Church News & Events
SERVICES AT ST MARY'S CHURCH, CUSOP
Our services are always welcoming so please join us if you can.
Sunday 27th October - Morning Worship at 11am
Sunday 10th November – Benefice Remembrance Sunday Service at 10.30am
Sunday 17th November - Holy Communion at 11am
We have two special services in November. I don’t ever recall the Benefice Remembrance Sunday Service being held at Cusop Church so it’s a privilege that we are hosting this year’s service on 10th November. The service will be led by Revd Mark Godson and includes "The Last Post" and "The Reveille". Lord Lisvane will be giving the Talk, the Wye Border Singers will perform an anthem and refreshments will be served after the service. Please join us at this special service and show your respect for all those who died so that we may have freedom. The following Sunday, we are pleased to welcome Revd Janet Russell who will be leading our Communion Service.
Harvest Festival Service
Our Harvest Festival was a happy occasion reflecting all the generosity around us! We were delighted to welcome our Guest Speaker, Revd James Pacey, Canon Chancellor, Hereford Cathedral, who gave a totally engaging Talk entitled “God is Good.”
God did prove “good” throughout the service. We were surrounded by beautiful Harvest arrangements of flowers, vegetables and fruit. Thank you to all those who shared their talents and kindness in this way.
Adam, Seb, Jake and Toby all read brilliantly and were warmly appreciated by the congregation. Very well done, boys!
Thank you to Val for playing the organ, everyone who attended and those who helped serve refreshments. Our thanks to all who generously donated produce for Hereford Food Bank that practically filled a car! The retiring collection totalled £100 and this has also been gratefully received by the Food Bank.
Icon Cards for Sale
At our Harvest Festival, it was lovely to welcome Eva and Petro, a Ukrainian couple living in Hay. They are both iconographers and have very generously donated some of their Icon Cards to be sold in aid of Cusop Church. Thank you, Eva and Petro.
Tea at Three
Our next “Tea at Three” takes place on Sunday 24th November from 3.00pm to 4.30pm at Cusop Village Hall. It’s very informal and friendly so do drop by and give it a try! Everyone is very welcome and it’s free!
Caring for God’s Acre
Our volunteers continue to impress! At the end of one session last month,
a robin was sitting on top of a pile of elder saplings and brambles as if to say, "Well done!" A large area around the apple trees was cleared and helpers tidied up neglected graves. With the Quinquennial Inspection imminent, gullies were cleared of debris and grass cuttings, and the garden next to the porch weeded and pruned back.
At extra ad hoc sessions, we’ve managed to cut and rake a fair proportion of our meadow areas. We have also added extra wire protection around the apple trees as the bark has been badly damaged by pesky grey squirrels.
A HUGE THANK YOU to everyone who has helped at these sessions. Without you, our churchyard would not look so beautiful. It’s unbelievable how many people visit and find joy in our churchyard!
We love new volunteers so if you would like to join our friendly group please contact celiacundale@aol.com: Tel: 07790- 925616.
Stone Seat Celebration
Sandwiched between soaking wet and gloomy days, we were blessed with perfect weather for our Stone Seat Celebration! We had a great turnout including four well-behaved dogs. Thank you to everyone who came and supported the event. It was an opportunity for us to show our appreciation to Robert “Tush” for constructing such a beautiful Stone Seat at the back of our Bee and Butterfly Garden from where visitors can either admire distant views of Mousecastle or the flowers and herbs in the garden alive with buzzing bees and butterflies.
Robert was thanked and presented with a gift. He explained how he had sourced the stone from different places in our area which makes it a real “Community Stone Seat”. A very big thank you to Sue, Keith, Larry, Pauline, Angela, Jeremy and Caroline who presented singalong songs and a selection of poetry. It was hugely entertaining and great fun!
Our thanks to everyone who contributed to the fabulous spread of sandwiches and cakes and helped serve cups of tea and wash up afterwards. The churchyard is such a wonderful venue for these friendly and happy events!
Cards for Sale – photographs of our ancient yews
Archie Miles, renowned photographer, was so impressed with the ancient yews in our churchyard that he’s taken a series of photographs. We’ve now had cards printed and they are for sale in the church.
Banner – “Crown Him Lord of Life”
Walking into the church, you will now see a fabulous banner that was designed by Lis Charles and made by a small group of worshippers many years ago. The banner has been at the back of the church, unnoticed, for a very long time. We’re delighted with its new position so that visitors when entering the church can’t fail to appreciate it and read the Christian message.
PCC Secretary Needed!
