Sunday, December 10th @ 4pm at St. Peters, Hutton - Christingle

Jo said she'd be interested to see how it was done somewhere else. There are differences everywhere. Here the Christingles are already made. When we arrive with five minutes to go the church is almost full. The hall is opened up, and there's very little seating available even in the overflow. It is not a widely advertised service, but people find out that its on and come anyway. The service is designed with small children in mind. We start with Colours of day - appropriate but one of my pet hates. There is some basic liturgy, and a song that explains the Christingles. The youth group (SPY - St Peters Youth) do their part. They are clearly not well rehearsed, by nevertheless do a very creditable job under the circumstances. This is the first time I have seen SPY - and its one of the things I was looking forward to. Youngsters with long hair are instructed to tie it back. There are instructions given, and children appear from everywhere - no adults take Christingles here. The SPY youth have tapers and are lighting the Christingles. One little girl is overheard saying "its a death trap" as she watches all the lit candles and tries to walk past. The lights are switched off. Any church looks wonderful full of happy children holding lit candles I'm sure. St. Peters certainly does.

As always at St Peters the timetable works like a dream. The service is scheduled to be 45 minutes. 45 Minutes after the start of the service the church is almost empty. That is one of the things we discussed as we left, Jo agrees it leads to the service feeling rushed. Its also fair to point out that we are rushed. On to the next blog entry to find out why.

Sunday, December 10th @ 9:30am at St Peters – Family Communion

The church felt quite empty today. There were a number of late arrivals, but not as many as the week before last. The hymns were largely unknown, by me and the congregation. The congregation appeared smaller than usual, though I sat near the front and therefore couldn't do an accurate count.

Brenda did the 10 minute talk, which was about guides through the wilderness, and the Christian life as a journey. It was an interesting sermon, but did not appear to have anything very special for the children. Apart from one, there were only the very small children today, and only 4 families represented.

One good thing they have – leaflets inviting everyone in the parishes of Shenfield & Hutton to a service over Christmas. All the churches are covered, and there are requests for people to take and distribute the leaflets.

Wednesday, November 29 @ 8pm at St Peters - Advent Lecture

The last of the three advent lectures about priest poets. Today's was about R.S. Thomas. A welsh poet and priest who died in 2000. His poems incorporate technology and the things of everyday life. He struggles to understand where God is and what he is doing, and WHY?. I missed the second one, the first was hard to relate to, as we needed to get to grips with the pre-scientific culture of his age. To say R. S. Thomas was prolific sounds like and understatement, he averages one poem a fortnight (two weeks, for the non-English readers) for thirty years. His work is available here.

Once again it was a superb lecture. The hour was over and the interest was held. The 30-40 people who attended seemed reluctant to move, but they did leave eventually.

Monday, November 27 at St Peters school Governors Meeting

I was invited to observe the governors meeting. This meeting structure is the same as that of the PCC, with sub-committees doing the real work, and the main meeting overseeing the results, and agreeing the important decisions. Apart from the Rector, and a teacher the governing board is made up entirely of women. The vast majority of these attend church, not necessarily St. Peters, but a church somewhere.
The meeting was largely uneventful, but there was a lot to do, and in some cases the people doing it are also busy doing lots of other things.
If you're a school governor you won't need me to tell you just how much paper work there is to be done. The whole system relies on pieces of paper.

Sunday November 26, 9:30 at St Peters

I'm very aware this morning that my time at St Peters is coming to an end. There are only a few weeks left. If there are still questions I might have to over run. This morning I asked to speak with the church warden after the service, and met both of them. We had a longer conversation while she was doing the cashing up and various other Sunday tasks. It's not for recording in a blog, but was very helpful to me in producing my report. The service this morning was lead by Brenda, and one of the readers was preaching. There was some discussion about the length of the sermon, but it seemed to be generally agreed that it was a better sermon than last week, even if it was quite long. (It was not long at all by the standards that I'm used to.) The discussion finished about 11:30, so there was no chance at all of getting to All Saints.

There were more people in church this morning than I have seen for a couple of weeks.

The bazarr, which happened yesterday, and which I was unable to get to because of the Reader Training Plenary half day, has raised over £1000.

Harvest events raised nearly £750 for Harvest Help.

Monday, November 20, 8pm at St. Peters

I went to the Men's evening. The speaker was unwell so it was cancelled. This was to have been the last meeting of the men's group. I'm sad to have missed it, I would like to have seen how it works.

Sunday 19 November, 9:30 at St Peters

After returning home from All Saints for a quick coffee, I made my way to Hutton again. The foxes and squirrels have taken cover now, and I'm in a hurry. I'm lucky to find a parking space reasonably close to church, and when I take my seat - again after a friendly welcome from the warden - I look around to find the congregation is smaller than usual (I estimate 50 adults and 10 children). It is also lead by the vicar from West Horndon whose style is quite different from Bob's. the service proceeds in the normal way. There is not the feeling of being rushed, and the sermon seems to take slightly longer than usual, but I hadn't timed it, so I can't be sure. In the hall afterwards I discussed the music arrangements and the choir. How much of this gives an indication of where a church really is in its worship life?

