Dean’s Blog October 2016
A Harvest Festival Weekend: Friday 31st September – Sunday 2nd October 2016
A big thank you for all your gifts for the Harvest Festival – a wonderful response- which will be directed to those who are needy through the work of ECC (Ecumenical Conference of Charity) volunteers and through Stephen and his ministry to seafarers with Mission to Seafarers.
On the Saturday evening of the weekend we held our usual World Harvest Supper and Barn Dance, which is always such an enjoyable event as we are such an international church family and barn dancing particularly has an uncanny knack of mixing everybody up without anyone noticing. The food from different parts of the globe is always an amazing experience too.
Visit of Chaplain of the Fleet : Friday 7th October 2016
It was good to welcome the Chaplain of the Fleet and Archdeacon of the Royal Navy, the Venerable Ian Wheatley, to our Friday morning all-age Family Service with the relatively newly arrived Bahrain-based Royal Navy Chaplain, the Rev’d Nigel Beardsley, who has befriended our Sunday evening congregation especially. After coffee we were able to talk and I was able to highlight that we were able to provide the continuity in the rapidly turning over military community and to provide a homely community where those who are away from their families can find family.
I was particularly struck on Friday afternoon of the desperate need for dedicated space for the childrenof church communities on our compound when I came across one group meeting in a storeroom.
Another group was in the Gerald Green room – 12 young people and two adults. It makes me realize that the launch of our new Building Project in November cannot come too soon.
Living Room Dialogue: Sunday 9th October 2016
Nearly thirty people came together for a Living Room Dialogue in The Deanery to hear Vicky Honar, a nurse, midwife and consultant lactologist speak about her experiences of volunteering in refugee camps in Greece encouraging and giving support to mothers in breastfeeding their babies. Breast feeding she said was her passion and she has led several groups in Bahrain. She has been to Greece twice with the charity Nurture Project International and plans to go again in 2017.
It was especially encouraging to have several new people join us, who clearly felt that such a forum to engage with a variety of issues is very valuable.