Special Services and Events
Ordination at Bourne Abbey
Over the end of June and beginning of July some exciting special Services took place involving Abbey-folk old and new. In addition to our final Family Service of the school year, the Church celebrated its Patronal Festival of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, together with the Ordination to the Priesthood of our deacon Fr. Peter Lister, and Ordination to the Diaconate of our new Assistant-Curate, the Reverend Sheena Cleaton. Following Fr. Peter's Ordination came what has traditionally come to be known as the 'First Mass' of a new Priest. Fr. Peter celebrated this very special occasion on the Monday evening following his Ordination, where the parish family supported and rejoiced with him as he marked another important stage in his ordained ministry.
Harvest Festival
Sunday 2nd October was the Abbey's Harvest Thanksgiving Service. The Preacher was our own Father Peter Lister, who preached on the theme, 'The Rural Big Society.' In addition to the representative gifts brought forward, there was a generous response from the congregation, and a massive amount of food donated to the 'Peterborough Streets' charity.
The collection from the Service was donated to Farm Africa, in response to the terrible hardships endured by folk in the Horn of Africa this year
Rogation Sunday Walk
Sunday, 29th May, was Rogation Sunday, when it was customary for members of the congregation to ‘beat the bounds’, walking round the parish boundary and praying for the crops in the year ahead. Bourne Abbey parish is a large one, incorporating Bourne, Cawthorpe, Dyke and Twenty, so this is too large an area for modern day Christians to walk easily. However, on the afternoon of 29th May twelve adults, two children and one dog ‘beat the bounds’ of the northern part of the parish.
We drove to Cawthorpe and then set off on foot along the track towards Bourne Wood, round the Wood, and back to Cawthorpe, stopping at intervals to pray for the crops, the woodland, the livestock and the houses of Bourne, Cawthorpe, Dyke and Twenty. We were led by our curate the Rev. Peter Lister, who read a suitable bible passage at each stop, followed by a section of the Benedicite and a prayer.
We did not walk in silence, but chatted as we walked along and listened to the country sounds around us. The skylark soared overhead, singing his exuberant song, as though joining us in our worship.
The whole afternoon was a truly memorable experience. Many thanks to Rev. Peter for suggesting it and for leading the walk in such a meaningful way.
Holy Week and Easter Triduum at Bourne Abbey
Holy Week begins with Palm Sunday. At Bourne Abbey we celebrated the beginning of Holy Week with the Liturgy of the Palms and the Liturgy of the Passion in Dramatic Reading. The Choir and Altar Party began the Service around the font with the Blessing of the Palms, the branches of which were then processed by the Choir to the Chancel.
Later in the Service, the Passion Narrative was read dramatically and in parts. This year the flavour was created by using voices with regional variations. This gave a sense of Christians from different backgrounds and places meeting together to celebrate and reflect upon Our Lord’s entry into Jerusalem and subsequent betrayal and death. It set the scene for the unfolding of the events of Holy Week and the Easter Triduum.
Ordination of Rev'd Peter Lister
It is highly unusual for a person to be baptised, confirmed and ordained in the same Church: even more so when one is fortunate to be the only person being ordained in that Service! But this was the case for our own Peter Lister, a Reader at the Abbey who had his call to the ordained ministry tested just over two years ago. Rev. Peter (as he now is) received the support of a national selection conference, and with two out of his three year training course completed, was ordained on Sunday 26th September by the Bishop of Grantham, the Rt. Rev.Dr. Tim Ellis.
No effort was spared in preparing for the day. The Church looked wonderful, bedecked with flowers and polished to perfection. It was a magnificent occasion, and a new chapter in Peter’s ministry in the parish. It is anticipated that his special focus will be to work with the farming and food production industry in the parish. This makes a great deal of sense as Peter’s background is in agriculture.
Everyone who was at the Abbey for this Service will remember it with thanksgiving and joy. We are all thankful for Peter’s ministry amongst us, and look forward to the future with joyful anticipation.” (Fr. Chris. Atkinson)
Every Sunday is a Mini-Easter
The Lord’s Day, Sunday, is the time when we offer the Worship that Our Lord commanded us to do: we offer Eucharist – thanksgiving and remembrance – for his loving sacrifice on the Cross and the Resurrection which consequently opened to us the hope of salvation.
A parish church must reach out to everyone in the parish – not all of whom are communicant members of the church. Consequently, to engage with a large community like Bourne, there is a requirement to meet the different needs of the parish, so that we can let the gospel speak for itself in people’s lives.
read moreE-mail: info@bourneabbey.org.uk