Hope Cafe: Next Wednesday is the first Wednesday of the month so once again we invite you to come and join us between 2:00 and 3:00pm for tea/coffee and the chance to meet others.
Thames Hospice: This is our April Charity Appeal. There is information on our website about the wonderful work done by the Hospice. Please give generously using the charity box at the back of church or use the card reader (recording the date and amount—not your name so we know your donation is for Thames Hospice). Thank you.
Come and meet TV Presenter, Sean Fletcher: The presenter of Rebound, Countryfile, Sunday Morning Live, Songs of Praise and ambassador for both Beating Bowel Cancer and Young Minds UK will be talking about his life, religious journey, deep Christian faith, passionate causes and media roles. This talk is being organised by the Berkshire Council of Christian and Jews on Wednesday May 1st at 8.00pm at Maidenhead Synagogue, Grenfell Lodge, Ray Park Road, Maidenhead, SL6 8QX (ample parking inside the Synagogue car park). There is no charge, but there will be an optional donation for the work of CCJ. Numbers may have to be limited, so please book in advance by emailing admin@maidshul.org with your name and postal address.
Open Minds: As part of our vision to contribute to open minds throughout our community, the PCC is committed to holding occasional talks on issues in the minds of many people. The first of these will be held on the evening of Wednesday, 3rd July in our church. The subject will be Assisted Dying and we have invited Rabbi Jonathan Romain to lead our thinking on this. In recent times, this issue has gained a high profile with Diana Rigg talking about her situation, Esther Rantzen expressing the need for more discussion about it and a moving TV drama called Truelove has also explored the subject. In the coming weeks, we will be advertising this opportunity throughout our community. We are very fortunate to have Rabbi Jonathan MBE in our community and delighted that he has agreed to come to our church to help us think about it.
Fund Raising Events: Over 40 people attended our popular Quiz Evening last Saturday Evening. A good time was had by all and important funds were raised for our church.
Congratulations to Claire Spencer: Claire would like to thank all those at St. Nicolas who generously sponsored her on April 6th in aid of Parkinson’s UK. The amazing total raised so far is over £620. For those who have kindly asked for a reminder of their pledges, the best way to donate now is via https://www.justgiving.com/page/claire-spencer-1712318249502. ‘Many thanks to you all!’
Choral Evensong at St George’s Chapel: Those who have had the pleasure of hearing the wonderful Taplow Girls’ Choir singing at St George’s Chapel will be delighted to know that they are there again next Wednesday, 1st May to sing Evensong. If you haven’t had this experience yet, it is very special and worth the trip. The service is at 5:15pm (queue outside Henry Vlll Gate at 5:00pm). This time, they are singing Malcolm Archer responses, the Bairstow Canticles and ‘I will magnify thee’ (Joseph Corfe) for the anthem.
Our Finances: Jessie updates us: “For the first quarter our costs have been covered by only 86%. Expenditure is higher than usual in March because of the final payment of £3,084 for the Audio/Streaming project plus periodic payments totalling £1k for music, newsletter and Burnham Deanery.Strictly speaking £3k of Income is NOT income as it is funds carried forward from last year which were set aside for the Audio/Streaming project.These funds comprised the second loan of £1k, a grant of £500, Jim’s woodwork £1,084, £500 from general funds.”
T4U: Thank you to all those who took the trouble to take items over to URC on recent Saturday mornings for the lorry load which left last week. You will be please to hear that the consignment has arrived safely and is now being distributed. There is a plan to send another truck in July and maybe one more after that as recently there have been more financial donations. Much of what goes is now purchased from Costco rather than donations but there are food donation points at Waitrose Maidenhead and Tesco Taplow. The Easter consignment was mainly children’s pyjamas and Easter eggs which went to a children’s hospital. More information on our website. You can contribute to ongoing support by donating items at the collection points at Tescos in Taplow and also at Waitrose in Maidenhead or by donating money – perhaps regularly – and the link to do this will be posted shortly.
Our Vicar’s telephone number: We now have a dedicated church telephone number for contacting Jane replacing the Rectory landline. The new number is always on the back page of the pew leaflet and in the ‘About Us’>‘Contact Us’ section of this website. So that you can change the number in your contacts list, the number is 07848 228456
Day Visit to Salisbury Cathedral: Our choir is singing Evensong on Wednesday, 29th May and there is an opportunity to tour the Cathedral. If you would like to come along, please speak to Hilary. The price will be £40 return and will only be viable if at least 15 people sign up. hilary@turpinsacs.co.uk
Wedding vergers: We urgently need more wedding vergers for 2024. This is a lovely opportunity to support wedding couples getting married in St Nicolas.It involves up to 3 hours on the day of the wedding: arriving one hour before the wedding, making sure the church is tidy and ready, being at the back of church to support the wedding party as they arrive and during the wedding service, and clearing up the church after the wedding guests leave.The actual service is usually around 50 minutes.There is a written checklist available and any new vergers would serve alongside an experienced verger the first time.We always have two vergers on duty to support one another. Vergers receive £40 per wedding. Please speak to Sharon Johnson if you can help.
TAPLOW VILLAGE LUXURY ECO TEA TOWEL: At last, our 100% organic cotton tea towel is available to purchase. Designed using Ann King’s beautiful paintings which show-case our magnificent village of Taplow, this generously-sized luxury tea towel has been printed and sewn in Lincolnshire. £12in aid of St Nicolas’ Church.
Zoom Meeting to Pray; 10:00am Wednesdays Weekly: our Deanery now offers a half hour Zoom prayer meeting hosted by St Paul’s Church, Slough. You can join this Zoom call any Wednesday by going to meeting ID: 523 com. 327 5615 Passcode: 2022 The meeting also goes out on Facebook.
Prayer for the Homeless of Ukraine
Almighty and merciful God, whose Son became a refugee and had no place to call his own; look with mercy on those who today are fleeing from danger, homeless and hungry. Bless those who work to bring them relief; inspire generosity and compassion in all our hearts; and guide the nations of the world towards that day when all will rejoice in your Kingdom of justice and of peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
St Nicolas joins the REFILL REVOLUTION!: We are reducing our plastic waste by refilling used plastic bottles instead of sending them to be recycled or wasted. We have teamed up with the REFILL HUB (see advert in our Christmas newsletter) to supply the church with cleaning materials that createPLASTIC WASTE. We already have products in church which you can try. Look out for our supplies of:
Liquid Hand Soap(French Vanilla)
Hand Sanitiser Gel 70% alcohol(French Vanilla)
Anti-bac All Purpose Cleaner(French Lavender)
Washing Up Liquid(Rhubarb and Lemon)
Toilet Cleaner(Spearmint and Peppermint)
The REFILL HUB visits Burnham Market on Wednesday mornings 8.30 – 13.00, and several other venues. Times and prices are given on their website.refill-hub.co.uk. If you wish to reduce your own plastic waste you can either take your empty plastic bottles to the Refill Hub, or bring them to church and Hilary will get them filled for you. Chat to Hilary for more details.
Parish Giving Scheme: Our treasurer, Jessie Cooper points out to us that the very best way to contribute to the work of our Parish Church is to use the Parish Giving Scheme. If you do not yet use this way of donating to church and you would like to know more about it or ask any questions, please contact Jessie Cooper (Parish Treasurer) in confidence… by email: jessie.stnicolas@gmail.com or phone: 01628 603187
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