News & Features

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! 

Welcome to the mini edition of the Benefice News as many of the contributors are away.

However we wanted to share our good news!  Following recent interviews we are very happy to say that The Revd Tori Venmore-Rowland has been appointed as Priest in Charge of the High Oak, Hingham and Scoulton and Woodrising, and Shellrock benefices, subject to a DBS check and safeguarding training.

Tori is currently Assistant Curate in the Mattishall and Tudd Valley benefice in our diocese.
 
Details of Tori’s institution by the Bishop of Thetford will follow in due course, but in the meantime please do keep Tori, her husband Luke and their family in your prayers.

An introduction from Revd Tori
I grew up in Norfolk, and even though I’ve left a few times, I’ve always managed to find my way back again. Following a time at Norwich School of Art and Design, I joined the Royal Air Force as a Weapons Technician, and then spent ten years in light blue. Eventually, God made it clear that there was a rather different purpose for me, and so I left the military to train for ordination. I was ordained Deacon in 2021 and Priest in 2022. My curacy started in Swaffham and Sporle, had a brief period in Dereham and then finished in Mattishall and Tudd Valley, where I have served for the past year and a half. Along with me and supporting me are my fantastic husband Luke, and our children: Cora, Lexi and John. We’re hoping to move to Hingham in the summer where I can start getting to know everyone and seeing what God has in store for the next chapter of my life!

For our June pop up café, the weather was a bit dull, but several people popped in for a warm welcome with coffee and cake. On offer this month was carrot and maple syrup cake alongside Charles’ cemetery buns!

At café church, our regular congregation was joined by family and friends of Lottie who was baptised, along with her Dad, during the service. Lottie and her family recently moved to Great Ellingham and it was lovely to meet them. They commented on the enjoyable service and the welcome they received.

During June, the Village Singers used the church for their 15th anniversary concert – a mix of modern, folk and choral pieces. This was the final show for their musical and production directors, Tina and Neville Moon. We wish them both well in their ‘retirement’ and hope the Singers will be back in the future under new directorship.

Heading into the summer we look ahead to a busy fortnight, hosting a number of Teddy Festival events. This starts off with the art preview party on Friday 28th June. The art exhibition is then open during the weekend Saturday & Sunday 10am -4pm and Monday 10am – 1pm. This is followed by a local history exhibition on Saturday 6th & Sunday 7th July. Both events have free entry and refreshments available. The festival finishes on Sunday 14th with a service of celebration and thanksgiving. Bring along your favourite bear and nibbles, so we can join together for a teddy bear’s picnic afterwards.

Our pop up café will still be open on Saturdays 13th July & 10th August. As always, the coffee machine will be on and fresh cakes will be available! We hope to see you there!

During May we held our annual Big Breakfast raising money for Christian Aid. There was a range of cereals, toast with a variety of spreads and fresh fruit donated by Rookery Meadows. Freshly cooked bacon, sausage and/or egg rolls were available during the morning – 55 in total. It was a lovely event and raised just over £300 for the charity.

Our May café church service was a quiet event, reflecting on the story of ‘feeding the crowd with fish and loaves’, alongside the start of Christian Aid week. We hope to have a baptism at our June service.

The next St James Pop-up café will be on Saturday 8th June. The Village Singers also have their concert on 15th June - tickets are now available from Rocklands and Great Ellingham Village shops. Looking slightly further ahead, we will be hosting a number of events as part of the Teddy Festival including the art exhibition over 29th/30th June and the local history exhibition on 6th/7th July. Both events are free and refreshments will be available.