Jonathan Benson will be running in the London marathon on 22nd April. He is hoping to raise £1,300 for the Roy Castle Lung Cancer foundation in memory of his late uncle Bill Smart who died from cancer in 2005.
Sponsorship and donations can be given via www.justiving/billmartmemorialrun or by calling Anne Smart (01954 202761), Jenny Smart (01954 203446) or Jonathan Benson himself on 07775 505527.
The choir at St Andrew’s, Swavesey, sang the anthem ‘O Lord, my God,’ by Samuel Sebastian Wesley at the Parish Eucharist on the Second Sunday of Lent and are now preparing a piece by Herbert Howells: ‘Like as the hart desireth the waterbooks’ (Psalm 42) for Passion Sunday (the Fifth Sunday of Lent, 25th March). Further items will be sung at the Eucharist of Easter Day.
The choir is also preparing for the annual Choirs’ Festival in Ely Cathedral on Saturday 19th May. The service will focus on the story of Noah’s Flood and contains some quite exciting music. The service in the cathedral, to which everyone is invited, begins at 5.30pm.
Copies of the CD of favourite organ pieces played on the Swavesey organ by Dick Lingham, the benefice organist, are still available, price £10.00, from St Andrew’s Church and via dicknlyn.lingham@ntlworld.com.
The profits from sales are going to the Pick’s Disease Support Group charity. Full details can be found in the last issue of The Fisherman.
K. M. Lofts
We sometimes hear about the phenomenon of ‘compassion fatigue’ - there are allegedly just too many demands these days on our compassion and generosity. But the need for aiding those who desperately need our help has suffered from no corresponding shortage of energy. The work of praying and giving and sharing must go on.
Christian Aid Week this year runs from 13th to 19th May.
The main campaigning focus of Christian Aid this year concerns the effect of global warming on the world’s poorest communities.
The aim is to assist such communities, particularly in drought-stricken areas, themselves to work to reverse the degradation of their environment, for instance by planting and growing trees. But, of course, there is much, much more to it than that.
Please be generous when the Christian Aid collector comes round. Please demonstrate that ‘compassion fatigue’ has had no effect on our generosity and sense of compassion here.
Following the successful visit of the Revd Gordon Gatward to preach at the Harvest Festival services in Fen Drayton and Swavesey last year, there will again be a special preacher in 2007.
He is Ian Bell, the Director of the ARC-Addington Fund which invests in rural properties so that folks can leave farming with a measure of dignity.
The harvest festival services will revert to their usual dates this year, so Ian will be coming to Fen Drayton and Swavesey on the morning of Sunday 7th October.
Donations to St Mary’s, Fen Drayton, Repair and Restoration Fund in memory of Gerard Downing, who died in January, have totalled £615.80. The Parochial Church Council is very grateful to all donors for their contributions.
Beginning in the autumn it is once again planned to offer courses of preparation for those who are exploring the possibility of being confirmed.
Confirmation involves taking on for yourself the promises that were made on your behalf by your godparents at your baptism. But if you haven’t been baptised, this is no problem. There is always an opportunity to be baptised in the confirmation service itself.
Courses will be offered both for adults and for young people. Details from the Vicar/Rector.