When I was a curate, Bill and Amy
were two pillars of one of my village churches -
and lovely pillars they were! Bill had lived in the
village all his life, and told me that when he was
a child the Parson was also the Squire. Bill
commented, "If you weren't in church on Sunday, you
weren't in work on Monday. It was as simple as
that. At least these days, we go to church because
we want to."
Bill would go to Morning Service
with his family, and would then be sent, with his
brothers and sisters, to Sunday School in the
afternoon. "How did your parents persuade you to
go?" I asked. "Two reasons," said Bill. "Sunday
School was the most exciting thing to do - there
was nothing else. And there were seven of us in a
two-bedroomed cottage. Sunday School meant Mum and
Dad got some time together - alone. Perhaps I exist
because of Sunday School." I hadn't got an answer
to that!
There is nothing new under the sun,
and we are going back to an afternoon Sunday School
- but these days it needs a catchy name: 'Ponteland
Penguins'. Why Penguins? Because half the group
wanted a name that related to animals or birds,
while the other half wanted a name that related to
chocolate! We will meet in Church from 4 to 5 p.m.
on the second, third and fourth Sundays of each
month, starting on Sunday 12th September. Each
meeting will start with a short service - a bit
like Our Service - followed by craft, music, drama
and games. We will cater for any youngsters, of
whatever age, who turn up, and we plan to have the
kettle permanently on for any parents who wish to
stay. We would welcome any church folk who'd like
to come and help, and we would value your prayers,
please.
It is no longer the case that
Sunday School is the only thing to do on a Sunday;
these days we compete with all sorts of activities,
and our children live very busy lives. We therefore
have to work on our publicity. Posters went into
all the schools at the end of last term (Darras
Hall First School photocopied the posters and sent
one home with every child). All the youngsters who
come to Holiday Club will get information, and
we'll do another blitz in the schools in the first
week of term. Visits to Mums & Toddlers and to
the Brownies are already booked in my diary, and
we'll use the databases we've built up over the
last few years to invite all our Baptism
families.
Heritage Open Days will be held on
the same weekend, 11-12th September. We're using
the national scheme, which has been organised to
enable people to visit Heritage properties, to get
the message across that our churches are worth
visiting - and not 'just' as Heritage properties!
If you meet visitors who have come to either
church, whether for the services or just to have a
look round, please welcome them.
Then, 26th September is 'Back to
Church' Sunday. Once again, Maureen in the Office
and I will use our databases. We'll send an
invitation to those couples we've already married
or we're soon to be marrying; we'll send an
invitation to those people who have attended our
churches for a funeral. And, while we're at it,
we'll include some publicity for the two Sundays of
Harvest coming up in October: a Harvest Family
Service on Sunday 3rd October (preceded on Saturday
2nd at 6.30 p.m. by a Harvest Festival for the
Royal Agricultural Benevolent Institution; all are
welcome to join the farming community for this
special service and for a ceilidh in the Church
Hall afterwards), and a Harvest Communion and lunch
with Sandra and Eric Read on Sunday 10th October.
But please don't leave it all to
Maureen and me! There is publicity material
available for you all to take and use. Is there a
family in your street who might enjoy the Penguins?
Please tell them about it. And why not invite
someone to come to church with you on 'Back to
Church' or the Harvest Sundays?
Peter vicar@pontelandstmary.org.uk
