Gift of joy

In celebration of our 85th Jubilee, the St Patrick congregation decided to share a gift of joy with our local Bold Point community. On consultation, they advised us that they really wold like a lectern for the new community hall.

We were delighted to join them and hand over the lectern on Saturday the 14th of March as part of our Jubilee celebrations. We were joined by Margaret Fourie our special guest. It was wonderful for all the representatives from the faith communities to come together!

Our 85th Jubilee celebration coming up in March!!

This year St Patrick on the Hill will be celebrating our 85th birthday jubilee. What an amazingly blessed occasion to look forward to!

To celebrate, we are having a very special guest come from afar to make the occasion one to remember. We will be joined by our former beloved priest, Reverend Margaret Fourie, who has played a very special role in our little chapel history over the years!

The celebrations will start off with a thanksgiving service at the Chapel at 10 am on Sunday the 15th of March where Margaret will be leading the service. 

On St Patrick's Day, Tuesday the 17th of March at 6 pm, we will be "getting our green on" and join in the jubilee fun which will be take place at the Edge. In the spirit of communion and sharing, we ask that everyone bring with a plate of finger food to share with each other. There will be a cash bar as well for the more thirsty village members! 

#savethedate 

85th Jubilee programme

It is getting closer to our St Patrick Chapel's 85thJubilee celebrations this coming weekend and we would love to share what we have planned. As you all know we have invited our previous reverend Margaret Fourie to join us at this special time as a special guest. We would love you all to be part of all the various events, so book the dates!

#85thJUBILEE PROGRAMME:

• 10 March Margaret arrives in Hogsback!!
• 14 March 10am Margaret tree reunion at Morning Market. All welcome to join in and say Hallo!
• 14 March 12 noon Handing over of the lectern gift to the Bold Point community from the St Patrick congregation. All welcome.
• 15 March 10am 85th Jubilee Celebration Service. Margaret will lead this joyous service and there will be thanksgiving through music and Instruments.
• 17 March 6pm - St Patrick's Day. There will be a Bring-and-Share at the Edge. Wear green and come and share in the joy. There will be music to get us all in the mood and a cash bar.

See you all there!!

St Patrick on-the-Hill Hogsback– our response to the Carona Virus (Covid -19)

Fellow people of the Jesus way, I write at a time when the second case of someone infected with the virus has been reported. We have watched other countries’ reporting their first, second …… cases.

With a small number of people already exposed to the virus, we need to be responsible in how we as South African’s respond to it. Carefully considered and planned action is needed by each one of us and as a community. How should we respond as individuals?

It is quite natural to be anxious about the risk of infection to oneself, family, friends and others. We watched the China response to the virus unfold. It is now clear that the risk of infection is highest in certain situations such as large gatherings of people, places such as airports and on aeroplanes. The guidelines are clear – if you show signs of symptoms, go and see a doctor.

To protect yourself from infection, wash your hands regularly, don’t touch your face, mouth or eyes, keep away from people who are sick and coughing. Use a mask if you are sick or need to be in close proximity to sick people. How we as the St Patrick’s community are responding? Our aim is to ensure that people feel safe to come to church and can worship without feeling anxious. Those who are sick must know they are supported.

We are going to:

• Use a new way of greeting one another at the time of the peace – by greeting one another with our hands together fingers pointing upwards, and bowing one’s head. This is a very respectful greeting used by people in Asia – often accompanied by the word ‘Namaste’. 
• We will celebrate the Eucharist as usual, but at the time of Communion, only wafers will be offered. This is to reduce anxiety about sharing a common cup. This practice is what the Catholics already do as part of their tradition. 
• If you are sick with flu, cold or cough, please don’t come to church. It would be best for everyone if you stayed at home and joined us in the live streamed service (www.facebook.com/stpatrickonthehill).  
• If you are staying home and away from church because you are sick, please keep connected. Use the whatsapp, website (www.stpatrickonthehill.co.za) etc. 
• If you are ill, please keep the lay ministers informed so the church can support you with pastoral care and help where possible other needs. 

