Parish Who’s Who

The Benefice is now in vacancy. If you wish to book Weddings, Funerals or Baptisms please contact

the Rural Dean The Reverend Rosamund Seal

The Vicarage, 5 Church Street, Holbeach, Spalding, Lincolnshire, PE12 7LL

01406 424989

Reader Sally Clifton, 9 Broadgate Sutton St James PE12 0EL 01945 440168

Authorised Lay Ministers Jane Spriggs 01945 700004 Jane Sivers 01406 331330

ChurchwardensSutton St Edmund

Jane Spriggs ‘The Acorns’ Broadgate 01945 700004Meg Norman 8 Cross Road 01945 700798

Sutton St JamesPauline Stebbings, Willow Farm Jarvisgate 01945 440285

Sally Clifton 9 Broadgate 01945 440168

Gedney HillRoy and Judi Houldershaw 70 North Road 01406 330981

Whaplode DroveMorris Stancer Morvista Avenue Farm, Dowsdale Crowland

01406 330544Jane Sivers 10 Chapel gate 01406 331330

Village ReportersSt Edmund - Jane Spriggs

St James - Pauline StebbingsWhaplode Drove - Jane Sivers

Gedney Hill – Janet Coles & Marilyn Collishaw

Magazine EditorSally Clifton 01945 440168

Elloe Fen Benefice MagazineServing the Parishes of St John the Baptist Whaplode Drove, Holy Trinity Gedney Hill (w) St Polycarp’s, Sutton St Edmund and Sutton St James.

June 2017

Letter from Bishop NicholasDear Friends,I think of myself as having been an argumentative teenager. My parents say I wasn’t, but I can remember the discussions that we had to this day…Later life has softened me, I think, but I still enjoy a good conversation, and the excitement of meeting someone with very different views from my own.How do we develop as human beings unless we are in contact with those who are unlike us in some ways, while being very like us in others? All human beings, all created by God, all with value and purpose and dignity.One of the great joys of the Church is that it is a body that is in essence inclusive and outward-facing. The gift of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost is to reveal the possibility of unity in Christ and to give that unity purpose and confidence.At the first Pentecost, people from all over the known world were able to recognize what they shared, a recognition that was symbolized by the way in which the Holy Spirit enabled them all to understand the message of ‘God’s deeds of power’ as spoken by the Galilean disciples yet heard in their own language of origin.A shared identity in Christ overcame the negative effects of difference of language, culture and nationality. It also meant that in a time of considerable political upheaval, the Church was able to provide hope because it placed a priority on works of justice and boldly challenged a tendency to self-centredness and fatalism.United in the power of the Spirit, people looked out, worked together, and were given a new, concrete, objective identity in Christ. Just read the Acts of the Apostles to see this happening.And the Church of today shares that same identity! We remain a Pentecostal people, empowered and unified by the Holy Spirit.This Pentecost, as we prepare to vote in a General Election, may we remember our shared identity in Christ, with all that

this means for the way in which we should treat each other and contribute to the life of the world. And let us be confident, therefore, in our faith and in our Church.God bless you, Bishop Nicholas

Trinity SundayMatthew 28:16-20 The Commissioning of the Disciples

Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. When they saw him, they wor-shipped him; but some doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have com-manded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.’

John 14:26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.

2 Corinthians 13. 11-13 Finally, brothers and sisters, farewell. Put things in order, listen to my appeal, agree with one another, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you. Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the saints greet you.

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with all of you.

Collect for Trinity Sunday

Almighty and everlasting God,you have given us your servants grace,by the confession of a true faith,to acknowledge the glory of the eternal Trinityand in the power of the divine majesty to worship the Unity:

keep us steadfast in this faith,that we may evermore be defended from all adversities;through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,who is alive and reigns with you,in the unity of the Holy Spirit,one God, now and for ever.

Thursday after Trinity Sunday Corpus Christie The Day of Thanksgiving for the institution of Holy Communion

Lord Jesus Christ,we thank you that in this wonderful sacrament

you have given us the memorial of your passion:grant us so to reverence the sacred mysteries

      of your body and bloodthat we may know within ourselves

and show forth in our livesthe fruits of your redemption;

for you are alive and reign with the Fatherin the unity of the Holy Spirit,one God, now and for ever.

