St Nicholas & St Barnabas Churches Kenilworth

"Reaching out for God with love and encouragement"

At our Awakenings Service in January, we were pleased to welcome The Reverend David Banbury who works as a national church growth consultant for the Christian charity CPAS (Church Pastoral Aid Society) and who also serves as a Territorial Army chaplain to the Mercian Regiment. David reflected on his own operational tour in Iraq in a very engaging talk, mixed with humour, sadness and the hope we share through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

You can listen to David's talk by downloading an MP3 file (6.5Mb) – just click here. If you wish to follow the talk with slides you may also download the PowerPoint slides (1.1Mb) and click through the pictures as you listen, click here for the slides.

In December we heard from National Lottery Funding that they would not be awarding any money to help with the Parochial Hall Restoration Appeal. Whilst disappointing, we can still make many changes and improvements to the Hall. Obviously, there will need to be some revision of the original plans which will take place over the next few weeks and agreed by the Parochial Church Council before they can be announced. More details can be found in the February edition of The Grapevine.

The total raised locally at January was £66,500 which is an amazing amount to have been realised within a year. Most recently, the Kenilworth Runners donated £2,000 being the proceeds from the half marathon organised in October, and the evening entitled 'Kenilworth of Long Ago' held on Saturday 19th January raised a grand total of £791.65. Thank you to everyone for their support.

Site Link:  Parochial Hall Restoration Appeal

Due to the generosity of those at 'Leavenses, we send money to a charity twice a year. Our chosen charity for Christmas was Starlight Children's Foundation, a charity for terminally ill children and their families; a cheque for £60 was sent. For those of you who are free on a Tuesday morning, please pop in to St Barnabas at 11.00am for a very short, informal service and a chat over a cuppa. A warm welcome awaits you all!

Web Link:  Starlight Children's Foundation

Sponsored Bell Ringing in 2007 raised just over £700 for the Parochial Hall Restoration Appeal.  At the Bell Ringers' AGM on Tuesday 8th January, Tower Captain Peter Spencer presented Curate, Craig Groocock with a cheque for monies raised from sponsored ringing. You can sponsor the Sunday ringing to celebrate a birth, special birthday, an anniversary or as a memorial to someone special. Monies raised in 2008 will be donated to CORD (Christian Outreach, Relief and Development).

Site Link:  Sponsored Ringing
Web Link:  CORD

In December we featured Amnesty International for our 'Tree'. Instead of sending Christmas cards to the people from church that could be greeted personally, some wrote their greeting to hang on a card in the 'tree' and made a donation to Amnesty International. The total donations, including Gift Aid, came to just over £250.  Many thanks to all those who took part in the scheme.
Heather Alford and Roger Frost

Web Link:  Amnesty International

Many thanks from the committee to everyone who supported the Christingle Service held at St Nicholas Church on Sunday 16th December which raised the magnificent total of £1,125 for the Children's Society.  You can find out more about the work of The Children's Society by following the link below.

Web Link:  The Children's Society

Thank you to everyone who contributed to our Christmas Appeal. It was a tremendous response, providing a full car load of food and clothing for Norton House Day Centre's Christmas and New Year festivities. They were able to provide several hundred free meals, presents and food hampers to their service users. Happy New Year to you all and very many thanks from us, on behalf of Norton House staff, Trustees and Directors.
Doreen and Terry Cross

The Scout Group recently raised money for the Parochial Hall Restoration Appeal, mostly by bag packing at Sainsbury's on a Saturday in November when we raised £884 in a single day. The photo shows Beaver John, Cub Eddie and Scout Robert presenting the cheque to Richard in church on Sunday 9th December. Apart from this huge amount the Scout Group have also raised £260 for the charity Dogs for the Disabled which was presented to Lexus a black puppy in training and his trainer in October. We hope to present more money towards the end of 2008. Kaye S. Prentice, Group Scout Leader

Site Link:  Parochial Hall Restoration Appeal

Our award winning parish magazine 'The Grapevine' features exclusive articles and content not found on the website, interviews with parish people, book reviews, a full directory of leaders of church groups plus much more. Now is an ideal time to take out an annual subscription and for that you can have the magazine delivered to your door! Click here to download an annual subscription form or follow the link below to find out more.

Site Link:  Parish Magazine

Once again St. Nicholas church was beautifully decorated for the Christmas Festival.  Click on the link below for photographs of just a few of the many arrangements created at St Nicholas Church for Christmas 2007.

Site Link:  Christmas Flowers

On Sunday 16th December, members of JAM performed their version of The Nativity Story. Parents, grandparents and friends gathered to see the Christmas story unfold before joining together in a Christmas song. Afterwards, everyone enjoyed home made mince pies, biscuits and hot and cold drinks.

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A commemorative mug has been produced in aid of the Parochial Hall Restoration Appeal. This fine bone china mug features original artwork by local artist Jeff Platten, showing the changing scenes of the Parochial Hall over the past 100 years. Each mug costs £7.50, or £8.00 gift boxed. You can also buy in packs of four at a discounted price of £28.00.  The mug is available now, but stocks are limited so make sure you don't miss out by ordering yours today!  Follow the link for more details.

