July Newsletter

‘Welcome’ & ‘Hospitality’

‘Welcome’ said the mat on the floor, and the ‘Welcome’ really was a genuine one, as I was greeted with a smile, a handshake and made a warming cup of tea. ‘Welcome’ and ‘Hospitality’ are what the Cornish do well, and, if you are visiting Cornwall for the first time, a lot of preparation has already taken place prior to and in preparation for your visit: house and shop-fronts have been painted and much tidying up and sprucing up has taken place. As well as the readiness and preparation of shops, campsites, pubs, hotels and B & Bs, those traditionally involved in providing ‘hospitality’, many residents in Cornwall will also be preparing to welcome friends and family to their homes in the next two months. And as well as providing a genuine ‘Welcome’ we hope to learn and gain from our visitors, from their own insights and pilgrimage through life.

‘Welcome’ and ‘Hospitality’ are very much Christian virtues. Jesus enjoyed the hospitality at many peoples’ homes: at Mary and Martha’s home (Luke 10:38-42) and at Zacchaeus’ home (Luke 19:5), and Jesus could soon detect whether the ‘welcome’ was genuine, as he did when he visited Simon the Pharisee’s home (Luke 7:36-50). Jesus told his disciples that when they visited a town or village, they were to look for someone to welcome them and stay with them. Jesus said: “When you go into a house say, ‘Peace be with you’. If the people in that house welcome you, let your greeting of ‘Peace’ remain there”. (Matthew 10:11-12).

If you are visiting us, we hope that you will find a genuine ‘Welcome’ in this traditional place of Christian Pilgrimage at all four churches of our Benefice, if you’ve just ‘popped in’ to have a look around or if you’ve come for a Service. We are a lively, prayerful and active Christian community. And there is much for you to join in with in the months of July and August.

At Perranuthnoe on Thursday afternoons Cream Teas are served outside our Church Rooms there, and there will be a Churches Together Sing-a-long on Sunday 31st July at 6pm (with Pasty Supper to follow).

At All Saints, Marazion we are in our 150th Anniversary year, and we are holding two concerts, one in July and with the ‘Richmond Singers’ in August. We are also hoping to hold a Wedding Exhibition 10-12 August.

We celebrate St Hilary Pilgrimage on Wednesday 10 August at 7.30pm with the Archdeacon of Cornwall.

Family Services are at 10am at Ludgvan 17 July & 28 August and at 11.15am at Perranuthnoe 10 July & 28 August. You are warmly invited to our United Benefice Beach Service with Baptisms at Marazion Red River on Sunday 21 August at 4pm.

If you are looking for something more quiet and contemplative, Choral Evensong will take place at 4pm on Sunday 10 July at Ludgvan and Sunday 7 August at Marazion. Sacred Space, our quiet, silence and chant-based Service will take place at Marazion, every day Tuesdays-Saturdays 4-4.30pm in August.

In our Benefice too, ‘Welcome’ and ‘Hospitality’ is very much on our mind, as we are delighted to welcome our new Curate, Revd Dom Jones, who will be made a Deacon at Truro Cathedral on Friday 1st July at 7.30pm and we have a special United Benefice Welcome Service for Dom on Sunday 3rd July at 10am at Ludgvan, with a Welcome Bring & Share Lunch to follow. Dom has written an introductory piece about himself elsewhere in the Magazine, and we really hope and pray that Dom will be happy here with us for the next three-four years of his Curacy, and find our welcome and our hospitality both genuine and heartfelt, and that we may learn from him and his own ‘walk with God’.

So in July and August we put out our ‘Welcome’ mats for all our visitors, and particularly, as we welcome our new Curate Dom here amongst us.

God Bless you throughout this Summertime,

Revd Nigel Marns
Rector, The United Benefice of Mounts Bay
(Ludgvan, Marazion, St Hilary & Perranuthnoe)