We had a brilliant day celebrating the 270th birthday of The Fishermen’s Chapel on 25th November.
The 270th anniversary of the Methodist ‘Society’ in Leigh-on-Sea is November this year (the actual date is the 21st). We held a special celebration, ‘Fishermen’s Chapel Fest 270’, on the afternoon and evening of Sunday 25th November.
We had a rolling programme of music and other events throughout the afternoon and evening, with contributions from lots of the people who currently use the Chapel.
A few photos:
The Thamesside Mummers performing
Listening to foghorns, with Jennifer Lucy Allan
Jennifer Lucy Allan
Paul Wornell talks about the history of the Chapel
The Monday Singers
The Waterside Choirs
You can print the programme here – right click on this link and choose ‘Save target as…’ or similar: Chapel Fest Programme (pdf)
Programme for Sunday 25th November 2018
2.30 An Introduction & Welcome to our anniversary celebration by our minister Rev Peter Moorhouse who 3 years ago felt ‘called’ to serve as Superintendent of the Leigh & Southend ‘Circuit’ of Methodist churches (which actually includes Canvey, Thundersley, Rayleigh, Hockley, Rochford and Great Wakering), and thus forsaking his Cheshire roots (but not the accent!) with family in tow.
2.45 Drama from the Thameside Mummers –formed in 1971 to perform traditional Mumming plays. Based in Leigh they perform plays at a variety of events around Essex and further afield. Mumming plays usually feature St George and a host of other characters, including a Turkish Knight and a Quack Doctor. The play that the Mummers will be doing on this occasion is a traditional Christmas play complete with Father Christmas.
3.05 Some audio & visual excerpts from Whitewolf Films – there years ago Mike and Bart forsook London and regular jobs to start up a new venture using the ‘desk share’ facilities at the chapel. They have managed to secure commissions from some rather well known musicians and with their young families have embraced the delights of living on the edge of our beautiful estuary.
3.25 A PhD on Foghorns by Jennifer Lucy Allan – three years ago Jennifer needed a desk to work on her foghorn research, which captures the history of a fast disappearing sound from around our coasts. How do foghorns work? What do they sound like? Why can’t you hear the foghorn at the end of Southend pier?
3.50 Tea break downstairs
4.20 A visual guide to the chapel by our resident cartoonist Dave Walker – who found in the Chapel quiet (well, sometimes) working space to allow inspirations to mature into classic cartoons. Dave is the cartoonist for the Church Times and has published books of cartoons, most recently ‘How to Avoid the Peace’ and ‘The Cycling Cartoonist’.
4.40 An illustrated account of the 270 year story of the Chapel by our caretaker Paul Wornell – the end result of delving into various archives including the diaries of John Wesley.
5.10 Yoga teacher and psychotherapist Nicole Schnackenberg – will reflect on some of the possible benefits of yoga and mindfulness for food and body image struggles; including disordered eating, body dysmorphia, excessive dieting, fears about the ageing process and generalised food and body image concerns. We will finish with a short mindfulness practice for increasing our interoceptive awareness (the lived experience of the body from the inside) and thus connecting with internal signals like hunger and fullness. Nicole is author of ‘False Bodies True Selves’ (2016), ‘Bodies Arising (due 2019) and editor of ‘Reflections on Body Dysmorphic Disorder’ (2016).
5.30 Following on from the fascinating introduction to Nicole’s work we will take some time with Heather Simmons to experience a quiet mindfulness/meditation session to give a taste of the regular formula of every 4th Sunday at 7.15pm. All are welcome to join us although our sessions aim to support those suffering from anxiety and depression. The mindfulness is not religion based, however we do say a short prayer of thanks at the end (optional). So, if you have never tried mindfulness or you love it please join us for this beautiful, candlelit taster session as part of the Chapel Fest!
5.50 Contemporary harmony from The Monday Singers – first formed in 1969 as an alternative to a traditional church choir in Eastwood. Although there have been many personnel changes over the years, we still have quite a few long term members. We sing mainly “folk” inspired songs, however our repertoire consists of songs by as diverse a range of artists and singers as Crosby Stills and Nash to Michael Jackson and include Annie Lennox, the Beatles, the Isley Brothers and Tom Paxton to mention just a few more. We like to sing songs with a positive message and for the last year or so we have enjoyed singing once a month at the Sunday Vespers here at Fisherman”s Chapel.”
6.20 – Tea break downstairs
6.50 Energised harmony from the Waterside choirs – a multi-award winning community choir. They sing contemporary songs such as Happy, Desperado, Eleanor Rigby, Life on Mars etc. All the arrangements are by Grammy- nominated musical director and his professional jazz singer wife! Come along and see if you would like to join them!
7.20 Now join in our Multi genre Songs of Praise; from Charles Wesley to Caleb Dinger, with our gospel choir.
8.00 Wrap it up – Rev Pete
NB all timings are approximate
You can also join our Facebook event for Fishermen’s Chapel Fest 270.