Christmas blessings

Perhaps during Christmas, more than any other time, we fail to hear God's voice.  Distractions abound, and at a time when our focus should be on our blessings and our Saviour, we're tuned in to other things that seem more pressing.  But on Christmas Day, make the choice to open your heart, mind, and spirit and listen for God's voice.

A very happy, peaceful and blessed Christmas to you all.

Carol singing

Thanks to all who supported Monday night's carol singing round the village - all those who sang (ably accompanied by David on the guitar) and those who came out to listen or gave us money. We raised just over £100 which is fantastic! This will be shared between the church and Hope into Action, a Christian charity supporting homeless people. Also a huge thank you to Lorna and Elaine who revived us with mulled wine and mince pies at the village hall!

Carol singing

Just a reminder about carol singing round the village tomorrow (Monday) - we are meeting at The Cottage care home at 6 pm before inflicting ourselves on the Main Street / The Green area. Mulled wine & mince pies in the village hall at the end! This year we are supporting Hope into Action, a charity working with the homeless.

Christmas is coming...

Compline for All Souls

Remembrance Service

Spires Federation

Digby Church of England, Dunston St Peter’s Church of England & Nocton Community Primary Schools

Executive Headteacher: Mr G Boyall

Dear Parents/Carers/Friends

REMEMBRANCE DAY 2016

Remembrance Assembly

A school assembly will be held in Nocton Church on Friday 11 November 2016, for Remembrance Day. The assembly will commence at 10.30 am. You are welcome to come along and join us, together with family and friends.

British Legion Poppy Appeal 2016

Our school is supporting the British Legion Poppy Appeal 2016.

This year along with the normal poppy badges, we have a selection of children’s poppy items, including snap wrist rulers, friendship bracelets, small boxes of crayons, reflector poppies and wrist bands. If you wish to purchase any of these, British Legion suggest a donation of £1.00 for bracelets and snap rulers and 50p for wristbands, reflectors and pencils.

Donations go towards a wide range of services and support for our veterans, serving personnel and their families.

Kind regards

H Bunting (Mrs)

Deputy Headteacher, Nocton Community Primary School

Dangerous gravestones

Many of the gravestones in Nocton churchyard are potentially unsafe and a few are in significant danger of falling. If anyone can help locate the families of the people on the linked document, please contact me or the Rector, Lorna Brabin-Smith, on 01522 794868. If we are unable to arrange with the families for the gravestones to be secured, we will apply for permission to move them. Thanks for your help - you will appreciate that moving the headstones is a last resort so we would really like to work with the families to get this sorted.

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B_LLgnh2D692SFVaVlg3UlpPREU

Update on Macmillan coffee morning

Latest news - the final total raised was £310.  Didn't you do well!  Thanks again to everyone who supported this.

Reflection day for Advent

Advent will be here sooner than we think...

Oddfellows' service 9 October

Some of you may have wondered why the bells were ringing on Sunday afternoon - others may have seen the procession from the Village Hall to the church and wondered what that was about.  One young resident who saw us was particularly impressed, judging from the reaction...

We were delighted to welcome the Institute of Oddfellows (Lincoln & Boston District) to All Saints for a service to celebrate the return of the refurbished Oddfellows' banner (actually a flag) which hangs on the wall of the south aisle.  This was becoming very delapidated and has now been expertly restored by Sheila Landi at Burghley House.  The Oddfellows have contributed generously to the cost of this and it seemed right to invite them to see the restored flag.

The procession was led by our verger, Ann Kennedy, carrying the virge (the Mace of State seen in use at the opening of Parliament is a rather grander virge but essentially the same thing).  Next came the crucifer, Liz Murray, carrying the processional cross (polished for the occasion).  Following Liz came our Rector, Lorna Brabin-Smith, followed by the Oddfellows, including the current Provincial Grand Master, Brother Dennis Spikings, three past Provincial Grand Masters (Brother Derek Green, Sister Ann Jebson and Brother George Stanhope) and a past Grand Master of the Manchester Unity of Oddfellows, Brother Keith Adamson.

