Thanks to everyone who came to the Carol Service last night. So lovely to see so many of you!
The flower team have surpassed themselves and the Nativities (we have two!)! are both out on display.
The knitted version and traditional ceramic figures are in their stables but you’ll notice that baby Jesus hasn’t arrived just yet and the Wise Men are waiting in the wings.
Woolly NativityThe Traditional Nativity
Thank you to Rev Martin and Maxine Johnson for devising a lovely service of familiar Bible readings, more recent reflections and prayers.
So many favourite carols highlighted the words and thanks as always to Keith Folwell for playing the piano.
Thanks to all the readers, and the team, for mince pies, mulled wine and tea and coffee to finish.
It was lovely to see everyone and our thanks go to everyone who generously donated to our Christmas Appeal supporting the Al Shurooq School in Bethlehem. (See our post yesterday).
The appeal runs in church and online over Christmas until 5th January, so we’ll keep you posted with the amount raised.
Smiles were all around when a certain email popped into our in box recently. What is it all about? You might well ask! St Peter’s now qualifies as a Bronze Eco Church. After filling in questionnaires on the Arocha UK website, we discussed our care for the churchyard, the flowers and the creatures that inhabit it, as well as the care for our building and our hopes for its future use by our community. We applied to Arocha Uk and were delighted to receive our Bronze Eco Award. We made promises to help protect God’s Earth and its creatures from extinction by reducing pollution, landfill and food waste. This promise applies to St Peter’s Church building and churchyard but also to us as individual members of the church community.
Join us on our Eco Journey
There are a number of initiatives we aim to support at the start of our Eco journey. The churchyard is already a haven to wildlife, (see the example below) but we want to install bug houses and bird boxes and hedgehog houses go encourage more. Can you help us make them or install them? If so, we’d love to hear from you. Contact us here by email or reply to this post on our Facebook Page.
See below, just one example of the extraordinary natural habitat found in the churchyard. These tiny fungi form an almost magical landscape and appear in the autumn.
The fairy village – tiny fungi growing in St Peter’s Church yard
Just One Thing
We pray to encourage our community to join us in pledging to do “JUST ONE THING” however small to help restore the Earth’s balance. Lifestyle Change does not have to be massive it can be as small as not using paper handkerchiefs, reducing the use of cling film and single use plastic such as bottled water or it could be to set the washing machine to a lower temperature.
Could you think about making a pledge and letting us know? We’d love to hear what you and your family have decided to change in your household. Every step we all take, however small, makes a huge difference.
Fair Trade Produce
The use of Fair Trade produce is so important to ensure that farmers in third world countries have a fair salary and have good working conditions. Would you consider buying Fair Trade produce for your pledge? We want to promote the use of Fair Trade produce in St Peter’s especially during our much-loved Cream Tea Sundays.
Time for tea!
What is YOUR Carbon Footprint?
Finally, one last thought to ponder is to check your own carbon footprint on the website CreationCare.org.uk where you can get your own personalised carbon footprint number. Use this number to update every six months or whenever you have time. What a great thing to do with your children and grandchildren by introducing them to carry on the legacy of caring for God’s Earth.
Visit St Peter’s church and churchyard
St Peter’s is open every day for contemplation and quiet prayer. It welcomes you for those moments when you need a quiet space to get away from the pressures of everyday life or just for somewhere to sit for a while. St Peter’s is always there for all.
Creation is given as a gift to us all and we share responsibility to protect and nurture it.
St Peter’s Church Welcomes Everyone to Their Sunday Afternoon Teas.
Served every Sunday in the church from 3pm-5pm – Until 1st September
There are a few weeks left to experience a special Sunday afternoon treat at St Peter’s church. Lovely homemade cakes to tempt the taste buds served in the beautiful environment of this wonderful church.
A Community Summer Treat
St Peter’s is a community church in the truest sense of the word. A Sunday afternoon Cream Tea serves homemade cakes and scones made by the local community, along with tea and coffee served by local volunteers and worshippers – even encouragement to a local Duke of Edinburgh Award student, as she rolls up her sleeves and washes up. Everyone involved gives their time freely to this longstanding community summer treat.
Homemade cakes ready to eat
A time of community and communing
Visitors to Cream Teas have a lovely opportunity to spend time together; to chat, catch up and enjoy the unique peace the church space offers. There is a lovely atmosphere as people enjoy each other’s company in this special place.
Enjoying a Cream Tea and time together
We also now have our prayer tree. For anyone who wishes to have prayers said, they are invited to write their request on a leaf and hang it on the tree. All leaves are read and prayers offered by our lay team privately, at quiet times during the week.
St Peter’s Prayer Tree
Helping to fund a bright future
St Peter’s has a rich and long history, dating back over 800 years. However, it is a church that lives and works very much in the present, with a lively association with its parish villages and the local school.
Together, we aim to keep the church viable to serve its community for many more years by developing the building and adopting processes that better serve the wider environment. We are a newly established Eco Church looking to improve the carbon footprint of the building. Read all about it here.
All proceeds from Cream Teas will assist our project to improve facilities at the church. Our Cream Teas are a vital element of fundraising for this cause.
Waiting to serve your Cream Tea
When can we come for a Cream Tea at St Peter’s?
There are a few weeks left this year to enjoy a Cream Tea with us. We are open every Sunday afternoon, until 1st September from 3-5pm.
We look forward to giving you a warm welcome in a cool environment at the hottest time of year!
St Peter's Church, Church Langton 