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Photographs of some parish events are available in our Photograph Album elsewhere on the site
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As I write this in the middle of October with sunny and reasonably warm weather it is hard to take in that during the currency of this issue of Priory News Advent will begin! Advent, a season which is really dominated so much by the practical preparations for Christmas that the spiritual preparations can so easily get lost. Advent, when the stark unadorned interior of the church with the penitiential purple colour scheme contrast with the anticipatory sherry & mince pies, school and office parties and decorated shops - so much so that Sunday almost becomes the gloomy day of abstinence in a week of celebration instead of the other way round!
But the shopping must be done, and yet if we are to enjoy Christmas well we must think about what we celebrate with those presents, decorations and meals. It is not just a birthday, it is God being among us, expressing his self-giving which has given us life, and given us eternal life. When St John says that the Word became flesh and we beheld his glory, that glory is beheld as much in the manger and on the cross as it is in the resurrection and ascension. Jesus is Lord when he is a baby, and when he is crucified as well as when he rises and ascends. Alleluia is always our song.
oremus bible browser to prepare your readingThere is a saying that is often jokingly banded about in my office at work. It is: "I might have my faults, but being wrong is not one of them." On occasions I have used it myself to prove a point but this being the time for confession I have to admit I was totally wrong about this particular item.
When I first heard of the Flower/Harvest Festival some months ago I was, to say the least sceptical. My thoughts were that by the time of the festival the summer would be over and all the lovely flowers would be gone; how wrong I was! On the Saturday afternoon I arrived at the church to 'do my stint' as steward. Luckily for me the ladies I was relieving were not in too much of a hurry to leave so I started a quick tour around the aisles.
I have to admit that my jaw dropped to some extent at the beauty and sheer artistry in those displays. I am no flower arranger nor have I too much sense of design but what I saw before me was like a wonderful voyage of discovery with every step I took. Luckily I had my camera with me and photographed as many of the displays as I could before the battery expired.
There is more! At almost the last minute I was asked to organise the Draw, a task which I had never undertaken in my life. Reluctantly I agreed and after taking advice from the 'experts', Simon and Sonia Marshall, I proceeded to get 500 books of tickets printed and with the dedicated help from Margaret, my wife we parceled up and distributed most of them to unsuspecting ticket sellers on a lovely Sunday morning. By this time I had about forty books of ticket left which I naively thought would be ample to sell in church over the weekend.
Enter Pauline Brooksbank who was coordinating the collection of prizes for the draw who I informed of what I thought was the best we could do for ticket sales. This is when I found out I was wrong again. Pauline thought that we had nowhere near enough ticket left to sell, especially as Barclays Bank had agreed to match our ticket sales, pound for pound.
Another 200 books of tickets were quickly printed for our casual sales and together with the few returns that I had these went to Pauline for selling in Church over the Festival weekend. I don't know how she did it but Pauline and her team of ladies sold them all. So raising an additional £675 for the organ fund which hopefully will be doubled by Barclays.
How pleased I am to be proved so dramatically wrong!!
Now it is all over and there is time to reflect on the happenings of the last weekend I feel I must say a few words.
Firstly I think that all those who worked so hard to make the Church look so beautiful should be congratulated, the effort and imagination put into creating the displays was amazing. There were of course the flower arrangers, the cleaners, and the tea lady who kept those working refreshed, and then of course there were the stewards and those who cleaned up after the show. We must not forget those in the Hall with the display of Artwork and those involved in providing refreshments, also those involved with the raffle. Well done.
It was however a pity to hear that the theme and the displays did not meet the approval of all, I know that the remarks were very upsetting to those working so hard for the sake of the Church. If only those people who disapproved had come to Church they would have then seen the pleasure on the faces and heard the positive remarks of so many non-Churchgoers who entered our Church. The visitor's book is evidence of what people really thought of the interpretation and effort of those who really work so hard for the Priory Church.
Name supplied
Following a suggestion from a member of the congregation, we are offering a parish Christmas card for sale this year.
The front of the card shows the Priory Church, whilst the interior is a muted view of the bridge overprinted with a text from St Luke and the message 'Wishing you peace and joy at Christmas'.
The cards, which measure 8.3in x 5.8in (A5), come with self- sealing envelopes and cost 75p each.
A sample card and further details are available in church (please see Roger or Liz Bridgeman).
The Choir Kneelers are now ready to be worked on. If you are interested in making a kneeler or would like more details, please contact Kim Hallam (348178) or Liz Spratley (342401). You can either work the canvas, make–up the completed canvas into a kneeler or both.
Also if anyone would like to make a donation to help towards the cost of the kneelers please see either Liz or Kim.)
2nd November 3pm
A service of readings, prayers and hymns to remember before God those from we are parted by earthly death
All welcome
A specialist rope with fixing brackets has been donated by a generous anonymous person. The rope has now been fixed to the wall of the stairs leading up to the top of the tower. This makes it much safer when access to both the clock and bell chamber is necessary. Our most gracious THANKS go out to the person concerned.
The ringers have visited Crowland Abbey for practice sessions when the church was occupied for musical evenings. Our monthly visits to West Deeping are a great success with the ringers and are also appreciated by the PCC at West Deeping. Currently they have no resident ringers of their own.
Prior to the evening service on Sunday 5 October, a quarter peal was rung to congratulate Sonia Marshall on her ordination as Deacon. It also fitted in well with the Flower Festival theme of "With Music In Mind".
A lovely starter for anyone's Sunday lunch..............Dave
Melt the butter in a large saucepan. Fry the potatoes, onion and garlic for 5 minutes, stirring frequently.
Add stock to the pan. Bring to the boil. Simmer over a low heat for 10 minutes. Meanwhile wipe the mushrooms with kitchen paper and thinly slice. Add to the soup. Simmer for 10 minutes.
Mix together the egg yolks and cream. Stir in just a little of the hot stock mixture. Gradually pour the egg and cream mixture into the pan stirring constantly.
Season the soup. Pour into 4 serving bowls. Garnish with mixed herbs and serve.
Over the last few year Margaret Flegg has contributed a lot of recipes to this magazine, all of them very attractive. Whether you have carefully filed them or not, it is possible to find Margaret's recipes using the archived Internet edition of Priory News and searching for a recipe name or an ingredient. If you look at the left-hand side of this page you will see the Priory News Archive with a simple search engine: type in what you're looking for and click "Go". You will be presented with a list of the issues that mention that word, with the context in which it is mentioned. For example, searching for "beef" yields recipes in April 2001 and 2002 as well as two articles on farming and on food in Malaysia!
This is only an extract from some of our magazine. Residents of Deeping St James can subscribe to the printed version.
Copyright © 2003 Deeping St James PCC