The Parish Magazine January 2023

the parish noticeboard — 2
The Parish Magazine - January 2023 9
St Andrew's Youth
STAY Baptism and Confirmations
group becomes . . .
It was an absolute pleasure to lead 16 young people
through their confirmation classes. We met in each young
person's home and followed the Alpha Youth videos, ate
pizza, played games and learned the Lord's Prayer off by
heart. We had the honour of baptising five of them in the
River Thames (see last month's magazine) which was such
a joyous occasion two weeks before their confirmation
service with Bishop Dr Stephen Croft. (Pictures and more
on the Confirmation Service on page 7)
The young people enjoyed meeting together on Monday
evenings so much that they wanted to keep meeting ... so
‘STAY on Monday’ was born. We will continue to meet in
homes, play games, eat donuts and learn more about what
it means to be a follower of Jesus.
STAY on Sunday
With a possible 22 young people growing in faith it is an
exciting time to be at STAY on Sunday! Our gatherings
have continued looking at the parables of Jesus, including:
— Matthew 25: ‘The sheep and the goats’ giving to the
needy as we prepare our hearts for Jesus to return.
— Luke 7: ‘The money lender’, Jesus doesn’t count wrongs
and forgives all who truly repent.
— Luke 6: ‘Wise & foolish builders’, if we build our lives on
Jesus, when the storms come we will stand firm and not
crumble.
— Matthew 5: ‘Lamp on a stand’, Jesus gives us 1,050
commands to follow, including; love God, love others,
love ourselves, love the world, whatever you do, shine
your light in what can feel like a dark world.
STAY on Friday
Our weekly Friday night youth club had a special visit
this month when the adult and junior choirs joined us
for a pre-Christmas carol sing song. It was a great way to
advertise the choir and invite young people along who
enjoy singing. We doubled up the use of the fire pit by
having s’mores for all the young people during youth club,
then we used it to gather round with the choir. All the
other usual games continued throughout November with:
pool, table tennis, the nail bar, cookie making, PS5, Xbox,
foosball, table tennis and air hockey.
STAY in Schools & Chaplaincy:
Our work in local schools continues to be sustained
and grow with mentoring, assemblies, staff and
governor prayer meetings, and working in partnership
with local charities. We’ve also started helping in
another local primary school with assemblies, which
has been a wonderful addition.
On Thursday 24 November, as part of my work
in the Piggott Chaplaincy, and along with 27 other
school chaplains, I was warmly invited to an evening
of encouragement and networking at Eton College.
I’ve got to say it was both encouraging and a time for
some fantastic networking. We heard two lectures on
the environment and Black Lives Matter from Bishop
Olivia Graham and Laverne Williams, respectively.
We were then fortunate to take part in the college's
Compline service which had 20 choristers singing the
most beautiful harmonies. The evening ended with a
top class dinner where conversations continued.
Chris West, Youth Minister
youthminister@sonningparish.org.uk