It's behind us!

It’s all over! The Rector@6 and I have survived five performances of 

the pantomime – the last three were completely sold out. I miss it already: I miss the opportunity to laugh, I miss the camaraderie, I miss the silly, slapstick humour and I miss the lively community singing – all so different from church. I don’t miss the awful costumes (why am I wearing a shower cap?), or trying to remember my very few lines or the nerves before each performance. I don’t suppose the Rector@6 will miss the custard (foam) pies or the song and dance routines. It has been a great experience to meet regularly with a group of people who stretched in age from eight years to much older! Each performance ended with supper and a warm invitation to the audience, to join the drama group for future productions.  This is where we began in the parish exactly a year ago. At the end of our first week in the Rectory  we decided to go to see the pantomime that was advertised – our first venture out into the village. Nobody knew who we were and we didn’t recognise anyone but we really enjoyed the show and had a very much needed laugh. We never imagined that we would be taking part in the pantomime a year later!

We will be glad to see the back of January and February. They have been a madly busy pair of months – with the confirmation service, the pantomime and emptying our Devon cottage so that our tenants can move in this week. And then the rain keeps coming and the flooding keeps returning – allowing no respite for those who have been already flooded. The water drains out of the houses and then it rains and the water returns. We are safe but across the road, the drains have not coped and the thatched cottages have flooded. The septic tanks overflow into the road. The river (that has been dry all summer) has not been able to cope with the volume of water and has flowed over its banks and through houses and gardens. On Saturday morning, yet another cottage was flooded when a tree blew down in the overnight storms. The tree fell across the stream and diverted the water through the nearest cottage. It wasn’t until morning that villagers were able to help clearing the water. The Rector@6 joined a group of men to move the tree from the stream. This involved chainsaws, ropes and two tractors – which would have been very exciting- if it hadn’t been for the chaos the water had caused in the cottage.

The same storm affected the phone line to the Rectory – so no internet, emails or telephone calls. What a difference it makes to rectory life. The Rector@6 isn’t creeping off to listen to answer machine messages (we try to ignore calls that come in at meals times). He doesn’t have to check his emails every hour to stay on top of them - because there are none. He can’t carry out research on the internet, so books have to come out and we can sit in the same room – but it does mean he can’t indulge in looking at narrow boats on the internet and dreaming! It is beginning to get a little frustrating when people’s contact details are all stored on computers. I can’t get the local news sheet finished or catch up with this blog. We don’t know how long it will take to restore the line. It must be frustrating for people who, unaware of our predicament, leave messages on the answer phone which we can’t listen to. Today we are visiting a friend who is still connected to the outside world so that we can catch up with some of our tasks.

We are becoming fully integrated into village life and letting our Devon cottage is an important step to settling here. I can feel we are moving onto the next stage and it is all about choosing the right attitude. I still find church life quite difficult – but it’s all about my attitude. Life is incredibly busy – which is good - but the Rector@6 and I must learn to play a bit more. I have had great opportunities to help with horses and consequently, I have had more riding than I have ever had before. It’s not Dartmoor - but it is pretty good. I was able to drag the Rector@6 away from his work on his birthday and took him riding on some magnificent horses – what an amazing experience! A year ago I would never have guessed that I would be helping with horses on such a regular basis. I really do believe that Someone is looking after me.

The first harvest festival

There is nothing like a busy day and a good night's rest to put life in perspective! The first of several benefice harvest services is over. The small village church was alive with flower arrangers on Saturday and people bringing donations of fresh produce. It certainly looked like a bumper year for crops. The Rectory garden was able to provide raspberries, sweet corn, runner beans, apples, tomatoes and spinach. This is the first time I have had a garden harvest for many years. Being new in the village, I was aware that people have been decorating the churches for years and I didn't even realise they had started until the Rector@6 happened to pop in and found a hive of industry. I did know that there wasn't a regular harvest loaf maker so I decided to spend my Saturday morning making one. Kneading bread must be one of the most therapeutic activities there is! All those teaching years with salt dough and play dough paid off, and I was pleased with the result.

The church really did look splendid. In a village surrounded by farms, there is a particular relevance to Harvest festivals. We have all witnessed the long hours the farmers have worked to bring in the crops as the tractors thundered through the village to empty their trailers. We have watched the changes in the weather - hoping that it won't affect the yields. The fields are already ploughed and replanted and so the landscape has changed through a spectrum of colours from the green ripening shoots, to the golden stalks, to the dusky yellowing stubble and back to the rich brown or chalky white soil that village is built on. The flower displays reflected all these colours and also remembered the harvesting of the sea with some poor little sardines that had been washed up on a beach and brought back to the village, dried and added to the church displays!

A traditional service attracted regular and not so regular churchgoers and the church was full. What a difference it makes to sing hymns of praise with so many voices! If only these rural churches were full more often as they can radiate such warmth and sense of community. Yet many people are moving away from wanting to recognise or believe in a God who loves them. Attending church doesn't seem relevant to their lives as they are struggling to make ends meet or are busy working to provide for their families. And yet this church will be busy on Monday morning with people coming for a chat and coffee at the regular coffee morning and bric-a-brac stall run to support the church building fund. The harvest lunch that followed the service, was bustling with people. So I suppose the Church has to look at its changing role in these small communities. It is very much wanted to carry out the 'matching and dispatching' of parishioners. It is wanted for traditional festivals like Easter, Christmas and Harvest. It is wanted because it is there and has been there for hundreds of years. It's strange how the focus of a church very quickly becomes fund raising and then they are perceived as always chasing money. Perhaps it is even more important for rural churches to turn and look outside the doors of these beautiful buildings and seek out where they can serve best.


