FROM THE CHURCH WARDENS
As I write, we are all getting used to another period of lockdown and the limitations this has on our lives. Having only recently, it seems, been able to have services back in the church, we are feeling this tightening of restrictions as strongly as many others.
Our church building is nearly 1000 years old and has been through many changes, including pandemics and wars, supporting the people of this village through joys and sadness that life brings. It started as a Saxon building, the remains of which can still be seen, and are a tantalizing glimpse back to the past. The ‘graffiti’, which, if you know where to look, has marked our church from its earliest points is another tangible link to those who over the centuries have loved this building and left their marks. There are Crusader crosses, one line left as Crusaders went to the Holy Land and the next added on a safe return. Then there are the medieval marks to keep away evil spirits left near entrances to prevent the spirits’ access. I love the initials carved with dates, people marking the place they loved for eternity. If like me, you find the past a fascinating place, these marks leave glimpses of lives lived and the central role the church played in so many people’s lives. And it is one of the reasons I feel that our church is such a place of safety and peace. To walk into our church is to feel God’s presence and his peace, his understanding that by his constancy he stands with us, and has done for very many generations of people here in Hambledon and all over the world.
I often wonder what the walls of our church have witnessed. Rarely, I suspect, the weeks of emptiness that the spring and early summer enforced on it. Rather I suspect it has always bustled with people looking for a moment of peace amongst the turmoil of life. And it still offers that peace. During lockdown this time our church will be open for private prayer on a Sunday and Wednesday, and services will be streamed from the building on a weekly basis. As with many others we hope the lockdown restrictions will be lifted on the 2nd December and we can return to the ‘normal’ we are currently used to. Further on in this magazine you will find the services we hope to run should this be the case. In addition, Betty has provided twelve days of thought, prayers and meditations starting on 19th December, a central part of our reinterpretation of twelve days of Christmas.
During these difficult times please be assured of our prayers for you all. I hope you, and those you love, all remain safe and well.
Rachel Houlberg and Helen Finch
December 2020