News & Features

As I type this, the sun is shining, the daffodils are blooming and it feels like spring has finally sprung! (Even it only lasts a few days...)

In just over a week, we will be celebrating Mothering Sunday on 30th March where the children will be invited to make flower posies for mothers, and others in the congregation who look after us. This will be a café church style service with breakfast available before the service.

Over the same weekend we have our Spring Fair on Saturday 29th March. Fingers crossed the weather will shine on us again, bringing in visitors to sample the bacon rolls, cakes and buy from our stall holders! This is one of our main fundraisers for the year.

At the beginning of March, we had a glorious afternoon for our four pancake races. After the races, everyone came in to enjoy pancakes – around 50 were eaten, covered in toppings such as traditional lemon and sugar, to blueberries, banana, syrup or chocolate sauce (or in some cases, everything together)! Our placed runners were Under 5's: 1st Ronnie, 2nd Arlo, 3rd Noah. 5-7's: 1st Albie, 2nd Florence, 3rd Emily. 7-10's: 1st Grace, 2nd Freya, 3rd Oliver. Allcomers: 1st Cora, 2nd Lexi, 3rd John. Thank you to everyone who came and took part, plus the small army of race marshals, pancake makers and washer-uppers – we couldn’t do it without you!

During March, we have held three morning services – Holy Communion, Café Church and Morning Prayer. Our café service was on the theme of the Ten Commandments. Colin challenged us to reflect on these during Lent, perhaps revisiting them as part of our Easter preparations instead of giving up something. We were also reminded of the two commandments from Jesus in the New Testament from Matthew 22: ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind’ and ‘Love your neighbour as yourself’.

In April, our café church service will coincide with Palm Sunday so we look forward to parading our palms around the churchyard. Following Palm Sunday, we move into Holy Week. The annual walk of witness will depart from St James at 12 noon on Good Friday and process to Rockland All Saints. Everyone is welcome to come for the walk (dogs welcome too). This will be followed by the Good Friday service at 2pm at All Saints – walkers are invited to stay but not compulsory.

As with all CoE churches, we are renewing our electoral roll this year. If you wish to add your name to this, please pick up a registration form from church and return to Kathryn. The date for our APCM is now set as Wednesday 14th May at 7pm in St James’ Church. If you wish to put your name forward for the PCC or churchwarden or to vote at the APCM, then you need to be registered on the electoral roll.

Cheese and Wine
Thank you for all those who came to the cheese and wine evening on the 22nd March. Thank you to the Roskettes, lovely as always. Thank you to everyone who brought food for the event.

Graham Cole
Dawn Thacker captured a few photos to share with us. This event raised £247.50 for each church in the village. We would like to take this opportunity to thank Rockland All Saints Church for choosing to support us by kindly donating their half to Rockland St. Peter’s Church. We cannot thank you enough and are ever so grateful.

Agape
On the 17th of April we will have an Agape meal and hope to see you there.

Celebration of Spring
We will be having a joyous celebration of spring with lunch, tea and cakes where the church will be decorated with flowers to show our celebration of Spring. If you wish to decorate the church and have a section yourself please contact us and we can organise this. If you cannot offer this, do not dismay! Come along and have a look at what has been done and treat yourself to a slice of cake!

VE Day
We will be having a celebration of VE Day from 10:30am at the Memorial Flower Bed on the 4th of May.

Chris Riddell
We hope you are looking forward to our fundraiser with Chris Riddell. See posters for more details on ensuring you have a slot for a portrait.

Future Entries
If you would like to share pictures from our events, you can submit them to: rsprocklands@gmail.com. We will then include them and credit you in our entries

With the lovely sunshine we have had recently, it is easy to believe Spring is just around the corner….at least when viewed from indoors!! By the time you read this, the vernal Equinox will have been and gone, the days will be getting longer and the clocks will have ‘sprung forward’ and hopefully, the temperature will have warmed up a bit!

The ‘Evening with Graham Cole’ event towards the end of February was a great success……many thanks to Graham for giving his time to help raise money for the church. Unfortunately, I was not well enough to attend but all reports have been excellent – thanks to all who supported as well.

As I write this, we are looking forward to the annual Cheese and Wine Evening at the Village Hall with the Roskettes providing the ‘cabaret’ act. I have no doubt those who attend will thoroughly enjoy the evening!

