grandparents - a new bible and a lectern lectionary. Anne is second from right with the group who set up a a fascinating exhibition of photographs of people and events in the life of St Mark's. 
KEY EVENTS
St Mark’s Day
The Sunday nearest to 25th April is our Patronal Festival when we celebrate the life of St Mark. We have a guest preacher for this service. This year we welcomed Archdeacon Richard Gillings, who expressed his delight at being with us again. The Revd Alison Cox presented him with a cut glass wine goblet engaved with the St Mark's logo in anticipation of his retirement later this year. Alison expressed our sincere thanks for all the support he has given us over his time as Archdeacon. Richard blessed two new books dedicated to the memory of Anne Herod's grandparents - a new bible and a lectern lectionary. Anne is second from right with the group who set up a a fascinating exhibition of photographs of people and events in the life of St Mark's.
The service was followed by a Parish Lunch served in the Church Hall. It was a great atmosphere with both old and new friends catching up again.
Whit Walks (Pentecostal procession of witness)
Pentecost is the festival when Christians celebrate the gift of the Holy Spirit. It is celebrated on the Sunday 50 days after Easter. Pentecost is regarded as the birthday of the Christian church, and the start of the church's mission to the world. The Holy Spirit is the third part of the Trinity of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit that is the way Christians understand God.
From left:
1. Church Organist & Priest-in-Charge
2. Kathleen Bowker with Granddaughter Evie Rose
3. Praise and Play Group
Once again we were blessed with a beautiful day for the Dukinfield Whit Walks. We walked to the Town Hall for the annual service there and then proceeded up to the War Memorial and then back to St Mark's. We were accompanied by Adamson Military Band, and our Priest-in-Charge, Alison, led the prayers and benediction on the Town Hall steps. This year, we had visitors from Wichita, Kansas, USA, and from Kings Lynn in Norfolk; families from Messy Church and more church members attending. The children, like Evie Rose, wore their Pentecost flame headgear - fantastic.
Summer Fair
Every year we have a Summer Fair and, in 2010, it was again held in the Vicarage garden on 26 June with gazebos 
covering each stall, giving a very picturesque scene to people as they walked through the gate. We sold lots of cakes, ran out of burgers on the barsbecue stall manned by Derek and Arthur, and even sold some ice creams bought on the day as it was so warm. There were the usual stalls and two new ones: one selling home-made crafts and the other photographs by a photography class. There were various games set out for the children and Maggie Halliday was kept quite busy playing games with the little ones. To make this event even more pleasant, musician David Morgan played the keyboard on this very enjoyable afternoon.
Back to Church Sunday
B2C Sunday is a project that the Anglican church hopes will see thousands of people across the region come 'Back to Church'. St Mark’s is one of the parishes in the Diocese of Chester that is taking part in the campaign this year. For some people, going inside the church after a gap of many years may be uncomfortable, and so we have to make them feel as comfortable as we possibly can.
This event , for which churchgoers are being encouraged to invite someone they know who used to attend church to come back on this particular day, was on Sunday, 27 September 2009,when all received a warm welcome to the service. Invitations were sent out to all people who have used our Church for either a Baptism, Wedding or Funeral to attend the service. Afterwards, we hosted a Parish Lunch in the Hall.
All Souls Day
All Souls Day is a surprisingly old feast. It arose out of the Christian tradition of celebrating the martyrdom of saints on the anniversary of their martyrdom. When martyrdoms increased during the persecutions of the late