We are now well into the swing of the Autumn term. Pupils and staff have returned to school after the summer holiday; clubs and societies have recommenced and, at church, several things have happened, or are happening.
Over the summer we were pleased to welcome a new parishioner into Horndon, The Right Reverend John Perumbalath, our new Bishop of Bradwell, along with his wife Jessy and their daughter Anugraha. We were very fortunate that Bishop John came to preside and preach at our United Benefice Service at Orsett in September and, at this service, he made a presentation to Canon Glyn Jones who, after many years of faithful service in this Benefice has decided to rescind his licence giving him permission to officiate. On behalf of the Benefice, I would like to express grateful thanks to Glyn for all he has contributed over many years. And, as Bishop John said, although he will no longer officiate, he will always be a priest.
Messy Church is now established and, this year, we are very fortunate that we are able to offer Messy Church, once a term, in all three of the primary schools in the Benefice, the dates of which are in this magazine. We are also very grateful to W. Howard and Son, who have kindly supplied us with lots of stationery, craft material and posters for this, and to Tesco, who have given us some vouchers to spend in their store on food. Families are welcome at all three Messy Church locations and not limited to the one in their particular parish. We look forward to seeing you at Messy Church; it is great fun! Please remember, though, that children need to be accompanied by an adult. We have also just set up a ‘WhatsApp’ group to advertise this, and an email circulation list, so please do let me know if you wish to be added to these groups.
You are probably aware that, in May, the Government introduced some new legislation with regard to data protection, with which we have to comply. This means that all members of the three church electoral rolls are required to fill in a GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) form in order for us to be able to contact them regarding church matters. If you are on one of our church electoral rolls and have not yet filled in one of these forms, please could you do this as soon as possible. Also, if you are not on an electoral roll, but attend church or church activities and would like to be kept informed, I encourage you to fill in a form too. The forms are available at the back of all three churches. And, perhaps, when you do this, if you are not currently on a church electoral roll, it might be the time to consider whether you might like to be, giving you the right to vote on church matters. Forms for this are also available at the back of all three churches.
Recently I attended the Orsett Forum meeting where I was presented with a cheque for St Giles and All Saints Roof Fund, raised by the proceeds of the Fun Run. Thank you, so much, to Orsett Forum. We are very grateful for this kind donation which has helped towards the roof fund.
And, finally, we have just launched our new website. You can find it at hobnob.org.uk.
I am very grateful to David Mortimer, Thomas Mann and Charles Mortimer who have been working hard since last October, to create this website and we are fortunate, now, that Philip Oderinlo has also joined the team to share his expertise. We hope that you find this website helpful and informative. It is a work in progress and, as time goes by, we hope to develop it. We would like to keep our new website fresh and up to date, so I encourage anyone who leads a church group and who would like upcoming activities publicised, or news or photos of events which have taken place, shown, (provided that GDPR rules are complied with) to send this to, either:
p.oderinlo@hobnob.org.uk or d.mortimer@hobnob.org.uk
I look forward to seeing you soon.
With love and prayers,
Sue