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| The Rector's Letter. April 2002. |
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| With every blessing, Your sincere friend and Rector, |
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| Lawrence Harris |
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| My Dear Friends, March has been a busy month, both administratively and in Church. Beside all the other activities of Holy Week we also held our Vestry Meeting and Annual Parochial Church Meeting |
| At the Vestry Meeting I am delighted to say that Eddie Yeates and Clive Edwards were re-elected as Churchwardens for the coming year. It is difficult to quantify the activites of a Churchwarden, but there is no doubt that the right people make a vast difference to the spirituality, the efficiency, the happiness, the ethos and atmosphere of a Church, and we have been abundantly blessed in the services and presence of Eddie and Clive. Their Loyalty, support and hard work in all things have been unswerving and I, as well as the whole Church, owe them a great debt of gratitude. |
| Both meetings were very well supported indeed and reports from the organisations were interesting and informative. Gerald Pears gave us a resume of the activities of the Deanery Synod over the last year, and as Pauline, one of our Deanery representatives, has left the village, Eric Hall was elected to take her place. Hazel Dean then gave an account of the Womens Guild and their many interesting meetings and outings. Nora Williams told us about the Townsend Fellowship and said that anyone who would like to know more of their activities would be made most welcome at their meeting in the Church Hall, at 7.30pm on the first Wednesday of each month. Barbara then told us of the continued resurgence of the Brownies and the establishment of a Church �sponsored Rainbow Group. More helpers were needed to help them both to realise their full potential. |
| The Rector then told the meeting of the philosophy and various activities of the Shepherds. |
| Eric then presented the Church accounts and Financial Statement for the year 2001, which showed that the Church is holding its own financially, but that we need to be aware of heavy bills in the future, such as the new Nave roof, which is estimated by the Diocesan architect to need nearly �59,000 to be spent on it. The Rector thanked Eric, and Gary Alder, the independent examiner, for all their dedicated and skilful work ,which does not just happen at the year�s end, but continues throughout the year, and is a very responsible and time consuming task. The PCC were elected and will be joined by two new members, Sue Edwards and Diane Nissenbaum. I should like to give my thanks and appreciation to all those who attended and made it such a good evening together. |
| On Good Friday a goodly company assembled for the Procession of Witness and the Salvation Army Band led us to the Co-op Forecourt, where I was privileged to lead the worship. Basil Knights read the Passion Gospel for us and Captain Oliver and other members of the Salvation Army led us in prayer. Then in the afternoon, we had a spiritual hour in Church with our Devotions. |
| Easter Sunday saw a new event in the Diocese. The Easter Candle was kindled in the crypt of St.Wystan�s Church at Repton, which is the oldest Christian site in the Diocese. Repton , is where Bishop Diuma came, sent from Lindisfarne around the year 652 AD to convert the Mercians to the Christian faith. From Repton ,the light was carried to the Cathedral in Derby, to All Saints (the crooked spire) in Chesterfield, and to Tidewell Parish Church, the �Cathedral of the Peak�, Eight of us went to Tidewell and carried the light back to our Church, where it burnt all night and was then used to light our Paschal Candle on Easter Sunday. All the services were well attended on Easter Sunday and in the evening we held a Songs of Praise. The Church was full and there was some excellent singing by the choir, the congregation the Fellowship Ladies choir and the Shepherds. The Liturgy of Light formed the first part of our service and the two Churchwardens lit our Paschal Candle which will burn during Services until Whitsunday. |