St Mary's Parish Magazine -
March 2002
Readings for Sundays
and Festivals in April
The Womens World Day of Prayer will be
celebrated on Friday March 1. There will be two services locally - at
Beddington Gardens Methodist church at 10.30am and at Holmwood Gardens URC at
7.30pm when the speaker will be Jenifer Davison. The services have been
organised by the women of Romania with the theme Challenge to Reconcile.
During Lent, the Friday lunches are taking
place as usual at The Rectory at 12.45pm. We are raising money towards the
projects included in this years Bishops Lent Appeal, about which there are
more details on page 8.
On Sunday March 17, instead of Evensong, the choir
will be giving a concert of French choral music on a more or less
Passiontide theme. It will last about an hour. There will be refreshments in
the Centre afterwards, and a retiring collection in aid of the Shopping List.
Full details on page 9.
There will be visiting Presidents at the
Eucharists on Sundays April 7 and 14.
The Annunciation, which falls naturally in Holy Week this year, will be
celebrated instead on Monday April 8 with a Choral Eucharist at 7.30pm. Again
there will be a visiting President.
Shoppers at Sainsburys Wallington branch
this month should remember to collect the 1p the store gives for every shopping
bag of your own that you use and to drop the coins into the collecting box. The
money will eventually find its way into the Tower and Bells Fund.
The Albinoni String Orchestra will be making
a welcome return to St Marys on Monday May 6 at 7.30pm. Full details next
month
Blooming Beddington! The ringers have
some seed and plant catalogues from Suttons. The bell fund gets 20% of every
sale over 5. Pick up a catalogue from church (or call 8660 4254) and return
your order as soon as possible (with a cheque made payable to J. Kimber) to
Jean or Stewart Kimber and just wait for your seeds or plants to be delivered
to your doorstep.
Our apologies if your copy of last months
magazine was a little hard to read. The photocopier was feeling a little
tired and our engineer had gone sick! We hope this months issue has done
better.
On Sunday March 24 we begin Holy Week - the
annual celebration of the events of Jesuss death and resurrection. As those
events are at the heart of our faith, the services that mark them are uniquely
important in the Churchs year, and substantially different from our regular
celebrations. If you havent been to any of them before, why not make this the
year when you try to come to them all? The atmosphere of prayer, as it builds
through the week, becomes very powerful and very personal. Leaflets giving full
details of all the services in Holy Week will be available in church
from Sunday March 10.
The week begins with the 9.30am Eucharist on Palm
Sunday. We assemble in the Church Centre to hear the Gospel reading of
Jesuss entry into Jerusalem on the first Palm Sunday. Our palm crosses are
blessed, and we sing appropriate hymns as we walk in procession out of the
Centre, around by the churchyard wall, through the lych-gate and into church.
Then the whole narrative of Jesuss arrest, trial, death and burial is read,
with members of the congregation reading the words of individuals as the story
develops.
Then, following its huge success when we tried
the experiment last year, we shall be celebrating a Passover supper on
the evening of the Wednesday in Holy Week, March 27, at 7.30pm in the
Church Centre. Last year it proved to be a wonderful exercise in discovering
the roots of our Eucharist and the meaning of one of the many layers of
symbolism behind what we do week by week.
It will also mean that we can have the memory of Passover fresh in our
minds as we share in the Eucharist of Maundy Thursday the following day.
The Centre will be laid out with our normal
tables, arranged around three sides of a square as they would have been in
Jesuss time. We shall keep as near as possible to the outline of a modern
Passover meal. It will begin with readings from Exodus, telling parts of the
original Passover story, interspersed with the traditional questions and
answers as to the meaning and symbolism of this night. There will be a leaflet
giving all the words everyone needs, and we hope that the questions can be
asked, and answers given, by a man, a woman, a child, as traditional and
appropriate. As the meal progresses the necessary elements of food and drink
will be produced, explained and shared; there will also be the opportunity to
sing one or two well-known hymns as the commentary on what we are doing, plus
some readings from the New Testament to keep us in touch with Jesus and his
disciples as they kept Passover together.
