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What are the big questions that are being asked in households or ‘bubbles’ up and down our country?

How are we going to celebrate Christmas this year?

How are we able to enjoy Christmas whilst staying safe and protecting our vulnerable loved ones?

How are we able to mix households whilst ensuring that we don’t become ‘spreaders’ of the Covid 19 virus?

This year, there were fears that Christmas would be ‘banned’, and although regulations are not as extreme as many feared, we have been advised that “Christmas is the season to be jolly … careful!” However, over the years this season has been ‘celebrated’ in many different ways.

It wasn’t until the 4th century when Pope Julius, during the reign of Emperor Constantine, declared that 25th December was to be first recognised as the day to celebrate the birth of Jesus. Pope Julius held a simple Communion service. From that small beginning, it took several centuries before the festival of Christmas was universally embraced in Christian countries.

But, as we have heard a lot about recently, it was a faction of Christianity, the Puritans in the 17th century under Oliver Cromwell who first ‘banned’ Christmas, or at least tried to curtail the revelry that accompanied the Christian festival in Britain. This was followed up by Puritans in America when between 1659 and 1681 you could be fined for eating so much as a mince pie!

Since that time not even the horrors of the trenches during WW1 or hostilities of war in WW2 could stop a time of peace and goodwill spontaneously breaking out on the frontline and leading to stories of exchange of gifts and football matches between opposition troops.
Until 2020, and the threat of the spread of Covid 19 through mixing of households and unregulated gatherings of people in confined spaces. However not even a global pandemic – though it has brought about fear, anxiety, sadness and desperation to many – can snuff out the true Christmas celebrations.

For Christmas is a time when Christians celebrate God’s great love for our world when he sent Jesus to be the Saviour of all mankind. So how are we are going to celebrate Christmas this year? Like we do every year by giving thanks for the birth of a baby and at St Saviour’s that will be similar to the way that Pope Julius first celebrated Christmas – with a simple service, including a service of Holy Communion.

So may the joy of the angels,
The gladness of the shepherds,
The worship of the wise men
And the peace of the Christ child be yours,
This Christmas and for evermore.

God bless you all and very merry Christmas.

Andy and Mel McPherson

Every year, all across the country, Christingle celebrations bring people together to celebrate light, hope, and community. They create a space to stop and reflect on the birth of Jesus and why he came.

The Christingle itself is a symbol that tells the story of Jesus – you can find out what the different parts mean during our Christingle Service, which this year will be online and available from Monday 21 December. It will include the making and meaning of a Christingle, and the puppets will be coming along to help – including Flicker the Candle and his friends!

What you will need to make your own Christingle

To be able to join in and make a Christingle whilst you watch the service, you will need to make sure you have the items listed below:

• An orange
• Red ribbon or tape (or even a piece of red string or wool)
• A small candle (it needs to be inserted into the orange)
• Four cocktail sticks
• Sweets (e.g. Dolly mixtures, jelly sweets, or Liquorice Allsorts work well) or dried fruits to add to the cocktail sticks – both need to be soft enough to push a cocktail stick through
• Scissors or a knife to make an incision in the orange to push a cocktail stick through

You should be able to find all this items easily. However, if you would like a white candle and a piece of the red tape that we usually use, you can come along to the Link on Wednesday 16 December between 4pm and 5pm. These items will also be available at our open air carol singing next Saturday 19 December at 5.30pm.

Christingle Prayer Card

The Children’s Society, for which Christingle raises money to help with their work, has also designed a Christingle Prayer Card for you to colour and place in your window. This is attached (in the email) with this newsletter so that you can print it off, or I will have a few available to be picked up with your candle and tape.

Lastly, don’t forget to invite friends and family to join us online for the service – it’s a great way to spread the message and Light of Jesus!

Caz Gatehouse, children’s minister

Pat Smart passes the baton to Nick Richards, our new treasurer

From our former treasurer …

Well everybody, it is with mixed feelings that I say goodbye as your church treasurer, but family circumstances dictate that, after seven years, it is time for me to step down. I want to thank everyone that has supported, guided, and prayed with me over the years. I have certainly seen some changes, not least the opening of the Link – what a blessing that extension has been to all of our church family – and all the events that took place raising funds in the first instance, and all the events that have and are still taking place to keep the place going.

As you know our church needs your support more than ever at the moment, with the pandemic making fundraising events very difficult at this time. But with God’s help and yours, we will come through, different but stronger. I will leave Nick Richards, our new treasurer, to tell you how … God Bless in your giving. He really, really loves a cheerful giver.

Pat Smart, former treasurer

From our new treasurer …

Hi, I am Nick Richards, your new treasurer. My wife Carol and our three children have been coming to St Saviour’s since we moved to Bournemouth in 2011. Our daughter Katy is now away at university, and our sons Oliver and James are in sixth form. You may have met Carol and me serving tea at the back of the church once a month.

I would like to thank Pat for all the help she has given me. Pat and Andy asked me to become treasurer – my tea-serving ability strong enough for them to overlook all the accountants, J.P. Morgan employees, retirees, and more active members of our congregation! (Luke1:48, 16:10)

We do not know when normal services will be resumed and our world is in flux. Meanwhile St Saviour’s is working online, our building requires maintenance, bills need paying as do our staff.

I have been incredibly impressed by everyone’s generosity and I know that those who are able to give will continue to do so. For example, our Harvest Gift Day in October raised £7,034, with a further £1,285 of gift aid to come. Helpfully many people give via the Parish Giving Scheme or by direct debit, and you can now make card payments over the internet or by card reader.