April brings Easter Week, starting with Palm Sunday on the 13th which we are celebrating as a benefice at a Café Church service in Gt Ellingham St James. Breakfast starts at 9.30 with an informal service at 10.30- if you have never been to a Café service, do please come along- it is all very relaxed and friendly and probably very different from the sort of service you imagine. On Maundy Thursday our friends at Rockland St Peter’s host an agape communion -again not a traditional style eucharist but nonetheless very meaningful and thought-provoking. (Agape is a Greek word for ‘love’ meaning the highest form of love or charity there is.) At All Saints we have the usual Good Friday service at 2pm on 18th to look forward to. This follows the Walk of Witness from St James’ church in Great Ellingham that leaves at midday. All are very welcome to join the walk and the service, including dogs. To celebrate Easter Day, we have a Shellrock benefice service at St James at 10.30, always a joyous occasion. We look forward to seeing you at any of these events/services.

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.

On behalf of RAS PCC, many thanks to Rev Tori for organising the Vision Day on February 1st. Seven of our PCC were able to attend ,and we found it an uplifting experience. Thanks too to those who provided refreshments etc – a good event all round!

On the following day, we celebrated Candlemas with an informal yet meaningful service remembering the presentation of Jesus as a 40 day old infant at the temple in Jerusalem, which included an impromptu dramatic presentation of the story with makeshift ‘costumes’ (aka tea towels!) and two origami doves that were launched by an 11 year old Joseph with enthusiasm. The Shellrock Music Group led the music, minus a couple of key members, but the congregation sang lustily, nevertheless. Everyone lit a candle remembering that Jesus is the Light of the World as we finished with ‘This little light of mine’ and we enjoyed homemade biscuits in the shape of a dove with our coffee after the service.

On February 17th the church held the funeral of Maria Christina Gathergood -Standley who had lived a very simple life in her isolated family farm on Swangey Lane almost all her 94 years of age. The service was well-attended and reflected her love of nature and all creatures. RIP Christina.

The Annual Parochial Church Meeting (APCM) for All Saints will be held on March 15th at 10.00am in Rocklands Primary School hall (by kind permission of the Executive Headteacher). As this is the year for renewing the Electoral Roll, (where have the last six years gone??) current members will be contacted with a new form to complete. If anybody else would like to be included at All Saints, please let Cath Jones (cath@jones871.plus.com) know. We have been managing without a church warden for several years now, but we live in hope that, maybe this year, someone will be willing to take on that commitment. In the meantime, we continue to share the workload between us, where possible.

Following the Evening with Graham Cole, the next joint fundraiser with our friends at Rockland St Peter’s church is on Saturday March 22nd in Rocklands Village Hall (7pm) which will be a Cheese and Wine Evening. Tickets (available in Rocklands Community Shop or from John Brown, Julie Dekker and Cath Jones) are £10 each and include a glass of wine and food as well as entertainment by the Roskettes, who have been busy practising their repertoire for months. There is also a licensed bar and a raffle (donations of raffle prizes always welcome!)

Our February café church on 9th February followed the story of Jesus’ first disciples – with a reading from Luke 5 where Jesus tells the fishermen to cast their nets on the other side of their boat. A short talk and discussion followed about how it might have felt to be the fishermen, or even their families, as Jesus asked them to follow him. The songs, led by the music group, were suitably selected to match, including ‘Follow me, says Jesus’, ‘Will you come and follow me?’ and ‘Go tell it on the mountain’.

If you are a budding musician who would like to join a small group, then we’d love to hear from you. Our group comprises one guitar, one flute and four singers but it would be lovely to have a wider number, even if it’s not each month. Reading music is an advantage but hymns are generally simpler than most tunes so it doesn’t require too much experience. Please contact Colin Thomas for more information.

The café service in March will be on 9th. There will be a bonus café church for Mothering Sunday on 30th March. Everyone is welcome to come along from 9.30am for breakfast (toast, rolls, fresh coffee). There will be the chance to make flower posies from 10am on Mothering Sunday; these will be given out during the service.

Our February pop up café was another cold and frosty one but a stalwart gathering called in for coffee and fresh cakes – warm cemetery buns, coffee cake and lemon cake. We also have a table of delicious jams and chutneys on sale, made by Margaret Thomas. Our next café will be on Saturday 8th March.

It won’t be long until the start of Lent so that can only mean one thing – Shrove Tuesday and Pancake races! These take place after school, from around 3.30pm, starting from the Methodist church on Church Street. Please bring a pancake and pan if you wish to race. (We only have a couple of spare pans and would welcome any old pans as donations!) Races are split into age groups – roughly under 5s, 5-7, 8-10 and adults – depending on the number of participants. Pancakes and a selection of toppings are then available in the church afterwards – in return for a small donation. If you can make a batch of pancakes or help on the afternoon, that would be amazing – contact Kathryn or Charles.

