The Christmas season went very well with large attendances for the Festival of Carols and Lessons on 21st December and the Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve.  We thank our Rector for entering into the traditional customs with humour and understanding and for his entertaining preaching.  The collection from the Carol Service went to the Norwich Night Shelter. The church was beautifully decorated with 14 Christmas trees and also flower arrangements, the work of the Friends of Bawdeswell Church and members of the flower arranging group.  Our sincere thanks to them all for all their hard work and time given. 
This year the centrepiece was a half-lifesize nativity scene donated by Peter and Judy Underwood of Bawdeswell Garden Centre.  We will treasure this for years to come. 

We enjoyed the Christmas Concert organised by the Friends, and the end-of-term School Concert on the last day of term.  Both saw the church full to capacity. 

The Friends of Bawdeswell Church have been a great support to us over the past year, paying for our Insurance and heating costs, amounting to some £1,300 and more.   They are going to buy the church a vacuum cleaner and help with urgent repairs.  In the longer term they will help us redecorate the interior and update the wiring.  You can help by continuing to support their fund-raising events and by joining their 100 Club.  See the centre pages in this magazine for details.

Services:  the Words & Praise Service on the 2nd  Sunday each month continues its popularity with those who attend.  Please join us for ½ hour on  8th February -  Sunday at Six.
From 28th January, on the last Wednesday of each month, there will be a short service of Prayer Book Holy Communion at  9am.  This will be tried for six months to assess its popularity or otherwise.

LETTER FROM OUR RECTOR
 
 
 

Dear Everybody, hello again.

Lent begins at the end of this month. The name “Lent” comes from the same word as “lengthen”, and is about the days lengthening.  And if you take the religious side of Lent seriously, and give up something that you really mind about, perhaps the days will begin to feel very long indeed.  Try it, lengthen your life.

The period before Lent ends with Shrove Tuesday; to “shrive” means to either hear or make a confession.  Then, Lent begins with Ash Wednesday (this year that’s February 25), so called because ashes are a sign of repentance, and in many churches ash is smeared on worshippers’ foreheads.

There are going to be combined evening services on Sundays in Lent for all the churches in the Sparham deanery, which includes all of our parishes.  This got me thinking about the names we have for things, and about getting together in groups.

So I wanted to set you all a competition in Lent.  The group of parishes we have comprises Bawdeswell, Bylaugh, Elsing, Foxley, Lyng and Sparham.  The best, and only, acronym I can come up with for the group is FLEBBS.  I want you to devise a strap-line – a short and memorable phrase – that says what the six parishes together mean to you.  (An example - which will not win: “FLEBBS, more than travels the road”.)  Please let me have your ideas in writing.  A bottle of champagne to the winner at Easter, once your Lenten fast is over.  

God bless you all

David Head

SEEKERS’ CLUB
We meet in February  at  Sparham Old School Room, Saturday 21st  10am – 12 noon
All children aged from 7 – 12 years welcome.  Cost £1 which includes tuck.
Theme: Time Travel.
If you would like to know more, please ring me, Margaret Keeler 01603 872565