Thoughts from The Vicarage with hedgehogs, confirmation and butterflies
Greetings as Wimbledon finals, Garstonbury, the end of term & the 6th Sunday after Trinity all approach (no order of importance inferred here!)
Please find Pews News attached with some dates, readings and prayer suggestions.
Bishop Olivia is looking forward to her first visit to Lambourn as a Bishop on November 29th at 6.30pm when she will lead a confirmation service. Please pop this date into your diary so we may all support those being baptised and confirmed. The service will be very special. We already have a number of candidates of all ages, please let me know if you’d be interested or simply want to find out more. There is no hard and fast rule but candidates for confirmation are usually year 6 and above – no upper limit! If you are interested in either being Christened or Confirmed please don’t hesitate to have a chat with either myself or Christine.
Bishop Olivia made an impact last week on General Synod when she spoke of Climate Change saying, “We must not kick this can down the road for future generations to deal with. There is no greater issue facing society today than runaway climate change. Our Church, with the level of resources, reach and influence we have, must be on the frontline of the battle for the sake of every beloved part of God’s creation.”
Speaking about care for creation the Big Butterfly Count is back! Between Friday 14th July and Sunday 6th August choose a place to spot butterflies. Watch for 15 minutes. Then record which species you see. The Big Butterfly Count is a UK-wide survey involving counting of butterflies we see. All you need is here https://bigbutterflycount.butterfly-conservation.org/
Good news at The Vicarage hedgehog hideout – we have a good number of hoggies enjoying their nightly meals – quite wonderful except they activate our outside lights and I love to get out of bed to go and watch them!! Mr Vicarage takes photos earlier in the evening so we can identify them but he also has another animal project on the go!
Using the equipment loaned from https://batsinchurches.org.uk/ we will have a complete record of bat species present in each of the Valley churches. How exciting is that!
With the school holidays coming up I know many are looking for activities for the family. Lambourn Library is holding its annual Summer Reading Challenge for children aged 4-11, and now have a challenge for everyone 12 years old and over as well! Pick up a Book Challenge card when you next visit the library! Opening times are; Tuesday: 2:00pm to 5:30pm, Wednesday: 10:00am to 1:00pm, Friday: 10:00am to 5:00pm. Summer crafts are on every Saturday morning 10.30 -12.30 throughout the school holidays at Lambourn Library, 10.30am-12pm and look out on the FB page for Youth Group happenings!
And finally, you may have noticed a rack of prayer cards in each church. They’ve been so popular that we’ve had to restock. Please help yourself and take one for a friend. They cover a range of feelings. Each has a prayer with a verse from the psalms. For example, there’s one for ‘Finding Peace’ with a beautiful picture of Salisbury Cathedral font . . . next week I’ll feature another prayer card, meanwhile, pop in and take a look – however you are feeling!
God bless
Julie