We are looking for more volunteers to help deliver leaflets to people in the parish for Easter and Christmas.  There are several vacant areas covering between approximately 45 and 120 households each.

If you would like to volunteer or require further information, please contact Roy or Mary Sims on 01823 282030.

To all current volunteers, a very big thank you.

On Sunday 5th February we remember the 60 years since the accession of Queen Elizabeth 11 to the throne and give thanks for her long reign over us. We celebrate with BCP Choral Evensong and we are honoured to have Lady Gass and the Mayor with us.

We will be remembering particularly the following events: George V1 health declined during 1951, and Elizabeth was soon frequently standing in for him at public events. In October of that year, she toured Canada, and visited President Truman in Washington, D.C.; on the trip, her private secretary, Martin Charteris, carried a draft accession declaration for use if the King died while she was on tour. In early 1952, Elizabeth and Philip set out for a tour of Australia and New Zealand by way of Kenya.

On 6 February 1952, they had just returned to their Kenyan home, Sagana Lodge, after a night spent at Treetops Hotel, when word arrived of the death of Elizabeth's father. Philip broke the news to the new queen. Martin Charteris asked her to choose a regnal name; she chose to remain Elizabeth, "of course".

She was proclaimed queen throughout her realms, and the royal party hastily returned to the United Kingdom. She and the Duke of Edinburgh moved into Buckingham Palace.

With Elizabeth's accession it seemed likely that the royal house would bear her husband's name. Lord Mountbatten thought it would be the House of Mountbatten, as Elizabeth would typically have taken Philip's last name on marriage; however Elizabeth's grandmother Queen Mary and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill favoured the retention of the House of Windsor, and so Windsor it remained.

More people are signing up for 24 hours of prayer on 29th February.

Remember you only have to commit to one hour and you can do this at home.

It has been suggested by Tear Fund we eat a diet of porridge , beans and rice for the day - as this is the limited diet that most of the world‟s people live on. We will try to do this at the Vicarage - why not join us?

A refresher course for volunteers has been arranged to take into account new legislation and various other important issues relating to the coffee shop. There are two opportunities to attend this course. Saturday 18th February and Friday 24th February, both meetings commencing immediately after the closure of the coffee shop. We realise everyone is very busy but we would be really grateful if you could sign up on the form at the back of Church to one of these courses.

We have received some very good news this week.  

At Christmas time our appeal for Rebecca Laupula, the young girl who lives in Chianda, Lusaka, whose face was badly burnt when she was very small, had raised £2000 towards plastic surgery for her with Jane McClure raising a further £5500. This was enough to pay for her treatment though not sufficient to fund her living expenses in South Africa.

Here is the latest email received from Jane and you can see we are getting very close! This is very good news - we are beginning to believe this little girl will receive the treatment she deserves.

There are three pictures of Rebecca displayed at the back of Church for today only to remind us all of the task ahead.

Please keep praying - without your generosity, none of this would have happened.

The bell ringers have been given permission to start fund raising for a major overhaul of the bells in the tower.

This is necessary work and we hope to be able to fund it with grants.

The PCC have decided to turn the Priest’s chamber into a multipurpose room. For years it has been a junk store but a team of us, led by our caretaker Nik, cleared it out in the summer. The documents stored there were taken to Somerset Heritage Centre. Remedial work has now begun and then a church design team will begin to plan what is to happen. Clearly access is a problem - everyone is aware of this, but this should not stop us from making the room usable. A generous budget has been
donated by a Church member and we are very grateful.

I have been overwhelmed by the response to my request for used postage stamps for St. Margaret's Hospice. Thank you very much. I have been asked to 'Gift Aid' them as this will increase their value. This I have gladly done, so please keep them coming! Heather Walker

Simply cut them off your envelopes and let Heather have them via her pigeon hole at the back of Church.

A daytime course has just started at North Street Congregational Church - it is not too late to join.

Meetings are held from 2.30-4.30.

For more details ring 01823 326400 or email carringtonvc@btinternet.com

Have you had a look at the Mission Board recently? There are some facts listed about global poverty and we are inviting you to review the statements there and pin up those which you find most shocking. The idea is to focus on our 24 hours of prayer day on 29th February. That week we will be part of a prayer chain passing through the South West designed to alert us to the problems and to pray about what needs to be done. We hope you would want to be involved and book a time slot when you will spend an hour reflecting on praying against global poverty. Did you know that 11 billion dollars each year is spent on ice cream in Europe - it would take only an additional 6 billion dollars to provide a basic education for every child. Europe and the USA spend 17 billion dollars on pet food each year – an additional 9 billion dollars would provide clean water and sanitation for all. Total military spending in the world per year is 780 billion dollars. (Source: The State of Human Development - UN Report 2008)