Notes from around the Parishes,

Great Massingham, Little Massingham & Harpley

January 2018
Happy New Year to all our readers.
New Year’s Day: Church Bells

Not the bleak speak of mobile messages,

The soft chime of synthesised reminders,
Not texts, not pagers, data packages,
Not satnav or locators ever find us
As surely, soundly, deeply as these bells
That sound and find and call us all at once
‘Ears of my ears’ can hear, my body feels
This call to prayer that is itself a dance.
So ring them out in joy and jubilation,
Sound them in sorrow tolling for the lost,
O let them wake the church and rouse the nation,.
A sleeping lion stirred to life at last
Begin again they sing, again begin,
A ring and rhythm answered from within.

This poem, and ‘Epiphany’ on the next page, is by Malcolm Guite, Chaplain of
Girton College, Cambridge. These sonnets are part of a series of seventy written
to celebrate different Festivals and other occasions in the Christian Year; they
are published in the book ‘Sounding the Seasons’. You can find more
information and hear Malcolm Guite read his poem at
https://malcolmguite.wordpress.com/tag/sonnet-sequence/

Thank you to the team of distributers who continue to

deliver this newsletter to homes in our three parishes. It would
not be possible to produce these Notes without their help! ~
Julian, Dickie, Nancy, Maggie, Linda, Gina, Judy, Jane &
Sarah :
This year 270 copies have been distributed each month. It is also
available to view online at www.ggmbenefice.co.uk.
JANUARY 2018
SERVICES ACROSS THE GROUP

Weds, Jan 3rd ~ 9am Holy Communion at St Lawrence’s,

Epiphany

It might have been just someone else’s story,

Some chosen people get a special king.
We leave them to their own peculiar glory,
We don’t belong, it doesn’t mean a thing.
But when these three arrive they bring us with them,
Gentiles like us, their wisdom might be ours;
A steady step that finds an inner rhythm,
A pilgrim’s eye that sees beyond the stars.
They did not know his name but still they sought him,
They came from otherwhere but still they found;
In temples they found those who sold and bought him,
But in the filthy stable, hallowed ground.
Their courage gives our questing hearts a voice
To seek, to find, to worship, to rejoice.

Saturday, January 6th ~ The Epiphany

There is a service at Saint Mary’s, East Rudham, at 6pm
Sunday, January 7th ~ Epiphany 1 ~ Celebrating the Epiphany
0930 Family Service St Lawrence’s, Harpley
1100 Holy Communion St Mary’s, Great Massingham
0830 Holy Communion St Mary’s, East Walton
1030 Holy Communion St Botolph’s, Grimston
1030 Morning Praise St Nicholas’, Gayton
3pm Prayer Meeting St Nicholas’, Gayton
6pm Evensong St Andrew’s Congham

Second Sunday in the Month ~

Sunday, Jan 14th ~ Epiphany 2
1030 Group Holy Communion
All Saints’, Ashwicken

4pm The Gap Pott Row Methodist Chapel

Weds, Jan 17th ~ 9am Holy Communion at St Botolph’s, Grimston

18th to 25th January ~ Week of Prayer for Christian Unity
Sunday, Jan 21st ~ Epiphany 3
0930 Holy Communion St Andrew’s’, Little Massingham
1100 Family Service St Mary’s, Great Massingham
1115 Sung Holy Communion St Lawrence’s, Harpley
0830 Holy Communion All Saints’, Roydon
1030 Holy Communion St Nicholas’, Gayton
1030 Morning Praise St Botolph’s, Grimston
Sunday, Jan 28th ~ Epiphany 4
1100 Holy Communion St Mary’s, Great Massingham
0830 Holy Communion St Andrew’s’, Congham
1030 Family Service St Nicholas’, Gayton
3pm Celtic Service St Mary’s, Gayton Thorpe
Friday, February 2nd ~ Candlemas
The Presentation of Christ in the Temple ~
Sunday, February 4th ~ Second Sunday before Lent
0930 Family Service St Lawrence’s, Harpley
1100 Holy Communion St Mary’s, Great Mass
0830 Holy Communion All Saints’, Ashwicken
1030 Holy Communion St Botolph’s, Grimston
1030 Morning Praise St Nicholas’, Gayton
3pm Prayer Meeting tbc
Weds, 7th Feb 9am Holy Communion at St Lawrence’s, Harpley
 NEW for 2018!!!
The Group Service for the Second Sunday in the
month will now rotate around all ten of our
Churches beginning on 14th January at All Saints’, Ashwicken;
all services are at 10.30am.

14 January Ashwicken ‐ PE32 1LN

11 February Great Massingham ‐ PE32 2HX
11 March Grimston ‐ PE32 1BH
8 April East Walton ‐ PE32 1PP
13 May Gayton Thorpe ‐ PE32 1PN
10 June Congham ‐ PE32 1DT
8 July Harpley ‐ PE31 6TX
12 August Gayton ‐ PE32 1PF
9 September Little Massingham ‐ PE32 2JT
14 October Roydon ‐ PE32 1AR
11 November Remembrance Sunday

From the Registers:

Funerals held at St Mary’s, .Great Massingham:
7th Dec Linda Coe
14th Dec Amelia & Harry Edwards

Funerals at Mintlyn:
1st Dec Trevor Fordham of Great Massingham
20th Dec Queenie Maud Pegley of Harpley

Our Ministry Team:

Team Rector Rev’d Jane Holmes, The Rectory, Gayton 01553 636227
Team Vicar Rev’d Judith Pollard, The Rectory, Grimston 01485 601251
To arrange Baptisms, Marriages, or Funerals please contact the Rev’d Judith (her day off is Friday).

Please send items for inclusion in the February issue of the ‘Parish Notes’ to the editor
by 17th January ~ Rosemary Mehers rosemarymehers@hotmail.com
2 Old Post Office Court, Harpley. PE31 6GW; or Tel: 01485 521866