THE NEWSLETTER AT THE ROOTS OF THE GRAND UNION BENEFICE OF BLISWORTH AND STOKE BRUERNE/ SHUTLANGER, WITH GRAFTON REGIS, ALDERTON AND MILTON MALSOR

Transcription

1 THE NEWSLETTER AT THE ROOTS OF THE GRAND UNION BENEFICE OF BLISWORTH AND STOKE BRUERNE/ SHUTLANGER, WITH GRAFTON REGIS, ALDERTON AND MILTON MALSOR Message from our Curate, Rev d Sue Cooper Dear Reader, Hello all. I hope you are all enjoying the longer days and the sunshine. Many of you know that I have been on placement with Emmanuel Church in Northampton for the last couple of months, and it has been a wonderful experience of how Church is lived in a different context. I have been helping with the foodbank and on hand to give prayer and pastoral support to folk who come into the coffee shop with needs and troubles. I have thoroughly enjoyed it, but it has grown on me how much I miss my parishes when I am away from them. I miss you all and feel a bit cut off. It has made me realise afresh how important it is to stay connected to our Church family, because we need each other s love and encouragement as we journey through this life. Jesus s disciples must have felt this when Jesus left them after He ascended to be with His Father. I expect that they felt a bit unconnected. But Jesus had promised them that the Holy Spirit would be sent to them and they would be connected to Him again in a new and powerful way. The Church has recently celebrated Pentecost, and because it is a significant festival in the Church calendar, we make big of it in church on Pentecost Sunday. But the shame is, that if we think of it as only a one day celebration, we can easily miss the significance of what it means to us on a day by day basis as Christians in our daily walk with God. Pentecost was when the Holy Spirit was poured out on Jesus s first disciples, and the Christian Church as was born that day. The experience of being filled and connected with the Holy Spirit overwhelmed the first disciples, and it left them fired up with excitement at what God is able to do. And they wanted to share this new experience of connectedness which felt like God was actually living in them. This sense that God was living inside them was very different from knowing about God and it was even different from walking around in the company of Jesus and the other disciples. This was like being connected to a new life and energy source that set them living, talking and working in a new way. The experience of being filled with the Holy Spirit is like being plugged into God s flow of love and power. Let me give you an example to help explain what I mean: A fan is capable of blowing a very strong wind that will cool a room down very effectively. It has everything in place to do that, but unless you plug it in to the power source, nothing is going to happen. It might look good, but until you plug it in and switch it on, it s not doing everything it s supposed to do. Likewise, we need to be connected to God, and we do this when we pray for God s Holy Spirit to fill us, and come into our lives. So, just as a fan can only do all it is capable of doing when it is plugged into the power source and switched on, we can only do all that God wants us to do, and be all that God wants us to be, if we are connected to Him through the Holy Spirit. Just imagine what your own life could be like if every day you got plugged into the Holy Spirit so that God s love and power could live and flow through you; and this is so simple to do - it just means praying to God every day and asking Him to fill you again with His spirit. So if you feel that life is a bit dull and lifeless it could be that you need to be getting yourself plugged into God again, and asking Him to fill you afresh with his spirit. I don t know about you but I want to live in the flow of God s love and power and to make a difference in this world just as the first disciples did over 2,000 years ago. And we are living proof of the lasting legacy of their powerful lives filled with the Holy Spirit, because there are Christians and churches in every corner of our world today because of them. God bless you. With love, Rev d Sue Cooper. June Volume 38, Issue 6

