Ss Simon & Jude Church, Cockshutt
After the torrential rain of the night before, we were pleasantly surprised to be greeted by clear blue skies and the gentle, refreshing wind rustling through the trees; it was a most agreeable morning!
With some congregants making long-awaited visits to distant family, and with many now taking their well-earned summer breaks, we didn’t expect to see many worshippers in church; but what a pleasant surprise we had! Not only was the local turnout healthy, but our numbers were swelled by the arrival of visitors to the church. What a joyous morning it turned into!
We welcomed Retired Priest, Reverend John Darch who led today’s service; his sermon was based on the Gospel reading, Matthew: 11: 16-19, 25-30. In summary, we were asked to remember that despite our differences, we must maintain our central belief in the “one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all that is, seen and unseen” and “the one holy catholic and apostolic church” (The Nicene Creed).
During the Prayers of Intercession, Rev. Darch used the focus of his sermon to pray for those Priests who might respond to the advert for the vacancy of Priest-in-Charge for the Benefice.
Todays’ hymns began with the joyous and uplifting “I danced in the morning”, before moving onto the more reflective, but beautiful, “I heard the voice of Jesus say”, “Alleluia, sing to Jesus” and finally, “I cannot tell how he whom angels worship”. Played by Doug our organist, the organ music provided the perfect accompaniment to our singing.
Having celebrated Holy Eucharist, we finished with final prayers, the Blessing and Dismissal. After the clerical procession, we listened quietly to Doug’s postlude (final music after a sacred service) and then joined with each other for a time of refreshments, fellowship and getting to know our visitors!
VJC & BB
Below, you can find links to the hymns on Youtube.
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Today’s hymns were all from, Hymns Old & New, New Anglican Edition, Kevin Mayhew Ltd. 1996:
Lord of the Dance, 228
I heard the voice of Jesus say, 231
Alleluia Sing to Jesus, 26
I cannot tell how he whom angels worship, 226