EXPLORING FAITH AT THE SEASIDE – November 7th 2009 An ‘Away-Day’   Some of the congregation of Downham Market church went to Hunstanton Methodist for the day which was lead by Revd Barbara Winner from Dereham.  Some members of that church were there to welcome us and be there to man the kitchen during the day.  Thanks.   We had all been asked to take along an every-day object which represented our faith – a difficult task in itself at first, but upon further reflection one was spoilt for choice!   After being welcomed with coffee and biscuits we entered the newly-furbished church and began our day’s exploration, starting with our brought objects as an ‘ice-breaker’.   Within the church Barbara had made a focal point using blue material and white netting to create a shore-line, on which she had laid seaglass, pebbles and shells.  We started with words on cards relevant to ‘swimming’ and water – even more were added to the already long list!  We put these into a ‘pool’ – a table draped in blue and discussed ourselves and the church in relevance to these words.   Lunch was ... fish and chips! (Though there were those who preferred chicken!)  This had been pre-ordered from a local shop and was delivered on time, at 1pm.   It is amazing just how much relevance we came up with upon discussion of the various sea-shore objects, lead and directed by Barbara.    After Barbara’s summing up Andrew brought the day to a close with hymns, prayer and a ‘love feast’ in the ‘breaking of bread’ – in the shape of a home-made loaf, with grapes to represent wine.  The loaf had previously been his ‘object from home’ and probably you can see the relevance as a representation of faith.   The whole day was relevant to our own journey with God for ourselves and for us within the life of the church.  Thank you Barbara for a worth-while day - and accurate time-keeping!

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Microsoft Word - Exploring Faith at the Seaside.pdf