Dear friends,

Our travels have taken us across Austria and we are now in the Czech republic.

On our way we visited the heroes organ in Kufstein. Every day at 12 noon there is a 15 minute recital for the fallen of all wars world-wide. The way this organ is built, ensures it can be heard for miles around. Kufstein is on the northern border of Tirol. On the southern border, in Italy, the largest bell in the world is rung every day for world peace. The inscription of this bell is in the second picture and translates as: ‘Nothing can be lost through peace. Everything can be lost through war.’
I leave you with these wise words from pope Pius XII.

God bless,

Dineke van den Bogerd

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Weekly Notes
Readings-20240505.pdf

Weekly Readings

The May 2024 issue marks Ascension day and Pentecost.  Also details and more information on the following, all happening in May:-

Christian Aid Week – 12th – 18th May
Prayer for Schools Fortnight – 6th to 20th May
13th-20th May – Mental Health Awareness week

A few words from the Pentecost Poetic prayer for Pentecost by Alan Millichip featured in this issue.

“Out they went to every corner,
Fearless as they spread the word;
Bringing light to those in darkness,
Giving hope to all that heard.”

May_autocol_website.pdf

Dear friends,

Greetings from lovely Sicily.

The picture today is from a DOM church we visited Thursday evening. We learned that the dome was added during a 200-year period when it was used as a mosque. We also learned that 25 April is a yearly celebration of liberation from fascism in Italy.

God bless,

Dineke van den Bogerd

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Weekly Notes
Readings-20240428.pdf

Dear friends,

The apple tree did us proud this year: an abundance of flowers made me decide to sacrifice some branches for an entry in the spring show of the Capel Horticultural Society and they won the class. Unfortunately the hail storm the following day ensured the tree is now a sad sight.
We should be in for some better weather in the next week.

Gill showed me the progress of the extension of St Margaret’s last week and it’s really impressive. The new window is stunning and the position ensures that you see it on entering the church. The parish service is an excellent opportunity for Capelites to have a look.

Last but not least: it’s too late now to register to vote in the local elections early May but please bear in mind that the general election should happen later this year so if you are not registered consider doing so soon. It’s not quite 100 years ago that the right to vote became the norm so do exercise that right.

God bless,

Dineke van den Bogerd

notes-20240421.pdf

Readings-20240421.pdf

Dear friends,

Four years ago we were in the first COVID lockdown. The picture of the wild garlic was taken of one of the many glorious walks around our villages. I will always remember the beautiful weather, the silence, the glimmer of hope that flight numbers would stay down. There was also the deep sense of privilege that living in the countryside we could go out into nature when those living in a bedsit in London were not even allowed out in the parks. It was a memorable time for many reasons.

God bless,

Dineke van den Bogerd

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Weekly Notes
Readings-20240414.pdf

Dear friends,

Last week, on Easter Sunday, we did a lovely walk starting on the footpath in front of our house. The attached picture with St John in the distance was taken from the nature reserve. We hope many of you will come to the APCM in St John tomorrow after church.

Do give yourself some extra time to get acquainted with our new donations machine, which can of course also be used before the service for the collection (experimental credit card donations most welcome!). I will be bringing it and be available for any questions before the service and during coffee before the APCM.

God bless,

Dineke van den Bogerd

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Weekly Notes
Readings-20240407.pdf

Welcome to April’s InSpire with lots of topical articles, puzzles, quizzes and much more!

As we begin to celebrate Spring and all it’s beauty, this is a particularly poignant quote:

“The probability of life originating by accident is comparable to the probability of the complete Oxford dictionary resulting from an explosion in a printing factory”. – Edwin Conklin

April_autocolour.pdf

Happy Easter everyone!

I hope you all have a wonderful time this weekend with a bit of sunshine albeit quite wet underfoot.

Next week, 7 April, we have several exciting things going on.

*
First and foremost it is the day of our Annual Parochial Church Meeting. Please make sure you attend this important event in our church diary when you can hear reports of what happened last year and plans for the current year.
*
One plan that has come to fruition already is the revival of the rota for coffee after Sunday service in St John. Mike and Jane will be biting the bullet next Sunday so please stay after the service to support them.
*
Last but not least we will be introducing our new collection taker: CollecTin as pictured. This is our new creditcard donations machine that we have purchased with help (and a grant!) from the central Church of England. By all means familiarise yourself and if you would like to test it out you are more than welcome!

Be careful in the next week as the change of clocks can result in people not concentrating as normal for several days.

God bless,

Dineke van den Bogerd

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Weekly Notes
Readings-20240331.pdf

Dear friends,

For those who receive these notes in time: tonight 23 March we can join in with Earth Hour. This yearly event makes us stop and think how much resources we drain from the planet each year and how this affects climate change and nature loss. The idea is to switch off all non-essential lights between 20:30 and 21:30 and celebrate creation. Have some food and drink together, tell stories or play games: it’s surprising how many games exist that don’t require light or even require no light! You can also think of something specific to do for the planet like have a vegetarian day once or twice a week or replace short trips in the car with walking or cycling or consider car sharing more.
Happy Earth hour and God bless,

Dineke van den Bogerd

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Weekly Notes
Readings-20240324.pdf