This Sunday we celebrated the mystical wonder of God in three persons yet united in one the Blessed Trinity. Glorious sunshine greeted us on this Trinity morning, our service was a Parrish Eucharist. We sang many familiar Trinity Hymns and the Choir sang 'Ave Verum' in the setting by Edward Elgar as the anthem. And so we start the long period of Trinity or Ordinary time,  with many activities planned for the Summer and Autumn including a Jazz workshop with the Jazz Smugglers on June 16th at 7;30 in Church. Come and listen and join in!! We look forward to the Fete in July and our Tea Party with the Bishop at the end of July. Keep an aye out for more details of both  events.

Summer at St Marys

Pentecost marks the arrival of the Holy Spirit with the Disciples as they waited in Jerusalem following the Ascension of Jesus. It was the third Sunday of May so our 10 o'clock service was Matins. The Choir sang 'O Holy Spirit Lord of Grace' Words by Charles Coffin Music by Christopher Tye.
The traditional colour of Pentecost is red, we do not have any stained glass in St Mary our Lady, but we are blessed with a series of these lovely glass plates which are used through out the year. Our Pentecost plate looks wonderful with the spring sunlight streaming through it. Our altar frontal for Pentecost is also a lovely deep red, as shown.

This Sunday we were back in church after our exertions of last week for a Parrish Eucharist. This is the last Sunday of Eastertide, and as we celebrated Ascension day on Thursday last, we are looking forward to Pentecost next week and the arrival of the Holy Spirit. The Choir sang 'God is gone up with a Mighty Noise' by William Croft as the Anthem. There were cakes for sale after the service, these were part of the sale of cakes at the Coffee Morning held on saturday in aid of the New Parrish Rooms, £110 was raised, many thanks to those who organised the very successful morning.

The Sunday School parents and children are taking part in the Swimathon being organised by  the Lions at the Westgate Centre next Saturday, there is a sponsor form in the back of the church, do pop into church and sign up if you have not already done so!! Good luck swimmers!!

This Sunday being the first of the month was our children's service. We made our annual rogation walk of blessing. Sidlesham is quite a large Parrish geographically, despite having only 1400 souls residing in it. The boundaries would take quite a while to walk, so our rogation walk was limited to the immediate surroundings of the Church.
We started in the barn at the end of Church Farm Lane, blessing the seeds and crops, then proceeded through to bless the creatures of the water, the horses and the cows, returning to the Church for our final hymn and blessing. This year we were blessed indeed to have dry weather, after several years of processing in the rain this was much appreciated. We hope this augers well for a productive year on the land.


At the Barn




Blessing the Cows



Everyone singing to the Horses



Blessing the creatures of the waters



And the  Horse
















Don't forget Thursday 9th May is Ascension Day there will be a service at 7:30 to celebrate the Ascension of Our Lord, do come along!

Our 10'oclock service today was Parrish Eucharist. A sunny, but still chilly morning saw a good congregation summoned to the service by the bell, and joining in with some well known hymns. Father Stephen told us a sad story from early in his ministry, which illustrated the Gospel story from St John, where Jesus tells of his coming glory at the lowest moment just before his arrest. Whatever our sadness Christ is with us. The Choir sang 'Blessed be the God and Father' words from 1 Peter, music by Samuel Sebastian Wesley. The anthem asks us to 'Love one another with a pure heart fervently'. The service was followed by coffee.

Stop Press the Sunday School children and parents have got up a team for the Swim-a -thon being organised by the Lions on the 18th May, they need sponsors!!
We now have 30 woollie hats for the Mission to Seafarers, Sea Sunday will be on June 30th when we hope to have a speaker from the Mission to Seafarers. Come and see the Hats modelled and blessed before they are sent off.

Spring flowers



Ringing the Bell

 

Anyone for Coffee



Sunday afternoon the 21st of April we were treated to a delightful afternoon of music and tea! Our good friend Tom Cooper Price gave us a marvellous recital of music by Bach, Chopin and Field. In addition to his virtuoso playing, once again Tom told us fascinating stories of the composers lives, and pointed out the relationship and development of the musical forms from composer to composer.  We were treated to a 'Sidlesham Tea' which maintained the high standard set previously at these concerts! The retiring collection contained lots of yellow Gift Aid envelopes, and we await the final total, which of course goes towards our new Parrish Rooms.

Many Thanks to Tom, for his generous gift of time and talent to our project.

Tom Cooper Price telling us the background to the music he played

We have more entertainment and activities coming up! A team are entering the Lions Swim-a-thon in May so they will be looking for sponsors! Also there will be a Big Selsey Coffee Morning on the 11th of May look out for posters in the Church for time and venue.
 

This Sunday, the third Sunday in April, known as Good Shepard Sunday, our 10 o'clock service was Sung Mattins. The 23rd Psalm was the set psalm for today, and being in eastertide we sang the Benedictus. The Choir sang 'Brother James' Air as the Anthem, a setting of the words of the 23rd Psalm to a traditional tune.
We were joined by Godfrey Payne, who is second in command for the Salvation Army in Nigeria. He spoke about his life and work in Nigeria, describing some of the difficulties but also the wonderful enthusiasm of the people. The Collection from this service was given to the Salvation Army.

The Magnolia is now in full bloom

Spring blooms