Concert raises over £700 for charity

Ratcliffe Chorale Concert. The concert on Saturday night by the 50 members of Ratcliffe Chorale raised over £700 for Emmanuel House, the charity for the homeless in Nottingham, and was enjoyed by everyone. The concert was organised by the Catholic Womens Guild. The music provided baroque, madrigals and music with an American theme among many others. Three poems interspersed the music, one was adapted from a Pam Ayres poem 'Just ask my husband' which raised some laughs. The chorale was accompanied by the piano, but some members performed a capella (without music) too. The audience was even encouraged to participate in two 'rounds'. If you are of a certain age, do you remember 'Summer is acomin' in' from your school days? This is just one of the concerts being held in St Mary's. If you missed this one there will be a concert at Stanford Church on July 11th by Global Harmony.

Concert on Friday & celebrating Independence Day.

St Mary's will be the venue for the Ratcliffe Chorale Concert on Friday, 26th June at 7.30pm. All tickets have now been sold, raising needed funds for charity.

Next weekend is a very exciting one, as Revd Claire Goode will be ordained at Southwell Minster on Saturday, 4th July at 5pm, with many of us going to support her. Please note that there will be Holy Communion at 8am but no 9.30am service on Sunday, July 5th . Instead there will be a Cluster Holy Communion service at 11.00am at St Lawrence's church, Gotham.

You may have noticed that we now have a link (see right) to the Holy Cross Convent at Rempstone, who are in the long process of moving to Costock over the next two years. We will continue to support them with our prayers. Updates can be seen in Compass magazine and a page has already been placed on our website to keep you informed.

What is a Father?

Yesterday, St Mary's held their Fathers' Day special service and every man was given a Yorkie bar to thank them. The small boys in the congregation were eyeing the chocolate left over, so some bars were given to the 'fathers of the future' too.

It was lovely to see so many families in church. The fathers in the congregation provided the service which included their thoughts on what it is to be a father, and how they can give their time as surrogate fathers to other people's children in groups such as Scouts, Rangers and Boys Brigade, where they can give young people the guidance needed.

We haven't forgotten Saturday and the rain-free East Leake Carnival. Where you there, waiting for the parade?

The stalls were busy, especially those selling food. The Churches Together stall gave away raffle tickets for free to win a game of Cluedo. I wonder who won?

This year the theme was Board Games, and there was a roundabout and a bungee for the youngsters.

St Mary's Brownies were very smart in their Scrabble outfits.

There was certainly a Carnival atmosphere outside St Mary's Hall, the Three Horseshoes and St Mary's Church.

Coming up: Acorns meet again at 1.30pm in St Mary's Hall tomorrow, Tues. 23rd June. All mothers and toddlers welcome.

N.B. The new link to the Sisters at the Convent, Rempstone website.

What do we have for you?

We have something for everyone. St Mary's services, prayers, support, activities or peace and quiet are here for you. See below, some of the groups who meet in the church or hall. If you're wondering what to do, are new to the area or not, want to make new friends, are feeling low and want some company, or just fancy some fun at one of our events, there is something for you. Everyone is welcome.

Children and Young People.

Acorns. For all mothers with babies and toddlers. They have just completed the 'Big Toddle' raising funds for Barnado's.

All Stars. Our Sunday morning (9.30am) young children's group, who meet in the bell tower and sometimes participate in the service, especially on the 2nd Sunday Worship Together service.

Tea Time Sunday. A new event for young families, meeting on the 1st Sunday in the month at 4pm in St Mary's Hall. Crafts, video and food provided.

Sunday Sanctuary & other Young People's groups. Young people aged 11-18yrs. They have recently visited Alton Towers and are planning a visit to Soul Survivor in Somerset in August.

Adults.

Abbot Club for men. Just visited the Framework Museum, Ruddington and have another event planned for Monday 22nd June. They meet at the Nag's Head Pub.

St Mary's Women's Group. Just visited the Eglantine vineyard at Costock.

Banner Group. A group of very talented embroiderers from all the churches. They have made some beautiful banners which circulate around all the churches.

Mothers Union. Members have recently been to Lindisfarne. See their programme for 2009 page on the website.

