A busy weekend at St Mary's with the fete on Saturday, and some solo singing in our Sunday Eucharist.
Saturday dawned a perfect English summers day with blue skies and a light breeze. The wind did pick up a little in the afternoon which was helpful as it would otherwise have been too hot! The traditional range of stalls, activities, the dog show, the classic cars, the runaway train were all there. The theme of the fete was '90 glorious years' and many stall holders were dressed in red white and blue to reflect the loyal theme. The fete was opened by another 90 year old, our own Deirdre Wade-Smith, who was driven to the podium in a classic Alvis car and duly declared the fete open. There followed 2 hours of hectic activity, accompanied by the Chichester City Band, and in glorious sunshine. We had more visitors than ever, aided perhaps by the presence of a sea fret or fog down in Selsey keeping people off the beach, this could be clearly seen by those who ascended the church tower, another of our attractions. Tug of war competitions were a feature of the second half of the fete, and congratulations to the City Band who won! At 4 o'clock after drawing the winning tickets for the Grand Draw, and finishing our delicious ice creams from 'Caroline's Dairy' the fete closed and the great clear up began.
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| Classic Cars |
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| The ice cream van arriving |
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| Chichester City Band preparing |
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| The line of people waiting for the fete to open! |
Sunday morning was overcast as we came to Church for our 10 am Eucharist, but everyone was smiling to discover that the takings from the Fete had exceeded those of last year by more than £700! We are blessed indeed!! The readings of the Gospel continue to be from St Luke, and today we heard the story of the Disciples asking Our Lord how they should pray, in his sermon Father Stephen continued this theme discussing the changes in worship now including 'messy church' and 'mossy church' (worship in the open air in places of particular spirituality) but emphasising the need for perseverance in daily prayer, and reading of the scriptures as part of our christian life.
During the Communion, one of our Junior Choristers, Emily, sang her solo of 2 verses of 'All things Bright and Beautiful' the whole choir sang the choruses and remaining verses. Emily has thus completed all the tasks to receive her dark blue ribbon, congratulations! Following this the Choir sang 'O Lord my God' the words of King Solomon's prayer, based on 1 Kings chapter 8, setting by Samuel Sebastian, Wesley.
There was coffee after the service, and we left for home in sunshine again!
11:14 | 
Posted by
LesleyB |