Photos and video clips of the flag and the procession can be seen using the link below.  All images courtesy of Peter Murray.

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B_LLgnh2D692NndPUV92ZkkycXM

Macmillan coffee morning

Thanks to everyone who came to this and to those who provided cakes - I hope no one had an upset stomach from my offering... The event was a great success and it was lovely to see everyone, especially residents of The Cottage Residential Care Home, who have an amazing appetite for cake!  We raised over £250 for Macmillan.  See you all next year!

Community Champions

Lincolnshire Co-operative Society has chosen the church as one of its community causes for support - thank you Lincolnshire Co-operative Society!  Please remember to use your dividend card when you shop at the Co-op!

Latest Nocton News

Here it is!

World's Biggest Coffee Morning

Nocton features in exhibition

‘Landscapes: a particular kind of fiction’

Sunday September 18^th to Monday October 24th

If you’re looking for something inspirational to do this autumn, visit the outdoor exhibition of Phil Cosker’s extraordinary photographs along the Spires and Steeples Arts and Heritage Trail.

The six giant photos will be sited in the grounds of six village churches, along the trail from Branston to Rowston.  So if you’re feeling energetic you could walk or cycle between them, or if less energetic, you could simply drive.

This unique outdoor event is part of three exhibitions of Cosker’s photographic work.  The images were created using a Thornton Pickard ‘Imperial’ half-plate bellows camera found in a second-hand shop, and a set of un-exposed plates discovered in a cupboard in the Hull School of Art and Design. Cosker has used them to create images that capture an extraordinary sense of volume and space, an ‘imagination of passing time and place’.

The six exhibition sites are at: All Saints Branston, All Saints Nocton, St Peter’s Dunston, St Oswald’s Blankney, Holy Cross Scopwick and St Clement’s Rowston.  A single large image, 8ft by 10ft, will be displayed outdoors at each venue, so you can visit at any time of day.  Some of the churches may also be open for you to explore.  Branston and Nocton churches will be open on Friday afternoons, from 2.00 to 4.00pm each week.

Meanwhile you can also take the opportunity to enjoy exploring six fascinating Lincolnshire villages, or have lunch at a village pub or tea at a local café along the way.

If you’re taking to the trail on a Wednesday or Thursday, you could stop also off for refreshments at the Bluebell Community Café at Potterhanworth.  You’ll find them at St Andrew’s Church.  They’re open from 9.00am to 5.00pm, and offer a delicious range of home-made soups, sandwiches, toasties, scones and cakes.

The exhibition will be launched at All Saints Branston at 12.30pm on Sunday September 18^th and will continue until Monday October 24^th.  You could visit all six sites in one day, or spread your visits over several weeks.

The whole event is being organised by artsNK, a team of visual and performing arts specialists.  The team initiates and supports arts projects across the North Kesteven district, Lincolnshire and the East Midlands. For more information about artsNK go to www.artsnk.org and about the Spires and Steeples Trail go to www.spiresandsteeples.com. 

 

Harvest Thanksgiving and launch of new guide book

We are very excited to announce the launch of the new guidebook for All Saints, made possible by a generous grant from the Lincolnshire Co-operative Society.  This will take place immediately before the Harvest Thanksgiving service at 4 pm on Sunday 25 September.  The service will be followed by the legendary Harvest Supper, at which our guests will be the Earl and Countess of Buckinghamshire, whose family have a long and distinguished association with Nocton.

Annual Ride & Stride

This year's Annual Ride & Stride will be on Saturday 10 September.  Funds raised are split between the participant's nominated church, and the Lincolnshire Churches Trust, which supports essential repairs to churches in Lincolnshire - including in the past All Saints!  It's not just a bike ride - participants can walk, scoot, cycle or ride a horse!  If you would like to take part, please contact the local organiser Colin East on 01522 810029 or Liz Murray on 01526 323357 and we will get sponsorship forms to you!  The event runs from 10 am to 6 pm and All Saints will be opened and manned between those hours to welcome participants and to offer squash, biscuits and a loo!  If you haven't been inside All Saints, why not drop in and say hello - we'd love to see you even if you're not taking part in the event!

