The Junior Singing Club made a good start at the beginning of the new School term. We lost some members who had moved on to secondary schools, but have gained a good number of new, enthusiastic younger members. So far, the group has sung at the September St Mark’s Celebration! service and at the St Mark’s School Harvest service, where they successfully sang a 2-part song on their own and sang a descant to the popular Harvest Samba. The group sings a variety of music, and the children are excited to start learning a Taylor Swift song, (their request). We look forward to some Christmas performances and continuing to sing at the monthly Celebration! services. We are delighted to have local piano teacher Panisara Thomas playing piano for us. St Mark’s Harvest service was followed by the usual wonderful Bring-and-Share lunch; the good weather allowed us to eat outside in the lovely Church garden, (making a total of 3 open-air events this year). The Harvest decorations were amazing, and were left in place for the School Harvest Service. We collected a large number of gifts from School and Church for the Swanage Foodbank. During the last 18 months St Mark’s Committee has been working up a plan for a modest re-ordering of the back of the Church, together with some tidying up work to improve our side chapel. We hope to submit a Faculty application soon. The aim is to improve the flexibility of our building, which will give us more space for work with children and young families. If anyone would like a guided tour of the proposed work, please contact me. Please pray for this whole project – it has taken much thought, consultation and planning. November is a time for remembering. St Mark’s will be helping to provide refreshments at the Team All Souls service at St Mary’s, 3:30pm, on November 1st. We are also preparing for Remembrance Sunday, with our Act of Remembrance at 11am, as part of our 10am service. Our final service in November will be our Advent Sunday Celebration! service. this is always a special occasion. It’s the start of a new Christian year, the beginning of our count-down to Christmas, and an opportunity to prepare to celebrate the birth of Jesus, our Lord. David Richards, Resident Priest
I’ve said it before, and I will say it again …. There’s always lots of events and happenings in St Marks and in beautiful Swanage. We had a really wonderful summer, although the lack of rain caused several heath fires and difficulties for farmers and gardeners. We enjoyed music festivals, carnival, fireworks, and at St Marks, special birthdays and wedding anniversary celebrations, afternoon events including our annual BBQ, all very enjoyable and successful. We now have a shiny new BBQ, donated by Jean and Bernards’ daughter, Helen, and partner Terry, and so we look forward to ‘christening’ it next summer for our BBQ, with the help of Helen, Terry, and Dave, once again! On 12th September we opened the church for the annual Ride and Stride in aid of Dorset Historic Churches and welcomed some visitors to St Marks. After our successful walk last year, with other local churches, we hope to organise a walk, next year, raising money for all our churches. As I write this, mid September, we are looking forward to Sunday 27th September, when we will hold a special Celebration Service of Thanksgiving and Blessing for our Pets, both pets and their owners will be made to feel very welcome and I’m sure they will all be very well behaved! We will have plenty of refreshments, after the service, including coffee and cakes and special dog biscuits, for our furry visitors. Now, I wonder if I can borrow a lama for the morning…..!! The ‘Herston Our Village’ Facebook page, is growing well and increasing in followers and local news blocs. We are busy planning for our Harvest Festival celebrations, with our Harvest Service on 4th October, starting at 11am, with a Bring and Share Lunch to follow. We are collecting Foods for the Swanage Food Bank. I’m sure that the church will be full of wonderful autumnal colours and smells. Thank you, in advance, to everyone who has contributed to our Harvest Festival. St Marks School will be having their Harvest Service in St Marks Church, on Thursday 8th October, when the children will be able to enjoy the wonderful harvest flowers and vegetable displays and to bring their harvest gifts for the Swanage Food Bank. The nights are already drawing in and there is a slight chill in the air in the mornings and evenings. Summer is coming to an end, but Autumn is a wonderful time to admire the variety of colours and changes in the world around us. The shops are starting to stock their winter goods, and I know I have already spotted some packets of Christmas cards on the shelves!!! A reflection: Hope – giving God, thank you for creating a world full of seeds that testify to your loving investment in the land and in our lives. Just as you rejoice to see those seeds bear fruit, we come to you at this festival time with the fruit of praise and thanksgiving for your goodness and faithful love. Amen (by Martyn Payne) May God Bless and Keep You. Anne Roper Church Warden