What you need to do, often: ‘Just do it’. The key way to reduce infections is through hand washing.

A prayer we can use: 
Holy and loving God, we bring to you our anxiety about this virus and the risk we each have of becoming infected.
Help us not to panic but to know your peace beyond all understanding.
Help us to be responsible by the protecting ourselves from risks to our own health and to be respectful and responsible about others’ health.
We pray for all those who are sick, those who fear they are infected, those who are sick or in recovery.
We long for you to bring healing and hope to all people.
We remember too those who have died and all who grieve.
Holy God, inspire those doing research, give courage and wisdom to all health workers and protection to all, including health support staff.
Help us to live as your people of love and wholeness as we face this challenge as individuals and together as a community.
May we shine with the love that we share.
Holy Spirit, we ask for blessing and love to surround this whole situation.
Amen

Liz Thomas
Rector
St Patrick on-the-Hill
7 th March 2020

Interesting things to know about the Chapel and its people

Over the next few weeks we will be posting little interesting tidbits about the chapel, its history and its people, so keep checking back!

We will start off with how the chapel got its name.....

Christmas Services

Christmas in Hogsback is always a very special occasion. Being so far from the hustle and bustle of of the commercial Christmas vibe in cities, provide for an amazingly blessed setting where we can focus on God's greatest love for us!

Christmas shopping is limited to locally produced labour of love and our version of jingle bells is the squawking of loeries in the trees and the occasional flash of red of their wings as they play from tree to tree. The focus here is family, friends and the soft embrace of God in nature as we wait for more rain blessings.

Most of us seem to have had a hard and busy 2019 and our serene little chapel is just the place to come and take a breather. We do have our usual, very festive Christmas eve carol service where the little ones gets to build the nativity scene and we all get to sing our favourite christ-mas songs in awe of little Jesus who came to save us. It will take place on Tuesday the 24th at  5:30pm. All is welcome and we advice you to come early as we have limited space.

Our Christmas day services will take place at 8am and 10am on Wednesday the 25th. The early service will be an Anglican mass and the later one will be a joyous family affair.

2019 St Patrick on the Hill Annual Retreat

This year we have made the decision to not have our retreat in and around Hogsback, but to take some time out to go and recharge our spiritual batteries at one of our favourite locations in Keiskammahoek, Cata Lodge. There is something really special in getting away from our normal grind and responsibilities, and spend some time out with God and fellow Christ followers in a really beautiful and inspiring setting.

This year we are really blessed to have Dr Bill Domeris leading our retreat. Our topic for the retreat is "Loving God" and Bill will deal with all the dimensions of loving God, with all our heart, soul, strength and mind. This is a time for us to renew our relationship with God. We will emerge ourselves in the topic over 4 sessions and there will also be time to go and stroll through the Afro-montana forests, while contemplating our closeness with our awesome God.

Venue:
Cata lodge is about an hour an a half from Hogsback and is situated very high up in the Keiskammahoek mountains overlooking the Cata dam. The facilities are outstanding and the beautiful setting lends itself to inspiring reflection! You will stay in an award winning, three-star self-catering accommodation which includes self-catering chalets, a communal retreat area consisting of a fully equipped kitchen, a central fireplace, a dining area where you can enjoy your meals and a lounge area where you can chill paging through wonderful coffee table books and magazines. There is also an outdoor braai lapa overlooking the mountains and Cata village.


Cost and logistics:
The cost per person is R500 for the 2 nights accommodation and includes the 4 guided sessions. It excludes food and Maggie will tell you what to bring with, just check with her when you book your place.

We will depart at 10am on Thursday the 14th of November from Hogsback Information Centre and share lifts. We will return to Hogsback after lunch on Saturday afternoon, the 16th.

How to book:

• Send Maggie a Whatsapp message (0835566962) to book your place, after which she will confirm your booking with you and provide you with banking details for payment.              
• Closer to the date Maggie will tell you what to bring  regarding food and drinks as well as travel arrangements.