Bassingham Choir concert

Thanks to Bassingham Choir for a fantastic concert on 15 July in All Saints!  Everyone thoroughly enjoyed it and joined in with the audience participation numbers as best they could (you had to have been there to understand..).  Thanks also to all those who helped to organise the event and to those who supported it.  The Prosecco and strawberries & shortbread at the interval went down a treat and the lovely evening weather meant people could go outside to enjoy them - perfect!  The event raised £433 for church funds - a fabulous result!

Latest Nocton News...

... is available here!

Nine marks of mission

Over the summer of 2016 we are exploring the 'nine marks of mission'.  For those who missed any of the sermons and would like to read them, please click on the links below to go to the sermon text.  Links will be added as each sermon is received.   In addition, I have added a page where the links will be available long term.

Sunday 5 June        Celebrating people and places

Sunday 12 June     Transformed lives and communities

Sunday 19 June     Worship that renews and inspires

Sunday 26 June     Becoming child-friendly

Sunday 3 July         Lifelong Christian nurture

Sunday 10 July       Self-giving service to the community

Sunday 17 July       Welcoming newcomers

Sunday 24 July       Rooted in prayer

Sunday 31 July       Confident and sensitive evangelism

Concert

Another opportunity to explore the labyrinth at San Damiano

Spring clean pictures

To all Spring Cleaners - 

Thank you all for working so hard to spruce up our beautiful church.  It was wonderful that so many people came & made it a lot of fun too.  It was a record turn out! - a real community effort.

Thank you for all your enthusiasm.

Here are some of the highlights:

 The west window hadn't been cleaned properly for years... until David got to it.

Graham looks rather threatening with that extending mop...

 Ann, Sheila and Janet hard at work in the sanctuary.

A welcome break (thanks to Ruth for the bikkies and sausage rolls!)

 "What do you mean, I've missed a bit?"


 

Birthday of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II

From our bell ringers - 

On Thursday 21 April the church bells will be rung in the evening as part of a change of celebratory ringing between Branston & Blankney to mark the Queen’s actual 90th birthday.   Ringing will take place at Nocton from 6.30 – 6.50 pm (approx) and will consist of call changes be rung based on the pattern named ‘Queens’ which is the bells rung in the order135246 (odds & evens).   Also the Church spire will be floodlit that evening to mark the Queen’s birthday.  On Thursday evening beacons are being lit all over the UK to mark the Queen’s Birthday so we thought it would be nice to floodlight our spire as a sort of beacon.  The main bulk of ringing for the Queen’s birthday will take place over her official birthday weekend Fri 10th – Sun 12th June when nationally bells will ring out all over the UK.

Primroses

Visitors to the church may have noticed that the churchyard is looking a little 'shaggy' at the moment.  It seems a shame to mow over the lovely primroses and we generally don't start mowing after the winter until the primroses have died back.  Please be assured that the churchyard will be mown, but in the meantime, enjoy the wild flowers!

Gravestones

After a recent check of the safety of the gravestones in the churchyard, it has become apparent that many are potentially unsafe and one or two are so loose as to be dangerous.  We are seeking to address this as a matter of urgency.  Please could we ask everyone entering the churchyard for whatever reason not to lean on any gravestones.  The most insecure stones will be cordoned off.  If anyone can help locate the family of John Pullen, who died in 1903 and whose headstone is particularly loose, please contact Liz Murray on 01526 323357 or elisabeth.c.murray@gmail.com.

Ascension Day service - Thursday 5 May

Open church

Just a reminder that the church is open on Friday afternoons between 2 and 4 pm (until the clocks go back at the end of October).  You are assured of a friendly welcome!

Easter Day

Today we will open our church service with the great Easter message of hope:

Alleluia!  Christ is risen!

He is risen indeed!  Alleluia!

Church annual meeting - 19 April

The Annual Parish Meeting (APM) and the Annual Parochial Church Meeting (APCM) - the church's AGM - will be held on Tuesday 19 April at 7.30 pm in church.