Eternal Father,we thank you for nourishing us

with these heavenly gifts:may our communion strengthen us in faith,

build us up in hope,and make us grow in love;

for the sake of Jesus Christ our Lord

GOINGS ON AT GEDNEY HILL SERVICES AT HOLY TRINITY AND ST POLYCARP’S in JULY Sunday 11th No Service at either church Sunday 18th Holy Trinity Holy Communion 10.00am Sunday 25th St Polycarp’s BCP Matins 9.30amIf you have worries or concerns for a friend or family member and you would like them to be included in the parish prayers, please tell your church wardens. Janet Coles on (01406 330441) has agreed to take the names of those in especial need of our prayers in Gedney Hill & Holbeach Drove.Gedney Hill W.I. had their 80th Birthday Party on the 24 th May. We had nearly 100 guests who had food from the 8 decades, we had great fun trying to find iconic food from the decades, so we had everything from spam sandwiches to salads with pomegranate and orange!  then we had a music quiz, which I thought was quite hard, but the ladies did very well. It's hard work for us as we are not a large institute but the enjoyment of the party is worth it and everyone went home happy.  Next month we have a trip out to the Museum of Technology at Throckenholt and then back to our Presidents house for the rest of the meeting, I'm looking forward to it. PattyLord, you have chosen and called usTo worship and serve youAnd to open our lives to the power of your word.You have loved us and healed us,You have changed us and filled us.Now set us free to be signs of your graceTo those who are lost and those who are hurting.We commit ourselves to Christ

And to be open to your will.Now fill us with your Spirit,That we may live in the freedom of your grace. Amen The Power of Pentecost

Sankey Evening Holbeach Drove Methodist Chapel

Saturday 10th June from 7.00pm

Sutton St Edmund Church Services and Village NewsSunday 11th June No Service at St Edmund this week

Sunday 18th June SONGS OF PRAISE 5.00pm Sides person Meg Organist June

Sunday 25th June Holy Communion 9.00am Sides person Jane Reader Jane Organist JuneSutton St Edmund Parish Church SUMMER FAIR

Fun for the whole family2.00pm Sunday 18th June 2017 Tea and cakes in the Church with incidental organ music Favourite stalls in the Churchyard-

Tombola Games Splat that rat St Edmund’s Alley challenge

Raffle Weight of the cake Vehicle Display

Songs of Praise at 5.00pm

St Edmund Village Hall Tombola St Edmund Short Mat Bowlers Wednesday 20th July Meet every TuesdayDoors open 6-45pm Eyes Down 7.30pm 7pm to 10pm Good Prizes and Refreshments in the Everyone Welcome Village Hall The snowball is up and running New members always welcome

BISHOP NICOLAS – A REMINDER ABOUT ORDINARY TIME – FIRST SEEN JULY 2016

By the time that you read this, Ascension will have gone, Pentecost will have gone, the Archbishops’ initiative of ‘Thy Kingdom Come’, an eight-day call to prayer for the renewal of the Church and the confidence to share what we know to be true, placed between those two great Christian festivals, will be over, and the Church will have entered into what we unhelpfully call ‘Ordinary Time’.

Of course, no such time exists for the Church, unless by ‘ordinary’ we mean a time when we simply get on with the business of being the Church that we are called to be: living, proclaiming and growing the kingdom as Jesus told those who would follow him would be their task.

Eight Days of Prayer was the call of the Archbishops; but what if we continued and went beyond that? So that ‘Ordinary Time’ became what it was always in-tended to be, ‘getting on with the business’, ‘simply growing and doing the work’ time. What if we each committed to stop, to find a quiet space, and to pray daily a prayer like the one below. I wonder how ‘ordinary’ that time would then be?

Prayers for Pentecost

Breathe in me O Holy Spirit that my thoughts may all be holy;Act in me O Holy Spirit that my works, too, may be holy;Draw my heart O Holy Spirit that I love but what is holy;

Strengthen me O Holy Spirit to defend that is holy;Guard me then O Holy Spirit that I always may be holy.

St. Augustine of Hippo (AD 354-430)

O God, who on this daydidst teach the hearts of thy faithful people

by sending to them the light of thy Holy Spirit:Grant us by the same Spirit

to have a right judgment in all things,and evermore to rejoice in his holy comfort;through the merits of Christ Jesus our Savior,

who liveth and reigneth with thee,in the unity of the same Spirit,

one God, world without end. Amen.

(The Book of Common Prayer)

What’s happening at Whaplode Drove?Church Services at St John the Baptist

Saturday 10thJuneMessy church in church room

11am to 1pmEveryone welcome & lunch will be provided

Sunday 11th June Holy Communion 8.00amSunday 18th June Morning Prayer 10.00amSunday 25th June Get together 10.00am

On Tuesday 6th June Whaplode Drove WI celebrated its 80th birthday with a buffet supper and entertainment provided by the banjo man. On Thursday 29th June, the WI are holding a cream tea in Jane's garden so pray for a nice day.