There is a fresh stock of Olive Oil, and this time some soap too. I have bought a bar of the soap, in aid of Project Hope.

After the service I drove round the back of the school to look at Hutton Community Centre. there are a number of games of football going on, on the large field. A path leads between the building and the pitches. Some people inside are playing badminton. There are adverts for the Christmas Dance (own drink not allowed), and a Sexual Health Drop-in.

9:30 @ St. Peters Hutton

This time Jo came with me as she had no activities to fulfil at Christ Church. The sideswoman greets us with the apology that its a bit nippy, and the heating is not switched on yet. It is cooler than last week, but not uncomfortable. Jo was struck by the introduction to the service. The music starts, and Bob's voice booms out "Good morning to those who are not on half term holiday", or something like that. The numbers are down this week, I didn't count, but maybe 70% of last weeks attendance. Despite the service being quite formal, with very a fixed format, it is also relaxed. Today John (one of the readers) is preaching, and for there is noise from a small child and a baby. I'm sure there's no connection, but its noticeable because John has a much quieter, slower style than Bob, and he uses notes (what a relief!). The usual format, as I already said, and Jo comments that it feels rushed. Perhaps that's because of the pressure of getting away to the 11:15 at All Saints, or perhaps its just the way it runs, and we're not used to it.

After the service Bob tells me a bit about St Deiniol's. Looks like it may be an interesting place to visit.

9:30 @ St. Peters Hutton

The parish communion service is probably the 'normal' service at St. Peters. As I looked around the congregation it seems to be split in two, in the centre part of the church there are older people, I estimate that the majority are retired, but I may be being unfair. On the far left there are a few younger women, one has a child with her, I guess that these are mothers of Sunday school children and this turns out to be the case. On the far right the church is empty. Every church has its pattern, but I am left speculating - what it this about. On the way in I am welcomed and handed a hymn book, a 'news letter' with the readings, collect, and a few notices, and a service book. The service starts as the first hymn is announced from the back. We stand and sing as Bob and his assistant (crucifer?) parade in. The liturgy is 'sung', so is the psalm. The Lord's prayer is the 'traditional' style. The readings - O/T and N/T are read by members of the congregation, as are the prayers. The gospel is read by Bob. There is a 10 minute sermon on Riches and the Kingdom, with an aside about St. Francis. Short and to the point and preached without notes. Impressive!
At the end of the communion the Sunday School children (3-10) come in for a blessing. The younger children are not admitted to communion. They all sit in the empty seats on the right hand side of the church. Before the blessing, as part of the notices, I am introduced to the congregation, so they know who I am and why I'm here. Hopefully this will make them more willing to chat.
After the service everyone is encouraged into the hall, behind the church for coffee and cakes (some made by the children) in aid of the Seeds for Africa appeal, that started at Harvest last week. There is good take up of this and most people seem to be in the hall, the queue for cakes is quite long, and it takes a while to get one. I chatted to 5 different people. They are all friendly but their comments are not for a blog, some have been in the Church for a long time, others are new arrivals.
On leaving the church I drove around a bit. Down Hanging Hill Lane, past Hutton Mount, and Thriftwood, to the estate beyond, and back again. There is only one shop - a general store and Post Office. Then I drove down the inaccurately named "Hutton Village". There are only houses down here, it leads to Church Lane, so I drove past All Saints, and saw the parking problems there.

9:30 Parade Service; 10:30 Holy communion with Prayers for Healing

9:30
St Peters was opened into a single building for the parade service. I sat in the overflow area, and was soon surrounded. They said arrive early, and 10 minutes before the service I was sitting in church. I would have been earlier, but parking is a problem, and I was 3 or 4 minutes away from the church. The Parade servive is short, about 30 minutes, with 4 hymns and a reduced sermon, it is designed to be child friendly, and really does quite well in achieving that aim. Two guides read the lessons, and some scouts read prayers. The colours were paraded in and out. The sermon was short (10 minutes or less) and aimed at the children. The church was packed with parents come to be with their children at the service.
Then coffee and chat, and only just in time...
10:30
Only a few stayed or arrived for the Communion. This is a spoken service with prayer for healing. A nice quiet service although it did feel a little rushed, after a late start, when the dividers between the church and hall did not close.

Harvest Thanksgiving

Saturday evening I arrived outside the church just a little early, so took a short drive arounf the estate. It reminded me of the estate in Hadleigh, across the main road from where I grew up. the houses are built well back, with lots of grass. The roads curve, but the houses don't, they are in straight lines at 90 degree angles. It looked quite nice, with no obvious signs of vandalism.
Inside the hall I was greeted enthusiastically by Bob, and introduced to a number of people. They are very friendly and eager to talk to me. Bob kept everyone up to date with the slight delays, and eventually said grace, so we could start eating. The food was served to us by two of the younger people. Lasangne, salad, and bread from the local baker. A very nice meal. Then followed country dancing this was called by Bob 'barn dance style'. There was a little reluctance, but a lot of people joined in, especially as there wasn't that much space. The evening finished at 9:30, and most people had left by about 9:45. An enjoyable evening - thanks to all concerned.