I nearly forgot to mention that on our return from holiday, we had difficulty getting to the rectory front door due to the arrival of fifty or sixty yellow squashes that seemed to be breeding on the doorstep! They had been there all weekend. Nobody will own up to  placing them there ....so we can't thank them but they made us laugh!

The 18th century rector

 

 So here we are - The Rector@6 and his missus at the street fair. The door curtains turned into a very presentable dress and even the Rector's hat and wig stayed on. We won a prize for the best dressed group so all the hard work was worth it. Now the question is - will the Rector@6 be in costume for tomorrow's service? You will have to be there to know the answer!

An added bonus to the day was the success of the upper house group's reflection zone in the church - an interactive prayer space was created and was well received. With only a couple of weeks to create this from the first germ of an idea - it just shows how much untapped energy there is around. Who else will come out of the woodwork?!

A Very Busy Easter

Never have a baptism on Easter Sunday The Rector@6 was told by colleagues when he was in training. (Despite being biblical, it is usually too busy with services.) So first Easter after training - what does he do - he has an infant baptism on Easter Sunday. And what a joy it was! The sun shone and the little village church was absolutely packed - not only with the Easter congregation, the baptism party but also visitors from far and wide who were staying in holiday rentals or with relatives. In fact the whole weekend has been a joy!

Good Friday and Easter Saturday followed the pattern of previous years with excellent Easter garden construction by the children in two of the villages. There had been activites from stone painting to chocolate nest making and egg hunts arranged by members of the clergy and lay team. It was lovely to see so many children confidently busying themselves around the churchyard and having fun. There was also a reflective hour at the cross for adults with music and readings which The Rector@6 and I could attend together.

Easter day started with a Book of Common prayer communion service in the church that was just a mile up the road. With the clocks changing, it was an early start for us but not as early as the last year's sunrise service in Devon. The drive along the country lane was full of spring promise - the hard overnight frost was beginning to thaw but still added a sparkle to fence posts and gates as they were caught by the sun. An early egret was disturbed from the stream that runs along the lane and lazily rose up into the air in a brillant white streak. The car was full of primroses for the congregation to take home after the service. The church only has three tolling bells - but they were expertly rung by the sidesman, in a series of patterns that were lively and inviting. Sixteen hardy soles made it to this service and it was good to see them.

I drove The Rector@6 (still in cassock and surplice) back to the village church. It is such a shame that he cannot stay and talk to new faces when there are other churches waiting for his services. He arrived in time to talk to the baptism party and for extra hymn books (borrowed from the other church) to be given out. The newly created children's area was already in use and the overflow chairs full! The baby behaved, The children who helped with the sermon - cooperated willingly (and were not just chocolate egg bribed!) and people sang enthusiastically. The organist scooped up her student daughter on the way back from communion and they sang beautifully (all unplanned) during communion as there was rather a long queue of people. After the service there was a primrose for each family to take with them as a reminder of the Easter message. The holiday visitors were thrilled and amazed that our small village church could be so vibrant and alive in sleepy rural Dorset and tell us that they will be returning next year. A few villagers who don't normally come to church but had just come to see the new vicar - have also said they will be back. But what will they find next time? The reality is trying to keep these small village churches in the centre of the rural community and alive.

Early days in the village

 

So - this is church number one in The Rector2B's benefice of six churches. This is the church we can see when we open the curtains each morning. It is a friendly looking church built of alternating flint and stone layers and dates from the 13th century.  It is surrounded by the ancient graveyard. In the other direction we look across to the village school. The Rector2B tells me that the thatched house opposite the rectory was once the village jail. I don't know where he got that gem from!

We are on chalk land and the fields around us are full of large flints - it is a wonder that the farmers can plough them without damaging the ploughshares - but that's modern technology for you. At the moment The Rector 2B and I are exploring the footpaths and finding the most suitable walks for the dogs. It is so different from the open moor that we had become used to - and before that, the Collie and The Lakeland used to have their daily walk on the beach. Footpath walking is very different to those places but there are so many bridal paths (as well as footpaths) around us, I'm sure we will come to love exploring. There are carpets of snowdrops everywhere and evidence that the field and road banks will be swathed in primroses by Easter. 

Blogging has had to be put aside while we try to unpack the mountain of boxes that remain carefully placed in the wrong rooms (necessary as the builders are still finishing in one bedroom, the utility room, the bathrooms and the garage). We are awaiting the electrician to complete installing lights and a shower so we have managed to escape back to Devon - and we are meeting the builder who will be repairing the leaks in our own house here! We are both frazzled as we would have liked to spend this time getting to know Dorset but we can't leave the dogs with the builders and Tess is too young for long walks or car drives. We have been tested to the limits of our patience at times.

Despite all this - The Rector2B and I have managed to attend the village pantomine and I realised how much I needed to laugh (there were a superb pair of ugly sisters in this performance).This last weekend we went to listen to an excellent Jazz trio - Jonty Fisher's Flyright Trio, also in the village hall. It was a lovely laid back evening and walking distance from home.

Ah - but walking through the village at night time is an adventure in itself - as there is no street lighting. This is a novelty for us - even our village in Devon has street lights! Torches are kept by the back and front door but the joy is to walk out into the darkness and see the luminous stars stretching across the skies. The torches are really only to make any cars aware of our presence.

Word is getting round that we are in situ and The Rector2B's telephone is beginning to ring. He has been persued by a tenacious journalist who wouldn't take no for an answer. Officially - he is not available until after he is licenced on March 7th but I suspect answering the telephone is his escape from sorting out his study (which DOES need doing).

I hope to give you a glimpse of the other 5 churches in this benefice - all intriguing in their own way - but until I get to that last packing box - I may be a little slow in blogging.