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church : revd jo's letter : october 2007 added 24/09/07 One of life's particular pleasures for me is the cycle of the seasons. On my journey to the parishes, I love to watch the changing colours, the crops emerging from the soil, growing and ripening, and then the sight of stubble and ploughed fields. At present the berries are a wonderful sight. There is a recently planted hedge on the road from Essendine to Barber's Hill, and it's covered in wonderful fiery red berries. I know Autumn is upon us because this week I've seen deer on the road through Holywell , and an increase in owl activity. While city life might have much to offer in the way of entertainment, shopping and public transport, I would never willingly exchange what I have for that. And the church year has its cycle, too. As I write this, harvest festival is just round the corner, and then our thoughts turn to what we call the Kingdom Season - the time when we contemplate last things, and prepare to move into Advent, the time of expectation, leading up to Christmas. And so another year will soon be over! The Kingdom Season includes two special services. Firstly on November 4th we commemorate All Souls and All Saints; we give thanks for those who have gone before us, both the saints we see in stained glass windows, and the `invisible saints' - those we have known and loved, who made their own mark upon the world. We shall have a special service at Little Bytham at 9.00 am, where anyone who wishes to can light a candle in memory of their loved ones. I will send letters to all those who have been bereaved this year, but, of course, anyone and everyone is welcome. On November 11th we hold our Remembrance service at Castle Bytham, beginning at 10.45. We tend to think in terms of two World wars when we remember our war dead, but we need to remember those who were killed or injured in other conflicts, too; Northern Ireland, the Gulf, the Falklands and Afghanistan. Looking ahead a little, we are holding a Christmas Tree Festival in Castle Bytham church on 14-16 December. I shall shortly be writing to all village organisations and businesses to invite them to enter a tree for this. The idea is to provide a tree decorated in any way you wish - perhaps to reflect the nature of your business ( I have seen car parts hung on a garage tree, miniature cutlery on a restaurant tree, and brownie badges on the Brownies' tree.) Certificates will be awarded to the best entries. The trees will be on display from Friday evening to Sunday evening, and the church will be open throughout. If by any chance I fail to send you an invitation (and individuals are very welcome to enter) I will leave a supply of entry forms at the shop. I do hope this will be well supported, and make a festive start to the Christmas season. There will also be a coffee morning at Shirley Grayson's house on the Saturday morning' many thanks to Shirley for this. I must apologise for the omission in last month's service list - I somehow deleted the Castle Bytham Family Service from it. A few pieces of information to finish with. The collection from Harvest Festival will be sent to Christian Aid, a wonderful organisation which works to bring relief to the very poorest in places such as sub-Saharan Africa and Bangladesh. Although we are anxious about maintaining our wonderful church buildings, we must give in equal measure to those who have nothing, and I am delighted that Little Bytham PCC had decided to mark Harvest Festival in this way. Those of you who knew my predecessor, Bryan Bennett, will be sorry to hear that his wife Eileen died on September 9th. Her funeral took place at St. Anne's Grantham, and was attended by a number of our congregation. The funeral of Caroline Dove, of Holywell took place at Careby on September 11th. Caroline will be remembered for her wonderful smile and the joy she brought to so many; she will be greatly missed. Our sympathies go to Keith and the family. The last wedding of the summer took place at Careby on September 8th, between Ian Burris and Louise Cooper. We are very grateful to Barbara and David Cooper for lending their marquee to the church for the `long, lazy lunch' on the Sunday. The excellent food was much enjoyed by the large number attending. My thanks to those who worked so hard to prepare the food and staff the bar. I am told that the draught beer was particularly good. And so the cycle of life and of the church year rolls on. I have two weddings and a marriage blessing booked for 2008; if you are thinking about getting married, book early! The services up to Christmas 2008 have now been approved, and I am thinking about the Easter services. Meanwhile I am going out into the sunshine to watch the butterflies on my Sedums and to thank God for his wonderful creation and for the cycle of the seasons. The Lord said, `As long as the earth lasts, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, they will never cease.' (Genesis 8.22) With every good wish Jo |
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