Come to think of it....

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Villagers and churchgoers in Warleggan and St Neot have had a busy Easter - and are now looking forward to May's Coronation Weekend and a series of local events during the summer months.  Andrew Lane reflects on the vital role of a priest as all this activity unfolds...

We are fortunate in Warleggan and St.Neot. We have a non-stipendiary priest working and living in the centre of St.Neot parish He is excellent, he is hardworking  - going well beyond the 'official' 20 hours a week with pastoral visiting and community involvement. And he is very popular. Church attendance and the collection are healthy and increasing in both parishes.

The other day we held a MAP meeting - Mission Action Plan. None of us were entirely sure of what it meant but it was well attended from across the two parishes. Before thinking about what more we could do we started by listing what we do already.

Pause. A bit of head scratching. Then '' Well we hold two services every Sunday across both parishes plus a third on the first Sunday of the month. Hmm, and two Zoom Evening prayers every week.

We've just had the Good Friday readings and then the Saturday vigil in Warleggan. Don't forget the Coronation picnic and service and then all the national celebrations and commemorations that are marked in the churches.

And 15 to 20 weddings a year plus baptisms, funerals and memorial services. Lent walks, Lent courses, Bible study, school concerts, organ recitals, choral and musical evenings, Community cafe,Jazz afternoons, organised tours of the Medieval stained glass windows.

Fetes, a cake stand at the produce market, links with the Scout movement, links with the Methodist church, pastoral visiting, home communion, care home visiting, Foodbank collections ,Oak Apple Day, the walking Nativity at Christmas, candle lit carols and Midnight Mass. Taize. Palm Sunday, the pet service, the Living Churchyard Project, Church maintenance and 7 day per week opening, the Baby Basics Box, links with Social Club groups... ''

To echo the great Life of Brian 'Well,yes, but what has the church ever really done for us... ?'

Thanks to the inspiring and benevolent presence of an excellent priest the church really is the warp and weft of the community. And if he wasn't working and living in our midst , if we were shoved into a benefice of 7 or 10 other parishes and the occasional ministrations of an unfamiliar 'flying priest'? Well most,  maybe all of this benign ecosystem of village life would quietly wither away.


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