Cusop Parochial Church Council needs a Secretary! The PCC looks after the fabric of the church building and supervises the conservation programme in the churchyard as well as organising and supporting services and events held at the church. We are a small and friendly group meeting six times a year.
Our church building and churchyard are much loved by our local community and the hundreds of visitors we welcome every year. We need to keep them going! Can you please help? The role of the Secretary is voluntary and not onerous; it’s predominantly taking minutes at our meetings. The post is open to anyone (of any faith or no faith). If you care about our church building and churchyard, then please contact celiacundale@aol.com: Tel: 07790- 925616 for more information.
Charitable Giving
Every year Cusop Parochial Church Council aims to donate 10% of its net operating income to charitable causes . Last year we donated a total £1,402.20 which is equal to 13.4% of our net operating income. Donations were made to the following charities:
St. Michael's Hospice - March, £500
December £182
Turkish/Syria Appeal March. £300
Hereford Food Bank January £182.20
October £163
Messy church October £50
Hereford Churches Tourism £25
Launch Party for our Information Boards
Our Launch Party was a happy and joyous occasion! The sun shone down as we welcomed thirty Year 6 pupils from Eastbrook Primary School in Dagenham who were quite spellbound having just arrived from a traffic jam on the M25 to the bliss and beauty of our churchyard! The pupils and teachers from Trewern were a splendid addition to our party and there was a great turnout from our local community!
The Party was an opportunity to tell everyone about why our ancient church is so special and how the churchyard is a haven for wildlife encouraging a wide variety of flora and fauna. We hope that the Boards will act as a springboard for visitors of all ages to explore and enjoy our church and churchyard.. The teachers at Trewern are delighted with them and will regularly be using the Boards as a teaching resource..
It’s been a challenging project and there were lots of people to thank in public especially our artists, Lizzie Harper and Alison Alcock, also Keith Hodgetts and Caroline Hafner, John Wilks and Cusop History Group who helped design the boards, Shelley Signs from Shrewsbury who made them, Danny Tong and John Buckwell who so carefully installed the boards and OTM who mowed the grass and cut the hedge perfectly in time for the party. Our thanks also to the Heritage Lottery Fund for giving us a grant covering a large part of the cost.
It was a great moment when the children excitedly unveiled the boards to a countdown! Lizzie, who drew the illustrations for the Flora and Fauna Boards helped with the unveiling. She hadn’t seen the boards previously but was delighted with them. We then had some fabulous entertainment from Keith, Sue and Larry, and refreshments were served. It was a very happy and memorable occasion!
HEREFORD FOOD BANK
Please support the Food Bank by donating tinned and dried products and toiletries.
Our volunteers pick up items every week and travel to Dorstone so please make their journey worthwhile by giving just a few items.
Donations are picked up every Wednesday morning at 11.30am from Cusop Church and Cusop Village Hall. Thank you for your kindness and thinking of others.
Flower and Cleaning Rota
A HUGE thank you to all our wonderful helpers who do such an amazing job! Our beautiful church always looks clean and welcoming and that’s all because of their hard work and commitment. We are truly grateful.
Plan of Graves in Churchyard
A new and updated plan of all the graves in the churchyard is now in the church for visitors who are searching for their relatives’ memorials. There is also an alphabetical list of all memorials for quick reference. Our thanks to John Wilks who produced the original version of this as previously, there was no accurate record. We’re also very grateful to Jane Weaver who has photographed every memorial individually.
All donations for churchyard maintenance gratefully received!
It costs Cusop PCC over £1000 a year to have the grass mowed in our churchyard. We don’t receive any grants towards this even though the whole community benefits from the wide open space in our beautiful churchyard which is incredibly popular with dog walkers, young families and people of all ages.
One sunny day, I met two ladies laying a tablecloth and sharing coffee and cake together in the open air. It’s thanks to our wonderful God’s Acre volunteers and the grass cutting regime that we can keep our costs down to £1,000 but it is still a lot of money. If you would like to make a donation towards the costs of maintaining our churchyard, please place it in the Donation Box inside the church by the main door or contact Celia Cundale, Churchwarden, or our Treasurer, Malcolm Darbyshire.
Any donation large or small will make a difference. Thank You!
Churchyard Flowers
As part of our Eco Church programme, we do not allow artificial flowers or oasis in the churchyard, “Fresh flowers are encouraged as the symbol of the gift of creation and the brevity of life. Artificial flowers, e.g. silk or plastic flowers, are inappropriate”. (Diocesan churchyard regulations) It’s wonderful how everyone has taken this on board and the PCC would like to sincerely thank you for this. Thank you for helping to keep our churchyard beautiful and for being kind to nature.
