St Mary’s News – the Bank Holidays Edition

This edition starts with Bank Holidays and covers much more

This edition of St Mary’s News starts with Revd. Heather’s “Bank Holidays” message and then continues with:

See the Coronation at the Church,
Eco Church,
Drop in Café,
Christian Aid Coffee Morning,
Successful Soup Lent Lunches, and
the usual listings of services and co nt acts.

Bank Holidays

Bank holidays. May is normally blessed with two of them. This year we get an additional one for the Coronation of King Charles III.

For a large percentage of the population, this will be the first time any of us will have seen a Coronation in this country and having a king on the throne is still somewhat strange. So aside from giving us an additional Bank Holiday, which is of course always very welcome, this will be a momentous occasion, whether we choose to recognise it as such or not.

But what about the other two bank holidays?

April 1, 2023April 1, 2023

St Mary’s News – the “He is not here” edition

This edition of St Mary’s News starts with Heather’s “He is not here” message and then continues with:

Holy week services
Prayer spaces,
FISH Club, and
the usual listings of services and co n t acts.

He is not here, he has risen – Rev. Heather’s Easter Message

April begins in a rather playful mood, with April Fools day. Be it on TV, radio or in the papers, over the year, there have been some rather clever April fools jokes played on us, the unsuspecting public.

April Fools Pranks

Who can forget, Richard Dimbleby’s report in 1957 on a particularly bountiful crop of spaghetti in Switzerland, due in part to the disappearance of the pesky spaghetti weevil.

March 4, 2023March 4, 2023

St Mary’s News – the Daffodils & Hope edition

This edition of St Mary’s News starts with Daffodils & Hope and then continues with:

Daffodils - By Genet, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=24680708

Eco Church,
Lent Soup Lunches,
Vocations Evenings,
Lent Compline, and
the usual listings of services and co ntacts.

Daffodils and Hope

As March beckons, spring bursts onto the scene. The words of William Wordsworth might come to mind as we see the daffodils emerging from beneath the ground:

January 28, 2023January 28, 2023

St Mary’s News – the “Love Is All Around Me” edition

This edition of St Mary’s News starts with “hopes for 2023″Love is all around me”, and continues with other news including:

FISH Club,
Pancake Party,
Church Hall Decoration,
Wedding Celebration, and
the usual listings of services and co ntacts.

Love Is All Around Me

‘I feel it in my fingers, I feel it in my toes, Christmas is all around me and so the feeling grows’

… say the lyrics of the Christmas film, which has just celebrated its 20th anniversary, Love Actually.

It doesn’t seem five minutes since we were celebrating Christmas, and yet in the world of advertising and card manufacture, we have definitely moved on, into a season more appropriately linked to the original lyrics of the song, first performed by the Troggs in 1967 ‘I feel it in my fingers, I feel it in my toes, Love is all around me, and so the feeling grows.’

December 31, 2022December 31, 2022

St Mary’s News – the hopes for 2023 edition

This edition of St Mary’s News starts with hopes for 2023, and continues with other news including:

Epiphany Party,
Licensing of Rev Anne Mason,
Saturday Morning Café, and
the usual listings of services and co ntacts.

Hopes for 2023

A New Year Reflection from Revd Heather

As 2023 begins, plans to give you hope

With each New Year, comes a time of reflecting back on the past 12 months, and a moment to look ahead and dream about what the future might hold.

December 13, 2022December 13, 2022

Candlelit Service Returns to the Old Church

Return of the annual candlelit service at St Mary’s Old Church

For the first time since 2018, the Friends of St Mary’s Old Church are holding a Candlelit Service in the Old Church. Following the success of their Mulled Wine & Mince Pies event, the Friends look forward to welcoming you on Sunday 18th December at 2:30 pm. The service is free and open to all and there’s now dedicated car parking opposite the church. Reverend Heather Wilcox will lead the service.

In 2019, the Friends were able to hold a Carol service but, because of redecoration works at the time they could not run it by candlelight. Since then, of course, the services have been unable to run due to Covid. So do come along and welcome this annual tradition back to the village.

Dress for the weather!

November 27, 2022December 11, 2022

St Mary’s News – the Christmas 2022 Edition

This edition of St Mary’s News starts with Christmas 2022, and continues with other news including:

Revd Heather’s Christmas Message,
Saturday Morning Café, and
the usual listings of services and co ntacts.

Christmas 2022

We look forward to welcoming you to our Christmas services this year:

November 23, 2022December 29, 2022

Old Church Invite to Mulled Wine & Mince Pies

Invitation to Mulled Wine and Mince Pies with a side order of music by Octavia

Invitation To Enjoy Music, Mulled Wine & Mince Pies

Next Sunday, 27th November, the Friends of St Mary’s Old Church invite you to enjoy Mulled Wine & Mince Pies with them. This event will also afford you the opportunity to renew or join the friends.

Music

Octavia will be performing during the event, which runs from 11:30 am to 1:30 pm. Octavia is a ‘sub-group’ of Quire.

October 28, 2022October 28, 2022

St Mary’s News – the Posada Edition

This edition of St Mary’s News starts with the Advent Experience of Posada, and continues with other news including:

Remembrance Services,
Christmas Shoebox Appeal,
Happy New Year (yes that’s right),
The START Course, and
the usual listings of services and co ntacts.

The Advent Experience of Posada

Posada originates from Mexico where people dress as Mary and Joseph and re-enact the journey to Bethlehem, travelling from house to house asking for a place to stay (the word Posada means an inn). In recent years, this idea has been modified by churches in this country by sending the figures of Mary and Joseph and the donkey from house to house during Advent.

This year, we are offering the Posada experience in our village. From Sunday 27th November until Christmas Day, figures representing Mary and Joseph will travel round our community from home to home, stopping by arrangement, where there is a place for them and a warm welcome waiting.

September 29, 2022October 28, 2022

St Mary’s News – Bread of Life Edition

This edition of St Mary’s News starts with Liz Dixon reflecting on Jesus being “the bread of life”, and continues with other news including:

The Christmas Shoebox Appeal,
Food in School Holidays (FISH),
Halloween Hot Chocolate,
Children during morning services, and
the usual listings of services and co n tacts.

The Bread of Life

Then Jesus declared ‘I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.’
John 6:35

More Sustainable

In an effort to live more sustainably, I decided to try and grow some vegetables in my garden for the first time this year. I made lots of mistakes so the results were very mixed. The broad beans were covered in black fly, the dwarf pea plants produced about 6 peas from 20 plants, and the carrots were very tiny. But I did manage to grow some passable red peppers!