The monthly Church Magazine is delivered to subscribers in Stoke Rivers and Challacombe as well as Bratton Fleming. Additional copies are available in the church.
Some of the articles from this month's magazine are found below.
The annual subscription for the magazine is currently £6.20 (+ postage if applicable). For further details contact Terry Squire (please see 'Who's Who' page).
As a Church, we are called to show in our life the signs of the Kingdom of God – of lives changed, of sickness healed, of justice for all people, of care for the lonely, of hope and love, all based on our knowledge of who Jesus Christ is and what he did for us through his death and resurrection.
In general, the world is disillusioned by the state of the Church, which seems, instead, often to concentrate on disagreements – over the role of women in leadership, on issues of sexuality, on falling numbers and financial crisis, instead of on God, on his promises and his faithfulness.
When the Israelites were in exile, the prophet Jeremiah spoke God’s word to them: “I know the plans I have for you….plans to give you a future and a hope”. Exile and slavery are not the obvious environment in which to be filled with hope. And yet it’s often through hardship that we learn to allow God to mould us and lead us. This applies to the Church as well as to the individuals who make up its number.
At this time we may choose to be overwhelmed by all the evidence of our weaknesses – or to fix our eyes on Jesus instead, and remember that it is God who sees the big picture and in whom our confidence rests.
A Message from Bob Shadbolt’s Family
We should like to express our thanks to everyone who contributed to making Bob’s funeral and thanksgiving service such a moving and memorial occasion.
Special thanks must be expressed to Rev Les Austin, Nan Austin, the flower ladies, the bell ringers and to everyone who attended the service and sang the hymns with such energy and feeling. We enjoyed meeting those who came to Bob’s tea party and hearing the stories they had to tell.
At the time of writing, over £850 has been donated to The Children’s Society.
On the Sunday before the funeral we visited the five beautiful churches where Bob played the organ and there we felt the peace of God. Bob was very happy living among you all and being part of your community and we hope his work and enthusiasm for the Church, the charities and all his other interests will continue.
John Lugg is intending to organise an annual charity walk around the Stoke Rivers area in memory of Bob so we will look forward to seeing as many of you as possible then.
The details surrounding Bob's sudden and unexpected death are unknown and therefore an inquest is taking place.
Thank you for all the friendship and kindness we have received.
Sarah, Helen, Alicia and Alex
Music Machine
We are very grateful to those who have made donations totalling £1000 towards the cost of the Hymnal Plus music machine.
Those that attended the demonstration in April were impressed at its capabilities and the quality of sound that it produced. After listening to people’s comments it was decided to proceed with an order for the machine, which has now arrived. At the time of writing however the amplifier was still to arrive.
The machine comes with over 2750 separate recordings linked to over 6100 hymn book entries from all the favourite hymn books.
With the passing of Bob it is becoming difficult to find organists that are available every week. Although this machine will not replace the organist, it will enable us to have music when one is not available.
Singing during Communion
Many have commented how moving it has been in recent weeks when songs have been sung during Communion.
If you have any views or comments on this, we would very much like to hear from you. A box has now been placed in church to receive your comments.
We would also appreciate any suggestions that you may have for suitable songs. Please put your suggestions in the box provided.
Farmers Markets
This month’s Farmers Market will be held in the Village Hall on Saturday 28 June, 9.30am - 12 noon.
Forthcoming markets will be held on: 26 July; 23 August; 27 September; 25 October and 22 November.
Concert
On Saturday 21 June, starting at 7:30pm, the Winkleigh Singers will be performing in a concert in St. Peter’s as part of their Tour of North Devon, in conjunction with the North Devon Festival.
The concert will include a variety of unaccompanied sacred and much lighter music.
Tickets are available from Nan (£6.50 accompanied under 16s free) to include light refreshments. Tickets are also available on-line direct from the choir at www.winkleighsingers.org.uk.
Proceeds from the concert, after expenses, will be in aid of St. Peter’s.
Churchyard
The weather over the past few weeks has meant that Gordon has been able to make god progress with cutting the churchyard.
The start was obviously rather slow as Gordon waited for the daffodils to die back. He has also been careful to avoid cutting the wild flowers wherever possible, but inevitably it has not been able to avoid all of them.
The lack of volunteers able to help during the last couple of years prompted the PCC to engage the services of a contractor this year.
It is appreciated that whilst some like to see the grass cut short, others prefer to see it left uncut. When volunteers were available to move the cut grass after it had been allowed to grow long, it is not practical for a contractor to do this as it does involve a lot of extra work. Consequently a programme was agreed with Gordon, which has proved successful.
If anyone has any comments to make regarding grasscutting, please contact Les or a member of the Church Council.