2 Service Schedule for June 2018 Sunday 3 June Sunday 17 June 9.30 a m: Holy Communion, BCP, Milton Malsor 8.00 a m: Holy Communion, BCP, Blisworth 9.30 a m: Morning Worship, Shutlanger 9.30 a m: Holy Communion, CW, Milton Malsor a m: Word and Worship, Blisworth a m: Holy Communion, CW, Grafton Regis Sunday 10 June a m: Morning Worship, Blisworth 9.30 a m: Holy Communion, CW, Stoke Bruerne Sunday 24 June, John the Baptist 9.30 a m: Morning Worship, Milton Malsor 9.30 a m: Holy Communion, CW, Alderton a m: Holy Communion, CW, Blisworth 9.30 a m: Morning Worship, Milton Malsor a m: Holy Communion, CW, Blisworth Every Wednesday: 9.30 a m, Morning Prayer, Blisworth and Milton Malsor Useful Telephone Numbers for the United Benefice of Blisworth and Stoke Bruerne with Grafton Regis, Alderton and Milton Malsor Rector: Revd Andrea Watkins, tel Curate: Rev d Sue Cooper, tel Churchwarden of Blisworth: Mrs Fiona McKenzie, tel Churchwardens of Stoke Bruerne: Mrs Christine Frost, tel and Mr Lee Arnfield, tel Churchwardens of Grafton Regis: Mrs Jean Glanville, tel and Mrs Judy Kendrick-Simonsen, tel Churchwarden of Alderton: Mrs Amanda Selvey, tel Churchwardens of Milton Malsor: Mrs Jane Treharne, tel and Mrs Sue Bell, tel Summer Holiday Fun We have had a request from Lee at the Blisworth Baptist Chapel for people to help with the running of a children s group/mother-toddler for ages 1 to 5 years, to be held one morning a week throughout the six week summer holidays. This will be a churches together partnership, and help required would be to serve drinks and to help build relationships with the families attending. It will be held at the Baptist Chapel and the current plan is to run it on a Friday. The Julian Group for Silent Prayer The Julian Group for Silent Prayer making space for God. The group meets on the second Monday of the month (11 June) from 5.00 p m to 6.00 p m, usually at 2 Towcester Road, Blisworth. You are welcome to join us to taste and see or on a regular basis. Contact Sue Cutts or Hilary Spurrier for more information. The Monday Group The Monday group will meet on Monday 4 June at Milton Malsor Church, from 2.00 p m to 3.30 p m. Scripture in Art The scripture in art session will take place in Stoke Bruerne Church from a m to 2.30 p m on 14 June. The session s theme will be John the Baptist. Following the success of this ministry last year, scripture in art sessions will be running once a month at Stoke Bruerne Church. Please bring a packed lunch. STOKE BRUERNE VILLAGE NEWS Stoke Bruerne Parish Council Stoke Bruerne Parish Council has been approached by Roade Community Library Project asking for a donation to help keep Roade library open. The Parish Council is very concerned that the library may be forced to close particularly as it understands that 120+ Stoke Bruerne residents are registered regular users of it. Whilst wishing to support the library the Parish Council would like to hear from residents as to whether they think a donation should be made. Please contact Alison who is Clerk to the Council and let her know what you think. You can her at clerk@stokebruerneparishcouncil.org.uk or telephone The Parish Council would like to thank those volunteers who came along to the latest village litter pick. Your hard work is very much appreciated. As you know the Parish Council is looking at ways of trying to reduce speeding through the village. Unfortunately, this is all taking rather a long time. The Council would like to assure residents that it is trying to June Volume 38, Issue 6

3 come up with solutions which are acceptable to NCC Highways and residents. A crossing patrol for the school is no longer an option as they are being phased out county-wide. The Council is currently waiting for an artist s impression of a possible permanent driver feedback sign from NCC Highways. This is being obtained as the Parish Council is concerned about the impact of a large permanent sign in a central location within the village. It is also obtaining quotes for different versions of vehicle activated signs (VAS). Stoke Bruerne Primary School Summer Fete Come and join the fun at Stoke Bruerne Primary School for their summer fete on Saturday 23 June from 1.00 p m to 4.00 p m. The he children will open the fete with maypole dancing and there will be stalls, games, tombola, barbecue and refreshments; also there will be some great prizes to be won in the 'big raffle'. All proceeds to FOSBS - helping to support our children's education. If you have any soft toys or teddies in good