Peace, joy, understanding and new life

I am writing this on the first day of Spring following several days of beautiful warm sunshine. What a treat! The early blossoms are burgeoning amidst the brightly coloured daffodils and primroses which adorn our beautiful countryside around here. How blessed we are! Only this last week someone posted a photo of a bluebell – the first one seen. We get so excited don’t we at these markers of Spring – the winter passed – and new life abounds. Reflecting on this reminded me of Easter Day which is only a few weeks away – the excitement and joy which followed the resurrection of Jesus. Of course before the joy came, Good Friday had to happen – akin to the darkness of winter – a dark day for humankind. However, on the third day, when Jesus’ beloved disciples came to visit his grave very early in the morning, there still wasn’t joy yet as fear and grief struck home once more as they discovered the stone had been moved from the grave entrance. It wasn’t until Mary heard Jesus call her name that she turned and knew it was Jesus risen. She thought she had been talking to the gardener… Read More

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Blessings and new shoots

Well, we have made it through to February after what was certainly a mixed bunch of weather last month! Even so when walking through our local woods it is incredible to see the little bluebell shoots coming through already. Signs of Spring and I am looking forward to enjoying the bulbs as they begin to bloom along with the daffodils and other lovely Spring flowers. Flowers are such bringers of joy aren’t they and promises of new life to come. As we begin this month we will be holding our annual Christingle service on Sunday 2nd of February. Christingle is a joyful celebration that brings families and communities together to share the light of Jesus and spread a message of hope. The candle in the centre of the Christingle orange symbolises Jesus as the light of the world. Through him we can enter into new life both now and in the future. As usual our collection that day goes to the work of The Children’s Society. So we go forth into Spring with all hope and promise of better things to come. That is easily said though isn’t it, when we all know someone who is going through a difficult… Read More

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Happy New Year!

Happy New Year! Where did last year go? Looking back over the last year in my diary I am reminded of another wonderful year in Capel and Ockley. What a joy and honour it is to be called to serve both communities as your village priest! There have been several themes last year – one particularly popular in Capel was the celebration and occurrence of quite a few ‘big birthdays’ – mine included! What to do to celebrate? Look no further than The Crown who hosted the most marvellous ‘noughts’ party one very hot July afternoon for all those who wished to join in. It was a wonderful occasion! The year has been full of ups and downs like any other I guess and the villages have lost several much loved longstanding residents. Their funerals and services of thanksgiving have given many a chance to pay their respects and support the bereaved. On a happier note we have had some beautiful weddings and baptisms. Such a joy to celebrate with our couples and families! Now that couples can be married by a celebrant at reception venues the number of weddings we conduct are fewer sadly. Then there was the 80th… Read More

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Advent to Christmas

Dear Friends, Christmas comes early this year as the beautiful community Christmas trees gather once more to welcome everyone to church and bid us all a happy Christmas as we walk or drive past. I believe we have more than ever this year and because of the way the month falls they will be decorated and the lights switched on at the end of November (30th). Well Advent Sunday is the following day so we will then be counting down the days before Christmas Day, with many services and events happening in our churches this December. The usual Christmas services will be held with a choice on Christmas Day as to which church you would like to worship with family services at both churches. Communion will be offered at Ockley as well and of course at Capel we have Holy Communion at 11pm Christmas Eve. Christmas Day then is likely to be a celebration worship with traditional carols and readings. Both services are at 10am on Christmas Day. For our annual Nine Lessons and Carols we are celebrating these with our lovely village school Scott Broadwood staff and children this year. They will be helping us with some of the… Read More

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October Letter

Enjoying the last few days of late summer sunshine I always look forward to October. Do you have a favourite month or season? For me I seem to like the Autumn and Spring, times when the seasons are either mellowing or springing into life! A few weeks ago we were presented at St John’s with a Record of Church Furnishings made by a charitable group called The Church Recording Society. We were presented with 2 volumes of their work which includes all the memorials, metalwork, internal stonework, woodwork, textiles, windows, pictures, books, papers, musical instruments and tiles inside our parish church. It makes for very interesting reading as I am sure you can imagine. This amazing team of recorders, mostly retired professionals and enthusiasts of church heritage, spent many months weekly visiting and detailing everything fixed and non fixed and we were thrilled they wished to do this for us, completely free of charge! Copies of the Record will be available for everyone to see later on in the Autumn so do pop in and have a look from November onwards. On the subject of the church interior I am afraid that we have had to make the decision to… Read More

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September letter

September – that month of back to school and the start of a new term for families. September – that month of long awaited summer holidays for those without children! Actually I am writing this letter, behind as usual on my summer holiday in the middle of August. Thank goodness for internet albeit intermittent and my laptop. We are enjoying a few days near Weymouth in Dorset in our touring caravan – the weather either extremely hot or extremely cloudy and chilly – the usual British seaside holiday weather, along with the wasps, as I am constantly telling my grandchildren! We haven’t been to Dorset in a very long time and it is wonderful to revisit old haunts and new ones. Such a beautiful county and coastline. So September beckons and so does the beginning of our Autumn services and events. We are very much looking forward to another thrilling Murder Mystery Play and Supper later on in October, advertised elsewhere in the magazine. Sylvie and I have chosen it together and it’s called ‘Where there’s a will there’s a way’. You don’t need to be much of an expert to guess its the perfect context for a murder and… Read More

