Many publications like to review the previous year in photographs, but this is just the previous month!
Crucifix blessed
On 8 December, during his first visit to Bourne Abbey, the Lord Bishop of Lincoln, The Rt Revd Stephen Conway, blessed the crucifix which had been donated by Fr Peter Lister in memory of his parents, William and Mary Lister.
The limited-edition crucifix was handcrafted from the original three great oak crosses that stood on the Calvary site of the Shrine Gardens in Walsingham between 1931 and 2019.
Band Engagements
On two Saturday mornings during December, the Abbey Band, augmented on occasion by guests, played carols outside Tesco and in the Burghley Centre (photo right). The Band also played by invitation at The Croft and Browning Court.
These were the Band’s first external public performances, and were well-received by the audiences. Congregation members supported the Abbey’s outreach at the Burghley Centre by giving out over 250 fliers with times of the Christmas services, as well as holding collecting ‘tins’ (actually plastic!). Thanks to the generosity of Brunnians, over the course of the four outings some £680 was raised to support the Abbey’s mission and ministry.
Jennifer Maclean