Reflections Blog

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BIBLE STUDY GROUP

Bible Study Group meetings continue on Wednesdays 10^th and 24^th May at 2.30pm. at Oakhurst, behind Kingshott School (home of Margaret Edmonds).  We are studying The Book of Genesis.  Refreshments are served after the meeting.  Come and join us!  Further information from Margaret Edmonds (01462-452340) or Clare Larsen (01462-453541)  Clare Larsen

Afternoon Tea at Maydencroft Manor

On Wednesday 24^th May from 3.00pm. - 5.00pm.

Come and enjoy a slice of home-made cake and a cup of tea for £3.00.  Everybody welcome and do bring a friend.  In aid of The Friends of

St. Ippolyts Church.

I haven't organised another meeting before our Tea Party on 24^th May but do ring me if you would like any information.  Just come everyone please, bearing a cake of any description!

Frani Williams

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There are 12 Easter eggs already hidden in each of our 3 churches for you to find. No chocolate yet, but each egg is numbered, has a clue inside and a mystery symbol painted on the outside. Having found one, note the details and, with the aid of the appropriate form (or forms ) at the back of the church, solve the puzzle and post the completed form (s) in the labelled box. Then reassemble the egg with its clue inside and replace where it had lain hidden. Finally wait until Easter Day tp discover whether you have won a prize!

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Parish of  _________St Ippolyts_____________________________

Deanery of   ______Hitchin___________________________________

At the Annual Meeting of Parishioners and Annual Parochial Church Meeting of  the above parish held on (date) ____28^th March 2017_______

The following were elected as Churchwardens:

The following were elected as Lay Members of the Deanery Synod:

The following were elected as Lay Members of the Parochial Church Council:

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A newspaper article from October 1969 tells the story of horses and their long association with our church. The article was found by one of the members of the Jubilate Choir and he has allowed us to copy it so we can put it onto our website.

John Edwards and the Jubilate Choir treated 56 of us a wonderful evening of song last night in St Ippolyts Church. The concert, on the lighter side, featured the choir singing variety of songs ranging from English and American folk songs to Flanders and Swann and from Cole Porter to Gershwin.

It was truly a magical evening. 

A big thank you to John and the choir for all their hard work, GBP300 was raised for church funds.

EASTER LILIES

Donations towards the cost of Easter lilies can be placed in the envelopes provided

at the back of each of our three churches.  If you would like to make your donation in memory of a departed loved one please write their name on the envelope.  The envelopes should then be placed where indicated (arrangements are slightly different in each parish).  A list of all the names will be placed on the Altar and read out on Easter Day.

                                                                                                 Jane Veasey

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SERVICES DURING HOLY WEEK

MONDAY 10^th APRIL

7.00pm.                      Compline                     Little Wymondley

TUESDAY 11^th APRIL

7.00pm.          Compline                                 Great Wymondley

WEDNESDAY 12^thAPRIL

7.00pm.          Compline                                 St. Ippolyts

NO SERVICE AT 11.00am.

             JOINT SERVICE FOR ALL THREE PARISHES

MAUNDY THURSDAY - 13^th APRIL

7.00pm.          Holy Communion with

                               Washing of Feet                            St. Ippolyts

GOOD FRIDAY - 14^th April

12 noon - 2.00pm.

Quiet space for private prayer and reflection                St. Ippolyts

2.00pm. - 3.00pm.    Liturgy of Good Friday           St. Ippolyts

EASTER EVE - Saturday 15^th April

7.00pm.                      Easter Vigil                              Great Wymondley

Easter Decorating

We will be decorating the church for Easter on Saturday 15^th April from 9.30am.  All will be welcome to bring their flowers to arrange in the church and pre-arranged baskets are also welcome.  Coffee and Hot Cross Buns will be served.  Please don’t forget to remove your arrangements when the flowers have faded.