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Running the race of your life

Once again the parish came together as a community; this time to commemorate the 80th anniversary of D Day, and what a wonderful weekend of events it was. From assisting Brigadier Roger Hood for the lighting of the beacon on the recreation ground, I with everyone else enjoyed watching the wonderful Morris Dancers, a fabulous barbecue outside the pavilion and the hospitality of Capel Cricket Club and The Crown; it was a great start. Brigadier Roger helped us to imagine what it might have been like to have been one of those young soldiers at that time, waiting to cross the channel; I cannot imagine what that must have felt like…perhaps ignorance was bliss on that occasion as so soon they would be plunged into the brutalities of war. Our church bells rang as so many did all around the country earlier that evening as we gathered to remember those brave soldiers and airmen who landed or flew in Operation Overlord. There were many who sacrificed their lives for our future today and we will always remember them and thank them. I am confident that elsewhere in the magazine all the other wonderful events have been recorded so I will… Read More

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Incredible sights

June – a lovely month where we move from Spring into Summer and as I write this in the middle of May already some of my roses are blooming! A wonderful sight along with the burgeoning abundant green we enjoy in our villages.  Were you one of those who saw that other amazing sight the other night – that of the Northern Lights?! Sadly we seemed to be oblivious to it.  I think I thought we wouldn’t see it here in Capel. How wrong can you be!  I underestimated obviously and could only wonder in awe the next day when the photographs appeared on social media. Incredible pictures taken from the streets all around us.  One of our family lives near Tolworth and they took a wonderful picture of the landmark Tolworth Tower as the backdrop to the Northern lights. Just imagine – instead of travelling to northernmost Iceland and Norway, with no guarantee of them appearing, you now can see them at Tolworth (!) Or Capel even!!  I jest of course. Well I am waiting to see in the next few months whether we will see them again. Its a strange phenomenon though that our mobile phones pick up… Read More

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Sorrow turns to Joy. Hallelujah!

So with March, the daffodils are blooming with many other blossoms to cheer us on our way to the first day of Spring falling this month. How wonderful it is to look forward to the earth warming up in our gardens and a return to the outdoors for many of us. This month at church we are in the throes of the season of Lent, enjoying our soup lunches in church at Capel and of course with Mothering Sunday also falling this month Capel Church Teas begin once again. Lent is another season in church life which is one of waiting in hope for God to meet us and sustain us through the storms and trials life brings. We are encouraged to draw close to our Lord and to each other as we journey through Lent, towards the Passion of Jesus, through to his glorious resurrection on Easter Sunday. We must not lose hope in these difficult times in the world. There is much strength to be gained through faith in Christ and I urge you to find time to reflect on the things that are most important to you and to have conversation with the God who promises he… Read More

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Candlemas Bells

Well I hope this letter finds you well?! January was a really nasty winter month for those pesky winter germs, coughs, and all sorts, as well as the cold weather. As we come into February I am sure we will be encouraged by the growth of the early flowering spring bulbs and blossoms. February for us at church looks to be quite a busy month. The season of Lent is early this year beginning with Ash Wednesday on the 14th of this month and of course it is also Valentine’s Day! This year we are invited for a special service of Holy Communion with what is called the Imposition of Ashes (you get a lovely black mark on your forehead!) at St Peter’s Church Newdigate. Then we will be running a Lent Course this year called ‘Be Still’. The course is about prayer and explains how we don’t necessarily have to be physically still in order for our hearts to be still and how even in the midst of a full, busy life, we can all spend quiet time with God. I am really looking forward to doing this course! Each of the five sessions takes about an hour and… Read More

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Hope...

In our churches as the year drew to an end and we begin the new year there have been some small booklets published by the Church of England called ‘Follow the Star – Join the Song – 12 Days of Reflections for Christmas and the New Year. The booklet invites you to hear and respond to the angels’ invitation to gather in the presence of the newborn Jesus. Well as you read this you may well be thinking about or have already put away the Christmas decs for another year but of course the Christmas story goes on leading us through Jesus’ childhood with the story of Simeon and Anna – people who recognised him in the Jerusalem Temple when he was brought by his parents to be presented to God as was the Jewish custom. The Christmas child grew up and began his ministry at the age of thirty. A ministry that lasted only three years before the authorities found a way to silence him or so they thought! Our church year soon turns from Jesus’ birth to adulthood and his experience in the wilderness, led by God’s Holy Spirit. Lent begins in earnest as we follow Jesus to… Read More

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Travelling on - following the star!

Dear all Happy New Year! As I write this early on a very dark December morning – or is it still night(?)! it feels hard to believe that yes, another year is about to finish and we begin again and enter 2020. In one sense we begin again at the start of the year, with our usual round, the familiarity of routine, the predictability or not of the seasons as our weather patterns seem to change. Perhaps new years’ resolutions are made; ways to make our lives work better for us, for others, as our lives return to normal after the riches of the Christmas season. Yet in another sense we don’t begin again because we are travelling on into the future, into the unknown, with a whole wealth of experience to take our bearings from as we negotiate the way ahead. For most of us our lives begun a long time ago now! For some the new year will bring or has already brought about great changes. These may be exciting new things in which to engage ourselves with all sorts of new opportunities and we rejoice with you and wish you God speed! For others change will be… Read More

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