So, what has been happening in and around St. Mark’s?Well, we had a lovely Harvest Service on 25th September. We sang the old favourite Harvest Hymns and felt that everything was ‘safely gathered in’. The school had also had their Harvest Service, so we had all their produce displayed in the Church. Nowadays the gifts that are given tend to be the packet and tinned variety, rather than fresh produce, as it all gets taken to the Food Bank for distribution, where it is very gratefully received.
The flower ladies had done their usual excellent job of decorating the Church, so that was a lovely welcome, and we thank them for their faithfulness in doing the flowers.
There was also a beautiful exhibition of Harvest pictures by the school children displayed in the Nave of the church.
After the service we were able to go back to pre-Covid days and held our wonderful Harvest Lunch in the School Hall. The lunch team did their usual amazing job of feeding us with delicious food. It was so good to be able to share that occasion again, with our Congregation and people from St Mary’s and St Margaret’s, who find the midday time of the meal very convenient, rather than going out at night to the Harvest Supper. We are so fortunate in this Parish to have the 2 teams of volunteers who organise these 2 events.
We have a thriving group of Arts and Crafts people who meet in the Church every Friday morning for a cuppa and chat, and the latest project that they are working on.
It follows the school assembly, which we are pleased to say can meet in the Church again now. In these days of needing to be careful with how much fuel we use, it is useful to be able to have that group following on, as the Church is already warm. Some of their work will be on display for sale at the Village Christmas Market on 19th November, in the Village Hall.
The strimming of the Churchyard will have been finished by the time you read this, and we will be looking for as many people as possible to come and help rake up the cuttings. We leave them lying on the surface, so that the seeds from the lovely wildflowers can be shed, ready to grow into new plants next year. We mustn’t leave the cuttings too long because nitrogen will leak out from them into the soil. That is not good for the wildflowers, because nitrogen encourages green growth, and less flowers.
We haven’t got a date for this yet, and we are praying that we won’t have too much rain to prevent us from doing it.
As ever we would so love to welcome you all to come to join us on a Sunday for a Service. 9am every Sunday, unless it is a combined Service at St. Margaret’s, in which case the poster outside the Church will tell you.
Services at St Mark’s Church:
Sunday, 6th November 9.00 am, All- Age Service for families
Friday, 11th November 11.00 am, Armistice Day observance
Sunday, 13th November 3.00 pm Service of Remembrance
Sunday, 20th November 9.00 am Parish Communion
Sunday, 27th November 9.00 am Parish Communion
[Sunday, 30th November, 10.00 am St Margaret’s Church, Buxted Park, Combined Parish Service]
Valerie Banks and Janet Tourell