Events in 2024
We are one!
Thank you Derek for this architectural creativity – perhaps inspired by Dr Who – and it certainly gets the message across!
On the 1st May, Dale Street and Cubbington become one church and we celebrated with a communion service on the 5th May. It was the first in a series of four with the theme Who is Jesus? (a week later, Jill Lloyd led us in Jesus the rebel).
We opened up the organ – modern, electronic with two-manuals plus pedals (and Dutch). It was quite some time since it had been played. Services are usually accompanied on the digibox.
After some very nice pastries in the church hall, Derek Dwyer took us on a tour of the buildings which are much more extensive than you might imagine and include an open air space set about with picnic tables ready for barbecues.
The buildings are immaculate and are now the responsibility of the Circuit – however we pay a monthly fee to hire them as we wish – so perhaps you have some ideas in mind.
And here we were, worshipping together for the first time
Two weeks later, we were all together again, this time at Dale Street, for Russell’s service about Jesus the giver. It was a Parade service and there was much activity to celebrate Pentecost. Doughnuts were served at the end.
We then proceeded to a bring-and-share lunch and the Annual Church Meeting, a very truncated affair but which said thank you to our treasured treasurer, Joanna. We gave our grateful thanks to David Sandy who has agreed to take on this role. We’ve used the hall so little during the last two years it was quite strange to be there!
Easter at Dale Street
Sadly, Revd Tina was afflicted by the virus that was on its rounds and she could only communicate by hand signals, so the service was taken (admirably) at short notice by Peter Selby and Russell Blackwell.
A large congregation was present to decorate the cross which was hoisted in front of the passing traffic as Peter pronounced the Blessing.
Some of us sang a new and lively version of Hail the day that sees him rise especially written for this service.
Services at Easter were well attended
– we must not forget Ted Royle’s Good Friday meditation that included a
reading, divided among several readers, of the complete story of Christ’s trial
and crucifixion.
After Easter, the numbers reverted to the mid-forties. We welcomed Revd Sally Jones once more and the week after we had a local arrangement with the theme The Church is its people. We included three speakers with stories to illustrate this, and the hymns and songs were selected to explore the theme.
This month’s cafe-style service was on the theme of bread, its variety and its importance as our basic nourishment. We did a bindfold test and thought about what Jesus said:
‘For the bread of God is the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”
“Sir,” they said, “always give us this bread.”
Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.’
ACTION FOR CHILDREN BIG QUIZ
Friday, 15 March was the evening of the BIG QUIZ, and by 6.30 pm people were beginning to pour in to register with a wide variety of team names – Artful Dodgers, Not our Forte, We thought it was a Disco, Agatha Quizties among the more bizarre.
At 7pm the supper began and the queues at the service table started for the jacket potatoes. The refreshment team had done us proud with a large selection of fillings available. By around 7.45 pm eating was done, the tables had been cleared and Richard, our quiz master from Meriden started the proceedings.
There were about 85 people in 16 teams, with at least
2 teams being made up of 3 generations of a family! A sheet with song titles
from musicals was distributed and each team was allowed the rest of the evening
to mull over this in an attempt to identify which show each song came from.
Richard then started the quiz in earnest, using the screen to display images. There were 5 sections, answers were given as each finished, and the ‘state of the scoreboard’ was given at the end of each one. This was greeted with much cheering, jeering and laughter!
Finally, the winning team was awarded with a certificate + packets of Smarties (which of course they were!). Richard Haw from Not our Forte (Divertimento in heavy disguise) proudly accepted the certificate, and the members of the bottom team were each given a wooden spoon (not shown).
This was a really successful evening and there was a real buzz about the place – a sure sign that everyone was enjoying the experience!
We are delighted to say that the event raised more than £800 for ACTION FOR CHILDREN.
Palm Sunday service 24th March 2024
The two donkeys, Storm and Bertram, arrived in good time and were obviously thrilled by the occasion and the fuss – they led the procession with no sign of stubbornness and their only annoyance was having to get into their van to go back home.
The congregation was just short of 120. As it was a parade service, we welcomed some of our friends from other churches. We did a fair job recreating the very odd circumstances of the original Palm Sunday. We made some up-market palms (master-minded by Penny), sang an acclamation, heard
about the tribulations of the donkey keeper and set off in a procession following the donkeys to the car park. There was, of course, a lot of shouting ‘Hosanna!’
We were reminded that the same crowd that had cheered Jesus on was to be the one that screamed for him to be crucified a few days later. We were also reminded that they asked the question ‘Who is this person?’ – we shall be trying to answer the question ‘Who is Jesus?’ in our services in May.
Palm Sunday took place in a party atmosphere, so we
scoffed donuts when we had finished.
A Lad in a Manger
We performed this nativity pantomime by Michael Forster three times on the 20th and 21st January. It was a clever script which made the Christmas message very clear. However, the Friday night capacity audience came well prepared and were joining in almost before they were asked. As for the ‘He’s behind you’, poor Widow Swanky (Jill Lloyd) could hardly keep the show rolling.
So nativity or no nativity, there were 
Mary (Liz Bones) and Joe (Pete Bones), Joe with his plank of wood to keep him occupied while Mary had her baby. Widow Swanky, the innkeeper, had a secret sweet factory.Wicked King Herod (Graham Howe) was in an eternal sugar fix and was obsessed by Swanky’s refusal to give him any sweets. The three shepherds were in various stages of mental malfunction, and the three wise people were led by a Groucho Marx lookalike (Peter Selby). Cameo roles were provided by Swanky’s dim daughter (Jackie Brown) and Little-goes-a –long- way Salami (Nicky Whitehouse) who was on her way to see Harry Styles.
There were six excellent children who were junior angels to Lindsey’s angel in chief. They learnt their parts faster than most and seemed to know the words to the songs as well. They were a great addition to the show.
We could not have managed without Andrew Emm. Among many other things he provided a fine set with a stable and city walls (see the cover page) – he also provided the star of the show, Tesla , the e-donkey, with flashing blue lights and warning orange lights which activated when frightened or annoyed.
Nick Lloyd’s Sweetie-pie was another star.It also flashed lights and dispensed a huge number of sweets when everyone danced fast enough to Adam Koch and Paul Parkinson’s percussion..
Jo had been determined to lift the Covid gloom with this pantomime, and the cast responded with enthusiasm and commitment. It clearly did them good.
Tony provided new tunes, as those suggested by the writer were a little out of date, and Camptown Races would have been strange in our new age.
The audiences totalled just short of 300, and £500 was raised for The Night Shelter and the Food Bank.
... and in earlier years