The boys and girls in p5-p7 at Portstewart Primary School celebrated harvest in Portstewart Presbyterian Church this week. The boys and girls sang two songs, The Harvest Song and Praise to the one. There were also readings, prayers and poems. A truly wonderful service of worship and thanksgiving.
Thank you boys and girls for all your hard work.
Would you like to benefit from some warm company… a cuppa…. craic… & crafts? Why not come along to CAMEO every 1st and 3rd Thursday afternoons.
There are a number of good reasons to come along to CAMEO.
At CAMEO we invite visitors to come and demonstrate new crafts and they also encourage us to have a go ourselves.
In CAMEO we knit, crochet, cross-stitch, make cards & paint with a purpose. In recent years we have sent boxes of knitwear (including Trauma Teddies), warm coats. These parcels of love have met the needs of Syrian refugees women and children, poverty stricken Moldovan families and Ukrainian refugees.
So, if you are on your own why not join the CAMEO ladies. Contact Amanda on 07738005045 or why not use our Ask US page to find out more information.
This year‘‘s CAMEO project is called Project Romania. Ukrainian refugees are crossing into Romania and donations of blankets, quilts and knitwear (no clothes please), are needed by 30th October., but if you haven’t quite finished your knitting, keep going and it will be sent in a later delivery.
This is what Jennifer Caldwell from Portstewart Presbyterian Church said about CAMEO.
“I was very apprehensive on going to my first Cameo meeting as I was not sure what to expect. However I need not have worried. I was warmly welcomed by Amanda and those who were already there. It was very interesting to hear about the plight of the refugees in Lesbos and how badly they needed help. We knit for babies and very young children who are desperate for clothes and blankets. They are living in tents in atrocious conditions. We chat, laugh, exchange patterns as we knit and have a welcome cup of tea and cake. We end each meeting with a reading and a prayer. I have made new friends and really look forward to going to our Cameo meetings.”
Jennifer Caldwell
Ladies, don’t spend another Thursday afternoon on your own! Come along to CAMEO every 1st and 3rd Thursday.
This year harvest in Portstewart Presbyterian church will be Sunday 9th of October with services at 10:30 am and 6:30 pm with a lunch in aid of Tearfund immediately after the morning service.
Harvest is always a time of celebration and thanksgiving for God’s goodness throughout the year. Even in times of economic hardships, as we have today, it is still important for us to come together and thank God for all that he has given.
Harvest is also an opportunity for us to give back, to share our blessings with others. The harvest festival along with the presentation of gifts of fruit, veg. and other produce comes from the Old Testament festivals of weeks and ingathering. In these festivals the first fruits, sometimes produce taken before the harvest had actually been gathered in, were presented to God in the temple. This was a sign of thanks, but also a willingness for God to have the best of the crop.
It is in this spirit of offering to God the best of our crop that we are asking for gifts which can be distributed to the foodbank. These gifts will be used to decorate the church for the services, a symbolic offering to God, and then afterwards they will be taken to the local foodbank where those who need them most will get them.
Every year our organisations decorate a window, usually with a mixture of harvest offerings and other items that tell the story of what we have been doing throughout the year. The church will be open on Saturday the 8th of October to allow for decorating to take place and gifts to be left in.
Why not come along and help by contributing and also decorating the church for the service. You will be most welcome.
The Ulster Defence Regiment was raised in 1970 and played a vital role in the fight against terrorism. This came at a heavy cost; 197 soldiers were killed and a further 58 killed after leaving the regiment.
These deaths resulted in 120 wives widowed; 2 husbands lost wives; 158 children lost a father; 1 child lost her mother.
The local battalion was 5 UDR based in several locations in County Londonderry. 5 UDR lost 27 soldiers while serving, this included William Gordon who was killed alongside his 7-year-old daughter Lesley when a bomb exploded under their car.
13 soldiers were killed after leaving 5 UDR.
On 1st of October at Portstewart War Memorial a plaque honouring the memory of Ulster Defence Regiment soldiers killed will be unveiled and dedicated at 3:00 pm.
1n 1992 the Ulster Defence Regiment merged with The Royal Irish Rangers to form the Royal Irish Regiment. Thus, ending 22 years of active service.
A thought from Stuart
Scripture tells us very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die (Romans 5:7). I don’t know if we would dare to call ourselves good people, but certainly those who gave their lives so valiantly considered their cause to be a good cause. It is right that we show our gratitude, remembering such sacrifices.
The very next verse in Romans 5 goes on to tell us But God proved his love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us… (Romans 5:8) Jesus Christ showed the ultimate sacrifice and the ultimate expression of love when he died knowing we are not good, yet he deemed us worthy.
The sacrifice of brave soldiers throughout history, and through every conflict unfortunately had to be repeated over and over again in order for freedoms to be won and secured, and even today we cannot take those freedoms for granted as war again rages in Europe.
Yet Jesus sacrifice is a once and for all sacrifice, a sacrifice which achieves all its goals, a sacrifice that guarantees our freedom in God, if only we would accept it.
As we rightly remember the sacrifices of the brave at the war memorial, how will we remember the sacrifice of the only righteous one, Jesus Christ? Jesus told us how we are to remember. The work of God is this: to believe in the One He has sent. (John 6:29)
One of the questions asked of the church most often over the last 18 months has been, when will your mums and tots reopen? We are now delighted to be able to say that the answer to that question is Wednesday 14th September at 10 am.
As if this wasn’t enough good news, we are also delighted to announce that we will be forming a partnership with our local primary school. This exciting new partnership will see the church linking with the school enabling parents to see inside and meet some of the staff, while the children will enjoy story times, as well as becoming familiar with some of the faces who may well become their teachers in the very near future.
Mrs Taylor, principal of the primary school spoke of her excitement at the church and school linking in this way “It’s important that our local mums and dads along with their children get to see there is something special about their primary school.” Mrs Taylor went on to talk about the importance of the primary school serving the local community.
It’s important that our local mums and dads along with their children get to see there is something special about their primary school.
Mrs Taylor, principal of the primary school
If you have children of pre-school age, if you’re wondering how you will entertain them this incoming year, why not come along to the Mums and Tots in Portstewart Presbyterian Church Halls, we’d love to see you.
When it came to the ‘door’ for Ian Harbinson and Julie Peake-at different times, it impacted their lives massively. Ian went through surgery and treatment for a pancreatic tumour and Julie faced likewise for breast cancer. Both had been in ministry, Ian as a PCI minister and Julie as a deaconess with PCI.
“give us this day, our daily bread”
Matthew ch 6
Together they felt God’s direction to support others on a cancer journey, and jointly formed Semeron Cancer Support. Semeron is the Greek word used by Jesus in the original New Testament for ‘this day’ in Matthew ch 6 -“give us this day, our daily bread”.
Many cancer sufferers come to new appreciation of the worth of ‘this day’ which God has given. As Christians we want to live fully for God in ‘this day’ and share His grace and the hope He alone can give.
On Saturday 17th September, Semeron is holding an event for cancer sufferers and their loved ones at Lodge Hotel Coleraine with guest speaker Hazel Reid, who is a chaplain at Causeway Hospital and has been impacted by cancer in her immediate family.
It is open to all, and begins at 10AM running until 12noon.
To help with arrangements and catering please confirm you plan to come either through registering on Semeron website www.semeron.org or phoning Ian on 07458038402.
You can view the flyer by clicking here