After my early rising yesterday continued oddly. Joe and I arrived at Thoresway to discover that the builders had been in the church chipping off plaster to sort out the damp and the rewiring there. They had cleared up the mess, but everything was covered with dust, including the altar which had been stripped of all its cloths and brass.

After a short debate (us, John the priest, Colin the organist, Kath who is also from Swallow, Jonathan one of the churchwardens, and Jonathan's mother) Joe dressed the altar, while the rest of us cleaned the choir stalls with a mop and a tea-towel (no dusters available) and Kath and I went to collect rugs, scarves and shawls from our cars for everyone to sit/kneel on.

As Jonathan's mother remarked, why, if she was going to be away for the weekend, hadn't Carolyn mentioned to her in advance that the church needed cleaning? Of course one might equally ask why Jonathan, knowing that Carolyn was going to be away, hadn't gone in on Saturday to check round and prepare?

Still, by the time we were ready for the service, the wartime siege mentality of bonhomie and all pulling together had taken its hold and instead of spreading ourselves around the pews, each wholly isolated from the others, we sat close together, facing each other across the narrow chancel in a spirit of good fellowship. John, who had to go on to another service in Walesby, kept the service quite short. (Interesting and brief sermon on the reading from Leviticus in which, among other things, he said what I have been saying for some time about people quoting that passage about a man lying with another man and ignoring all the similar warnings about the wickedness of eating shrimps.)

Anyway, after the service, there was no rushing away as we stood and sat where we had been talking over how this particular church could, as the only public building in the village, be adapted to full community use and get good grants (Kath is the world's champion grant-getter) to do the work if only a few reactionaries in the village could be brought on board. It is a listed building so they would have to be very sensitive in the work carried out, and fears about ruining it as a church really are unfounded. What far too many people(mainly non-chuchgoers) don't seem to realise is that while Jesus may have been a carpenter, that doesn't make him personally responsible for every pew and you can, without risk of thundebolts being thrown, move or even dispose of some of them. It's odd, but from what Carolyn had told me about this debate, I had rather assumed that Jonathan's mother was the spanner in the works, while it is clear that she is firmly on the side of the progressives.

Joe decided to go on to Walesby with John where the congregation is having to use the old church on the hill (the Ramblers' Church as it is known) which was abandoned a century ago in favour of a new church in the heart of the village; this new church is now out of use having been structurally damaged in the earthquake last February. The old church was abandoned before anyone had even thought of taking electricity to rural areas and thus they need strong young men willing to pump the organ. (Short pause for rude double entendre: Joe will pump your organ and ring your bell - Ding-dong!) One person with a 4x4 acts as a taxi service up to the church for elderly, infirm and lazy people who arrive in good time for services, but the rest have to climb the half mile or so of muddy track. Joe and John walked up. I decided against going - a combination of what my grandmother called 'the thirst after righteousness' (I needed a cup of coffee) and court shoes - but I picked Joe up afterwards and we went on to the Winter Warmers at Swallow village hall.

Winter Warmers is an excellent idea which they do in the winter months as they do barbecues in the summer. They consist of a bowl of soup with a roll and butter or garlic bread, followed by tea or coffee and cake, and there is also a licensed bar. They raise some money for community projects and are very good socially for getting the village together.

Obviously the cameraderie of the morning continued as Kath called me over to suggest that next spring we combine the West Lindsey Churches festival with the village fete (before everyone else has theirs). I'm all in favour as Joe has been poached to take charge of helping Great Limber set up participation in the Festival and I don't fancy doing his elaborate catering. This way the bulk of the catering beyond tea/coffee and cake at odd times will be transferred to the hall where they have proper facilities. It also solves the lavatory problem. Moreover we now have working parties for the whole of next year for maintenance of the churchyard and church cleaning and flowers, as well as a clear plan of some simple improvements such as new curtains to stop the draft from the tower and west door, a bookcase for hymnbooks and service sheets, a better positioning of the welcome table and some new linen.

A very productive day.