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Below are reports and coming events for Hethersett Churches Together which includes St Remigius Parish Church, Hethersett Methodist Church and the Roman Catholic Church.

An Update from Churches Together (HDCT) - February 20th, 2008

The annual Open Meeting of HDCT in January was an informal café-style gathering at the Methodist Church when the events of the past year were reviewed, notice given of those to come and new ideas were aired.

Lay representatives on the committee from the churches are:

Hethersett Parish Church: Judi Easton, Anne Hallam and Rosie Hubbard

Hethersett Methodist Church: Margaret Askew, Anne Steward and Margaret Ford

Little Melton Parish Church: Liz Tomlin and Margaret Waller

Great Melton Parish Church: Maggie Murrell

Roman Catholic Church: Anna Harris and Pauline Cubitt

Thanks to all who helped with the Barn Dance and supper at Little Melton on 2 February. It went off with a swing and the raffle raised £93 for the work of Revd Pat Atkinson in South India, the Vidyal Trust. The profit from the sale of tickets goes to HDCT towards other costs, e.g. the Christmas and Easter cards. .

The Lent Course is being held on Tuesday mornings at 10.30a.m. at 97 School Lane, Little Melton and repeated on Tuesday evenings at 7.30p.m. at the Methodist Church. We’re following a course of studies with the title ‘May I call you Friend?’ and you are welcome to join in. The final meeting will be on 11 March.

The Women's World Day of Prayer service, this year written by women of Guyana, will be held at the Parish Church at 2:00 p.m. on Friday 2 March. Friends taking part are from the Anglican churches, the Roman Catholic Church and the Methodist church and all are invited (including men) to come and share with us.

We will be needing volunteers to deliver the Easter cards around the area prior to Palm Sunday, 16 March. If you could ‘do’ just one street it would help - just contact one of the reps if you can. The bundling of the cards will take place on Saturday 1 March in the Methodist Church Hall during Shoppers’ Coffee at 10:00 a.m. and usually takes about 30 minutes if we have plenty of helpers.

There will be a united service at 10.30am on Good Friday at St Remigius’ church which will be preceded by a procession of witness leaving the Methodist Church at 10am and then via Henstead Road and Churchfields to the Parish Church. This gives us an opportunity to reflect on the events of the first Easter as we walk in silence behind the cross.

Coming Events

The Lent Course this year is based around a booklet produced by the Methodist Publishing House, called “May I Call You Friend?” It will be held at our church on six successive Tuesday evenings, beginning on Shrove Tuesday, 5 February. That evening we will start at 7.00pm with the usual pancake feast and then on succeeding Tuesdays the meetings will begin at 7.30pm. The course covers Bible study, case studies, raises lots of questions for discussion and should be very thought-provoking. All are welcome.

Following on from the successful visit to St Albans last September we are planning to visit Southwell in Nottinghamshire on Saturday 27th September this year. Southwell Minster is the “Cathedral of Nottinghamshire”, the least-known cathedral in the country and dates back to 1108. Make a note of the date and look out for further details.

2008 Event Reports

Annual Barn Dance

Over 100 people attended a Barn Dance organised by Hethersett and District Churches Together in Little Melton Village Hall.

Dancing was to the Shenanikins Folk Dance Group with George Middleton acting as caller.

2007 Event Reports

Visit to St Albans and Harpenden - Saturday 15th September 2007

Hethersett Churches Together organised a trip to St Albans and Harpenden on Saturday 15th September. After morning coffee at Saint Albans Abbey there was free time to explore either the Abbey itself, the Verulanium Museum and experience the local market. The party gathered together for Sung Evensong at 4 p.m and then visited Harpenden for a meal served by friends at the Methodist Church.

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A special songs of praise and service of thanksgiving organised by Hethersett and District Churches Together was held at St Remigius Church, Hethersett, to mark the completion of phase one of a major renovation scheme.

The celebrations started with a procession from Oak Square in the centre of the village to the church. This was led by the Norwich Citadel Band of the Salvation Army followed by uniformed organisations from the village, clergy and local dignitaries and members of the public. Over 200 people braved the rain for the half mile walk to the church.

The service was led by the Rector of Hethersett, the Rev Di Lammas with a special address by the Archdeacon of Norfolk, the Venerable David Hayden. Methodist Minister the Rev Derek Grimshaw gave a Bible reading from Genesis and prayers of thanksgiving were led by the Rev Mary Kerslake.

Phase one of the church improvements has included restructuring the entry to the church to include new ramps to improve wheelchair access. Further work is planned in the future

In his address the Archdeacon praised the work of all those involved in the improvements:

“There has been a church on this site for 1000 years and this church has been here for 700. Every generation has had the opportunity to adapt the building to its particular needs. Without that happening it would have fallen into ruin. In 1874 the transept and chancel were re-built, now you are re-developing the building to make it a church for today,” he said.

