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Christmas in Chandler’s Ford 2017

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This morning I attended the church service at the Chandler’s Ford Methodist Church.

The service was led by Rev Dr Howard Mellor. He is a great speaker and his speech was full of humour. He started off showing a blue and white t-shirt representing Huddersfield Town, as he told us he watched the match yesterday and he showed his support for the blue and white team!

I don’t know anything about football, but his introduction using football seemed very well received. [Read more…] about Christmas in Chandler’s Ford 2017

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Christmas – What’s So Special?

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I was walking along Park Road in Chandler’s Ford earlier in November and overheard a conversation between a mother and her son she’d just picked up from school. The mother told the son that they would put up their Christmas tree that evening. It was another example for me – along with the constant Christmas TV adverts, the endless playing of Christmas music and the Christmas goods in the shops and the Christmas decorations that are pretty much everywhere – that the Christmas festivities seem to start earlier and earlier each year! [Read more…] about Christmas – What’s So Special?

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Highlights of Fairtrade Fashion Show at St. Martin in the Wood Church: May 2017

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I attended the Fairtrade Fashion Show last Friday at St. Martin in the Wood Church in Hiltingbury. It was a fun and relaxed fashion show, with lots of Fairtrade items for sale.

Fairtrade Fashion Show was organised by local fairtraders, Tricia Urquhart, and Heather Dibb (minus one arm). [Read more…] about Highlights of Fairtrade Fashion Show at St. Martin in the Wood Church: May 2017

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Easter Message 2017 by Reverend Christine Whitehead

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In a few days Christians all over the world will celebrate Easter. Already the shops are full of a variety of Easter cards, many of which are decorated with beautiful pictures of eggs, bunnies, churches and spring flowers. I offer you instead this lovely photograph of St Martin in the Woods with its lovely Daffodils in the church garden. [Read more…] about Easter Message 2017 by Reverend Christine Whitehead

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Review: Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols at St. Boniface Church 2016

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I attended the Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols in St. Boniface (CofE) Church this evening. The church was packed. Superbly directed by Dr. Hugh Benham, the carol service certainly defines Christmas musically for Chandler’s Ford.

(If you missed the carol service this year, try not to miss it next year. Trust me, you won’t regret it.) [Read more…] about Review: Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols at St. Boniface Church 2016

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Some Christmas Thoughts

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So, as the old saying goes, “Christmas is upon us and the goose is getting fat” and, to stay in Dickensian vogue, “Bah, Humbug!” Sorry, but I had to get that off my chest! Seriously, I do find Christmas hugely stressful and have often wished that it would simply go away.

As a Clergyman I find that it is a time of high workload, with many additional pressures (as is also the case for so many in the retail trades). [Read more…] about Some Christmas Thoughts

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Advent Sunday at St Boniface Church: Sunday 27 November 2016

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At 6.30 pm on Sunday 27 November 2016, St. Boniface Church Choir will be leading a special service of music and readings for Advent Sunday.

Advent Sunday is the first Sunday in the church’s year, and the beginning of the lead-up to Christmas. [Read more…] about Advent Sunday at St Boniface Church: Sunday 27 November 2016

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Buddhist Rituals

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Sri Lanka reveals itself more interesting the longer one stays here. We are back here in Kandy to study snake bites and Brenda is teaching and working to improve the library at a poor school.

I decided to research some of the improvements in the country since Independence in 1948 and got involved with some historians. The idea is to link events around the first road ever built in Sri Lanka, their A1 from Colombo to Kandy. Near the start of the road is the temple of Kelaniya. [Read more…] about Buddhist Rituals

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Remembrance and Thanksgiving

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November is a month of remembrance.

Remembrance services will be taking place throughout the Borough of Eastleigh on Sunday 13 November 2016.

The Royal British Legion calls on the nation to unite in commemorating Remembrance Sunday at the 2016 Cenotaph Service and Parade in Whitehall on 13 November.
[Read more…] about Remembrance and Thanksgiving

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Mission Impossible Accomplished

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I have a note in my diary for Thursday 5th May 2016 indicating that is Ascension Day.

This day easily goes without noticing, in fact many diaries don’t even recall it. It’s not one of those major events in the Christian calendar like Christmas or Easter, however it is worth just considering what this day signifies.

Let’s just go back a couple of thousand years. [Read more…] about Mission Impossible Accomplished

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Easter 2016: Family and Chocolate

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Last year I shared my Easter with you. I’m going to share my day with you again.

I’m having a nasty cold so it was a struggle in the morning. I missed the church today, but my neighbours later told me the Parish church was packed.

Who said Christianity is on the wane? I never believe it.

At Chandler’s ford Methodist Church, the Easter breakfast was prepared by the men this morning. [Read more…] about Easter 2016: Family and Chocolate

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Easter Message 2016

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You know what it’s like, a bank holiday weekend’s coming up, so how are you going to amuse yourself?

Are you into conspiracy theories?

Maybe you like a thriller, action, international intrigue, even a little of the supernatural.

Easter has it all! [Read more…] about Easter Message 2016

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Easter at the Parish Church of Chandler’s Ford

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The Passion of Christ: Sunday 20 March (Palm Sunday) 2016 at 6.30pm – a selection of readings, hymns, and anthems sung by St. Boniface Choir.

Easter Praise: Sunday 27 March (Easter Day) 2016 at 6.30pm – readings, hymns and an anthem for Easter Sunday evening. [Read more…] about Easter at the Parish Church of Chandler’s Ford

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Christmas Unwrapped – Christmas Message from Churches Together in Chandler’s Ford

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“She wrapped him in strips of cloth and laid him in a manger.” Luke 2 v 7

Last year, for the first time in nearly 25 years, we did not have the joy of watching a family dog open his Christmas present.

Our retrievers were clumsy animals, but [Read more…] about Christmas Unwrapped – Christmas Message from Churches Together in Chandler’s Ford

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The Nine Lessons and Carols Service at St. Boniface Church: Sunday 20 December 2015

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A warm welcome to everyone to the Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols in St. Boniface (CofE) Church in Hursley Road on Sunday 20 December at 6.30pm.

The service is designed to last about an hour, and includes most of the best-known carols for the congregation and choir to sing, plus five short pieces for choir only, and the traditional Christmas readings. [Read more…] about The Nine Lessons and Carols Service at St. Boniface Church: Sunday 20 December 2015

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Chandler’s Ford Slum Survivors

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Over 1 billion people live in extreme poverty every day. Whether that be in a slum, mud hut or on the streets, it is a situation we are not exposed to or have imminent threat of in our society. But in the scriptures God calls us as a church to continually love, serve and help the poor.

As a youth group we have been involved with Friends of St Anne’s Liuli Hospital in Tanzania, helping [Read more…] about Chandler’s Ford Slum Survivors

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A New Piano Sonata by Hugh Benham

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A new Piano Sonata by Hugh Benham, Director of Music at St. Boniface Church of England Church, Chandler’s Ford, was recently performed in a concert at St John the Baptist’s Church, Wimbledon by the pianist Michael Higgins. [Read more…] about A New Piano Sonata by Hugh Benham

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Show You Care – Chandler’s Ford Fairtrade Autumn Market

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Councillor Louise Bloom from Hedge End recently visited Chandler’s Ford promoting Fairtrade.

Eastleigh is now officially a Fairtrade Borough, a status achieved on 7th May 2015. Councillor Louise Bloom, a strong Fairtrade promoter, said she hopes more companies would support Fairtrade in the Borough of Eastleigh. [Read more…] about Show You Care – Chandler’s Ford Fairtrade Autumn Market

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