Little Milton Church

   The Parish Church of St James, Little Milton

   The Rector: Victor L. Story     01844 279 498

 CHURCH CLEANING ROTA FOR SEPTEMBER

W/E 3rd September                             -              Mrs A. Hawkins/Mrs E Summers

W/E 10th September                          -              Mrs. M. Davies/Mrs S A Dennis

W/E 17th September                          -              Mrs L. Lovegrove/ Mrs C Coward

W/E 24th September                          -              Mrs A Jones/ Mrs S Holifield

W/E 1st October                                -              Mrs. G. Taylor/Mrs H Ridley

CHURCH FLOWER ROTA FOR SEPTEMBER

W/E 4th September                                             -              Teresa Quested   

W/E 11th September                                          -              Teresa Quested                   

W/E 18th September                                          -              Volunteers please

W/E 25th September                                          -              Harvest – all helpers please

If you have any produce or flowers to decorate the church for Harvest could you please contact me to arrange collection. All donations gratefully accepted.

Teresa Quested (278922)

BELL RINGING PRACTICE DURING SEPTEMBER

Tuesday 6th September                     -              7.30 pm to 9.00 pm

Sunday 11th September                 -              10.30am to 11.00 a.m.

Tuesday 13th September                   -              7.30 pm to 9.00 pm

Tuesday 20th September                   -              7.30 pm to 9.00 pm

Sunday 25th September                 -              4.30 p.m.to 5.00 p.m.

Tuesday 27th September                   -              7.30 pm to 9.00 pm                           

Raymond Fergusson 279150

GRASS CUTTING ROTA SEPTEMBER

W/E 3rd September                             -              Miles Swabey-Collison      

W/E 10th September                          -              Phil Jones

W/E 17th September                          -              Raymond Fergusson

W/E 24th September                          -              David Hawkins

W/E 27th September                          -              Dave Arnold

GREAT MILTON METHODIST CHURCH Minister: Revd. Adam Jackson Tel: 01865 714163

SUNDAY SERVICES IN SEPTEMBER

FROM THE RECTORY

HARVEST 2011.

Harvest Festival will be held on SUNDAY 25th September at 5.00 p.m. For those living in a country parish Harvest Festival has traditionally been an occasion when the whole community comes together to give thanks for God’s provision for us. Our fields with the crops growing and being harvested stand to remind us, that whoever we are, we depend on God’s creating hand for our life, health and well being-or salvation as the Bible puts it.  But it also reminds us of our need to cooperate with him to ensure that his gifts to us are used wisely and carefully for the benefit of all his creation. This can be capsulated in the symbol of the loaf of bread on the altar. God gives us the ingredients, but it’s up to us, with human hands, to produce the loaf.

But Harvest Thanksgiving should be wider than expressing our gratitude for food. We all can look back over say the last year when we have felt particularly, the hand of God strengthening us and leading us onward. Perhaps a relationship has flourished, or particular encouragement has come when we most needed it, something extraordinary has happened which has pointed us in a new direction. All these things and many others are gathered up together to be part of the Harvest.

Our age is one of consumerism and possessions. Look at the advertisements on our televisions and see! Harvest serves to challenge us, and point us to other values, eternal values, to strive for. Values such as sharing with others, caring for each other, giving of ourselves to each other. As we have a generous God, we similarly are called to be generous in all things. My experience of various cultures around the world is that those who have least give the most. The more we give of self, the richer we become in soul.

The other day someone passed the comment that the farmers need rain.  Later that day I saw the pictures from the drought- torn Horn of Africa.  Indeed, “the farmers do need rain” is a very challenging statement in many ways. It made me think, and perhaps it might you

Following on as part of the whole of our Harvest Celebrations will be our Harvest Supper in the Pine Lodge.  Details will be made known later in the month.

See you then in Church on the 25th September at 5.00 p.m., and Oh! Bring your friends and neighbours with you.

Victor 01844 279498

BENEFICE SERVICES FOR SEPTEMBER

AT THE START OF A NEW SCHOOL YEAR.

With the new school year about to start, there are among us families whose children will be setting off for their first day in Reception, or beginning a new class. It’s a big moment for them. It could be an exciting one, or a challenging one, or a daunting one-especially if we remember the world looks a different place if we are only 3 feet tall. There is another side to this altogether: the perspective of the teacher.

One haunting picture that lingers with me is the one of a parent taking their child to school on its first day and entrusting it to the teacher. That child is the most precious gift that that family has ever had. That picture defines the responsibility of a teacher.

We all want our children to go to the very best school, to the one that will be right for them and the evidence is there to say to us, that the two schools of our Benefice are excellent schools. On one occasion one parent used the word “fabulous”. Our Schools have so much on offer to enrich the curriculum, and to enable all children to develop their full potential in whatever direction that might lie. We are rightly proud of our schools which are at the heart of our communities, and they always seek opportunities to develop the links, and to be involved in the life of our villages.

But there is one thing at which I feel our schools excel, and to my mind it is a crucial element for any school, and that is there is a real mix of children for them to learn with and get to know. Without such a mix there’d be such a temptation to stick with all that was familiar and safe rather than risk stepping outside their comfort zone.

I am reminded of those occasions in the Gospels where the disciples would try to restrict access to Jesus. There was one instance when they even pushed children away. But Jesus would have none of it. His message was for everyone, and the disciples needed to find ways to include people, not exclude them. Learning together, learning from others-that’s what a good school, the best school, can do for our children, and our schools excel at that.

It sets an example for us all.

Victor Story.