September 2023

Events and Services

Saturday 2nd at 10.30am Coffee morning

Sunday 3rd at 11am - Holy Communion (Rev’d James Pitkin)

Sunday 10th at 11am Modern Morning Prayer (Clare Durham)

Sunday 17th at 11am Harvest Festival followed by Ploughman’s Lunch

Sunday 24th at 11am Modern Morning Prayer (Julia Noble)

I doubt I’m alone in hoping for a late summer as we head into September. August, at least, has got the hang of the better weather as I write this. Our Songs of Praise family service – which has recently become an August tradition – got a summery twist and became ‘Hymns and Pimms’. A small glass of that most British of beverages whetting everyone’s whistle for the myriad of favourite hymns chosen in advance by several members of the congregation. With over 30 in attendance, it had a real celebratory feel as

we spilled out into the sunshine afterwards.

September will bring Harvest Festival on the 17th, and a ploughman’s lunch will be served afterwards. As always, everyone is welcome but (if you can) please let one of the churchwardens know in advance if you will be coming. There are worse things than running out of cheese, but not many. The Reverend Nick Grew and his wife, Christine, have been invited as guests to that service and I’m delighted that they are

able to come. Nick became our first port of call for important services

during the vacancy (where James was already committed to Thorngate)

and this will be our chance to thank him for everything that he did. On 11th September I am picking up a brand new card reader for the church. This – at the request of some of our younger members – will allow

people to use a credit or debit card for the service collection, informal donation, or payments at the regular coffee mornings or other events. We have been granted the reader by Winchester Diocese at a hugely reduced

cost, but we will have to give it back if it doesn’t get used. It may seem an odd concept in a traditional world, but with an increasingly cashless society

I’m sure it will soon prove its worth.

Finally, we have three baptisms in September – possibly a month

record! We have already had a good number this year, and it is always a

pleasure to welcome families into St Leonard’s. Long may it continue!

April 2023

To paraphrase Jesse from The Fast Show, “This month we have

mostly been eating soup”! After thoroughly enjoying our visit to the

Lent Lunch in Wellow Church Rooms on 11th March, our talented

soup makers seemed to decide that they were feeding the five

thousand, and on 18th March St Leonard’s was alive to the quiet

hum of seven slow cookers. With six different soups on offer,

visitors had tough choices to make and couldn’t be blamed for

sampling more than one. It was a joy to welcome so many from the

community and across the new benefice into the church, and their

generosity has led to over £500 being donated to UNICEF. Added to

the monies already raised by the five other parishes, a considerable

sum is going to help children and young people in perilous

situations around the world. This was our first event with all six

parishes working together and, with the recent news that the

planned pastoral scheme can go ahead, we hope it will be the first

of many that bring our churches and communities together.

April brings Easter, of course, and a plethora of events. Our usual

coffee morning will take place on Saturday, 1st April. The following

day we hope to welcome back some of those who were confirmed

a year ago on Palm Sunday for a celebratory Communion service.

This will double as Easter Communion, as the service on Easter

Sunday won’t have an ordained priest to distribute Communion,

but will feature an Easter Egg Hunt and a celebration of Christ’s

rising. In a slight change to our normal schedule, the next coffee

morning will be on 29th April. This will have a special Coronation

theme and will feature a display by our inventive Knit and Natter

team, who have been talking in riddles for some months now! We

hope to see many of you there.

I’ll end with a reminder that on Sunday 30th April we will be joining

the service at Wellow Wood Chapel, so there won’t be a service at

St Leonard’s on that day. The following week we welcome Reverend

James Pitkin for a special Coronation service, which (if all goes to

plan) will be his first official service as our brand new Rector. After

a long and protracted vacancy process you will forgive this tired but

happy Churchwarden a heartfelt “Alleluia”!

Clare Durham, St Leonard’s Churchwarden

March 2023

St Leonard’s Church We hold a service each Sunday at 11am.

Spring is approaching, snowdrops have appeared, and daffodils are

following swiftly on - my sister and uncle both had a daffodil out on New

Year’s Day this year, bit of a rivalry going on there, sometimes they even

have one out on Christmas Day. In February Lent starts and I am sure you

will be partaking of the British tradition of pancakes on Shrove Tuesday prior to the start of Lent on Ash Wednesday. Are you a purist with lemon

and sugar or something more contemporary perhaps? Streaky bacon and maple syrup or chocolate crumbled with ice cream? Someone told me they always have a stack of pancakes; how would that work in a big family? Two

or three each only at about 15-minute intervals was our family of 5 routine, well, it seemed ages anyway!

We will have our next coffee morning on Saturday 4th March 10.30am -12 noon, and our Bell Captain, Martin Daniels, and his colleagues will be

delighted to show anyone who can climb 39 steps (good book title eh?!) the ringing chamber and the new technological ringing practice equipment. A software package simulates the bell note so learners can hear the bell inside the chamber without the sound of the bell ringing for the whole village to hear. Martin can use this technology to teach beginners more

regularly at St Leonard’s as our bells are lighter than some churches so ideal for youth training or novices. I tried with the Confirmation Candidates last March, and I had to concentrate, could not do any talking. It needs a lot of practice to be perfect like our bell ringers are every Sunday for

services! Do come and take advantage of this great opportunity to see the

bell tower, and if you would like to join us for chat, a coffee and a cake, it is only £2, that would be even better. In February it was a brief talk from the

local charity Unity and in March bell simulators - St Leonard’s like to keep you on your toes!

Also St Leonard’s bells will be chiming for charity to celebrate International Women’s Day, as Bell Vice-Captain Wendy Nash writes: -

“The number of bell ringers at St Leonard’s has been increasing over the last two years, and we are now in the fortunate position of having 16

ringers for our 8 bells. This is a significant achievement, as there are a dwindling number of bell ringers, England has 38 thousand bells, but only

30 thousand ringers. Probably for the first time in Sherfield English

we have more female ringers than bells. Eight of our ladies will ring to celebrate this on International Women’s Day, March 8th, and make a donation to a women’s charity. Bell ringing is all about working together as a team, and our ladies will be challenging themselves and supporting each other, in the spirit of International Women’s Day.”

It is not just bellringers at St Leonard’s who enjoy working as a team, we are joining our neighbouring Benefice of Thorngate’s Lent charity project in

hosting a soup lunch on Saturday 18th March, 12 noon to 2pm. There is no charge for the lunch, but the diners’ donations will be given to UNICEF for their projects throughout the world, and very much needed they are the moment too. If you think you would like to support this event, and know ahead of time, then do contact myself or Clare to assist our catering – there will be 4 different types of soup on offer so should suit most palates. Mothering Sunday on 19th March is always a popular service, many discussions on who has got what flowers out in their gardens for the posies we hand out usually announces the run up to the celebration. This year Rev James Pitkin from Thorngate Benefice (Lockerley, East & West Tytherley and East Dean) will lead the service. James will hopefully become our Rector sometime soon too. We are delighted that James now leads our services on

the first Sunday of the month for a Holy Communion and on the third Sunday for a family service and we have morning prayer on the other Sundays, all at 11am. We look forward to seeing you.

Julia Noble

Churchwarden of St Leonard’s, Sherfield English