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If you want to find out more about Penwith Deanery please visit this video link: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FYQxwY2LNZo

Wild Church Easter Day egg hunt and celebration..

A wintery Easter day didn’t put people off and we had great community turnout for the St John’s in the Fields, ‘Wild Church’ Easter Egg Hunt.  After locating their eggs and gaining their chocolate prize, many from the community stayed to enjoy hot drinks, amazing cakes and to listen to Nick’s talk and the singing of songs as we all huddled closely under the tent.   It was a joy to share the celebration of Easter Day -our Resurrection Sunday with our local community.

Godrevy Benefice Men’s Breakfast

Do you enjoy singing?

There are a number of choirs and groups that rehearse in different churches across the deanery.  The University of Oxford has completed research that reveals group singing is beneficial in a number of different ways including strengthening a feeling of togetherness, regulating heart rate, reducing stress levels and depression, improving symptoms of Parkinsons and lung disease and improving feelings of social wellbeing and increasing life expectancy.

Regular choir members report that learning new songs is cognitively stimulating and helps their memory and it has been shown that singing can help those suffering from dementia too*. Everyone can sing - however much we might protest - meaning it is one of the most accessible forms of music making there is…song is a powerful therapy!


Why not take a look at the different choirs that are asking for new volunteers and give them a go?

* Taken from University of Oxford “Choir singing improves health and happiness”

Prayer Focus

  • Pray for the Land’s End Benefice as they continue to wait the appointment of a Priest;

  • Pray for the congregations of St Buryan, St Levan and Sennen, for their church wardens, officers and PCCs;

  • Pray for Rev Steve Robinson who is temporarily supporting the Land’s End benefice for a number of months;

  • Pray for the work of the Deanery Implementation Team as they seek to implement the Penwith Deanery Plan.

  • Pray for Rev Dr Nick Widdows as he continues to serve as Rural Dean, pray for his wife Claire and for their family.  Pray for wisdom as he manages his Rural Dean duties together with those of his benefice

  • Pray for the Diocesan elections that will be taking place over the next two or three months and that people will be willing to stand for election, that new as well as former members will seek to be elected.

Cornish Celtic Way - Saturday Programme of walks


The Cornish Celtic Way pilgrimage team organised another very enjoyable walk on Saturday March 23rd, to enable walkers to complete the second section of the Celtic Way from Seaton Beach, where we ended our walk in February, down to West Looe.  Amazingly, considering the weather forecast, we completed the walk in the warmth of beautiful sunshine, and passed some amazing properties en-route that without a doubt contribute to that area of Cornwall being known as the rich man’s playground! Although steep at times, the route took us along a stunning coast path into East Looe.


Our lunchtime stop in Looe was at the The Haven, ‘Boundless Trust,’ a youth and community organisation that works with partners to help the youth and community to access opportunities and services. This is an incredible joint church and community initiative providing foodstuffs, hot meals and life skills training for young people and members of the community. At the time of our visit we shared the space with a group of young children and their parents who due to the forecasted inclement weather had rearranged their ‘Woodland story telling session’ to come indoors at The Haven.  The children gave rapt attention as they listened to the stories and tales of Cornish folklore! A welcome cuppa, a quick lunch break, and we regrouped outside the building to hear about the wonderful support that this new facility provides the youth and community in Looe.


Crossing the bridge to West Looe, we visited St Nicholas Church next to the river Looe.  This little church has a peculiar history having been at various times a town hall, school, court and prison replete with a ‘scolding cage’. One of its stained glass windows depicts a person with two left feet!

From here we continued on the coast path beyond Hannafore up to Lammana Chapel. Cornwall Heritage Trust report that Lammana Chapel is an important historic site containing the stone foundations of a chapel, which was part of a medieval priory based on Looe Island.  First recorded in a surviving document in 1144, the name Lammana contains the Cornish place-name elements ‘lann’ and ‘manach’, meaning ‘the early Christian enclosure or monastery of the monk’.  Historically, the name was first applied to an earlier chapel on Looe Island that was part of the large estate belonging to the medieval abbey at Glastonbury, Somerset.


The island chapel was dedicated to St Michael and became a centre of pilgrimage during the medieval period. Looe Island is now a marine nature reserve managed by the Cornwall Wildlife Trust. It is thought that the chapel on the mainland may have been built as a result of the number of pilgrims attempting to reach the island chapel on St Michael’s Day (29th September) sometimes in hazardous conditions.


The two chapels are precisely the same height above sea level and archaeologists believe that each would have been visible from the other. It is thought that the buildings may also have acted as landmarks for shipping and it has been suggested that the two chapels may have contained lights maintained to help guide sailors away from dangerous rocks and safely into the harbour at Looe, though this is not certain.


Here we finished our time together with some reflections from Nigel, a hymn and closing prayer and we walked back down the hill to a lovely cafe that served us beautiful food and not drinks, just in time, as the rain began to fall!


The next Cornish Celtic Way walk is scheduled to take place on Saturday 27th April, walking from Portreath to Gwithian (see the poster below for details).  Come and join the group - its a wonderful time of  enjoying God’s glorious creation and building new friendships along the way!