The second of the three elements of the evening
will be the opportunity to share in a real meal together, and there will soon
be the inevitable lists in church to sign up - both to say if you would like to
come, and to indicate what you might come with, so that we can enjoy a
bring and share supper together. Jewish tradition insists that we grapple
with our lamb stew eaten with pitta bread, our bitter herbs dipped in salt
water, our homemade fruit puree and our four glasses of wine; the simpler the
food you might bring, and the nearer to this ideal of lamb stew, fruit and
bread, the better. It does not hurt to remember that Passover is a time of huge
rejoicing and conviviality, as well as the solemn memorial of Gods tremendous
acts for his people in the past!
Finally - just as we are around the tables, once
some of the dishes have been cleared away, we shall join in a simple
celebration of the Eucharist together, using some of the bread we have been
eating, and the wine we have been drinking, to provide the gifts which will be
taken, blessed, broken and shared. This should be one of the most powerful
moments of the evening - it is not often we have the ability to recognise how
it must have felt when Jesus took the ordinary constituents of the Passover
meal and for the first time gave them a new meaning for his disciples then and
now.
We will make as much use as possible of side
lighting and candles - the lighting in the Centre not being particularly
atmospheric. In order to arrange the tables as described above, and to retain
the right atmosphere for the occasion, last year we limited numbers to about 45
people. So many thoroughly enjoyed last year that it would not be surprising if
many more wanted to come this year! For this reason, as well as for the
practicalities of catering, please sign up as soon as possible on the list
under the tower. We will do our best to accommodate all who would like to be
there, but it may be necessary to close the list sometime in advance of Holy
Week itself. We look forward to welcoming you to what we hope will
be a very special part
of our Holy Week celebrations.
By Maundy Thursday the events of the week
have led us to the Last Supper with Jesus and his disciples, during which he
washed their feet as a practical example of humility and service, and
instituted the Eucharist as the means by which we remember him day by day. The
Sung Eucharist at 8.00pm therefore includes readings which tell of both those
actions, and there will be a list under the tower for you to add your name if
you would like to be one of the 12 having their feet washed in a memorial of
this event.
At the end of the Thursday Eucharist we
commemorate Jesuss time in the Garden of Gethsemane. He prayed for strength to
face the agony that would await him next day, and his disciples first of all
fell asleep waiting and watching with him, then ran away and left him alone in
the hands of those who came to arrest him. We mark his abandonment by formally
stripping the altar and the sanctuary of all the Lenten hangings at the end of
this service, leaving it stark, bare and disfigured - and while this is being
done we read Psalm 22, the cry of loneliness and desperation which Jesus
himself quoted on the cross.
Those who wish to do so then move into the Carew
Chapel to begin watching with Jesus in the garden. A continuous vigil of
silent prayer is kept up from the end of the evenings Eucharist until the
start of the Friday afternoon service. There will be another list under the
tower, dividing this time into half-hour sections. Please indicate when you
will be on watch by initials or a simple tick. And most important - dont
feel you have to come alone, especially if you are going to be there in the
early hours of Friday morning. It is a wonderful thing to do with another
person, or with a small group of friends, or even as a family.
On Good Friday Churches Together has
organised the usual Procession of Witness through Wallington at lunchtime. We
start a little earlier than usual this year, at 11.45am at St Michaels, and
further details of the route will be announced as soon as they are to hand. The
event will end by 1.30pm, allowing people to be in church in ample time before
2.00pm. The walk is led by someone carrying a large cross, and we stop at
various places along the route for readings, prayers and hymns.
Our own afternoon service will begin at 2.00pm.
There will be about an hours meditation, including anthems sung by the choir, congregational hymns, the familiar Passion readings from Isaiah, Hebrews
and St Johns Gospel, intercessions at the foot of the stark wooden cross and
plenty of time for silence and reflection. It is an opportunity to focus on the
reality of Jesuss death and to thank God for his love, even at this most
difficult and painful time of the year.
