It was announced in December that The Revd Carl Melville, currently Rector of Claydon and Barham, Henley and Gt Blakenham, has been appointed Rector of the Bacton Benefice (Bacton, Wyverstone, Cotton, Wickham Skeith, Old Newton, Gipping).Rev Carl's Sunday will be 15th March and will be marked by a 10.30 Benefice Service in Claydon High School followed by a shared lunch in the nearby Community Centre. His licencing and installation as Rector of the Bacton Benefice will take place on Thursday 2nd April at 7.30pmPlease pray for Carl and both Benefices during this period of transition.Revd Carl says: 'I look forward to the next stage of my ministry with the Bacton Benefice. I will of course find it very difficult to leave Claydon having built up many friendships in and out of Church circles. The love and sense of community that has surrounded me over the past 3.5 years has been immense.”
On Sunday 8th September we were joined in our 10am service at Barham by thirteen guests who presented our Church with a very unique and very valuable gift. These were members of the Church Recorder Group who have, together with others, spent hundreds of hours over the past three years researching and compiling a detailed record with photos of every single thing within our ancient Church. The record spreads over three huge lever arch folders and covers everything from our world-famous Henry Moore Sculpture of the Madonna and Child and our beautiful stained glass through to the jars and vases we use for flower arranging. Some items are centuries old whilst others had only been in the church a matter of weeks. Some items are worth thousands of pounds and others have little or no financial value. Of course, the Church is continually changing, so this is a detailed snapshot as at this point in its history and will be a source of interest for generations to come. This work was sponsored by the Arts Society and a copy will be held by the Victoria and Albert Museum in London as well as in our County Archive. In due course we will arrange for some form of cabinet for the Church where these folders can be held safely and access granted to those who are interested. We consider ourselves very fortunate to be chosen from the hundreds of Churches in Suffolk as the subject of this study and we thank all those involved for their time, dedication, attention to detail and vast expertise in so many different areas.
