The Priory Church, St. Bees

The Alpha course is in its 6th week and is going well so far.  There are 5 people taking the course along with Lars and David as leaders.  Generally we start with a pint and a meal over good conversation and then we watch the session projected against a wall in the back room.  Thus far the discussion regarding the various topics has been very interesting and fruitful.  Of those attending everyone is open to sharing their thoughts and the conversations have been courteous as well as insightful.  One of the key things with Alpha is the chance to build relationships as well, and this has certainly been the case this time around.  The pub venue is working well also, so I think we can expect to continue to use it for similar things in the future.

On May 11 7 of us set out from Buttermere up through Rannerdale in beautiful  weather. It is always a lovely walk and the swathes of bluebells covering the side of the valley made it idyllic – and then there were rumbles of thunder. The ‘wise virgins’ put on their waterproofs, the ‘foolish virgins’ got very wet! (John Haile produced a bin bag for Jake to wear. I pointed out that the good news was that I had forgotten my mobile phone so could not take a photo & send it to his friends!) We got to the cafe in time for very welcome tea, cake  and warmth, went to evensong at Buttermere Church and then had supper at the Fish Inn. A very pleasant day.Charm

St. Bees Parochial Church Council

Minutes of the first meeting of the new council held on Monday 12^th May 2008 at 7.00pm in the Lady Chapel following Holy Communion.

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How inquisitive and extraordinary we are! We have the capacity for beauty and ingenuity, as well as for destruction and self hurt.  These various capacities seemed to join in my mind when I heard an interview on the radio and read in the news about a lawsuit filed by a couple of scientists against the people at Cern in Switzerland.  Cern is the site of the largest and most extraordinary piece of lab equipment in the world. The Cern Large Hadron Colider is a circular 27 kilometre particle accelerator built underground near Geneva.

Based on the current scientific theory, the scientists at Cern are trying to replicate the conditions that existed a split second after the Big Bang occurred. They have theorized that if successful there would be a miniature black hole that would exist for a split second.  The lawsuit claims that the physicists working at Cern have not carried out the “risk assessment” that they were supposed to.  Namely, they haven’t really tried to see whether they may be wrong.  If they are wrong and the miniature black hole doesn’t simply go away in a split second the whole world will be pulverized in a moment.  Imagine, “Hey guys, check this out…” [Click] CABLAMO! 

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