Saint Paul's Church, Landkey

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Candlemas Family Service

Our Family Service on 2nd February 2020 fell on the exact day when Candlemas falls, 40 days after Christmas, and provided the opportunity for this important event to be celebrated at what proved to be an enjoyable occasion.

Candlemas is the time in the Christian calendar when the Presentation of Christ at the temple is recalled. Forty days after Jesus's birth, his parents brought him to the temple in Jerusalem in accordance with the law of Moses that this act should be carried out for all new-born children. The ritual would have involved the offering of a sacrifice which might have been in the form of a pair of turtle doves or two young pigeons (Luke 2, v24).

Angela Bellamy gave a talk to the assembled young people on the meaning of Candlemas and also told them that candles are traditionally lit at this time in the Christian calendar, to mark the birth of Jesus as the "light in a world of darkness". She told them, as well, that Candlemas takes place at a time in the calendar when the days are noticeably getting longer. In some countries, she said, Christmas decorations are left up until Candlemas.

At the end of the service, the members of the congregation processed to the font, bearing candles, where the "Nunc Dimittis", which is associated with Simeon, a man of faith who waited at the temple in Jerusalem for the day when Jesus would be presented, was sung. Candles were then extinguished as thoughts were turned towards Lent and the approach of Easter.

Candlemas

At our Family Service on Sunday 2nd February we will be celebrating Candlemas. 

Candlemas is the time in the Christian calendar when the Presentation of Christ at the temple in Jerusalem is recalled. Forty days after Jesus's birth, his parents brought him to the temple in Jerusalem in accordance with the law of Moses that this act should be carried out for all new-born children. The ritual would have involved the offering of a sacrifice which might have been in the form of a pair of turtle doves or two young pigeons (Luke 2, v24).

Candlemas is also noteworthy for falling midway between Christmas and the arrival of spring. In Eastern Orthodox churches, this is the time when Christmas decorations are finally taken down!

As always, all will be welcome to join us at this service. 

Birthdays galore!

January is a busy month for birthdays at St Paul's and Angela Bellamy went to a great deal of trouble to make two cakes to celebrate the occasions after our service on 19th January 2020.

Wendy Steggel was shortly to reach her 70th birthday while organist Bob Loveridge, churchwarden Hazel Price and Emma Waldron's birthdays were imminent. Church members Chris James and Michael Gee also celebrate in this month but were not present for the cake cutting!

Thank you, Angela, for making such delicious and attractive cakes! It made for a very enjoyable occasion!

Church Christmas lunch

January is normally a quiet time of the year for events but this proved not to be the case on Wednesday 8th as a group of cheerful diners gathered at the Imperial Hotel in Barnstaple for a Christmas-themed lunch.

Arranged by Eileen MacCaig under the auspices of Landkey Mothers' Union, members of that organisation were joined by other St Paul's worshippers making for a group of 26 to enjoy what proved to be a lovely meal.

A good time was had by all and thanks go to Eileen for making the arrangements.

Happy New Year!

We wish all visitors to our website a happy New Year!

We were pleased to welcome so many people to our services over Christmas and look forward to continuing that welcome at our services in 2020.

Christenings

The congregations of all of the churches in our Four Ways Mission Community came together at St Paul's for the final service of the year on 29th December. Numbers were swelled further by the family and friends of Finlay and Chloe Marlow who were both Christened during the service and were enthusiastically welcomed into the Christian family by those present.

The service was led by Revd John Thompson and David Rushworth who both made the family feel welcome on their special day.