Little Ellingham

April
Easter appears a long time ago now. We don’t have a service in our church over Easter but we did host our evening Ash Wednesday service.

We also hosted the Walsingham Pilgrims overnight in the village hall on the Monday evening of Holy Week. We provided them with a meal which included cake (of course). As usual they held a short, simple but very moving service in our church in the evening together with several people from the Shellrock churches in attendance. Some oil was blessed and we each marked the sign of the cross on the forehead of the person next to us. We even knew the songs.

Our APCM has been held and we now have a churchwarden for the first time in three years. The new Electoral Roll has reduced to single figures but there is hope that with the people we now have on our PCC we can start to make a difference. There is much work to be done!

May
We had our first wedding for a long time in May. It was a jolly affair and sad that we don’t have many more; but that is the way things are at the moment. Maybe we should better market our churches as a desiring place for couples to make their wedding vows!!??

At the end of May we shall start opening our church on a daily basis. This is something we have wanted to do for some time but needed to put in place a few safeguards first. There is always that concern when a church is left open unattended, but someone may need that
quiet place to be at any time, not just for an hour on a Sunday twice each month!

We shall be hosting a combined benefice Service at the end of May. We hope we shall have seen many members of the ‘other’ benefice there to join us in our worship.

The village hall and the church are jointly holding an Open Gardens between 1.00pm and 5.00pm on Sunday 8th June. As well as the gardens, the church will be open, decorated with flowers and holding a Local History display as part of the event. Further details from the Open Gardens website; www.opengardens.co.uk. A Songs of Praise service will be held in the evening to finish the day.

Day Lent Course

This will take place on Mondays, starting on Monday 10 March, and on the following Mondays; 17th, 24th & 31st March, 7th & 14th April. This course will be held in the Tower Room, St Andrew’s Church, Hingham at 11am, followed by a soup lunch afterwards. Donations for the lunch to the Bishop’s Lent Appeal 2025 raising money for YANA (You Are Not Alone) to help fund its telephone helpline. YANA provides rural mental health support for those involved in agriculture and other rural businesses affected by stress and depression.

To help us plan for the Lent course session and cater for the lunches, please email Caroline to let us know if you are coming to this; admin@standrewshingham.org.uk

Evening Lent Course

This course will take place on Tuesday evenings, starting on Tuesday 11 March and on the following Tuesdays; 18th, 25th, (1st April, 8th April). Time will be 7.00pm for a 7.15pm start. This course will be held at Orchard House, Church Street, Great Ellingham (Charles Mason’s
home).

To help us plan for the Lent course session, please email Colin to let us know if you will be attending; colin.thomas196@btinternet.com

Discussions will focus on Faith Journeys - how we came to faith and what it means today.

We have received the dreaded Quinquennial report for our church and, as expected, there are many maintenance requirements amounting to thousands of pounds. If anyone has a magic wand can we please borrow it!?

We shall be holding our evening service of Holy Communion and Imposition of Ashes in our church on Ash Wednesday which will mark the start of Lent. We are expecting a Lent course to be organised in our benefice which will be open to all and probably be held in the evening.

We shall be holding a ‘Vision Day’ in Little Ellingham village hall on Saturday 1st February for all the churches associated with Tori’s Role as Priest-in-charge. This event is primarily to identify how we are doing now and what the future is to be as we move towards becoming one benefice. This will be an opportunity for individual members of our churches to have their voice. To put forward ideas, concerns, hopes and expectations.

Although maybe not the most important consideration, one question that needs to be answered is ‘What do we call our combined benefice?’ Currently it is ‘Gt and Lt Ellingham, Hingham, High Oak, Rockland All Saints, Rockland St Peter and Scoulton with Wood Rising’. Quite a mouthful, so if you have a better suggestion, please bring it with you.

Coffee and Tea will be available on arrival and throughout the session. There will be a break for lunch of soup, rolls, cheese and cake around half way.

If you cannot make this session but feel you have something to contribute, please inform Tori or Sue. Their contact details are at the end of these Ramblings as usual. Alternatively they both will be at the Benefice service on Sunday.

After a busy month leading up to Christmas, January has been relatively quiet. We had a very enjoyable Carol service followed by our Christmas Day service of Holy Communion. Apart from our regular services we have started to look forward to the new year and what is in store for us.

We are happy to be hosting the Vision Day in our village hall on 1st February when we hope to welcome many of you to Tori’s talk and discussion on the future of our two benefices. We shall provide tea and coffee from the start and a light lunch will be served around midday.

Before we know it, we shall be in the season of Lent and looking towards Easter and our APCM!