Dear Friends .

I need to use my allotted space in this issue to bring the villages up-to-date on a number of things; things first a-retrospect

The Travelling Crib, known also as `Posada' in Mexico, knitted figures of the Holy Family moved from family to family; from Advent Sunday to Christmas Eve covering all our villages, culminating in a very well attended Crib Service at Swaffham Bulbeck; thank-you to everyone involved and those who gave them room at the inn'.

I have now reviewed last year church statistics, and while I would like you to come to the Annual Parochial Church Meeting (April 23rd) to hear more, I’m sure you would like to know that, in the face of the national doom and gloom merchants, our usual Sunday, attendance at the two churches in the parish is 27 a fall of only 2, but we had 17 baptisms, a rise of 12, and the Easter & Christmas communicants were 54 and 68 respectively, up by 3 and down by 3 on 1999's figures.

So we are just about `holding our own, but I'm sure you would also expect me to say that week by week commitment and giving priority to warship is vitally important for the building up of our community, and we need to draw from it future office holdings,, PCC members and others, .who will carry the work forward in. the years to come. There are usually 3. services to choose from in the two churches every week, plus Swaffham Bulbeck, so please feel welcomed

Bishop Anthony, our-new Bishop of Ely, is taking the Deanery Confirmation Service on Saturday May 5th in St Andrew's Soham at 5.30 pm. Anyone aged 11 or over at that date who would like to be prepared for confirmation should get in touch with me now please.

The 3 churches of our group have embarked on an 'Emmaus' course, a modular adult ed. scheme to lift the lid of the uncertainties about Church and the Christian life in the minds of existing churchgoers, and those of currently no church.

Why not join us on the Journey, of Faith?. (details from me. because of copy deadline).

As a post-script to the first course (6 sessions), we are having a Parish Audit on Saturday 24th March @ Hengravc Hall near Bury St Edmunds, from 10 `till 4, when we hope to listen to one another and. reflect on the life of our Church (again, further details from me)

This month sees the beginning of Lent, with the traditional Ash Wednesday service at 7.30 pm in St Mary’s all the details through to Easter Sunday. are now available on the special folded leaflet freely available from church. As a new idea, we are having a `mardi gras'. in Swaffham Prior Village Hall, a Shrove Tuesday Pancake and Games evening for. all the family 6.30 pm-8.00 pm. Teams will certainly be a feature of the fun, and we invite village organisations, or a group of friends or neighbours, to make up a. team of 5 or 6 for the. evening. An intimation of numbers to Kate Child (te1. 743983) would by a huge help for the caterers, but tickets will be for sale on the door

Your Parish Priest