Tag: YouTube

Join the Livestream Broadcast of the Dedication of the Bells

On Friday 10th September at 1.30pm, the Bishop of Gloucester will visit St Mary’s Hawkesbury for a historic service to dedicate our new ring of eight bells, the restored tower and refurbished vestry.

It will be an exuberant service full of music, with the bells rung both by the new Hawkesbury Bell Ringers and an invited guest band of expert ringers, and singing by the church choir and by the top class from Hawkesbury Primary School.

Wherever you are in the world, you are warmly invited to join us online for the service via this livestream link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qs2chovwn7c&feature=youtu.be

Watch the Blessing of the New Church Bells Online

You’re warmly invited to enjoy a rare opportunity to watch the blessing of our new church bells online, via this wonderful recording made by our Choirmaster Ben Humphries.

This special ceremony, for which the bells were adorned with flowers, involved naming the bells, christening them with holy water and anointing them with oil.

So rare is the ceremony that our vicar, the Rev Richard Thomson, had never done one before, and our highly experienced bellringing teacher James Joynson had never witnessed one.

Despite the Covid-related restrictions on numbers for the congregation and the choir (the six ladies allowed to sing sounded wonderful), this historic service was truly celebratory, and it was a joy to see the fruit of four years of careful planning and fundraising. Special thanks to the generosity of John Appleby, without whom this project would not have been possible.

The service has now been watched by friends of St Mary’s around the world. You too may now relive the experience and enjoy it at your leisure via YouTube here:

(Find out more about Ben Humphries and his videography at his website: http://www.bhwh.co.uk)