St Marys Parish Magazine
February 2003
I should have
listened to my dad!
Whats On This
Month? - February
Readings for
Sundays & Festivals in March
St Marys Ringers
invite you to their QUIZ NIGHT
Churches Together
In Wallington - Lent Lectures 2003
Daily prayer topics
in February
Churches Together
Christmas Lunch
On Sunday, 2 February
we celebrate the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple as a child
(otherwise known as Candlemas).
The 9.30 am Sung Eucharist will begin in the Centre, as we hear the
proclamation of Jesus as the Light of the World, and we then carry our lighted
candles in procession into church before the Eucharist itself continues in the
usual way.
On Sunday, 9 February
the Guides and Brownies will join us once again for the celebration of
the 9.30 am Sung Eucharist.
Our congratulations to
John and Mary Tapp who celebrate their Golden Wedding anniversary
on Friday, 14 February and will be renewing their marriage vows during the Sung
Eucharist at 9.30 am on Sunday, 16 February.
The annual Ringers
Quiz Night on Saturday, 15 February is fast approaching and bookings need to
be made by Sunday, 9 February. Full
details here.
Shrove Tuesday this year falls on 4 March and, as usual,
pancakes will be served in the Church Centre from 7.30 pm onwards. Betty and her helpers are looking forward to
seeing you there. As well as pancakes
there will be puzzles, quizzes, a raffle and sales table. Ticket cost 3 and will be on sale from
mid-February.
On Ash Wednesday,
5 March, both Eucharists will include the imposition of ashes as the mark of
our corporate commitment to the process of Lent. They are (said) at 10 am and Choral at 7.30 pm. The ashes are made by burning last years
palm crosses, so please make sure that you have returned yours to Selwyn,
either in church or through the Rectory letterbox, by lunchtime on Shrove
Tuesday.
Friday, 7 March is the
Womens World Day of Prayer. Services will be held at 10.30 am at Bandon
Hill Methodist Church where the invited speaker will be Mrs Maureen Kyle, MU
Southwark Diocesan President; and at 7.30 pm at St Michaels, North Beddington,
where the speaker will be Miss Christine Childs. Both services will be followed by refreshments.
Churches Together
in Wallington have drawn up a
list of Lent Lectures for 2003. Full information here.
Details of the Bishops
Lent Appeal and Selwyns Lent Lunches will appear in the March
magazine.
Some of you may be
wondering why there are copies of many different church magazines on a sort of
washing line affair under the notice board in the lobby between the church and
the centre. Well, the reason is that it is part of the Churches Togethers aim to increase unity and sharing of
information/services. It was thought a good idea to swap mags/newsletters on a
regular basis.
Some churches produce
a monthly magazine like us, others a bi-monthly, some a weekly newsletter or
whatever, and they will keep us up-to-date as and when published.
Im sure you will find
them useful if looking for a service, activity or group that our own church may
not be able to provide at that time or, indeed, if we can offer something
others cannot find at their own church.
It is important that we
support each others functions, fundraisers and prayer services in order that the many faces of Christianity in
Beddington and Wallington are recognised as a united and friendly one.
Please take some time
post-service on your way for coffee to have a look through them - there are
some very interesting, entertaining and spiritually inspiring pieces in them.
January/February is the
main time of year for renewing advertising subscriptions. The money raised from this is considerable
and finances the magazine. It is also a
relatively painless way of raising money.
However, some
businesses do not renew for various reasons, the main one being that they get
little or no response from us. Some of
our advertisers do not have any particular connection with the Church and we
must not take their support for granted, so there are various things we can do
to keep our sponsors happy.
Firstly, try and make
use of them and, when you do, mention St Marys. (I bought an excellent Christmas Tree from Laura, the
florist.) Secondly, recommend their
services to others.
I have a couple of
potential new advertisers in mind for this year, but more often than not it is
the personal touch that counts. If
there is a local shop or business that you use, maybe you could persuade them
to place an advertisement with us.
However, if you would prefer me to make the approach I will gladly do
so. A small advert costs just 25 a
year.
If you can help, speak
to me after the morning service or contact me on 020 8642 8199.
THE MORE
ADVERTISEMENTS, THE MORE MONEY WE RAISE!
Just a quick note from
the families team (Carolyn, Anne and Helena).
We are working hard to ensure that families who worship at St Mary's are
well catered for: adding toddler loo facilities, emergency requirements to go
alongside the already provided changing mat in the disabled loo, keeping toys
up-to-date, etc.
We hope to produce a
leaflet to tell families what's available to make visiting St Mary's happy and
stress-free for themselves, their children and the rest of the congregation.
We also now have a
full calendar of events organised for 2003:
February - carry in curry night
April - Easter party
June - Family Funday
August - families outing
October - alternative to Halloween party
December - Christmas celebrations
If you are a St Mary's
family - through services, Toddler Club, Sunday School or choir - please ask
either myself, Anne or Helena to go on our mailing list, or to find out what's
going on.
We hope to open our
events with a Families at St Mary's Prayer:
Lord we thank you for
the gift of friendship.