We also have some very active people who ensure that the bells are rung and music is provided for the services.

Bell ringing group. They visit other churches, and invite other Bell ringing groups to East Leake. See further details on their page on the website. There is also a Hand bell Ringing group.

Choir. They practice weekly and often join forces with the choirs from the Benefice for special events and sing at those churches, plus weddings of course. We have a small Children's Choir too.

Music Group. They provide the music at Worship Together services and supplementary music to the choir. They are planning this year's Cluster production, a music and drama extravaganza for the Christmas season. Last year's production was called 'The Promise'. See the Photo Gallery on the website.

Everyone is welcome to any of these groups. New bell ringers, choir members or music group members are especially welcome, so if you enjoy singing, play a musical instrument or fancy learning campanology, contact us.

All these groups have their own page on St Mary's website. See the link on the right hand side of the blog.

Come along to our Father's Day service on Sunday at 9.30am.

Coming up: Friday, 26th June, there will be a concert by the Ratcliffe Chorale at 7.30pm at St Mary's. Contact us for details.

Time change for Coffee Morning!

Please note that if you're planning to come along to our Coffee Morning this Friday, 19th June, the church will be available from 10.15am (not 10.00am), due to a funeral taking place beforehand. Next Friday will be at 10.00-12 noon as usual.

• On Sunday, it is Father's Day and there will be a special service at 9.30am. So bring your father, grandfather, stepfather, carer. All families will be welcome to thank them for all they do, not forgetting God, our Father who is the biggest and best father of all.

VOTE for your favourite website/blog. Get ready to vote for your favourite church website and blog starting this Thursday, 18th June. Click on the link to go to the Surefish site to vote. This is a bit of fun created by Christian Aid to thank all those volunteers who spend their time bringing all the local news and Good News to their community. It also provides information on all the work done by Christian Aid and gives publicity to your local church and your community. Remember, we are here for YOU!

The Curran family's new baby has arrived!

Good news! Baby Boaz Henry Curran was born on 10th June at 20:55, weighing 7lbs 9oz. He is already proving a big hit with his sisters who are competing to mother him. We send our congratulations and best wishes to David, Dawn and of course Faye and Sian. Don't forget to plan ahead and come to the East Leake Carnival next Saturday. The parade begins at 4.15pm at the Leisure Centre ending outside St Mary's Church. The East Leake and District History Group and St Mary's Women's Group will be in the Church Hall. The latter will, as usual have plenty of cups of tea, coffee or squash ready with their home-made cakes and biscuits. Come along and support the whole event. Hopefully, it will be a warm and sunny day.

The children are keeping busy.

Today, all our little Acorns went on the Big Toddle around East Leake to raise funds for Barnardos, as they do each year. Even small children can do something to help others less fortunate.

Last week, several classes from Lantern Lane Primary School came to visit St Mary's, and we look forward to having more visit this week. They have been very interested in its history and what the items in church are used for. Some of them may even have been baptised in our font!

St Mary's is YOUR Parish Church for the whole community of East Leake. You are welcome to visit the church during any day time, to look around, to pray or if you come on Friday mornings, 10-12noon for tea, coffee and a chat to some of our members. Everyone is welcome.

It is a very interesting, old building but is also a place for Christians to meet to praise God and feel the Holy Spirit. It says in Matthew 18: 20 'where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them', which is why Christians meet together - to know that Jesus is with them. You can pray anywhere but it is special in church or any other Christian gathering.

Outdoor service at Stanford for Pentecost.

If you missed the Open Air Pentecost Service at Stanford on Soar last weekend, you missed a treat. The weather was sunny and hot and folks had a wonderful time.

The service was led by Revd Glynis and Revd Claire followed by the Hog Roast.

God certainly provided wonderful weather for the event, compared to the heavy rain we've had this weekend. Well, the gardens really do need it, don't they?

Pentecost is the celebration of the Holy Spirit coming upon the Apostles and other followers of Jesus, to enable them to carry on His work. It is often called the Church's birthday.

Today, Robin Borrett's Coloured Pencil Workshop was held in St Mary's with approximately 15 attending. Anyone calling in would have been able to stop and chat to him and observed the work being done.