The last Sunday in Advent, being a third Sunday, we had sung Matins  as our 10 o'clock service. Father Stephen, who has had a nasty cold, was not with us for this service, so the Churchwardens, ably assisted by Joanna Chivers-Gibb and Margaret Guise lead the service. The choir sang 'Gabriel's Message' a traditional advent anthem based on a Basque carol, english version by Sabine-Gould set by Edgar Pettman. There was coffee after the service.
On Saturday the flower arrangers had decorated the church for Christmas, and it was looking particularly beautiful.

Our annual Christmas Fair was held in the Church Hall on Saturday afternoon. The traditional mixture of stalls,  refreshments and  raffles were all there and the whole event was very well attended. It was a good start to the Christmas events. The stall holders all worked hard and a great many mince pies and other cakes were consumed, not to mention the gallons of tea and some mulled wine! Even more satisfactory news is that takings were up on last year!









 

Today we begin the season of Advent, A season of contemplation and repentance, with the expectation of the arrival of Our Lord at Christmas. Our 10 o'clock service opened with the Matin Responsory. The words are adapted from the first responsory of Advent Sunday in the early medieval rite, and the setting is by Palestrina.Sung unaccompanied it provided a sense of the urgency of the message of the imminent arrival of the Messiah. The service reflected this with reading from Isiah and from St Mark's gospel. In the sermon Father Stephen, with the help of the children put together the Advent wreath for the church and taught us the meaning of each of the candles, for Abraham, the Prophets especially Isiah, St John the Baptist, and St Mary our Lady. There was coffee after the service.

In the afternoon we had our annual Advent wreath making and tea. We gathered in the Church Hall and thanks to Anwyl and Margery we had a wonderful choice of different greenery to use in the construction of the wreaths. When every one had finished the wreaths were placed on the central table and one candle of each was lit, and Father Stephen blessed them Then we had a lovely tea, many thanks to Deirdre and Shirley  for wielding the tea pots an washing up!!

The Church's Liturgical year ends with the feast of Christ the King, which we celebrated at our Sung Eucharist this morning. A good congregation came together despite cold and damp November weather. In his sermon Father Stephen pointed out that earthly Kings are not necessarily the role model to think of when thinking about Christ as King, but that our own Queen has surely shown many of the qualities of regal behavior with her perseverance, her even handedness and her ability to keep her own council for private discussion and not for broadcast!
There was coffee after the service.

Next Sunday, Advent Sunday is the beginning  of the Liturgical year, and in the afternoon we shall be making Advent rings in the Church Hall, still time to sign up

if you would like to join us!

This Sunday our service was Sung Mattins. The Autumn is upon us now and the walk to church was through a damp churchyard with many trees already bare of their leaves. We were without Joanna today, so the piano was played by Beryl Rodd, and the choir sat by the piano for the service. Many thanks to Beryl for standing in. The New Testament lesson was the parable of the Talents, which Father Stephen explored further in his sermon, the talent, or valuable thing, we have been given in the scriptures and the Good News of the Gospel, and evangelism is the way to use and increase our talents and our community of Christians. we prayed particularly for the Syrian Orthodox church in these times of trouble.

If you would like to join us to make an Advent ring/wreath on the afternoon of Sunday 30th November and enjoy tea with us, please sign up at the back of the church so we can plan materials and food!!





The Christmas Fair will be on the 6th December in the Church Hall.

This Sunday our service took place later than usual, starting at 10:45, in order to incorporate the 2 minutes silence at 11:00 am the national Act of Remembrance. During the service the choir sang 'My soul, there is a country' Words by Henry Vaughn (1622-1695) setting by C Hubert H. Parry (1848-1918) at the end of the service the congregation processed to the war Memorial where wreaths of poppies were laid from Village and National organisations. In this centenary year of the First World War, our annual Act of Remembrance was particularly poinient

The first weekend of November brings us to All Saints day and All Souls Day, respectively the first and second of the month. We held our All Souls day Commemorative Requiem for the souls of the departed on the eve of All Souls, on Saturday night. In this service the names of the Departed repose on the altar while the service itself uses the music of Faure liturgically for the Eucharist. The Choir were joined by a number of  additional voices, friends and neighbours who swelled the ranks of the singers. Once again were delighted to have Peter Webster as our Baritone Soloist, and Joanna Chivers Gibb at the organ.
This is a service where we can think about the happy times spent with loved ones who have gone before us to a better place, and think with joy of our future reuniting with them. It is a moving service made wonderful by Faure's music.

On Sunday morning, we celebrated All Saints during our family service, as the Sunday school has been on half term, Mrs Field gave us a short talk on the work of the Sunday school explaining how the themes such as the Ten Commandments and the Beatitudes are approached for a group of children ranging in age from 3 to 11 years old! The congregation were very impressed by the work involved from the 6 Adults who run the Sunday School. We sang some traditional All Saints Hymns and the Choir sang 'Give me the Wings of Faith' set by Bullock as the Anthem.

There was coffee after the service.

Next Sunday is Remembrance Sunday, so our service will start at 10:45 and include the Act of Remembrance at the War Memorial.

Calenders which have been pre-ordered, and Christmas cards will be for sale after the service on the 16th of November.

If you would like to join us for the Advent Sunday afternoon making of Advent wreaths/rings, in the Church Hall, please sign up on the list at the back of the Church. We would like numbers to be able to order materials and prepare Tea!!

Our Flowers reflect the colour of All Souls