NEWS

It is with much sadness that we report the deaths at the end of April of two members of our church community, Jane Kinsella, who from time to time used to play the organ for services at Barsham, and Jeanne Turner.

Easter was celebrated at Barsham by a congregation of 52 people at Sung Eucharist on Easter morning.

We were delighted to welcome the Rev Ed Land, Associate Minister for the Rural Lightwave Hub to our routine PCC meeting in early May.

Thanks to Malcolm’s careful management of the churchyard, the wild flowers are flourishing. 15 varieties of wild flower were spotted in the churchyard in mid-May.

We are most grateful to Howard Trust for inviting us to the Old Rectory for a wonderfully sociable evening and a fascinating wine-tasting led by Tom Mead from Adnams (Harleston). Tom helped 22 of us to explore six very different styles of wine from six different parts of the world.

The revised and updated visitors’ guidebook to Holy Trinity, Barsham with Shipmeadow is now available at the back of the church for visitors to purchase.

Grateful thanks to the ladies of the church who produced such a generous and delicious tea for the U3A History Walking Group towards the end of April. Barsham church rightly enjoys a considerable reputation for its hospitality, including the excellence of its teas.

The congregation kindly donated 174 items to the Food Bank in April and now we have been asked to return to providing foodstuffs rather than toiletries. The Rev Pam Bayliss, Manager of the Beccles Foodbanks, wrote recently:

‘Dear Barsham Friends,

I am writing… to say how touched we were to receive the lovely, generous goods you donated to us especially over the Easter holidays... You are thoughtful in the items you donate, and the regular help you give us is really appreciated.

I know the families who come in will be really thrilled to receive the extra toiletries etc, especially as at present life is very hard. We have a number of families with several children who we know are struggling, so this will be a wonderful help to them. Once again many thanks…’

The April sales table raised £65. Sarah Jane continues with the sale of legacy teddy bears and has now raised a remarkable £1,001.

With money from the March sales table and the surplus Easter lily fund, we were able to donate £350 towards the Diocesan Appeal for the Crisis in Ukraine.

The church cleaning team has shrunk in recent years so new helpers would be hugely appreciated. The commitment involves dusting and hoovering about four times a year. Please talk to Bridget if you are able to help or would like to find out more.

FORWARD PLANNING

For the Queen’s Jubilee Celebration on Sunday 5th June we will enjoy ‘drinks and nibbles’ after church. The proposed picnic lunch at the village hall will not now be taking place.

Details for the annual Summer Lunch in August at Shipmeadow Church will be available shortly.

SNIPPETS – Barsham’s beautiful flower arrangements

Barsham Church is extremely fortunate in having a team of dedicated and talented flower arrangers who week by week place beautiful arrangements on the Etchingham tomb and the windowsill near the pulpit. On Festival Days the team unites to decorate the whole church, each member having their own space. MaryJane does both windows in the porch, Cheryl the font, Denise the first window, Bridget the centre, Margaret the windowsill next to the pulpit, Cherry the choir window, Diana the tomb and Chris covers the Lady Chapel. The flower team will also arrange flowers for weddings and funerals on request.

The team of arrangers aims to keep to liturgical colours when appropriate. At Easter the church is filled with lilies, the Easter flower, funded by donations from members of the congregation. This year, however, we broke with tradition to support charities helping victims of the war in Ukraine. With just two lily arrangements (one of which is pictured on the cover) and the other decorations made up of greenery, it was possible to add much of the ‘lily fund’ to the money raised at the March sales table, enabling us to send £350 to Ukraine. In a further show of support for the people of Ukraine, the flowers around the Pascal candle were blue and yellow.

The flowers for Harvest Festival are always bright and cheerful, and Colin and Margaret grow gourds which are added to the floral arrangements on the windowsills.

Chris’s contribution is spectacular with all the produce of harvest imaginable! The Harvest Supper table also benefits from the gourds. The four Sundays of Advent have no decorations except for the Advent wreath. This is a wreath with five candles, three purple, one pink and the centre one white. For the four Sundays of Advent the first purple candle is for Prophecy, the second for Bethlehem, the third is the Shepard’s Candle for Gaudete (Joy), and pink is the Angel Candle, while the central white candle for Christmas Day is the Christ Candle. At Christmas the flowers tend to be red, gold and white with lots of holly and ivy.

Flowers make a substantial contribution to the beauty of our church and the dedication of the arrangers is very much appreciated.

Anyone who wishes to join our team or to contribute in any way will be most welcome. Please contact Diana.

JUNE DIARY

Thursday 26th May – Ascension Day. 9am Holy Communion. Ilketshall St Margaret. Rev Josh Bailey.

Sunday 29th May – Seventh Sunday of Easter – Benefice Service at Barsham, 10.30am. Sung Eucharist (BCP). Rev Edward Land.

Sunday 5th June – Whitsunday – Day of Pentecost. 11am Sung Eucharist (BCP). RevJonathan Olanczuk.

Sunday 12th June – Trinity Sunday. 11am Sung Eucharist (BCP). Rev Josh Bailey.

Sunday 12th June – Trinity Sunday. 6.30pm Trinity Evensong. Rev Josh Bailey.

Sunday 19th June – First Sunday after Trinity. 11am Sung Eucharist with incense (CW). Rev Roy Wormald.

Sunday 26th June – Second Sunday after Trinity. 11am Sung Eucharist (BCP). Rev Canon John Fellows.

Sunday 3rd July – Third Sunday after Trinity. 11am Sung Eucharist (BCP). Rev Jonathan Olanczuk.

Every Wednesday at 8.45am – Matins at Barsham

Every Wednesday at 10am – Holy Communion (CW) at Holy Trinity, Bungay.

Church correspondent: Robert Bacon 01502 710945, [email protected]