Our 10 am Eucharist this mornig was celebrated by Father Stephen. This is the last Sunday before Lent. Ash Wednesday is the 1st of March, when there will be a Eucharist with Imposition of Ashes at 7:30 pm. Do come along and start Lent with this moving service.

The readings today were from St Peter and from the Gospel of St Matthew, the story of the Transfiguration. In his sermon Father Stephen developed the theme of the Transfiguration, when Jesus was visited by Moses and Elijah during a period of private prayer with his disciples. Moses representing the Law, and Elijah the Prophets, underlying the fact that Jesus was the completion of the Law and predicted by the Prophets. As Jesus and his disciples descend from the mountain to the plain and rejoin their followers, we have an illustration of the two aspects of Christianity, its mystical side and its practical side. Father Stephen told us that in a lifetime as a Christian and 30 years in Ministry, he had tried to follow the practical side of the religion, but felt he had not got to the bottom of the mystical side, and so the adventure of the Christian Life goes on!

The Choir sang 'Here O Lord I see you face to face' by Percy Whitlock as the Anthem. There was coffee after the service.

Our next event, the Knit-a thon, will take place next Sunday the 4th of March at Russetts, do come and knit, or sponsor one of those who will be!

As we enter Lent do join us in the Vicarage on Thursday evenings at 7:30 for our Lent Course. We will be studying St Mark's Gospel.

This morning our 10:00 am service was Mattins. The readings, from the King James version of the Bible included the Creation Story from Genesis, and from St Matthew's Gospel Jesus' words to his disciples urging them not to worry about material things! In his sermon Father Stephen continued this theme, telling us that people of our times worry as much, if not more, than those of first century Palestine! We must put our faith in Our Lord and follow his path, and such things will be taken care of.

The Choir sang ' Fairest Lord Jesus' a setting based on a Silesian folk tune arranged by Martin How, as the anthem.
There was coffee after the Service.

Father Stephen reminded us that this year's Lent Course will be held on Thursday evenings in Lent at the Vicarage. We will be studying St Mark's Gospel, do sign the list in the church and come along!

Don't forget the Knit-a-thon on March 5th and the Musical Afternoon on the 12th of March.

We enter Ordinary Time again after the Festal period of Epiphany as we await the beginning of Lent. Our 10am Eucharist was celebrated by Father Stephen. The Gospel from the Sermon on the Mount, referred to the Ten Commandments, the old covenant between God and his People, and how Jesus updated these ideas to include both the spirit and the letter of the law. Father Stephen, in his sermon, told us that the great festivals we have passed through in the last months all celebrate the Light of God coming into the world, and it is this light that we follow through our lives in sure and certain hope of being united with God at the last day.

The Choir sang 'Teach me O Lord the way of thy statutes' by Thomas Attwood as the anthem.
There was coffee after the service.

despite the cold weather Spring is arriving in the Church Yard!

A very enjoyable evening in the Church Hall, with some 60 people attending a viewing of the video of the entertainments at the Harvest Supper, this was greatly enjoyed by all. We also saw a video of the Fete, hard to believe on such a cold winter evening that we had even enjoyed the blue skies and sunshine of mid July!.
Marilyn and Frank also provided us with an excellent selection of food and wine! All proceeds to the New Parish Rooms of course!
Many thanks to every one who helped with this splendid evening!

The first Sunday of February and we are celebrating The Presentation of Christ in the Temple or Candlemas as part of our Family Service. The Celebrant was Father Stephen, and as usual on our first Sunday, the Sunday School were in charge of the first part of the service. Before they took over, we lit our candles and received a blessing from Father Stephen









After the Gospel, we watched a re-enactment of the story. Simeon and Anna looked for the Messiah coming for presentation in the Temple. They looked to see if he would be in the family of a Football star, a Politician, a Doctor and a Nurse or a King, but they found him in the family of a humble carpenter.







The intercessions were then lead by a member of the Serving Team.

During the Communion the Choir sang the Nunc Dimittis in the setting by CV Stanford in B flat, using the traditional words spoken by Simeon at the Presentation, sung in this setting by the male voices with the full choir singing the Gloria. This setting is particularly appropriate for Candlemas.

There was coffee after the service.

Next Saturday is the Cheese and Wine evening in the Church Hall, where you can also see the video of the Harvest Supper entertainments and the Fete, tickets from the Church Wardens.
The Knit-a-thon will take place on the 5th March, if you can't knit, please sponsor one of the knitters, or maybe provide an item for tea to keep them knitting! The knitters are knitting hats for the Mission to Seafarers, and we hope to present them to our guest speaker from the Mission who will join us for Sea Sunday in July. Sponsorship money will go to the New Rooms Project.
On the following Sunday, the 12th of March we will have a concert of Piano and Violin music from Joanna Chivers-Gibb and Ian Scott. This will be a mixture of musical styles so something for everyone. Ian spent a good deal of time working with Patrick Moore on his musical compositions, so he is looking forwards to coming down to the Manhood Peninsular to play for us. There will be Tea after the concert and a retiring collection for the New Rooms Project! Speaking of which, the floor raft is now laid, look at the pictures on the New Rooms page of this website!!

Spring is coming!