Hellingly and Horsebridge

OPEN THE BOOK: This is an exciting new project involving Hellingly and Upper Dicker Churches and two local schools. A group from Hellingly and Upper Dicker churches were invited to present bible stories in the form of a play to the children at Hellingly School and Park Mead School, during an assembly. They did their first performances just after the Easter holidays and it was a very special experience. The story played out was called The Beautiful Gate and was taken from Acts ch 3 v's 1-10. It is a very short story involving Peter and John on their way to Jerusalem. On this occasion six people took part in the play, some with small speaking parts and others representing the beautiful gate. There is also a narrator who reads the bible story and the closing notes from a set script. Apart from the narrator all were in costumes of some sort and that was actually good fun and really got the children's attention. Most importantly they also involved the children. For this story there were six children helping with the acting and the rest of the school were asked to make faces and noises at certain times. '˜It was amazing how the children were completely absorbed with what was happening.' Said Jacky, '˜We could see how much they enjoyed it and how much they all got involved.' The group was well received by the staff in both schools and after this first visit had very positive feedback. They hope to be able to do two performances a term. Currently they are a group of nine volunteers but would welcome more people to join them, so if you feel tempted please have a word with David Farey, Vicar at Hellingly and Upper Dicker churches email- vicar. [email protected], telephone 01323 440450, mobile 07512 370221 or Jacky Clark and they will explain a bit more about how it works. This is a great project to be involved in, so do give it some thought.