St John the Baptist Gift DaySaturday 24th June

Lunches in Whaplode Drove Church Room

11am to 2pm Good food and FellowshipMay God the Son, who fed the five thousand and turned water

into wine, feed us with his life and transform us in his love. Amen.

On the 19th and 20th May the Whaplode Drove players performed a variety show called the ‘Forties Frolics.’ The Whaplode Drove Players are a small band of very enthusiastic volunteers and we all work hard to put on a good show. We performed on Friday night to 100 people and on Saturday to 150 people. Reports of bearded land girls are hotly denied! (Oh Yeah! Ed). The proceeds go to charities and this year the two charities chosen were the MSA trust and the Lincolnshire Air Ambulance. These events not only raise much needed money for goodcauses, but also bring our communities together. Everyone entered into the spirit and a good time was had by all. Jane Sivers

Sutton St James Parish Church Flower FestivalThe flower arranger’s prayer - May God grant that our hearts, our eyes and our hands may receive His inspiration, enabling us to glorify this house with the beauty of the leaves and blossoms which He has created.The church was beautifully decorated again this year. The theme was hymns and songs inspired by the Bible. Gail set flowers to ‘Eternal Father, strong to save’ (psalm 107 and Mark 4.35-41) with rocks, a lighthouse and a yacht nestled among blue flowers. Mandy did a striking yellow display of lilies and roses alongside a wooden cross on green linen (Mark 15.13-25) for ‘The Old Rugged Cross.’ Mum, Maggie Clifton, followed the theme with a triangular arrangement in yellow and orange on the north-west window. Yvonne Robinson did a similar arrangement with orange alstroemerias which was used to demonstrate the glory of the ascension. (Acts 1.6-11) and the hymn chosen was ‘Immortal, invisible God, only wise.’ Janet did a red arrangement by the brass memorial to the war dead of Sutton St James; the bible reading was taken from John 15.13, ‘Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his

life for his friends’ and the hymn chosen was ‘I Vow to thee, my country.’ Sall took over the altar windows arrangements as Pauline decided that at 81 she shouldn’t be spending hours at the top of ladders! The hymn chosen was ‘Lord for the years’ written by Tim Dudley Smith for the centenary service of the scripture union. Pauline & Sall consider it to be the Churchwarden’s hymn because it recognises the work of the warden’s as they seek to serve Christ in the parish as well as the church. Cherril, along with her friend Margaret, put together a display on the altar steps and featured a shepherd’s headdress and crook and pottery sheep for their hymn choice ‘The Lord is my shepherd.’ (Psalm 23 and John 10.1-11). Pauline did the altar steps in gold and white to describe the story of Jacob’s dream of the angels ascending to and descending from heaven. We didn’t attempt to sing Led Zeppelin’s 1970 hit, ‘Stairway to Heaven’ at the Songs of Praise on Sunday night – although we didn’t doubt that Tony could have busked it! Annette and Val followed the same theme in the porch although they chose Eddie Cochrane’s posthumous number 1 ‘Three steps to heaven’. Jane Malloy did a blue and white display under ‘Our Lady’ in memory of her sister Jane Rose. She chose Psalm 121 for the reading (read by Fred Rose) and we sang ‘Praise to the Lord, the almighty, the king of creation’ at the Songs of Praise. The school did a montage for ‘He’s got the whole world in his hands’ (psalm 24). Rainbows did ‘Who put the colours in the rainbow’ and Playgroup did the ‘Butterfly’ hymn. Stacey amassed flowers around a central candle for the Brownies and the Brownies made paper candles for the Trefoil Guild hymn ‘This little light of mine.’ Pat carried on the candle theme on the font with a window frame for the children’s hymn ‘Candle in the window.’ (Psalm 18.28 and John 8.12) Rene put together an arrangement in blue delphiniums for her favourite hymn ‘Love Divine, all loves excelling’ (Revelation 21.1-6 and 2 Corinthians 5.17) which was the final hymn at the songs of praise. Elsie did an arrangement which signified the Holy Trinity and Sall did along arrangement of Red, pink and orange roses for Pentecost in the high South Window. We sang ‘Father we love you’ after the prayers of intercession for these two arrangements. Gwen decorated the north-west pillar and the two altar candles. The ladies of the

