Great Ellingham

In October we held our second Messy Church! We celebrated harvest so some of our activities centred around food – making bread, planting cress seeds and designing meals using pictures of food. The theme was based on the bible passage, the feeding of the five thousand, so to link to this we also weaved baskets and played a fish game. It was an enjoyable session. Our next one will be on Saturday 10th January and be themed around Christmas and new year. For more information on Messy Church, please drop into the church as we have a display board all about it!

Our pop-up café featured an excellent range of cakes as usual. It is well worth a stop by! Our next dates will be 8th November and 13th December. Open from 10am – 12noon. We continue to offer jams and chutneys, made by Margaret Thomas, priced at £3 each. The heating will be going on and during November and December, there will be some preloved toys. Everyone is welcome, including well behaved dogs. Donations are welcome towards the refreshments – cash and card are both accepted.

Our Harvest Festival café church service on Sunday 12th October was busy with several different faces. Kathryn led the service, with the music group, based on the parable of the sower. The talk reflected on the sunflower seeds planted at our May service and what plants need to survive. Trees and plants link together through the wood wide web (yes, it’s a thing!), making them stronger, and, just like the plants in our environments, we too need food, water and connections with people to thrive. Jesus often met with friends and strangers – in homes, at temples, by lakes – connecting with them and building relationships. As part of the talk, we played a game finding familiar links with others – because people often find it easier to build a connection when they have something in common. Another way to make friends, is through food – something we always have at café church. This then led to our harvest collection of tins and packets, destined for the Thetford foodbank.

The Thetford food bank is part of the Trussel network across the UK. Thetford serves the centres in Attleborough and Watton, alongside Thetford. All the donations are weighed in before being sorted and packed into boxes providing emergency food for individuals, couples or families. These are then given out following a referral– which can come from a number of different agencies including Citizens Advice, health visitors or social services. The referral basis is to ensure additional support is provided to the clients so they can support themselves.

Thank you to everyone who donates to the food bank – whether through harvest services this year or the collection points in Rocklands or Great Ellingham village shops. The donations are hugely appreciated and greatly needed.

There will be no café church in November as we will be commemorating Remembrance, starting at Little Ellingham at 10.30am before moving on to the Deopham Green memorial and finishing at Great Ellingham. Everyone is welcome to attend part or all of the service. If attending Deopham Green, please remember to wrap up warm as it can get very windy across the airfield. Refreshments will be available at Great Ellingham.

Our Christmas Fair is on Friday 14th November 6-9pm and Saturday 15th November, 10am – 1pm. We have some stalls booked for Christmas wreaths, soaps and candles, decorative lamps, silver jewellery, jams and ceramics, wood turned gifts, dog toys and a selection of vinyl printed gifts. There will be a raflle and tombola, plus fresh cakes and hot drinks. On Friday evening we will have mulled wine available. This will be replaced on Saturday morning with tea and coffee, alongside fresh bacon rolls. There will be some variation on stalls between the two sessions. Do come along and support our fundraising!

On Sunday 2nd November, there will be an All Souls service. This is a reflective service and anyone who has been bereaved this year is welcome to attend.

How To Find Us

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