The Rev Lammas thanked all the people that had “inspired the church to move forward” and also Hethersett Middle School and Hethersett Old Hall School where services have been held over the past few months.

Future planned work includes further improvement to heating and lighting, opening up more space at the back of the building, extending the seating by introducing a gallery and providing a room to be used both for quiet reflection and as a crèche.

After the main service the congregation circled the outside of the church for a “symbolic hug” of the building. This was followed by refreshments. There was also a special presentation to churchwardens Vic Redington and David Neal to mark their outstanding contribution to the improvements.

Details of the service

Hymns featured in the service were: Come and See The Shining Hope, Christ Is Made the Sure Foundation, Come on and Celebrate, All People That On Earth Do Dwell, In Christ Alone My Hope is Found, O Lord My God, Lord for the Years Your Love Has Kept and Guided, Thine be the Glory and Praise God From Whom All Blessings Flow.

The Bible reading was from Genesis 28: vv 10-22.

The open meeting of HDCT was held on 22nd January, 2007, at Little Melton Parish Church after the united service and Derek reviewed the past year's activities mentioning, among other things, the visit to Lincoln in September, the United Breakfast this January and the Alpha course which is being run ecumenically.

Lay representatives on the committee from the churches are:

Hethersett Parish Church: Rick Palmer, Anne Hallam and Rosie Hubbard.

Hethersett Methodist Church: Margaret Askew, Anne Steward and Margaret Ford.

Little Melton Parish Church: Liz Tomlin and Margaret Waller

Great Melton Parish Church: Maggie Murrell

Roman Catholic Church: Anna Harris and Pauline Cubitt.

The Bran Dance at Little Melton on 3rd February went off with a swing and £110 was raised by the raffle for the East Anglian Air Ambulance. Other profit from the sale of tickets will go to HDCT to help cover other costs e.g the Christmas and Easter cards etc.

This Lent we are using a York course "Can we build a better world?" as a guide to our study and discussion. From the week beginning 25th February groups will be meeting on Tuesday and Thursday mornings and Tuesday evening in Hethersett and Tuesday mornings at Little Melton.

The course booklets cost £2.75 each and can be ordered from Margaret Ford on 811393. Issues covered are slavery, friendship and prayer, change and struggle and the Bible and commemorates the passing of the Act for the abolition of Slavery in 1807 instigated by William Wilberforce. In the final week we will gather together on Thursday 29th March at 7.30 p.m to consider the last subject, redemption and restitution, dividing into groups for discussion and then close with a short service of Holy Communion.

The bundling of this year's village Easter cards will take place on Saturday 17th March in the Methodist Church Hall during Shoppers' Coffee from 10 a.m.

2006 Event Reports

Visit to Lincoln Cathedral - 23rd September 2006

It was a misty morning on 23^rdSeptember when we joined a coach full of Hethersett And District Churches Together members going for a day trip to Lincoln Cathedral. The party was good humoured and eagerly looking forward to an interesting day. The journey was comfortable and we arrived at Lincoln in beautiful sunshine. Inside the Cathedral the staff provided us with welcome drinks of tea or coffee and biscuits and we wandered around the building getting our bearings. The tours were due to start at 2 pm - so we decided to have lunch. Some had brought their own and others found the refectory and others restaurants outside the Cathedral.

We were divided into two groups for the Floor Tour, which lasted for approximately an hour and covered the whole layout of the ground floor of the Cathedral. The guides were volunteers and they kept us fascinated with the history and architecture of the building. There was also a wonderful modern display of carvings by William Fairbank who will be the speaker at the United Churches Together Breakfast in our Church on 13th January, 2007.

The Roof Tours - for those with a good head for heights - followed. People who went up the tower reported a very long climb to the top. They said the views of the architecture of the roof were magnificent, and much of the City could be seen together with about twenty miles of the surrounding countryside. They also saw the working movement of the Cathedral clock with quarter and hourly chimes being heard as they climbed.

Those people who did not go on the roof tours either spent more time in the Cathedral or went out into the sunshine and down the very steep streets to look at the many little shops surrounding the Cathedral.

At approximately 4.30 pm tea, coffee and cake were provided and we then made our way to the Choir for Evensong. The service and the singing were calm and beautiful and we made our way beck to the coach feeling that it had been a good ending to a lovely day.

I am sure that everyone who went on the trip would like to thank Margaret Ford, Anne Steward and Trish Olsson for arranging such an enjoyable and interesting day.