Our annual Spring Fair will be on Saturday 29th March, 10 – 12.30. Please do come and support this event as it’s one of our major fundraisers to keep the church open. There are a few spaces available for stalls if you would like to come. Please contact Kathryn 01953 572159 or sunflowerjones@hotmail.com.

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 hope the March Newsletter finds you well. We have noticed the snow drops have appeared and the daffodils are teasing us with the hint of spring to come. Farmers will be preparing for their loveable lambs that graze our beautiful countryside in no time.

Shrove Tuesday

The 4th of March 2025 will be Shrove Tuesday or Pancake day and lent will start on Ash Wednesday. Traditionally, pancakes were made as it helps use up the extra ingredients before lent begins.

Joel 2:12-13 - “Yet even now,” declares the Lord, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; and rend your hearts and not your garments.”

Cheese and Wine

We have a cheese and wine evening on the 22nd of March at St. Peter’s Church and the Roskettes will be there! Tickets will go on sale shortly. We look forward to seeing you!

Graham Cole

Thank you to everyone who attended the evening at Graham Cole on the 22nd of February 2025. We hope you enjoyed it! I am sure we can find some pictures for the next issue!

Chris Riddell

We are hoping to have a portrait day with our village’s much-loved author and illustrator of The Goth Girl as well as other beautiful titles. If you have not read Goth Girl we recommend you do; there is some great word play on character names adults will appreciate! If you have a child, then it is the perfect book to read and enjoy together. Whilst no date has been confirmed as of yet, this event will help raise money for the church which Chris has kindly helped out with in the past. We hope for your continued support through the year when more events will appear.

Christian Books

We have been listening around for book recommendations with regards to Christian fiction and non-fiction. If you have been listening to UCB radio recently, you may have picked up some new books to read:

An email from Paul by 17 year old, Krystal Cambell Aldred When Courage Calls: Josephine Butler and the Radical Pursuit of Justice for Women by Sarah C. Williams

Maybe you want to focus on Christian literature for your lent and so Kathryn (on our PCC) would like to also offer up the option of Lord Foulgrin’s Letters by Randy Alcorn. All three are available on Amazon as too is Chris Riddell’s Goth Girl.

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.

Happy New Year! It feels a little strange saying this in February because January has come and gone so quickly. In the Church calendar we are in what is called Ordinary Time; we are not in the major seasons of Advent, Christmas, Lent or Easter (but we are sure they will all come around again soon enough).

Santa’s tour this year was wonderful. We paid a visit to 8 acres this year as an extra venue. With the help of carols outside the shop, we raised £426.00 for E.A.C.H. Santa must say a huge thank you to Richard Baker. Without him Santa’s tour would not be possible; he supplies the tractor and trailer as well as giving his time and a very generous donation. Thank you again, Richard.

We have ‘An evening with Graham Cole O.B.E’, aka Tony Stamp from the much loved ‘The Bill’, on Saturday the 22nd February at 7pm at Rocklands Village Hall. There will be a licensed bar and snacks. Only £5 a ticket! Please phone: 07802 433 611

In January, we do not hold services at All Saints as it is so hard to heat the church and make it comfortable enough for our congregation so the next service will be Candlemas on February 2nd, which falls 40 days after Christmas and exactly halfway between Christmas Day and the Spring Equinox so the days will soon be getting noticeably longer very soon! It is an informal family-friendly service so we would love you to join us, even if you are not a regular church goer.

We have a couple of fundraising events to be held in conjunction with St Peter’s church in Rocklands Village Hall coming up. The first is ‘An Evening with Graham Cole’ (aka PC Tony Stamp from ‘The Bill’ ) who is going to talk about some of his experiences at 7pm on February 22nd. Tickets are available from Rocklands Community Shop and 07802 433611 priced at just £5 each and there will be a licensed bar and snacks too. This promises to be a really good evening so do please join us. Graham lives locally and his grandchild attends Rocklands School and we are very grateful to him for offering to do this evening for us.

The second event is the Cheese and Wine Evening, same place, same time but on March 22nd when we will again have a licensed bar, a cheese-based buffet and entertainment from the Roskettes. More details in the March ‘Rocklander’.

It was a frosty white morning for our first pop up café of the year. There was a swift change in personnel due to illness but the weather didn’t dampen the number of visitors who called in for fresh (still warm) cemetery buns, sausage rolls and malt loaf. We’re enjoying hosting these and meeting members of our parish, so do stop by if in the area. Our next one is Saturday 8th February, 10 – 12.

