News & Features

Like so many other groups and communities we are busy putting in place our plans to celebrate the Queen's Platinum Jubilee.  As well as joining in with what's going on in our villages we'll be offering opportunities to celebrate together on Sunday 5th June.  You'll find further information in our events pages.  

The key message is that everyone is welcome.  After two years when we haven't been able to meet up, this will be a wonderful opportunity to come together to celebrate.

Dip in and out, choose which bits to come to - or stay all afternoon.  It will be great to see you there.

(By the way .... the weather won't stop our fun, we'll just move to the Church and Church Room)

This Christian Aid Week we are supporting the charity's campaign to help families in Zimbabwe.  In our service this morning we heard about the lives of two of the many women who are struggling to raise families on the increasingly drought ridden farmland which is a result of global warming.  We thought about how we might act in love in three ways:

• by making a donation to support the projects that are helping these families.
• by raising awareness of climate injustice
• by praying for strength and resiliance for all those who are going through these times.

If you would like to find out more about this week's campaign you can do so here: Christian Aid Week 2022

If you would like to make a donation to Christian Aid's work, you can use our e-envelope, which you will find here: Brooke Benefice E-envelope

Thank you for taking time to consider those who need our help.

Alleluia!  He is Risen!

Thank you to all those who made our keeping of Holy Week so special.

Wasn't it wonderful to be together in church on Easter Sunday with no restrictions - and to see so many people.  

Look out for more information coming soon about all the services and events going on this Eastertide.

How wonderful it is that this year we will be able to gather together to make our way through Holy Week and to celebrate Easter at the end.  After 2020's Easter at home, still in the shock of the first lockdown, and then last year's experience of restrictions on public worship being lifted just for Easter Day, we are a lot closer this year to a "normal" keeping of the season.

We recognise that Covid is still with us and so we will still be taking steps to keep everyone as safe as possible.  There is plenty of room in our churches for people to space out and lots of fresh air!  You are welcome to wear a face covering if you wish to and we continue to provide hand sanitiser at the door.  Please be considerate of other people and check how comfortable they are with you sitting close to them.  We will make sure that some of our services during this time are on Zoom, so that those who wish to remain at home can do so without missing out.  But we hope that as many people as possible will come in person this year - to celebrate the fact that we can!

There will be a variety of services and activities during the week, each one reflecting the mood of the day and helping us to journey with Jesus to the cross and the resurrection.  Everyone is welcome.  You don't need to have been to anything in church before; there will be someone to show you where to sit, our Orders of Service give you everything you need to join in if you wish to, and there will be people around who can answer your questions afterwards.

May you all have a blessed Holy Week, which touches your heart and deepens your faith.

National Day of Reflection 2022

Wednesday 23rd March was the date of the first national lockdown, a marker for the beginning of the Corona Virus pandemic in this country.  Two years on we are encouraged to pause and reflect on our experiences.  For many of us there are losses to mourn, not only of loved ones who died, but for family occasions missed, social events cancelled and livlihoods damaged, but there are also things to celebrate.  The lessons we learnt about working together, neighbourliness and care were invaluable, as were the things we discovered; like the usefulness of technological communication.  It was not just a "bad time" to be forgotten, but a time to grow and change too.  

As we reflect on all that has passed we also have the opportunity to look to the future too.  The pandemic is far from over and individuals and families are still suffering, not just with positive Covid tests, but with the long term effects of the disease and the economic consequences of spending so much time at home.  That said, the positive outcomes are lasting too and this day of reflection may provide us with the chance to review their impact on our lives, to "check out" how we are doing at maintaining the sense of community we discovered and to face the future with renewed hope.

Have a look at our events pages to find out how you can take part in this year's National Day of Reflection.

In these days of darkness for so many people,

please take the time to pray for peace.

Most Holy God and Father,

hear our prayers for all who strive for peace

and all who fight for justice.

Help us, who today remember the cost of war,

to work for a better tomorrow;

and, as we commend to you the lives lost in terror and conflict,

bring us all, in the end, to the peace of your presence;

through Christ our Lord.