condition, the fundraising team at Stoke Bruerne School would like them. Please drop them into the school office or contact Nicky at nicky.housden@gmail.com. Many thanks in advance. Nicky Housden, tel Bus Service 86 As you know, the bus service 86 is very likely to be withdrawn at the end of July. Unfortunately we have at least 5 residents in Stoke Bruerne who are very reliant on the bus service. If anybody is willing to offer lifts to Towcester and back then please contact Hazel Oldfield on to offer your services. Perhaps you go into Towcester once a week to do your shopping and have a spare seat in your car? If so please do try and help out our residents who will now struggle to get out and about. Alison Benson Clerk to Stoke Bruerne Parish Council St Mary the Virgin Church Someone described being at St Mary s Church on Saturday as a lovely, happy place to be. What more could we ask? Our quarterly coffee mornings were started with the main aim of bringing together members of the local community and churches. Following events at our church on 12 May, I think we can safely say we are doing well. The tables and chairs were soon filled by friends of the church and new visitors. Before long many of the pews were also in use. It was very encouraging. Our numbers seem to increase each quarter! We were pleased that so many people had the opportunity to see the beautiful lilies and scroll of remembered loved ones, displayed in church over the weekend. One of the highlights of the morning was a performance of popular songs by ReChoired, which is a small choir formed from the Blisworth community choir. A special thanks to them for giving up their time to entertain us. They were well received and we had a lot of positive feedback. The plant stall also proved very popular thanks to Liz Hargreaves, who organised it. There are many people involved in making an event like this a success. Your contributions of plants, and cakes and your help and support on the day enabled us to raise the staggering amount of towards church funds. So THANK YOU. Our next coffee morning will be on Saturday 18 August from a m to noon. We look forward to welcoming you! Lynne Wild Stoke Bruerne C of E Primary This term our topic has been turrets and tiaras. One of the many things that the children have been doing within this topic is learning about castles; we have built them on the playground, played inside one in the classroom, dressed up as kings and queens and generally had a marvellous time. As well as the topic work that the children have been doing, our year 3 and 4 children have been taking swimming lessons this term. They have travelled in the Federation minibus and taken their swimming lessons at the Gateway pool in Tiffield. Years 5 and 6 will be having lessons next term. We have also held a celebration of the Royal wedding; all of the children from across the Federation gathered together at Tiffield School, dressed in red, white and blue. They took part in a fun-filled day - they made crowns, held dressing up races, painted royal portraits and joined in with some maypole dancing. They finished the day off with a wonderful feast of delicious party food. June Volume 38, Issue 6

4 Summer Fete in Stoke Bruerne Village Hall This will take place on Sunday 3 June at noon. There will be lots of stalls, including plants and flowers, books, clothes, bric a brac, raffle and strawberry cream teas. There are a few spare stalls at a cost of 5; please phone or if you would like a table. You will need to set up on the morning by a m. The event is in aid of the village hall. Please come and support your local hall. Stoke Bruerne Village Hall Management Committee. GRAFTON REGIS If you wish to receive a hard copy of GRASS rather than receiving a copy simply by , then please let me know. I was approached recently by a villager who was finding it very hard to read GRASS from her telephone as she did not receive a hard copy very difficult because of the small print. If you have been receiving GRASS by , you will need to have let us know that you wish to continue receiving it by . If you haven t done this, then we will no longer be able to send you a copy. It s not too late to let us know. If you would like a hard copy, please let me know. Linda Dards (linda@dards.net). Midsummer Murder Mystery Meal This will take place on Friday 22 