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20th/21st September 2008- Quite an amazing weekend! After weeks of planning a team of eight Sage
members travelled to Keynsham (between Bristol and Bath) for a whole
lot of activities! We were there at the invitation of our old friend
John Samways, the Rector of Keynsham Team Ministry.
In 2008, Churches Together in Keynsham and Saltford are organising a
wide ranging and exciting programme for the whole community - 'More to Life 08'.
September happened to be the month for the environment, and for the
weekend of 20th/21st this was a special focus. We travelled down early
on Saturday morning to take part in the Green Fair, which was held in
the Local Methodist and Baptist Churches. Sage had a stand in both, and
we had quite a lot of people coming by to pick up leaflets, buy books,
or just have a chat. After lunch we put the final touches to our
presentations and sermons for the Sunday, and went for a walk. In the
evening we went to a special presentation of Another Kind of Silence,
a play about the author of Silent Spring, Rachel Carson. It was a
brilliant one woman show starring Liz Rothschild. There are a number of
shows coming in the next few weeks in the Oxford area (see web site). This is a MUST SEE,
and it will end in November! The next morning our team set off to six
churches all over the Keynsham and Saltford area, to services as
diverse as Sung Matins, Family services, Communion and even a Barn
Service! We provided six preachers, all giving talks on Colossians 1.
Amazing team work. The team are pictured here, left to right: Chris
Samways, John Samways, Richard Riggs, Judy Riggs, Caroline Steel, Clare
Newgass, Carolyn Dean, Margot Hodson, Martin Hodson and Kristine
Whitnable. We then all met up again at Elm Farm
in Burnett for a wonderful meal together. A few of us stayed on for a
walk of the farm, and the rest headed back to Oxford. What a weekend!
Many, many thanks to John Samways and all at Keynsham who made us so
welcome. And best wishes for the rest of moretolife08!
Friday 22nd to Sunday 24th August 2008- Sage members Martin and Margot took a seminar on Bible and Environment: Christians in the 21st Century for the Bible and Culture course at Schloss Mittersill in Austria. It was wonderful!
Saturday 19th July 2008-
It was a somewhat showery and blustery day for the A Rocha 25th
Anniversary celebration at St. Margaret's, Lewknor, south Oxfordshire.
We had talks from members of the Chiltern Gateway Project, and Will and
Rachel Simonson from A Rocha Portugal in a specially constructed
marquee. Then A Rocha founders Peter and Miranda Harris. and A Rocha
International CEO, Marie Connett Porceddu, told us about their work all
over the world. Steve Hughes then brought us up to date on A Rocha UK.
After lunch with other Sage
members we walked up to Aston Rowant Nature Reserve, for a thanksgiving
service in the hills. Dave Bookless gave the address with Red Kites
overhead. Then back down for tea and celebratory cakes. Congratulations
to A Rocha on 25 years, and thanks for celebrating it on the Sage back
doorstep!
Sunday 8th June 2008- Sage
took part in a special Environment Sunday service at St. Denys,
Stanford in the Vale. This was our 10th such annual service in a row.
Quite a record- anybody else done that? Caroline Steel led a walk from
the church, and we then had a look around the prizewinning churchyard.
The evening service was very informal, based around the theme of "Hope
for Planet Earth". We thank vicar, Michael Wenham, and all at St.
Denys, for a wonderful afternoon and evening.
Saturday 24th May 2008- To
celebrate the newly planted out Butterfly Garden, Ss Mary & John churchyard
had a
community party. Quite a large crowd of people were there, and a new
alder tree was planted in the Churchyard. Afterwards in the church
there was a special Evensong sung by the Wheatsheaf Consort. Well done
to Ruth Conway and all the team at Ss Mary and John for all the
progress there.
Wednesday 7th May 2008- Canon Christopher Hall is the writer of the latest Ecocolumn in the Door, the Diocese of Oxford newspaper. In this article Christopher looks at Westmill Wind Farm.
Sunday 27th April 2008- A
Bluebell Walk... with a difference. An interactive walk to discover
more about these beautiful flowers, suitable for all ages. Large numbers turned out for both the walk and the service following it! Simon Brignall who leads the Gateway Project, said: "It was a lovely day and a
beautiful service. All the feedback has been really positive. I gave the
A Rocha Steering group, who met yesterday, a report. Richard Smiley who is Chair of the
Trustees sent his appreciation, saying how much he had enjoyed
it." The end of a pretty busy weekend for Sage
folk, particularly Clare and Caroline, who were at all three events!
