From St Paul’s to St Paul’s

Featuring (in no particular pecking order) alpha males Chris Rose, Bruce Cameron, David Mason, Michel Bloy, Michael Beckett, Adrian Reith, Mark Rigby, Alisdair Cant, Kip Gresham, John Wroe, Martin Evans, Dan’l Whiddon, Harry Hawke and Old Uncle Tom Cobley (not pictured).

 

Parish Weekend 2007

 

My first weekend away with St Paul’s… 

In brief ‘it was great’. 

Where to start with the detail? Maybe the food as that was what I arrived to, the food was very good and plentiful and it was so nice not to have to cook and wash up. Meal times were also a really good time to get to know people or to get to know them better; this was something I really valued as a relative newbie to St Paul’s. The first evening continued with a very lively quiz evening full of good humour – well good humoured competitiveness. The evening was rounded off with Compline which was a much needed antidote to the adrenaline filled evening. 

Saturday morning began for me with a brief jog – to the dining hall to catch the last few minutes of breakfast. Then it was off to Michael’s talk on prayer and the psalms – this required more brain stimulation than I am used to on a Saturday morning but was well worth listening too. After that there was a choice of workshops – art, creative writing, prayer, reading the Bible and singing the Psalms – led by some very gifted people from St Paul’s congregation. After lunch there was free time, many headed over to the field for a game of rounders and football followed that. My plan to curl up on a couch and read turned more into a snooze on a sofa but once I’d woken myself up it was off to singing practice – I didn’t realise we’d be singing in 4 part harmony so that was a bit of a shock to the system but great fun was had by all and I think we sounded pretty good! After dinner an evening of entertainment second to none was produced. An evening of bingo with ‘Bingo Bob’ (aka Chris Rose) was a lively and hilarious affair and in between rounds there was some excellent cabaret including dancing by some of the young people and a very good Sound of Music finale. Once more Compline was needed before bedtime as a calmer end to the day. 

After breakfast on Sunday I went off to another workshop where I drew with wax and put smoke patterns on paper – might sound odd but it was fun. The Sunday morning service was nothing short of chaotic while being brilliant at the same time with everyone being able to contribute. Then there was lunch and it was just a short hop, skip and a jump before we were all heading home. 

So what did I love so much about the weekend away? I loved being part of a community, making new friends, belonging, chatting, laughing so much, getting away somewhere different – somewhere relaxing, learning more about prayer and the Psalms, the workshops, the services, that the children ran around having so much fun, the quiz night, the bingo night, the singing, the cabaret, and the food, basically I loved it all! What didn’t I like about the weekend? Just one thing really – having to leave! 

Helen Dalgleish