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.

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.

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 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.

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....

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!

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!

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!