Over the past few months, we’ve been doing a bit of housekeeping at Camber church. We’ve re-organised the back of the church to make a sitting area for coffees after the service; got rid of superfluous paraphernalia that served little or no purpose; and pushed back the benches in the choir area towards the wall.
Over the past few months, we’ve been doing a bit of housekeeping at Camber church. We’ve re-organised the back of the church to make a sitting area for coffees after the service; got rid of superfluous paraphernalia that served little or no purpose; and pushed back the benches in the choir area towards the wall.
This has been done partly in the name of simplicity and to give our relatively small church a greater sense of spaciousness. But also, to give a greater sense of peace and an oasis of calm in our very busy world. Our homes can sometimes get cluttered, but they are our private spaces. Churches are public. And they are in their essence, places of prayer, worship and celebrations, even in the midst of death (we sing alleluia).
Hopefully the small changes we’ve made will make St Thomas a more peaceful and calming place for visitors.
We hope the votive stand (to the left of the church, near the front, right before the font) now in place with its candles ready for you to light, will contribute to that. Do come along and try it for yourself. You’re unlikely to have your peace and quiet disturbed.
By the time you’ve picked up this newsletter, we will have celebrated Harvest Thanksgiving in both churches. Camber’s service was on the last Sunday of September and East Guldeford on the first Sunday of October. I’m writing this before these events have taken place.
At East Guldeford, we’ve planned to bless Richard Baker’s, churchwarden and local farmer, new tractor. We’ve been challenged to fill the tractor’s bucket with food for the local food bank. I’ll let you know how that went.
We did have a pet service (Blessing of Animals) at East Guldeford on September 7th. We were 12 people (good biblical number) and 4 canines. It was a surprisingly moving service, especially as one the dogs had been very ill in the previous weeks, and lucky to still be alive. Most moving were two instances of total silence that lasted as long we allowed it to last (10 to 15 seconds). I’ve been to a few such services and silence does not usually feature!
On October 12th, there will be a baptism during the 10.30 service at Camber. It’s the first one since I arrived last April and probably the first one in a long while.
In November, we’ll have our usual Remembrance services, and our Facebook page will tell you when and where they’ll take place. I hope to see you soon.
Jacques
