Sheringham church feeds needy local families Lighthouse Community Church in Sheringham provided fruit and vegetable parcels for 86 North Norfolk families over the February half term, following a successful packed lunch project last October. Tony Rothe reports. A team of volunteers gathered at the church on the Tuesday of half term to compile the food parcels from the supplies of fruit, vegetables and eggs which had been provided by
Sheringham greengrocers
Sheringham, Cromer, Holt, Bodham, Northrepps, and surrounding villages. The initiative started last October when
Lighthouse Community Church, determined to provide some help to the community during pandemic restrictions, contacted North Norfolk Children’s Services to see what they could do. From this, Operation Packed Lunch was conceived in order to provide packed lunches, as the name suggests, for vulnerable families, on four days during October Half Term.
Yarmouth prayer gathering moves on-line The Great Yarmouth meeting of Burn 24-7 prayer is now streaming online every two weeks whilst Covid restrictions continue.
Burn 24-7 is a global worship/prayer movement with 300 locations across the world, including 32 locations within the UK. For the last year this has included
Great Yarmouth. The heart of Burn24-7 is, first and foremost, the passionate pursuit of the presence of God. Participants gather, regardless of denominational affiliation, to cry out to God for an awakening in the church, an unprecedented global harvest of souls and the transformation of entire cities. Burn 24-7 is seen as an expression and fulfilment of the restoration of David s Tabernacle as prophesied in
Opinion Andrew Frere Smith has discovered the source of true contentment. Contentment is a word that troubles me. My dictionary defines it as “a state of happiness and satisfaction”. I used to regard it as something that was reserved for the slipper-wearing elderly, whose careers had ended and who regularly enjoy a sherry at 6pm by the fireside. I have known many happy and satisfying times in my life, but I have also known times when contentment has eluded me. As a child my discontent normally took the form of boredom. As an adult, it was deep frustration that robbed me of peace, usually fuelled by people in authority making poor decisions.
E Norfolk churches launch phone contact scheme A new initiative, called ‘Two’s Company’, is being launched in February by a number of churches in Gorleston, Great Yarmouth, Bradwell and Belton - a lifeline to those who feel cut off from the outside world, particularly during the Covid-19 crisis.
‘Two’s Company’ is a telephone befriending programme being run through churches across the UK to respond in a relevant way to the Covid-19 pandemic. Many people are more isolated now than ever and this approach provides a way for local people to stay in touch by telephone on a regular basis. The scheme is aimed at those most vulnerable to the effects of social isolation due to age, location, health, or other factors.
Acle Methodists bring January cheer Acle Methodist Church is bringing some cheer into the local community with its response to the national January Light project. The church creates regular displays in its church windows in order to brighten up the village and as a reminder that it is still an active church despite the building being closed for worship. There were poppies in November, angels bearing messages of hope in December and in January there is a lighthouse,
below, which has been adopted by many churches as the symbol of the
January Light project.
The Methodist church wants to encourage community participation for its February display and has launched a ‘heart appeal’, inviting children and adults to make and decorate a heart in any way they like. Being creative is a good way to beat the January blues and it is hoped the church will be full of colourful hearts spreading a little love through February.