June at 7.00 p m; this will be a fun event combining history, mystery and gastronomy. Spot the baddy and win a prize! Tickets cost 20 per head for entertainment and food. For further details and to book, please ring Kathy on or keith.harry@btinternet.com. Details will also appear shortly on the website, on Twitter and on Facebook. Comfortable Chair for Free Free to a good home! This very comfortable electrically-operated reclining chair is currently reclining in Grafton Regis village hall. If you would like to offer it a home, please ring Kathy on or keith.harry@btinternet.com. International Tourism hits Grafton Regis On the morning of Friday 25 May, we played host to a group of 15 travellers brought to Grafton by Alison Weir Tours. The group came from areas as far apart as Canada, the USA, Mexico and Australia and were fascinated by our village s history from 1066 onwards We are grateful not only to our usual actors who turned out, but also to friends and volunteers who took the places of our usual performers who had to attend work or school on a Friday morning. As usual the profits from the event will be divided between funds for the upkeep of our church and village hall. Kathy Harry The New Road Surface If you have not driven through Grafton Regis for the last two weeks, you will not have had the benefit of driving on the new road surface. Those of us who live on the main road had two very noisy nights while Highways worked on taking out the old road surface, relaying a new surface and re-siting the many manhole covers we seem to have along the village stretch. It is bliss at night now - no more clunk/bang as lorries hit the sunk manholes, or the pictures moving on the walls. It must be a relief for the owners of the old cottages and, hopefully, the cracks that appear in the walls will be reduced. It seems most strange that the council list the old buildings but then do very little to control the volume of traffic that goes through the village, especially when there has been an accident on the M1. Anyone who has seen the structure of the exterior wall of a listed building will understand how fragile these buildings are. June Volume 38, Issue 6

5 Heritage Lottery Grant We are still working on this project and have to present our proposals to HLF by September; if you have any suggestions to how we improve access to our history to any part of society, please let me have your advice. We only have this one opportunity to get this as right as we can so please come forward with your suggestions. Jean Glanville BLISWORTH Blisworth Heritage Society On Friday 13 July, Blisworth Heritage Society will be hosting an evening of summer music from the 17th and 18th centuries, in Blisworth Church. The evening is open to all. Tickets are 3 for members and 5 for non-members; this includes a glass of sparkling wine and a bowl of strawberries. Summer Garden Party The summer garden party in aid of World Vision projects in Armenia is scheduled for Friday 27 July at 2 Towcester Road Blisworth from 4.00 p m. All are welcome. Prayer Stations In 2016, the Archbishop introduced Thy Kingdom Come, 10 days of prayer in the run up to Pentecost. Again, the team at St John s produced several prayer stations which were set up around the church in the period from 10 to 20 May. The prayer stations are designed to introduce different ways to enter into prayer. Some appeal more than others, but as in the past two years, a great number of people spent some quiet time exploring the stations and feedback was very positive. Blisworth Open Archives Blisworth Church will be open from 2.30 p m to 4.30 p m on 21 June see Hilary Spurrier for more details. ALDERTON Church Cleaning Rota June Dawn Cox & Doris Knights Churchyard Rota 29 May 11 June Steve & Alessandra Towell June Dawn & Roy Cox 26 June 9 July Brian Patton Church service: 24 June MILTON MALSOR Mums and Tots This takes place every Friday morning through term time at Milton Malsor Village Hall from 9.30 a m until a m. All mums and tots welcome. Coffee Morning The coffee morning will take place on Saturday 2 June from a m to noon. GENERAL NEWS News from The Old Mail For events and happenings in the nearby villages: Cosgrove, Potterspury and Yardley Gobion, see the newsletter, The Old Mail, is available online at various websites: ; ; How to Contact the Police 999 for a crime or incident in progress 101 you will be asked with which police station you would like to be connected direct dial Northamptonshire police for Towcester: SCT-SouthNorthantsTowcester@northants.police.uk. Your local officers are as follows: Alderton: PCSO 7018, Peter Firth, tel 101 ext Stoke Bruerne: PCSO 7018, Peter Firth, tel 101 ext Shutlanger: PCSO 7018, Peter Firth, tel 101 ext For more local SCT information, visit the local policing pages at Grafton Regis: PCSO 7018, Peter Firth, tel 101 ext Blisworth: PCSO 7012 Tara Cooksammy Milton Malsor: PCSO 7012 Tara Cooksammy June Volume 38, Issue 6

