Dear Friends,
During this coming month I’m sure we will enjoy a variety of enjoyable occasions and activities within our communities.
It seems to me that as a Christian community and within our wider village communities, we should take every opportunity to have fun and enjoy time together. When we worship or socialise together, I think we should do so whole heartedly. Perhaps it’s through the down times of fun and laughter that we find ourselves most relaxed and ready to get to know each other better.
In order to develop and grow, relationships, partnerships and communities need a balance I think between ‘purposeful doing’ and ‘unstructured fun’. I like to think that Jesus and his disciples had plenty of fun and laughter as they moved within their communities. Yes, they had purposeful work to do but they must have joked and laughed and simply relaxed with other friends too. If the earthly Jesus was in North Cornwall for the evening I’m sure we might find him eating at a local eating establishment, supping a pint at the pub or accepting the hospitality of a family or group. In other words, he would go where the people go.
As we continue to grow as a worshipping community and we are able to meet and socialise again, may we also become more and more involved in the wider community and remember it’s alright to ‘have a laugh’.
Warmest wishes to you all and have fun.
Craig
Telephone 01208 811919
Email revdcraig1@icloud.com

April at St Peter’s Church

On April 4th we are holding a Coffee Morning and Crafts sale from 10.30am. If anyone wishes to show their crafts and sell them, please contact Pat on 880969. We will be setting out the crafts on the Wednesday afternoon. There will be activities for children to take part in. Refreshments will be available.
The Craft and Chatter or as some call it the Knit and Natter Group meets once a fortnight on a Wednesday afternoon. Everyone is welcome, you can bring your unfinished work, get help when mistakes have been made or even learn a new skill. This is a Photo of some of the work completed by one members, they are Twiddle or Sensory muffs which have a calming effect on people with Dementia. These muffs are to go to the Memory Café in Camelford. Members have been very generous in bringing surplus wool and helping to sew on the buttons, bows and buckles.
As from April we are intending to try new formats for our Morning Worship Services, starting off with Café Church. Here the congregation will move to the coffee area at the back of church, croissants and hot drinks will be served during the service. When the services were held in the village hall we regularly had Café Church. We also hope to hold a service where we create cards made from rubbish picked up from the beach. This was very successful a couple of years ago. We may even hold a service when we can bring our pets. On Palm Sunday this year the Gospel and Sermon was dramatised with the whole congregation taking part. This is a format we have used before.
St Peter’s Church is very happy to be hosting the Harp Workshops on April 20th and 21st. Performances of a Shanty they have learnt will be given after the workshops. I believe that there are still spaces on the Sunday workshop.

A fresh look for St Michael’s

The renovations at St Michael’s have now been completed and the Chapel looks lovely. The new lighting, installed last year, revealed that the interior paintwork needed doing as well as a great deal of remedial work inside and in the vestry. Many people lent a hand to lighten the load and particular thanks go to Gus Guest, for organising the new lighting, to Graham Tyson for organising and supervising the interior decorations and repairs to the guttering, to Martin Brooke who has restored the lych-gate and to Roger Heydon, Henry Gompertz and Toby Trudgian who put down the new gravel.
Thanks to this united effort we are now ready for the forthcoming 15 weddings which will be held there this year.
As a wonderful finishing touch Gerry Stone has donated a cross for the vestry which he made from recycled wood. If anyone wishes to see this please ask at the end of a service.
Praise be to God and thanks to all who helped.

Thought for Easter

By Didymus
Evening Readings
Ezekiel Ch.37, vv.1-14
Gospel: Luke ch.24, vv13-35.

NEW LIFE
In those moments between the sheets of rain, one can see the signs of change. The roadsides to Port Isaac, Portquin and Polzeath are lined with green-yellow alexanders, snowdrops have given way to daffodils and the ubiquitous Cornish three-cornered leeks. There are traces of green here and there in the dark hedges, but the trees are still undressed, lacking their early green canopies. Nature is in a hurry with some plants – the blackthorn is flowering in some places, for example. Yet we wait for other familiar signs of Spring.
This is the time of New Life. God’s Creation is born again, gloriously. Overshadowing Easter is the savage end to the short but wonderful human ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ. As he told people, a seed has to be planted to bring forth new life. His human life was destroyed, but through his Resurrection it enabled those who believe to see the truth of Jesus’ promise, that those who believe will inherit eternal life. A new life.
It would be wrong to extend the metaphor to Jesus himself. Jesus told us that he and the Father were the same, and as such he had always existed. He had simply returned to his previous state, but as we hear at Eastertide, he appeared to his disciples in his Resurrected existence. Consider the references to not touching the Risen Christ. Luke’s beautiful story of the encounter on the Road to Emmaus show how Jesus could somehow withhold recognition in others until the moment arrived.
It was a new life for Peter as well. Half a century ago, in a Parish presentation, my father-in-law took the part of Peter. He was an excellent actor, and his rivetting performance was drawn by his wife. He showed the bluster of the denial, the insistence of the second, and the horror of his realisation at the third, that he had indeed denied the most precious person in the world to him. I’m afraid that many of us would have fallen in the same way as this weak and fallible man.
And yet, with the forgiveness of the Risen Christ, a new Simon Peter stood before the crowd at Pentecost, haranguing explaining and teaching. He then took on the Sanhedrin and the Temple authorities. Gradually he became the leader, a role that he had turned his back on three times. AMEN

