Dear Parishioners,

21 parishioners attended the first meeting to look at Pope Francis’ inspirational letter, The Joy of the Gospel. Comments afterwards were extremely positive. We resume on Wednesday, so if you couldn’t come last week, do join us this Wednesday for refreshments at 7.15pm followed by a 1 hour meeting at 7.30 in the Parish Centre.

No doubt you have noticed the newly tarmaced road between the Church and School which has created a safer passage for our children. In icy conditions the clearly marked walkway will be kept clear of snow and salted. Cars that do not have disabled parking permits will be asked to move if parked in the disabled bays and the yellow lines have so far prevented inconsiderate parking.

The drainage of the sports field is completed. All that remains is to pay the bills.

This leads me to the appeal Derek Pearce made last month. Quite a number of parishioners took forms for Bankers orders, Gift Aid forms and/or Offertory envelopes. If you have one of these at home, please do return it as soon as you are able. To recap Derek’s talk: a Bankers Order saves you looking at the last minute for a contribution to the collection on busy Sunday mornings, signing a Gift Aid form automatically increases every £1 you give by 25p. So every £5 becomes £6.25, every £10 becomes £12.50 and so on. Please do consider this. Each week we receive in the collection some £130 in notes, which if Gift Aided could earn an extra £1,600 a year. (Do remember that signing Gift Aid commits you to no promises) For further information please contact me, Fr Kevin, or Carol Riley (426769) or John Thornber (427352), both members of the Parish Finance Committee. There are plenty of forms and envelopes available.

Congratulations to our school at St Mary’s Sabden which has been awarded a Certificate of Merit and a Trophy by the Keep Britain Tidy Scheme for having the best kept school and grounds in the Ribble Valley. Yes, the best in the Ribble valley! Well done!

Finally, a new study has suggested that Church attendance can ward off depression. Scientists from the London School of Economics surveyed 10,000 people over the age of 50 for four years to see which kind of social activities might stop people feeling depressed. The study found that regular Church attendance did just that!

                                                                                       Fr John