The Week ahead…
| Date | Time | Event |
| Sun 25th | 08:00 | Holy Communion |
| 09:30 | Morning Praise | |
| Wed 28th | 10:15 | Coffee Morning, St Mark’s Room |
| 11:30 | Holy Communion | |
| Thu 29th | 13:30 | Care Home Communion Services |
| Fri 30th | 14:00 | Wedding service for Michael and Maria |
| Sun 1st | 08:00 | Holy Communion |
| 09:30 | Family Communion | |
| 18:00 | Evensong with Act of Healing |
Pray for…
In need of prayer: Mary and Ted, Kit, Michael, Jill and Brian, Rachel G, Tony, Caroline, Kevin, G, Alex, Paul, Maggie, Barrie, Ilse, Alexander, Bryan
Recently Deceased: Jean Meffen
Neighbourhood Prayers
Share together with us in prayer for the streets and those who live and work in and around Pennington throughout the week:
| 25 | Hightrees |
| 26 | Girl Guides |
| 27 | Our Strictly come Crafting group |
| 28 | The elderly |
| 29 | International Day against Nuclear Testing |
| 30 | Michael and Maria upon their wedding |
| 31 | The homeless |
Our Community Hall
The renovations to St. Mark’s Community hall have now started. From 22nd July the roof is being renovated and from 29th July the hall and toilets renovation will commence. This will include an accessible toilet and will create a more welcoming environment for the hall. The hall is now closed until 2nd September
Recycling Update
A big thank you to everyone for your splendid efforts in bringing in your recycling to our bins in the church porch. These support a variety of worthy schemes, as well as saving further damage to our environment. Thank you too to all our helpers who empty the bins and take the contents on to the distributors. If you’ve not seen our collections, do pause in the porch, and bring whatever you can.
Vandalism in the Churchyard
We have recently had reports that people have been trying to climb onto the church roof and there has also been damage to items in the churchyard – most recently the bird bath outside the St Mark’s Room. If you see anyone causing problems in the churchyard we ask that you do not approach people – but please always report the matter to the police by telephoning 101 as soon as possible.
Please look after yourself and do not take personal risks, if you are witnessing any events of antisocial behaviour in the church grounds.
Ride and Stride
A charity initiative towards historic churches through the UK, Ride and Stride is taking place on the 14th September – and St Mark’s are getting involved!
Sponsorship forms are available in church for those who want to walk or ride between neighbouring churches – finding out more about our unique church buildings that underpin communities. More details are available in church and within our latest edition of the Parish Magazine.
Metal watering cans
It has been suggested that due to the latest vandalism in the churchyard, we do away with the metal watering cans which almost certainly were used to smash the bird bath, and replace with plastic ones. If you have any at home surplus to requirements, they would be most welcome. The metal ones will, for the moment, be stored in the shed. Please let Ingrid, Churchyard Team or Church Wardens know.
School Uniform Swap Shop
For many in the UK, the prospect of buying a new school uniform for their children is a daunting prospect. At high cost and quickly too small for growing children, the school uniform can be an appreciable dent in the spending many families make. To help alleviate this need, local group Freeuse setup free popup shops, to help share pre-loved but no longer needed uniforms – and will be doing so from the St Mark’s room in St Marks Church on Tuesday 27th August from 11am to 1pm! Can you help on the day with donations of refreshments? Perhaps you can be on hand to help serve refreshments for the event? Or perhaps you can donate financially via their Just Giving campaign? Maybe you have old school uniforms from your own children, no longer needed: if you have donations of preloved school uniform, any age group, please donate them at the Musketeer! Please speak to Paul for further details – alternatively you can email ‘enquiries@penningtonchurch.uk’
Holidays at Home
On Thursday 29th the Cream Tea in the Garden is taking place at 43 South Street from 3pm. Please speak with Joy or Pat for any further details!
Missing Memorial Names – We Will Remember Them
Last year, it came to light that there are some names missing from the War Memorial in Pennington. We created a temporary plaque for last year, so that we could include their names within our Remembrance services.
We have now gone through the processes and are delighted to have received permission to add these names permanently to our grade II listed War Memorial. The next step to make this possible, is to raise the money to pay the stone mason to add the names. We need your help to make this happen, please give generously, so that we can include these five people permanently on our memorial in Pennington.
Please speak to Teresa or Maureen, if you would like to give a donation directly; alternatively you can donate online, via our Just Giving campaign page – justgiving.com/campaign/StMarksWarMemorial
Ecochurch
Our vegetable garden is producing amazing salad leaves and these are available at the back of church on Sundays, donations welcome. This forms part of our Ecochurch ways of living, with all profits to Basics Bank.