About 20 children plus teenage helpers have enjoyed a week-long holiday club in King's Cliffe called Surf's Up. The event was organised jointly by All Saints and St James Church and the Northamptonshire Association of Youth Clubs. The pictures below tell the rest of the story!

 

Playing Dodgeball

 

Performing a Play

 

Making a Monster

 

Making a Monster

 

Indoor Hockey

 

FrisbeeThrowing

 

Building a Bridge

 

Playing Port-Starboard - Captain's coming!

 

Dress a Team Leader as a Sea Monster

 

Feeding the Five Thousand!

 

Barbecue

 

Juggling

Turn on your sound and then click on the play button in the centre of the screen below to play the video.

To enlarge the video to Full Screen, click on

Alongside all other benefices and parishes within the Peterborough Diocese, the Oundle Benefice is being asked to consider the recent events discussed at Synod. The debate in General Synod in July 2008 concerning the ordination of women to the episcopate has generated a great deal of media coverage and not a little speculation and misunderstanding. The Bishops of Peterborough and Brixworth, having discussed the matter with the Bishop’s Council, offer the following observations.

We are aware that there will be a variety of reactions to the vote in General Synod. The fact that the motion was passed by a two-thirds majority reflects a very strong affirmation of the ministry of ordained women. We are also mindful that a third of the Synod voted against it. We believe that this minority represents a significant number of people and their parishes, whose presence and ministry among us we also value and affirm. The partial and at times misleading reporting of the decision by sections of the national media has perhaps obscured the very precise wording of the Synod’s decision. While re-affirming the view of the majority that women should be admitted to the episcopate, it also affirmed that ‘special arrangements be available, within the existing structures of the Church of England, for those who as a matter of theological conviction will not be able to receive the ministry of women as bishops or priests’.

It resolved that these should be contained in a statutory national code of practice and requested that he drafting group should prepare draft legislation and a draft code of practice for the consideration of ynod in February. It will be for the Synod, and in due course our own diocesan synod, to decide hether the draft code is (to borrow the Archbishop of Canterbury’s word) ‘robust’ enough to provide assurance for those who disagree with women bishops.
We recognise that there is a great deal of work to be done before suitable legislation can be drawn up and agreed, and that discussion will be continuing for some years before it is enacted. We therefore have the space for quiet reflection and continued listening to each other before the final decision about the legislation is made.

We therefore urge everyone

• to pray for those who will be responsible for drawing up the legislation and the code of practice;
• to continue the fruitful discussions and exchanges of views that have already occurred, so that we can all grow in our understanding of each other, and work with each other, in our common task of bearing witness to Christ in the world;
• to participate fully in the process of discussion of the legislation through deanery chapters, deanery and diocesan synods; and
• to refrain from pre-emptive actions or statements before the exact details of the legislation and code of practice are published and agreed.

Finally, it remains our intention in this diocese to work for unity in mission and ministry with all priests and church members alike. By maintaining good relationships of mutual affection and respect be have the opportunity to model to the world a new way of dealing with differences and realising in our own experience our Lord’s command to ‘love one another as I have loved you’. Therefore we ask all to seek from God the grace to be charitable with one another, moderate in tone, gentle in spirit, patient in listening, gracious in dissent and supportive of all who seek to lift high the name of Jesus Christ in the world.

The Rt Revd Ian Cundy                 The Rt Revd Frank White
Bishop of Peterborough                 Bishop of Brixworth

The General Synod motion moved by the Bishop of Gloucester:
That this Synod:

a) affirm that the wish of its majority is for women to be admitted to the episcopate;
b) affirm its view that special arrangements be available, within the existing structures of the
Church of England, for those who as a matter of theological conviction will not be able to
receive the ministry of women as bishops or priests;
c) affirm that these should be contained in a statutory national code of practice to which all
concerned would be required to have regard; and
d) instruct the legislative drafting group, in consultation with the House of Bishops, to complete its work accordingly, including preparing the first draft of a code of practice, so that the Business Committee can include first consideration of the draft legislation in the agenda for the February 2009 group of sessions.

The motion was carried by a division of the three houses of Synod.
House of Bishops – For 28, Against 12, Abstentions 1
House of Clergy – For 124, Against 44, Abstentions 4
House of Laity – For 111, Against 68, Abstentions 2

Our Assistant Curate Stephen Webster, supported by wife Jane and children Emily, Daniel and Samuel - as well as many other members of his family plus friends and parishioners - has been ordained Priest at Peterborough Cathedral. Stephen made his vows alongside seven other Deacons at the service which was led by the Bishop of Brixworth, Rt Rev Frank White. His ordination follows a year of so-called 'POTTY' training after his ordination as Deacon a year ago. He has been working alongside vicar Richard Ormston at St Peter's in Oundle as well as the two other churches of the benefice at Benefield and Glapthorn. Now that Stephen is ordained Priest, he has now been commissioned to undertake further duties as part of his role. These include celebrating the Eucharist. The following day, Stephen took two services of Holy Communion at St Peter's Church and received gifts from the St Peter's churchwardens on behalf of the parish in recognition of his ordination.

A record amount of money has been raised again for Christian Aid Week 2008 in Oundle and its surrounding villages. £6966.04 was collected in this latest campaign - £3570.21 of which came from the town of Oundle. Over half the money collected was gift-aided, which should bring the total raised to over £8000 – well over £1000 more than last year. Very many thanks to all who donated, and especially to area organisers and collectors for all their efforts.  

 

 

The Hog Roast

 

The hog roast on Saturday 14th June was a triumphant success. About 150 people attended and had a thoroughly good time. The three brews of Digfield Ales were excellent. £1,600 was raised.

 

 

 

 

The Church Social Committee would like to thank the many people who worked so hard and to those who provided raffle prizes and items for auction. Especial thanks are due to Jonathan and Alison Reading for the use of their yards and barns.

 

 

 

 

 

A record number of parishioners have signed up to attend next year's pilgrimage to the evangelical event Spring Harvest at Skegness.

65 people of all ages will attend the event in April 2009 following the Easter weekend. This year 48 people attended the event which runs for five days at Butlins Holiday camp. The event is attended by thousands of people from across the country.

The first visit to Spring Harvest by St Peter's was organised in 2004 and numbers have been growing steadily ever since.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Parochial Church Council at St Peter's Church in Oundle has taken another step forward step in its bid to install a brand new organ. It has appointed the Canadian organ builder Letourneau as its preferred option after an exhaustive selection process led by Director of Music Jenny Firth and her opposite number at Peterborough Cathedral Andrew Reid. Letourneau has built only four other instruments in England, including one at Selwyn College, Cambridge and at Pembroke College, Oxford (pictured right). The instrument to be built is expected to be a two-manual (two keyboards) and will be a new instrument in every respect. The PCC has already agreed to site the organ above the present Tower Room at the west end of the building (Letourneau design pictured left). The present instrument will be taken down from its current location in the north-east of the building where it has stood since the 1870s. A special steering group has now been appointed by the PCC to proceed with the project and even investigate other re-ordering options at St Peter's - including the possible sound-proofing of the Lady Chapel and the development of the Brereton Room and north transept. "This is very early days for all aspects of the project", commented the vicar Richard Ormston. "But I feel sure this will really excite everyone in the church family and that it will promote our witness to Christ in the area even further", he added. The steering group will meet in the spring of 2008 to look at all options and consider the process for funding. The contractors, who would take around 18 months to build and install the organ, would need around a year's notice to begin work. The initial estimate for the cost of the organ alone, its construction and siting in the west gallery is around £350,000.