September and our thoughts here at church turn to Harvest. Both of our churches will be holding special Harvest services. St Margaret’s traditionally hold theirs at the end of September and then St John the Baptist follow at Capel the following week, the first Sunday in October. It is a wonderful time of the year isn’t it and our churches certainly always look splendid festooned with harvest flowers and of course the harvest gifts so generously donated by many of you. We also have another one of our very popular murder mystery plays and suppers returning to both Ockley and to Capel this year. Following a break of at least a couple of years we have a stellar cast for you and the drama this year is set in the world of fashion. ‘Murder on the Catwalk’ written by Janet Smith will once again be a murder mystery to be solved by our audiences and I understand that there will be a sense of secrecy as in that long running play ‘The Mousetrap’ as to who did it!! An excellent two course supper will be included in your ticket so do book early as places are limited. Details for booking are elsewhere in this magazine but I can tell you performances are on Friday 23rd and Saturday 24th September.

For those who would prefer a slightly more genteel approach to Harvest we are looking forward to a ploughman’s harvest lunch at St Margaret’s on Sunday 25th September. The traditional Harvest teas will then be at Capel on Sunday 2nd October. We will once again be looking to collect donations of appropriate foodstuffs for Dorking Foodbank and Leatherhead Start so if you would like to contribute please leave your donations inside church clearly marked that it is for Harvest. We will also be taking a monetary collection at both Harvest services to assist those in need at home or abroad. More details will be available shortly.

September is one of those times of new beginnings isn’t it. Lots of young people will be making new starts as they return to or start new schools or colleges and many leaving home to continue their education. We will be praying for them and also for others we know who are moving away to other parts of the country. Someone who we have had to say farewell to is one of our wonderful Treasurers, Debbie von Bergen, as she and Hugh move westwards. Debbie took on the role of Hon Treasurer a few years ago which is a big enough job for anyone these days but has also given her commitment and dedication to everything that we as a parish have been involved in in recent years. As someone noted recently ‘not many people are irreplaceable but Debbie is a pretty good contender on that one’! I personally shall miss them both and thank them both for their presence and wisdom in all they have been involved with, in and for our church and community. We send them off with all God’s blessings as they begin this new chapter in their lives.

With all love and prayers

Revd Liz

Dear friends,

First may I say an enormous thank you for all your kind contributions to the wonderful presents I received last Sunday. I was completely overwhelmed by your generosity and love the picture of Capel Church which will have a special place in our new house. The Sarah Raven vouchers will help us create our new garden which I will start working on this Autumn and winter. I have loved being part of this community and will miss you all enormously, but I have many happy memories to look back on, especially attending both the weekly and monthly bible groups, helping at the vicarage fete, Christmas Fair and military show and of course singing all those wonderful hymns in church.

We’re here for a couple more weeks but do leave the village on 1 September, so this is one last appeal for someone to do the weekly sheets. The preparation takes about an hour of my time and the printing and collating a second hour. The sheets are pre-printed with the readings so it is just the notices that need updating each week. If you don’t have a printer I think Rev Liz would be able to print them for you on her new very fast laser printer, but you do need to be able to use ‘Word’ in order to compile them. Do let me know if you would like to give it a try.

This weeks services are:
9.30am Matins at Ockley taken by Graham Everness
10.30am Cafe church at The Crown, Capel – led by Claire Robins
Rev Liz is away on holiday until 4 September so if you have any queries please ask your church wardens.

Next Saturday sees the return of the much loved Capel Show 12-5pm at Capel recreation ground. This show combines the classic car show and the Horticultural show – so you get two for the price of one!! Do remember that the proceeds from this event go to village societies and charities including the church. I hope to see you there.

The photo of the week this week is my favourite bench on Holmwood common, which is lovely and cool under the tree canopy. Talking of cool places, may I suggest if you are feeling hot to take refuge in one of our lovely churches, they are beautifully cool in this hot weather.

With love and prayers

Debbie von Bergen
debbievonbergen@icloud.com
07774 784008

Readings-14.08.22.pdf

weekly-sheet-22.08.14.pdf

Dear friends

If I had one word to describe this last month it would be cake, cake and more cake! In fact the last few weeks has been a showcase of amazing team work and organisation. A huge thank you to all who have given their time, skills, ovens and enthusiasm as you will see! It all began with the annual Vicarage Fete returning after a two year hiatus due to the pandemic – and what a return it was. It was wonderful to host this traditional garden fete once more and to welcome a record number of families and friends to enjoy the many interesting stalls and entertainment put on by our schools. A traditional fairground organ on our front lawn welcomed everyone in, the weather stayed dry, the barbecue sizzled and I was impressed by how much the children loved holding John Dales snakes and other wonderful creatures! We raised over £2000 for our local schools.

The following week we ran a tea and cake stall at Capel Military Show for both days. Many, many cakes were baked by our volunteers in readiness for this event which was planned and thought out months in advance. A team of 8 people cut cake, managed 6 urns of boiling water (which was a very hot, full time job), served cake, poured drinks, took money and generally kept the stall running efficiently all day long. It was also great fun to be a part of! This was a much needed fund raising event for our parish – one which contributes to the cost of ministry in Capel and Ockley, and also a percentage of our profits goes to the military charities the Show supports. The whole Show was so incredibly efficient and well run and it was a pleasure to be a part of it. We felt very blessed by the amount we raised that weekend and huge thanks to all those who have helped in any way. As I write this we are looking forward to being able to now give back by offering more tea and cakes (!) to Mark Sugden Best and his family for his very popular charity event at Treetops in aid of Myeloma UK. Thank you for asking us.

