St Mark's

Owing to our lack of heating at St Mark’s we were unable to use the church for our annual Christmas Eve service, this year called Carols Round The Crib. Fortunately, the Tower Hall (village function room) Committee very generously offered us the free use of their venue for our service and so we were able to invite the local schoolchildren across to decorate the Christmas Tree about a week in advance of the service. Some wonderful ladies from the village including Joan Denehy, Joyce King, Moira Johnson and Jenny Martin came along to decorate the Hall with festive flowers and greenery, showering all their love on the venue, just as if it were the Church. Christmas Eve dawned bright and clear; all posters were up advertising the venue and pointing to its location. Many hours had been spent in preparing nibbles and providing mulled wine and spicy fruit punch for entertaining afterwards when the doors finally opened just after 3pm. Colin Minister, booking clerk for the Hall, kindly offered to be our barman and a wonderful job he did! He had helped us enormously to transport things down to the Hall for the service and then did an astounding job getting chairs out, and arranging them to make an approximation of a church with a central nave. It was wonderful to see so many people and such a good number of children too in attendance. Approximately 60 people including those participating in some small way were there. John Reach, Churchwarden, filled the role of Herod within the Nativity Story told, while a large number of his family members took the other parts; Caroline West, John’s daughter, played the part of the Angel Gabriel, Joseph Pembery, John’s grandson, was cast as Joseph, Alice Meekins, John’s granddaughter, was Mary, Vicki Smith, PCC Secretary, took the part of the Wise Men (well man actually since there was only one of her!). The service, led by Michele Bradbury, Churchwarden and Authorised Lay Minister, took the form of the story narrated by Michele with the various other characters speaking their parts with carols punctuating the whole. During the carols, some of the children present carried up knitted figures to the crib, where Maddy West, another of John’s granddaughters, helped to set the scene. By the end of the service the crib is populated by the figures with an angel on the roof and a star above to remind everyone of the story they have just heard. This year, there was a small slip of paper with a brief survey to see how the church and village might grow closer. It was heartening to note that almost every adult attending had completed the survey. This will enable the church to deepen their conversation with the village and give a foundation upon which their future relationship might be built. It was announced at the service that, in response to an enquiry by the village, a memorial bench had now been placed in the churchyard at St Mark’s where people were welcome to sit and enjoy nature, meditate or pray. It is hoped that in the spring a rose border or other suitable planting will be made to surround the bench and make it more inviting. The hospitality, mulled wine and hot food were enjoyed by a large proportion of all those attending. St Mark’s Church is very much looking forward to continuing its association with the whole community in 2020.

St Mark's

Unto Us A Son Is Born

Christmas Eve Service

The Glory of God

Blessing in disguise!