News:

Wishing all our readers a happy and healthy 2025. We trust that your Christmas gave you all you were hoping for and that time spent with loved ones, relatives and/or friends brought you contentment and joy.

On 20 October there was a family songs of praise service with a total of nine hymns being chosen by members of the congregation which included a newer version of Amazing Grace (my chains are gone) along with more traditional choices. This service was led by Tash and refreshment was certainly needed after all that singing. Well done all.

Also in October, the funeral of John Rose took place in church with burial in the churchyard. Our thoughts and prayers are with Maria and family on their loss. We hope that you take comfort in knowing that others care.  Condolences to all who have lost a loved one either recently or longer ago.

A bingo evening was arranged by Paul and Maureen on 9 November. The hall was full of eager bingo lovers of all ages, both novices and more experienced players. It was a fun evening with many people going home with a chicken dinner or chocolate goodies. Our thanks go to Paul and Maureen for putting on the evening, to everyone who gave donations, draw prizes, or helping in any way on the day. A grand total of £470.77 was raised towards the church.

The Remembrance Sunday service was led by Julie in which there was a time for reflection whilst listening to a piece of music along with two poems and a talk about Edith Cavell, a nurse who served in the first world war and was executed for carrying out her medical duties treating both English and German soldiers and helping to smuggle more than 200 Allied soldiers into neutral Holland. A truly courageous lady.

The Autumn Fayre on 16 November was well attended and kept stall holders busy.  It was lovely to see new faces as well as returning friends who support us and enjoy meeting up for a bit of a chat over cake and a drink or a spot of lunch.  Over £1,000 was raised towards church funds. Our thanks go to all who helped in any way with setting up/packing away, stall holders, those working hard in the kitchen to supply the refreshments, soup makers, cake bakers, etc and of course all who attended on the day.  

There have been some new residents to Calverleigh in the past few weeks with Will & Anna and family moving into Greenacres, along with new people at Rillside and Oakdale (sorry we don’t have your names).  Julia, Matt and family have also moved to Calverleigh and have begun to settle into village life.  We hope that you will all be very happy in your new homes and we hope to see you at some of our events in the coming months.

Unfortunately, the Group service, which was to be held at Calverleigh at the end of November, had to be cancelled due to ‘Storm Bert’.  It is always good to be able to meet with members of the 8 other churches in our Mission Community but the safety of those travelling from the other parishes along with Clergy had to be put first.  We look forward to when it is our turn to host again.  Apologies to those who may have ventured out not knowing about the cancellation.  We tried to contact as many churchwardens as we could to pass on the information.

The Advent Sunday entertainment and supper evening at Oakford village hall was a lovely time with a variety of ‘turns’ including the Exe Valley choir, where we were able to welcome Steph back from her sabbatical.  Thank you to Oakford, and to all who took part and helped in any way to make it an enjoyable evening with a delicious meal.

A new month and another storm came along to disrupt the weekend.  This time ‘Storm Darragh’ put paid to our Christingle service but (hopefully) it will have taken place on 15 December instead, replacing the family service.  Again, the safety of our congregation and clergy had to be considered, especially as two trees had come down close to the church.

Congratulations to Tilly on completing all her badges at Rainbows and gaining a gold award. Well done! We hope that you enjoy your time at Brownies. Congratulations also to Nik and Tash on their 20 years’ service as Guide Leaders and, also Tracey on her 30 years’ service as a Guide Leader.  A fantastic achievement and I am sure that many girls have benefitted from your guidance over the years.

Forthcoming Events

We have our time of prayer on the first Saturday of the month between 9am and 11am. Please join us in prayer if you can for a few minutes.

Other than that, we’re in the post-Christmas lull. At the time of writing (before Christmas), we are not aware of any special events  - other than services (details of which can be found in the centre pages or on the services section of the website).

However, one of our ever so generous supporters may have organised something, so please see the website for more up to date information. Later in the year we can look forward to our outdoor service, produce show, harvest festival, autumn fayre and much more besides…

If you do know about something coming up, or want to celebrate a special occasion with us, then please let our magazine elves know and we’ll strive to include it next time – and don’t wait until the next magazine deadline, our elves can get it online straight away.

 

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