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At the time of writing this we’ve just had the village’s ‘Big Paint’,
masterminded again by Janice Chilton. The theme for this one was Harvest
time. Anyone and everyone was invited to the Village Hall to create a
small piece of art, either a drawing, painting or collage to be
displayed on ‘banners’ adorning the pillars in St Agatha’s for the
Harvest Festival Weekend. Thank you to all who turned up to join in the
fun – but it would have been lovely to have more people participating.
How do we get it over to folks that lots of events are intended for the
whole village to be involved? I know some people think that the moment
they attend any church event, or step over the church threshold, they
will be viewed as possible churchgoers, targeted, and arm-twisted into
getting involved. Not so. We all have very differing views on
church/religions – and that must be respected. But – here in
Brightwell-cum-Sotwell we do have two treasures, St James’ and St
Agatha’s. And it seems to me that as a village we should be much more
aware of their great importance historically and the need to maintain
them for future generations, in the same way that villagers of the past
900 years have done for us.
Roy Strong, in his book A Little History of the English Country Church,
puts it well when he writes about the church building as “the historic
microcosm of a community over the centuries, with the very fabric
telling of prosperity and depression, of war and peace, extensions
reflecting the rise in population, and the churchyard headstones
revealing the families who for generations moulded the life pattern of
the land around.” I like that, - and you have only to read through the
guide leaflets in both our churches to realise what an amazing wealth of
history they contain. So please feel free to explore some of our
village’s ancient past – St Agatha’s is open every day and I would be
more than happy to open St James’ as required. Just phone me on 836063.
Olive Sutcliffe
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