Jim's Memory‏

It is with great sadness that I have to tell you that The Revd James Purdon Neill – Jim, former Vicar here at St Ann with Emmanuel Church Nottingham, has passed away after a short illness.

Jim was the vicar here for over 30 years, retiring at the end of 2008, during which time he selflessly ministered to thousands of people. Since then he was cruelly struck down by Motor Neurone Disease which robbed him of the relaxing retirement he deserved. On January 30th 2010 at the Queen’s Medical Centre he passed away quietly to be with God.

Jim was deaconed in 1964 and priested in 1965. He was Curate at Kendal from 1964-68, and Chaplain at Park Hill Flats in Sheffield from 1968-71. He was Priest-in-Charge at Mansfield from 1971-77 and then Vicar at St Ann with Emmanuel Nottingham from 1977-2008 after which he retired.

Those close to him have set up a Facebook group dedicated to Jim's memory where people can share memories, photos, etc of him.

Nottingham Evening Post articles here and here

Funeral Arrangements

Jim's funeral service will be held here in church
Monday 8th February at 1.15pm
Followed by cremation at Bramcote Crematorium at 2.45pm

Rather than flowers people are invited to make donations to MNDA (Motor Neurone Disease Association)
http://www.mndassociation.org/get_involved/donations/index.html

Rest in peace Jim.

The Vicar Writes

GRACE, MERCY AND PEACE from God our Father and the Lord, Jesus Christ, be with you.

Words of blessing open our Sunday services week by week, and we leave with more words of blessing as we go our different ways to serve others in the world. At the end of the year some of you may have joined in singing ‘Auld Lang Syne’ a song of thanks and blessing for friendships.
And so as we begin 2010 my prayer for you is that you will all be blessed in the coming year by God. That His grace and mercy - his consistent, patient, and extravagant love and delight in you - will surprise you, and give you a deep sense of well being and security at the centre of your being.

May all that is unforgiven in you, be released.
May your fears yield their deepest tranquillities.
May all that is unlived in you blossom into a future, graced with love.
John O’Donohue

Paul writes (Eph1:3) ‘in our union with Christ he has blessed us with every spiritual blessing…’. All that God has to give us is available to us in and through Jesus. May Jesus be the source and centre of all we are and do this year.

Karen

JUAN CARLOS AND PENNY MARCES

Juan Carlos, an ordained minister in the Anglican Church in Peru, is married to Penny, a mission partner from SE London, and they live and work in the city of Lima, in Peru, together with their three children Rebeca (18), Lizzie (16) and Jonny (14). They are supported by SAMS and have been link mission partners with us here for many years.

Juan Carlos is preaching at our morning service on Sunday 31st January. Following a short coffee break their friends and supporters from St Paul’s Church, Carlton, will be joining us for a presentation updating us about their work and ministry, and we will conclude by sharing a hot lunch together. Please put this date in your diary and stay for lunch as we welcome some old friends back among us.

More background:
Juan Carlos is Pastor of the Jesus El Salvador church in one of the pueblos jovenes (developing towns) of Lima. There is also a church plant in another part of Villa el Salvador, San Andrés en Oasis. He has helped train Church leaders of many denominations to run Alpha courses in Peru.

In addition to looking after the home Penny is much involved with the work of the parish: she runs the women’s work (AMA) in the local church and leads the Sunday school work (the Rainbow Club). Volunteers from their church also help in teaching Values Classes in the local school.

In 2009 the Church started a Compassion-sponsored Student Centre – The Lord´s Treasures – to help the poorest children in the area.

NOTTINGHAM CITIZENS FOR SANCTUARY

An answer to prayer! The Nottingham Citizens for Sanctuary group have a meeting this month with the UK Border Agency to discuss the issues around the difficulties faced by Nottingham residents reporting in Loughborough and the possibility of change. Please pray for a constructive discussion and decisions to improve conditions for people who are seeking sanctuary in the city.

