Winchelsea

BST: Despite cold winds and an early spring summer is rapidly approaching. We are reminded of this because on Sunday March 26th the clocks move forward one hour for British Summer Time and consequently an hour of sleep may be lost. Fortunately, the evenings will get lighter which means being able to walk the dog without need of a torch and thus saving on energy. A date for your diary is Sunday October 29th when the clocks go back one hour.

Mothering Sunday: This Sunday March 26th celebrates Mother’s Day when all mothers are thanked and appreciated for the love and care they have given to their families. St Thomas’ Church will be holding a Holy Communion service and it is traditional that posies of spring flowers will be given to mums during the service. If you would like to be involved in making the posies do give Marion Lovell a call.

Top 13: The top 13 hymns chosen last Saturday morning at the Wesley Chapel’s ‘Songs of Praise’ meeting (except for one) came from the 19th century, a time of church revival. These included Charles Wesley’s ‘And Can It Be’; Horatio Palmer’s ‘Yield Not to Temptation’; Joseph Scriven’s ‘What a Friend we have in Jesus’; Priscilla Owens’ ‘Will your Anchor Hold’; Henry Smart’s ‘Angels from the Realms of Glory’; and the contemporary Martin Leckebush’s ‘In an Age of Twisted Values we have lost the Truth We Need’. In total they produced hundreds of hymns. Many had experienced some type of calamity in their lives and determined and inspired wrote powerfully of hope and faith. An interesting example is Priscilla Owens born in 1829 and a school teacher in Baltimore Maryland. She saw that the children often arrived at the school fearful and troubled and finding it easier to express in poetic form wrote: ‘Will your anchor hold in the storms of life, When the clouds unfold their wings of strife? When the strong tide lift and the cables strain, Will your anchor drift or firm remain?’ (from Hebrews 6:19) Singing the verses together at specific times was encouraging and uplifting. A good number of friends attended the event and enjoyed the hour of singing although it was not long enough to cover all the favourite hymns.

Winchelsea Beach

Spring clean: A Spring Beach Clean involving Winchelsea Beach and the surrounding area has been arranged by Rye Harbour Nature Reserve for Saturday March 25th. Please bring gloves if you have them and meet at Rye Harbour village car park for 10am to be finished by 1pm. While clearing up the rubbish blown in by winter storms keep a look out for the first arrivals of Wheatears hopping along the ground and Sandwich Terns recognisable by their long black bills. After the work there will be time to relax with a bowl of hot soup.

Church service: A Holy Communion service will take place at St Richard’s Church this Sunday March 26th beginning at 9.30am. Also members of the parish are invited to the Annual Parochial Meeting at St Thomas’ Church on Saturday March 25th at 10.30am.

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