Finally our celebration of Easter begins with
the Paschal Vigil at 6.00am on Easter Sunday morning. This service has
its roots in what the earliest Christians did in the early hours of every Sunday
morning. We proclaim Christ as risen by the kindling of new fire and the
lighting of the new Paschal Candle, and our own rising to life with him in
Baptism forms the theme of the rest of the service. Please note this will feel even earlier than usual this
year, as this is the night on which the clocks go forward an hour! We shall
perhaps enjoy the luxury of it being really dark as the fire is kindled to
dispel the gloom
We read the Old Testament narratives of the
creation, the flood, and the crossing of the Red Sea - occasions when through
water the great power of God has been shown - and make the link with the water
of Baptism when we were washed into new life by our membership of the church.
Accordingly we take the best opportunity there is to renew our own Baptismal
promises, and are sprinkled (depending on the Rectors aim) with water from the
font. The symbolism of Christ rising from the darkness of sin and death is
reinforced as the world around us itself comes back to light and life at the start
of a new day.
As I said, if youve never been before, please
try to make this the year in which you come to these special events and
services; and if you have, then you will look forward to having your own faith
tested and renewed once again as we walk with Jesus through this Holy Week.
Selwyn Tillett
As usual, the bishop is calling us to support by
our prayers and our charitable giving five projects, one in this country and
the rest overseas. There are some posters both in church and in the Centre,
giving full details about these projects, and the Friday lunches at The Rectory
will be studying and praying about each one week by week through Lent. If you
are able to come, you will find there is a brief presentation about each topic,
a time of silent prayer and meditation, a lunch of bread and cheese and an
opportunity to make a donation towards the project of the week. No need to tell
Selwyn beforehand, just turn up.
This years projects are as follows:
The Springfield Community Flat in Clapham. This is a breakfast and after-school club on the Springfield Estate,
working to help small children particularly. It welcomes more than 20 children
who eat breakfast together and are then taken to four local schools, and also
provides after-school care when carers are working. With additional funding the
project could extend to more children. The project is within the parish of
Christchurch, Clapham, but they have no role in running it.
Kids for Kids. Working with the
children of Darfur in West Sudan, Kids for Kids is a charity which works to
provide water and goats. A hand pump for water costs 2,000, and a goat
9. The project lends 5 goats to a
family for 2 years - after which the beginnings of a herd will have been built
up and the family can in turn repay five goats to another family.
Christian Engineers in Development/Gulu Water
Project. This
project works to restore a pumped water supply to the compound around St
Philips Cathedral at Gulu in Uganda - the original supply was destroyed by the
war. The compound houses 800 clergy, schoolteachers and healthworkers, with
their families, and is the main provider of education and welfare services
locally. More than 5,000 children
attend school most days; another 1,000 families live within a kilometre and
depend on the compound for their own water supply. The total population relying
on this source of water is probably about 10,000 people plus animals.
CMS Childrens Home in Georgia. CMS is working with a local organisation to show Gods love in
practical ways through social care programmes. The repair of the childrens
home in Akhaltzikhe is a priority. It provides shelter, food and education free
of charge to between 50 and 60 children with learning difficulties. The
building is in a serious state of disrepair, and the organisers need money to
employ local craftsmen to repair it and give the children more reasonable
facilities and a better future.
YMCA Zimbabwe Womens Support and Income Generating
Project. The YMCA is working to empower a group of
marginalised women by supporting and training them in leadership skills and
small business development. It is hoped that they will thus be able to improve
their food security and to have a regular cash income, to be used for household
items or school books and uniforms. Additionally, Bishop Ishmael in our linked
area of Central Zimbabwe needs breeding cows for St Patricks farm. They cost about Z$18,000 (230) each, which
is an increase from Z$14,000 only last year.
This year on Sunday April 14 I will miss the
9.30am Eucharist, because I shall, God willing, be running the Flora London Marathon.
Although not my original intention, I found it necessary to take part for a
second time on behalf of the National Asthma Campaign (place number 19542). I
will be one of the many NAC Team runners aiming to raise over 360,000. I have
pledged to raise, with your help, a minimum of 1,250 (we managed just over
1,700 last year) towards the vital research needed to help the next generation
of sufferers.
We are all aware of the tell-tale inhalers, many
of them belonging to friends and family. The number of those with asthma is
increasing, with around 3,000 new cases each year. This project matters because
some 5m people, 1 in 8 of whom are children, already have asthma or are
affected by it. For some its a matter of life and death. There is currently NO CURE!
