Dear Friends,

Christmas comes early this year as the beautiful community Christmas trees gather once more to welcome everyone to church and bid us all a happy Christmas as we walk or drive past. I believe we have more than ever this year and because of the way the month falls they will be decorated and the lights switched on at the end of November (30th). Well Advent Sunday is the following day so we will then be counting down the days before Christmas Day, with many services and events happening in our churches this December. The usual Christmas services will be held with a choice on Christmas Day as to which church you would like to worship with family services at both churches. Communion will be offered at Ockley as well and of course at Capel we have Holy Communion at 11pm Christmas Eve. Christmas Day then is likely to be a celebration worship with traditional carols and readings. Both services are at 10am on Christmas Day. For our annual Nine Lessons and Carols we are celebrating these with our lovely village school Scott Broadwood staff and children this year. They will be helping us with some of the readings and some of the singing! We can’t wait! For the last two school terms we have been running a weekly afterschool Church Club for the children which has been a runaway success. We now have over half the school joining us each week and Mr Baguley says he has never known an afterschool activity to be so popular! How about that then? Bob and the band are holding a Christmas Café Church on December 8th. We have a very informal Christingle in the cosy surroundings of Ockley Cricket Pavilion later on the same day and the following Sunday, again at St Margaret’s church we have a whole parish communion with a blessing of the crib. At Capel we have our traditional Crib Service on Christmas Eve as usual. There are other carol events being held by the Capel Choral Society in church as well, so plenty to choose from. I am really looking forward to seeing you all, over the festive season.

At home at the Vicarage the Nativity will be assembled once again on our front lawn with the usual characters plus a couple of new animals! I am planning to have a QR code outside to collect donations for LeatherHead Start – formerly Leatherhead Night Shelter. LeatherHead Start provides emergency, direct access, short term accommodation for homeless men and women over the age of 18. I cannot think of a better charity to connect to our re imagination of the holy family all those years ago, sheltering in a stable. So please enjoy the nativity again this year and if you wish to you can donate. Alternatively please donate to another charity – that would be lovely.

Finally it with much sadness and regret that we have learned of the Church of England’s handling of allegations of serious abuse by the late John Smyth made public through the recent Makin Review. This led to the resignation of the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby with various statements by senior clergy within the Church of England, one of which stated that the Church is not safe. I would like to reassure you all that the levels of safeguarding in the Dioceses are high and especially in Guildford Diocese. Our own Bishop of Guildford himself was a victim of Smyth’s abuse and he is very aware that the Makin Review may stir up very deep feelings for some who read it or have heard of it through the media. If you or anyone else has been affected by this report or any concerns about safeguarding please contact Safe Spaces on 0300 303 1056 or the Samaritans helpline on 116123. If you have any safeguarding concerns at all don’t hesitate to contact:
Revd Liz Richardson – 07837408239 / 01305 711260
Leigh de Souza – Parish Safeguarding Officer – 07732 825908

As we celebrate the feast of Christ the King this coming Sunday as I write just before Advent, let us remember that our ultimate refuge is in God made possible by his incarnation of his only Son Jesus whose birth we celebrate in a very little while! With all God’s richest blessings, love and prayers for Christmas and the year ahead! Enjoy!

Liz

Dear Friends,

Dear friends,

Last Friday I had the privilege of attending the Arts Alive Festival finale in Pippbrook House in Dorking.
It was a lovely event, organised by a team chaired by our very own Mary Huggins. It was great to see that the delightful decorations seem fairly unharmed by the building having been unused for such a long time.I’m looking forward to seeing how it will be used again in the not too distant future.

God bless,

Dineke

Dear friends,

This week I give you a picture of the advent calendars I am offering for sale this year. They are a great opportunity to talk to relatives about the Christmas message.

The blue Divine calendar has Fair Trade chocolate in each window so apart from the conversation about Christ come to earth you can talk about unfairness in the world and how our small actions can help give growers a fairer price for their labour. It means parents can afford to send their children to school rather than employ them from a very early age.
The triangular tea calendars are more for older children and adults. They have a different organic tea in each window and remind us that we must honour Gods creation and stop polluting land, sky and sea.
Last but not least: everything I sell is competitively priced and all proceeds go to the church funds. I have a few left!

This week I also want to draw your attention to the USA presidential elections. I don’t think it needs an explanation why I ask you to pray for the situation in that country.

God bless,

Dineke van den Bogerd

Dear friends,

The photo is from last week and this European hornet is probably a male about to die as the females are most likely in hibernation by now. I looked up hornets and this is what I found:

‘The fearsome-looking hornet may not be a well-loved insect, but it is actually much less aggressive than the common wasp. It is also an important pollinator and a predator of species that feed on plants and crops, so can be a gardener’s friend.’

Not to be confused with the Asian hornet, which is smaller and much darker. Any sightings of these need to be reported as they are invasive and a threat to native bees and honey bees.