Our café church service celebrated the Epiphany story which was read over three parts and performed by willing volunteers from the congregation. The arrival of the Magi is only mentioned in the gospel of Matthew and there was some discussion as to who these people were, where they had come from, if they brought the gifts intentionally with them and how they might have known where to travel. The music reflected the theme, still celebrating Christmas. The next café service will be on Sunday 9th February. Breakfast from 9.30am and service at 10.30am.

Our monthly café services are led by the music group comprising a guitar player, flautist and four singers. If you play an instrument and would like to get involved, we’d love to hear from you! It would be great to expand our offering. Usually, hymns are relatively straight forward pieces so they are suitable for people with an ability to read music, even if out of practice! Contact Colin Thomas or come and see us. In addition to the café church services, the group also provides music at occasional other services such as the Christingle, Pet Service and Candlemas at Rockland All Saints.

St James’ Church has regular services on the first three Sundays of the month. The first and third alternate between Holy Communion and Morning Prayer, depending on availability of ministers to take the service. For more information, check the notice board / front porch at church or the Shellrock website.

Our event diary is starting to fill up – the annual Spring Fair will be on Saturday 29th March, 10 – 12.30. Contact Kathryn for more information or to book a stall. Also coming up will be our annual pancake races on Shrove Tuesday, 4th March. If you can make a batch of pancakes or help on the afternoon, that would be amazing – contact Kathryn or Charles. Watch this space for a local history exhibition later this year....

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!

First of all, a very happy Christmas and a peaceful and healthy 2025 to all our friends from across the two benefices from all at All Saints’ PCC. After ~3 somewhat challenging years, we have finally got a new priest-in-charge in 2024 and we welcome Revd. Tori to our fold with open arms! Next year is looking good!

Very many thanks to all who came to the Advent Sunday carol service on December 1st, to hear Archdeacon Steven Betts preach. We are especially grateful to John Brown and St Peter’s PCC for allowing us to use their larger (and warmer!) church for the service. Thanks too to all who provided delicious cakes etc for us to nibble on during the ‘chat’ at the village hall afterwards and for providing teas and coffees. All those I have spoken to found it a very productive morning and it was lovely to socialise with people we hadn’t met before.

At RAS we held the annual Christingle service in the afternoon on December 15th. We were so pleased to welcome 96 people to the service (46 youngsters and 50 adults) , most of whom are not regular worshippers. Rocklands School choir sang beautiful renditions of ‘A little road to Bethlehem’ and ‘When Santa comes to town’ all a cappella….and all the children from all year groups remembered every single word and hit the correct notes in the right order!! When the Christingles were lit and we could see all the little faces in the candleglow , and they sang ‘Away in a manger’ as generations of children have done before them at that very spot, there was an amazing sense of history and magic. The collection for The Children’s Society was made up to £100 by the PCC.

We have no services in January, as without electricity it is hard to make the church comfortable, so, after the ‘Midnight Mass’ on Christmas Eve (10.30pm) our next service will be Candlemas on February 2nd. This is an informal service which is always fun and lively….but please wrap up warm!

We’ve rounded off this week with two full houses at St James’ Church – the school carol service and Carols around the tree. It has been lovely to see so many people in our church, celebra ng the fes ve season. For some, it will have been the first me into our Grade 1 listed building, for others it will be the once-a-year visit. We hope you enjoyed singing carols and will call in again soon!

The beginning of December seems a long way off now, but started wet and windy – a small number of brave and hardy souls stopped off at our monthly café for fes ve nibbles and coffee. These pop-up cafes have been enjoyable and will be con nuing next year. Our first date for 2025 is 11th January.

Due to the stormy weather, there were fewer at our Café church service on Sunday 8th December. The service was themed around Chris ngles so the younger members of our congrega on, including some from the Scout group, made their own to take home and remember Jesus as the Light of the World. The children were all very knowledgeable about the different meanings to the parts of the Chris ngle!

During the month, there has been some disrup on to the usual layout but the book shelves and history display board have now been reinstated in their normal posi ons. We have seen a number of new books appear and a pile of jigsaws, so do pop in for a browse. The church is usually open during daylight hours.

We have an overstock of Christmas decorations! If you would like any, they are in the porch for collection. Please help yourself.

Our final service in December will be Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve at 11.30pm. Everyone is welcome.

Thank you to everyone who contributes to our church in any way – cakes and bakes, cleaning, bells, flowers, gardening, financial – too many to name. We appreciate all your hard work.

On behalf of Great Ellingham PCC, we wish you all a very happy, peaceful and blessed Christmas and look forward to welcoming you in 2025!

Our November Pie and Pickle Lunch with the village hall went very well and we are grateful for all the support we got with lots of delicious pies and desserts resulting in lots of clean plates being returned for washing. As well as being a fund raising event for both the hall and the church, it has become a good time to meet people, sometimes for the first time, and renew acquaintances.

