Hopefully this interregnum at our parish church will not last too long

It’s been wonderful to welcome back our monthly parish magazine after such a long period of absence.

The Beacon is normally delivered to most houses in Fakenham and, due to the pandemic, many residents may have given up on it for good.

But behind the scenes a group of determined volunteers has refused to call it quits and thanks to them all, a pre-Christmas edition has now been compiled.

As I write, the ‘Beacon bundling’ team has got together in church to sort out the various rounds for collection and delivery with the intention of covering the town before Christmas.

This has been a considerable task and with future prospects a bit more encouraging now, the hope is that this monthly commitment will continue through 2022 and beyond.

For those who do not know, The Beacon is free and relies significantly on local businesses advertised in its pages to help cover its printing costs.

Fakenham resident and church member Kay Hathway has taken over the role of organising the distribution.

She is aware that not every street in town will be receiving The Beacon yet.

Some spare copies may be available in church but if you’ve missed out this time it means there is no deliverer for your area.

If anyone can manage to deliver a small number close to where they live, their help in future months would be very much appreciated. The first step would be to email admin@fakenham

parishchurch.org.uk to clarify the position with Kay and what would be involved.

The parish church is currently active without a priest in charge, experiencing what is known in ‘church language’ as an Interregnum.

When I looked this up in my weighty dictionary, the word’s origin seemed to stretch back many centuries.

Mention of the year 1590 in this context suggested it was ‘the interval between the close of a king’s reign and the accession of his successor.’

More appropriately in today’s terms, I noted ‘a breach of continuity, an interval.’

Our present ‘interval’ is being overseen by our two churchwardens whose task, amongst others, is to try and maintain business as usual in the pattern of church services and important events such as baptisms, weddings and funerals. The Parochial Church Council [PCC] and retired clergy living in the area have also been crucial factors in all this.

As for filling the vacancy, the Church of England has a set procedure for appointments. In our case a ‘parish profile’ has already been put together and the post will be advertised by our patrons, Trinity College, Cambridge.

In due course the candidates will visit here and be interviewed by a panel at Trinity College which will include two parish representatives appointed by our PCC.

It would be presumptive to suggest just when the appointment might be made as the whole process inevitably takes quite some time.