The story that was told at Easter to the children was of:
The wheatgrass that the children had planted on Palm Sunday had sprouted and was growing strongly. Hidden in the wheatgrass each child found a red dyed egg.
This was not the only surprise for the children; the Easter bunny had hidden chocolate eggs all around the back garden of the church. A diligent seach found enough eggs so that each child could take five eggs home with them. Not all the children who planted wheatgrass on Palm Sunday were able to come to the Easter festival on Easter Sunday, 31 March, and so a second festival was held on Sunday 7 April.
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by John-Peter Gernaat
Sunday 10 March marked the 50th anniversary of the day of the Ordination of Rev. Reingard Knausenberger. The day also marked her stepping back from carrying the responsibilities of a community and entering her retirement as a priest. Our Lenker, Rev. Oliver Steinrueck, was here to celebrate the occasion with Reingard and the community.
The celebrations were held in the Community Garden with coffee, tea and a wide selection of sweet and savoury treats. Reingard received gifts from the community; and from her colleagues; and from the other communities in the Region where she had served as Lenker for 17 years. The photos show the handing over of gifts and accompanying speeches.
A few special moments captured
Report by John-Peter Gernaat One element that resonated from the Ferndale Community Markets that were held in 2022 and 2023 was the social aspect of having pleasant conversations over a cup of coffee or tea, often with something sweet or savoury to eat. It was this element that prompted the Family Garden Tea as a concept for 2024. The first Family Garden Tea took place on a Saturday at the end of the priest synod when the four priests of the Region and the Lenker were all in Johannesburg. Five vendors sold a variety of goods including samosas, jewellery, books, handmade miniatures, health products and goods on behalf of the church. The coffee machine barely rested. Homemade and quality shop-bought cakes and delicious quiches competed with samosas. The turnout of the community was very good, and the atmosphere was convivial. The photos below attempt to capture the morning.
Crafting for Easter The stalls with good on sale
Caught in the moment
A camp was held a Moorfield from 8 to 13 December 2023 for grades 5, 6 and 7. Craft activities The outdoorsby John-Peter Gernaat On 25 November we held this year’s edition of the Advent Fair. The community pulled together to form a craft group to produce angels and stars while other individuals also worked at home to create and assemble a wonderful table of crafts. Many community members produced homemade edibles for the Deli stall that displayed Christmas cakes, Christmas biscuits, gingerbread houses, tomato confit, piccalilli, stollen, lemon cordial and more. These offerings were supplemented with specialty gifts, outside traders with eggs, vegetables, bottled foods, health products and cosmetics, hats, bags, aprons and small gifts. The White Elephant was stocked with pre-loved goods and a wide range of second-hand books were available. Children were well catered for with a puppet show, making Advent Gardens, Candle Dipping, Metal Forging, Light Boats and a Magic Cave where they met an Angel. The Food Court provided pleasant entertainment in the form of a group of singers with a guitar, a classical flute quartet and a clarinet quartet, and a display by a school of Capoeira practitioners. Visitors and stall holders were well catered for with bacon and egg rolls, Frankfurter rolls, a range of delicious home-made cakes, tea and coffee, including cappuccinos, and lunch of beef or chicken potjiekos with rice and salads and vegetarian options of quiche and mac-and-cheese. A lot of work went into the setting up and dismantling of the Advent Fair and the participation of everyone, those who made, worked and participated is greatly appreciated. The photos are from various photographers who are individually credited and provide an overview of what was on offer. Crafts and DeliFood CourtTea Garden (photo T Holtz) Cakes on sale with coffee and tea (photo T Holtz) Pancakes (photo T Holtz) EntertainmentMember of the Rand Symphony Orchestra playing as a clarinet quartet (photo T Holtz) Members of the Rand Symphony Orchestra playing as a clarinet quartet (video J Kirigin) Capoeira Volente (video J Kirigin) For ChildrenPuppet Show of Mary's Donkey (photos M Merle) Visiting vendorsCoupons and transactions
The goods on saleViews
The Regional Council of The Christian Community met in Windhoek from 14 to 16 July 2023 for their annual meeting. The visit to the Community in Windhoek provided an opportunity to experience the Green Market. The Green Market is a market that operates independently of the The Christian Community and is operated by The Green Market Trust with its own General Manager. The Green Market has been operating for 19 years. In the period it has seen several markets start up in Windhoek and close down again. The Green Market uses the paved space around the church of The Christian Community in Windhoek. As a result it is limited in its size and cannot grow much larger than it currently is. This means that the stall holder are committed to retaining their place. The church in Windhoek is build against the side of a hill. The sloping ground means that the parking nearer the entrance to the church is much higher than the street level behind the church. The church building thus has two levels. The upper level is the church with its sacristy and rooms that serve the sacraments. Beneath the church is the Community Room and other spaces. The coffee shop of the Green Market, operated by The Christian Community, is at the street level of the Community Room. It has a area of seating conveniently close to street level and the on-street parking. The photos below, taken on 15 July 2023, take you on a spiral journey from the coffee shop, spiraling anticlockwise around the church building, up a flight of stairs and around to the front of the church. The wide paved area in front of the church has stall on either side. Looking from this vantage point, at the entrance to the church, the Green Market occupies both sides of the paves area and then spiral to the left, clockwise, around the church to the coffee shop which is at the bottom of the steps straight ahead, to right of center of this photo.
More detail on the vendorsTea GardenThe Puppet Show - Hansel and GretelSt. John's is a festival of fire. A group of eight children gathered in a circle in the middle of which a small bonfire was lit. The children listened to a beautiful story of the sunbird who begged the sun for more light and warm in the middle of winter and was rewarded by the flower of the beautiful aloe. The story was followed by the children's lighting a little coloured lantern and processing to a place in the garden where an aloe was just coming into colour. To encourage the aloe the children placed their coloured lanterns in the shape of an aloe flower. The children then practiced the song for St. John before going into the service.
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