St John the Evangelist, Shirley

LENT LUNCHES 2025

Tamberlin Room 12 until 2pm

The lunches are hosted by volunteers to raise money for a charity of their choice and donations are requested but optional for your meal.

Funds raised (including Gift Aid) are split between the Charity (75%) and St. Johns (25%)

Dates available are

• 8th – March – Christian Aid
• 15th – March – Association of Pastoral Care for Mental Health
• 22nd – March – Please contact Georgina Roseweir to book this slot
• 29th – March – Booked
• 6th – April – Please contact Georgina Roseweir to book this slot
• 12th – April – Kidney Disease Research and Prostate Cancer

Please contact Georgina Roseweir if you would like to host a lunch in the Tamberlin Room.

Monday, March 10 3 – 4pm

Creating Emotionally Healthy Church Environments

Join us online on to learn how to foster emotionally and spiritually healthy church environments!

By Pneuma Hope

You’re welcome to join Rev Lu at the vicarage. Please fill in the form below

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For further information:

https://testing.stjohnsshirley.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Churches-Leaflet_JUN24_DIGITAL.pdf

https://testing.stjohnsshirley.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/HfG-Brochure-2022-Web-version.pdf

St John the Evangelist, Shirley

LENT LUNCHES 2025

Tamberlin Room 12 until 2pm

The lunches are hosted by volunteers to raise money for a charity of their choice and donations are requested but optional for your meal.

Funds raised (including Gift Aid) are split between the Charity (75%) and St. Johns (25%)

Dates available are

• 8th – March
• 15th – March
• 22nd – March
• 29th – March – Booked
• 6th – April
• 12th – April – Booked

Please contact Georgina Roseweir if you would like to host a lunch in the Tamberlin Room.

Thank you to all who have come and joined in the creation of our banners, we have had an amazing start.
We are meeting again on Sunday 23rd Feb at 3pm in the Tamberlin Tea room.

All welcome.

It’s been four months since I relocated from Shirley to Shipston on Stour and I had promised to start up my ‘Blogs’ again and it has taken this long to decide where to start. I didn’t want to repeat myself as previous ramblings had followed the seasons as I wandered around the churchyard and visited my son in Dorset or my daughter in Warwickshire. Now I have settled on the fringe of The Cotswolds and nature has continued on its usual cycle.  Wildlife is everywhere, not just in remote rural areas or nature reserves. All you need to do is step outside or even stay indoors, and look and listen in a different way. The weather has been rather inhospitable since I moved here but Bertie, my little dog, still insists on a couple of daily walks and the things we see trigger similar sightings seen in Shirley which is nice so I haven’t lost touch. When we walk into town, we have to cross a busy road junction and dithering as we wait to cross, I’m distracted by a strip of tiny white flowers where the gap between pavement and kerbstone is crammed with moss and annual whitlow grass. I had to look it up in my wildflower guide where it is also known as ‘shad flower’, a member of the cress family, its strategy is to germinate in autumn, ride out winter as a rosette of leaves and break into flower with the first sunshine of spring. It could be a rocky Swiss crag but these have chosen a grimy verge which can provide all its needs for a home, moisture and a few grains of soil. By flowering early it avoids desiccation when the paths dry out and any over-zealous weed control from municipal street cleaners, but it is a heart-warming herald of spring in both Shipston and Shirley.

*This plant is commonly referred to as “whitlow grass” because it was traditionally used to treat Whitlow, a painful infection that affects the fingertips. Despite its name, common whitlow grass is not used for medicinal purposes today, but it is still appreciated for its beauty and for its ecological importance.

Don’t overlook the moss either, it is amazing, It can grow on bare stone, bark or the poorest of soil. It provides homes for numerous insects. It is soft and serene , yet on a misty morning it can sparkle with tiny droplets. In the churchyard it favours the north side of trees where the sun does not reach.

I did not get around to putting up a bird feeding station in my (rather small) garden until quite recently thinking it may not get many visitors as I had not seen many about. However I missed them and found a spot near the house and very soon it attracted a pair of wood pigeons. Not too exciting for a while , but word of mouth (beak) got around and a couple of starlings and one or two smaller birds are now regulars.

I ventured further afield for my bird “fix” and was immediately reminded of Shirley recreation ground when a pair of pied wagtails were strutting ahead of me. I regularly saw wagtails around the tennis court. As their name suggests they constantly wag their long black and white tails as they rush around. Sharply dressed like a wine waiter with a white face mask and trim monochrome jacket. They fly with a distinctive, looping style.

Pied wagtails seem to have taken to towns, maybe because they are warmer places to roost at night. Well- lit, man-made sites away from predators and suitable places to group together.

On the rooftop opposite competing with the cooing pigeons was the unmistakable “tchak tchak” of jackdaws. Perhaps that call is how they got their name but the other give-away distinguishing them from other crows apart from their smaller size, was the frantic activity around a pair of chimney pots, a place where they like to build a warm ragged nest of twigs.  I hadn’t seen many of them in Shirley!

Bernard  02/25