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On
Friday 22nd May we attended the St Chads monthly Chip & Chat held at the Summer House. These are great nights and a chance to catch up with the congregation in a social atmosphere as well as enjoy a great feed of Fish, Chips and Mushy Peas.
Sunday 24th May, Pentecost Sunday, and St Chads hosted the Churches Together
Pentecost bring and share Picnic. All Churches in Albighton were represented and the service was led by Fr. John Pascoe from St Joseph's Catholic Church. The Picnic was held in the Old School Room followed by an Ecumenical Service in St Chads Church which was followed by a second helping of food in the Old School Room.
On
Thursday 25th May we attended the 'Confluence' service at All Saints Church in Wellington, which is a short drive from Albrighton. The service, which was very well attended, was led by Bishop Mark and Archdeacon Paul. The service consisted of Prayers & Hymns, with a live band, and a Bible reading with a video based on Ezekiel 47 'The River from the Temple' which was the theme of the service 'From Bubbling Springs to Deep Flowing Rivers.
Part of the
Trinity Sunday Service
Full House at St Chads service included breaking into several discussion groups. We participated in the group that discussed 'Small Groups' within our churches, organising and running them. This is something we would like to become involved in at St Chads.
At the end of the service all Church Wardens were formerly commissioned for the year.
Saturday 30th May was the second night of the St Mary's beer festival. All monies raised are being put towards the restoration of the magnificent east window at St Mary's which is in danger of collapsing as the medieval stone tracery supporting the stained glass is crumbling. Cost for the repair work is £90,000.
Beers on sale by the glass, from barrels, included such names as Dancing Duck Brewery Ay Up, Friday Beer Company Pinnacle, Hop Back Crop Circle, Woods Sheer Folly and many more and live music was supplied by 'The Dirty Rockin Scoundrels'.
Although it may seem strange, a beer festival in a Church, it was a great success and both nights saw many members of the community come into the church. This gives all members of the congregation who attended, led by the Rev Mary, the opportunity to connect with the wider
community and after Thursday 'Confluence' service provided us all with an opportunity to start the 'Spring Bubbling'.
On
Sunday 31st May St Chad's hosted a United Benefice Holy Communion Service for Trinity Sunday. Attendance was very good, we rang all three bells and the service was followed by a morning tea in the Old School room. Rev Mays' sermon was based on the Trinity with Neapolitan ice-cream used to represent the Trinity - the chocolate, the vanilla and the strawberry are all different but in the end they are all ice-cream. The children really enjoyed this part of the service as they got to try the 'Trinity Sundae'.
At the end of the service Church Wardens and PCC members from all three Churches were invited to stand and were commissioned by the Benefice for the coming year.
Monday 1st June was our first St Chads PCC meeting as it was good to become involved with St Chads at this level.
Tuesday 2nd June we hosted, in our little flat, the first meeting of a group formed fom the PPC that will develop uses for the newly renovated Church. The group consisted of the two church Wardens,
Pauline & Trevor, Rev Mary and Evelyn & Jess.
Our first venture will be to host 'Quiet Days' offering the church space or organising for other groups. The first 'Quiet Day' will be on Friday 24th July and will be offered to people in the United Benefice as a trial run - It's very exciting to be involved and very exciting to see how God works in our lives.
Outside of Church work continues to keep us busy, the menswear shop is going great and the garden customers have increased to 5, which is just about the limit. Unfortunately Evelyn has given up her job at the Cedars Care Home. After much prayer and deliberation Evelyn decided that the job was affecting her ability to not only attend church, her church attendance had decreased from 8 services a month to just two, but also her ability to grow in her church involvement. Other opportunities have already started to appear including helping with the garden customers. God never ceases to amaze us.
What's coming up for us, well on
Saturday 6th June we are off to Tenby in Wales for a week and by the looks of the weather forecast we should get good weather. We are travelling by train so look out for the next Blog which will be about our holiday
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Don and Ruth Johnston
non-member comment
Hi Evelyn and Jess, We pray your holidays are safe and a lovely break for you both. Keep the bells ringing. We are ok, but Ruth's mum Betty had last week in hospital with pneumonia and very low blood pressure. Has returned to her hostel but is very weak. She turns 96 next weak. Love , and prayers. Don and Ruth