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Flowers, fun, and music at Bradwell church festival
Flowers, fun, and music at Bradwell church festival
St Nicholas Church in Bradwell hosted a packed weekend for the community, which included a flower festival, fete, concert by The Chorus of St Cecilia and pet service. The theme for the weekend was ‘Summer Glory’ to celebrate the wonder of God’s creation
The church's weekend of festival kicked off last Friday evening with flower arranger Julia Knights running a sell-out master class, along with stories of her time teaching, arranging and entering competitions. During the weekend the church was filled with flower arrangements created by local groups, each using flowers to represent a well-known hymn. One of the exhibits attracting the most interest was by the year 4 class at Homefield Church of England Primary School. Julia had met with the class during the week and invited them each to make an individual arrangement based on the theme of “I’m special.” The children wrote a note to accompany their flowers which explained why they are special
Amongst the flowers on Saturday, the church also held a fete which attracted about 250 people to admire the flowers and enjoy the tombola, raffle, barbecue and children’s games
The entertainment stretched into the evening, with the 40-strong local choir The Chorus of St Cecilia bringing a mixture of show tunes and arias to the church. The choir was led by its musical director Matthew Hardy and featured a youth section. The church was packed and the performances received a standing ovation
To finish the weekend St Nicholas church held a special church service on Sunday morning in which people were invited to bring their pets to give thanks for them as part of God’s creation. Lots of animals were brought, but the highlight was when the cockerel crowed part way through the service, leaving everyone in fits of the giggles, especially the rector!
The rector, Steve Deall, explains the importance of the weekend: “We are still coming out from the shadow of Covid, and we here at St Nicholas believe that the church should be part of the community, part of the life of the village. It is our pleasure to put these events on to bring people together, those of faith and those without. We hope that the events we have had this past weekend will be remembered for a while, at least until Christmas when we are planning something really special”
Steve goes on to thank those involved “It would be great to show our thanks to Julia and her team for the magnificent flowers (and the hours of preparation beforehand) to Matthew Hardy and his Choir for their stunning performance, and also to all those people here at St Nicholas who made the whole thing possible, and of course to those who came and supported us. The money we have raised will be split between our local ‘Heart to Heart’ charity and our church funds”
Photo above of flower arrangements by the year 4 class at Homefield Church of England Primary School, and right Chorus of St Cecilia courtesy of St Nicholas Church Bradwell
Do you have a news story or forthcoming event relating to Christians or a church in Great Yarmouth or surrounding district?
If so, email judith.edmonds@ntlworld.com with details and, if possible, a suitable picture(s)
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Anna Heydon, 25/07/2023
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