Celebration of Lammastide at St. Peter’s Church on 15 August
This is the time when we celebrate the beginning of harvest with new corn and freshly made bread.
The setting of St. Peter’s Church close to the farmyard was very fitting for our service as we saw that the recently empty barn was now being filled to the roof with straw bales.
Our first reading from Deuteronomy reminded us that as far back as 3000 years ago Israel gave thanks to God for the first fruits of all the produce of the land. We praised God in words based on Psalm 65 – a harvest psalm of thanksgiving. We reflected on John’s account of the feeding of the five thousand, how there was enough for all and to spare - and drew lessons on the continuing inequality of sharing and wastefulness of resources in the world today.
Then Evie Jean (with mother Lisa) carried a sheaf of corn – the first fruits of our harvest – and Emily (with mother Suzanna) a home-made fruit loaf up to the altar as an offering to God. We prayed for his blessing on the ingathering of all our crops and on our homes and families and the food we eat.
‘All things come from you, O Lord
and of your own have we given you”
Then each one of us placed a stalk of wheat on the altar thinking as we did so of one thing in our lives for which we are thankful.
The service ended when we prayed for those in need including the prayer requests from the Prayer Tree, the peoples afflicted in flood-struck Pakistan, by the mud-slide in China and the failing crops in Russia.
We shall be celebrating Harvest at St Peter’s on 19 September at 4.00 pm. Do come along!
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Senior Citizens’ Tea On the afternoon of Saturday, 7th August the Social Committee hosted its annual tea in the garden of St. Martin’s Church when over 30 senior citizens enjoyed kind weather, conversation and a Strawberry Cream Tea.  
The guests were offered a variety of sandwiches, home-made cakes and strawberries and cream.
There was a lot of laughter and conversation!
And a very big thank you to Sainsbury plc for their very generous donation towards the tea of strawberries, cream and bunches of flowers, for which, together with the table decorations donated by Gill, a draw was held.
and to 
Susan King and her Social Committee together with their other halves (and Bertram & Martin who help erect/strike the tents) and Julia who generously gave of their time and talents.
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