Dear friends, Four years ago we were in the first COVID lockdown. The picture of the wild garlic was taken of one of the many glorious walks around our villages. I will always remember the beautiful weather, the silence, the glimmer of hope that flight numbers would stay down. There was also the deep sense of privilege that living in the countryside we could go out into nature when those living in a bedsit in London were not even allowed out in the parks. It was a memorable time for many reasons. God bless, Dineke van den Bogerd notes-20240414.pdf Weekly Notes Readings-20240414.pdf Weekly Readings Post expires at 5:43pm on Friday April 11th, 2025

Dear friends, Last week, on Easter Sunday, we did a lovely walk starting on the footpath in front of our house. The attached picture with St John in the distance was taken from the nature reserve. We hope many of you will come to the APCM in St John tomorrow after church. Do give yourself some extra time to get acquainted with our new donations machine, which can of course also be used before the service for the collection (experimental credit card donations most welcome!). I will be bringing it and be available for any questions before the service and during coffee before the APCM. God bless, Dineke van den Bogerd notes-20240407.pdf Weekly Notes Readings-20240407.pdf Weekly Readings Post expires at 11:14am on Sunday April 6th, 2025

Happy Easter everyone! I hope you all have a wonderful time this weekend with a bit of sunshine albeit quite wet underfoot. Next week, 7 April, we have several exciting things going on. * First and foremost it is the day of our Annual Parochial Church Meeting. Please make sure you attend this important event in our church diary when you can hear reports of what happened last year and plans for the current year. * One plan that has come to fruition already is the revival of the rota for coffee after Sunday service in St John. Mike and Jane will be biting the bullet next Sunday so please stay after the service to support them. * Last but not least we will be introducing our new collection taker: CollecTin as pictured. This is our new creditcard donations machine that we have purchased with help (and a grant!) from the central Church of England. By all means familiarise yourself and if you would like to test it out you are more than welcome! Be careful in the next week as the change of clocks can result in people not concentrating as normal for several days. God bless, Dineke van… Read More

Dear friends, For those who receive these notes in time: tonight 23 March we can join in with Earth Hour. This yearly event makes us stop and think how much resources we drain from the planet each year and how this affects climate change and nature loss. The idea is to switch off all non-essential lights between 20:30 and 21:30 and celebrate creation. Have some food and drink together, tell stories or play games: it’s surprising how many games exist that don’t require light or even require no light! You can also think of something specific to do for the planet like have a vegetarian day once or twice a week or replace short trips in the car with walking or cycling or consider car sharing more. Happy Earth hour and God bless, Dineke van den Bogerd notes-20240324.pdf Weekly Notes Readings-20240324.pdf Weekly Readings Post expires at 8:14am on Sunday March 23rd, 2025

Dear friends, As I write the garden is bathing in glorious sunshine: a sight for sore eyes! Tomorrow we have a parish service in St John and I hope to see many of you. I will bring the new donations machine that will take card payments. We have been given a subsidy on the purchase of this device and it will be particularly useful when we have weddings, baptisms and funerals in St Margaret’s or St John. From this you will gather that it is a portable card reader and we can display different pictures on it depending on what we are raising money for at that moment. Hopefully it will be ready to take gifts but if not tomorrow then soon. Like last week’s picture of the grebe, the attached heron picture was taken two weeks ago on our visit to Amsterdam. God bless, Dineke van den Bogerd notes-20240317.pdf Weekly Notes Readings-20240317.pdf Weekly Readings Post expires at 8:55am on Sunday March 16th, 2025

Dear friends, Tomorrow is Mothering Sunday and that means the first teas of the year in St John. Both our churches will have a special service with a cafe church in St John. Our PCC Facebook page is getting popular with more than 300 followers now. If you have access to this social media platform please consider following our page: ‘Capel and Ockley church’ and spread any news by liking, sharing and commenting whenever you see the original post or a shared one. Each so-called interaction means that more people see our posts and it’s a great way to reach younger people who may not read our notes or Inspire magazine. We aim to share our posts with the local schools, surrounding villages and churches whenever appropriate. The picture of the great crested grebe in winter plumage was taken close to Amsterdam last weekend. God bless, Dineke van den Bogerd notes-20240310.pdf Weekly Notes Readings-20240310.pdf Weekly Readings Post expires at 9:53am on Sunday March 9th, 2025

