Christmas is very important in the Palestinian territory of the West Bank, as it contains Bethlehem, the town in which Jesus was born. Bethlehem is about six miles south of Jerusalem. Bethlehem means ‘house of bread’ in Hebrew/Aramaic ®†®בֵּית†לֶחֶם†and ‘house of meat’ in Arabic ©بيت†لحم®Æ†The Hebrew/Aramaic name predates the Arabic
We read that the shortage of driver manpower means there will be a national shortage of fresh turkeys this year. Delivery drivers have abandoned their loads of cholesterol-laden Christmas fare to deliver Amazon packages. If you didn’t order your Harry Potter merchandise by July there is no hope whatsoever of
1st 1993 The European Union came into existence 2nd 1721 Peter I was proclaimed Emperor of all the Russias. 3rd 1957 Russia launched space capsule, Sputnik II, which carried a dog named Laika. 4th 1890 The first electrified under-ground railway opened in London. 5th 1605 The “Gunpowder Plot” to blow up the
As village life picks up again and the newsletter is once again full of details about our various activities, we need to remember that Covid is still very much with us. I’m aware of many in our villages who, despite being double vaccinated, have contracted it, and there are many other viruses
On Sunday 3rd October, Harvest Thanksgiving was celebrated at St Mary Magdalene, Essendine. The sun coming through the windows picked out the beauty of the harvest decorations. We were glad to be able to set aside time to pause and give thanks to God for the crops and harvest.
October looks like an interesting month for our diocese. Sarah Brown to be installed as Dean of Hereford, Alison Myers as Warden of Launde Abbey, the first face-to-face meeting of rural deans and senior staff for two years, confirmation services starting up again, Gordon Steele’s farewell service – and much
I think what we have missed most about church over the last 18 months or so is singing—so on Sunday October 10th at 3pm we are having a mammoth Songs of Praise with Harvest hymns and many other favourites –12 in all! This will replace the usual 10.30 service just
This is the last magazine resource that I expect to write before my farewell service, which is due to be Evensong at the Cathedral on Sunday 31 October at 3.30 pm. Necessary precautions permitting, I hope that will be an occa-sion when I might be able to see many of you
Before I start on the churchy bits, has anyone lost a set of keys on the road between Essendine and Carlby? One looks like an old church key, which is why they came into my possession—a helpful cyclist spotted them and rang to ask if they were mine. Please let
Schools are on holiday, the villages are unusually quiet as people jet off (at last) to sun and sand, or drive off to camp in a green field somewhere, but in our three churches things are pretty much what they have been all summer. The magic 19th July and Boris’
