March 5th 2016 Spring Concert
With thanks to Sheila Beswick for the practical arrangements, and to Keith Cilvert for getting together the artists, this was a lovely, varied concert, with an audience so big, it was a struggle to find enough chairs to seat them all! There was folk, blues, country and western, classical, rock—and humour—raising £525 for the work of All Saints in the process. Sincere thanks to those who performed , worked to make it happen and to those who paid to watch.
Take look at the pictures…
May 21st 2016 Murder Mystery
A sell out crowd piled in to see some local heroes don forties garb and present ‘Henpecked’, a whodunnit written by the multi talented Rev’d Ruth. We all had our favourite villain – and there were several to choose from – but in the end it was the last person we expected! Our gentle, lovely Pat effected a ‘death by chocolate! We believe the team are all up for another go next year. In the meantime, here’s the photos. Over £500 was raised for All Saints Church, with grateful thanks to Sheila Beswick for organising it all.
June 11th 2016 Village Street Party for the Queen’s 90th Birthday
The weather forecast kept changing all week – would we escape the rain? Would all the team’s efforts to set up a street party atmosphere on the Village Hall car park be in vain? Of course not! Seating was set up inside as well. There was some early rain just before the start and so the gathering and fancy dress parade took place in the hall but then the sun came out, the BBQs were fired up and everyone decamped to sit, eat and drink, chat, and sing in the sunshine. Keith and Bill’s music equipment was still inside, but a couple of extra jack plugs, sound was ferried outside as well. What a wonderful atmosphere! In the foyer, loads of children fought for places at the craft table, while an old fashioned sing along was going on outside. Rev’d Ruth said prayers of blessing for Her Majesty, we sang Happy Birthday, and then God Save the Queen, following by the cutting of the wonderful Celebration Cake made by Casper Smith. Only as we packed away the tables did the rain come – and boy did it rain! A huge thank you to everyone who took part, whether planning or organising, baking or creating, serving tea and coffee, playing music or being practical, or gracing the event with their presence and making it all so much fun. Loads of photos – click here.
The church looked great for the special service next day, too. Photos.
July 17th 2016 ‘Pimm’s in the Garden’
What a glorious day to have Afternoon tea! Perfect weather, a gorgeous garden to relax in (thank you, Will and Frances), copious cakes, scones and savouries and Pimm’s of course! Then there were garden games if you had the energy. All in all, a very successful afternoon, raising about £440 for the work of All Saints Church. Pictures here.
July 31st Visit from Chaplain in the Workplace
The Benefice service at All Saints was made special by the visit of Joel Foyster, ‘Chaplain in the Workplace’. All Saints has supported the Chaplaincy for many years. Joel shared some of his experiences as a Chaplain and explained his motivation for trying to help people with their problems, find a way forward and hopefully find faith. Should we not be sharing the love of Jesus in word and deed? We will all have yo give an account of how we spent our lives… Couple of Photos.
September 23/25 Harvest Supper and church decorations
A packed hall for the 2016 Harvest Supper, coincidentally in the same week Cora Munford died (19th September). A few more photos than last year, but not many! Harvest Service was the following Sunday, surrounded by some lovely decorations.
October 1st Autumn Concert
The best yet, someone said. And it certainly had its moments! Bill’s harp playing was amazing; he managed to play folk, worship, blues and rock all in one concert.
We had two tributes to Victoria Wood; Trevor (aka Barry to Lyn’s Freda) will never be seen in the same light again. And there were the usual moments of wild audience participation (and mic snatching!) at the end. Well, check out the Photos
October 16th Newcomers Afternoon tea
Every two years, All Saints Church welcomes to the village those people who have recently moved in, by way of afternoon cream tea. It is a welcome on behalf of the whole village, so leaders of the various organisations are there to pass on invitations to join in. Amidst much chatting, contacts were made and new friendships struck. And the cakes were excellent! Couple of photos.
October 23rd Memorial service for Cora Munford
Cora died on 19th September; she did not want a funeral but a memorial service gave people a chance to remember and appreciate what she had done with her life. It was followed by wonderful refreshments in the Village Hall, put on by the ladies of the Tuesday Club. The floral decorations were particularly fine.
November 23rd All Saints Christmas Coffee Morning
This year, the Starr family invited us to use Drinkstone Hall for this much anticipated annual event. The view from their lovely home was stunning, making it a wonderful space to display all the goodies. More people thanever came along for a really sociable morning. We have a few photos.
2016 December 3rd Walk about Nativity
It was such a success last year, they had to do it again, with the Holy family trying to find a room at every shop in Woolpit so it seemed. Even the Swan Inn had no room for them! Thankfully, they ended up in the warm church in an artfully crafted stable. This year, the Relf family form Drinkstone played the parts of Joseph, Mary and Jesus – ‘Jesus’ being a mere three weeks old and baby Franklin slept through it all. Big brother Archie was there through it all disguised as a sheep… Well, see the photos.
December 16th Wine and Carols
This bi annual event is a sociable evening, this time courtesy of the Kemp family. The evening started off with much mingling of friends old and new, along with wine and canapés. The evening was rounded off with some rousing carol singing, wonderfully accompanied by Calvin Goymer on the keyboard. A very festive evening (look here), but one that reminded everyone what Christmas was really about.
2016 December 18th Carol Service
Christmas
Some wonderful displays provided a lovely backdrop to the Christmas Day service. As ever, we were invited to bring a gift to show. Not sure if Bryn can top his Segway gift next year! But the Woodward family’s gift of a completely unexpected visit by their son (living in California) was the perfect visual aid to Ruth’s talk explaining that the best way God could show his love was to come in person at Christmas – as Carl did.