Patronal Festival Weekend

We had a great weekend:

On Saturday there was the wedding of a couple of our regular members of the congregation, Jon and Becky,  followed by a mad dash to Rochester Cathedral for Stephen's ordination, then on Sunday our festival Communion service , which was also Stephen's first celebration of Communion (well done, Stephen...!), then the baptism of the grandaughter of our bellringers (welcome to the family, Rose), then a Strawberry Tea in the vicarage garden (many thanks to those who slaved away in the hot sun to provide wonderful refreshments) then an evening service with some favourite hymns, and music from the choir (thank you, choir).

I took a few photos at the Strawberry Tea, though not many of the assembled throng eating (too busy eating myself...)

Those who got here right at the beginning headed straight for the shade...

A game of chess provoked deep thought....

Garden Jenga was nailbiting...

...and great was the fall thereof...

Ordination

Congratulations to Stephen Snelling, who was ordained as a priest in Rochester Cathedral yesterday afternoon. Here he is, (looking somewhat relieved after the service, I think). The black box contains a home Communion set which the Diocese gave to all the ordinands so that they can celebrate Communion with those who are housebound.

While we were in the cathedral we spotted (it was hard to miss) the banners made by church schools around the Diocese. They illustrate the sayings from John's Gospel which are known as the "I am" sayings. Jesus says, "I am the bread of life," "I am the Way the Truth and the Life" " I am the Good Shepherd" etc. Among the hangings was Seal school's offering, which Nicky Harvey and Linda Montgomery had masterminded - it is second to the left in this picture. You may be able to spot a photo of our altar frontal on one of the panels if you look closely.

The Church of England: the statistics, and the faces behind them

Putting the mess into Messy Church

Here are some photos of yesterday's Messy Church. We were preparing for Pentecost, which is next Sunday. We thought about wind and fire - things which change what they touch, just as the Holy Spirit changes us. So we made flames (not real ones!) which you will see in church next week, and windchimes. We made extremely messy pictures by blowing splodges of paint around with straws. And we made junk model and paper boats, which we sailed across our own indoor ocean created in a growbag tray.

Everyone played very hard, as you can see from these photos... and much mess was created.
Thank you to helpers, Linda, Nicky and Lise for managing the mess...

The next Messy Church is on Oct 16th, but between then and now there are other activities on offer - the Strawberry Tea on Sunday June 26th will include activities for children, (£5 adults, £2,50 children, in aid of church funds) and there will be games on Seal Rec (and bring your own picnic) on Aug 28th from 4 -5.30.

Prayers for the Amazon

There is a report in today's Church Times about the recent murder of two environmental activists in the Amazon, and some comments about the murder from Ruth de Barros, who is our USPG mission partner in the Amazon. Many of you will have met Ruth, her husband Saulo, the Bishop of the Amazon, and their son last year at a barbeque here. Ruth asks for our prayers. I have pasted an extract of the report below, but you can find the whole story here. http://www.churchtimes.co.uk/content.asp?id=113367

"The bodies of José Cláudio Ribeiro da Silva and his wife, Maria do Espírito Santo, were found last week on a nature reserve. They had worked in the area for 24 years, and had received death threats because of their campaign against illegal loggers and ranchers.


Ruth de Barros, the USPG repres­ent­ative in the region, who is married to the Bishop of the Amazon, the Rt Revd Saulo de Barros, says that 800 people seeking to defend the rain­forests have been murdered in the past 30 years. A farmer, Eremilton Pereira dos Santos, was later found shot dead in the same area as the couple, and a rural leader, Adelino Ramos, was killed in Porto Velho, in north-west Brazil.

"The bodies of José Cláudio Ribeiro da Silva and his wife, Maria do Espírito Santo, were found last week on a nature reserve. They had worked in the area for 24 years, and had received death threats because of their campaign against illegal loggers and ranchers.



Ruth de Barros, the USPG repres­ent­ative in the region, who is married to the Bishop of the Amazon, the Rt Revd Saulo de Barros, says that 800 people seeking to defend the rain­forests have been murdered in the past 30 years. A farmer, Eremilton Pereira dos Santos, was later found shot dead in the same area as the couple, and a rural leader, Adelino Ramos, was killed in Porto Velho, in north-west Brazil.


Mrs de Barros says that the Angli­can Church in the region is involved in environmental action. “We take part in demonstrations against those who illegally exploit the Amazon and who kill those who get in their way. Last Saturday, members of the Church joined a march organised by the OAB [the Brazilian Bar Association] against corruption and impunity in the state of Pará — known as the Land of No Law.”


The demonstration was “also against the corruption in the administration in the state”, she said. “All we can do is join the voices of those who suffer the consequences, and let the world know what is going on, so that something may be done about it. . . So we ask for your prayers so that the churches and institutions here in Pará can fight for justice.”