POPCORN was served up with prayers for the congregation at the family service at All Saints Church in Okehampton on New Year?s Day. The theme of the family service was ?Not conforming but transforming?, and to illustrate this there was a play dough machine to symbolise what it meant to be conformed, or squeezed into someone else?s mould, and a popcorn machine to illustrate being transformed from the inside. Rector of Okehampton, the Rev Stephen Cook said: ?Our monthly family services are designed to contain something for all ages and we thought it would be fun to make popcorn in church. ?The change from something hard and inedible into something light and tasty is a pretty good illustration of transformation, which was the theme of the service. ?There was a worrying minute or two when we first switched it on and nothing happened, but then it started to pop and pretty soon we had more than enough and the church was filled with that wonderful smell. ?Needless to say, young and old enjoyed eating it.? The new year service also contained an opportunity for people to renew their baptism promises and to light a candle, symbolising prayers for the coming 12 months. The next family service at All Saints will be on Sunday, February 5 at 11am.
