Gorleston church invites all to Jubilee celebration

A church in Gorleston is inviting its community to celebrate the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee by hosting a community fete at the heart of the Magdalen estate in Gorleston. 

St Mary Magdalene Church, in partnership with arts organization Freshly Greated and Magdalen Way Methodist Church, will be hosting Summer on the Mag for the Jubilee from 1pm - 5pm on Thursday June 2 on Magdalen Square in Gorleston.
 
Summer on the Mag will feature roving street artists, inflatables and rides, refreshments and lots more attractions and stalls. There will also be a full programme of musical and dance acts performing on a stage outside St Mary Magdalene Church.  The event has benefited from just under £10,000 of funding from the National Lottery Community Fund which will support the artistic elements of the afternoon.
 
The Rev Matthew Price, Vicar of St Mary Magdalene Church, explained “We are excited about the return of Summer on the Mag, after not being able to host it for the last two years because of the pandemic. This year will be bigger and better than before, especially since we will be celebrating the Queen’s Jubilee.
 
“We are delighted to be working in partnership with Freshly Greated and Magdalen Way Methodist Church to make it a particularly memorable event. Together we are planning to bring some innovative, interactive and fun artists to the event which will make it even more special.”
 
Karen Jeremiah, Programme Director of Freshly Greated said, “We are thrilled to be partners for Summer on the Mag this year. We have been working with the community for around a year and a half now and have been really impressed with the amount of hard work and warm spirit from people in the area to make everyone feel welcome.  This will be a truly memorable celebration for the community.”
 
The event will be officially opened at 1pm by Lady Agnew, one of the County’s Deputy Lieutenants, and The Bishop of Thetford.  The opening will also feature a special performance of Rise Up and Serve, a new anthem written especially for the Jubilee by The Rend Collective, Graham Kendrick and Mal Pope, by the choir of Ormiston Herman Academy, along with church musicians.
 
Later in the afternoon, local band Emily and Zak will perform on the stage and roving artists, The Guardsmen and The Land Girls, will entertain amongst the crowd. Attendees will also be able to join in with creation of a special community work of art by adding their own memory to a seven sided column, each side for one decade of the Queen’s reign. The afternoon will also feature The Actual Reality Arcade, a life-sized interactive game zone which allows participants of all ages to climb inside and re-live classic arcade games, created by local man Matthew Harrison.
 
Free copies of the commemorative book, “Our Faithful Queen” which includes rarely seen prayers from a book of devotions written for the Queen for her Coronation Day, will be given out, which will help readers appreciate the Queen’s Christian faith. This is made possible by funding from the Diocese of Norwich Sharing Good News Fund. Younger members of the community will receive “The Girl Who Grew Up to be Queen”
 
Rev Price concluded, “we’re really excited about the programme we have put together for Summer on the Mag and are hoping it will be a wonderful community celebration of the Queen’s extraordinary years of service.  Whether you want to climb inside The Actual Reality Arcade, enjoy the musicians and dancers whilst sampling some of the refreshments, get locked in a police van, climb on a fire engine, or even take an alpaca for a walk, we hope there will something for everyone!  Please do come and join us.”
 
There will be another opportunity to mark the Queen’s Jubilee at a special service at St Mary Magdalene Church on Sunday June 5, when the Ormiston Herman choir will again perform Rise Up and Serve.
 
For more details, visit the Facebook pages of St Mary Magdalene Church, Freshly Greated and Magdalen Way Methodist Church. 
 
The pictures show members of St Mary Magdalene inviting the community to take part, and one of the games in the Actual Reality Arcade, and are courtesy of St Mary Magdalene Church.

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