Dear La Côte Church friends and family,

When it is at its best, I do find the church reassuringly counter-cultural – 19 days into Dry January (what a ghastly idea!), the lectionary gives us John 2.1-11 – Jesus’ first sign in the Gospel according to John, the wedding at Cana, when Jesus turned water into wine. But He didn’t just turn some water into some wine – a glassful, or a bottle – no, He turned 6 stone water jars containing up to 30 gallons each into wine, which by my calculation (6x30x4.546/.75) might have been as much as 1’091 75cl wine bottles-worth (assuming that wine came in 75cl bottles in first century Judea). And it was the good stuff, not the expected plonk.

What are we to make of this?

Well obviously, Jesus didn’t agree with Dry January – but more seriously, this sign reminds us that Jesus was invited to weddings and parties, He consorted with party-goers and indeed some who might otherwise have been looked down upon. He was criticized by the establishment for not being “religious” enough … and when He turned water into wine, He did it in style – 1’091 bottles of the good stuff. Think Yquem or Romanée Conti.

Throughout the Gospels Jesus is the advocate of abundance and extravagant generosity. He came that we might have life, and have it in abundance (John 10.10). He came to bring eternal life (not very moderate), to give the light of life to those who follow Him (not very cautious), to save the world (not very restrained) and to give rest to all who are burdened (not very reasonable).

Jesus tells us that the measure you give will be the measure you get back (Luke 6). So what are we to make of the wedding in Cana? How about this - let’s shed our mentality of scarcity/restriction/reasonableness/control and let’s follow the path of abundance. And bring on the 1’091 bottle-party!

Chris Potter

 

Save the Date: La Côte Church Quiet Day

"God moves first" 

A day for quiet reflection and encounter as we prepare our hearts for the Lenten season

Saturday, March 8th, Burtigny, Vaud

 

Worship this weekend

Sunday 19 January - Epiphany 2

“The Path of Abundance”

16.00     Gingins - Holy Communion with Sunday Club

ALSO

10.15    The Catholic Church of Notre-Dame, Rue de la Colombière, 18, Nyon

A French-speaking ecumenical service to celebrate the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. Everyone is welcome and there will be a programme for children.

After the celebration, you are invited to join us for a raclette apéritif

 

Worship coming up

Sunday 26 January - Epiphany 3

10.00     Divonne - Holy Communion with Sunday Club

16.00     Gingins - Taizé Prayer Service

 

PLEASE NOTEIf you are unable to attend one of our main services but would like Holy Communion or private prayer in person, please contact Carolyn Cooke.

For any prayer requests for yourself or others, please contact Peta Tracey who will share in confidence with our Tuesday prayer group where we pray for the needs of our world and community.

 

La Côte Church calendar for 2025

 

A beautiful LA CÔTE CHURCH CALENDAR FOR 2025 on the theme of ‘Food in the Bible’, with photos and relevant Bible quotations, is on sale on Sundays in Divonne and Gingins churches.

PRICE: CHF 25.00 for 1 copy, CHF 20.00 each for 2 copies or more. All proceeds to our Church funds.

Click here for more details
FOR A PRINTABLE VERSION OF THE SERVICE PLANNER CLICK HERE

 

A La Côte playgroup in Divonne

We are looking at setting up a La Côte playgroup for children aged 0-4, which would meet in Divonne once a week in term time. For further information please contact Alison Ball (playgroup@lacotechurch.ch)

 

Coming up this week

Morning Prayer

Monday to Friday at 7.30 and Saturday at 8.30 - online

Here is the link:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84315258948?pwd=WWZaMTRzZEpnNHV3ekZYRFRUYU96Zz09

Meeting ID: 843 1525 8948 - Passcode: 82966

 

Tuesday Prayer Group

Please note our next meeting will take place on Zoom: Tue. 21 Jan. 09.30-10.30

If you would like to join the meeting, please use the same link as for Morning Prayer (see above under 'Coming up this week' and on church website). The Northumbria Community order of service, which we often use as a framework for our prayers, is available on the day at: https://www.northumbriacommunity.org/offices/morning-prayer/

Please contact the Prayer Group by email with any prayer requests in confidence: peta.tracey@lacotechurch.ch

 

Window on Wednesday

Wesdnesday 9.30-11.30 - Gingins Parish Room

All are welcome to join us fortnightly on Wednesday mornings, as we share our faith and lives together along with coffee & pastries!

If you would like to join us, please contact Diantha Terry and/or Kate Shepherd.

Next dates for our meetings are January 22nd - February 5th & 19th - March 5th & 19th - April 2nd, 16th & 30th - May 14th & 28th - June 11th & 25th.

 

Click here for zoom links and other details

 

Recent Happenings at La Côte !

If you would like to have a look at some photographs of recent happenings at La Côte Church please go to our website https://www.lacotechurch.ch/recent-happening/

 

Rotas in ChurchSuite

Dear church members and volunteers,

ChurchSuite is beginning to work more smoothly, thank you to everyone for your patience and commitment.

One step that would be very helpful for Anne is that you add in your unavailabilites. Click HERE for how to do this or contact Anne.

It is very important that you check ChurchSuite on a regular basis to view when you are next serving. For further information, click HERE.

 

Happening elsewhere

Ignatian Way Retreat

March 1st, 2025

For more information, click here

 

The Lost Food Project (combatting food waste)

Members of la Côte Church are taking part in a food bank in Nyon. Click HERE for more information. If would like to supplement our food supplies, please bring rice or pulses to our Sunday services. Thank you very much.

 

Work with those seeking refugee status

Mentoring opportunities and Accommodation: Please speak to Diantha Terry with any thoughts you have.

Do you have jobs that need doing? Please contact Diantha Terry.

 

From your safeguarding team

Your safeguarding team promotes and works towards keeping our church a safe place where our congregation can feel secure and cared for.
Safeguarding is an integral part of the wellbeing of our Church community.

We are here not only to work with you through the formalities of short training or administrative safeguarding checks but to support you in strict confidentiality if concerns relative to abuse arise.

You can count on our understanding and goodwill in all things safeguarding.

Ever Guttierez, Cate Bichara and Liz Martinez

Contact email: Safeguarding@lacotechurch.ch

 

For useful resources click here and scroll to 'links of interest'!

Pledging and Giving online and in person 

Many thanks as ever for your giving to the life of our church and thus to our mission and service within and well beyond our community.

Pledging gives stability to the church finances and ensures that budgets can be planned realistically. So however large or however small your commitment, please consider pledging. Contact our pledge administrator, Mark Warren (mark.warren@yahoo.fr) for further details.

If you are at church without any cash but would like to give to the collection there is a solution: we have a bank or credit card reader at church to contribute to the collection using your card.

Here are the bank details for our church:

IBAN            CH42 0022 8228 5504 9740 H
Holder          The La Côte Anglican Church Development Association, 1267 Coinsins 
BIC               UBSWCHZH80A

You can also do so by scanning the QR code below

 

You may also like to remember La Côte Anglican Church in your will.
Merci beaucoup, thank you very much!

You can also donate by credit card by clicking here

 

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