God bless,

Dineke van den Bogerd

Dear friends,

These notes come to you a bit later that usual as I have been to see family for a couple of days.

When people ask me what I miss about the Netherlands the first thing that comes to mind is ‘water’. It’s difficult to explain how the rivers, canals and lakes shape the landscape and wildlife populations. My sister’s flat overlooks a very large pond and every year a couple of terns raise their young on what they catch there. Vann Lake in Ockley hosts terns in summer but their comings and goings are much more hidden from view. The cormorant in the picture is one on a multitude of waterbirds I spotted last Friday near Gorinchem.

Today after the parish service in Capel I will be running my LOAF stall again with new stock. Please come and browse.

God bless,

Dineke

Dear friends,

At last this week I witnessed Aurora Borealis. The picture shows more than could be seen with the naked eye, probably due to exposure time. I am so very pleased that I have seen this most beautiful phenomenon now after having been on family visits north of the arctic circle to no avail. What a wonderful world we live in!

This Sunday I will be running my LOAF stall around cafe church and also during teas in St John in the afternoon. Please come and see what is on offer (no obligations) for Christmas baking and day-to-day goodies.

God bless,

Dineke van den Bogerd

Dear friends,

St Francis Day was last Friday: 4 October.
In many countries this day is know as World Animal Day. Those who know their saints will understand why this day was chosen to celebrate the relationship between humans and animals.
In this light we had the pet service in Ockley last week and we can continue to show our concern for animal welfare by being critical consumers when we buy meat, dairy and fish. Consuming less, but of higher quality standards (free range, organic etc) will not harm us and improve living standards of farm animals no end.

God bless,

Dineke van den Bogerd

Dear friends,

This week I picked up this clock from a service. It hadn’t run for decades and I’m pleased it is well again after some tlc and repairs. Apparently clocks need a service every 60 years so someone else will have to worry about the next one.

Does that sound a bit like church life? We must not worry too much about how things will be many years from now but in the meantime we must do what we can to shine a light in our community.
On this note I invite you all to come to church whenever you can (even when the parish service is on the other side of the A24) and do all you can to strengthen our part of the body of Christ, knowing that none of us is more important than the others and the baton will be passed to coming generations.

God bless,

Dineke van den Bogerd

Enjoying the last few days of late summer sunshine I always look forward to October.

Do you have a favourite month or season? For me I seem to like the Autumn and Spring, times when the seasons are either mellowing or springing into life!
A few weeks ago we were presented at St John’s with a Record of Church Furnishings made by a charitable group called The Church Recording Society. We were presented with 2 volumes of their work which includes all the memorials, metalwork, internal stonework, woodwork, textiles, windows, pictures, books, papers, musical instruments and tiles inside our parish church. It makes for very interesting reading as I am sure you can imagine. This amazing team of recorders, mostly retired professionals and enthusiasts of church heritage, spent many months weekly visiting and detailing everything fixed and non fixed and we were thrilled they wished to do this for us, completely free of charge! Copies of the Record will be available for everyone to see later on in the Autumn so do pop in and have a look from November onwards.
On the subject of the church interior I am afraid that we have had to make the decision to keep the toilet locked during the week and only open when there is an event or a service. This is due to the loo being used as a village ‘public convenience’ rather than for church visitors. We are sorry if this causes inconvenience (no pun intended) to locals. If you are disabled there is a special fob you can have to unlock it and use it. Otherwise do let me or one of the churchwardens know if you need it unlocked for any reason when you visit the church.
This month we celebrate Harvest at both our churches and gifts of foodstuffs are warmly welcomed and will be distributed either locally or the majority will go to Dorking Foodbank and Leatherhead START. Please just leave them in designated boxes in church and we will store them securely till distribution. Please do remember that if you know anyone who is suffering from food poverty, we have a wonderful local food bank and my Pastoral Assistant and I can issue vouchers very easily for anyone at all. We are here to help where we can.
So our Harvest service takes place on the 13th October at Capel at 10.30am. This is a special Cafe Church style service with an informal atmosphere. We begin with refreshments and then settle down for some good music, words and thought all on a harvest theme. We are hoping that families will join us for this lovely annual event, especially our uniformed groups and school families. All are welcome – PLEASE come and join us!! Let me know if anyone needs transport.
October is also of course the month when our now annual Murder Mystery Play and Harvest Supper take place at Ockley Village Hall on Friday 25th and Capel Memorial Hall on Saturday 26th October. Its a great play and a fun evening and lovely supper so what’s not to like?! Great cast too!! Do hurry and book tickets for either night – Box Office Corinne Jay – 07718 346294
Finally as the month draws to a close we will be holding our annual service of comfort for the bereaved, actually on the 3rd of November. Always a lovely but poignant time of thanksgiving and memory, with the lighting of candles as loved ones are named, followed by Church Teas. In the meantime I pray that whatever this month holds for you, may you know the living God is always with you.
With my love and prayers
Liz