Social Events, St Mark's Church

Arts and Music festival at St Mark’s 20 – 22nd Oct. 2017

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Is this what they call divine inspiration, or is it just a form of madness? Anyway, I blame Dave Walker. It’s not as if we need things to occupy our time. However, the odd comment from Dave on how suitable St Mark’s would be for an art exhibition suddenly set wheels turning in Lesley’s and my fevered brains:-

“Let’s have an Arts and Music festival!”

After checking who would be available for such an event, we settled on Friday 20th to Sunday 22nd October.

We’re still working out the details. So far we’ve only had one meeting (actually over a rather convivial dinner) to discuss the general outline. However, it’s been quite encouraging how many people have been in favour of the concept and offered suggestions.

The main ideas to date are:-

Friday Night (probably 7 – 9:30 or 10-ish). A concert. We’re still sorting out the acts, but we’ll have a couple of pieces on Emily (the pipe organ), a rock band, a rock-a-billy/country band, a choral group and probably others. There will also be an artistic display, or displays, we’ll set up on the Friday afternoon.

Saturday daytime Various workshops of artistic and musical nature. We’ve had several possible offers, including stone cutting and a recording studio. We’ll definitely have various painting, singing and instrumental workshops. More details to follow.

Saturday evening (probably 7 – 10-ish) a Ceilidh. We’ll clear one side of the church for dancing and have tables in the other half. The idea is to have a mixture of dancing and other events, hopefully some stemming from the workshops that took place during the day. There will be quite an early finish, as we’ll have to get the church ready for the service the following morning. We’ll possibly have a bar, but it will be bring your own food, as this is an extra complication I’m not sure any of us could face!

Sunday morning This will be a service. Lesley (S) will lead it. As she is an LLM, it will be a service of the word, rather than a communion service. There’s going to be a lot of singing, of the “Amazing Grace”, and “Go tell it on the mountain” type of song/hymn.

By the end of this, we’ll probably be dead on our feet, but there’s been the suggestion of a bring and share lunch at St Mark’s. This would seem to be a fitting way to end up. (Just prop Lesley and myself up in a corner and carry on!)

General funding would be by asking for donations and having collection plates, rather than charging entry to events. We’d like to make it as accessible as possible. Any profits will go to the General Parish funds (they need all the help they can get) and the Emily restoration fund.

So watch this space, details to follow in as many ways we can think of to publicise the event. If you’ve any good ideas and/or would like to help, please contact us.

Bob and Lesley Shatwell

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Dave and Helena’s Wedding

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It’s not often I feel proud to be English. The espousal of nationality seems to be associated these days with the worst aspects of mindless soccer violence and belligerent xenophobia, both of which I detest. However, on July 8th this year at St Mark’s I think we demonstrated an uplifting national trait I can’t imagine you’d find in many other countries.

It was Dave and Helena’s wedding. It was special in so many ways. Firstly, of course, the people. It was also the first wedding to take place in St Mark’s for many years and the first wedding ceremony that St Mark’s has ever held in its own right, rather than as a scion of St John’s. Number one in the record book of St Mark’s weddings!
Helena and Dave are both artists. They and their friends produced banners to hang from the walls of the church for the occasion. The transformation was remarkable. They’re still there and I feel reluctant to remove them, at least until we’ve got others to take their place. This, and a full church, gave a delightful atmosphere to the whole event.

However, it wouldn’t be St Mark’s without something being a bit zany, which is where my feelings of national pride come in. Whilst it is possible, if you scour the earth, you may find another country in which the bride would walk up the isle to the fiddle tune “Whiskey before breakfast”, and you might even find a place where the newly-married couple would leave to “Grumbling old men and grumbling old women”, I’m prepared to bet you won’t find anywhere where the glorious hymn “Tell out my Soul” would be sung to the accompaniment of Frances on Emily (the creaky old pipe organ), myself on fiddle and the crowning glory of Lesley on obligato tin whistle! I think this is something only the English would consider doing.

Another nice touch of English eccentricity was from Heather and Caroline doing improvised harmony singing during the signing of the registers. (Took me back to my youth of long hair and flared trousers!)

However, we shouldn’t forget the ceremony itself which was both joyous and devout, a combination it would be nice to find more often.

Altogether a glorious ceremony in the best traditions of St Mark’s, to celebrate the marriage of a wonderful couple.

Bob Shatwell

 

Belief

What is at the core?

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I was talking with someone last night and we got onto the question of what is at the core of Christianity.  A few months ago I blogged on the principle behind the answer to this question, but looking back discover that I didn’t answer what is there for me (or at least not in that post).

For me the foundations of Christianity are:

He answered, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbour as yourself.’

and

Whoever serves me must follow me

and

God is love and those who live in love live in God and God lives in them.
New Patterns of Worship H6

If we do this then we won’t go far wrong.

You may notice that these involve how we behave, and not what we believe – although of course if you do not believe that these are the right things to do you won’t do them!  Of course there are doctrines of the church, but I think that the best way into them is through behaviour, not in the sense that you have to adhere to all the rules before you can belong, but in the sense that without some experience of God it is difficult to make sense of the doctrines or demands of the christian life.

Serving the Villages North of Farnham: Badshot Lea, Hale, Heath End & Weybourne