This Sunday, the tenth Sunday after Trinity, our service was a celebration of the Eucharist at 10:00am. Father Stephen was the Celebrant, and the readings were from Romans and from St Matthew's Gospel. In his sermon Father Stephen talked about the different talents we are given to use to God's Glory, and that although we are all different we are all part of the body of the church. We sang communion hymns, as the choir is still officially on holiday! There was coffee after the service. Calenders for 2015 are now available to pre -order, please see the examples at the back of the church and sign up on the order list!

This Sunday we gathered at 10;00am to Mattins, in improved but still rather windy weather. The service included two readings from the King James Bible, the first from the old testament recounting King David welcoming the Ark of the Covenant to its home in Jerusalem, and the second from Revelations describing the pregnant Queen of Heaven and her opponent the dragon. These readings were part of the theme for this day devoted to the Virgin Mary and her arrival in Heaven. Father Stephen explained to us in his sermon, that these ideas relate to the Virgin being the Ark of the New Covenant between God and his people, as she carried and gave birth to Our Lord, the embodiment of the New Covenant. Father Stephen pointed out that only John the Baptist and Our Lady have feasts to celebrate both their birth and death, and that the are bridging figures bridging God's promises to the Jews to His promises to all people.
Coffee was served after the Service.

We were battered by wind an rain on the way to Church this morning as the remains of Hurricane Bertha crossed over the Manhood Peninsula. Father Stephen congratulated us on making it through the storm for our celebration of the Eucharist. Once again we remembered the Christians of Northern Iraq in our prayers as their situation worsens, do remember them in your own prayers. In his sermon Father Stephen spoke of how sometimes we feel spiritually in darkness, but the darkness is nothing to God who is with us, and spiritual growth comes through experiencing these dark times.
There was coffee after the service, and by the time we went home the worst of the storm had passed and the sun was stating to come out, the darkness had passed indeed.

This morning our Eucharist at 10:00am was celebrated by Father Stephen. Although it is the first Sunday of the month, with all the children on holiday we did not have a contribution from the Sunday School, but a sermon from Father Stephen. In celebrating the Transfiguration, he discussed with us the idea of a mystery. He asked for a definition of Mystery and was rewarded with the answer 'something that cannot be rationally explained.' As part of this service we are remembering the Christians in Iraq, especially those in Mosul, and Father Stephen made the point that they are more in tune with the idea of mysteries in belief, and of course are the original Christians with traditions dating back to the Apostles.
There was coffee after the service, and some photographs from the destruction of the Churches of Mosul were on display prompting further discussion, and prayer cards were available for those who wished to use them during the week.

This sign, the Arabic letter N with a cross in the position of the dot, has been used by Christians in the Middle East as a sign of solidarity during persecution. It stands for Nazarine, an arabic word for Christian

Some Iraqi Christians demonstrating outside the Houses of Parliament