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Dear La Côte Church family and friends,
This coming weekend we will mark Safeguarding Sunday both in Divonne and in Gingins.
I have always loved the scene in the Sound of Music where the nuns helped the Von Trapp family to escape the nazis by hiding them in the abbey. It reinforced my ideal of churches as safe spaces. But what happens when churches are anything but safe for the people who attend them, including the most vulnerable?
We have all heard of shocking cases, but what can we do about it? The Church of England places a lot of emphasis on Safeguarding and part of this drive is holding a yearly Safeguarding Sunday. The theme for 2024 was Let’s Talk About It. Maybe we don’t really want to talk about safeguarding, we’d rather there was no need for it. But talking means creating a culture where things are not kept secret, where there are open honest conversations, and where everyone works together to make the Church a truly safe space.
This Sunday La Côte Church will be holding our own (slightly belated) safeguarding Sunday with the Safeguarding Officers coming to talk about their work. We hope that you will join us and see what we can all do to help the Church on its safeguarding journey.
La Côte Church Safeguarding team
Here are some links you may find helpful on safeguarding matters:
Safeguarding Sunday: Let's talk about it
Safeguarding - La Côte Anglican Church (including local links)
Who to contact to raise a safeguarding concern | Diocese in Europe (including information on Eden Voice - survivor advocacy group)
Home - Safe Spaces England and Wales
Here is a prayer for our church to be a healthy and safe community for all:
May the doors of this church be wide enough
to receive all who come seeking God and fellowship.
May the doors of this church be narrow enough
to shut out pettiness and pride, envy and enmity.
May the threshold of this church be no stumbling block
to young or frail feet.
May the threshold of this church be too high
to admit complacency and self-seeking.
May this church be, for all who enter,
a safe place and the doorway to a richer life in Christ. Amen
Important – Renewal of the Electoral Roll happening now!
Every six years, all churches and chaplaincies in the Church of England have to renew their Electoral Rolls. This means throwing the old one away and starting again!
2025 is one of those years, so even if you are on the Electoral Roll at the moment, you need to fill in a new form if you want to be on the Roll after 8 March 2025.
To find out about the electoral roll and its purpose in our church life – CLICK HERE
If you would like to be on the Electoral Roll, click HERE.
Worship this weekend
Sunday 9 February - Safeguarding Sunday
10.00 Divonne - Morning Prayer with Sunday Club
16.00 Gingins - Evening Prayer
Worship coming up
Sunday 16 February - Epiphany 5
16.00 Gingins - Holy Communion (no Sunday Club)
PLEASE NOTE - If 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.
Sunday 2 March - Transfiguration Sunday
Live RTS programme
10.00 Gingins (please arrive at the latest 9.45)
Followed by Said Eucharist after the radio service
There will be no afternoon service in Gingins
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
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)
Our Lenten Journey
Ash Wednesday
5 March at 19.00 in Gingins
 For more information, click here
Please register with anne.detreverret@lacotechurch.ch
 For more information and register, please contact betty.talbot@lacotechurch.ch
Nicene Creed: Seeing afresh the Faith which holds us together
An online Lenten study run by La Côte and Holy Trinity Church
Tuesdays in Lent at 19.30 – More info to follow
Save the date!
La Côte Church Annual General Meeting in Divonne
Sunday 23 March
after the 10.00 service of Holy Communion
Here is an update from the …
La Côte Church Social Action Group
The Social Action Group makes recommendations to the Church Council about how to allocate charitable giving. The criteria we apply include:
- Support to relatively small community service organisations so that the church’s modest gifts have proportionally greater impact
- Support to local institutions as well as international ones
- Support to institutions with whom we can have a direct contact
We seek to raise funds for and awareness within the church and wider community about the organisations we support. Here is a list of the organisations supported in 2024, with weblinks, if you would like to learn more about them.
Caroline Allsopp, Liz Bramley, Scott Campbell, Carolyn Cooke, Kate Shepherd, Chris Talbot
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
Conference and Display of 16th Century Books
Tudor England and the Antwerp Book Trade:
From Tyndale to Plantin
Antwerp (BE), Tuesday 8 – Friday 11 July 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
 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!
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