Boughton News February

Church news for the February

It’s always difficult to find news in this edition, as we have to look back to before Christmas to report on important events in our church year. The Annual Carol service of Nine Lessons and Carols seems a long time ago now, but it is always delightful and we are grateful to Robin for taking it, to Tom and the choir for making it special. The church was decorated the day before with holly ( and berries this year) from a variety of gardens and a tree kindly donated by Geoff Proctor. With the addition of as many candles as we could fit in, our church was warm and welcoming to a large congregation and as usual it’s a church that ‘dresses up well.’ After the service, many people had brought food to share in a simple village party, with mulled wine donated and served by Frank and Sandy. The collection at this service was for Crisis at Christmas and £120 was sent to them.

On Christmas Eve, we had our traditional short crib service, much enhanced by the arrival of Bubbles the Donkey. He’d been fetched from Litcham by Paul Coulten and friend, to stand beautifully in a ‘stable’ made from bales of straw lent to us by Geoff Proctor again and placed near the Christmas tree. His behaviour was impeccable, in spite of the distraction of toddlers tossing straw in and out of the manger and over the floor! There were over 170 people in the church, including many small toddlers and some larger toddlers. The baby Jesus was played by 4 week old Beatrice, in her second starring role in the part. The lesson was read by an American father, who coped magnificently with having to bounce his baby boy up and down at the same time. It was a lovely service led by Pippa, with help from Hannah-Lou and others. The collection at this service was shared between Embrace and the Camphill Village Trust, with each charity receiving £145. Giving to others at this time is an important part of our mission and it was good to do. Many thanks to those who contributed. There was no service at Boughton on Christmas Day, but several people from Boughton were at the well-attended service at Fincham, chosen because of its central position and there was also a good congregation at the Wereham Midnight service. There was also a service at Marham. We are all sorry that we can’t have services in our own church at such times, but even if we weren’t in interregnum it wouldn’t be possible. It’s also good to gather in larger groups to sing and worship in fellowship and celebration.