As we were still in the Christmas period we revisited the Christmas Story.We thought about the strengths of the characters:-The OBEDIENCE of Mary and JosephThe JOY of the angelsThe EAGERNESS of the shepherdsThe PERSEVERANCE of the wise menThe PEACE of the Christ Child.Looking forward to 2022 we thought about how we could follow their examples to bring peace and joy in our families and community.The children painted plates showing their ideas and took part in a game that required a good deal of perseverance!The session finished around the table with a shared meal, crackers and party hats!! It was still Christmas after all!!
We heard the story of Tabitha, a woman who sewed clothes for the poor, and how Peter performed a miracle to bring her back to life. We talked about the talents we have and how we can use them to help others and like Peter, to follow Jesus’ example in all we do. One of our activities was to make sweets to give away – not an easy task! As usual we ended with a shared meal of home-made soup, jacket potatoes and pizza followed by cake. It was lovely to welcome two new families to the group and we look forward to a bumper Christmas Session on Thursday 30th December at 11am. Do come and join us.
Our aim was to focus our thoughts to how we can help to care for and protect our environment. We started in church with a few prayers and the reading which was the parable of the Sower. The rest of the service was held outside. The sermon was a guided tour of the churchyard looking at the biodiversity and the glories of creation. We were also able to sing at last! It felt wonderful to exercise our vocal cords again to the accompaniment of a recorder and a very enthusiastic blue tit! We ended with an act of commitment for the care of creation and prayers. After the service there was a further chance to look around the churchyard, buy plants on sale from local cottage gardens and enjoy entertainment from a pop-up recorder ensemble. It was a very special occasion; the weather was superb and it was wonderful to be meeting and talking to old and new friends alike after such a long time of isolation. Many thanks go to David Holt, our local surveyor from the Norfolk Wildlife Trust who led the tour of the churchyard giving us so much information about the plants which are appearing almost daily in our new conservation area.