Site Link:  Parochial Hall Commemorative Mugs

The Dinner Dance held at The De Montfort Hotel on Saturday 24th November, has boosted the Parochial Hall Restoration Appeal funds by £3,150. This was enjoyed by 70 guests and included a few fun, fund raising 'games' such as "Heads and Tails" and "Knights, Horses & Cavaliers" as well as a raffle. The 3-course meal with wine was followed by dancing to music from a live dance band. It was great to see lots of new faces, as well as some familiar ones, supporting this event. Thanks to all who came along. Sue & Mark Draper

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On the afternoon of Saturday 24th November we enjoyed our Christmas Fair.  We had, as usual, a great variety of stalls including: books, bric-a-brac, gifts, cakes and preserves, pies, plants, toys, pull a bottle, tombola, raffles and tea & cake refreshments.  The fair raised £1,830 in aid of church funds, so a big thank you to everyone involved, organisers, stall holders and to those who came along to give their support.

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An evening in the company of screenwriter Andrew Davies, organised by the St Nicholas Wives' Group, was a "sell out". Andrew gave a lively and informative talk about his work in developing classic novels for the screen. His speech was peppered with amusing anecdotes about his work, including the filming of Jane Austin and gave a fascinating glimpse into his work. The evening raised £1,531 for the Parochial Hall Restoration Appeal.

Site Link:  Parochial Hall Restoration Appeal

Harvest Festival at St Nicholas Church was also a special Gift Day for the Parochial Hall Restoration Appeal.  Over 3,500 letters had been distributed by volunteers asking local residents to help parishioners in their efforts to raise a substantial sum and by the end of the day just under £30,000 had been raised before Gift Aid. Since January over £16,000 had already been raised so the Gift Day was a vital ingredient in the fund raising effort. Thank you to all those who have given so generously.

Site Link:  Parochial Hall Restoration Appeal

A big thank you to Jean Bunce and Linda Williams for organising the Harvest Festival Flowers and for the members of the Flower Guild for their beautiful displays and for rising to the challenge of interpreting the themes. Thank you everyone who kindly contributed with produce or with a donation towards the cost of the flowers, we really do appreciate you support.
Barbara Sheppard

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On Friday 21st September, 70 people gathered at Henley Golf and Country Club to enjoy a very good meal and wine. The dinner was followed by an excellent and entertaining talk given by Mrs Marion Canning who is one of the few lady toastmasters attending corporate events, dinners and weddings. Her tales were many and varied of the things that can, and do, go wrong "behind the scenes" of which the host and hostess must be kept blissfully unaware. Her briefcase carried all manner of items that might be needed in an "emergency" from safety pins, nail files and sticky tape to a tiny screwdriver to tighten the screw on a pair of spectacles (and, of course, a magnet to find the screw!). Altogether a fun evening which raised over £680 for the Parochial Hall Restoration Appeal. Thanks to the Social Committee who organised the event so well. Heather Alford

Site Link:  Parochial Hall Restoration Appeal

On Saturday 22nd September we arranged to have afternoon tea in Church for the ladies now resident at the Grange Nursing Home, Servite House and several others listed on our Pastoral Care list. Craig played some songs from the 40's and 50's on his guitar and ukulele and they were all able to sing along with him. Their faces became alive and happy as they all joined in.

Click here for a full report and pictures...

Hothorpe Hall in Leicestershire was the location of our Parish Weekend between 31st August and 2nd September 2007.  We were pleased to welcome the Revd Canon Adrian Daffern, Precentor of Coventry Cathedral who lead three sessions along the theme 'Hearing with the Heart'.  There was lots of time to enjoy various activities, from quiet walks to ball games - but never a dull moment! 

Click here for a full report and pictures...

We now have a page on the Divine Inspiration website which is run by Coventry Diocese. Divine Inspiration now has a total of 80 member churches, each dedicated to widening visitor numbers and improving the experience they enjoy when they visit. We are delighted to be one of the first 30 churches chosen to have a page on the website and hope that you will take a look at what other member churches have to offer.
Liam D'Arcy Brown and Rebecca Probert.

Web Link:  Divine Inspiration

Members of the Monday Evening Home Group recently visited The British Library in London to see the Exhibition 'Sacred' - the world's greatest collection of Jewish, Christian and Muslim holy books and finest manuscripts. They also visited the 'Treasures Exhibition' with everything from Magna Carta to Beatles music. Everything beautifully presented, explained and so interesting.

Site Link:  Monday Group

After a slow start in the morning the Flower Guild's effort at serving teas in the church on Carnival Day was a great success. It was lovely having the church buzzing and we raised £271.40 for the Parochial Hall Restoration Appeal, that is a lot of teas! A big thank you to Jean Bunce and to all the members of The Guild for their help and support for baking cakes and for serving the teas, it was a very enjoyable day well worth repeating in the future. Many thanks to all those members of the congregation for their support. Barbara Sheppard

Site Link:  Parochial Hall Restoration Appeal

Our vicar, the Reverend Richard Awre has recently completed twenty five years service in the priesthood, having been ordained at Blackburn Cathedral in June 1982. This special anniversary was marked during our morning service with a special presentation and the cutting of a celebration cake made by Janet Cherry.

Click here for a full report and pictures...