I appreciate the efforts, pressures and
obligations already on us with the many fundraising events for the church and
others closer to home, but hope you can spare a thought and part from some hard
earned money to benefit those whose breathing and quality of life is poor.
I will be waving my sponsorship form over the
coming weeks after service on Sunday mornings. A form is on the notice board in
the Centre.
Will Shoults
If you are not on the Electoral Roll of St Marys
(Anglican-speak for our official membership list) but would like to be, you
have the opportunity very shortly when the Roll receives its annual update
before the Annual Parochial Church Meeting. Simply obtain an application form
from Mary Tapp at any time from Tuesday
February 26 (yes February) onwards, and return it to her, duly
completed, at any time up to the end of Monday April 8. Mary (and the form
itself) will explain the necessary qualifications, and once she has your
returned form the system will do the rest. You will then be eligible to vote
during the Annual Meeting itself, which takes place in the Centre at 8.15pm
on Tuesday April 23, immediately after the Sung Eucharist for St Georges Day.
In fact whether or not you have been on the Roll
before, you will need to complete an application form this year. Every Roll
receives a complete revision every sixth year, and this is the year - so if you
still want to be part of the churchs decision-making process you need to
obtain the form from Mary and return it by the due date.
The minutes of last years Annual Meeting, this
years Annual Report and Financial Statement from the PCC, and the Agenda for
this years meeting, will all be available in good time in early April. Among
the business of the Meeting is the election of Churchwardens, Deanery Synod
members and PCC members for the coming year. If you are considering standing
for election in any of these capacities, then once again you need to be on the
Electoral Roll, and the relevant forms will be available in plenty of time.
You will notice that there is a new component to
the Roll forms this year, and that is the ethnic survey. It is expected (but
not yet certain) that this also will be repeated every sixth year. Its purpose
is to discover what proportion of the congregations of the Church of England
are minority-ethnic, and to see how those members are represented in the
structures of church government. It recognises the diversity that already
exists within the church, and should help to identify any under-representation
of such groups on committees and legal bodies generally. This in turn may lead
to parishes finding ways they can make their own institutions more inclusive.
There will be two boxes on the table under the tower - one to return the Roll
application forms, the other to return the survey - so that there is no way of
linking the two and the survey is completely anonymous.
Once you have got yourself onto the Roll, you may
like to take part in this years elections, but are not able to attend the
meeting itself. In that case you can apply beforehand for a postal vote.
Application forms for these will also be available early in April. Return your
application form to Selwyn, Gerrie, Margaret Freeman or Diana before the Annual
Meeting on April 23. Should an election be necessary, a voting paper will be
got to you by the evening of Thursday the 25th. You then have up to 12 days in
which to think, pray, vote, fold your paper and return it to The Rectory. Papers must be returned during the week from
Tuesday April 30 to Tuesday May 7, and they will be stored safely and unopened
together with the papers filled out during the meeting itself.
Votes will be counted on the morning of Wednesday
May 8 by people who have not been candidates in any of the elections.
Candidates will be notified of the result that same day, and the new PCC will
be announced and commissioned during the 9.30 Eucharist on Sunday May
12.
That is just in time for the new Churchwardens and
PCC members to be in training for the first meeting of the new PCC which will
happen on Monday the 20th, and to attend the Archdeacons Visitation and
Swearing-In at Croydon Parish Church on the evening of Wednesday May 22.
Christian Aid Week this year runs from May 12 to
May 19 and I feel it is time for me to relinquish being representative for St
Marys.
There is a new area organiser for Beddington and
Wallington churches and it would be a good opportunity for a new person to
become involved at St Marys. It is not an onerous job and people have always
been most supportive. You can invite a few friends round to help count the
money and even finish off the evening with a fish and chip supper! We always
did!
I will be willing to help anyone taking on the
job and it would be a pity if St Marys were not involved in this
national event.
New blood brings new enthusiasm and change
brings new ideas!
