Rev’d Ruth came to Woolpit and Drinkstone Benefice in 2006. She was made Rector in January 2007. And she celebrated her 50^th birthday party in a marquee in the garden of the Dean family in Woolpit. Since then, she has got to know many more people in both villages and is well known to many in Drinkstone through her membership of the Reading Circle, through the monthly Village Lunches, Film Night and Tuesday Club to name but a few. She attends as many of our Village Events as she possibly can; provides support for anyone who requests it and is a much loved and appreciated presence in the community.

It is hard to believe ten years have gone by since that 50^th birthday party, but our Village Hall provided the perfect venue for Ruth to host afternoon tea on the occasion of her 60^th birthday on Friday 12^th May, to which she extended an open invitation to anyone from either village. There were superb cakes and savouries provided by Crossways Farm caterers, wonderful floral decorations provided by All Saints Flower team  and a surprise birthday cake, made by Pat Cilvert, complete with candles to be blown out, accompanied by a hearty rendition of ‘Happy Birthday to you’.

It was a very happy, busy and sociable afternoon, much enjoyed by everyone. Ruth had insisted there should be no presents and suggested that donations be made to the Kagera appeal in lieu of gifts. She admitted to being overwhelmed at the number of cards and good wishes she had received, and the number of people who turned up to help her celebrate. But no less than she deserves – congratulations, Ruth! One or two photos were taken, Look here.

In a moving service on Tuesday 9th May, Pippa and Jon Branham from Woolpit, but regulars at Drinkstone church’s Me, You and Breakfast 2, were confirmed into the Church of England by Bishop Mike, along with Russ Eadon and his daughter Laura, from Drinkstone, but regulars at Woolpit Church. It was a lovely service, with a sermon from Bishop Mike that was very challenging with but laugh out loud moments. The service was followed by a very sociable time of chat, wine and nibbles. A few photos here

Pat was on story today and roped the children in to help her make a collage of a fishing trip Jesus’ disciples went on after Jesus had been killed on the cross and come back to life again. They weren’t sure what to do now that Jesus wasn’t around every day like before. So they went fishing. They fished all night and caught nothing. Next morning they saw a man on the shore, who told them to lower their nets on the other side of the boat. So they did – and they caught a huge quantity of fish. Well, it was Jesus of course. With Jesus on their side, they could do anything – and so it is for us.

Our children embarked on writing prayers on fish shaped cards, beautifully decorated by Sue – but first they had to ‘catch’ their fish with a fishing rod with a magnet on the end. After learning a new song (‘Our God is a great big God’), more fishy activities ensued – chocolate cupcakes decorated to look like fish – and then we made woven rainbow fish. We finished by singing ‘Happy Birthday’ to no less than five people in the room, all with May birthdays. See the photos here.

‘I SPY…’

Saturday 20th May at 7pm in Drinkstone Village Hall, an original Murder Mystery by Rev’d Ruth Farrell.

Full report following. Here’s the photos.

He is risen indeed! And so it was a full church celebrated on Easter Sunday, complete with an Easter egg hunt as part of the sermon. Church looked wonderful with the flower team excelling themselves as usual. See for yourself here.

April 2nd Why do we have eggs at Easter?

Fantastic  ‘Me, You and Breakfast 2’ today – it took us all by surprise when the number of children and families doubled. and our usual 8 to 10 children plus parents became 19 children plus parents – and a couple of grandparents and one great grandma. What a joy though! Easter story this month trying to explain why we have chocolate eggs at Easter. No eggs, or chocolate or Easter bunnies in the Bible! But eggs hatch to a new life and that’s what Jesus brought when he rose from the dead – for everyone who wants it. Photos.

A late addition to the fundraising events, thank to the generosity of the Smith family, who welcomed us in on March 29th to enjoy the lovely surroundings of Drinkstone House. With an Easter gifts stall, yummy cakes and coffee, ongoing flower arranging demonstrations and an Easter food, drink and flowers raffle, a great morning ensued, raising £590 for the church. Some photos here.

Rt Revd Martin Seeley, Bishop of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich, and the Rt Revd Dr Mike Harrison, Bishop of Dunwich, walked during Lent, the 70 miles from Dunwich to Bury St Edmunds. Their intention was to to meet communities face to face and discover the challenges they face. They were in Drinkstone from Thursday 9th to the morning of Friday 10th March, when they departed for Bury St. Edmunds. It was a privilege to meet them and celebrate Evening and Morning Prayer with them. Couple of photos.

March 5th Jonah and the Whale
Jonah and the Whale at Me today. Lots of whale activities, of course – icing whale biscuits, throwing ‘Jonah’ into the fantastic whale Sue made, and then blowing Jonah out again by means of Pippa’s creativity! The serious message was that God sent Jonah to tell the people to start behaving. Jonah didn’t want to do that – he reckoned they were bad people and didn’t deserve God’s love! He ran away from God on a ship; a huge storm arose. Jonah thought it was his fault because he had run away and he told the sailors to throw him overboard as a punishment. But God saved him by sending a whale in which Jonah spent three days before getting back on dry land. (Echoes of Easter story here…) God loves everyone – even the ones we think are beyond the pale.  Jesus died at Easter for ALL those people, and rose again three days later to show life with him is a brand new life – forever. Photos.

February 5th David and Goliath
Today’s story from the Bible was the very well known story of David and Goliath. Julie really brought it to life with terrific audience participation e.g. David was a shepherd who looked after his sheep (cue loud baa-Ing). But the main point was  that David might have been small, and Goliath ENORMOUS, but as David trusted God to keep him and his sheep safe for wild animals, he also trusted him to keep him safe from Goliath. Loads of photos here.