Our Remembrance Service was well attended, including many from the St James Scout Group. The weather was very kind to us for once and we all finished in the village for refreshments afterwards.

We now look forward to Christmas and our Carol service on the evening of Sunday 22nd December and a service of Holy Communion on Christmas Morning. Lots of other events going on around the Shellrock Benefice which shall keep us all busy and in need of a rest by the time we sit down to our Christmas dinner.

Wishing everyone in our two benefices a Very Happy Christmas and, dare we hope, Peace on Earth next year.

Just like that, another year has drawn to a close and we are at the December Rocklander entry already. We have also had a flurry of snow as I write this. Where does the time go? After the Christmas period we have a chance to recollect ourselves before all the events start again in the new year. Before then, though, we hope to see you at our upcoming events.

Pudsey Lunch

We would like to thank all involved at the Pudsey Lunch. Without people volunteering we could not host such events jointly with Little Rockies. We pride ourselves, as a Church, for having opportunities throughout the year that raise money for other charities. Children in Need is widely fundraised for in the village, by various groups, so it is great to see that so many of you turned up and donated towards this cause.

Remembrance

It was heartwarming to see that so many of you turned up at Wayland Road’s Remembrance Flowerbed on the 10th of November to remember those lost. We are aware we usually host this event in the church but felt a great connection to the village as a whole by hosting it around the flowerbed. Thank you, also, to those who joined us at the Church afterwards for tea, coffee and nibbles.

Winter Market

We are hosting a Winter Market at Rocklands Village Hall on Saturday the 7th of December. It will run from 10am to 2pm and we hope it will serve you as a fine opportunity to get some Christmas presents. We have a wide variety of traders offering you their goods. FREE ENTRY so come and shop with us!

Santa’s Grotto

See Santa for just £5 a child – includes gift! When we host the Winter Market, Santa is resting in Rocklands Village Hall at the same time too! Children will have the opportunity to meet Santa for a gift and a great photo opportunity for you to cherish.

Festive Café Church

Join us at Rockland St. Peter’s Church at 10:30am on the 8th of December for a crafting event suitable for adults and children alike! There will be nibbles following the crafting fun! Grab a friend and bring them too, there will be lots of crafting fun to do!

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from all of us at Rockland St. Peter’s Church!

As I write this, the temperature outside has dropped several degrees, and it is starting to feel like winter now! Adverts for festive goods have been flooding the TV screens for weeks and shops (and even some homes) are putting up their decorations, so it must be time to talk about Christmas!

As we mark the start of a new year in the church when we begin to think about the coming of Christ and prepare for his arrival, Advent Sunday falls on 1st December this year and we are holding our traditional Advent Sunday Carol service on that day at 10.30. However, this year the venue has had to be changed to St Peter’s Church, Rocklands, as we are expecting a larger than usual congregation from all over the new benefice, and there is more room for both seating and parking there (as well as good heating!!). Archdeacon Steven Betts is preaching at the service and all are welcome afterwards at Rocklands Village Hall, where light refreshments will be laid on for all to enjoy. We would love to see you there. For those who don’t know, St Peter’s is on the left off the B1077, just after the crossroads in Rocklands in the Watton direction; it is clearly marked from the main road. (What3words is transmit.gathering.committee for those who use that app!) Alternative access is via The Street, where the lane to the church is on the right by a bungalow. The village hall is a bit further down the Street on the right at a bend in the road opposite Mill Lane.

On December 15th, we are holding another Christingle service at All Saints. Children come at 2.30 to make their Christingles in the old schoolroom near the gates, then there is a short informal service in the church at 3pm. As the light fades, the candles are lit and the children sing ‘Away in a Manger’ in the candlelight……and Christmas has begun for me! The Christmas crib is set up by the little ones, where it will remain until Candlemas on February 2nd. We are hoping that Rocklands School choir will be there again this year which will be amazing. BUT, as you may know, our church is very small so we have to think carefully about numbers and it is essential that we know in advance how many children are coming. Please book a place by emailing cath@jones871.plus.com as soon as possible. Thank you!

Finally, our popular candlelit ‘Midnight Mass’ is to be held as usual at 10pm on Christmas Eve. This is a traditional service and very atmospheric……I suggest that if you come you bring a torch as we have no electricity and when the candles are blown out, it is very dark!

All that remains is to thank you all for your support over the past year, to wish you all a very happy Christmas and a peaceful and healthy 2025 from all the PCC at All Saints church! See you next year!

It feels like November has been a busy month at St James’!

