Ringing out for the Royal wedding!

ROYAL WEDDING - BELL RINGING
Congratulations to all our bellringers and those who assisted. Church bells in the benefice rang out to mark the wedding of HRH Prince William and Miss Catherine Middleton, as they did across the country. 
The first ringing was at East Leake where the local band met at 12:30 to ring for about 25 minutes to celebrate this important event.
In addition, a special peal was arranged at Stanford-on-Soar which took just short of three hours to ring.

ASCENSION DAY THURSDAY 2^nd JUNE
A service of Holy Communion will be held at 7pm on Ascension Day.  It is hoped that this will be a convenient time for any who are at work during the day, and that it will be early enough for those who don’t like to be out late in the evening. This year it will be a service without hymns, similar to the Wednesday morning and 8am Sunday services.

WORSHIP TOGETHER ON PENTECOST SUNDAY 12th JUNE

Two of our youth leaders, Stephanie and Tim Hutton, are planning our Worship Together service for 9.30am on 12^th June.  Young people will be involved with them in the service.  Our Area Dean, John Bentham, who is conducting some of our services on that day, plans to attend.Why not come along and join us.  It promises to be a lively service.
It may be a while ago, but the Children's Easter Club, Champions Challenge was once again a success with everyone having lots of fun.

A big “thank you” is due to Cora, Phil and their vast team of leaders and helpers who put so much energy and enthusiasm into leading Champions Challenge during the first week of the Easter holidays.  For three mornings St. Mary’s Church was a hive of activity and fun for 50 children, as they learned about the true meaning of Easter through crafts, songs, quizzes, stories and games, all linked to a sporting theme.

During Easter, it was good to share with Reverend Mother and the Sisters in their first Easter Vigil in the impressive new chapel at the convent at Costock.  The former Archbishop of York, The Most Revd Dr David Hope, was the preacher and presided at the Eucharist.

400 Years of the King James Bible Celebration

The 400th anniversary of the publication of the King James Bible, the best selling book of all time is being celebrated this year and an Exhibition is being held at St Mary's Church, East Leake.

Over the weekend of the 13th to 16th of May there will be an exhibition in support of our celebrations in St. Mary’s Church. The exhibition will be open each afternoon until 5:00pm and all day Saturday the 14th from 9:00am to 6:00pm.

Whilst the thought of visiting an exhibition based on a 400 year old book might sound boring, I would suggest you come along – you might be surprised!

On Sunday, 15th May, Canon Jack Higham will be preaching at the 9.30am service.  He is an expert on the King James Bible, so we look forward to discovering more about what is so special about this bible.

Sunday, 15th May is also the beginning of Christian Aid week when envelopes will be delivered around the village.  There will also be the annual Christian Aid mini market at the Methodist Church, where you can buy plants, cakes and preserves between 10.00-12.00noon.  But come early for the best choice.

The Spring season brings many changes.

How we seem to hate change, but change we must sometimes. 
Here are some changes in our area, which may interest you. Follow the blog for more events coming up throughout the summer!

Firstly, St Mary's has two newly elected Churchwardens, Mrs Chris O'Nions and Mr Conrad Oatey who will be admitted to office on Monday 6th June at Southwell Minster at a special church service at 7.30pm. Please go along and support them if you can.

Remember Revd Claire Goode who came to us as Curate a few years ago?  Claire has been covering the vacancy at Gotham since Revd Steve Osman moved on to another post.  Now Claire is to become Priest in Charge of the Trent and Tons Group of Parishes (a group of parishes near Southwell). Details of when are yet to be announced.  We wish Claire and her family God's blessing as they prepare for this move.

The Revd Richard Coleman is to be installed as Priest in Charge of the Gotham parishes on 11th May at St Lawrence's Church, Gotham.

The Good News Centre, Loughborough will only be open on Thursday, Fridays and Saturdays, starting this month, due to falling customer numbers.  Please continue to support the centre and encourage your friends to visit it.

We have been welcoming quite a number of new members of the congregation lately.  A 5 week course called 'Everybody Welcome' is beginning on Thursdays from 12.00noon - 2.00pm. at the Rectory including a light lunch. The first session will be on 5th May.  This is to look at how well we welcome newcomers and visitors and how to be more welcoming and inclusive. However, friendly we think we are, there is always room for improvement. Please contact the Rector for details and numbers.

Councillor Mrs Marie Males has now reached the end of her year as Mayor.  To mark the occasion, Normanton Village Choir will be performing at St Helena's on Tuesday 10th May at 7.30pm.

Rempstone Village Hall was officially opened by the Rt. Hon. Kenneth Clarke, QC, MP  on March 26th.  The Annual Plant sale will be held on May 7th 10.00-4.30pm at the Rempstone Village Hall in a joint venture with the Gardening Group.  Money raised will be divided between the Church and the Hall. If you're looking for plants, flowers, shrubs or vegetable plants, this is an event not to be missed.

Last but not least, Philippa Hanna will give a concert of Contemporary Christian Music on Friday 6th May at 7.30pm at St Lawrence's Church, Gotham. For tickets, please contact someone at the church.