Amen

As the excitement of Christmas celebrations fades, the beginning of the new year can seem a bit grey and bleak.  The weather is often cold and wet, and the light levels are low.  Combined with the continuation of the Covid pandemic, it can be difficult to feel joy and hope.

                      BUT…..!

These early months are full of the promise of what is to come.  Each day, although we hardly notice it, there is more daylight and less darkness.  If we keep watch we will begin to notice the early shoots of flowering bulbs, lying dormant since last year, or planted with hope in the autumn.  The stark tree branches will begin to bear buds and a green haze may well start to be visible as this year’s leaves are born.  Slowly the brown leafy sludge will begin to dry and the verges and footpaths will re-emerge.  By the time we reach the end of March we’ll be putting the clocks forward and starting to get used to lighter evenings.  The daffodils will be nodding in our gardens and the primroses blooming at the roadside, and our expansive Norfolk skies will once again be blue.

The life cycle of creation can do so much to boost our spirits and to give us hope that we too, like the flowers and plants and animals, can be renewed.

Whatever each of us is experiencing at the moment, it is important that we are watchful, noticing the spring signs in our own life; the kind deeds, the loving words, the warm smiles.  It is these things that will renew our hope.  And it is important that we remember that we can bring the gift of spring to others, when we find positive ways to interact and show our care.

May your February and March be filled with the promise of spring and your joy and hope overflow to those around you.

February 2nd is the Feast of the Presentation of Christ - better known to many as Candlemas.

We celebrate this light filled end to the Christmas season on Sunday 30th January at 6.30pm with a candlelit service at St Peter's Church in Brooke.  Everyone is welcome to join in this family friendly service filled with music and candles.

As an exciting new venture we will also be joining with Brooke Primary School on 2nd February.  After a special assembly in the morning, the children will be making lanterns ready for a procession to church in the afternoon.  They will then take part in a service where we will remember the story of Jesus being presented in the Temple.  We're all looking forward to sharing the day with the children.

Whilst we hope to keep our churches open for prayer and worship, we are taking extra precautions at the moment to keep visitors and congregations safe.  It is a legal requirement to wear a face covering (unless you are exempt) in a church building at the moment and we've put signs up to help you remember.  It's wonderful that we are all allowed to join in with singing, but we're being cautious and keeping our masks on for this.  There's hand santiser by all our doors, so please use it to help us keep the surfaces, books and other things you might touch clean.  If you come to a service, we'll still ask you to sign in and leave a contact number in case there is any risk of contact with the virus.  We'll let you know if that's the case.

If you are hesitant, please let us know.  There's always plenty of space, so we can find you somewhere to sit away from other people.  We'll do our best to keep at least one service each Sunday on Zoom, so that you can join us from home if you would rather.

Let's hope that all these precautions are temporary and that, before too long, we can go back to the greater level of freedom we were enjoying last year.  While they are in place though, let's all take care of one another and try to encourage each other along and let's continue to pray for those who are suffering the virus or its knock on effects, for those who are working in the NHS and other essential professions and for those who have been bereaved.

Sending Christmas greetings to all.

"The light shines in the darkness,

and the darkness cannot put it out."

As the season of Advent dawns we find ourselves once more in a period of watching and waiting as the "omicron" varient of Covid 19 reveals itself.  It feels as if the uncertainty of the pandemic has increased again and all our planning and hoping is less confident.  In the benefice, until instructed otherwise, we will continue to hold services and events "in person", taking care with ventilation and welcoming the wearing of face coverings, but not enforcing them.  Our biggest hope is that we don't return to the "no singing" rule - another Christmas with no carols would be hard to bear.

The waiting of the Advent season is very different from the waiting linked to Covid 19.  It is expectant waiting.  Not waiting to find out the results of tests and investigations, but waiting for a promised event in which we can have confidence - we just don't know when it will happen.  As we count the days we wait for our yearly reminder of the birth of Christ, our Saviour; celebrated at Christmas.  We wait too for his promised return in glory, to judge and rule the earth.  We do not know when this will be, but the assurance that it will happen may provide us with the hope we need to keep working for good, to keep faith with God and to keep living life to the full.

As we continue to take great care, let us also enjoy the freedoms of the moment and prepare to celebrate together this year.