We started off with our monthly pop-up café, served by Rob and Charles, with chocolate and banana and carrot and maple cakes on offer. The ‘nearly new’ table was popular with several visitors making purchases. There were also jams and chutneys by Margaret available. The heating was on and there was a lot of nattering! Our next one will be Saturday 7th December; the ‘nearly new’ table will be back.

Our Remembrance Sunday service was led by Rev Tori at St James’ before moving on to the memorial at Deopham Green and Little Ellingham. The congregation was joined by approximately 30 members of the Scout Group. At each location, a wreath was laid in memory of those who have died in conflict, the names on the memorials were read out and a silence held.

The annual Christmas Fair over 15th & 16th was busy with lots of gift buying. There were many lovely stalls – glass and polymer resin crafts, bags, handmade gifts, jewellery, clothing, lights and wooden creations, not forgetting cakes, mulled wine and musical entertainment. We were joined by the Roskettes on Friday evening and the school choir on Saturday morning – thanks to all those who took part, particularly Mrs Dekker, Colin and Margaret. The raffle winners were treated to a gift voucher for The Crown, a Norfolk Veg Box hamper, a gift voucher for Rachael Ray Reflexology plus many other items. Thank you to everyone who donated and supported the fair. The total amount raised was around £950 which will go into church funds – mostly already allocated to pay for the church organ repairs.

At the end of October, Norwich Music Group used the church for a ‘come and sing’ event on Mozart’s Requiem. It was lovely to see the chancel full of singers – some with more experience than others as we tackled the music. This was followed by a short concert by Norwich Music Group and then a performance of the Requiem. It was a lovely afternoon/ evening and we hope to arrange another visit next year.

In December, we look ahead to the last pop-up café of the year, followed by the Great Ellingham Show – both on 7th December. Tickets for the show are now available from Great Ellingham and Rocklands Village shops or via their website: https:// thevillagesingers.uk/whats-on/

We have a Christingle Café church on Sunday 8th December and Carols around the tree on Thursday 19th December. We look forward to welcoming you over the festive period.

Advent Carol Service
This service is held on the first Sunday of Advent; this year it will be Sunday 1st December. Normally it is a benefice service held in Rockland All Saints. However this year it will also be the day of the Archdeacon’s Visitation and combined with our partner benefice, the Hingham group of churches. So it has been decided that for logistical reasons the service will be held in the church of Rockland St Peter with refreshments provided after the service in Rocklands Village Hall.

Further details may be given later but it is expected that the service will be as normal.

Our October pop up café was hosted by Caroline and Kathryn this month. Alongside the usual delicious homemade cakes on offer, we also had a table of nearly new items (perfect budget presents) plus a selection of jams and chutneys. As we head into the autumn, the heating will go on! Rob and Charles will be on duty at the next café on 9th November.

Our Harvest café church on 13th October welcomed members of the Scout group alongside our usual congregation. We looked at Harvest, giving thanks for the food we have. There were talks on the food bank and Christian Aids ‘Harvest for Hope’ theme discussing different types of seeds. The children identified that the seeds need light, food, water, care and nurturing in order to grow – just like we do.

Our Christmas Fair is fast approaching on Friday 15th (6-9pm) & Saturday 16th November (10am – 1pm). We have a full church booked with lots of stalls including Tropic skincare, handmade crafts, glass baubles, jewellery, wood turned items, bespoke lights, candles and soaps. There will also be chance to order your Christmas wreath from Margaret Thomas, plus jams, chutneys and cakes. Music will be provided by the Roskettes on Friday and the school choir on Saturday morning. There will be refreshments, a raffle and tombola – please do pop in to support this event. If you are able to donate a raffle or tombola prize, then please get in touch: sunflowerjones@hotmail.com All singers welcome!

We are excited to have Norwich Music Group attending to host a Come and Sing event on Saturday 26th October, studying Mozart’s Requiem. Anyone is welcome to attend. The cost is £10 per person – participant or audience member. Come along at 5.45pm to register, learn the music and words, before performing at 7pm. Refreshments will be provided. 

There is a music and food afternoon, planned for Saturday 23rd November, 3 – 6pm, organised by a village member to raise money for the Alzheimer’s Society. Put the date in your diary!

Welcome to November!

Where has the year gone? The clocks have changed and the nights are going to feel longer. For some of us, getting up in the dark is also going to be a tough one. On the upside, it is the time to wear puffy ski jackets that hide how many mince pies we have had or how many Christmas puds we have snuck into the weekly shop.

Harvest

Thank you to those who attended our Harvest Service. We hope you enjoy a selection of pictures from the day.

Remembrance

We are hosting a Remembrance Sunday Service at the memorial flowerbed on the 10th of November at 10:45am.