ECO CHURCH
Brown Long-Eared Bats
We’re so grateful to Paul and Jane Smith and other local bat enthusiasts who identified brown long-eared bats in the darkness of Cusop Church . A year ago, we participated in the “Bats in Churches” project identifying the presence of bats and their entry points into our church. Our feedback to the project was part of a national survey showing the distribution of bats in churches. We thought our bats were most likely common pipistrelles so were delighted to hear that our church is home to the rarer brown long-eared bat.
The brown long-eared bat certainly lives up to its name ; its ears are nearly as long as its body! Otherwise, it’s a medium size bat measuring 3.7-5.2cm long with a wingspan of 20-30cm and weighing 6-12grams. It has greyish-brown fur and a relatively slow, fluttery flight.
As with all UK bats, it’s nocturnal, only coming out at night to feed on midges, moths and other flying insects. It has an incredible sense of direction thanks to echolocation, which it uses to hunt prey. Brown long-eared bats roost in holes in trees and old buildings. In the summer, females form maternity colonies and have just a single pup each. Our wonderful volunteers who clean the church will be glad to know that they hibernate over winter between November and April thus causing less mess in the church!
Apple Tree Project
The project has been admired by all who visit our churchyard. It’s wonderful that it’s become a real community effort and there are so many people to thank for giving up their time and offering their skills.
Thank you to all those who took wood chippings and made generous donations to the church. A special thank you to Julian Smith for removing a large, ivy- infested trunk and Andy Fryers and John Hanson for helping to transform the area into an attractive and comfortable home for the apple trees. The trees were carefully planted by ten masked volunteers supervised by Ainsleigh. A huge thank you to Ainsleigh and the Marches Apple Network for all their expertise and help with this fabulous project.
As always, our very grateful thanks to our loyal volunteers who excelled themselves with the planting and then continued working in the churchyard weeding and clearing unwanted brambles.
It has been a joy to see children hugging their trees and faces lit up with smiles on seeing the trees planted which have become beacons of hope for the future. Thank you again to all who have helped with this inspirational project.
Celia Cundale
Support and Care
If you would like to talk to someone, there are people who are there to listen. Life doesn’t always go to plan, for all kinds of reasons, such as illness, grief, change of circumstances, relational issues or loneliness. As a church community we are here to offer you support, a listening ear and prayer, whatever it is you’re going through. Our pastoral visiting team are good listeners and have all undergone safeguarding checks and training. Please contact:
E mail: pastoralvisitors@gmail.com
Telephone: 01981 501032
Cusop Church is an Eco Church
“He saw all that he made and it was good”. God loved his creation and it’s our responsibility to care for it.
God loved his creation and it’s our responsibility to care for it. At Cusop Church, we’ve been guided by the wonderful charity , Caring for God’s Acre, and thanks to the hard work of local volunteers, we’ve been able to follow a conservation programme for over 15 years. This includes a grass cutting regime so we have meadow areas where wild flowers and grasses can flourish. The increasing diversity of plants that now grow encourages not just pollinators like bees but a whole range of species of insects and minibeasts.
We have bird and hedgehog boxes, a fabulous Bug Hotel and four enormous compost heaps! We know our churchyard is a haven for wildlife as we’ve found toads, slow worms and fascinating beetles on our taskforce days and we must protect these animals.
One autumnal morning, we went “hunting” in the churchyard and found thirty-five species of fungi. We love memorials made from natural local stone as it encourages different kinds of lichen that are so important for our ecosystem. A lichen survey revealed an incredible seventy-nine species of lichen in our churchyard with the oldest natural stone memorials “being home” to the rarest lichen. We’ve now signed up to Eco Church and that’s inspired us with new projects including planting eight apple trees which are all Herefordshire varieties.
If we added up the acreage of all churchyards it’s a massive amount of land. If at least some of this land is carefully managed to encourage wild native plants and animals that would increase biodiversity and make a significant difference to our environment.
Every single organism plays a role in our ecosystem from the tiny bee that pollinates the wild flowers to the huge ancient yew which provides a home and food for wildlife.
God wants us to protect the glory, beauty and diversity of his creation so please let’s do it!
Welcome Booklet
In conjunction with Cusop Village Hall and the Parish Council, Cusop Church has produced a Welcome Booklet and we have already started delivering this to new residents living at Bookers Edge. The booklet contains a wealth of useful information about amenities and activities in and around Cusop. If you want to view it, log onto www.cusop.net and you’ll find it on the Useful Links page under Home. Our thanks to Alison Matthews for setting up this link on the village website. If you know anyone who would like to have a printed copy of "The Welcome Booklet", please contact Celia Cundale (01497-820396).
