The Rt Rev'd Anna Eltringham, Bishop of Ripon in the Diocese of Leeds with Stephen and RebeccaPhoto credit: Alethea Fry
The forecast was perfect, our picnics were made, our beach bags were packed and we were ready for our first major choir trip! The coach arrived promptly at 8am on Sunday 29th June and robes/music/first aid kit were duly loaded. We made impressive time, arriving at a beautifully sunny Filey ay 10am. Once robes/music were safely into St. Oswald’s, we headed for the beach. It was truly lovely to watch the children playing together and extended families chatting in the sun. Lots of picnics were shared and extra fish & chips and ice-creams were bought. We were all de-sanded and ready to sing for our rehearsal at 2.30pm - a quick break and the service began at 4pm. The 12th century church of St. Oswald stands above the Coble Landing looking over the sea and The Brigg. Within, there is a sense of peace and prayer where centuries of Christians have worshipped. The church community welcomed us with drinks and smiles - both gratefully received. I am so proud of the choir - 34 individuals coming together to worship God and share our love of music. Thank you to Andrew Kingscote & Sarah Warnes for their fantastic organ playing and Isabella Wilson for her trumpet solo. My dream was to sing a service of Remembrance and Peace in this time of instability, racism & hatred. We began with a setting of the familiar words “They shall grow not old’ followed by ‘Eternal Father Strong to save’. The service then moved into a quiet time of reflection - “Make me a channel of Your peace’. I was particularly struck by the words of the resident Church Warden. During the prayers for peace & justice, we sang a Palestinian Song for Peace using words in English and Arabic. Unknown to me, the church warden was from Syria and was moved to hear the prayer for peace in his own language. After a joyful anthem of praise “Rejoice the Lord is King’ we finished on a quieter ‘The day thou gavest’ and a hymn setting of ‘Sunset’ - the bugle call to end the day. Thank you to everyone who made our day so special Ruth Yarborough
