News & Features

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!

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.

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.

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.

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!