Parishes by the Wall - Living Faith on the Frontier
Sunday 22nd Sepember 2019
The Harvest Celebration Service was held at All Hallows' Henshaw. During the service the gifts of the people were carried to the altar by the children present, to the refrain of "Praise God from whom all blessings flow" sung after each offering. The Vicar spoke about caring and giving thanks for God's Creation and all the gifts he has given us. He posed the question "how often do we really listen to our children?" Great wisdom may come from young people and the Vicar cited Greta Thunberg, the 16 year old Swedish environmental activist whose words have made such an impact on so many, raising awareness of Climate Change and the need for each and everyone of us to play a part in protecting our planet.
Donations and funds raised from the harvest festival will be split between the People's Kitchen and the West Northumberland Food Bank.
Saturday 31st August / Sunday 1st September
The celebrations for this weekend were led by Reverend Canon Emeritus Rosalind Brown, Canon Emeritus of Durham Cathedral.
The weekend began with Morning Prayer at Haydon Old Church followed by a pilgrimage walk from Haydon Bridge to Beltingham with midday prayer at St. Cuthbert's Church.
Evensong at St. Cuthbert's Church was followed by drinks and supper at the Old Vicarage. Many thanks to Anne and John Galbraith for their kind hospitality.
A Patronal Eucharist was held at St Cuthbert's Church, Haydon Bridge on Sunday morning. Reverend Brown gave two very interesting and informative sermons about the lives of Aidan and Cuthbert. A book she suggested to learn more about Cuthbert is 'Cuthbert on Farne' by Katharine Tiernan published in 2019.
Our Palm Sunday Celebration Service started outdoors in the grounds of Henshaw Church. Everyone had paper Palm Branches to wave as we made our way into church, During the service, the children assisted Benjamin and Gill by reading, giving out the Palm Crosses and collecting the Palm Branches,
Monday 5th August 2019
Despite the predictions of rain we set off in very pleasant weather stopping first of all just before the bridge over the river, then through the woods into the meadow and finally around the yew tree at Beltingham Church.
Prayers, readings and poems were said at each stopping point. Led by Philippa Collingwood, we sang "Be still for the presence of the Lord" before going into Church for Evening Prayer. Additional hymns were "What a friend we have in Jesus", "For the beauty of the earth" and "O Lord my God".
A very big thank you to Nigel Clayburn for the organist accompaniment.
The evening concluded with drinks and nibbles at The Old Vicarage.
Thanks to Carol Adams and Anne Galbraith for the organisation of this walk providing opportunities to take time to think and reflect on the beauty of the surroundings in which we live and the creation God has given us.
Throughout 2019, we will be exploring prayer and faith through the theme of pilgrimage. There are four Lent groups each meeting on a weekly basis to explore this theme. The groups are using Tim Heaton's book "The Long Road to Heaven" which is a Lent Course based on the film "The Way".
