Monday 12th February 2024

I hope you are well and if you and that those having a half term break have a good time.

Yesterday we thought about the Transfiguration of Jesus (Mark 9) and how we too can seek glimpses of God’s glory in our daily lives.  If you want to catch up you can listen again here.  Also, yesterday afternoon, a team from St Stephen’s were able to visit St David’s Care Home for a short service of hymns of praise – thank you for all who helped to bring some cheer to the residents, their families and the staff.

Lent begins this week on Ash Wednesday (14th) and we will have two opportunities to worship together at 10am and 8pm with services of Holy Communion.  At both services there will be a liturgy of repentance with the opportunity to be marked on your forehead with ash.
As always we have a Lent appeal to help those in particular need.  This year we are asking for donations the Amos Trust Gaza Appeal. We are also hoping to send 78 Real Easter Eggs (Fairtrade with the Easter Story in the box) to residents of The Marylebone – you can support us by donating £4 for an egg.  You can give to these appeals on our website here.

Next Sunday we are beginning a new Sunday morning sermon series to take us through Lent looking at different spiritual pathways - the ways we most naturally connect with God.  We all have unique spiritual temperaments and personalities and so tend to favour one or two pathways over the others.   We hope that during Lent we will feel great freedom and joy in using our spiritual pathway to connect with God and perhaps gain understanding of those who connect in different ways to ourselves.
 
Last week we had a great monthly Prayer Gathering with so many attending that we had to move to a bigger room.    At St Stephen’s we are fortunate to have lots of opportunities to pray together and to do so in different ways.  Every week we have 4 opportunities to pray together at 9am (Monday and Friday in Church, Tuesday and Thursday on Zoom – ask for the joining details).  These are short services (25mins max) of traditional liturgy and prayer.  Once a month we have a longer and informal Prayer Gathering in Church (8pm on the first Tuesday of each month) with a time of extended sung worship and prayer in different styles.   Why not commit to coming along to one of these times during Lent?

Have a good week.


Steve