Pudsey Lunch

Saturday 16th of November at 12pm to 2pm, we are hosting a Pudsey Fundraising Lunch. We will be serving an array of wonderful food delights from bacon rolls and soup to cake delights. There will also be a raffle. Pudsey, himself, will also grace us with his presence! No need to book in advance; just pop in and visit us on the day.

If you wished to get involved and help out with baking or serving a table on the day, please contact Mr Brown on 07802 433 611.

November

Welcome to November

A month where we remember,

And a month to recall,

Those who wished parliament To take a large fall.

 

The five-fingered ivy,

Hath graced us with bright red

And many trees have started

To look quite, quite dead.

 

A month where winter whispers,

That it is ever near;

The last month of autumn

Before it disappears.

KYT Poetry

We had a very enjoyable evening Harvest Festival service last month at which Tori kindly preached the sermon. The church was beautifully decorated by our Flower Arrangers for which we are very grateful. All donated items of food were given to the local Foodbank based in Thetford.

We now look forward to our next fund raising event, the Pie and Pickle Lunch. This long established lunch is now done jointly with the village hall which helps us to spread the load. Anyone who has dined with us will vouch for a wide selection of delicious home-made pies and desserts at the very reasonable price of £10. So why not come along on Saturday 2 November between 12 and 3pm and try it for yourself. Further details on the poster opposite.

We shall be holding our Remembrance service again this year starting at St James’ church, Great Ellingham. We then go on to Deopham airfield and then on to our own church for an Act of Remembrance at the two memorials. Refreshments will be served in Little Ellingham village hall.

I am sure we are not alone in welcoming Tori and her family to our benefices with the hope that their time with us will be one of happiness in every respect.

It doesn’t seem a month since I last wrote the news from All Saints……..but then, it seems impossible that we are again now cranking up for Christmas!! I must be getting old! I am sure there were more months in the year when I was younger!

We held our annual Harvest Supper at the Village Hall on 5th October and it was again a very successful event that everybody seemed to enjoy. We were grateful to the Roskettes who not only entertained us with a medley of popular songs after the meal, but also helped to speed along by serving food! Very many thanks to all who attended, bought raffle tickets or helped by providing food, washing up, clearing the hall afterwards etc…..as always Barbara masterminded the food, which was scrumptious and plentiful- just as a Harvest Supper should be! We were glad to welcome our new priest-in-charge, Revd. Tori, who came along and joined in the fun.

November services are as usual, with a service at RAS on the third Sunday at 10.30. There is, however, a change to the time and venue of the service on Remembrance Sunday (November 10th) which will this year be held not at St Peter’s church but outside at the Remembrance Garden in Wayland Rd (near the crossroads by the telephone box library) at 10.45. There will be the traditional silence at 11am as we remember all those who have died in conflict, including those who fell in the two World Wars during last century. It will be a similar format to the 80th anniversary of D Day in June, so it is hoped as many will attend as possible.

Early warning about December services at All Saints:

December 1st is the traditional Advent Carol service with not only the Benefice choir, but also the Archdeacon Revd. Steven Betts and members of the new benefice that includes Hingham and High Oak as well as the Rocklands and Ellinghams. Please join us at 10.30 as we begin a new year in the church calendar with Advent and the coming of Christ.

On December 15th, we will be holding our usual Christingle Service in aid of the Children’s Society at 3pm (children come from 2.30 to make their Christingles in the old Victorian schoolroom) which is always an informal but magical service! Rocklands School choir are planning to make another appearance- something to look forward to!

On December 24th, we have an informal Carol Singing session outside Rocklands Community shop at 11am with mince pies and mulled punch…..all are welcome to come and go as they please and a joyous time is had by all! What the singing perhaps lacks in quality is far outweighed by the enthusiasm and enjoyment of the singers! A collection for charity is made to add to whatever Santa collects on his rounds through the villages earlier in December…..another event not to be missed!

Later on Christmas Eve, we will be holding a more formal service at the candlelit ‘Midnight’ Mass, held at 10pm at All Saints. Again, this is a very moving service as we celebrate Christ’s birth in the church up the hill just as villagers have been doing for centuries. Please book the date in your diaries now.

Welcome to our October entry!

Cycle Ride

Thank you to Dawn Thacker and Nick Cardy who rode for us in the annual Churches Trust Cycle Ride and Walk. They travelled 47.1 miles and visited 24 churches. What a brilliant effort! Dawn said, “We met some lovely people along the way. It was a lovely day, the sun shone although it was a bit breezy at times.” We would like to thank everyone who was involved in the event, from the welcomers across the churches, those who cycled, rode or walked and those who sponsored. So, thank you!