I look forward to when we can all meet again and worship God together.

Nick Richards, treasurer

Many thanks to Pat for her service over many years, and to Nick for his willingness to serve in this capacity.

Nigel Legrand considers the effects of coronavirus and encourages hope!

Due to the impact of coronavirus, the majority of us have found ourselves ‘locked’ into our own homes, whilst learning a new lifestyle for shopping, paying bills, keeping in touch with each other, and mastering how to wear a mask or visor. There are new words in our language: ‘click and collect’, Covid 19, social distancing, unprecedented times, pandemic, and shielding, to name but a few.

During this time we have seen so many changes. Being British and male I am amongst those geared not to ask for help! My wife Jennie had to virtually twist my arm to ask for help when our food supplies were running out and we were overwhelmed by the kindness shown by Fiona and David Thompson. Thank you David and Fiona.

During the early months of the lockdown, the community in Meon Road developed into a helping, caring, sharing neighbourhood, and many took part in the Thursday evening NHS appreciation sessions. Those evenings were an important part of thanking staff in the NHS for their phenomenal sacrifice to the UK. A very high price has been paid by many.

Earlier this year church members decorated homes at Pentecost with posters and banners to remind us that God’s Spirit is a mighty power.

Looking forward – so what’s the future?

We’ve all probably heard this answer: ‘I don’t know what the future holds, but I know who holds the future.’ Christmas looms and it’s Jesus’ birthday! Whilst writing this we are back in another crisis period and we all need to take extra care, but also can I urge you to seek out ways of making the light of Jesus Christ to shine where you live. Why not this Christmas pray about new ideas to decorate your home, porches, windows, and front gardens, thanking the Father Almighty who sent His Son to this troubled world.

Ideas for Christmas

• What about playing more Christmas carols on your CDs and mobile phones?
• Let’s bring the ‘Jesus’ Birthday’ theme onto our windows at home.
• Why not give away small Christmas leaflets or books to friends?
• Make your own Christmas cards.
• Draw a big Christmas card to all your neighbours and put it in a window?

Our certainty is that the baby Jesus, the Son of God, came to earth to seek and save the lost.

‘Whatever your hands find to do, do it with all your might …’ Ecclesiastes:9:10

Nigel Legrand, assistant minister

Caz Gatehouse tells us how we can light up our homes on 31 October

This year as we cannot hold our Light Party in church, so why not have one at home? Let’s light up our homes and shine out a message that Jesus is the Light of the World! Let our homes shine out differently to those around decorated for Halloween.

Light Party At Home packs

To help you do this I am putting together some ‘Light Party at Home’ packs, including:

• Ideas to decorate your home – including things you can make during the lead-up to the 31st. You may like to get coloured tissue paper, glue, plastic 2-litre bottles, and battery night lights (or nightlight candles would work if you use glass jars and put them where they won’t get knocked over!) to try out some of these!
• The Pumpkin Prayer – as you carve your pumpkin, think about what Jesus has done for us. Also ideas of pumpkin-carving designs to make your pumpkin shine out for Jesus!
• Craft activities for your party – all you need for the crafts will be included, apart from felt pens or colouring pencils, scissors, glue – I am assuming you have those.
• Games ideas
• How to access our ‘Blacklight Puppet Show’ online
• Ideas for sharing your pictures and short videos of your party with the church family!

Why not dress up in fancy dress too, something that represents ‘light’? You could send us some pictures of you in your costume creations and we could make them into a virtual ‘fancy dress parade’!

How to get your pack

If you would like a pack, please let me know over the coming week so we can get them to you:

• Email your address to me at caz@stsaviours.net
• Text me on 07948799332
• Or pick up a pack from me on Thursday 22 October, 4-5.30pm, in the Link – it would be helpful if you give me a quick message so I can make sure we have printed enough!

Looking forward to seeing how you celebrate your Light Party 2020 at home!!

Caz Gatehouse, children’s minister

Jez Ferguson brings us up to date with what’s going on in our youth groups

Over the last few months we have enjoyed seeing the young people on a regular basis, mostly over Zoom meetings, but we are starting to meet in person again. In Core we have just finished a series on the book of Romans where we have been focusing on God’s grace and love and how Paul expresses that for us. Since then we have started a series on ‘Big Questions’, where we ask questions like ‘Why does God allow suffering?’ and ‘How can we hear God better?’ We’ve been encouraging the young people to submit their big questions, so we can tackle them together as a group. We had our first ‘in person’ youth group on Sunday, which was wonderful, having not seen some of them in person for six months it was really helpful to check in with them properly, and we’re looking forward to doing more face to face stuff over the next few months.

Over the summer we had a Wednesday group each week. We followed a different game show format each week, and played shows like The Chase, Countdown and Million Pound Drop. This series came to a natural end once the young people went back to school, and I’m currently transitioning the group into more of a drop-in session. Young people can pop in for a while if they need to talk or pray about anything, but I hope that once Core has settled in, we will be able to run some sort of group in person. I’m not certain what this will look like yet, as I’m keen for it to be distinct from Core and we need to think about what we are able to do whilst observing government guidance and social distancing. Please pray for wisdom and guidance about that!

We have also welcomed back our Moorlands students. We have two of our previous Moorlands students returning, Eleanor and Lydia, and are also welcoming a new first year called Jordan. We’re really excited by what they bring to the team and look forward to their input into our youth ministry.
Thanks for your prayers and support.

Jez Ferguson, youth minister