The doves are from Branscombe, Colyton and Musbury Primary Schools with prayers for peace written by the children.
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  The Vigil starts on Sunday 26th at 11am. Following the parish Eucharist there will be a bring-and-share lunch in the Church and we shall be providing hospitality for local Ukrainian guests. A letter of invitation can be found in English here and in translated into Ukrainian here. We shall be praying not only for Ukraine, but for peace in all places currently experiencing war or conflict. It will also be an opportunity for people to come and offer prayer for themselves, families and communities, and whatever may be preventing or disturbing their own peace at this time. Like every church, our churches in the Holyford Mission Community exist to facilitate and encourage prayer: they are spaces where people—no matter who they are, how they feel, or where they come from—can find themselves and God, and experience his light and his peace.   A big thank you to Trevor Glasper for organising our new Friendly Friday Aprons and to our excellent hospitality team for making Friendly Friday so friendly!  From the Rector At Christmas time we celebrate the birth of Emmanuel—‘God with us’. At the heart of the Christian faith is the notion that God’s greatest desire is to be with us, in all that we are and all that we do. That may sound overwhelming or daunting, but if we can spend some time getting our head around it, it becomes nothing short of miraculous and life-giving. God wishes to be with us, here and now, all the way to the other side of the grave into eternity. We know all this because of the babe born in Bethlehem. This Christmas will be a time of great joy and fellowship for some, or will be tough for others—the trials of life often come to the fore during the festive period. The empty chair at the table, the struggle to keep up with expectations and traditions, especially during a period of financial worry. From the accounts of Jesus’ birth in the Gospels we learn that the first Christmas was wonderful, but far from easy for the Holy Family. Yet they came through. The Angels reassured Mary and Joseph, the Wise Men brought encouragement and affirmation; they all knew that God’s desire to be with them was so strong that they could not fail. This is the same hope Christians hold to today. In the new year we shall be organizing some groups for people to come and explore the idea of faith. We plan to follow the Being With course, devised by the Reverend Dr Sam Wells and the Reverend Sally Hitchiner from the renowned Church of St Martin-in-the-Fields, London. The title Being With may not sound like everyone’s cup of tea, but this is a good course, especially for those who have no experience of the church or are thinking of returning. The course is run over ten sessions, covering topics like essence, story, community, suffering and hope. There are no expectations, and each session is about people coming together to share their story. There is no judgement, wrong answers or prescribed path. The course is an invitation to invest in becoming the type of person who knows how to be at ease with yourself, others, the world around us and through this to be with God. It is an invitation to discover faith in the context of discovering friendship. If you are interested in joining a Being With group, or would like more information, please let me know (rector@holyford.org or 01297 553180). Details of our Christmas services and events can be found in this magazine and online. There are lots of opportunities to join us in any of the six churches which make up our group, called the Holyford Mission Community. Please see our website (Holyford.org) Facebook page (@holyfordmission) or contact a churchwarden or me for details of the types of services there will be, and times. On behalf of all of us at the six churches of the Holyford Mission Community, I wish you all a happy, joyful and peaceful time as you prepare for Christmas. Whether or not you are able to have ‘the perfect’ Christmas, for whatever reason, I pray that the light and peace which sustained and encouraged the Holy Family at Jesus’ arrival may find its way into your hearts and homes. With every good wish and blessing, Fr Steven. Remember, Remember the 5th November Remember, remember, the fifth of November, As we approach the colder months my thoughts turned to memories of my own childhood and the customs of 5th November or Bonfire Night. Any money given would be spent in the shops buying sparklers for Bonfire night celebrations. Families would buy little packs of fireworks for their back garden, and our Catherine wheels almost always stopped half way through! I only recently discovered the origin of the Catherine wheel. It It’s recorded that Saint Catherine was tortured on a wheel by the Emperor Maxentius for refusing to renounce her Christian faith. Back to my memories….Over the preceding weeks, families would be building a communal bonfire, with all their old chairs, bits of wood, branches and anything else that would burn. People shared out bonfire toffee, which was very dark, brittle and tasted strongly of dark treacle and the children all lit their sparkles at the same time, drawing pictures into the dark night sky. I still love sparklers. I wonder if anybody has similar memories? This was before the days of too many health and safety rules and regulations, when people were trusted to just be able to be sensible for themselves. Times have changed and many families now visit large, organised bonfire celebrations, but something in my heart still cherishes those memories of years gone by and the fun we all had as a community on 5th November. Hope you enjoy yours this year, Blessings and best wishes Linda Joy  |
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