What a fantastic week we’ve had at Summer 25. We’ve welcomed 1,005 attendees across 21 different activities as well as welcoming people into St Peter’s Church during Mountsorrel Revival. Thank you to all our wonderful staff and fantastic volunteers for making it a possibility. Dare we do it all again? You bet we do….

The final event of our Summer 25 week of activities was the ever-popular St Peter’s Curry Night. With food provided by Gurkha New Delhi, we were guaranteed a feast and that is exactly what we got. Popadoms & dips, Onion Bhajis, Chicken Curry, Pea & Panner Curry and Naan Breads. All to enjoy in the beautiful and peaceful setting of the St Peter’s gardens. A very nice way to end our week.

On Sunday evening, we held our traditional service of Evening Prayer (also known as Evensong). The service was led by Revd Colin Resch. Our readings were Psalm 82, Jeremiah 23.23-29 & Hebrews 11.29-12.2. The sermon was about men and women of faith – those recorded in scripture and those around us today – and how they can encourage us on our own journey of faith.

Knock knock!
Who’s there?
Barbie
Barbie who?
No! Barbecue.

Ok, that was the vicar’s attempt at a joke during this morning’s sermon. However, he was right. The service was followed by a fantastic afternoon at our community barbecue. burgers and hot dogs available to everyone with a few vegetarian offerings available for non-carnivores. There were games to play, sun to sit back and enjoy and a beautiful way to relax with friends. Thanks to my fantastic Bearded Barbecue Buddie who assisted with the catering.

Some photos may follow (if I can find some)

Sunday Morning Worship at Christ Church is never the same two weeks running and Activity Week is no exception. Our Sunday All Age Worship included refreshments throughout and the opportunity to centre ourselves on Jesus. Our Bible reading was from Hebrews 11.29 – 12.2 and our preacher was Revd Colin Resch. The service was led by Alison White and the prayers by Kat Jenkins. A team effort on the last day of our Summer 25 week of activities.

On Saturday afternoon, we opened the gates to our Muddy Church and welcomed regulars and newbies into the orchard for a ‘bug-themed’ afternoon of fun and worship. We went hunting for bugs (real and fake), painted bugs, created shadow pictures, played in the dirt, toasted crumpets over the fire and created smores (marshmallows and chocolate biscuits). Drinks were on offer and simply the chance to relax in God’s creation exploring the beauty of the natural world. Thanks Kat for you fantastic organisation and preparation.

Saturday morning came and we opened the doors of Christ Church for our Children’s Cinema. Families gathered to watch the very popular Lilo & Stitch movie. There were snacks and drinks available free of charge and a chance to sit back and relax.

Friday evening brought some poignant sophistication to our week with our Summer Concert at St Peter’s which included some items especially selected to mark the 80th anniversary of VJ Day. The concert was well attended. The programme included piano music, songs for soloists and duets, poetry recitals and there was even the opportunity for audience participation as everyone joined in with some well known songs from the war-time era. During the interval, cheese and wine was offered and there was the opportunity to donate to two charities: Alex’s Wish and the Royal British Legion Poppy Appeal. Our thanks go to our performers Michael Lessiter, Susie Lockyer, Mel Rowley, John Strange & Diana Vivian.

What a fun afternoon we had at our Chips & Bingo event. There were plenty of prizes on offer and a bag of chips for everyone who came. There was even a Bingo game done in German (or a fair attempt at it) as well as a round based around the buses of Birmingham – you had to be there! As each line prize and full-house prize was claimed, another one was also selected to go into our final round hamper prize. Many people were present and here’s just a few photos of the event.