Dear Readers, As we enter the month of October and the days start drawing in, we have much to celebrate in both our churches with the two Harvest Festivals, Church teas continuing, Messy Church and the Spanish Fiesta in early November to look forward to. Read all about it in InSpire October-2018_website.pdf
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Dear all This month I will have been your vicar here for seven years which I can hardly believe. Where has all the time gone?! It certainly doesn’t seem like seven years; the time has literally flown by, yet these seven years have shaped our parish of Capel from one where I was appointed as a self-supporting minister under an arrangement of ‘House for Duty’ to a new united Parish and a full time Stipendiary role. (A Stipend is the ecclesiastical word for regular payment to clergy). Basically it means I am now paid! I was extremely happy to come here under House for Duty arrangements as I had other family commitments to honour as well as serving the church and community here. Those of you who know me and the work of clergy also know that ministry is rarely part time, so it was with great thankfulness that a couple of years ago Capel PCC agreed that they could fund a half stipend for the ministry I do. Now with the opportunity to join with St Margaret’s at Ockley, all agreed that this should be a full time stipendiary position which is wonderful. It is good for me of… Read More
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We have recently commenced work on the west boundary wall of the church yard. The appointed stonemason, Shawn Williamson was able to give us some time in September to make a very meaningful start on the wall. If you haven’t seen the impressive work he has done, you should take a walk through the church yard to see for yourself. If not, there are before and after photos attached. As Shawn had some free time we made a start on the wall to show our intent and what can be achieved to restore the lovely handcrafted wall. He has completed approximately 1/3 of the west wall. Money for this month’s work has come from the boundary wall fund. Shawn is proposing to return in November, weather and funds permitting. We have applied to the Capel Parish Council for partial funding and if that comes through we will be able to do a further section of the wall. Further donations from the parish and wider community are needed. Shawn would like to teach local people the art of stone masonry and we would welcome volunteers to come along in November to learn and assist. If you are able to do so… Read More
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Welcome to the September issue of Inspire, celebrating recent marriages and marking the beginning of a new academic year for many. Website_September_2018_Issue19.pdf
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Dear all September is here again and autumn approaches along with new beginnings for many with school, colleges, and further education. I always think it is an exciting time of year – a time to begin something new perhaps. Do you remember when it used to be called ‘evening classes’ or ‘night school’?! Well there is much on offer in our village of course with plenty of events and activities to choose from but here is a taster of some of the things we are offering that are kind of church based. Well, I’m not very good at science and maths and definitely should go back to school for those subjects but despite that one of the things I am looking forward to attending is a talk by our own Revd Dr Martin Gilpin from St Peter’s Newdigate who is going to give a talk on science and faith entitled ‘Belief in God: Is it rational?’. The talk is free and is to be held in Newdigate Village Hall on Friday 7th September at 7.30 and Martin who is a scientist by profession is going to discuss amongst other things: – the origin of the universe, the origin of life… Read More
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“Enjoy the little things in life, for one day you’ll look back and realize they were big things.” August_2018_websiteissue.pdf
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Dear all I am really enjoying spotting and generally being surprised by the different scarecrows which keep appearing in the village. How fun are they and how ingenious you scarecrow makers are! From the long green nose of what I presume is an upside down watering can to appearances between gaps in hedges to daring positions precariously scaling houses I am loving them! Scarecrows you see, throughout the village were before my time in Capel. So I have googled how to make a scarecrow and hopefully by the time you read this we will have one outside the vicarage as well. We also have a new addition to our vicarage in the shape of a new Labrador puppy called Ruby. Some of you will already know that Doug and I celebrated our 40th wedding anniversary recently – hence the puppy’s name – and this is our present to one another. We were very spoiled at both churches too with beautiful flowers, champagne at our PCC meeting and a fabulous card with our wedding photo on it (!) with a lovely Susie West print of the Isle of Wight where we spent our anniversary with our children and grandchildren which was… Read More
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Dear all So once again we are fortunate to have fine weather for our vicarage fete tomorrow. As I write there is a wonderful array of gazeboes kindly lent and installed by many kind and very helpful people adorning our back garden. Lovely that we need them this year to keep the heat off us instead of the rain! I would like to thank everyone who has involved themselves with the fete, the organising team, the helpers who man the various stalls – a record number this year; those who prepare and serve the delicious teas and of course a huge thank you to those who have donated very generous raffle prizes. Hopefully we will raise lots of money for our schools. It is amazing how everyone together each playing their part creates something wonderful. I have also very much enjoyed playing a very small part in the Ockley Dramatic Society’s 70th birthday celebrations this last month. Something I’ve never done before I have to say! I was persuaded to as they say in theatrical circles I believe; tread the boards, in what was fairly obviously a comic play. I was given a ‘cameo’ role (more theatrical speak) as one… Read More
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Issue 17 brings news of our Vicarage Fete, Eco Church launch and the cancellation of the Photographic competition. July_2018_issue17-2-4.pdf
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In this issue we are commemorating St John the Baptist on 24th June and Investigating the origins of Father’s Day, together with celebrating the approach of our Annual Parish Fete in aid of the local schools. June_2018_issue16_webedition.pdf
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