| Services
and
Events
During
September
and
early
October
2010 |
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| You are very welcome to join
us for any
of
these events You can view the Luton & Dunstable URC Pastorate Prayer Diary for September 2010 here You can also view the latest version of our Wigmore Church Welcome leaflet here |
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| Sean
Daniel
Mead
welcomed
by Baptism |
| On Sunday 29th August we welcomed 5
month old Sean Daniel Mead into the Church through the Sacrament of
Infant Baptism, administered by Rev Julie Bradshaw. Sean was
accompanied
by his parents, Amy and Daniel, and their family and friends. Sean was presented with a candle (representing Jesus, the Light of the World), a Bible and a storybook by various members of the Wigmore congregation. We welcome Sean into the whole
worldwide Church of Jesus Christ.
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| Wigmore's
Supported
Charity
for
2010-2011 |
| For
the 12 months starting October 2008 our main supported charity was
a local one: The Luton & Dunstable Hospital's Neonatal Intensive
Care Unit (NICU)
Appeal. We raised a total of £1,555.50
for this work and have received a letter of thanks from their appeal
Organiser. You can read some more information about the NICU appeal lower down this
page. We also received a letter of thanks at Christmas from WaterAid, our supported charity during 2008, for the money we raised for them. Our supported charity this year is the Gorakhpur Nurseries in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, near the Nepalese border, and we shall begin our fund raising for them during Lent. Last year Irene Rudling (the sister of Hazel Alcock) gave a talk at one of Wigmore's Poverty Lunch events (and will be giving us a further talk in September 2010). She has worked there since 1985. The nurseries take in girls abandoned by their family, or whose family cannot feed another mouth and asks the nursery to take them in. The girls receive care and education and are helped to find work or a husband, depending on their needs. Some stay on at the nursery as helpers (buas) looking after the younger children. The nursery is run as a family, often with more than 100 people. |
| A
word in your ear ... |
| The
Methodist
church
has
recently
launched
an
online
daily Bible study
called A Word in Time.
It is available
from their web site here.
Each day's study follows the readings in the Methodist Prayer
Handbook and includes a Bible reading,
some
background and explanation of the text together with some reflections
and questions to ponder and reflect on. Each audio file is available in two formats: a high quality version for those with a broadband internet connection and a lower quality for those using a dial-up connection. Either file format can easily be downloaded onto your computer or MP3 player so that you can catch up with your daily Bible study at a time that's most convenient for you. These Bible studies are ideal for sharing with anyone who might not have access to the daily Bible notes or does have access to the internet. Try it here ... |
| Luton
and
Dunstable
Hospital
NICU
Appeal |
| One in ten babies needs
specialist care when they are born. Each year
the NICU treats over 600 premature and critically ill babies. The
existing unit was built for 20 cots, but an increase in the birth rate
and advances in neonatal care have increased the demand for cots and
the unit now has 29 cots in the same space. Despite this increase, the
team still has to still has to turn away about 20 requests for a cot
each month as the Unit is completely full. As an interim solution, the
hospital has built temporary accommodation alongside the existing NICU
to house an extra six cots. The L & D is one of only three hospitals in the East of England which can offer the highest level of NHS care to the sickest and most vulnerable newborns. A new NICU is planned, to house a further 17 cots. Building work is scheduled to start in early Summer 2009, and be completed by Autumn 2010. It will include some essential overnight accommodation for parents where they can be supported in preparing to care for their baby before they go home. NHS funding will cover the £7 million costs of the building, standard equipment and staffing, but the hospital wants to raise £1.5 million for specialist equipment. The full cost of kitting out just one intensive care cot is £100,000 - but once the new cots are running (bringing the total to 37 cots), the hospital will be able to support significantly more babies every year. |
| WaterAid |
| WaterAid was our
main supported charity from October 2007 to September 2008. During this
period we raised a total of £1062.47 towards their work. In our all-age worship service on 4th November 2007 Aileen Stewart gave us some facts about water - which you may like to be reminded about: We often use water without much thought - because for us it's normally there on tap! For some people in other parts of the world, however, water is a precious commodity - it's in short supply and often takes much time and effort to obtain. Here are some facts from Aileen to set us thinking about the way we each use water, about how scarce it is for many people, and how the money we will raise in the coming 12 months can be used to help other people through WaterAid.
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| Welcome Leaflet |
|
We
have
recently
revised
and
reprinted
our
Welcome
Leaflet,
which provides
information about Wigmore
Church and
Community Centre for people who are new to the Church or
the
area. Copies are available in the foyer of the church building, but you
can also read a copy of it online here.
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