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!

On Saturday evening we were treated to a Mexican Supper in the Church Hall. A magnificent repast of traditional Mexican fare, guacamole, salsa, followed by Chilli con Carne, and finished up with traditional sweets including a 'tres leche' cake which was absolutely delicious! It was all prepared by Dr Hilary Platts, to the very highest standard we recognise from her kitchen!
Some people really entered into the spirit and dressed accordingly, but the more conservative of dress also had a wonderful time! A raffle after the meal added to the fantastic total of £500, raised towards our new building. The building is starting to take shape, do look at the page on this website to see some photos of the work.





On Sunday morning our 10 am Eucharist was celebrated by Father Stephen. We have reached the 4th Sunday in Epiphany and so the third of the themes for Epiphany was the subject of the Gospel, the Wedding at Cana and the first miracle. St Mary our Lady is our Patron Saint and so this story is close to us. Father Stephen pointed out that Mary, as the Mother of Jesus knew him, and may have realised long before the beginning of his ministry how special he was. In her words to the servants at the wedding 'Go and do as he instructs you' she gives us all the directions for our Christian Life.

As this was a fifth Sunday, the choir sang the Sanctus, Benedictus and the Agnus Dei in the setting by Sumsion, and the anthem was Ave Verum Corpus set by Gounod.

There was coffee after the service.

Do sign up for the Knit-a-thon on the 5th of March, or if you can't knit, perhaps sponsor one of the knitters, or provide a contribution to the tea! Tickets are still available from the Church Wardens for the Cheese and Wine evening on the 11th of February.

A cold and frosty Sunday morning with bright blue skies greeted us today. Our Eucharist was celebrated by Father Stephen. This is also the week of prayers for Christian Unity, and this was reflected in our first reading from St Paul. The Gospel, from St Matthew, continued the story of Jesus calling his Disciples from their fishing on the Sea of Galilee to be fishers of men. In his sermon Father Stephen referred back to the quotation from Isaiah 'the people who were in darkness have seen a great light' That great light which is Our Lord and guides us through our Christian life.

The Choir sang a communion hymn this week, and there was coffee after the service.

Next Saturday is our Mexican Supper, don't forget the Cheese and Wine on the 11th of February, and also please sign up for the Knitathon. This will take place on Sunday afternoon the 5th of March, we shall be knitting woolly hats for the Mission to Seafarers, and hopefully being sponsored by the inch in aid of the new rooms!! There will be tea to urge on the knitting. Donations/sponsorship forms and instructions for the knitting are available at the back of the Church.

This morning our 10 o'clock service was Mattins. In Epiphany we continue to trace the life of Our Lord prior to the beginning of his ministry. Our Bible readings at Mattins are from the King James version, the Gospel story, from St John's Gospel described the testament of John the Baptist to the descent of the Spirit onto Jesus at his baptism, and the recruitment of the first disciples including

Simon Peter
In his sermon  Father Stephen spoke about the need for revival and renewal of our faith, which sometimes burns low and that re invigoration leads us on to new aspects of our Christian Life.

The Choir sang the Benedictus in the setting by C.V. Stanford, and as the anthem 'The Lamb' by John Tavener.

There was coffee after the service.

Coming up rapidly is the Mexican Supper on 28th January, get your tickets from the Church Wardens.  Our next event will be on February 11th in the Church Hall when there will be a Cheese and Wine evening, at which you can view the video recordings of the Fete and the Entertainments from the Harvest Supper! Tickets £8 from the Church Wardens.

This morning our 10 am Eucharist was celebrated by Father Roger, as Father Stephen is taking a short break.Now we are in Epiphany we traditionally look at the events of the life of Our Lord and  this morning we  looked at the Baptism of Our Lord by John the Baptist by water and the Spirit. Father Roget in his sermon took up the theme of the Spirit in supporting and inspiring us in our Christian Life. These are difficult times with much uncertainty in the world, but the Christian faith leads us to trust in God for guidance, the Church is active in these times both Pope Frances and Archbishop Justin are working to bring peace to the world, and the spirit takes us along the path of a true christian life if we let it guide us.
The Choir sang the Ave Verum Corpus in the setting by WA Mozart as the anthem. There was coffee after the service.

A new year brings new Parish activities for your diary, Our next event is a Mexican Supper, once again magnificently prepared by Hilary Platts. This will be on the 28th January in the Church Hall. Tickets £12 from the Church Wardens.
A little further off, we are holding a 'Knitathon' at which we shall be knitting hats for the Mission to Seafarers, this will take place on the afternoon of Sunday 5th of March, 3.00pm to 5.0pm. Sponsorship forms will be available in the Church soon keep a look out!!

The first Sunday in the month, and in the year, was our family service. We were celebrating the Epiphany, as we had with us the Sunday school children. Our organist Joanna was away today, so we were fortunate enough to have Beryl Rodd play the piano for this service.During the service the presentation was about the service of opening or blessing of the house an epiphany tradition, which has become less practised these days. It was an interesting ceremony, marking the house as a christian home, and mirroring the Jewish Passover, but in this ceremony the idea is to show a positive love of Our Lord rather than the identification of families to be spared from the fate of the Egyptians!

During the Offertory, 'We three Kings of Orient Are' the Three Kings, played by the Swain Family, presented their gifts at the crib.

There was coffee after the service.

On Christmas eve we celebrated the first mass of Christmas with our service starting at 11 pm. The church was now decorated with gold and white for the festival and the flowers now reflected this with golden flowers added to the greenery. The white candle in the center of the advent ring was lit, and in the liturgy the Gloria was once again sung. The church was full, and the service full of joy. The choir sang 'Oh Little on Sweet' and the Sussex Carol after communion, and we closed with Hark the Herald Angels sing. Leaving the church on an amazingly mild night we wished each other happy Christmas.