News from Mothers’ Union

We were delighted to welcome friends and new members to both our meetings this year. The newly installed Rector of Camel Allen has moved to our Branch and she is doubly welcome as she takes up her new role as Mothers’ Union Chaplain across the diocese. Sheila Waring, our Diocesan President, and her husband Simon came down from Stratton to join us at our AGM in February and Richenda Viqueira joined us from Wadebridge in March.
At our AGM we agreed to support the RISE UP campaign against Domestic Violence by making Welcome Bags for those arriving at Cornish refuges as well as to continue to knit Teddy Veans for our outreach work with local schools.
In March our meeting took the form of a service of prayer and meditation based on The Stations of the Cross and Malcolm Guite’s sonnets.
Several of us journeyed to Truro to attend the MU Eucharist in the Cathedral on 25th March. Our new chaplain presided and Dean Simon preached. It was a very moving service and an excellent start to our Holy Week observance. Please contact me on kerstinlewis@hotmail.com if you would like a copy of Dean Simon’s sermon.
We continue to mourn the loss of both Frances and Howard Kent and this month were deeply saddened to hear of the deaths of Gwen Hambly and her sister Barbara Martin. Gwen and Barbara were both long term members of MU, serving as Branch secretary and treasurer respectively, and both indefatigable knitters for all MU charities. Gwen’s funeral is on Monday, 8th April at 11.00am in St Endellion.
Our next meeting will be on Thursday 18th at 3.00pm in The Stone Barn. There will be a Bring and Buy table, a Fairtrade stall and refreshments. Revd John Hereward will be sharing some thoughts on the environment. As ever, all are most welcome.

Book review- ‘Lydia, A Story’ by Paula Gooder“

Gooder has a rare gift for translating scholarship into page turning storytelling… this book positively, crackles with hope, faith and love. Rachel Mann, Church Times”This book is the second that Paula Gooder has written in a very different style to her previous books. If like me, you have struggled to get into the world that Paul was writing in his letters, this book will help you greatly and increase your understanding of his letter to the Philippians.Paula is a biblical scholar and a very popular author and speaker, and at present, she is also Chancellor of St Pauls Cathedral. This book follows on from Phoebe, which was based around the world in Rome, when Paul was writing. Here she takes us into a story based on Lydia, who appears briefly in Acts 16 as a seller of purple in the first century Philippi. She weaves the story about life there, with others that are mentioned in the Bible. Yes, it is a work of fiction, but it is based on lots of historical facts. She divides the book into two sections. The first is a story during which you get immersed into what it might have been like to be an early Christian believer in a Roman colony. The second section contains notes that are designed to expand on the details in the story. They are based on biblical scholarship written about a whole range of topics that are included in the story. It is a fascinating way in which to learn more and more about life for those Christians Paul was writing to. In doing so, it makes Paul’s letter to the Philippians come alive.I can thoroughly recommend it, not just as a good read, but much more. It will lead you into new insights into that first century Roman ruled world that Paul and the early believers were struggling with in their new faith. If you enjoy this book, then do read Phoebe as well.

April 2024 ENDELIENTA ARTS

Make Club: Make Club: Sewing, cross stitch & embroidery
Saturday 13 April, 10am-12pm, St Endellion Hall. £5 per family
Each month we have new creative ideas to keep the whole family busy. The Make Club is a fun space to explore, create and get messy. The workshops are led by inspirational artists and makers. Remember to book in advance as tickets sell out fast.
Tickets available for all the above at: endelienta.org.uk/

ST ENDELLION EASTER FESTIVAL

EASTER SUNDAY 31 MARCH
CHORAL EVENSONG at 16:30
CHAMBER CONCERT at 19:30
MONDAY 1 APRIL
Thought for the Day at 09:00 Speaker: Francesca Gilpin, Chair of Endelienta Arts
TUESDAY 2 APRIL
Thought for the Day at 09:00 Speaker: Frances Cook, chorus master
CHAMBER CONCERT at 19:30
LATE-NIGHT CANDLELIT CONCERT at 22:15
WEDNESDAY 3 APRIL
Thought for the Day at 09:00 Speaker: Esme Lee, Wave Project
CHORAL & ORCHESTRAL CONCERT at 19:30 In Memoriam: Frances Hickox MBE
THURSDAY 4 APRIL
Thought for the Day at 09:00 Speaker: Celia Birkinshaw – Easter Festival bassoonist
LUNCHTIME PROM IN ST KEW CHURCH at 13:15
Curated by ALIS HUWS (Royal Harpist) – programme to include:
FRIDAY 5 APRIL
Thought for the Day at 09:00 Speaker: Matthew Brook – Easter Festival soloist
CHORAL & ORCHESTRAL CONCERT at 19:30
SATURDAY 6 APRIL
CHORAL & ORCHESTRAL CONCERT at 19:30
SUNDAY 7 APRIL
FESTIVAL EUCHARIST at 11:00
CHORAL & ORCHESTRAL CONCERT at 16:00 (note earlier start time)
See endellionfestivals.org.uk for details and booking