Church foodbank, bishop meeting, MP drops in for tea

Latest news from across the Diocese of East Anglia includes an historic church foodbank, a first meeting with the bishop and an MP dropping in for tea and a chat.

On the feast of St Anthony of Padua, parishioners at St Pancras in Ipswich were present at the traditional blessing and distribution of bread, a custom stretching back hundreds of years.

Parish priest Fr Joseph Welch said: “Food brought by members of the parish is blessed at the end of Mass and then handed on to those in need. The parish has a barrel all year round at the back of the church for donations of dry foodstuffs which are then collected by a representative of Families in Need (FIND) and distributed through a foodbank to those in the local area.

“On June 13, these foodstuffs were blessed along with fresh bread rolls which were then handed out to parishioners to remind us of the importance always to consider the needs of the poor.”

Pictured, top, are parishioners with the Families In Need Collection barrel, clockwise from bottom left: Maria Patten, Theresa Cleary, Rosa Patten, Peggy Ayers, and Anne Abbott.

An SVP coffee morning at St Clare’s church, Woodbridge parish, played host to local MP Dr Dan Poulter (pictured right, seated in a blue shirt) on Saturday June 10 who visited to have a drink of tea and to see what they do reports Wendy Hardinge. 

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Meeting Bishop Peter Collins at a colourful Corpus Christi deanery procession around Oxburgh Hall in West Norfolk, brought back happy memories for 90-year-old retired teacher and King’s Lynn parish stalwart Pauline McSherry (pictured below).

Pauline said: “The afternoon took me back to my childhood in Ireland, well-nigh 83 years ago.  I had made my First Holy Communion and recall clearly the joy it was to wear my white dress and veil once again to be a ‘strewer’ in the procession.  With a basket of scented roses, each strewer scattered petals along the path of the Blessed Sacrament.  The convent grounds were extensive, it was a lengthy journey, a procession I still remember with so much joy.

“Now in my nonagenarian year, I followed the Corpus Christi Procession at Oxburgh Hall from a chair in the shade, prayerful and peaceful it was. How privileged was I to have Bishop Peter come across to greet me, an oldie from King’s Lynn parish.  Thank you Bishop Peter and to many kind helpers.  It was indeed a happy, memorable and blessed day.

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