Visit the church web site at www.ststephensw12.org. You can read all the latest news about the parish. You can also read the sermons which are posted each week

Thank you to all the parents and members of the congregation who are being so gracious as we go through the process of becoming a family friendly church. The current arrangements are as follows;

• We have designated the first Sunday of the month as a family Sunday. On this Sunday the colouring table is run by church volunteers
• Children aged 1 – 2: There is an overspill room by the colouring table or the crèche by the church entrance
• Children aged 2 – 4: There is a colouring table where parents can sit with their children during the service
• Children aged 4 – 10: There is a Sunday School on each of the other three Sundays (parents – do please leave your children with the Sunday school leaders. They will be well cared for and this then give you an opportunity to enjoy the rest of the service
• Young People aged 10+: There is a Sunday youth session that meets during the service.

Natalie and Elaine have got a questionnaire so that we can continue to build up a picture of what the are the needs of the church families

Sponsor a mug! - £2.50 a mug or £5.00 and take one home with you. We would like to commission a set of St Stephens mugs for coffee after church. This will mean that we no longer need to use paper mugs and throw them away (environmentally unfriendly)

Processional Hymn                    578

Collect of the Day
Almighty God, who through your only-begotten Son Jesus Christ have overcome death and opened to us the gate of everlasting life: grant that, as by your grace going before us you put into our minds good desires, so by your continual help we may bring them to good effect; through Jesus Christ our risen Lord, who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.

First Reading                Acts 11: 1 – 10                                   (p.872)
1 Soon the news reached the apostles and other believers in Judea that the Gentiles had received the word of God. 2 But when Peter arrived back in Jerusalem, the Jewish believers criticized him. 3 “You entered the home of Gentiles and even ate with them!” they said. 4 Then Peter told them exactly what had happened. 5 “I was in the town of Joppa,” he said, “and while I was praying, I went into a trance and saw a vision. Something like a large sheet was let down by its four corners from the sky. And it came right down to me. 6 When I looked inside the sheet, I saw all sorts of small animals, wild animals, reptiles, and birds. 7 And I heard a voice say, ‘Get up, Peter; kill and eat them.’ 8 “‘No, Lord,’ I replied. ‘I have never eaten anything that our Jewish laws have declared impure or unclean.’ 9 “But the voice from heaven spoke again: ‘Do not call something unclean if God has made it clean.’ 10 This happened three times before the sheet and all it contained was pulled back up to heaven

Gradual Hymn               612       

GOSPEL                         John 13.31-35                                   (p. 876)
31During the supper, when Judas had gone out, Jesus said, ‘Now the Son of Man has been glorified, and God has been glorified in him. 32If God has been glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself and will glorify him at once. 33Little children, I am with you only a little longer. You will look for me; and as I said to the Jews so now I say to you, “Where I am going, you cannot come.” 34I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. 35By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.’

INTERCESSIONS
Please pray for
- The sick and suffering: especially Felix Okike, Lucilda Bernard, Joan Andrew, Elizabeth Dorsett, Clive Heywood, Ron & Ivy Smith, Susie Leach, Norbert Edwards, Brother Paul Anthony, Sylvia Steed, John Asbridge, Caroline Nevill, Ruth and Tracey Davies, Esmay Young, Roger Cox.

Offertory Hymn                            513

Communion Hymn                     519

Post Communion Prayer
Eternal God, whose Son Jesus Christ is the way, the truth, and the life: grant us to walk in his way, to rejoice in his truth, and to share his risen life; who is alive and reigns, now and for ever.

Recessional Hymn                     433

Coffee in Church after the service

Small Children are welcome to use the colouring table or to play in St Thomas’s Chapel, near the porch
Baptised Communicants of other Churches are encouraged to receive communion
Children and other non-communicants are invited to come to the altar for a blessing
The Ministry of Healing is offered in the Chapel, after Communion is given

Invitation to Confession (Easter Day until Eve of Ascension) ©  1988 Continuum (Mowbray) (Adapted).  Some material included in this service is copyright: ©  1989 National Council of the Churches of Christ, USA.  Some material included in this service is copyright: ©  The Archbishops' Council 2000.  Collect (5th of Easter) ©  The Crown/Cambridge University Press: The Book of Common Prayer (1662)

NOTICES

THIS WEEK:

NEXT SUNDAY:            13 May 2007     Sixth Sunday of Easter
Christian Aid Week begins

10 am SUNG EUCHARIST
Celebrant and Preacher – The Reverend Dr Bob Mayo
Acts 16.9-15  (p 876), John 14: 23 – 29 (p 879)

THIS MONTH
Thursday 17 May – 7.30 pm – Confirmation Service at St Stephen’s
Christian Aid Week, 13-19 May – www.christianaid.org.uk
Not for Sale Sunday, 20 May – www.notforsalesunday.org

DIARY DATES

Friday/Saturday 7/8 September – Parish Residential Event – Felbury Centre, Dorking.  Please see Barry or Liz Clarke, or visit the church web site, for further information.
Environment Sunday (formerly Conservation Sunday) 3 June
Refugee Week 18-24 June – www.refugeeweek.org.uk
ALMA Sunday, 15 July – www.almalink.org
Back to Church Sunday, 30 September www.backtochurch.co.uk

There will be a Labyrinth Service for young people on May 27th at 6.30 (three weeks time.  The service will be to mark Pentecost

A team at Holy Trinity Brompton, London are organising a conference on behalf of New Life Ministries Australia, for the weekend of 1st - 3rd June 2007, at the Wycliffe Centre, High Wycombe, Bucks.  The conference is for women who are believing in God for healing/miracles/intervention to be able to conceive their own biological children.  Further details of the conference can be viewed at: www.newlifeconference.com

Home Communion – Available to any unable to come on a Sunday.  Talk to Father Bob (8743 3166) if you or anyone else might be interested.

Any enquiries about pastoral concerns, baptisms, weddings or funerals please get in touch with Father Bob. The only time that Bob will be unavailable is between Friday pm and Sunday am.