NEWSThere 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 PLANNINGThe 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 PilgrimagesThe 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 DiarySunday 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, robert.bacon@yahoo.co.uk
NEWSAn appreciative audience enjoyed the SuAnLo Concert followed by a sumptuous tea in the church on the afternoon of Saturday 21st May. The trio performed some beautiful Classical pieces, including favourites by Vivaldi, Gounod, JS Bach, Mozart, Fauré and others; as well as a selection of film and popular music, including Enrico Morricone’s haunting theme tune to The Mission and Alan Menken’s ‘Tale as Old as Time’ from Beauty and the Beast. Pictured on the front cover are (from left to right): Suzanna Guterl (‘Su’), flautist; Ana Salaberria (‘An’), singer; and Loreto Aramendi (‘Lo’), organist. Thanks to the generosity of the SuAnLo trio and the hard-working ladies of the church who provided the tea, the concert raised £493 for the Fabric Fund. At the close of our Sunday service on the Jubilee weekend, we sang the National Anthem and afterwards raised our glasses to the Queen in a loyal toast as we enjoyed drinks and nibbles. Some stayed longer for a Jubilee picnic lunch at tables inside the church, the weather being inclement outside. On Sunday 29th May the Benefice service was held at Barsham. It was a joy to see so many representatives from our three churches, and also Ed Land who presided at his first service at Barsham. This was the last fifth Sunday Benefice service to be held in the morning: in future on the fifth Sunday each church will hold its own morning service at the customary time and in addition there will be a Benefice Evensong held in turn at Barsham and Mettingham, with the Bungay congregation encouraged to attend. It is hoped that a Benefice choir could be formed. We celebrated our Patronal Festival on Trinity Sunday, 12th June, with a service of Eucharist at 11am and Choral Evensong at 6.30pm. Both services were conducted by Rev Josh Bailey. The numbers at Evensong were fewer than usual but it was a beautiful evening and the congregation enjoyed the service and the wine and canapés that followed.A magnificent 272 items were donated to the Food Bank in May – a significant boost to the Food Bank and very much appreciated. Many thanks to all donors. The wine-tasting evening at the Old Rectory raised £180 for emergency humanitarian aid for Ukraine. The money will be put to use via the charity Aid to the Church in Need. This larger than expected amount was made possible by the generosity of Tom Mead of Adnams, who waived part of his fee. Collections on the five Sundays of May amounted to a very healthy £1,933 and the Maysales table organised by Jenny yielded £125. Sarah Jane continues her excellent endeavours with the sale of legacy teddy bears, recently adding a further £422 to the total sum, which now stands at £1,423. FORWARD PLANNINGThe 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 are likely to cost £10 and will be available from Bridget shortly. Haymaking in the churchyard is planned for Friday and Saturday 5th and 6th August, weather permitting. All hands welcome!The annual Suffolk Churches Ride and Stride fundraiser will take place this year on Saturday 10th September. Last year Barsham Church raised over £1,000 through Ride and Stride, 50% of this total going to the Suffolk Historic Churches Trust and 50% to our own church. Let’s hope we can raise a similar amount or even more 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. Dick adds that anyone can volunteer to play the organ for an hour or two and this would be an added attraction.SNIPPETS – The Suffolk Churches Historic TrustNext year the Trust will be celebrating its 50th birthday. Since its launch in December 1973, it has raised over £5 million, with which it has furnished grants for the repair and maintenance of churches, chapels and meeting houses in Suffolk (it is non-denominational). The Trust’s income comes from legacies, donations, sponsored events (including Ride and Stride), grants and from membership fees from its Friends. Holy Trinity Barsham is one of about 500 medieval churches in Suffolk, and you don’t need to be a church-goer to recognise the importance of these precious buildings. Their value is obvious to those who worship regularly or occasionally, and to those who attend for special occasions such as weddings, baptisms and funerals; but there is a far wider community of people who appreciate our medieval church heritage. Some love our old churches for the history of their architecture, furnishings and fittings, others as valued places for social contact or musical entertainment, and some simply for their beauty in our rural and urban landscapes – an essential ingredient to any English village or market town. Many people are thus willing for diverse reasons to give time and money to help preserve these wonderful buildings for future generations.JULY DIARYSunday 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.Sunday 10th July – Fourth Sunday of Trinity – 11am Sung Eucharist (BCP). Rev Jonathan Olanczuk.Sunday 17th July – Fifth Sunday after Trinity. 11am Sung Eucharist with incense (CW). Rev Roy Wormald. 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.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, robert.bacon@yahoo.co.uk
NEWSIt 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 PLANNINGFor 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 arrangementsBarsham 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 DIARYThursday 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, robert.bacon@yahoo.co.uk