6 Fitness Classes in Paulerspury Monday Pilates classes: a m a m, a m p m, 6.00 p m 7.00 p m, 7.00 p m 8.00 p m. Places available in all Monday classes. Contact: Lisa Wednesday Pilates classes: currently no vacancies. Tuesday yoga classes: Currently no vacancies. Summer school holiday class: We will be holding a 5 week course from 24 July to & including 21 August Cost 25 if we get sufficient numbers; it will be in the main hall otherwise the new room. Contact Sue Saturday yoga morning: Saturday 30 June 2018: to be held in the village hall a m to 1.00 p m. Cost 10, with profit being donated to the village hall: Contact Sue, June Volume 38, Issue 6

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8 United Benefice Calendar for 2018 All groups and organisations within the community are warmly invited to include events here. June 2 Walking event in Stoke Bruerne, a m to 6.00 p m 2 Coffee morning, Milton Malsor, a m noon 3 Summer fete, Stoke Bruerne village hall, noon 4 Open the Book planning meeting at Hilary Spurrier s house, 9.30 a m 4 Monday Group to meet at Milton Malsor Church, 2.00 p m 3.30 p m 5 Book Club, 7.00 p m, The Boat Inn, Stoke Bruerne 6 NAB van to visit Waitrose car park, Towcester, 1.30 p m to 3.30 p m 9 Milton Malsor WI outing to Barnsdale gardens 14 Scripture in Art day, Stoke Bruerne church, a m to 2.30 p m 20 Men s group meet The Royal Oak, Blisworth, 7.30 p m 21 Towcester Heartbeats social evening, The Navigation, Stoke Bruerne 21 Blisworth open archives, Blisworth Church, 2.30 p m 4.30 p m 21 Towcester Heartbeats Social evening Navigation, Stoke Bruerne, 7.00 p m 22 Midsummer Murder evening, Grafton Regis village hall, 7.00 p m 23 Stoke Bruerne School summer fete 1.00 p m 4.00 p m 23 1,000 years in 100 minutes event, Grafton Regis, 2.30 p m 29 Coffee morning, Pat & Mason s house, a m 12. July 12 Art day, Stoke Bruerne church, a m to 2.30 p m 13 Blisworth Heritage Society musical evening, Blisworth church 15 Benefice team on duty at Streetchurch 19 Towcester Heartbeats meeting, 7.00 p m 8.30 p m Art demonstration 27 Garden party, Blisworth, 4.00 p m August 9 Art day, Stoke Bruerne church, a m to 2.30 p m 16 Towcester Heartbeats meeting 7.00 p m revealing the mysteries of the ECG 18 Coffee morning, Stoke Bruerne church 18/19 Blisworth canal festival September 1 & 2 Alderton Art Festival 8 Ride and Stride day 8/9 Village at War weekend, Stoke Bruerne 13 Art day, Stoke Bruerne church, a m to 2.30 p m October 6 1,000 years in 100 minutes event, Grafton Regis, 2.30 p m 14 Benefice team on duty at Streetchurch Community choir: Come along and join the community choir who are meeting on 7, 14, 21 and 28 June from 7.30 p m till 9.00 p m in Blisworth church. All are welcome to swell the ranks, and subscriptions are only 2 per person. SNIPPETS: We can t always choose the music life plays for us but we can choose how we dance to it. Never be a prisoner of your past; it was just a lesson, not a life sentence. Never ruin an apology with an excuse. Minds are like parachutes. They only function when they are open. THE CLOSING DATE FOR THE NEXT EDITION OF GRASS is 15 June If you can get any copy to us earlier than that it would be very much appreciated Please send any copy to: Linda Dards, Moorend, Spring Lane, Alderton NN12 7LW tel , linda@dards.net. Could you please include your name & phone number with entries in case we have any problems. If you would like to add photographs or drawings to your text these are welcome and can be supplied via or as photos, and returned after scanning. Contributions by are most welcome, we can accept most formats; please request a response from us on receipt so you are sure that we have your submission. Word (any version) is preferred. June Volume 38, Issue 6