Strike, churl; hurl, cheerless wind, then; heltering hail
May’s beauty massacre and wisped wild clouds grow
Out on the giant air; tell summer No,
Bid joy back, have at the harvest, keep Hope pale.
Gerard Manley Hopkins
OK, not the most cheerful verse about May but I have a reason for being in GMH mode this month – see the article below about Cherishing Churchyards.
But really if it’s May it must be the Spring Fair so we’re set fair for a FUN-FUN-FUNdraising day , whatever the weather. You can read all about what the Fair has to offer and what the organisers need, further on in this issue.
There are other things happening this month of course. Christian Aid Week falls on 10-16th. As a parish we’ve always supported Christian Aid most generously and I hope, in spite of our preoccupation with the Fair, that we’ll have something left in our pockets for the pew collection.
On the 17th we are to be treated to a visit from Choir Vivente from Holland who will sing an anthem for us – Jubilate Deo by Hendrik Andriessen. At the end of the service their organist will play Prelude and Fugue in C by Johann Ludwig Krebs and the choir will join us for coffee in the Crypt before continuing with the next leg of their tour.
The new Study Centre Reading Group and Women’s Bible Study terms begin again this month, as does Pilgrim, the course for newer members of the church. Programmes for all these have been in previous issues and are available at the back of church and on the website so, as space is tight this month, I haven’t repeated them.
The Annual Meeting happened, and, because I’d said on the pewsheet that it was usually painless, it turned out to be anything but with Father Stephen announcing his retirement! Other business included the election of Jon Siddall and Angela Gardner as churchwardens and Diana Finning and Andrew Penny as deputy wardens, Andrew transferring down so to speak, from full warden. We met our new Youth Worker, Katharine Phillips, who has already introduced herself to everyone in the weekly e-letter so I won’t repeat that here, and we heard the first official mention of re-decorating the church – sometime around 2018. The Annual Report is a substantial document covering every aspect of church life and, if you haven’t already taken a copy, I commend it to you – it really makes very interesting reading and shows just what a range of activities and groups we have and what a lot of work is done (and inevitably includes some hints about further volunteering!)
May
Judy East