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church : rectors letter : november 2003 added 22/10/03 Reproduced from Glenside News : November 2003 'Dear Friends, Well, with Harvest Festival well behind us it is necessary to turn our minds towards Christmas I suppose. Harvest this year was at Creeton and I hope those who came enjoyed the service. Personally, I always enjoy services at Creeton because it sits in a similar kind of location to a tiny church I know in Surrey. It was back in my Army days and it never had its own vicar so I used to help out. I remember a magical Midnight Communion I took there in 1983. It was cold when we entered the church but clear and dry. When we left the church we discovered it had been snowing throughout the service, it looked just like the front of a Christmas card. However, before I leave Harvest may I just thank those who decorated the church and provided the food which we enjoyed at Christopher and Ziggi Samler's home after the service. Our Christmas Services will follow the usual pattern, but I just make mention of them now so you can make a note on your calendars of those that you would like to attend. We will begin as usual with a Christingle Service at Castle Bytham at 4pm on the afternoon of Sunday 14th December. This is in one sense a carol service with readings but also has the ceremony of the Christingles for the children as its climax. It is therefore suitable for adults with or without children! At 9am on the Sunday before Christmas, ie 21st December, Holy Communion is at Careby. I assume there will be the usual Christmas refreshments after this service! Our main run of Christmas services are of course on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. As is now traditional we begin in Little Bytham at 4pm with the children's Candle Service, telling the story of the Nativity. This is acted out by the children in word and song and the church gets packed, so come early. We then move up to Castle Bytham for our central Christmas Service - Midnight Communion which begins at 1130pm. We are very fortunate in that the Bishop of Grantham, Alistair Redfern, offered to come and share this service with us this year. I do hope this will actually happen because the Bishop's wife is seriously ill, but that is what is planned at present. The Bishop's wife's name is Jane, please remember her in your prayers as we do every week in our four churches. On Christmas day we have two services of Holy Communion. The first one will be said and is at Creeton at 8.30am. At 9.30am we will have a Communion Service with carols and this will be at Little Bytham. We will round off our worship with our usual Family Carols at 10.30am. This will be at Careby this year and as usual 'anything goes'! The Sunday after Christmas is 28th and there will just be one service, Holy Communion at Creeton at 1030am. I'm not going to wish you a happy Christmas this far ahead but I hope the above is useful and that there is something to suit everyone who wishes to attend church over Christmas. Prior to this of course we still have Remembrance Sunday which falls on 9th November. This year the service is at Castle Bytham and details are on the next page. This service has traditionally concentrated on the two World Wars with the poppies we wear being particularly associated with the Great War. However, as I have often remarked in the past, there has only been one year since 1945 when a member of our Armed Forces hasn't been killed in action and the Remembrance Service is intended to cover all such events. Many of us know people, family or friends, who have been involved in places like Malaya, Cyprus, Northern Ireland, the Baltics, the Falklands, the Gulf and many more. Many in the parish have been personally involved. The British Legion understands that a national day will not survive if it only concentrates on the two wars, because they are fast becoming part of history. So please, if the above registers with you, join us on 9th November at Castle Bytham, everyone is most welcome.' The Rev Bryan Bennett Castle Bytham Rectory 01780 410166 |
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