Nearly forty people gathered for Coffee and Croissants on Sunday the 17th December in Hempstead village hall for a wonderful community event. A reading and some prayers were intertwined with much chat and laughter for our very relaxed advent service. We looked at John the Baptist though a short play read out by a some of us there - and had a discussion of what was written about him. Very informative.
On November 29th at 6pm, 70 people gathered in Hempstead Village Hall for a talk by Revd Canon David Longe and Colonel Tom Fitzalan Howard CBE.This was an opportunity for everyone to ask any questions about the current situation in the Holy Land. Leading the discussions were Colonel Tom Fitzalan Howard CBE and The Reverend Canon David Longe.Hempstead PCC invited Tom and David to speak following a conversation after the Remembrance Sunday Service at Hempstead, when several of the congregation mentioned that they didn’t understand enough about the historical situation in the Middle East and therefore were struggling to comprehend what is currently going on.Colonel Tom Fitzalan Howard CBE was a soldier for 36 years and served all over the world including Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories. He lived in The Holy Land from 2000 – 2003 during the Palestinian 2nd Intifada (Uprising) working with both the Palestinian Authority and the Israeli Defence Force (IDF). He has visited Israel and Palestine several times and has extensive knowledge of the region. Our own vicar, The Reverend Canon David Longe was chaplain to the Anglican Archbishop in Jerusalem from 2015-2018 before becoming Rector of the Matlaske Benefice. He has recently visited the region including the Anglican Hospital in Gaza. He is a trustee of three charities involved with the Holy Land, including, Friends of the Holy Land for which a retiring collection raised £400. This money will go towards the work of the Anglican Al Ahli Hospital and financial aid on the ground. At the time of writing, the Hospital is one of the few operating hospitals in Northern Gaza and is in dire need. The talk was extremely interesting and informative with slides and maps, with many personal anecdotes and stories illustrating each point. There were so many questions that they had to be stopped at 8pm after two hours! Everyone came away feeling much better educated and informed and it was a very happy social and educational evening. Wine and home made apple juice were available and many people kindly donated nibbles for everyone to enjoy.
What could be better than getting on your bike, or lacing up your boots, to explore historic churches on a sunny September weekend?What about if you were also helping to support those churches, by raising sponsorship money along the way?Ride + Stride for churches is a sponsored bike ride or walk between churches, exploring and enjoying the countryside from Cornwall to Northumberland. It takes place on the second Saturday in September every year. This weekend is also part of Heritage Open Days, so thousands of churches are open to visit across England.Supported by The National Churches Trust and run by historic churches trusts across the UK, Ride + Stride raises well over £1million every year. The money raised helps to repair churches, chapels and meeting houses throughout the UK. It is the single largest source of income for many historic churches trusts, and enables them to give hundreds of thousands of pounds in grants to churches across the country. The funds you raise can be split between your local trust and your chosen church or chapel.https://norfolkchurchestrust.org.uk/bike-ride-walk/