Why two meetings, you may ask?  The APM is to elect the two churchwardens who will serve for the following year.   Anyone on the civil electoral register – anyone entitled to vote in government elections – or on the church electoral roll may attend the meeting.   The APCM immediately follows and is to receive the accounts, the fabric report and the report of the Parochial Church Council (PCC), and to elect the PCC and sidespersons for the following year.  Anyone on the church electoral roll is entitled to attend.  We have six elected members of the PCC.

Please join us on 19 April! We promise not to elect you as PCC member or sidesperson unless you actually volunteer!

Valentine's night quiz

Thanks to all who supported this and helped in any way to make it such a success.  The magnificent sum of £323 was raised for church funds.

Spring Sunday lunch

It's back!  All you can eat and great company too!

 

Spring clean reminder

Please help if you can and keep our lovely church looking beautiful!

Morning Prayer

From this week, Lorna will hold a service of Morning Prayer at 8.45 am on Tuesdays and Thursdays at Branston, Wednesdays at Nocton and Fridays at Potterhanworth.  This is a formal service similar to Matins, not an informal and spontaneous prayer service.  Please feel free to join Lorna at any of the churches in the benefice for this quiet and prayerful start to the day.

Our new Rector

Just a reminder that Lorna Brabin-Smith joins us this week as Rector of Branston with Nocton and Potterhanworth.  Lorna's Institution and Induction will be on Thursday 17 March at 7.30 pm at All Saints Branston.  Everyone is welcome!  Lorna's first service at Nocton will be Easter Day at 9.30 am.

Nocton News

The village newsletter is back!  Huge thanks to Karen Flatters, School Business Manager at Nocton Community Primary School, for putting this together and to the Nocton 200 Club for funding it.

Nocton News March 2016

Church spring clean

The church spring clean date has changed to Saturday April 16 10am - 12pm, 2pm - 4pm.  Please come and help if you can spare an hour or two. Everyone is welcome.  Please bring any cleaning equipment you think may be useful.  Please help make our lovely church look even more beautiful!

Irish themed evening Saturday 19 March

Once again we are having an 'Irish themed evening' with the popular band 'Gone to the Dogs' and a supper of Irish stew and apple pie (served separately...).  Book your tickets now!  Only £12 per person!

Institution and Induction of our new Rector

Just a reminder that Rev Lorna Brabin-Smith will be licensed as our new Rector on 17 March 2016 at 7.30 pm at All Saints, Branston.  If you would like to come perhaps you could let me know so we have a rough idea for catering purposes.  We have waited a long time for a new Rector and while we are very grateful to the retired priests who have looked after us for so long (Les Whitfield, Tim Thompson and the late Terry Stokes), we are looking forward to welcoming Lorna to our parishes.  Lorna will lead our worship in Nocton for the first time on Easter Day, Sunday 27 March.  We hope to have a full church...

An afternoon in the labyrinth

The real meaning of Lent (and it isn't giving up chocolate)

Wednesday 10 February is Ash Wednesday, the start of Lent, when we begin the time of preparation for Easter.  On Ash Wednesday we will celebrate Holy Communion at St Andrew's Potterhanworth at 7.30 pm, with the ancient ceremony of 'ashing'.  Each worshipper is marked on the forehead with a cross drawn in ash, which is made from the palm crosses blessed at the previous year's Palm Sunday service.  The 'ashing' is accompanied by the words 'Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.'  The intention is to remind the worshipper to repent of their sins before it is too late.

Nowadays Lent has become a largely misunderstood time, when people give up something (usually chocolate or alcohol) as a reminder of the traditional Lenten fast and a means of self discipline.  This has about as much to do with Lent as novelty Easter eggs have to do with the resurrection!  Instead of (or as well as!) giving up the booze for a few weeks, why not try making a positive difference in your life?  To use the other form of words for 'ashing', 'Repent and believe in the Gospel.'

Lent at San Damiano

The return of the Valentine's Night quiz!