EVERYONE is invited to a Festival for Peace this weekend.
There will be a bring-your-own picnic in the afternoon, followed by a special ‘come and sing’ evensong at St Paul’s Church.
The service will include prayers and music for peace, including: Lysenko: Prayer For Ukraine, Paul Mealor: Peace, and Walmisley in D Minor.
And there will be a rehearsal in the afternoon so that singers have a chance to practise together.
Louise Turner, choir director says:
“ Our aim is to get together in prayer and music.
“We would love keen musicians/singers to join us to sing.
“Over the last year we’ve been thrilled to be able to get back to singing together.
“Our choir is growing in numbers of both adults and children and we wanted a special event to finish the year.”
The focus of the music and the prayers will be the war in Ukraine.
“Human nature is to get used to situations very quickly and the war seems to be featuring less and less in the news”, says Louise.
“We don’t want to forget the people of Ukraine who are suffering in this terrible war.
“The beautiful anthem, Peace, by Paul Mealor seemed a fitting choice for the event and we will also sing a Ukrainian prayer.
“We are hoping that if possible some Ukrainian families might join us for the event and be welcomed into our community.
The speaker for the evensong will be Liz Jackson, the Associate Archdeacon of Berkshire.
Rev’d Richard Lamey, Rector of St. Paul’s said:
“We’re thrilled to welcome Liz.
“She has a long history of working with those newly arrived in the country from her previous job in Coventry.
“And she has led the work for the Diocese of Oxford, welcoming people from Hong Kong and Ukraine, supporting host families and organising language courses.
“She’s the perfect person to preach at this service.”
The Festival For Peace takes place on Sunday, July 17.
It is hosted by St. Paul’s Church, Wokingham.
The event begins with a music rehearsal in the church at 2.30pm.
This is followed by a picnic at 4.15pm.
And evensong begins at 6.15pm.
People are welcome to come to all or any of the festival.
For more information contact: louise_turner71@hotmail.com or call the parish office on:0118 979 2122
