SPRING HAS SPRUNG!
ARE YOU SITTING COMFORTABLY?
Sitting on the pews in St Giles’ church is now a much more comfortable experience, thanks to the family of Peggy and Freddie Gray!
 Peggy was a devoted member of the congregation for many years until her recent death. St Giles’ was very important to her, so she left a legacy to be spent on the church. Her daughter Lynda Maddern discussed with Adrian and the Church Wardens how best to spend that money and it was decided that one of the outstanding needs was to provide a little extra comfort on those hard, oak pews! So now, every pew has been fitted with these beautifully-tailored and well-padded cushions.
Members of the Gray family attended the 9.45am Service on 11th March, when Adrian dedicated the cushions to God. He paid credit to Peggy, in particular for the long and close association she had enjoyed with St Giles’ for some seventy years. We were reminded that, at the age of 93 she had attended a service there just four days before she died.
“Peggy”, Adrian said, “was a ‘full-blooded person’, known and much respected. The new cushions will be a lasting memory of her, as well as a source of comfort to the regular congregation and to our many visitors – at weddings, funerals and other events – and to those who come to admire this very special building.”
AFN
WE LOVE OUR MUMS! (AND GRANDMAS TOO...)
Mothering Sunday at the URC was the perfect time to let those special people know how much we love them. In a service led by Bernie Collins and Marion McNeill, we were reminded through songs, mime and discussion, of the many tasks that mothers perform for their children, and of what we could do for them in return. I was particularly encouraged by the suggestion from my own daughter that making dinner that evening would be a good thing to do...
Marion’s interviews with a mum and a grandma in the congregation got us thinking about the pleasures – and the challenges – of motherhood. And at the end of the service, there were flowers to be presented by children (of any age) to their mothers if present, some to take away to give to mothers later, or to give to anyone who performs those mothering tasks for us. All other ladies in the congregation were given flowers too, as a symbol of thanks for the nurturing we have received in our lives.
 This is a long-standing tradition at the URC, and our thanks go to Mavis, Liz and Helen Boyes for preparing bunches of daffodils for distribution. Thanks also to my daughter, for a surprisingly good dinner – even if the kitchen assistant complained about the inordinate amount of washing up generated in the process!
HP
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