ALL EVENTS FOR 2021

Due to COVID restrictions very limited activities were held this year.

Evening Prayer Project 2021

This year we were very fortunate to be able to hold the St. Mary’s Summer Teas on six Sunday afternoons from 12 July until 16 August. We were blessed with excellent weather, so that there were many visitors who enjoyed a cup of tea or coffee and some of the lovely home-made cakes.

As usual St. Mary’s Chapel was open for visitors to admire and to learn about its history and how there came to be an Anglican Church in this part of the woods. It is interesting to meet people who perhaps live close by and have never been in the
chapel, as well as those from further away who are on holiday in the area. Many are interested to learn about the Anglican Church, what we believe and how we worship.

This year we provided an opportunity for visitors to experience an Anglican service. There was a poster in the Hut and a poster in the chapel informing everyone that there would be a short service of Evening Prayer that afternoon at 16:00.

When we began, I was never sure whether there would be a congregation. However, I was never on my own. Some weeks there were just three or four people, but as Jesus said: ‘where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them’ (Matt. 18:20). On other weeks we had nine or ten people present. It was encouraging to see people coming back again the next week sometimes bringing a friend with them.
I certainly enjoyed preparing and leading these services of Evening Prayer from Common Worship Daily Prayer.

The services were quite short, being less than 25 minutes. Each service began with a Psalm. There was an Old Testament reading and a New Testament reading. There were also canticles, responses, and prayers. There was no sermon other than a short introduction at the beginning when I explained the service and told a little about the Psalm we would be saying and the readings that we would be listening to.
Evening Prayer is a beautiful service during which we hear the words of Scripture and through which the Holy Spirit makes God’s message real to us. I pray that many who attended were touched by God’s Spirit on those Sunday afternoons in the stillness of St. Mary’s Chapel.

Simone Yallop
Licensed Lay Minister