Arlington, Berwick, Selmeston with Alciston and Wilmington Churches


Details of Forthcoming Events

Arlington Church Jubilee Celebrations

Friday 1st June  to Tuesday 5th June
Flower Festival in the church with live lute, guitar and organ music. There will also be church tours (times to be arranged), refreshments and  a craft stall. All contributions to the craft stall will be very welcome - please contact Nicola Bloom on (01273) 487867 or bloomnicola@yahoo.co.uk

3.00 pm Saturday 2nd June at Arlington Church
“Here's a Health unto Her Majesty!”
A concert in honour of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee. If you would like to take part - all suggestions welcome! Please contact Nicola Bloom.

Sunday 3rd June
Cream Teas in the Hall, as part of the Arlington Village Day Celebrations.

7.00 pm Monday 4th June at Arlington Church
“Hidden Secrets of a Country Church: St Pancras, Arlington” - a talk by architect Sean Albuquerque. Sean wrote his thesis on St Pancras, choosing it as one of the most interesting churches in Sussex, and spent many hours up ladders and researching in the archives! His talk will draw on some of the fascinating facts he discovered and will be illustrated with some of the photos he took - come and see the church building from some unusual angles and discover some of its past. Wine and soft drinks provided.

There is no charge for entry for the concert or talk, but a collection will be taken in aid of church building funds.

Faronel “Pastyme with Good Companye” Jubilee Concert

7.30 pm Saturday June 9th at Wilmington Church
A welcome return of a gifted local group of instrumentalists, Faronel, playing a special selection of Medieval and Renaissance music to celebrate the Royal Jubilee.  
Includes works for harp, positive organ, rebecs, medieval fiddle, recorders, crumhorns, symphony, bagpipes and voices - including works from the Court of Henry VIII.  
Tickets cost £10 (£8 concessions) and are available in advance from Colin Bissell
(01323 488824) or on the door.

Downland Village Lunch

12.45 pm Thursday 14th June  
at Alciston with Selmeston Village Hall

A delicious meal of fresh local produce in a friendly atmosphere at £4.00 per head for all village members. Free transport is available; please book on 870512 or 811285 by the end of the week before. If you have already booked but then find you cannot make it, please let us know before the end of the week beforehand.

Deanery Ladies’ Breakfast

8.30 am Saturday 14th July 2012 at Alciston and Selmeston Village Hall
Speaker: Revd Chris Doherty speaking on “Happy Retirement”.
We expect an interesting talk as well as good company, and an enjoyable repast! Do phone Jane Anderson if you would like to come, so that we can get the numbers right for catering: her number is below. The cost is £4 per head payable on the day. Breakfast starts at 8.30 am and finishes by 10 o’clock.
More details from Jane Anderson (01323 870075), Eileen Vine (01323 483368) or Ruth Butlin (01323 871081).

Friends of Wilmington Church
‘Midsummer Wine’

7.00 pm Saturday 14th July 2012
at Milton Rise, Milton Street

A Fundraising Event in aid of the Wilmington Church Fabric Fund.
Tickets cost £5.00 - which include light refreshments - and are available from
Clive Jones (01323 870149).

Renaissance Singers

6.00 pm Sunday 15th July at Berwick Church.
More details to follow.

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In a California Church Their Necks are Faithful

By Margaret Wilmot

Soft as pollen, light touches his white hair,
her silky shawl; shoulders tilting with perky fortitude beneath
the small head's frizzy wedge, still fair.

Through the lattice-wall sun
stipples the rim of space around them in the pew,
glows; turns their necks green -

frames Man and Wife.
They grow, reach up, stalks holding calices where words
in an own chemistry commute to life.

Candlelight Christingle at Wilmington

The following pictures were taken by Colin Berrett at Wilmington’s candlelight Christingle service on Christmas Eve.


























Bishop John’s Visit on 11 December

Bishop John and Mrs Hind travelled to be with us for a joint Benefice service at Berwick church followed by a lunch together at Selmeston with Alciston Village Hall.

Proceeds from the lunch, which amounted to £294 were donated to the Bishop John’s favourite Charity ‘Family Support Work’.









A Feather

By Michele Boys

A feather floating in the air
Became an answer to a prayer

Worried words awash with tears
Troubled thoughts amidst the fears
Deepest senses filled the soul
Incomplete no longer whole.

Silently it came to rest
A sign of peace from heaven blest
Trust the Lord it seemed to say
And He will take the hurt away.

Remember words from times gone by
You are the apple of my eye
You are so precious in my sight
Your darkness will be turned to light.

Within the silence all around
The feather floated to the ground
Gently raised with steady hand
It's message God does understand.

A feather floating in the air
Became the answer to a prayer.

In the Persistent Erasure

By Margaret Wilmot

In the persistent erasure
of small grammatical distinctions, the verbs
have turned bully.
Access, finalise

knock down thought before
there is time to wonder:
should I give access? make it final?
And now

the verbs are even turning on
each other; the in-fighting has begun.
Was has shunted were out of if’s fantasy-land,
blurring

boundaries between real
and not, while
are -
in the
contemporary language Anglican service - has shouldered aside

small be: our open, unopinionated
subjunctive, which still
suggested human doubt and hope, not to mention
the detail of free will.

In the persistent erasure
of small grammatical distinctions,
the verbs have recast God
in their own image.

For more poetry from people in the Benefice, please click here.

Meet Me Jesus

Stella Myerson writes: I wrote this poem in January whilst on route from the Canary Islands to Barbados; we were about half way into our 2,800 mile Atlantic crossing, which took 18 days to complete. I spent a lot of time alone on the crossing as we are just the two of us sailing our boat and we work opposite watches, I preferred to take the ‘graveyard watch’ at night from 2.00 am until 7.00am, then I could watch a glorious sun rise above the horizon.

The nights were quite unnerving as ‘Ananda’ ploughed on into the darkness of the ocean. The Atlantic waves were huge building up behind us and crashing down around our stern. Each night I would take on watch a book on Contemplative Prayer and a William Barclay bible commentary on Luke.

Some people talk of such journeys as being in suspended animation but I preferred to consider it a retreat, I wanted to discover something very positive on our journey. Although it is quite unusual to spend so much time in such isolation from the world, we can still feel lonely or threatened at times even amongst a community, but God is with us and always listening to our prayers.

Meet me Jesus

Far from land amid the ocean
Our boat sails swiftly on.
My watch at night has just began
Five hours to spend, just me alone.

Meet me Jesus on this night
I wait to greet You here!
The moon is up, the stars are bright
I know you will appear!

A privilege I have in life
To sail the Ocean seas.
Not for pleasure, not for gain,
But for God to please.

Meet me Jesus on this journey
Much time I have to pray.
I need to know You so much better
In each and every way.

The night is dark and waves I hear
They’re playing around our boat.
The swell builds up with whooshing sounds
Its crests foam white and float.

Meet me Jesus here, I ask
Stay with me all the way.
I can not manage on my own
To you I turn and pray.

The wind it whistles up above
Our rigging hums its tune.
The air is warm and comforts me
For fear, I leave no room.

Meet me Jesus once again
Just as You have before.
To this sinner once You came
My life You did restore.

For more poetry from people in the Benefice, please click here.

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