Members of the Swavesey Ten Sing Group, ably supported by members of Histon Ten Sing gave a memorable concert in St Andrew's, Swavesey, at the end of May.
The combination of gospel music and dance made a wonderful addition to the worship of the church and we look forward to many more similar events in future.
Those who heard the former Vicar of Swavesey, the Revd Henry Isaac Sharpe's sermon, 'The Wounds of Jesus', preached on Good Friday this year, 125 years and one day after its žrst preaching, can žnd the text on the Vicarage website, at: www.honeyhill.org/wounds.html. It is well worth a read.
This year's Cambridgeshire Historic Churches Trust Sponsored Cycle Ride (and church to church walk) will take place on Saturday 13th September between 10.00am and 6.00pm.
Last year the ride raised £32,259 across the county. Half goes back to the churches sponsored by the cyclists and walkers; the rest is loaned by the Trust to churches to enable them to get on with urgent repairs and restorations while fund-raising is still in progress.
If you would like to take part in this year's event please contact your local organiser - details in church.
The recent opening of the Children's Society collecting boxes at St Andrew's, Swavesey, realised £313.77. My thanks go to everyone who holds a box. Adding this to the money raised at the Swavesey Christingle, brings the annual total to £454.36.
Just a few notes from the letter I have received from the Society thanking us for our efforts.
"We really appreciate the concern shown for children and young people. Through our projects all over England, we work with children in schools, in prisons, in care homes and in disadvantaged communities. The Society makes a real difference in the lives of over 40,000 children every year. We use what we learn to campaign with Government for the improvements that are needed to make things better for children. We could not do any of this without such support - by helping us, you have already helped to change a child's life."The full text of this letter is in the church porch.
Thank you again.
Dorothy Gilbert
Thank you to everyone who took part in or collected for Christian Aid Week last May, and especially to those who organised the event in the individual villages.
The amount collected in Swavesey was £1183.74, in Conington £186.91, in Lolworth £126.43 and in Fen Drayton (so far) £330.61.
There is now a Friday morning Bible Study group meeting at 9.30am at 27 Over Road (craftily arranged on the Vicar's recreation day). You are welcome to come and join in - see details of dates on the diary pages.
The Vicar is always happy to offer the sacrament of holy communion to the housebound at home, particularly at Easter. Please ring him on 01954 231903 to arrange dates and times. A regular monthly or bimonthly pattern of visits can also be established.
Alternatively you may like to join the regular monthly communion service in the Community Room at Thistle Green, Swavesey. This usually takes place on the first Monday of a month, but please check the diary pages for details of planned dates.
The Vicar is also always ready to talk with parishioners, whether regular churchgoers or not, about arranging weddings, baptisms, funerals, services of thanksgiving, etc.
And, of course, it doesn't have to be that you're trying to arrange a church service of some sort; he is happy to talk on almost any matter, but especially about spiritual or related concerns.
The Chancellor of the Diocese, the Honourable Mr Justice Gage, has recently issued a new set of regulations for the management of monuments within the churchyards of the Ely diocese.
To accompany the new regulations, a leaflet on burials and monuments in churchyards has also been published and this will be made available to the families whose loved ones are buried in a churchyard.
Parishioners are reminded that permission must be obtained, in the first instance from the vicar or rector, before any memorial is erected in a churchyard or any alteration is made to an existing monument.
At first sight, the new regulations are little different from those previously in force, though the list of materials from which memorials can be fashioned has been amplified and made clearer. The ban on black or dark grey granites has been re-emphasised, as is the prohibition of artificial flowers (excepting poppies on Remembrance Sunday and Christmas wreaths). It is also stressed that no stone may be finished in such a way as to give the impression of polished stone.
Something new is that a ledger memorial - an inscribed stone lying in the ground - may be used instead of an upright memorial. As with the small ledger memorials marking the burial of ashes, these must be set 25mm below ground level.
If anyone would like a further explanation of these new churchyard regulations, please see the vicar.
The Diocese said farewell to the Bishop of Huntingdon at a special Eucharist in the Cathedral at Ely on Friday 20th June. He is leaving to become Director of the Anglican Centre in Rome and the Church of England's Ambassador to the Vatican.
Several candidates from these parishes were confirmed in April by Bishop John at Papworth Everard in one of his last Confirmation services in the Diocese of Ely.