Desford Scarecrow Festival 2022
27 AUG AT 10:00 – 29 AUG AT 18:00
St Martin's Church Centre on Main Street in Desford is the central hub of the Festival. Maps & Guides are available from here which includes a full itinerary of what's on for the 3 days and childrens trail. These are £5 each and you only need one for the whole family
We are open from 10:00am - 6:00pm every day, Saturday to Monday.
Ukrainian Support
David and Heather Williams registered to host a Ukrainian Refugee/Guest back in May and after a long drawn-out process are now preparing to welcome their guest on Monday the 15th August. Their guest is a 33 year old women currently living in Lviv in Ukraine.
It would be nice if the members of St Martins could put together a welcome pack of toiletries for their guest, or alternatively to avoid duplication of toiletries, a financial gift to enable their guest to purchase toiletries or food that she may be more used to from a Ukrainian/eastern European supermarket in Leicester. Donated toiletry items could include…
Toothbrush / Toothpaste / Shampoo / Conditioner / Body Lotion / Hairbrush/comb / Face wash / Moisturiser / Cotton wool pads / Hand cream / Shower gel / Bubble bath / Deodorant
Donations could be brought to church on Sunday or delivered to Heather and David's house. 31 Parkstone Road. Thank you. David
Catrin Baptism
On Sunday 21st August at 12.30pm Catrin Tilley will be being baptised in St Maritn’s. Darren & Ceinwen would like to invite you all to attend the service. Please do come and join us as we celebrate the life and faith of Catrin.
Monday Night Prayers
Our Monday night prayers are back on, join us on Zoom at 7.30pm for 30mins whilst we pray for anyone and anything that’s on our hearts. Zoom log-in details below.
Confirmation Course
With our upcoming Deanery Confirmation service in September, we will be running a short three session course in preparation for this. If you are interested in confirmation, please get in touch with Gareth and you would be most welcome to attend these sessions. They will run at 5.30pm on Sundays location St Martin’s Church, on the following dates…
• Sun 14th August
• Sun 21st August
• Sun 4th September
Heritage Festival
We want to say a huge THANK YOU to everyone involved in the St Martins efforts for the recent Heritage Festival. Things were really busy and we sold many many burgers, hotdogs, cakes, meals, etc… The monies have all now been all been totted up and we can confirm that… The BBQ raised £2562.08 (after expenses) which will go to support the running of the Church Centre. St Martin’s Bistro Café raised £1927.95 (after expenses) which will go to support the life and mission of St Martin’s. Thank you again for everyone who support these initiatives, it’s fantastic!
Bible & Chat
What does the cross & resurrection of Christ really mean, why does it matter? Starting in September, at 7.30pm for five weeks (21st Sep to 19th October), we will be gathering to do this. We’ll be reading the book ‘God with us’ by Rowan Williams, and discussing some questions from this. It would be great if you could join us for this.
If you do want to come, please let Gareth know, you will need to buy the book ‘God with us’ by Rowan Williams, which costs under £10, if you are struggling to do this let Gareth know and we will work it out.
Ordinand at St Bart’s & St Martin’s
We are pleased to announce that from October we will be joined at St Bart’s & St Martin’s by Ralph Chamberlain & his family. Ralph will be doing his Ordinand training (to become a priest) with St Mellitus College, part of which is a contextual placement with ourselves. This will mean that on a weekly basis he will have approximately 1.5 days at college, 1.5 days with ourselves, and 3 days in work. He’s expected to be with us for 1-2 years, but this is still to be finalised. Ralph currently works in engineering & quality management, is Married to Rachel, with two children Elena & Joshua. Please do be praying for Ralph & the family as they enter this new phase in their life.
Then & Now Booklet
A booklet has been published on St.Martin's Church Desford,
'Then & Now' please follow the link (pdf) to take a look
Summer’s coming - Craft Group
With the summer holidays coming up just a reminder to say that during July & August there will be no craft group, but this will restart on 1st September.
St Martin’s - Our pattern of worship
We have now started our new pattern of worship as follows…
1st Sunday – 10.30am – Holy Communion
2nd Sunday – 4.00pm – All Age Worship Service
3rd Sunday – 10.30am – Holy Communion
4th Sunday – 4.00pm – Encounter Informal Worship
(5th Sundays will be 10.30am – Benefice Holy Communion)
We would like to strongly encourage you to come to all these services if you are able, enjoying those that suit your preferred style and supporting the wider church family at the other services.
