St George’s Church, Great Bromley

June 2021

Dear Friends

Like everybody else we are not sure what will happen with Covid regulations later in June but we hope that the bells will be allowed to ring again soon. We already have a hymn for all to join in; that is in the churchyard at the end of the service. And we continue to have singing by a small choir at every service including an anthem. Let's give thanks for all the things we can do!

ps You can save the air fare and the worry of travel if you join our pilgrimage this month to St Peter’s in Rome! See below.

Gregory and Jenny, Churchwardens

St George’s Services in June

6th ~ Parish Eucharist (BCP) 10.30am
13th ~ Parish Eucharist (CW) 10.30am
20th ~ Evensong (BCP) 6.30pm
27th ~ Parish Eucharist (CW) 10.30am

For services at St Mary’s, Little Bentley & St Mary’s, Lawford, click here.

Church and Community

The pandemic has made many people more aware of the community around them: lending support to each other, and looking out for neighbours to give support to them. The church continues to play its part as a place of prayer, and a place of comfort as we pray for the sick and troubled, and for those who have died. Over the next few months St George’s will seek to strengthen further our mission and welcome to the community.

St George’s Special Community Events

Starting in August we will be having special services, some at a new time of 3pm. We are not sure yet whether we will be allowed to serve refreshments but we hope to have tea and cakes. The first of these events is a Pet Service in the churchyard on 1st August at 3pm, with hymns and songs for all to join in. And you don’t need to bring a pet in order to enjoy this event! More details on these services will follow as we go through the year.

Choir and Hymns

Congregational singing indoors is still not allowed and we wait to see what happens to the Covid guidelines later in June. We have added a hymn in the churchyard at the end of each service so everybody can join in. Meanwhile in the service, we continue to have live singing by small groups every Sunday. Over the last few months we have had a quartet, a men’s voices group, a trio, a solo voice, and a visiting quartet, with a wide variety of music ranging from plainsong, Bach, Schubert, John Rutter, and other living composers such as David Blackwell, and Edmund Jolliffe. We have been singing the Murray setting of the Communion Service for several years. We are giving that a break and using Philip Ledger’s ’Sunday by Sunday’ which everybody can join in as soon as it is permitted. Do tell us whether you like it (or not!) and the same thing for hymns and songs new and old.

You can hear our choir on our YouTube channel but see the music section below for a lovely performance of Psalms 67 and 150 from KNUST choir in Ghana. Do try it - they are really good!

Servery

This word may be new to some of you. It is a term that is used to describe a facility in church to serve refreshments for churches that don’t have an attached parish room or kitchen. The PCC met on 29th May and supported a recommendation to begin a project to have a servery at the west end of the North Aisle. A committee will be researching a suitable design with the parish architect and we will be seeking community grants and heritage grants to support the project. Thanks to some generous donations in previous years we have over £5,000 already in the Facilities Fund. We will keep you up to date with progress and there will be a consultation with parish and congregation.

Charities

Bishop’s Lent Appeal

Thank you for your generous response to the Bishop’s Lent Appeal this year for the Marsabit Diocese ‘Five Talents Project’ in Kenya.

St George’s raised the magnificent sum of £491.50.

Learn More

Manningtree Foodbank

Juice, soft drinks and squash are always useful and also sugar, custard, and boxes of tissues. Please leave donations in the boxes at Manningtree Co-op or in the church porch at St George’s. Thank you.

Learn More

St Peter’s Day

Petertide

St Peter’s Day is 29th June and Petertide is the time for ordinations; please pray for those in the Chelmsford Diocese who will be ordained deacon or priest.

This icon of the Apostle Peter was painted by Aidan Hart.

Collect for St Peter’s Day

Almighty God,

who inspired your apostle Saint Peter

to confess Jesus as Christ and Son of the living God:

build up your Church upon this rock,

that in unity and peace it may proclaim one truth

and follow one Lord, your Son our Saviour Christ,

who is alive and reigns with you,

in the unity of the Holy Spirit,

one God, now and for ever. Amen

Here is a beautiful anthem by Gabriel Fauré, setting Jesus’s words in Matthew 16. A version sung by Cor de La Rectoria is available on YouTube below:

‘Tu es Petrus’ ~ ‘Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church.’

Corpus Christi

June 3rd is the Feast of Corpus Christi - the day of thanksgiving for the sacrament of Holy Communion.

‘This Table’ is a sonnet by Dr Malcolm Guite meditating on the wood of the altar where Holy Communion has been celebrated for many centuries.

Music

Two beautifully sung psalms (67 & 150) from the University Choir of KNUST, Ghana. Click on the images.

Pilgrimage to St Peter’s

You can avoid the airport queues… it takes only 18 minutes (including travel) to see St Peter’s Basilica in Rome in this lovely video tour! A click on the façade of St Peter’s will take you straight there.

The work of man’s hands

Noah’s Ark museum, Ipswich

A scale model of Noah’s Ark, which has been anchored in the marina at Ipswich, may be there for a little longer than expected. Click on the image right for the BBC news report.

Giving to St George’s

Thank you all for your support which is invaluable to the continuing work of the church. If you would like to help, please see the Donation details on the website.