St Mary’s Belstone
Great news for Cash for Khazi: The National Lottery have awarded £10,000 to the project! We also have a new Architect, so it’s a fresh start to the new year whereby hopefully we will soon have the project started. A special thanks to Simon for all his hard work fund-raising.
Although it seems a while ago now, I’d like to express congratulations to Jo Currie for her splendid Crib Service. The church was full of youngsters with their parents, dressed in finery as Kings, Shepherds, Angels and Stars. Jo gave us a talk, offering historical information, interspersed with the children arriving at the altar to form a tableau. At the end, by candlelight, we sang carols with the characters remaining in their tableaux. It was magical! Last, but not least, many thanks for the loan of the Shetland pony which was greeted by all as they entered the church.
Thanks also to Michael and Kate for the decorations and flowers. The Church looked so lovely over Christmas.
Our Epiphany Service went off on a high note. The Wise Men, recognised by their giant heads! congregated at the Village Hall after refreshments, whereupon we sang ‘We Three Kings’ and started the procession to Church for a short Service. Members of the Bondleigh Barn Band accompanied us on the journey as we followed the Star. It was a great success. For those of you who like chocolate, come along next year to receive gold (chocolate) coins to sustain you! Well done and thanks to everyone involved.
Finally, anyone who would like to join the Choir, the next rehearsal in Church will be on 15th February in preparation for Easter Day. Please contact Simon or Jane Herbert for further information. All are welcome.
St Mary’s Sticklepath
For anyone interested in the history of St Mary’s, a leaflet has been kindly compiled by Irene Young from Okehampton. Please take a copy when you next visit.
Jessica Bowles, who lives in Sticklepath, is undertaking her Bronze Duke of Edinburgh Award and for her Community Module has offered to carry out voluntary work at St Mary’s. There are always various tasks to do, so Jessica’s offer of help is much appreciated. The church garden is now bursting into life with snowdrops peeping through and catkins adorning the surrounding hedges. With Spring in mind, this is a timely opportunity to mention St Mary’s is licensed for marriages. Rev. Stephen Cook can be contacted on 01837 659297 for further detail. A reminder too, that the church is open every day. Although not the warmest space at this time of the year, it is however worth a visit!
At the recent church meeting the financial report for our little church was really encouraging. We now have an excess over annual essential expenditure of £559. This is all due to the wonderful support received from the community over the past year.
St Mary’s continues to flourish, thank you.
Sue Cruickshank Belstone Church Warden & Carol Johns Sticklepath
