month:

4th March,
6th May,
3rd June,
5th August,
2nd September,
30th September,
2nd December.

A deeper clean will take place seasonally, once per quarter from 10:00am on the following dates:

Spring Clean - Sat 8th April 23.
Summer Spruce - Sat 1st July 23
Autumn Ablution - Sat 4th November 23
Winter Wash - First Sat in February 24

Refreshments will be available on all cleaning days.

Please make notes in your diaries accordingly.

If you would like more information about these events, please contact John Derryman via email: jrderryman@gmail.com or call 07703 629101.

Message from our Church Warden Mark Pountain:

Harvest Festival at St Andrew’s

A big 'thank you’ to all those who kindly gave fresh produce and other food items for those who may be struggling to feed themselves or their families sufficiently during these difficult times. We are delighted to announce that, as a result, we were able to hand over 55kg of foodstuff to The Trussell Trust, who were most grateful. They told us that they expect things to become all the more challenging over the winter.

During the Harvest Festival service, the congregation agreed that as St Andrew’s is now open during the day (there will be a sign before long showing when it is open), people could leave foodstuffs in church for the benefit of anyone in need (on the bench behind the font). We shall take these to The Trussell Trust from time to time, but these donations in church are also meant for anyone in need in our local communities to come and help themselves to some additional support.

Thank you.

St Andrew's Church Spring Clean - Thank you!

A sincere and heartfelt thank you to Mark and Karin Pountain, Tim Purchase, Steve Black, Laura Myers, Diane Blake, Theresa Jones, Jackie Stott, Maggie Metcalfe and Nikki Softley for all their hard work in cleaning our Church on Saturday 9th April. There were amazing home made cakes, fun and a brilliant renovation of St Andrews Church.

Mark, our Church Warden said “Wow! The whole place looks, smells and feels different and makes you want to be in that space. Thank you all very, very much for such a brilliant turn-out and for such sterling work. Humbled by such a great team effort - upwards and onwards St Andrew’s!”

We look forward to seeing you at the next event – Palm Sunday Easter Arts and Crafts!

Survey Update.

Thank you to everyone who has completed the recent survey about our community Church. We have had 44 responses, with lots of great ideas. Of the people that responded, 77% regard our Church as an important part of the character of the village. 48% said it holds special memories and community history. In addition to all of the wonderful religious events, 75% would like social events, such as coffee / cake / plant sales. 64% of respondents would like music events and 50% would like a Christmas Tree decorating social event. There is also strong interest in bell ringing, and if you would like to register your interest, our Rector, Reverend Jonathan Plows has asked that you contact him by email Rectorwtv@gmail.com or 01722 790616.

We asked if there was anything that put people off and / or prevents people visiting the church. The main challenges are parking and a lack of toilets. We are delighted to confirm that parking is now available at the Hospital and we are exploring options to provide toilet facilities.

Mark Pountain, Vice Chair of the Church Parish of Wylye and Till Valley and Church Warden of St Andrew’s Church said “I am hugely grateful to John Derryman for organising the survey, to everyone who has completed the survey, and also to everyone who attended the service and meeting at St Andrew's Church on 7th November. We had 20 people there, enjoyed refreshments together and shared ideas as to how we can support St Andrews and achieve the future that we all want. To ensure the financial security and continuation of our Church, we need ongoing support from across our community. The survey results and conversations being had give us hope that this is starting to happen. On behalf of Jonathan, Maggie, Mary and Rosemary, thank you, and we look forward to seeing you at our Services and fund raising events over the coming months.”