            Frances Williams, Carol Scott and Joan Pinkstone

TAKING TIME OUT

I must admit that I sometimes find it difficult to write these articles for PAX.  Clare, your ever patient and forgiving editor, gives me plenty of notice and yet still bites her tongue when I again fail to make the submission deadline.  The trouble is, I never know what to say.  I have to think ahead to what will be relevant by the time your magazine reaches you but my brain is still trying to cope with the things I forgot to do yesterday!! 

So, there I was early this morning, sitting at my dining table with fingers poised over the keyboard, and staring out into the garden desperately wracking my pre-coffee brain for inspiration.  The subject had to be Easter really, didn’t it?  Easter equals resurrection, new life......I had to find something remotely inspiring to say about new life.  As I watched the newly opened daffodils swaying in the sunshine and listened to the birds strike up their morning chorus, my thoughts started to form and I began to think of how, in moments like these when we actually stop and notice the world around us, we can find signs of new life, signs of renewal, every single day in our ordinary lives.  Even my dogs seemed to have picked up my reflective mood as they basked quietly on the lawn, their noses sniffing at the air around them. 

Our morning musings were short-lived however and we were catapulted forcibly back into the realities of everyday life by the arrival, at speed, of my slightly psychotic cat Milo.  Previously skulking undetected under a large bush, Milo launched himself across the lawn and up the large tree in the middle of the garden, hell-bent on extinguishing any sign of new life that may be tweeting within its branches.  Fortunately for the birds and unfortunately for the dogs, Milo isn’t known for his stealth-like qualities

and the next few seconds consisted of a flurry of fur and howls

as Milo leapt for a bird on a high branch, missed and fell unceremoniously onto the dog whereby he steadied himself by sinking his claws into Toby’s hind quarters!!  Something akin

to a Tom and Jerry cartoon ensued as the other two dogs also took flight and the four of them charged around the garden massacring daffodils as they went.

How quickly life can change.  And how much we can miss out on if we fail to appreciate what we have in the here and now and focus instead on what may or may not happen tomorrow.  Our lives are busy, full of things to do, deadlines to meet, challenges to overcome.  We often put aside the things that remind us of what it is that gives our life meaning, thinking

we will do that when we have more time but in doing so we miss out on so many wonderful moments and fail to live our lives as fully as God intended us to do.

This season of Lent gives us a chance to press the pause button.  As the church and our faith encourage us to refocus on the life, death and sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ, we also have before us the hope, the new life, that his resurrection on Easter Day offers for all who follow him.  A chance to begin again, to walk a new path, every time we seek God’s direction for our lives.

My prayer for all of us this Lent is that we will each take a few moments every day simply to live in the present, to stop and look around us and appreciate the world we live in and the life we live.  To remind ourselves of what is important

             and who it is we are called to be.

And as for me.....well, I seem to have had my time to pause this morning ......I’m off to rescue the dogs!!

                                                                                    With love - Ginni

There are envelopes at the back of all three churches for donations towards the cost of Easter Lilies. If you wouild like to make a donation in memory of a departed loved one, then write their name on the envelope and place the envelope where indicated. At St Ippolyts Church this is in the wall safe adjacent to the South Porch door. A list of names will be placed on the altar and read out on Easter Day.

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The Jubilate Choir under its director John Edwards returns to St Ippolyts at 19:30 on Thursday 30th March for a concert, "On the Lighter Side" a collection of music including folk songs and songs from stage and screen.

Tickets at £6 from Mary Hooper (01462 457350) or Jane Veasey (01462 434254) to include wine and nibbles. The proceeds to St Ippolyts Church

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Dear St Ippolyts,

You may like to know that Alleyne & I (John), were married at St Ippolyts 50 years ago tomorrow the 4th, by the reverend Erik Quinn, we now live on the Gold Coast, Queensland Australia, having emigrated in 1969, we have three children, 7 grandchildren & 3 great's! We have very fond memories of our wedding there,

Very kind regards,

John & Alleyne Rock