Today, the villagers of Little Burstead and the congregation of St Mary's gathered together at the Old School and the War Memorial for a service of rememberance led by the Revereand Chris Arnold. There was a good number of people who turned up, including some people who stopped as they passed. During the service, there was a reading by a member of the parish council, a member of the Village Hall committee lowered the flag and several wreaths were laid on the War Memorial. Afterwards we went to the Village Hall for refreshments and shared memories. There are two books commemorating the lives lost in both World Wars with information on where their graves are, at the village church. More information about the war memorial can be found at: https://www.billericayhistory.org.uk/content/topics/place-2/war-memorials/little-burstead-war-memorial/little-burstead-war-memorial
As schools go back this September, our parish team will be starting a new Alpha Course. It will start on Wednesday 17th Spetember at Emmanuel Church from 19:30. Come and find out more about the Christian faith, about prayer, the Bible and the Holy Trinity. It's for the curious, the intrigued, the doubtful and those wondering if there is more to life than this. It is for everyone.
On Sunday afternoon, St Mary the Virgin, Little Burstead opened up the church to celebrate the diversity of butterflies and to take part in the Big Butterfly Count.Despite the windy and wet conditions, some butterflies were spotted, origami butterflies were attempted and we had a flutter of butterfly cakes. Butterflies were also hidden around the church to spot and interesting facts were learnt.During our visits to the church over this year, we have spotted at least eight different species of lepidoptera. We enjoyed the event and look forward to repeating it next year, although perhaps with better, butterfly friendly weather.If you would like to see the results head over to: https://bigbutterflycount.butterfly-conservation.org/ and please think about joining the count next year. You could also download the iNaturalist app to record and identify other flora and fauna.
