Crosslacon Parish

20 Feb 2024

God of fishermen who leave their nets,
God of lambs who go astray:
you call us from our daily chores
inviting us to something new.
You seek us out when we are lost,
reaching us where we are at risk.
Your draw and your drive
reveal a bond between us
we cannot deny
and you will not sever.
May we who are found
now follow,
leaving these toils
and these snares behind us.
Amen.

19 Feb 2024

God of this continuing journey,
God of this next right step:
bring us to a space
where reassuring kindness
and uncluttered honesty meet,
where we name what is broken
without doing more harm;
where we hold ourselves to account
and are held to account by others,
without fear of being let go.
May our courage come
not in protecting,
but in exposing
our true selves,
so that beneath it all we may find
the child you continue to love.
Amen.

📢BanktheFood news!

🤝We're partnering with The Trussell Trust to ensure that food banks get the items they need the most so they can continue supporting people experiencing poverty in their local communities.

💚The partnership will make it easier for people across the UK to find out the best items to donate to their local food bank and allow us to reach more users as we seek to generate more food donations for food banks over the next year.

✅And, of course, we'll continue to support all organizations working to alleviate food poverty in the UK.

Since 2021, BanktheFood has grown in popularity and now has more than 48,000 people using the app to donate food items and toiletries, helping both the Trussell Trust and independent food banks in communities across the UK. The app is free for everyone to use and generates up to 7,000 donated items via the app every week.

Emma Spring, co-founder of BanktheFood, said: “We are thrilled to partner with the Trussell Trust. It will allow us to provide more food to people who are struggling to get by and support our partner food banks and charities. Together, we can help ensure that fewer people go without the essentials each day in the UK.”

Emma Revie, CEO of the Trussell Trust, said: “This partnership with BanktheFood will make it even easier for people to support their local food bank and donate the items that they need the most. Food banks in the Trussell Trust network are having to buy more food than ever before as donations are not keeping up with the sharp increase in the number of people needing to seek support and the BanktheFood app will help to ensure that every item donated will make a real difference to people facing hardship in that community.”

Today we had a visit in assembly from Rev. Nicki. She introduced us to Matt Stemp who is the new Children and Families Community Development Worker for the Crosslacon Parish. Many of the children already knew Matt from the Phoenix Youth Club.
During the assembly, Rev. Nicki shared a Lent Act of Kindness Calendar with the children. We thought this would be lovely to share with our community too. 🥰

Today we give thanks for places of hospitality and welcome in our communities. God of warmth, we thank you for groups and individuals opening up spaces to those in need of warmth, nourishment and company.


Read more: https://www.livingtheology.cuf.org.uk/blog/gg-hospitality

17 Feb 2024

God of fasting and prayer,
God of life in abundance:
fill this day
not with striving or proving,
the impulse to meet culture’s norms
nor the demands of our own private idol.
Fill this day
with attention
to the breath our bodies pull in,
the beauty that comes into view,
the stories children eagerly tell,
the marvel of your daily bread.
Amen.

Lent is a time to practice living more lovingly in the world. Why not take on the Lenten practice of doing an act of kindness every day.

Cleator Moor Methodist Church Lent Lunches Wednesdays 12 Noon - 1pm from February 21st to March 20th
Soup, Roll and Tea with proceeds to Christian Aid and CAFOD
Everyone Welcome

16 Feb 2024

God who lives with us in this world,
God who calls from us a better world,
emerging from our lives:
keep us grounded and dissatisfied.
Keep us questioning how things are.
May we approach the reality of brokenness
not with dismay or cynicism,
not with exchanges of judgment
but with a faith to assure us
that living a message
of unworldly love
is the surest way to find
the divine alive on earth.
Amen.

Happy New Month!

Can you help us this Lent?
We have just launched our "Give in Lent" appeal which will run from this week until Easter weekend ✝️
Lent is a time for reflection and for giving, so we are asking you to consider donating an item or two, if you are able, during this season of Lent 🙏

15 Feb 2024

God of bodies that absorb the stress,
God of kindnesses that release the tears:
may the practices we take up
lead us out to those
whose private struggles
run parallel to our own.
May we find in this season
of focused reflection
a renewed sense
of how we’re in this together:
humans who find good ways to cope;
creatures of clay
who contain your life.
Amen.

Starting next week….

Activities for children to explore this Ash Wednesday

As we begin the season of Lent, we offer this prayer:

God whose love journeys with us,
God whose love will hold us close:
as we begin these forty days
and venture into deeper truth,
may we move towards an embrace
with a humanity we’ve lost.
May we find in simpler living
that comforts become crutches;
that self-protection suffocates.
And may we then see
in glaring desert light
a love you have for us,
a love that can restore us
to a place of fuller contentment.
Amen.

Come and join us for a cuppa and a chat about any issues you may be facing at St Paul's Church Community Hall Drop-in in Frizington on Monday 19th February from 1-3pm. No appointment needed just drop in!

We also have lost of advice on our website ➡️ https://buff.ly/3CZy32A

Whitehaven, Egremont & District Credit Union

Happy Pancake Day 😅🥞