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Scripture readings for Sunday
Several matters which have been disturbing the worshipping life of the parish church are to be resolved in the near future and I thought readers might appreciate a short report on progress.
First, the work to eradicate the dry rot and rebuild the floor on the north side of the main aisle will begin soon. Indeed, I hope it will have begun by the time you are reading this. It was necessary to wait until we could confidently manage without the heating, since some of its pipework has to be dismantled for the work to take place. There is a lot to do and it will take some time, but measures will be taken to try to ensure that the same problem does not recur.
Second, we must decide whether or not to keep the re-arrangement of the furniture at the east end of the nave and in the chancel, and either make the arrangements permanent or put the furniture back as it was. If you have any comments on this matter and have not had a chance to complete a questionnaire, please speak to me as soon as possible to ensure that your view is heard. I ought to emphasize that if we decide to keep the present arrangments, we shall address the problem of the communion rails being too short and all this sort of detail. If you like the basic idea but have any comments and suggestiosn about details, again, please let us know so that we can consider them.
Third, the planning of the new Common Worship services is almost complete, with only two more Parish Eucharist booklets still to be published and work already in hand on these. This has been quite a task for the Worship Committee and I'd like to thank Martin Fisher in particular for his work in reading through drafts, often at short notice. Very few errors have slipped through into final versions, although I have to admit that there are some that did. Thanks are also due to Alan Romaine and his firm Classic Printers for collating, folding and stapling most of the booklets. I hope that most of our worshippers are happy with most of the services. The chosen system of seasonal booklets gives us the benefit of the felxibility that Common Worship allows without the complication of skipping around in a one-volume book to try to find the right material for the Sunday.
It is going to be good to settle down soon to a pattern of regular worship where we all know what we are doing and what the arrangement of the furniture will be, and to have the use of all of the main aisle once again. Thank you for your patience during the upheavals that have already taken place and are still to come. The end is now in sight!
Between sixty and seventy youngsters had a brilliant time again this Good Friday at the activities organized at the Church Hall by our children's group leaders and their helpers. Starting in the church with a short service based upon the traditional "Way of the Cross", the children were then divided into groups and taken over tot he hall to begin their activities. There were eight different activities to choose, including a major art project making a coloured overlay for one of the church windows, designed for us by Jan Fisk. Other projects resulted in a box full of things for the children to take home for Easter. When all was done in the hall, the children and their parents were able to share hot-cross buns with the people from the Good Friday Service, which finished at about the same time, and then many gathered in the Vicarage grounds to watch (and participate in) a passion play performed by our Pathfinders group. Many of the Pathfinders had also helped with the activities, and we owe them a lot of thanks for their work that day.
Thanks are due to all who worked so hard to make this a successful morning for the children. There had been many weeks of preparation and many people were involved, not all of whom were able to be there on the day itself. The Good Friday Activities are now a firm part of the parish's calendar.
Do have a look at the "stained glass" window in church: it is the one behind your right shoulder as you walk in through the main door, and is best seen from the main aisle, looking across the width of the building.
We welcome to the Lord's Family
We commend to God's keeping:
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Copyright © 2001 Deeping St James PCC
Created by WebEdit, 2 May 2001