From the Rector... Some friends from our former church came to visit us recently. I have known 2 of them since primary school and we have both known the others for many years. They too, live in a rural village and all of them are from farming families and all very involved with the local church. When they arrived at the Rectory, their first comment was what a lovely, unspoilt village. How are you managing to keep it so? Their problem is that a couple of local farmers have recently sold off acres of land to housing developers (one now has 600 houses on it and another 2 each have around 100 houses with more to come). Their villages have lost their “villageness” and, as all local amenities such as shops, doctor surgeries, village hall etc had already vanished, there is absolutely nothing apart from houses (one village church and a small village primary school which is now bursting with children and with no room to expand). They are really struggling to keep community going and envy us. We are so fortunate here; yes, we don’t have local shops or surgeries in the villages but we have so much community – the minibus service, our village halls, three schools, all thriving, the pubs, not to mention our 4 churches. God wants us to live in community together; looking out for each other, sharing conversation, meeting each other socially and worshipping Him in church. We give Him thanks for our villages and pray that He will continue to bless our communities. Revd Marion Reynolds
