At the start of last Sunday's 10am Parish Eucharist, 2nd August, the numbers attending seemed to be somewhat depleted and this was no doubt because our Team Mafambisa 2026 had left the previous day for South Africa and indeed, we were told in the pews that they had safely arrived. Also, with August being the last of the Summer months, there were possibly those who had escaped to some holiday destination overseas or perhaps were having a more traditional 'bucket-and-spade' holiday nearer to home. Whatever the case, a charming little trio from Hong Hong and who were staying in the UK for a limited time, were sitting with the usual congregation. The mother seemed in awe of our ancient building whilst one of her two daughters nestled down and seemed asleep throughout, oblivious to the powerful notes from the organ filling the church at key moments!
The readings for the day were: Isaiah 55. 1-5, Romans 9. 1-5, and Matthew 14. 13-21. During her homily, Rosemary spoke bluntly about the continuing issue of global malnutrition. Some sobering statistics were duly delivered to reinforce the message. Africa was singled out and so too were parts of Asia and South America. It was not solely a tale of doom and gloom. Progress is being made to tackle starvation but there is a huge problem existing still in reaching the most vulnerable who simply do not have in any shape or form enough to eat whilst the question of water, the basic necessity for all, is also still firmly on the agenda. Dirty water and lack of food, poor harvests and global warming still remain with millions on a daily basis around our world. The feeding of the Five Thousand which was our gospel reading, so well known to all and so often given from the pulpit, was because Jesus looked at the crowd and had compassion. This action, a miracle, was witnessed and recorded. We too must own compassion for others as the starting point. We must follow Christ's example. We must all do something about it.
The next session of Exploring Silence, is again at St Peter's, starting at 7:45pm on Thursday, 20th August. All attending will be warmly welcomed. There is more about this in the future at the website, exploring-silence.org. This is a reminder that during our Country Fayre on Saturday, 19th September, within the church there will be an exhibition on Calmness in Crisis which will be particularly worth seeing because a lot of thought and the sharing of opinions on this issue will have taken place. In the Cafe Mocha, inspirational cards and gifts, books and Bibles for all occasions will be on display on 8th August from 10:30am to 3:30pm. More details are available on the poster in our foyer. Holiday Club is looming very near: 18th-21st August with a special Holiday Club Service at 11am, followed by a barbeque.
On Saturday, 8th August, from 10am to 12 noon, there is Coffee Shop in the Chapter House and on Sunday, 9th August, there will be Parish Eucharist at 10am.