Welcoming Our New Reverend

The Licensing of Reverend Victoria Venmore-Rowland BA will be held at St. Andrew’s Church, Hingham on the 24th of September. I am sure everyone will join us in making our new reverend most welcome to our communities.

Dates For Your Diary

Join us on Sunday the 16th of November for Pudsey Lunch where we aim to raise money for Children in Need.

Another month has sped by, and Autumn draws on apace! As I write, we have sunshine although ‘the North wind doth blow’!! On September 15th we celebrated our Pets and the Harvest in a lovely service at All Saints. After a dodgy start, the weather was kind to us and, once again, we were able to sit outside without feeling cold or wet! This year, we had two cats (including Stripes, a small tabby kitten, who had travelled from Caston for his f irst outing since his jabs at vet) and several dogs and I am pleased to report that all behaved impeccably! There was a collection amounting to £100 which has been given, as always, to the Leprosy Mission and the congregation also brought food donations that were received by Kathryn to be taken to the local Food Bank. Many thanks to the Benefice Music Group who led the singing (assisted by Julie Dekker) and to all who attended. A couple of dog walkers who happened to be passing came and joined us for coffee and ‘animalshaped biscuits’ together with their 5 dogs so we hope Tracey and Lexi will join us again next year!

Our next fundraising/social event is on October 5th at Rocklands Village Hall, starting at 7pm, when we hold our annual Harvest Supper. This includes a substantial (and delicious) home-cooked two course meal + tea and coffee. (Please bring your own drinks and glasses if you want to have anything other than water during the meal!) Tickets are £10 each (£5 for children) and are available from Barbara Scase (483420), Cath Jones (483542) or Julie Dekker (advance booking essential!) The meal is followed by entertainment from the Roskettes as always and the evening is always a joyous occasion. Do come and join us!

By the time this is read, our new vicar, Revd. Tori will have been inducted at a service at Hingham and will have started her ministry in twelve churches in the area. We do not yet have a date when she will be visiting Rocklands officially, but we are sure she will have a good welcome when she does, and we look forward to getting to know her and her family. We are also very grateful to Revd. Sue for all she has done in the past few years for Rocklands, much of which has been over and above the call of duty! Thanks Sue!

St James, Great Ellingham Our September pop up café was boosted by a number of people calling in to the local history exhibition at the pub! As usual, delicious homemade cakes were on offer and there was plenty of conversation. Many of our visitors enjoyed looking around the church, taking photos or finding snippets of family history.

The church was open for the Norfolk Churches trust bike, drive and walk event on Saturday 14th September, with a selection of snacks for those taking part. This year we had twelve cyclists, one by car and one walking! We hope they all enjoyed the lovely weather and their journey around the county!

We hope that Revd Tori and her family have settled into their new home in Hingham. We look forward to her licensing service and welcoming her to visit our church in the future. Preparations are under way for the Christmas Fair on Friday 15th & Saturday 16th November. If you are interested in a stall, have a tombola or raffle prize you’d like to donate, then please drop Kathryn an email: sunflowerjones@hotmail.com.

We are excited to have Norwich Music Group attending to host a Come and Sing event on Saturday 26th October, learning Mozart’s Requiem. Anyone is welcome to attend – the format will be to learn the piece during the afternoon to perform at the end. Please look out for more information to follow!

Exciting times as we issue a very warm welcome to our new incumbent, Tori. 

I am writing this just before her Licensing service.  You will be aware of the huge task in front of her – not only taking up the reigns of ordained ministry amongst us after a long interregnum but drawing our two Benefices together.   

The High Oak and Hingham Benefice has traditionally worked in a very different way to the Shellrock Benefice.  We, the ministers, have been meeting and sharing some services, therefore coming to know different congregations across the boundaries.  This has necessarily been limited and there is a long way to go.  At least we have shown that we can work in harmony.  This will be important in the future. 

The virtue we will need most is patience – everything takes time.  Managing our expectations will also be necessary.  It will take a while for Tori to learn who we all are, also how we work.  And, we have to learn what she would like from us in order to help her form a plan for our future.  I know she likes to work with others so we will all have our part to play. 

Above all, we must remember that God has sent her to us.  He will have a plan for the new, enlarged Benefice, mainly that we find ways to proclaim his Word of Love among ourselves and to the wider communities.  Our churches are all working hard in their outreach and, while Tori might have ideas of how we can develop our activities, we cannot leave it all to her.  We must continue as we are and grow with her leadership. 

Tori, our new Rector, is here among us.  I know we will all welcome her.  Alleluia!