Messy Church! As a church we are in contact with nearly 50 families with young children. Due to Covid-19, we have had to curtail our activities with families, including Diddy Disciples and Toddler Church, and with restricted numbers on Sundays many families have not yet felt able to return to church. We would love to offer more for these families, and we are hoping to set up a monthly ‘Messy Church’ service on a Sunday afternoon. Messy Church is for all ages, based on creativity, hospitality and celebration, and there is treasure in it for everyone. Are you willing to offer your energy and gifts to make this happen? We need a group of people able to set up the room and tidy away, run or help prepare a craft activity, help with refreshments (when permitted). It is only once a month, and we promise you will enjoy it! Please let Revd Gill know if you are willing to help.
The Gander. Paper copies are available in the church on request. The next issue will be published in July.
Goose Green Coffee Morning will meet via Zoom on Wednesday 30 June as we welcome John Birkett of the RSPB Croydon Local Group who will be giving a talk titled ‘What is Happening to Our Birds’. This promises to be a very interesting talk based around the Croydon Group’s local bird surveys over 25 years.
St John’s 2021 Organ Recital Series
Admission free; retiring collection. Recitals begin at 11am and last forty minutes.
19 June Marcus Wibberley (South London)
10 July Bridget West (South London)
18 September Michael Overbury (Newark, Nottinghamshire)
9 October Michel Szostak (Poland)
6 November Paul Gobey (Rotherhithe)
The Woodland Trust. Thank you to all of you who have given to the Woodland Trust memorial fund for the Revd Deepthi Wickremasinghe. You have donated £1,215, even more with gift aid. The fund will be closed in three weeks’ time on Sunday 20 June, so this is your last chance to make a donation if you have not already.
Tea and cakes to welcome Gemma. On Sunday 27 June, we will be having tea/coffee and cakes outside to welcome Gemma Birt who will be serving her curacy here at St John’s. Please put this date in your diary and try to stay for a while. We will need help to set up tables and chairs before the 10am Mass on 27 June and to tidy up afterwards. Please could you let Julie or Jim know if you are able to help with this. We’ll need a few donations of cakes – again, if you would like to bake for this, could you please let us know in advance. Thank you.
Choir. We are all hoping that, before too long, the Choir will be permitted to sing in larger numbers. New members to the Adult Choir will be welcome; it is necessary to be able to read music. It would be good to have two or three more tenors and sopranos. Please let John know if you are interested and ask for more information.
Psalms, Singing and Sandwiches: St John’s will be hosting a workshop day on the singing of psalms on 2 October. This will be a really interesting day studying psalms and the variety of ways they can be sung. We hope members of the congregation may like to come to this event and it would also be helpful to have some volunteers to help with welcoming participants, serving refreshments, etc. Please contact John Webber or Sue O’Neill if you would like to know more.