NEWSThe March Equinox Event at Barsham produced a fine spectacle on the days either side of the Equinox but not on the day itself, when the sky was overcast. The turn-out included a small core of regular attenders.Pots of spring flowers were distributed in church on Mothering, Sunday 27th March, and palm crosses on Palm Sunday, 10th April. The Annual Parochial Church Meeting took place at the church on Thursday 31stMarch. Bridget and Diana kindly agreed to continue as Churchwardens and current members of the PCC agreed to continue. A team of six gathered on the afternoon of 12th April for the cleaning of the church brass. 157 items were kindly donated to the Food Bank in March. Growing pressures on the cost of living make our contributions ever more important and for the time being we have been asked particularly for items such as nappies, toothpaste, toothbrushes, soap and washing up liquid. Regarding Sunday collections, Colin reminds us that GIFT AID is a vital part of our church’s finances, permitting us to claim the tax element on all contributions and donations we receive. Whilst it is important to secure support in this way from tax payers, non-tax payers too have a major role to play as up to £8,000 per annum of their total donations are also eligible for the same tax relief. It is, however, imperative that non-tax payers do not attempt to use the Gift Aid Scheme (gift aid envelopes or standing orders) as HMRC will almost certainly demand reimbursement from the donor concerned. A tax payer is defined as one who pays Income Tax and/or Capital Gains Tax. With Gift Aid we are able to enhance all contributions by 25%. If you have any questions or concerns please do not hesitate to contact Colin, our Church Treasurer. Since the last Newsletter Sarah Jane has achieved two further sales of the Learners’ legacy teddy bears, yielding £197 and £55, bringing the cumulative total for the bears to an impressive £879. The sales table organised by Bridget raised an excellent total of £178 which, together with the surplus Easter lily money, will be donated to the Diocesan Responding to the Crisis in Ukraine Appeal. Looking ahead to the winter, the Love Box Appeal has been suspended this year due to the crisis in Ukraine and Moldova. In its place there is likely to be a fund-raising appeal for the Mustard Seed charity later in the year to support the charity’s aid work with refugees from the war. FORWARD PLANNINGThere will be a Service of Confirmation for Benefice confirmands at Holy Trinity, Bungay on Sunday 1st May at 3pm. At the same service the Revd Edward Land will be licensed as Associate Minister for the Lightwave Rural Hub and Heather Land as Director of the Lightwave Community Choir. There are still some places available for the wine tasting at the Old Rectory, 6pm to 8pm on Saturday 14th May, at the kind invitation of Howard Trust. Tickets can be purchased at the back of the church after Sunday service. Tickets cost £15 each and will cover all costs for the evening with the balance contributed to a Ukraine charitable fund. The Concert by the SuAnLo Trio on Saturday 21st May will be from 3pm to 4pm at Barsham Church. The time for this concert is now confirmed as 3pm. There will be no interval, but tea and cakes will be served afterwards. Tickets are available from Bridget and Diana and cost £12.The Trio, from San Sebastian in Spain, consists of Loreto Aramendi (‘Lo’), Professor at the Conservatoire of San Sebastian and principal organist at the Basilica de Santa Maria del Coro in San Sebastian; Ana Salaberria (‘An’), an accomplished singer and teacher of classical and popular music; and Suzanna Guterl (‘Su’), a concert flautist. The Queen’s Jubilee Lunch at the Village Hall on Sunday 5th June is likely to be a bring-your-own picnic event. Further details to follow.SNIPPETS – Saints and Martyrs: a Lesser Festival in MayOn May the 4th a Lesser Festival in the Church of England celebrates the Saints and Martyrs of the English Reformation. Whilst the heresy laws of Henry VIII (1509-1547) and Mary I (1553-1558), targeted Protestants, a smaller number of Catholics and dissenting radical Christians were put to death at the hands of the Protestant regimes of Edward VI (1547-1553), Elizabeth I (1558-1603) and James I (1603-1625). In Mary’s reign at least 280 Protestants were burned at the stake for standing by their beliefs and rejecting Catholic doctrine. Amongst them were three men – Thomas Spicer, John Denny and Edmund Poole – brought to Beccles to be tried and then burned at the stake in the same fire in May 1556. According to Foxe’s Book of Martyrs, a certain Beccles resident called Robert Bacon (no relation!) incited the onlookers to throw faggots onto the fire ‘to stop the knaves’ breaths’. The collect for 4th May begins: ‘O merciful God, who, when thy Church on earth was torn apart by the ravages of sin, didst raise up men and women in this land who witnessed to their faith with courage and constancy…’Thus, on 4th May we celebrate the courage and Godliness of the martyrs on both sides during the English Reformation and recall the evils of bigotry. Maybe too, with the rise of authoritarian regimes around the world, it is apt that we should celebrate the freedom of conscience that we enjoy in the UK today. MAY DIARYSunday 24th April – Second Sunday of Easter. 11am Sung Eucharist (BCP). Rev Canon John Fellows.Sunday 1st May – Third Sunday of Easter. 11am Sung Eucharist (BCP). Rev Jonathan Olanczuk.Sunday 1st May – Licensing of Edward and Heather Land and Service of Confirmation, 3pm at Holy Trinity, Bungay.Sunday 8th May – Fourth Sunday of Easter. 11am Sung Eucharist (BCP). Rev Josh Bailey.Sunday 15th May – Fifth Sunday of Easter. 11am Sung Eucharist (CW). Rev Roy Wormald. Sunday 22nd May – Sixth Sunday of Easter. 11am Sung Eucharist (BCP). Rev Canon John Fellows.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.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, robert.bacon@yahoo.co.uk
