News & Features

There has been a flurry of events held at St James during July. The month started by hosting the Teddy Festival art exhibition, on one of the hottest days of the year so far! Even the icing on the cakes was melting! The church was full of lots of different pieces on display. The afternoon tea was fully booked with visitors to listen to local artists Christine and Pete.

We had a first for the church on Friday 11th July – a joint sleepover from Squirrels and Beavers from Great Ellingham (St James) Scout Group. 22 young people stayed the night, sleeping in pop up tents set up in the chancel. A lovely opportunity for them to experience something a little different – and they seemed to have scared the bats away, as they were disappointed not to see any. They thoroughly enjoyed themselves and hope to come back again.

This was followed by our monthly pop-up café, another warm morning but a much quieter affair. Still, plenty of delicious cakes on offer. These continue through the summer – our next will be on Saturdays 9th August and 13th September.

Our café church service was combined with Teddy Thanksgiving so our focus was solely on teddy bears! We enjoyed familiar hymns led by the music group and our reading was from 1 Corinthians 12 – about how parts of the body are all important and work together, just as any team need to. We had a newly written story, all about a bear visiting the teddy bear festival, including reference to around 50 of the 80 bears on display around the village. As with all stories, it had a happy ending with our bear finding some new friends! The talk reflected on the start of the festival and, as usual, we gave thanks to all those involved in bringing the festival together. Teddy related activities were available after the service and several young people took the opportunity to make a small teddy parachute!

Next month, our café church service will be on Sunday 10th August. Although the theme is yet to be decided, the format will be the same – breakfast available from 9.30am comprising cold meats, cheese, eggs and rolls or toast with jams, fresh coffee or tea. The service will start at 10.30am, led by members of the music group. It is an informal service and everyone is welcome, whether they usually come to church or not.

Save the date: the Norfolk Churches Trust Bike, Walk, Drive is just around the corner on Saturday 13th September. Dust off those wheels or boots so you can get out and explore our local Norfolk churches!

On the first Sunday in May, we joined with churches across the country in holding a service of commemoration for VE day. Outside, the church was decorated with red, white and blue bunting and the service was followed by refreshments. Later in the week, our bells rang out at 6.30pm as they would have done eighty years ago and Charles, our churchwarden, lit a beacon in the churchyard.

Instead of our usual pop-up café, on 10th & 11th May, the church was the venue for a local history display celebrating jobs and occupations within Great Ellingham. It was a fascinating display, enjoyed by over 200 people over the weekend. There was plenty for people to discover. As well as family history, there was also the opportunity to see amazing archaeological finds from Matt Hall’s metal detecting. We thank Heather, Matt and teams for their hard work and for everyone who supported the event. Refreshments were available throughout, manned by members of the PCC.

Our café church on 11th May was themed on Christian Aid, as it was the start of their annual fundraising week. The service utilised some of their online resources. We saw slides about Aurelia, a farmer from Guatemala, whose crops have been devastated by climate change causing heat waves, storms and unpredictable seasons – quite ironic given the lack of rains we have seen this year in our county, which are also causing problems for our own farmers and gardens. Each member of the congregation was given the opportunity to plant a sunflower seed to take home and nurture, remembering our world, created by God. We ended the service with a chocolate button reflection (Aurelia learnt how to grow cocoa and make chocolate with Christian Aid’s support) – savouring the chocolate as a reminder of how God wants to fill us with love and hope.

We held our APCM during May and are pleased to say that Charles agreed to continue as churchwarden. All the members of the PCC remain.

As May draws to a close, Rev Sue Strutt will be hanging up her formal position of Priest Associate and we thank her for all she has done with us in this benefice. We know she’ll still be at services, but hopefully she will be able to take some more time to rest and do ‘other things’!

Our next pop-up café will be on Saturday 7th June. This will be our usual offering of a place to socialise, get a hot drink and fresh cake. We are also planning a Messy Church at the same time, so welcome anyone interested in seeing church in a different light, with activities and crafts. Both will be 10am – 12 noon.

As I write, we are between Good Friday and Easter.  Our walkers were blessed with the weather on Good Friday – warm, dry and sunshine.  Seven adults, two children and five dogs set out with the cross from St James’ Church shortly after noon, heading to Rockland All Saints, where they arrived at 1.45pm.  They were joined by Rev Tori in Rocklands, who tracked the route backwards to find them – a welcome surprise to boost morale for the final leg.  Many then stayed and joined the congregation for the Stations of the Cross service.

Since last writing, St James held its annual Spring Fair, raising a much needed £640 towards church funds.  There were a reduced number of craft stalls, but a lovely range of items plus cakes and bacon rolls.  Thank you to everyone who supported including those in the background baking cakes, cleaning, washing up etc.

We also had our Mothering Sunday service, joined by members of the Scout Group.  The young people helped to make posies before the service, which we then given out during it. 

The service was led by members of the music group with modern songs, familiar to everyone (including some with actions).  

Our monthly pop-up café continues to see local support and in May, it will be combined with a history exhibition and display of metal detecting finds.  This will be held on Saturday 10th May 10am – 4pm and Sunday 11th May 12 noon – 5pm.  There is no entry fee. 

Refreshments will be available through out the opening, for which donations are welcome.  Heather, Judy and Matt always put on a great display and it will be worth a visit!

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 as soon as possible.  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.

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.