church and village did posies on the pews and Pauline did an arrangement around the eagle lectern and Gail did an arrangement around the paschal candle as well as an arrangement on the Bishop’s chair. We are very grateful to Sylvia for baking and icing a celebration fruit cake which was raffled along with a bottle of sparkling rose wine. This was won by Mandy Hewitt, who shared the cake with the bingo players on Monday evening in the village hall. The very brave ladies and gentlemen who manned the outside stalls on Friday and Saturday had to cope with a sudden windstorm that tore up the marquees covering the various stalls selling plants, books, cakes, jewellery and interesting bits and pieces as well as the tombola on Saturday lunchtime. Thanks to everyone who came to help rescue the situation. The marquees were taken down, but the stalls were back in the open air on Sunday. Meals were available in the church hall for the four days of the festival and Sall would like to thank Sylvia, Elizabeth, India Rose, Kirsty and Lucy for all their hard work putting together the salads, jacket potatoes and filled rolls. Thank you to Tony for a superb Songs of Praise and thank you to all our readers for their contribution. A huge thank you to Chris and Tina for the fantastic cocktail we all enjoyed after the service. Pauline only told me what it was after I had downed two glasses. She was afraid that, after the final benediction (2 Corinthians 13.11-13), I would invite everyone to enjoy some sex on the beach! Well, we did, what a brilliant drink!Thank you to everyone who contributed towards the success of the flower festival, the lifters and carriers, the putt-awayers, the stall holders, the cleaners, and anyone who helped in any way this year - you are all amazing and the church wouldn’t survive without you. SallPhotographs have been posted on this link. https://www.facebook.com/SouthHollandChurchFestivals/photos/pcb.833246976838504/833246716838530/?type=3&theater

The Good Companions will be holding their annual coffee morning from 10am to midday on Thursday 6th July at the Village Hall (seating outside if the weather is kind). Normal meetings will be held from 2pm on the 14th ,21st and the 28th

June. For details about joining this group which welcomes anyone over the age of 55, contact Jean on 01945 440535.On the 31st May, Sutton St James Women’s Group enjoyed a lovely afternoon walking around the house and gardens at Peckover House before enjoying a cream tea. They will have another enjoyable session listening to a talk on tea tasting, on Wednesday 28th June at 7.30pm in the church hall. For further details, please call Cherril on 01945 440319.

Sutton St James 100 Club Winners Week 13 £5 Stephanie Cooke Week 14 £5 Janet Neve Week 15 and 16 £5 Audrey Newton Week 15 £25 Terry Mastin

Church Hall for HireCall Jenny Rose on 01945 440685 for details

Sutton St James Church Services & Church News

Sunday 11th June Holy Communion @ 10.00am Sides persons Gail & Fred Readers Geoff & Peter Chalice Gwen Prayers Sall Sunday 18th June Morning Prayer with Refreshments 10.00am Sides person Gail, Readers Vanessa and Cherril

SUNDAY 25th JUNE NO SERVICE AT ST JAMES

Sutton St James Parish Church Coffee MorningSaturday 10th June from 10am to Midday in the Church

HallCelebrate Prince Phillips 96th Birthday

Cakes & local produce for sale in aid of Church funds. Donations of Raffle prizes welcome

Thank you to Chris Stebbings, Andrew Downing, Bill, Matthew & Edward Harrison for cutting the grass in the church yard in May. Sutton St James Church Youth Club meet in the Church Hall and Paddock from 6pm to 8.30 pm every Friday during the summer months. We celebrate our 2nd birthday this June. Welcome to Sue who is undergoing Ministry training with Pastor Ross Dean at the Baptist Chapel. Sue is hoping to forge stronger ecumenical links with the Parish church and the wider community. I look forward to meeting her and discussing our shared hopes for furthering Christ’s Kingdom in Sutton St

James. High lights from the Annual Village Meeting Saturday 13th May 2017

John Hayes attended the annual village meeting on the 13th May and was pleased to be able to announce that the no. 49 bus will be stopping in the village from July. The bus runs between Spalding and Wisbech and will stop in the morning and then again in the evening. The primary children gave an excellent presentation about their school and all the fantastic activities they take part in as well as their aspirations for the future. Miss Willows was congratulated by the council for the ‘Good’ Ofsted rating. John Hayes gave an interesting talk on the work of an MP in the fens, and what he felt passionately about. Bill Harrison was pleased to announce that substantial funds had been allocated to the school, the playgroup and Hoyles field by the Grange Farm Solar Trustees.

SUTTON ST JAMES SCHOOL PTA SUMMER FAIRSATURDAY 17th JUNE 12PM – 3.00PM