THE CHASE REDEVELOPMENT

The Chase area is going to go through a major redevelopment over the next 5 years and will look very different at the end of it. This year a new multipurpose Joint Service Centre will be built (where to old garage was) which will contain a number of services including the library and doctors, surgeries. At the last public meeting Karen asked if there would be provision for healthy spirits as well as healthy minds and bodies, and has been asked to put a proposal together for some sort of spiritual provision in the building. Come to the meetings in the Chase Neighbourhood Centre to find out more - your opinions and views matter and make a difference. And add your views through consultations – keep your eyes open in the neighbourhood Centre and at the library. Next meeting :-
Tuesday 19th January 5-7pm

CHRISTMAS THANKS

A BIG ‘Thank-You’ to the many people who contributed to our Christmas celebrations.

To Yvonne, Audrey, Masie and Sue, for making the church look so very special. To our intrepid team of Christingle makers from church and the parents group at Sycamore School. To the children and Family Worship leaders for a wonderful presentation. To Aisleigh and Jennie for their thought provoking video. To Masie, Yvonne, Abigail, Dorothy and Sue for hospitality after the Carol Service and to George Robinson (Chair, Chase Central Tenants/Residents Association), Cllr Sue Johnson, Matthew Cook, Shirlee, Dennis and Grenville for reading. To Peter, Matthew, and everyone in the choir for beautiful, strong and moving leading of our music at Carols and Crib. And to Jessica, Laura and Charlotte for a joyful Christmas Day.

Thank you for sharing yourselves and gifts among us.

The Vicar Writes….

Do you have an Advent Calendar this year? Or maybe an advent candle, counting down the days until 24th December? As Christmas approaches do you, or the children count the days or the number of ‘sleeps’?

Looking forward to something and counting the days not only keeps the event in our minds, but also helps us to prepare. How many days do I have to fit in the shopping? When do I need to order the turkey? When will I write my Christmas Cards? When will I visit the people who matter to me? When we know something is going to happen we are able to get ourselves ready.

The season of Advent - the 4 or 5 weeks leading up to Christmas in the church’s year – is a season of preparation and looking forward. The event we look forward to is the coming of Jesus Christ. This works at two levels. We look forward to marking his incarnation, his coming to be one of us, living our messy human life with all its challenges, joys and pain, which we celebrate at Christmas as we tell the story of his birth in a stable in Bethlehem.

And secondly we look forward to his ultimate coming as heaven breaks into the world and all our human reality is exposed. What we see and what we do not see. He will bring resolution, completion and a righting of all wrongs. What our culture calls judgement day, and what the Old and New Testaments call the ‘Day of the Lord’.

And the question we ask ourselves during this season is ‘Are we ready?’ ‘Are we prepared?’. In what ways are we living lives of love and service for others? Are we living lives that are open and responsive to God? Are we ready to meet him as the First and the Last, the One who gives us life and who receives our lives at their end? Are we ready to meet him as the vulnerable baby we hold in our arms, God come close, looking for our love?

May we all be ready so that our Christmas begins with Christ.

Karen

DAILY PRAYER

In church
Mon-Sat in Advent 8.30 a.m. til 9.00 a.m.
Come along any day and join us for simple
prayers for the day, the church and the world.

Kyrie Eleison - Christe Eleison - Kyrie Eleison

‘Kyrie Eleison’ is an expression in Greek, the language of the New Testament, which means ‘Lord, have mercy’. It comes from one of Jesus’ parables about prayer and humility, which Luke records in chapter 18:9-14. It is a prayer that has been used by Christians since the earliest days of the faith and is especially appropriate to use during seasons of penitence like Advent and Lent.
Using the prayer three times invites us to address God as Trinity: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

During Advent we will use this form of prayer as our ‘Prayers of Penitence’ in all our services (not just in the Family Service). Let us know what you think….

THANK YOU

To everyone who worked hard to make the Christmas Fayre happen.
It looks like we raised £800.