Clare was inspired to draw some bluebells, but unfortunately the full
effect does not come out well on the web!
Saturday 26th April 2008- The latest Walk with the Creator Sage walk
was attended by a dozen people and took place in the
Pang Valley, Berkshire. Unlike previous walks at this venue there were
rather a lot of other people present. The reason was the amazing
bluebells! We almost hit the peak in flowering (much earlier than they
used to be). We had a cup of
tea at the Black Barn, and then went down to the river. Highlight of
that was the blue spring where water could be seen oozing out of the
sand. We spotted a snake, and heard a cuckoo, so it was an excellent
walk. Thanks to Caroline for organising it all.
for the tour in the Oxford area, and quite a number of Sage contacts and members were in the audience. It is not impossible that there will be another tour! 
finish
off the day we had a nice service in Bodicote Church at which Julian
Hubbard, the Archdeacon of Oxford, gave a very thoughtful reflection on
the day. Thanks so much to Glyn et al. for all their work in organising the day.
Tuesday 1st January 2008- A group of 14 Sage members
and friends to part in the traditional Sage New Year Walk. We are not
quite sure when the tradition started, but we have been doing it since
some time in the early 90's! Anyway this walk was led by Martin &
Margot Hodson. We started in Brightwell cum Sotwell, and walked over
Brightwell Barrow to the Wittenham Clumps. One of our number doubted
their existence, but had to admit they did as we ate lunch at the top
of one of them! It was there that Margot read the famous poem that was
carved on the Poem Tree.
Then back with views of Dorchester Abbey and Shillingford Bridge. The
weather was dull, but at least it was dry. Well except under foot, as
despite choosing a walk for non-muddyness the recent rains made it
pretty muddy in places! One arrival back in Brightwell
cum Sotwell we were pleased to find the Red Lion was still open, so a
group of us took advantage of tea, coffee, chocolate..... But the day
did not stop there. After changing clothes we assembled back at the
Hodson abode in North Oxford for an evening of wonderful food and
fellowship. So it was a very good start to the year.
Friday 28th December 2007- Congratulations to Sage contact,
Mike Pepler, who featured on the BBC news. Mike has recently purchased
a wood which he and his wife Tracy are now managing in an
environmentally friendly manner. See the video clip Woodlands lure in new buyers.
Monday 3rd December 2007- Rev Prof Ian James is the writer of the latest Ecocolumn in the Door, the Diocese of Oxford newspaper. In his article Ian looks at "natural economics".
Tuesday 23rd October 2007- Sage member, Martin Hodson, spoke on "Why should Christians care for the planet?" to MK Christian Environmental Group at
Whaddon Way Church, Bletchley, nr. Milton Keynes. About 20 people
attended. It was good to meet up with members of this new group in
Milton Keynes. For many years Sage have wanted more local groups to
spring up in our area, and now one has sprung!
Sunday 14th October 2007- The Chiltern Gateway Project
based at St. Margaret's church, Lewknor held a LOAF fayre in and around
the church. There were lots of local, organic, animal friendly, and
fairly traded products available, and a dog show! The fayre was
followed by a service at St. Margaret's at which Brother Samuel,
project director of the Hilfield 'Peace and reconciliation' centre
spoke on the theme "Living lightly on the planet". It was another
wonderful event at Lewknor. More photos are available at the Sage Facebook Group (registration required).
Saturday 6th October 2007- Sage
began a new "Walk with the Creator" series in the beautiful Pang Valley
in Berkshire.The River Pang is one of the cleanest chalk rivers in the
Thames Basin and supports a variety of plant and animal life. The whole
area is a patchwork of woodland copses and small meadows and is said to
have inspired Kenneth Grahame to write the children's classic Wind in
the Willows. Caroline and Clare led a party of six of us, stopping
every so often for readings and thoughts. Martin spotted a kingfisher,
and we had an interesting incident with a bullock! We finished with a
cup of tea and cakes at the Black Barn.