News & Features

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

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.

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

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!

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.

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

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.

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!