News:

Hallelujah! Christ has risen and what a gloriously sunny weekend we had to celebrate it with.

On 7 April at the cluster service, Clementine was welcomed into the church family at her Baptism. She was supported by family, friends and big sister Jemima. Andrew Herniman kindly offered to play the organ for the service. Congratulations to Clementine, may God bless you all your life.

Our congratulations and very best wishes go to all who have celebrated a special event recently – whether a birth, a marriage, a special birthday, we want to hear your family news so please do get in touch with Dave and let us know what's being celebrated.

It was with great sadness that we learned of the passing of Mrs Hilda Forward on 21 March.  Many people knew Hilda and her late husband Wilfred from their days of running the Royal Oak Cash and Carry at Gibbet.  They also ran Sunday School for many years in the Chapel at Loxbeare, where lots of local children went along  and came to know their love of Jesus and to pass that love on.  Hilda was a very talented organ player who learnt to play at the tender age of four years old and continued to do so for close on 90 years.  She played at many of the services at Calverleigh in the past few years, as well as at the Baptist Church.  Her funeral was held at Calverleigh on 12 April with a packed congregation.  Lovely tributes were given by both Jackie and Hilda's nephew David.  Our thoughts and prayers go to all the family and her very dear friends at this sad time.

Our thoughts and prayers are with you if you have lost a loved one, been unwell, are awaiting or undergoing treatment at this time.  We hope and pray that you are all feel much better soon.  We also think at this time of those who now live in residential or nursing homes and are unable to be a part of village and church life as they once were.

We said a fond farewell to the Lineham family who moved to Swindon in March.  Nick had been a PCC member and organist here at St. Mary's for many years.  We wish him and Juliet well on their move and hope that they settle into their new surroundings quickly.  We look forward to meeting the new residents of Manitoba in the near future.

Fundraising for the restoration of the church windows has got off to a good start.  A coffee morning was held on 30 March at the home of Diana Hopper. It was a beautiful sunny morning where those present could sit out and enjoy the garden as well as the weather.  Our thanks go to Diana and family for hosting a wonderful social occasion along with raising over £500 towards the window fund.

In the run-up to Easter Nikki and David Burton ran a draw for an Easter Egg-stravaganza with the chance to win either an Easter Hamper or one of the many other prizes on offer.  The winning tickets were drawn at the home of Derek and Mary Herniman with the first prize going to Cedric Gibbons (Doreen's brother).  Our thanks go to Nik and Dave for arranging this and to everyone who bought a ticket.  A total of £320 was raised for the Window Restoration Fund.

Our Mothering Sunday service was led by Jackie Herniman.  An abundance of posies had been made for all the ladies in the congregation with more than enough to be taken home to loved ones.  Thank you to all who provided flowers for this special service to give thanks for all that our mother’s do or have done for us over the years.  Also at this service we tried out our alternative to organ music for the very first time, with the introduction of music played through a laptop.  There have been a few hiccups, which were quite entertaining but the congregation has been very patient while we come to grips with this new necessity.

Needless to say, though, that if there is anyone who is able to play an organ (or guitar, or another instrument etc...) and would like the opportunity to play at our services we would be very pleased to hear from you.  Contact numbers for the churchwardens are available in the front of the magazine.

At the APCM held on 11 April Aubrey Goldsworthy and Jackie Herniman were voted back on to continue as our Churchwardens, Jackie as Treasurer and Julie Goldsworthy as PCC Secretary.  David Burton, Shirley Goldsworthy, Sheila Greenslade, Rita Tapp and Lorna Thomas make up the PCC.  Thanks were given to the PCC and everyone on various rotas for all their hard work in keeping the church and churchyard looking so good for parishioners and visitors alike and for all the fundraising that is essential to help us keep up with our financial commitments.

Our annual spring clean took place on 13 April with a merry band of helpers (including a very eager one year old) turning their hand to dusting, polishing, sweeping etc. to make our little church look her best, inside and out, from top to bottom.  Thank you to all who came along to clean and enjoy a time of fellowship over a well earned drink and cake or biscuits.

Many of you came along to our Easter services with Tasha Gerolimatos leading on Palm Sunday and Rev'd Keith Gale kindly taking our Easter Sunday service. The church appeared and smelled lovely with beautiful flowers everywhere, so thank you to everyone who decorated their own little area.  Rita had been busy knitting little yellow chicks since January and handed them out with a small chocolate egg inside.

Our Day of Prayer took place on Saturday 11 May with 36 people taking part.  This has become a very important part of the church year and we are extremely grateful to all who join us in this spiritual time.Visitors to Calverleigh Village Hall will notice that low heat electric heaters are now installed in the toilets and lobby.  This should remove the chill in these areas in the Winter months.  The committee is grateful for a legacy received from the late John Greenslade and in memoriam gifts received from the family and friends of the late Susan Luffman which funded the project.

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