If you would like to attend the Women's World Day of Prayer service at Stowupland URC please speak to Jean W, Sheila W, Mary P or Liz D as lifts can be arranged. It is always an enjoyable service - men and children are welcome as well as women! Each year the service is planned by women in a different country of the world. This year’s service has been planned by women in Cameroon.

The Mothering Sunday Memorial service will remember all those whose funeral has taken place in the Benefice in the last 2 years and any others whose names are added to the list. Please support the service and if there is anyone you would like remembered by name let Liz Varley or one of the churchwardens know.

On Palm Sunday there will be a procession to the church with donkeys, thanks to Richard and Avril Dance, starting from the Daisy Green Lane crossroads at 9.15am. The church will be open as usual from 9am for those who would prefer to go straight there and wait in the (relative!) warm for the walkers.

Please note all the extra services for Holy Week - all will be welcome at any or all of them.

All 'decorators' please note that you have Easter off - because Margaret will be decorating the church for Emily's wedding you will not need to think about doing the windowsills. Thank you.

lThere are Lent Groups meeting in the Benefice on Thursday mornings at the Rectory, Thursday evenings at Old Newton Church Institute and Friday evenings at Long Meadow, Broad Street, Cotton. Please see the pew sheets for details or ask a PCC member. You are welcome to attend any of them and join in the discussions.

The Healing Ministry is continuing once a month with the laying-on of hands and prayer for healing during a regular service. Those who wish can stay at, or return to, the communion rail when everyone has received communion, to take a turn to kneel & have hands laid on head & shoulders  while a prayer is said. There is no need to say anything or explain: the need could be personal or felt on behalf of someone else or for a world situation. Those who wish can return to the chancel after  the service to talk to a member of the ministiy team if they wish. Everyone in the congregation has a copy of the prayer being used so that they can join in and be supportive in prayer.

The Vestry meeting to elect churchwardens for the coming year, followed by the PCC AGM for reports on the PCC’s work in the last year and to elect PCC members for the coming year will take place in the Village Hall on Wednesday 28th April. Only those on the Electoral Roll are entitled to vote at the AGM, although all parishioners can vote at the election of churchwardens. If you are not on the Electoral Roll and would like your name to be added please contact Sheila Wright for a form asap. The Electoral Roll revision will end on March 21st.

We are hoping to be able to arrange a spring clean morning for the church but are waiting to see if we can soon get a date for the work on the vestry ceiling. It would be frustrating to do the cleaning and then find the builders will be making a lot of dusty mess soon afterwards, but it would be good if the task can be fitted in before the flower festival. Please let Jean W or Liz D know if you would be willing to help and which morning(s) are most convenient for you so that we have the opportunity to arrange it at short notice if necessary. Many thanks.

Will everyone PLEASE note that the church twin bins should be used just as our household ones - paper, card, plastic and metal suitable for recycling in the green bin, all other rubbish in the black bin. Please do not put non-recyclable items in the green bin. All organic matter - but ONLY organic matter - should be placed on the compost heap. Often plastic flowers, oasis, wreath bases and candle stubs are found on the compost heap - these things will not rot and should be put in the bin. THANK YOU.

Visitor Warning - St Andrews Church

Danger! Please be aware if you visit the church that the vestry is out of bounds to everyone at the moment. A problem has been developing at one side of the ceiling for a while. Oliver Richards and Ron Wright inspected it at close quarters from a scaffolding tower recently and Oliver considers the situation to be unsafe. At the time of writing we are waiting for the church architect to come and inspect and decide on a course of action. Until we know more, no-one is to go in to the vestry and there is a notice on the door as a reminder. Everything has been removed from there and put somewhere at the back of the church as a temporary measure.