NEWS
There will be no Matins on Wednesday 27th July.
The PCC met in early July and it was agreed that the lychgate should be re-thatched. This work will be undertaken in late August by Nick Walker of Geldeston. A Master Thatcher, Nick uses traditional techniques (his tools are pictured on the cover) and he follows the stringent guidelines laid down by the prestigious East Anglia Master Thatchers Association. The work should take no more than a fortnight. Nick worked on Barsham Church once before, during his training. Some flintwork in the lychgate is also due to be repaired and this work will be done by Theo Wells, who worked on the flintwork of the porch recently.
At the end of June we hosted our first overnight stay by a pilgrim walking the Via Beata (see below). She slept between the pews and in the morning attended Wednesday Matins.
In mid-June Colin hosted a visit to the church by a tour group of 18 people from all over North America: from Canada and a range of US states including New Jersey, Maryland, Virginia, Wisconsin, Idaho, Iowa, Missouri and California. They were in the UK to trace their common Throckmorton ancestry, all of them descended from Sir Lionel Throckmorton (1525-1599) and Elizabeth Blennerhassett (c.1537-c.1608). Sir Lionel came from South Elmham and Elizabeth was the daughter of John Blennerhassett of Barsham Hall. They married at Holy Trinity Barsham in June 1561. Both are buried at Holy Trinity, Bungay.
With the lime trees flowering, the bees and their hives are back in the churchyard.
Thank you for the 132 items donated to the Food Bank in June.
The June sales table yielded £70. Sarah Jane has sold more legacy teddy bears, adding a further £165 to the total sum, which now stands at an impressive £1,587.
FORWARD PLANNING
The Summer Lunch Party will take place on Wednesday 3rd August at 12.30pm at St Bartholomew’s Church, Shipmeadow by kind invitation of Nick and Jenny Caddick. Tickets cost £10 and are available from Bridget and Diana.
Food is provided and drinks, including wine and fizz, will be available to buy. Help with the provision of food would be much appreciated: please use the sheet at the back of the church to indicate how you can help. Please bring your own seats (and tables if you want them).
Haymaking in the churchyard is planned for Friday and Saturday 5th and 6thAugust, weather permitting. All hands welcome!
This year’s Suffolk Churches Ride and Stride event takes place on Saturday 10thSeptember. Last year Barsham Church raised over £1,000 and it would be great to match that or beat it this year. Dick, our Local Organiser, reminds us that we need Barsham Riders and Striders as well as Recorders at the church to sign in the visiting Riders and Striders and to offer refreshments.
Harvest Festival will be celebrated with Evensong on Sunday 2nd October with a harvest supper at the village hall afterwards.
SNIPPETS – The Via Beata and Church Walking Pilgrimages
The Via Beata – the Way of Blessing – is a waymarked long-distance walking route across Britain at its widest point, from Lowestoft to St Davids. It links a network of footpaths, bridleways and quiet lanes for some 340 miles, including through Barsham. Initiated for the new millennium in 2000, it was consciously designed as a pilgrimage route and features a number of contemplative Christian artworks along the way. The Via Beata’s destination, St Davids, was already a popular pilgrimage destination in the early Middle Ages, drawing pilgrims to the shrine of St David. Well established by at least the late 8th century, its many subsequent visitors included William I in 1077, Henry II in 1171 and Edward I in 1284.
In recent years, an organisation called Church Walking Pilgrimages has worked to set up overnight sanctuaries for walking pilgrims in churches and church halls roughly every ten miles along a number of pilgrimage routes in England, including their latest, the Via Beata. Barsham Church is part of the Via Beata sanctuary network.
Explaining the rationale behind its mission to promote these overnight stop-overs in churches, Church Walking Pilgrimages writes:
‘Pilgrimage has been for over a thousand years an activity undertaken by many people... For some it is a transformative process, for others it is healing, for others it is a holiday, for most it is a combination of all three. Pilgrimage was a major part of people’s lives in the medieval period and
is experiencing a revival now. Why so? Because spiritual searching by individuals is as strong as it has ever been, but sadly most seekers will never attend a conventional church service. The church still speaks to them though: the peace of the building, its setting and resonance of worship and simplicity is meaningful to everyone, the very atmosphere of the building imparts God’s presence’.
2023 is a particularly important year for the Via Beata since it marks the 900th anniversary of the declaration by Pope Callixtus II in 1123 that two pilgrimages to St Davids should be equal to one journey to Rome.
August Diary
Sunday 24th July – Sixth Sunday after Trinity. 11am Sung Eucharist (BCP). Rev Canon John Fellows.
Sunday 31st July – Seventh Sunday after Trinity. 11am Sung Eucharist (BCP). Rev Canon John Fellows.
Sunday 31st July – Seventh Sunday after Trinity. 6.30pm Benefice Service, Choral Evensong, All Saints, Mettingham. Rev Josh Bailey.
Sunday 7th August – Eighth Sunday after Trinity. 11am Sung Eucharist (BCP). RevJonathan Olanczuk.
Sunday 14th August – Ninth Sunday after Trinity. 11am Sung Eucharist (BCP). Rev Josh Bailey.
Sunday 21st August – Tenth Sunday after Trinity. 11am Sung Eucharist (CW). Rev Roy Wormald.
Sunday 28th August – Eleventh Sunday after Trinity. 11am Sung Eucharist (BCP). Rev Canon John Fellows.
Sunday 4th September – Twelfth Sunday after Trinity. 11am Sung Eucharist (BCP). RevJonathan Olanczuk.
Every Wednesday at 8.45am – Matins at Barsham
Every Wednesday at 10am – Holy Communion (CW) at Holy Trinity, Bungay.
Church correspondent: Robert Bacon 07867 306016, [email protected]