So now to this month – August. Cannot believe how hot it has been recently and hope by the time you read this temperatures have returned to more normal numbers! A quieter time ahead for us at church and for me some annual leave. There is more cake though! As I prepared the list of services and events for our parish this month, I think every week bar one, there are teas at either Ockley or Capel in and outside our lovely church buildings. We hope very much you might join us. Can you ever have too much cake I wonder?! Well whatever your thoughts on that, you can never have too much of friendship and hospitality, a place to be able to catch your breath, relax and soak up some of the wonderful atmosphere our beautifully cool ancient buildings offer. Buildings that have been filled for centuries with worship and prayer. We are so blessed here that our churches are always open all day and I know many pop in for a bit of quiet time. Long may that continue and may God bless you and yours in this traditional holiday month for many.
With my love and prayers
Revd Liz

Dear friends,

It’s been a busy week, gradually getting our house ready for our move on 1 September. Having spent 25 years here and moving to a smaller property there are some difficult decisions to take on which possessions to hold on to and which to let go of, but each day I find that I feel lighter without all these things in my life.

The charity shops however are groaning with our possessions! I think they now see me coming and a couple of times have told me that they can’t accept anymore contributions. If you too have been faced by this conundrum can I just give a quick plug for the Revive and Re-use shop based at the Leatherhead tip, they are happy to take things that are worthy of charity shops including some clothes, the staff are really helpful and will immediately tell you whether it is better to recycle it or donate it to their shop.

This weeks services are as follows:
9.30am Matins Ockley
10.30am Family communion Capel
3-5pm Church teas Capel

Please join me in welcoming Rose Dowling into our church family, she is to be baptised at 12.15pm tomorrow at Capel. We wish her and her family a happy day.

Alan Smallwood has just pointed out that Buckland Lakes is having a family fun weekend this weekend. If you need further details please go to:
bucklandparklake.co.uk/events/buckland-family-day/?occurrence=2022-07-30&time=1659168000

Lastly, this week’s photo of the week is a very dry and dusty view of the Surrey Hills taken from Abinger Roughs – my goodness we need some rain!

With love and prayers

Debbie von Bergen
debbievonbergen@icloud.com
07774 784008

31-July-2022.pdf

weekly-sheet-22.07.31.pdf

News of local events coming soon – the Okewood, Ockley & Forest Green Summer Fair, Flower Show and Dog show plus the Capel Show with 700 classic cars and bikes, the Horticultural Summer show, Capel Fair with local traders and dog show! Also news of National Allotment week 9-15th August.  We bid farewell to our sponsors Debbie & Hugh von Bergen.

August_colour.pdf

Dear friends,

I hope you have all survived in the heat this week, my garden is certainly looking less than healthy. I don’t think I’ve ever known it so dry, so the rain earlier today was a welcome respite.

This email is coming to you a little earlier than normal as I’m travelling back to the West Country tomorrow to look at what will hopefully become our new house. We finally exchanged on Tuesday and looked round this new house the same day. Our offer has been accepted and we are hoping to be able to dovetail both moving dates for 1 September so negating the need for a rental property. Thank you for all your prayers and well wishes they have helped enormously. I veer from being pleased to being terrified, so apologies if I don’t remember things over the next few weeks as we prepare for the big moving day.

This does mean that I am looking for someone to take over the weekly sheets and this email from the end of August. If you feel you can help please do reply to this email. You don’t even need a printer as Rev Liz can print them for you. It takes me an hour or so each week to compile, print and deliver the sheets which are used in our churches every week. The only requirements are that you have a working knowledge of Word.

This weeks services are as follows:
9.30am Communion Ockley
10.30am Family Communion Capel

We also have church teas at Capel this Sunday 3-5pm – welcome back Joy, we all missed you!!

Please don’t forget the Capel show is fast approaching Saturday 20 August. If you can volunteer for an hour or so Dineke would very much like to hear from you dineke@hotmail.co.uk

Finally, photo of the week is of Capel Church in the blistering sunshine on Monday.

With love and prayers

Debbie von Bergen
debbievonbergen@icloud.com
07774 784008

24-July-2022.pdf

weekly-sheet-22.07.24.pdf

Dear friends,

This email is coming to you early again this week as we have the military show this weekend at which we are running the Coffee/tea and cake stall – an enormous thank you to Norman Ede for masterminding this and Leigh Smith for overseeing all the cake baking. I know many of you have volunteered to help so I look forward to seeing you all there. The weather forecast looks reasonable and not too hot.

This week, as it’s such a busy weekend we have the following service:
10.30am Parish Service Capel
3-5pm Church teas Ockley

For those who would like a quieter afternoon on Sunday we are doing church teas at Ockley away from the noise and razzmatazz of the military show – do come and support them, enjoy splendid cake and good company.

A huge thank you to everyone who helped at last weekend’s Vicarage fete we have raised £2,374 for our local schools. That is such a wonderful achievement particularly as the economic climate is so difficult a the moment. I personally would like to thank, Suzanne Cole, Helen Burt, Gill Christie, Jessie Sutcliffe and Joy Harman (who made all the cakes even though she was going away before the day). These events take a lot of organisation and these ladies were there helping from day one.

Lastly, our photo of the week is the newly erected church tea tent at the Military Show.

With love and prayers

Debbie von Bergen
debbievonbergen@icloud.com <mailto:debbievonbergen@icloud.com>
07774 784008

weekly-sheet-22.07.03docx.pdf

3-July-2022.pdf