Well done to Joan Solomon and Andrew Bradstock from the Haven benefice who were among twelve churchgoers commissioned last week at St Mark's Church, Wootton, on the Isle of Wight to serve as lay ministers in their communities. The Archdeacon of the Isle of Wight, the Rev Steve Daughtery, commissioned eight new Lay Preachers, and re-commissioned two Lay Worship Leaders and two Lay Pastoral Assistants during the service. They've all been through a training programme to enable them to serve in this way.Thank you to Lionel Matthews for taking the photo. This post is copied from the Diocese of Portsmouth Facebook page
In October we invited Izzy Tween, from the Wildlife Trust, to give a public talk about the plans to release beavers into the Eastern Yar, at Newchurch. Izzy spoke very persuasively about the many benefits of having beavers helping to manage water flow in the landscape. She recognised that the government would need to put in place a compensation scheme for landowners whose land was adversely affected. She anticipated that the project could start next year if the necessary permissions were granted.At the end of the meeting Izzy presented a Wildlife Trust plaque to Dan Jarvis, our groundsman, in recognition of our work to conserve wildlife in the churchyard. We took a photo to mark the occasion.The evening went very well. About 30 people attended. Refreshments were served, and our new facilities were put to good use! We propose to have further talks of this nature in church in the coming year.