The service held on October 4th was very well attended as usual and the aisle candles lit by Tom Wall, added to the atmosphere in the church with its beautiful decorations. Revd Sue Foster officiated and Gordon Bailey preached the sermon.
This year a special appeal for tins and packets of food for Tenbury CAB which arranges distribution of food to those in need in this area, brought in a goodly collection. Many thanks to you all for responding.
The collection, which this year was split between Sightsavers and the Maramba Deanery Link project, raised £178. Again, thank you for your generosity.
To all who gave of their time and skills to decorate the church, to Fran Nesbitt and Diana Stone for cleaning it before and after the service and to all who helped with it, a big thank you. I would also like to thank: Ellie & Matthew Griffiths, Rory & Jordan Huntbach, William & Thomas Edwards for taking up and presenting the symbolic gifts during the service.
We were extremely grateful when Ian & Diana Stone invited us to their home, for light refreshments. A goodly crowd assembled there. So many that, being last there, after helping to tidy the church with Jean & Tom Wall, I had guessed there would be nothing of the ‘light bites’ left. How wrong I was and I was amazed at the response to your churchwardens begging. Thank you all, and to Ray Amos for organising the wine and juice and, above all, to Ian and Diana. Thankfully it was a fine evening and all agreed it was an enjoyable social event to round off the evening. Although we only requested donations and did not hold a draw this year, having asked you for enough already, especially with the roof appeal last year, a total profit of £70.50 was made. Thank you for your generosity to St James Church which, as always still has some jobs pending.