Do you remember the summers when, after rather lack-lustre weather through June, July and August, we would get to this point and say "well, September can be very nice - perhaps we'll get our summer then!". This year, it has been rather different, with largely unbroken sunshine throughout most of the summer months. For many of us this has been a wonderful summer, and has certainly brought the crowds into Swanage; but I know that for others, at times, it has been a bit of an ordeal. Add to that the almost total lack of rainfall for much of the summer and the devastating fires in Purbeck, the New Forest and elsewhere, we have all been wondering if this is "the shape of things to come" At St Mark's we've been so pleased to see summer visitors in our services and they get a very warm welcome and a farewell wish that we might see them again, perhaps next year. It is good to see unfamiliar faces and many stay for coffee and cake after the service and add to our fellowship. A number have also joined us for our traditional summer social events - the Pimm’s and Hymns and the barbeque, These (also joined by friends from other churches in Swanage) were especially memorable as we continued to bask in the sunshine. The rather restricted space available in the St Mark's garden managed (just about) to hold all that came and also provided some shade for those who needed it. We also have had some goodbyes to say. After Natalie had been with us for her last service at our church in July, several of us went to St Mary's on 9th August for her last service in the benefice. It was an emotional occasion. We haven't had Natalie and Joseph with us for as long as we would have liked, but we have cherished their visits to St Mark's and we believe that they loved coming to join in worship and social activities with us. I'm sure there will be St Mark's representation at her licensing service in Windsor as we wish them all God's blessings in their new context. As we go ahead into September church events which have been rested for the last month assume their full place in our calendar of activities. Our weekly August prayer walks return to their base in the Church Room for our Prayer and Share meetings and one of them forms part of the National Week of Prayer. This is a great initiative as Christians throughout the country express their dependence on God, especially at the time when churches are starting new activities to increase their fellowship but also to spread the word of God's love to those around them. I don't know which category the Pet Service comes under, but we will see how it goes. Our fortnightly Bible Studies continue as they have done through the summer - the only difference being that on two occasions in the hottest weather, they were held outside! So, as we look forward to the inevitable changes in the weather as Autumn develops, our life as a church continues, and as we pray for God's blessing on others, we do so also for ourselves as we serve him in this little part of his world. John Way, Churchwarden.
There has recently been some negative publicity about Herston following the proposals to merge St George’s School Langton with St Mark’s School. The proposals have been withdrawn, but the inaccurate descriptions of our community, as rather down-market, remain. We are a vibrant village with a popular pub, a great shop, a primary school declared “good” by OFSTED, a busy Village Hall and a wonderful local Church! We want to celebrate our local community, and, in doing so, we hope to challenge the negative comments. There is a long history of God’s people working to promote their local community. The prophet Jeremiah wrote these words to the Jews who had been carried away to exile in Babylon: “…. seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.” (Jeremiah 29:7). Wherever I have served, I have tried to build a stronger community, because Churches are good at community. The C of E Faith in the City Report (1986) called on Churches to be “Local, Outward-Looking and Participating”, and this, together with Jesus’ call to be “Salt and Light”, is our commission to get stuck in to promoting the life of our community. At the moment we are taking baby steps with a new Herston Our Village Facebook page, (please check it out), and lots of conversations with various people about ways to celebrate our wonderful village. Watch this space! Although St Mark’s Church primarily serves Herston, we try to be outward-looking. Our June Concert raised £500, split between St Mark’s Church and the ALLSORT’D Focus Centre Café Appeal. This £500 was promptly doubled by a very kind person. Any donations from our July Pimm’s and Hymns will be split between St Mark’s Church and the Christian Aid Venezuela Earthquake Appeal. We look forward to hearing about ways in which we can support our link Diocese in South Sudan – a troubled country with many needs. August is traditionally a quiet month in the Church. At St Mark’s we take advantage of this and will have a later (11am) start to the service on 2nd August to allow a relaxed BBQ lunch afterwards. It’s always good to share a meal together. The Wednesday Prayer and Share will also change during August, and will go “on the road” with a series of Prayer Walks, with the aim of praying for every street in our village. Please see the St Mark’s Pewsheet or St Mark’s Facebook page for details of the route each week. One of the highlights of our month at St Mark’s is the Celebration! Service with our Church Band and all-age choir. September’s Celebration! Service, on Sunday 27th. will also be a Pets’ Service. All pets are welcome, but I will probably delegate blessing any snakes to someone else (we all have our phobias)! Have a blessed summer! David Richards
