My January letter was, of course, written before Christmas itself and before most of the Christmas services. It was good to see so many of you at All Saints’ and St Martin’s and I am delighted to let you know that we have sent £100 to the Children’s Society given at the Christingle Service and £350 to the Garden House Hospice given at the Christmas Eve service.

During January churches world-wide mark the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity and this year’s theme is That All may be Free. This reminds us that slavery still exists in many parts of the world and, although the Abolition of Slavery Act became law in 1833, situations of people living as slaves still occur in the UK today. This Week of Prayer challenges us to reflect on such injustices and the divisions they create and to pray that ways may be found to end them.

This year Easter Day is Sunday 1 April and Ash Wednesday, the start of Lent, is on 14 February. We will be holding Wednesday Soup Lunches again in 2018 between 12noon and 2pm beginning on 14 February in Whitwell Village Hall. It is Half-Term that week so do bring children along – there will be plenty of activities for them as well as soup etc. Subsequent lunches will be in local homes in Whitwell or Preston. The Soup Lunch on Wed 14 March will be held in Preston at Crunnells Green House the home of Hugh and Meta Reeves.

The Lent Course (Wednesdays 2-3pm) also begins on Ash Wednesday in the Village Hall and will take place in the same homes as the Soup lunches. We are basing our discussions this year on the book Lentwise by Paula Gooder.

The Hitchin churches are launching The Millers Café as a venue for anyone who has ‘been through the mill’ with life-changing conditions recently. The café is open at Walsworth Road Baptist Church twice a month on the 1st Monday 2-4pm and the 3rd Wednesday 10am-12noon. This is open to everyone in this parish too. If you want more information about this, please get in touch with me by email or phone.

As I wrote last month we are looking for a new Parish Office in Whitwell and we will let you know details as soon as we can. My email and telephone contact details are at the top of this letter.

With my prayers and good wishes to you all

Elizabeth