Eileen England
Feb 10 Jody Yasmin Searle, 7 Royal Walk, Wallington,
by permission of the priest-in-charge of All Saints, Hackbridge and Beddington
Corner
Ellen Marie Spiller, 29 Demesne Road
Daniel Frederick Robin Willis, 17
Oakley Avenue
Oliver Roy George Thompson, 7 The
Causeway, Carshalton, by permission of the Rector of All Saints,
Carshalton
Jan 21 Harry (Peter) Dews, aged 67,
of 51 Limes Avenue, Carshalton
Leslie Robert Green, aged
81, of 14 Bute Gardens
Jan 30 Charles Frederick Nutt, aged
75, of 31 Bond Gardens
Feb 2 Hilda Jean Richards, aged
89, of 218 Croydon Road
Feb 8 Ethel May Gibbs, aged 88, of
20 Marlesford Court, Rectory Lane
At the recent meeting of Deanery Synod at All
Saints, Benhilton, the speaker was Canon Dr Jeffrey John who you may remember
came to a service during Selwyns sabbatical. He spoke about a Board of Church
in Society booklet he had been asked to write following many passionate
speeches he had made. The booklet is called Going for Growth. It is very
readable and gives his ideas on how we can put our houses in order and make
them more welcoming to new members.
He pointed out that there is a decline in church
personnel in the central and catholic traditions in the Church of England
whereas there is growth in the evangelical churches. He wondered if many of our
services were boring and asked a group of incumbents if they would attend the
Sunday service in their churches if they were not the vicar; more than half of
them were honest enough to say they would not. Who can blame others preferring
to stay in bed or go to Little League or even wash the car?
Canon John said that no matter what happened in
the week, it was what happened at the main Sunday Eucharist that was of
paramount importance. The service must be right; it must hold peoples
attention, make its usefulness clear to them, give them a sense of Gods presence,
feed them with wisdom and inspiration as well as with the sacrament and to
entertain them.
I must admit that I felt very proud of St Marys
as he went through a check list: a tidy, well cared-for building, a welcome as
people enter, a welcome for children (but they must have their own activities
around the theme for the day and not be allowed to destroy a service), a good
organist, good singing, hymns well chosen, good preaching, intercessions
relevant to the theme of the day and not on the intercessors pet topics,
notice sheets well presented and verbal notices short and precise (he
recognises that the informality of notices can help humanise a service for
newcomers), readings that are well and powerfully read, a sense of reverence,
and refreshments afterwards.
All things must be done well and by the people
best at doing it. If something isnt going well alterations need to be made in
the method or the personnel; the whole service cannot be damaged for a whole
congregation for the sake of one persons ego. Every service must be the best
possible as that may be somebodys first service and if it is not good the
visitor may never come again. Would we have served our Lord as we should?
Well wouldnt you have felt just a little smug,
but I was well aware that we must continue to be as good as possible every
week. (Canon Jones did not mention bells and bellringers but we know ours are
good and our response to the ringers fund raising also proves we want them.)
Canon Jones gave us a suggested Service Audit.
It might be good to see what we all think about our services as long as the
questionnaire is filled in honestly and constructively. He said a congregation
must be proud of its church and I was as I sat in a pew at All Saints,
Benhilton.
We then heard from Revd Michael Oades, the vicar
at All Saints. The church was built in the 1860s when the parish of St
Nicholas, Sutton, was split up. It was in a very prosperous area with large
houses with very big gardens. He spoke about the changing nature of the area
and the congregation and how people of different nationalities and backgrounds
have been welcomed into the church family and played important roles within
that family.