Dear friends, This message comes to you from sunny Dutchland, where we are on a trip we had to postpone from last January. Next week is Mothering Sunday and we hope to welcome many children of all ages in our churches, either to cafe church in St John or a more traditional service in St Margaret’s. The picture today is of some tiny patches of moss gracing a Capel gate post. God bless, Dineke van den Bogerd notes-20240303.pdf Weekly Notes 20240303-reading.pdf Weekly Readings Post expires at 1:42pm on Sunday March 2nd, 2025

Dear friends, My apologies for the lateness of this message. I was on a mission yesterday and totally forgot to post. Our quiet day last week was a great success. The location was inspirational (see attached photo) and we learnt a lot about reading the bible in a listening mode. Rev Jo took us through the process step by step and the serious nature of the subject was broken up by good companionship and moments of laughter and joy. Please consider coming to St John on Wednesdays in Lent to enjoy homemade soup for a donation to charity. God bless, Dineke van den Bogerd notes-20240225.pdf Readings-20240225.pdf Post expires at 5:44pm on Tuesday February 25th, 2025

Dear friends, You receive this message a bit later than normal because some of us have been at the quiet day retreat yesterday. I’m sure you will be hearing about it after the event. The picture today is of our happy hens roaming the garden in the mild weather. God bless, Dineke van den Bogerd notes-20240218.pdf Weekly Notes Readings-20240218.pdf Weekly Readings Post expires at 4:23pm on Sunday February 16th, 2025

Dear friends, The quality of today’s picture leaves much to be desired but I could not resist sharing the blue tits feeding at the newly installed feeder. A robin has been to visit as well but he/she is a bit more cautious and would not be captured. The after school club is doing really well. We must all congratulate the volunteers for making this initiative such a success. What a wonderful way to reach out to the wider community. The volunteers and children will start preparations for Easter after a much deserved break this half term. God bless, Dineke van den Bogerd notes-20240211.pdf Weekly Notes Readings-20240211.pdf Weekly Readings Post expires at 9:43am on Monday February 10th, 2025

Dear friends, All around us spring is showing. Snowdrops and daffodils have started to flower and the picture attached is of the first crocuses in our garden. What a joy to behold! Lent isn’t far off and there are quite a few activities planned. Some are for our own benefit (discipling the core) and others for the wider community. The Lent lunches will start on Wednesday the 21st of this month with soup, bread and cheese provided for a donation to the Bishop’s of Guildford Communities Fund: www.cofeguildford.org.uk/mission/growing-community/bishop-of-guildfords-communities-fund/bishop-of-guildfords-communities-fund<www.cofeguildford.org.uk/mission/growing-community/bishop-of-guildfords-communities-fund/bishop-of-guildfords-communities-fund> We hope to see many of you at these events. God bless, Dineke van den Bogerd notes-20240204.pdf Weekly Notes Readings-20240204.pdf Weekly Readings Post expires at 11:22am on Monday February 3rd, 2025

Dear friends, The year has gone off with a flying start for our churches. The already popular after school club and preparations in full swing for the revival of ‘Open the Book’, the Lent course and the Quiet Day. Read more in the notes attached. Lent lunches will be back this year following the success from last year. More information will follow soon. The dates are already in our website calendar together with all the latest information for all the PCC activities: www.capelandockleychurch.org.uk/events-calendar/ The pictures today are from two different walks, both quite nearby: Leith Hill and Beare Green to Anstiebury Farm. We are so lucky to live in this beautiful part of the world. God Bless, Dineke van den Bogerd notes-20240128.pdf Weekly Notes Readings-20240128.pdf Weekly Readings Post expires at 11:43am on Monday January 27th, 2025