News

Christmas Day Lunch

Due to this very difficult time of restrictions due to the pandemic, unfortunately this year we are unable to hold our usual Christmas Day lunch at St Thomas’s.

Instead we are organising the delivery of a Christmas dinner to all those people who attended last year.

We have contacted everyone to arrange delivery, so on Christmas Eve, 24th December we will be distributing 68 meals, so that they have a meal ready to go into a microwave or oven to be enjoyed on Christmas Day.

We regret we cannot take any new names this year but hopefully we will be back to normal in 2021.

Today is the First Sunday of Advent 🕯 and we embark on the journey to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ on Christmas Day 🌟

Each Sunday of Advent we will be releasing a video with Advent reflections. Please turn your volume on to hear the accompanying hymn 🔊🎵

Thank you to everyone who dropped off filled shoeboxes this week for Operation Christmas Child UK. Also we are sending knitted hats, scarves 🧣 and gloves 🧤 for children around the world.

We will remember them… We take a few minutes of quiet reflection with our prayers of remembrance in this video…

St Thomas’s Church will be open between 10am and 12noon to receive pre-packed shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child UK on Tuesday 10th, Wednesday 11th and Thursday 12th November 2020.

These shoeboxes will be collected by Samaritan’s Purse for conveying to children around the world.

Access will be via Post Office Lane Car Park. Strict social distancing and hygiene measures will be in place.

For more information visit: https://www.samaritans-purse.org.uk/what-we-do/operation-christmas-child

The Leprosy Mission

For some years now, an annual donation of around £250 has been sent to The Leprosy Mission International from the tea / coffee money donated after morning services in St. Thomas’s. This donation has taken the form of “Gifts for Life” chosen by the children in Junior Church.

Despite not having been able to worship together in church since mid-March, there were sufficient funds for this practice to continue this year and the children were invited to choose the “Gifts” on-line. Two children responded and “reported back” at a recent Junior Church session on Zoom. “Gifts” to the value of £250 included 2 goats, 20 coconut trees, 2 chickens, school materials, medicine and food.

Many thanks to those children (and their parents) who co-operating with this project and to all who have donated to the tea / coffee fund to enable the church to continue to support The Leprosy Mission.

More information on the “Gifts for Life” can be found by visiting: https://www.tlmtrading.com/gifts-for-life

 

St Thomas’s Church has a long-standing affiliation and commitment to Operation Christmas Child UK (OCC).

Each year, the Junior Church fills tens of shoeboxes with gifts kindly donated and made by members and friends of church. These boxes of joy are then transported to all corners of the globe for children who, for them, a simple shoebox brings warmth and love.

Operation Christmas Child wants boys and girls around the world to know that God loves them and has not forgotten them during this time of fear and uncertainty. Children need great joy now more than ever.

Sadly, due to the pandemic, we will not be able to fill shoeboxes and send them in the usual way however we can all still support from home. There are two options; you can build a shoebox online or pack a traditional box and post to OCC.

By packing a shoebox online, OCC will pack a box for you based on gift selections you make. You can even include a note and photo to personalise your gift. Visit: https://shoeboxonline.samaritans-purse.org.uk/step/1 to start building your online shoebox.

Alternatively, you can pack a traditional box and post your shoebox gift to: Operation Christmas Child, Unit 1, Junction 2 Industrial Estate, Demuth Way, Oldbury, B69 4LT. You must still complete the online form where you can prepay and print off a tracking barcode: https://www.samaritans-purse.org.uk/what-we-do/follow-your-box-donation/.

Thank you for continuing to support, in a different way, our church outreach in sending shoeboxes of love and joy to children across the world.

 

Christian Aid Week 10 – 16 May 2020

In “normal” times, this would be a very busy time for the churches in Denbigh. Working together, through the Denbigh Christian Aid Committee, the house-to-house collection would be taking place, there would be a collection point in one of the supermarkets, coffee morning arranged, and, in St Thomas’s, we would have been holding the Songs of Praise Sankey Evening.

All of this work would have raised over £4,000 for the work of Christian Aid.

Other activities arranged during the year (Frugal Lunches, Pancake Evening, Puddings and Cuppa Evening) resulted in a total of nearly £7,800 being donated in 2019.

Activities arranged in communities across the UK last year raised £8 million, thanks to the work of 57,000 volunteers!

Due to the current lockdown, none of the normal Christian Aid Week actvities can take place, and that will have a huge impact on the ability of Christian Aid to respond to the need that is stll there, and is almost certainly greater, due to the effects of the virus.

If you would like more information on the wide range of work that Christian Aid is doing, visit https://www.christianaid.org.uk/our-work/what-we-do.

If you would like to donate to Christian Aid’s work via St Thomas’s, then please do so, if possible via online banking: the details you will need are:
Bank: HSBC Bank plc, Denbigh
Sort Code: 40-19-12
Account number: 10724521
Account name: ST. THOMAS PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, DENBIGH
Reference: Christian Aid Week Appeal

Thank you!
The St Thomas’ Christian Aid representatives
Rev Gareth H E Roberts, Barbara Crawford, Pat Squire, Richard Lake

We all know how much we love our socialising here at St Thomas’s – none more so during our tea, coffee and biscuits after Sunday morning worship.

As we cannot meet in person at the moment as we stay at home, it is so important we keep connected.

So go and get yourself a cuppa and enjoy catching up on what we have all been up to at home.

There are no prizes for guessing that a lot of painting and gardening have been done!

We are constantly trying to find ways to keep together as a church. From the weekly worship sheets, weekly Skype prayer services, videos and newsletters, it is showing that our church is alive even when the doors are shut temporarily. If you have any ideas and want to get in touch, please email us: stthomasdenbigh@gmail.com.

“This is my command—be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:9

Church Newsletter May 2020