Heather Cosgrove
|
Fri |
1 |
St David |
|
|
Sun |
3 |
LENT 3 |
|
|
Mon |
4 |
Magazine panel meets, 2 Peaks Hill |
10.00am |
|
Tue |
5 |
Parents and toddlers meet, church |
10.00am |
|
Wed |
6 |
St Marys Guild: Revd Howard Smith talks about
his work as a chaplain at St Helier Hospital. St Marys Court |
2.30pm |
|
Thu |
7 |
MU&OG: Mr P. Green talks about the Isle of
Man. Church Centre |
8.00pm |
|
Fri |
8 |
Lent Lunch at the Rectory |
12.45pm |
|
Sat |
9 |
Tea Dance in the Church Centre |
3.00pm |
|
Sun |
10 |
LENT 4 - MOTHERING SUNDAY |
|
|
Tue |
12 |
Deanery Clergy Chapter Meets - Church Centre |
Noon |
|
Fri |
15 |
Lent lunch at the Rectory |
12.45pm |
|
Sun |
17 |
LENT 5 - PASSION SUNDAY |
|
|
|
|
Passiontide concert. Church |
6.30pm |
|
Tue |
19 |
St Joseph of Nazareth. Eucharist |
10.00am |
|
|
|
PCC meets, Church Centre |
8.00pm |
|
Wed |
20 |
MU Corporate Eucharist |
10.00am |
|
Thu |
21 |
MU&OG: Lent Meditation, Church Centre |
8.00pm |
|
Fri |
22 |
Lent lunch at the Rectory |
12.45pm |
|
Sat |
23 |
St Marys Court Trustees meet, St Marys Court |
10.00am |
Leaflets giving details of the events in Holy Week will be available in
church from Sunday March 10. The main events are:
|
Sun |
24 |
PALM SUNDAY |
|
|
Mon |
25 |
Eucharist |
7.30pm |
|
Tue |
26 |
Eucharist and Stations of the Cross |
7.30pm |
|
Wed |
27 |
Passover supper in the Church Centre |
7.30pm |
|
Thu |
28 |
Maundy Thursday |
|
|
|
|
Eucharist of the Last Supper |
8.00pm |
|
Fri |
29 |
GOOD FRIDAY |
|
|
|
|
Liturgy of the Day |
2.00pm |
|
Sun |
31 |
EASTER DAY |
|
|
|
|
British Summer Time begins |
|
|
|
|
Easter Vigil |
6.00am |
Sun Apr 7
Easter 2
Acts 2: 14a, 22-32 (page 221)
1 Peter 1: 3-9 (page 223)
John 20: 19-31 (page 224)
Sun Apr 14
Easter 3
Acts 2: 14a, 36-41 (page 225)
1 Peter 1:17-23 (page 227)
Luke 24: 13-35 (page 227)
Sun Apr 21
Easter 4
Acts 2: 42-47 (page 229)
1 Peter 2: 19-25 (page 230)
John 10: 1-10 (page 231)
Tue Apr 23
St George
Revelation 12: 7-12
2 Timothy 2: 3-13
John 15: 18-21
Sun Apr 28
Easter 5
Acts 7: 55-60 (page 232)
1 Peter 2: 2-10 (page 233)
John 14: 1-14 (page 234)
Sun Mar 3
Canticles: Noble in B minor
Anthem: Lord, for thy tender mercies sake - Farrant
Sun Mar 10
Mothering Sunday
Canticles: Sumsion in G
Anthem: I will lift up mine eyes - Walker
Sun Mar 24
Palm Sunday
Canticles: Dyson in F
Anthem: Christus factus est - Bruckner
Sun Mar 31
Easter Day
Canticles: Stanford in G
Anthem: Jubilate - Britten
Fri 1 The churches and people of Wales
Sat 2 Local dramatic and musical societies
Sun 3 Electoral Roll officers across the diocese
Mon 4 All churches as they make plans for Holy Week and Easter
Tue 5 Our parents and toddlers group
Wed 6 St Marys Guild
Thu 7 Children and young people making decisions about their future
Fri 8 The members of our prayer group
Sat 9 Those who organise our fund-raising events
Sun 10 Our choir, and local church musicians generally
Mon 11 Those planning to be married here this summer
Tue 12 Bishop Wilfred and the local clergy chapter
Wed 13 The residents of St Marys Court
Thu 14 Those attending local Lent groups
Fri 15 The Bishops Lent Appeal
Sat 16 Those who work with curates to improve preaching
Sun 17 All attending our concert this evening
Mon 18 Our final preparations for Easter
Tue 19 The PCC, meeting tonight
Wed 20 Our branch of the MU
Thu 21 Our towerbell ringers
Fri 22 Local schools as they prepare to break up for Easter
Sat 23 Local museums and historical organisations
Sun 24 Holy Week.
All this week we are united with Our Lord in his suffering, death and
resurrection. We pray that our own
faith may be tested, strengthened and confirmed. We pray that we may be sent out in the power of the Spirit to
proclaim the truth of the worlds redemption by the quality of our everyday
life.
Click here to return to home page