David in a day, Sheering, Essex

The following weekend Helen travelled to Essex for a musical in a day at Sheering, a small village fairly near Stansted Airport.  She took the opportunity to stay with a good friend, Martha, who had recently moved to the area.  Helen was joined at Sheering by a small team, Phil Griffiths who came to sing the role of David, and Anna Weddell who led a dance workshop.

The day was organised by Lydia Taylor, the music leader at St Mary's, and she had drawn together a wonderful choir made up of singers from a number of local churches.  They had had a little bit of rehearsal beforehand, or must have done, because they were so good!  It was also wonderful to have a couple of their 'larger than life' characters take on smaller solo roles such as Goliath.

Anna did a great job with the dance workshop, training a group of young girls to do a lovely dance, and even roping one of the mums in too!  Anna also did a solo dance to the song 'Saul and Jonathan' as part of the performance.

The following morning Helen returned to the church to take part in the morning service, leading the choir in a couple of the psalms from the musical.  It was a special service for the church because a vicar from Kenya had come to share with them for a week.  The local vicar, Stewart, was wonderfully supportive.  It was a privilege to work in a small rural church that was really working hard and making progress in its mission to the local area.