New Priest in Charge for St Disen’s

The Bishop of Crediton, Rector of Cullompton and Parish representatives are delighted to announce that an offer of the three year post of Interim Pioneer Minister for Cullompton and Priest in Charge of Bradninch has been made to Revd Oliver Mears, who has accepted.

We hope that Revd Mears, who is currently an Associate Minister in Rugby, will be joining us in December.  We look forward to welcoming him and his family to Bradninch.

Tiddlywinks

Many thanks to The Town Trust who have bought us a beautiful new baby changing table for Tiddlywinks (and all other little people).  It will be used again….and again…..and again!

Christian Aid Week

Thank you so much to all those who collected for Christian Aid Week around the town and many, many thanks to all our generous contributors.  We collected £1,540 to help the poorest and most desperate people in the world.  A fantastic result, which would have been even greater if we had had enough collectors to cover the whole of Bradninch.

If you would like to help with next year’s collection, please contact Sarah or Ros.  Just a couple of hours of your time could make such a difference!

 

 

Letter from the Past

I recently received an interesting parcel from a Mr Jack Saunders, now living in Lincolnshire.  It contained an old Bible and Hymn Book which had been presented to him in 1940 when he was an evacuee in Bradninch.

The letter reads — I have sent these two precious books to you as I am now getting on in years and have no-one to leave them to.  I thought you might like to display them in your church which I used to attend as an evacuee during the war.  I will always remember those days which I spent with my younger sister and older brother in Bradninch.


 

St. Disen’s Church Sunday School, Bradninch. Christmas 1940

Given to Jack Saunders in memory of his stay in the above little town.

 

 

Jack and his brother and sister stayed with the Skoines family (who had five children of their own) in Westfield.

 

Jack, with some of the Skiones family.

The boy on the left is John Skiones who was killed in Korea in 1951 and whose name is on our War Memorial.

 

Cory’s baptism

We were pleased to welcome Cory together with his family and friends to St Disens on 7th May when he was baptised by Revd Keith Gale.

 

 

Annual Parochial Church meeting

The annual church meeting was held on Wednesday, 26th April. Reports were presented on church services, finance,  church fabric, social events etc. Grateful thanks were extended to all who help in church, in any capacity.  The PCC was congratulated on the way the church has continued to thrive during the interregnum.

PCC members, for the following year, were elected as follows:

Jill Lucas — churchwarden,  Ros Emerton — churchwarden,  Sue Watts — church administrator,  Gwyneth Garner — secretary,  Dorothy Parsons — secretary,  John Emerton — treasurer, June Bolt, Hazel Excell,  Lyn Lucey, Warwick Knowles, Bryan Parsons.

 

Easter Day

Easter Day was celebrated with Holy Communion, at 8.00am led by Revd  Christopher Rowley, and again at 10.00am, led by Revd. Jane Taylor, who spoke on the importance of recognising Jesus when He comes.

It was good to welcome so many, both old friends and visitors to the town.  The church was full of flowers and both looked and smelt wonderful!

The new Easter Candle was lit, and this will be used at baptisms, weddings and funerals throughout the coming year.

Maundy Thursday and Good Friday


We began our celebration of Easter with a Seder meal, conducted by Revd. Christopher Rowley.  This commemorates Jesus’ partaking of the Passover feast with his disciples and His instigation of Holy Communion at what became known as The Last Supper.

The next morning, Good Friday, we joined with our friends from the Baptist Church and the Gospel Hall for the annual Walk of Witness through the town.  A short service was held at each church, finishing with coffee and  hot cross buns at the Baptist Church.

Golden Wedding

Congratulations to Jill and David Lucas who celebrated  their Golden Wedding on Saturday, 11th March.

Jill and David were married in Broadclyst Church but have spent most of their married life in Bradninch.

They celebrated with a party for family and friends in St. Disen’s Hall and were presented with a bouquet of golden roses from the congregation on Sunday.