The Lent term begins!
Happy New Year! I hope that you had a blessed Christmas filled with peace and relaxation! It is so lovely to be back and see the children’s happy faces and hearing about their Christmas adventures!
There were so many wonderful things from the Michaelmas term to give thanks for. The offerings of the Harvest Festival, the creativity of our students in leading worship, not to mention the impressive amount of fundraising undertaken by the whole community. In total, last term we raised £1553.22! Breaking the figure down, £225.16 went to Jeans for Genes, £331.76 to Children in Need and £230 for Save the Children. The collection from our Carol Service raised £766.30 for Farms for City Children, our chosen local charity of the year. I’d like to say a HUGE thank you to every single member of our community for all your enthusiasm and support! I’d also like to say a special thank you to Mrs Lake-Johns who organised and ran the Christmas Jumper Day in aid of Save the Children. Your hard work is really appreciated!
On Tuesday this week both Prep and Pre-Prep celebrated the beginning of Epiphany with services in the Cathedral. The Prep Epiphany Eucharist was presided over by Canon Mustard, who gave an interesting address fcused on using this season as an opportunity to ‘unwrap’ God’s gift to the world: Jesus Christ. Later in the day, I had the joy of leading the Pre-Prep in worship, where we learnt about the story of the Wise Men (Matthew 2) and the symbolic meaning of their gifts. If you get a moment, I’m sure the Hall House pupils will gladly tell you all about these gifts of Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh!
Looking ahead, the Lent term promises to be a busy one! Our next service, to which parents and the wider ECS community are always welcome, is the Ash Wednesday Eucharist (Year 2 and upwards) on the 6th March in the Cathedral at 10.15. Other events include the ECS Prayer Space later this month, and the weekly lunchtime Prep Craft Club. There will also be several fundraising events in aid of Farms for City Children which include Fizz and Flowers, a flower arranging evening workshop led by the ever-talented Miss Rhodes, and myself, accompanied by a variety of fizzy beverages. It promises to be an evening full of fun, one not to be missed!
I’d like to draw this week’s Chaplain’s Corner to a close by finishing with the opening prayer taken from our Epiphany services:
O Lord in Heaven, thank you for bringing us safely back together after the Christmas break. As our thoughts turn to the new term ahead of us, help us use this Epiphany time as an opportunity to reflect upon our own paths and the choices ahead of us. Help us remember the resilience of the Wise Men and use their story as inspiration for our own journeys. Whether, on the path ahead of us, lies good or ill, help us keep our faith and strengthen us with your love. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Have a blessed 2019!
Elizabeth Fitzpatrick, School Lay Chaplain
