Page 3 - Leighton News December 2017
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We are sorry to hear that Reverend Robert’s last service will be on
Sunday 3rd December in Leighton Church at 10am.
Since coming to the Chirbury Benefice in 2010 he has had to cope with the
complex spiritual, financial and structural needs of his 6 churches, and their
communities. Sadly during this time he and Janet have had an unreasonable
share of serious personal ill heath and close family bereavements. Now he is
able to retire, and everyone will want to wish them both a long, healthy and
happy retirement in their new home in Shropshire in the new year.
If you would like to contribute to Robert’s leaving present please contact
John Markwick 555043, Elisabeth Griffiths 555458, Margaret Landgrebe
556080, or Brian Underhill 559557 as soon as possible.
Do come to Leighton Church on the first Sunday in December to
celebrate his ministry and say goodbye. There will refreshments after
the service.
Christmas is a season that combines so many Christmas services rings true, and that the worship
different themes and traditions that it can leave your
head spinning. As Christmas, it is one of the we offer is joyful and welcoming. Services in the
significant high points in the religious calendar - we
don’t know when Jesus was born, but we choose to group include the Crib Service at Trelystan at 3 pm
celebrate his birth at the darkest time of the year; but
as Yuletide the celebration of something at the on Christmas Eve, and Midnight Mass at Leighton,
Winter Solstice goes back much further.
which starts at 11.45 pm. A warm welcome is
But then all kinds of modern traditions find
themselves included in the mix as well: the queues extended to all, whatever the weather might choose
of desperate parents hoping still to be able to buy
this year’s must have Christmas toy; the Christmas to do.
charts, these days dominated less by Christmas
records than the latest X-Factor or whatever And then come the New Year Resolutions.
discoveries; even the bets placed on there being a
white Christmas. I haven’t decided yet even whether to make any; last
Finally, families and friends often have their own year’s attempts at a new me petered out by mid-
home-made traditions - “We do this every
Christmas,” they say, whether it’s all going round to January. Maybe I should try bell ringing? It was
Aunty Pru’s on Boxing Day or maybe (and I know
someone who does this) all jetting off to Tenerife. lovely to hear the Leighton bells ring for our two
At the heart of this heady mix of traditions, I’ll be weddings in the autumn. It’s good exercise, I’m told.
doing my best to make sure that the message of our
Maybe there might be others willing to have a go?
If Christmas is a time for taking traditions
seriously, then change ringing is one tradition I think
is well worth keeping. But next year, the one
hundredth anniversary of the ending of the First
World War, there is a concerted effort to ensure that
the sound of bells rings out from as many towers as
possible, and it would be lovely if Leighton were
one of them. Rev. Bill Rowell
Come and join us for some carol singing on Tuesday 19th December. Meet
at 6:30 pm, by kind invitation, at the home of David and Bethan Hawes in
Redwood Close. They have very generously offered to help us all get in the
Christmas spirit by providing mulled wine before we set off around the village.
All welcome and donations received for our (hopefully) incredibly tuneful and
festive efforts will go to charity. Catherine Williams
We are sorry to hear that Reverend Robert’s last service will be on
Sunday 3rd December in Leighton Church at 10am.
Since coming to the Chirbury Benefice in 2010 he has had to cope with the
complex spiritual, financial and structural needs of his 6 churches, and their
communities. Sadly during this time he and Janet have had an unreasonable
share of serious personal ill heath and close family bereavements. Now he is
able to retire, and everyone will want to wish them both a long, healthy and
happy retirement in their new home in Shropshire in the new year.
If you would like to contribute to Robert’s leaving present please contact
John Markwick 555043, Elisabeth Griffiths 555458, Margaret Landgrebe
556080, or Brian Underhill 559557 as soon as possible.
Do come to Leighton Church on the first Sunday in December to
celebrate his ministry and say goodbye. There will refreshments after
the service.
Christmas is a season that combines so many Christmas services rings true, and that the worship
different themes and traditions that it can leave your
head spinning. As Christmas, it is one of the we offer is joyful and welcoming. Services in the
significant high points in the religious calendar - we
don’t know when Jesus was born, but we choose to group include the Crib Service at Trelystan at 3 pm
celebrate his birth at the darkest time of the year; but
as Yuletide the celebration of something at the on Christmas Eve, and Midnight Mass at Leighton,
Winter Solstice goes back much further.
which starts at 11.45 pm. A warm welcome is
But then all kinds of modern traditions find
themselves included in the mix as well: the queues extended to all, whatever the weather might choose
of desperate parents hoping still to be able to buy
this year’s must have Christmas toy; the Christmas to do.
charts, these days dominated less by Christmas
records than the latest X-Factor or whatever And then come the New Year Resolutions.
discoveries; even the bets placed on there being a
white Christmas. I haven’t decided yet even whether to make any; last
Finally, families and friends often have their own year’s attempts at a new me petered out by mid-
home-made traditions - “We do this every
Christmas,” they say, whether it’s all going round to January. Maybe I should try bell ringing? It was
Aunty Pru’s on Boxing Day or maybe (and I know
someone who does this) all jetting off to Tenerife. lovely to hear the Leighton bells ring for our two
At the heart of this heady mix of traditions, I’ll be weddings in the autumn. It’s good exercise, I’m told.
doing my best to make sure that the message of our
Maybe there might be others willing to have a go?
If Christmas is a time for taking traditions
seriously, then change ringing is one tradition I think
is well worth keeping. But next year, the one
hundredth anniversary of the ending of the First
World War, there is a concerted effort to ensure that
the sound of bells rings out from as many towers as
possible, and it would be lovely if Leighton were
one of them. Rev. Bill Rowell
Come and join us for some carol singing on Tuesday 19th December. Meet
at 6:30 pm, by kind invitation, at the home of David and Bethan Hawes in
Redwood Close. They have very generously offered to help us all get in the
Christmas spirit by providing mulled wine before we set off around the village.
All welcome and donations received for our (hopefully) incredibly tuneful and
festive efforts will go to charity. Catherine Williams
