Main Street, Swithland, Leicestershire, LE12 8TJ
Following our Holy Communion Service at 9.30am on this coming Sunday 7th April, we shall holding our
ANNUAL PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL MEETING
starting at (or shortly after) 10.30am
At the meeting parishioners will appoint churchwardens and elect three members of the church to serve on St Leonard’s Parochial Church Council (PCC). We will receive the Annual Report and answer any questions you may have about the life of our church here in Swithland.
We are looking forward to our Easter Service here at St Leonard’s and also to the blooming of the bluebells in the Swithland Woods, just like those pictured on the front cover of the April LINK. The magazine is now being distributed to Swithland residents and copies are available to collect from the Church porch completely free of charge.
Inside you will find an interesting article about Canon Anne Horton who was Rector here for twenty years. Rev Colin also raises some interesting questions in his opening message and we would be interested to receive your responses.
Being called by God doesn’t always lead to ordained ministry. There are so many ways to live out your faith in the life and mission of the church and wider community. If you feel God’s calling you to be or do something, then you might find an answer at the Diocese of Leicester’s forthcoming Vocations Day.
Exploring Calling For Everyone is the chance to think about how God calls us to live out our faith, to recognise our gifts, and to meet others from across the diocese serving their church and communities in a variety of ways.
Seminars throughout the day include caring for our buildings, leading worship, working with children and young people, helping others to deepen their faith, pastoral care, sharing faith, social action and caring for creation.
Revd Liz Rawlings, diocesan Discipleship and Vocations Enabler, says: “We are each called to be ‘salt and light’ in the world, to be bearers of the grace of God in the places and among the people we find ourselves.
“This day gives us the space to reflect on the opportunities and gifts we have to do this, a place where we can be inspired by others who are living their faith in a myriad of different ways and the opportunity to explore how God may be guiding us in our own unique calling.”
Exploring Calling For Everyone takes place on Saturday 10 February, 10am to 3pm, at St Martins House, Leicester.
Click here for more information
Jeff Harrison recently made the difficult decision to step down from his role as Server at St Leonard’s Church. Jeff has served at the altar for fifty-one years and has been instrumental in preserving the tradition of our 8am Book of Common Prayer service throughout this time. He first felt the call to this ministry after experiencing the touch of God at Holy Communion and he has always sought to bring a reverence and holiness to these services. He will certainly be a difficult act to follow.
The PCC wanted to thank him for his dedication and, in recognition of this, Colin Resch recently presented him with a special Long Service Award.
St Leonard’s Angel Festival was a great success with a constant flow of visitors over the three days – including over 100 schoolchildren from St Leonard’s Primary School who excitedly searched for their angels and were treated to the story of the Angel Gabriel visiting Mary.
Our thanks to St Leonard’s Primary School and very many others for making paper angels. To all those who have lent their angels and to all those who have given their time, talents and skills in displaying the angels.
The result has been breathtaking and has created a spiritual presence that is difficult to describe in words and impossible to photograph.
It is truly a case of “You had to be here”
Adding lustre to this sense of presence was the work of our artists;
Our thanks also go to the musicians for the evening of Angels and Light . To Steve Delaforce, Rob Newton and John and Dorothy Pipet. To Jennifer De Hever for her wonderful solo and to Hilary for her marvellous ‘Shepherd’ monologue.
Over the three days of the festival a total of £600 was raised – of which £300 has been sent to Cancer Research UK with the balance going to church funds for which we thank everyone.
Congratulations to Michael and Beth-Anna, married at St Leonard’s on Saturday. May you have many happy years together as husband and wife.
This was our final wedding of 2023 at St Leonard’s and it was such a joyous occasion with a church full of family and friends supporting them as they made their marriage vows. There was a lot of joy shared along with some laughter and a few tears were shed too. The service was led by our Acting Rector, Revd Colin Resch and the organist was Mr Paul Wilcox.
The October edition of our Church magazine, The Link, has now been published and is available for you to read online. Visit the Church Magazine page to see this edition and our archive of previous editions.
The May 2023 edition of The Link is now available for download on our website. Just visit stleonardsswithland.org/thelink.
We hope you find it informative and will come along to some of our events and services.
The April issue of The LINK is now available online.
you will see that our main social event this month is when we welcome the Loughborough Male Voice Choir for a concert on April 22nd. The choir last performed for us when we were raising funds for the Bell Restoration Project and it was a really memorable and enjoyable evening. Tickets are selling well so please do book soon if you would like to come along.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION
If you have any comments you wish to make, or items you would like to include in a future LINK newsletter, do get in touch via the Contact Us page.
It’s snowing this morning (10 March), so we’re not really expecting you to come along to Friday Club today; but Chris and Ali are at the Church and the kettle is on for anyone who does manage to make it there. Keep warm and keep safe.