Reaching out with love
Huge thanks to the many people in our parish who responded to our appeal for facecloths, road, toothpaste and toothbrushes to make up Christmas Toiletries Packs for vulnerable women in the Villa Liza part of our parish. Thanks to you generous response we were able to make up 54 packs and we even managed to include a Jar of Hope for each person, too.
As ever, it was a massive help to us to have assistance from our friend Ursula Scholtz who came to collect the packs and expertly arranged for the distribution. Thank you Ursula!
As you can see from the photographs we received, the packs were well received.
Fourth Sunday of Advent
All three of our congregations were busy getting ready for Christmas on Sunday 18th December.
At St Gabriel’s and St Michael’s there were trees to decorate whilst at St Raphael’s young and old prepared hearts and minds by engaging with the Christmas story in Godly Play.
Candles, Carols & Wors Rolls
A splendid combination which all added up to a lot of fun and enjoyment for those who attended our Carols by Candlelight event at St Raphael’s on Saturday 10th December.
News from our Link Parish in Wales
We were very pleased to receive these photographs from St Basil’s Church in Bassaleg (one of the team of churches in the Tredegar Park Ministry Team). The Church held a Christmas Tree Festival. This is a recent development for a number of churches in the UK in the Advent period before Christmas. Local businesses, schools and other organisations are invited to decorate their own tree in the church building and local people then come to view the display. Of course there’s enjoyment of a cuppa and cake along the way as well as entertainment by local school choirs and so on. It is proving a popular event drawing people from the local community into the church building who might not normally cross the threshold.
So, an enjoyable, fundraising activity which also reaches out with the Christmas message.
Fr Christ Stone writes: A few photos from our Christmas tree festival. Bishop Cherry came and officially opened it. We had 3 local schools singing and a full church last night.
APB celebrates Michaelmas
The Feast of St Michael and All Angels is traditionally celebrated each year on 29th September. These days we keep the feast on the nearest Sunday. So, last Sunday, 2nd October, was our Parish’s chance to keep the feast commonly referred to as Michaelmas – or the Mass of St Michael.
All three of our worship centres are dedicated to Archangels: Michael, Gabriel and Raphael.
St Gabriel’s celebrated early in the morning with Mass and Breakfast.
St Michael’s celebrated with a High Mass – but no tea as load shedding hit just as the service was closing!
St Raphael’s enjoyed a family mass and posed for the camera to mark the occasion!
West Doors at St Michael’s
Recent damage at the Parish Church has meant that the west doors have had to be removed for restoration.
The 100 year old doors will need to be completely dismantled before they are thoroughly cleaned and reassembled prior to sealing and rehanging.
The timber used when the doors were crafted is English oak that is well over a century old. Replacement timber from the same geographic region is being sourced for beadings to be remoulded where necessary.
We share here pictures which follow the progress of the work to the completion of the refurbishment.
Lambeth Conference 2022
For over 100 years Bishops from the Anglican Church around the world have been invited every ten years to join the Archbishop of Canterbury in conference. Initially this took place at the ancient ‘London home’ of the Archbishop at Lambeth Palace and this gave the conference its name.
These days the conference is held in the mediaeval city of Canterbury.
The most recent conference was held in August 2022 and the delegates were able to visit the original home of the conference – Lambeth Palace – for a day to consider the environment and appropriate action and theology to respond to the challenge of Climate change.
You can watch a video of highlights of the day by clicking the button.
Jars of Hope
Anglican Parish of Boksburg again made Jars of Hope this winter. Many of our parishioners collected empty 200g coffee jars and ingredients such as soup powder, stock cubes, rice, pasta, soup mix and lentils. These were assembled by a team at St Gabriel’s Church. This year over 200 jars were made to be distributed to homeless and vulnerable persons to enable them to create a hot nourishing family meal.
On 29th July representative of Council delivered the jars to Boksburg NK Differentia church in Boksburg North. Differentia offer a meal each Friday evening to those in need but that Friday was different and made a difference! As a surprise, all those attending received a blanket, food and toiletries pack and, this year… a Jar of Hope with the love and prayers of the APofB. It was an honour for us to share in the evening and to partner with our ecumenical friends to make Christ known to those in need by making a practical difference in their lives.
The Big Walk 2022
The Big Walk returned to APofB’s programme this year as the restrictions and concerns around Covid-safety began to ease. Almost 100 people attended the event held on Women’s Day, 9th August at St Gabriel’s in Boksburg North. The APofB Mothers’ Union were present reminding everyone of the importance to be aware of the damage to so many people that can result from GBV – Gender Based Violence. Energetic sorts took the streets clocking up the laps with the strong exceeding 25 turns around the block – and receiving a certificate to prove the point! For the less energetic there was a tea garden and fresh boerewors rolls and cold refreshments to enjoy. A parish book stall offering a wide selection of books as well as the Rector’s homemade marmalade was a keen attraction as well as other stallholders offering crafts, home-baked goodies, sweets and knitted goods. There was a very special vibe to the day with everyone feeling it was good to be out and about attending a parish family function after such a long time in lockdown. Oh what stories we had to catch up on as met each other after so long… including those who had used the lockdown to ‘embrace their grey’!
Needless to say: there’s already talk of the Big Walk appearing in next year’s calendar as well as exciting events to finish the year off and begin 2023.