WALTON NEWS

Winter has come early and for once Walton Church at 9am felt a bit chilly to the hardy souls who braved temperatures of minus eleven to turn out for worship on Sunday 24th November. We had less snow than some places but that didn't prevent the usual crop of accidents on Townsend Corner, the gate on one occasion ending up several metres into the field.

Everyone felt grateful when the gritting lorry came through. Inconvenient and uncomfortable though it may be, we have to admit that the cold snap brings its beauties, particularly on those days of heavy frost when there were plenty of people out with their cameras recording the spectacular sight of the Bath Woods clothed in glittering white. The gardens looked lovely too, even the wire netting that keeps the rabbits out was like a lace shawl wrapped around the kitchen garden. Then when the frost had melted, the setting sun put a golden light on the Walton Hall chimneys, on the old grey stone of the Church as well as the Orchard Mews clock tower while the woods were turned from silver to burnished copper and there was a sliver of the old moon in a turquoise sky above Red Hill to complete the picture.

Walton was not forgotten by the Lions and we have a bright star over the pillared portico of the Church which hopefully will bring along those who are seeking to find the real meaning of the birth of Jesus as the Wise Men did two thousand and more years ago. So the year draws to an end and we pray that 2011 will bring happiness to all the readers of the Walton and Wellesbourne News.

EH

TEA AND TAIZÉ

5:45 for 6:30pm
SUNDAY 23 JANUARY 2011
AT ST PETER’S CHURCH
‘CHRISTIAN UNITY’

SO WHAT IS TAIZÉ?

Taizé is a small ecumenical community in Burgundy, France, founded to bring about a spirit of reconciliation between European countries after the two great Wars. The community of brothers opens its doors to everyone as an act of hospitality. People from all around the world flock to Taizé in their thousands. Young people especially have been captured by the quiet times in the Great Church of Reconciliation, where, alongside the brothers, they can pray, be silent, be simple, and be faithful.

We too need to listen more to what God has to say to us. Our lives these days are so wrapped up in never ending ‘to do’ lists that we seldom find the space or the clarity simply to listen to the voice of God speaking TO US. Hence the idea of a Tea and Taizé service for Wellesbourne was born. We have an Ecumenical planning group that involves all three churches in Wellesbourne. It is a service to which all people of whatever faith might enjoy.

The services are not like ordinary prayer meetings or worship services. Instead of coming together to talk to God, We gather to listen. Instead of talking about the Scripture, the Scripture is read and left to speak for itself in the silence, although some words for meditation will guide the reflection. By singing simple songs of prayer over and over again, the idea is that our mind calms and our soul opens up; God speaks and we hear. The music is simple and very easy to sing and enjoy. The emphasis is on stillness. The stillness gives a chance to quieten down from our sometimes stressed and overactive lives and our minds buzzing with too many things to think about. The stresses and pressures that we have are gently put to one side through the silence and the chanting.

We gather for a cup of tea or coffee and cakes some 30 minutes before the service that takes place on a Sunday evening every other month and lasts for less than an hour. Please come and experience this service. Our hope is that everyone who attends our Tea and Taizé Service will return home refreshed and spiritually enriched.

See http://www.Taize.fr for more information about Taizé.

St Peter’s Tiddlers

Happy New Year and a warm welcome to several new children joining us this term. Last half term was full of festive fun. This year rather than having formal photographs we invited a company called ‘Little Hero’ to pre-school to help us create DVD adventures. With a massive green screen in place the children danced, acted and giggled their way through their performances. The final films were fantastic.

The children have access to VTech digital cameras in session and they love using these. We created a photo studio with a Christmas backdrop and made photo Christmas cards. The children dressed up as angels, Rudolf, shepherds and Santa for the photos! Don't worry, there was still plenty of glitter about: we made crackers, bead trees, mince pies and more. Many thanks to Rev'd Wendy for leading us in our Christmas service in church and well done to the children on their brilliant singing. We ended the term with our Christmas party and a visit from you know who with presents!

Thank you to our parents in helping the children fill 5 shoe boxes and also for donations for “children in need”. The children have been amazing in circle time and know how fortunate they are to have warm homes, hot meals, loving families and so many toys. We were all touched by the films Rev'd Wendy showed us and hope now and in the future we can do our bit to make life for those less fortunate than ourselves a little more cheerful. Closer to home our own fundraising has gone well despite freezing conditions at the Stratford markets. Also, many thanks to the ‘Friends of Wellesbourne School’ for inviting us to their Christmas fair. We look forward to investing this money to make pre-school even more fun.

We have lots planned for next half term. Last year the children really enjoyed learning about Chinese culture and Chinese New Year, 2011 is the year of the rabbit and falls on 3rd February. I am guessing a very special rabbit may be making another visit to pre-school!! If you are interested in a place for your child from September 2011 please contact Karen on 07876 764160 or call into the Church centre after 10am Monday to Friday and watch us learning through play. For more information you can read our OFSTED report 200773 online.


The pictures on this page are by John Gledhill.

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