We were a bit thin on the ground for our June coffee morning in aid of the road safety campaigning charity ‘Brake’ - quite a few of our regulars were away on holiday - however, delicious homemade cakes on offer and lovely table flowers from the garden made for a very pleasant coffee morning. We raise £100 for Brake; this charity also supports and helps improve the care for people bereaved through accidents and those seriously injured on roads.

Our chapel has a small but dedicated army of volunteers who keep the place looking lovely. This time of year the gardens and lawns look magnificent whilst cleaning the interior is a constant job. Without these tireless volunteers the chapel would not be the place it is. Here are some of our dedicated band of helpers.

The choir entertained over sixty people for an enjoyable afternoon. The ladies of the choir looked very good in their black and white with red scarves, and the gentlemen very smart in red bow ties. 
They started off the first section with "Love is all around" followed by more love songs including "Love me tender” by Michael 'Elvis' Pointer, which was the first of 3 solo performances. Our two youngest members, Gary and Emily, were the other two soloists  singing "Edelweiss" and "Where is love" from Oliver respectively. The love songs were followed by songs from the shows including The Sound of Music, all conducted very expertly by Jill, and accompanied on the piano by David. The final song was "This Little Light of Mine" which everyone joined in with, not being allowed to leave till Jill thought it sounded good enough! 
After the concert everyone moved outside taking a chair with them, and sat in the glorious sunshine. It was nice to see Derek, a previous Minister who shared a table with us. In all a very enjoyable afternoon. Delicious cakes and plain, fruit and cherry scones, with tea or coffee were served in the schoolroom by Ann Pointer and her team of helpers from the choir.
The total raised from this event was £490. Thank you to all who came and all who helped make the afternoon a success.

The Thornton family joined us today in chapel, to dedicate three vases to the memory of their Aunt Miss Ruth Thornton as well as remembering their other Aunt Mrs Eva Williams. Both ladies used to worship as part of our congregation up to the mid 1970's. The family joined the Pentecost service of Holy Communion lead by Farai and afterwards joined us for our tea and biscuits. Miss Ruth Thornton moved away from the village after her sister Mrs Williams died in 1973 but at the time a bench was set up to her memory which still resides outside the chapel. Mrs Williams daughter came back to open the Methodist Fete in 1974 and was presented a rose by Quentin Howell. The family wanted to make sure that Miss Ruth Thornton was also remembered in the church she used to worship and so have inscribed one of the vases with a dedication.

The Parish Rogation walk 2018 was a scorcher, beautiful morning sunshine greeted the early starters at they prepared for the days walk.  Meeting at the Methodist Chapel from 9 am the 'catering team' had put together a very welcoming start to the day, tables laid out in a lovely country cafe style with dishes of butter, jams & marmalade's, plenty of tea and toast served to the tables.
The Methodists had a very busy morning serving the walkers who started arriving around 8.40 and we had a steady flow until around 10 a.m. several dogs too, whose owners opted to sit outside. We collected around £70 in donations,

The day started off in high spirits as walking attire, nobbly knees, Mike's thighs, sun hats, refreshment stops were considered in preparation for the walk. Every year the walk gets more popular, and by the 10am stop at St John's in Lea Marston for the bacon and sausage butties there was quite a crowd had gathered.

This year, the Tame Valley wetlands had also joined in the action to offer walkers the opportunity to do short circuit of the bluebell woods adjacent to the St John's which was very lovely, and promote some of their forthcoming events.
The day was fantastic, every one in good spirits.  The refreshments en-route were plentiful and lovely quality produce including the ploughmans lunch at St Cuthberts, Shustoke, followed by strawberry's/melon and cream & wine at Over Whitacre church (St Leonards), and finally on to St Giles Church, Nether Whitacre for afternoon tea/ cakes and a short church service to commend that day.
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What is especially nice is those who were unable to do the walk for whatever reason (either in part or in full) could still take part in a wonderful parish event by simply attending each of the churches.  It was lovely to see so many from the parish young & old joining in, enjoying the sunshine, or the cool of churches or enjoying a picnic on the grass.   

Thanks to our roving reporters Becky, Julie, Christine, Lynda and David.