Reflections Blog

A wonderful evening of entertainment and head scratching! This is an event not to be missed, a bar with very reasoinably priced drinks and a wonderful supper from the gastronomic House of Veasey and friends!

Please purchase tickets in advance from Jane Veasey (01462-434254) or Mary Hooper (01462-457350).  Doors open at 7.00pm. for a prompt start at 7.30pm.

Make up a team of 6 to 8 friends or family and enjoy a ploughman’s supper included in the price of £10 per ticket.  Each ticket has a number and you might be the lucky one to have your number drawn

 at the beginning of the evening to win a bottle of wine.  There will be

a bar selling beer, lager, wine and soft drinks.  Come along and enjoy some fun and

a bit of mental stimulation!

Our wonderful Nativity Crib Festival is now in its 10^th Year!

If you’ve still never been come along and see why for so many it now marks the start of the festive season.  The church will be filled with crib sets (over 150 last year) and the variety is truly astounding.  Big and small, old family treasures and newly bought or even home-made, they come from all over the world (well almost) and are made from everything from wood to newspaper, metal to glass and from banana leaves to citrus peel (yes really!).

Beside each crib is a card telling its own unique “story”.  Which one will you like best?  It might be the shepherd from one made of newspaper that had its nose nibbled by mice in the attic.  Or perhaps the olive wood one owned by a local

farmer whose grandchildren scour the house each year for ornaments of farm animals to add to the scene.  Or possibly the one hand made from Fimo by a youngster who ran out of time and patience and who has never managed to

make a third king?

Tea and delicious cakes will be available in our little “café” area and you will

have the chance to win your own crib.  Entry is £2.50 and children are free.

If you have a crib set that you would like to lend us (it doesn’t have to be new

and glamorous, the old, tatty ones often have a wonderful “story”) or if you are

able to distribute flyers or posters please contact Barbara at 'This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.')%3B">This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or 01462-421647.

If you are able to help steward over the weekend or to provide a home baked

cake please keep your eyes open for the sign-up sheets at the back of the church.

As many of you will know, our fabulous Crib Festival takes place in St. Ippolyts Church on the first weekend in December.  This means that our Advent Family Service will be conducted in the Parish Hall on Sunday 3^rd December at the usual time of 9.15am.

Advent Sunday is the first day of the church’s liturgical year and starts the season of Advent which is a season of expectation and preparation, as the Church prepares to celebrate the coming of Jesus Christ. 

Our Advent Family Service will be a little different this year and, we hope, will be

an exciting start to a new style of monthly worship that will encourage more families and children to engage with our Christian faith and build on their relationship with God.

Everyone is welcome, young or old and anywhere in between!  The service will be approximately 30 minutes long, with music and hymns and story-telling - oh and

did I mention breakfast?!!  Want to know more?.......Come along and join us and

see for yourself!

                                                                                                            Ginni

NOVEMBER IS MAP MONTH!

As a Benefice, we are beginning to look to the future and trying to discern what

that might look like for us as individual churches and as communities.  One of the things we are looking at first is our Mission Action Plan, or MAP as it is known in ‘church-speak’. 

MAP is a process which enables a local church to prayerfully discern the priorities God has for it, and to plan the mission activities it is going to undertake over the coming months and years.  It is an accessible form of strategic planning, and as

such builds on the insights of businesses, schools, hospitals and other organisations, which have to plan carefully if they are to thrive in a complex and challenging environment.  A key part of the process is involving the whole church in seeking God and developing a clear vision statement.  A vision statement is different from

a mission statement - a mission statement describes what an organisation or church is for now, whereas a vision statement describes what the church wants to become over the next five years.  And that process involves everyone.  Your opinion matters and will be a vital part of what we as a church decide to do.  

So, how can you make your voice heard?  What we would really

like you to do is to imagine what your ideal church looks like.....no matter how far-fetched or wacky that may be (ordinary is acceptable too!!).  What would you like to see your church doing?  Would you

like a choir or contemporary music?  Would you like it to be very traditional or

have coffee served whilst you worship?  Would you like to see the church used for social activities or even have services outside?  If there were no barriers like money, the structure of the building, rules and regulations, what would your ‘perfect’ church look like?  Feel free to let your imagination run away with you, we want to hear what you have to say!  Your answers will help us to prayerfully work out what our communities want in order to draw us closer to God and build on our relationship with him and one another.

During the month of November, St. Ippolyts Church will be focussing on our specific MAP so look out for the explanatory and (hopefully!) inspiring posters

that will appear in church and be prepared to be politely accosted by a PCC member with a short questionnaire asking for your views! 

Great Wymondley and Little Wymondley will be focussing on their own MAP’s in the New Year but don’t let that stop you expressing your views in advance.

Be bold!  Send your thoughts and suggestions to me at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or contact one of your Churchwardens.

    With love, Ginni 

We will be decorating the church for Christmas on Saturday 23^rd December from 9.00am. so please put the date in your diary now and come along and help if you possibly can.  There will be further details in December Pax.

                                              Frances Williams, Carol Scott and Joan Pinkstone