Our midweek Book of Common Prayer Holy Communion service takes place every Wednesday at 8am, all welcome!
Confirmation & Baptism
On Sunday 25th September 2022 in the evening, our Benefice will be hosting the Bishop (Martyn or Saju, TBC) for a Deanery Confirmation service at St Martin’s Church. I’ve already had some enquiries from people who would like to be Confirmed and so we’re planning to organise a short preparation course for those who may wish to consider being Baptised or Confirmed. Baptism and Confirmation is a wonderful way of declaring your faith publicly and receiving the blessing and support of the wider church family in your Christian journey.
If you’re interested in this or would like to talk further, please speak to Gareth and he’d love to involve you. Depending upon who wants to be involved we will then find dates/times that work best for the group.
Join Our Facebook Page Here
St. Martin's Desford Facebook Page
https://www.facebook.com/groups/145136167480
Services Can Be Seen Online
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_B0Evb69xYeevGbVtX5tBA
We will continue to have online services on Sundays, these will be available by 5pm on the Sunday.
These will continue in September after our break in July and August.
Weekly Groups
Online Weekly Monday Night Prayers 7.30pm (20-30min)
This is a chance to come together to pray for our communities and for those further afield. Please do join Gareth and Rob as we gather to pray. This will be hosted on Zoom, which is a free videocall platform, so if you’ve not used Zoom before please do let Rob or Gareth know and they’ll be happy to offer some advice.
These are the login details…
Meeting ID: 881 9851 0430
Password: eveprayers
Coffee & Chat (Tuesday)
On Tuesdays from 10.30am to 12pm in St Martin’s Church Hall you are invited to come along to Coffee & Chat. This is an informal social group, open to anyone, just turn up and stay for as long as you like. Please bring a facemask.
Wednesdays at 8am – BCP Holy Communion service
Rainbows Toddler Group (Wednesday)
Calling all toddlers, on Wednesday mornings from 9.30am to 11.30am, we have fun, games, snacks & some songs in St Martin’s Church Hall. Do bring your parent or carer along and join in the fun. There is a charge of £2, but we think that’s a bargain, so do come along! Adults please bring a facemask.
Craft Group (Thursday)
The craft group is on Thursdays in St Martin’s Church. The group meets from 10am until 12pm for a chat and all sorts of crafts, just bring along a project you’d like to work on, we’d love to welcome you. Please bring a facemask
St Mart’s & St Bart’s KIDS ONLINE 
We will be doing a bi-weekly Kids Online service. As with our regular online service, this will be found on our YouTube channel
When? Every other week on Sunday…
What is it? a 10-minute, child-oriented service, with worship, story and activity
Please do spread the word and let us know what you think.
Users of St. Martin's Desford Church Hall 2022
Monday:
- Table Tennis – January – March 10.30am 11.30am, 7.00pm – 10.00pm
Tuesday:
- Coffee & Chat: weekly 10.30am – 12 noon
- Lunches: 2nd Tuesday in month 12.30 – 2.00pm
- Loving Hands: 4th Tuesday 1pm – 4pm
- Rainbows (5 – 7 year olds) 4.45pm – 5.45pm term time
- Brownies (7 – 10 year olds) 6pm – 7.30pm term time
- Guides (10 – 14 year olds) 7.30pm – 9pm term time
Wednesday:
- Rainbows (weekly Mums & Toddlers) 9.30am – 11.30am term time
- Living Sober 6pm
Thursday:
- Zumba 10am on 1st, 2nd & 4th Thursday
- Forget me Not, on the 3rd Thursday 10.30am
- Exercise Class 5.30 - 7pm
- Yoga 7.30pm on 1st, 2nd & 4th Thursday
- Desford Wine Circle on 3rd Thursday 7.30pm
Friday:
- Tai Chi 2-3pm
Saturday:
- Occasional bookings for parties etc
Important Notice, all material on St. Martin’s Website is Copyright © of St. Martin’s Church Desford and may not be used on other sites without express permission. If you would like to use any images then please email me so I can give you a high resolution copy.
P.Stokes (Website Editor)
Email: webmaster@stmartinsdesford.org.uk
www.stmartinsdesford.org.uk