For the blessing of
children and the challenges and rewards they bring.
Help us support and
encourage each other.
Thank you for the
shared times, laughter and happiness.
Help us use the wisdom
and experience here at St Mary's
to nurture the next
generation with dedication, fellowship and love.
Amen.
Last summer my
neighbour commented that he had never seen my garden look so good - a
backhanded compliment, I thought, considering the work I'd put in each year.
But what he was seeing was the result of over-indulgence in Sutton Seeds
Fundraising Scheme.
Under Sutton's scheme
20 per cent of the cost of their seeds and plants goes towards a nominated
charity, in my case the Tower and Bells Fund. I now have a good supply of the
2003 catalogue ready for you to browse through. Those who used the system last
year were full of praise for the plants they received so why not give it a go
yourself this year.
It works very simply.
Make your choice from the wide range in the catalogue, fill in the order form,
make out a cheque for the full sum to Jean Kimber and hand it over to her to
process, and Sutton's does the rest. Your plants will be sent direct to you by
post, ready for growing on or planting out.
Whatever you choose
keep an eye on the last date for placing an order as shown in the catalogue.
I'll have the
catalogues with me in church, there will be some on the table under the tower, or
in desperation you can give me a ring on 8660 4254.
My old dad always used
to say (jokingly): Never volunteer. I
think it was a left-over from his army days.
But I didnt listen, and I volunteered, and thats how I find myself
editor of this magazine.
My qualifications for
the job: very few. But I can recognise
a computer from a photocopier and that seemed a good enough starting
point. I have NEVER done anything like
this before, which makes stepping into Stewarts shoes an even greater
challenge, but he has promised to hold my hand (that swung it!) for a couple of
months so I hope to keep smiling.
My thanks to all who
have been so helpful and sympathetic - its exactly what Im going to need for
the next few months. Oh, and Ill apologise in advance for any errors and
omissions that might sneak in whilst Im looking the other way.
The very fact that you
are reading this means that the magazine was produced and was
recognisable though, as I write, it remains to be seen whether I will meet that
all-important deadline.
Jan 12: William
Paul James Willoughby and Christopher Sean Michael Willoughby, both
of 27 Russell Court, Ross Road, Wallington
Dec 16 Winnifred
Maud Bridge, aged 103, of 1a Lavington Road.
Dec 30 Dolly Ethel
May Smith, aged 84, of 42 Crispin Crescent.
|
SUN |
2 |
|
CANDLEMAS |
|
|
Mon |
3 |
|
Magazine Panel
meets, 35 Vanguard Way |
6.00 pm |
|
Mon |
3 |
|
Bible Study
group meets, 23 Mortlake Close |
8.00 pm |
|
Tues |
4 |
|
Parents and
Toddlers meet in Church |
10.00 am |
|
Wed |
5 |
|
St Marys Guild
meets, St Marys Court |
2.30 pm |
|
Thu |
6 |
|
MU&OG: Tom
Davis talks about the Bow Street Runners, Church Centre |
8.00 pm |
|
SUN |
9 |
|
EPIPHANY 5
Guides and Brownies attend 9.30 am Eucharist |
|
|
Mon |
10 |
|
Bible Study
group meets, 23 Mortlake Close |
8.00 pm |
|
Tue |
11 |
|
Social Committee
meets, 2 Caraway Place |
8.00 pm |
|
Wed |
12 |
|
Deanery Synod
meets, St Pauls, Roundshaw |
7.45 pm |
|
Thu |
13 |
|
Churches
Together meets, Church Centre |
7.45 pm |
|
Sat |
15 |
|
Ringers Quiz
Night, Church Centre |
7.00-7.30 pm |
|
SUN |
16 |
|
THIRD BEFORE
LENT |
|
|
Mon |
17 |
|
Bible Study
group meets, 23 Mortlake Close |
8.00 pm |
|
Wed |
19 |
|
MU corporate
Eucharist |
10.00 am |
|
Thu |
20 |
|
MU&OG: Mandy Campbell, MU Deanery Rep,
visits. Church Centre |
8.00 pm |
|
SUN |
23 |
|
SECOND BEFORE
LENT |
|
|
Mon |
24 |
|
Bible Study
group meets, 23 Mortlake Close |
8.00 pm |
|
Tue |
25 |
|
PCC meets,
Church Centre |
8.00 pm |
A night off from
ringing was probably just what the band needed. Christmas and New Year had
produced the usual busy schedule at the end of a pretty hectic year. The AGM was held on 2 January at 2 Peaks
Hill and provided the opportunity for looking back over the year's events.
The fundraising
activities had been many and varied.
Our allocated church events had included the Quiz Night, the Jubilee weekend
celebrations, the Tramps Supper, the Chimes Concert and the Christmas Fair. We
had opened the tower to visitors, provided refreshments, sold plants and had a
photographic display.
Outside events had
included an Auction held in St Patrick's hall and a stall at the Sutton
Environmental Fair. We had sold goods
on various occasions and received donations from many sources. A most welcome
grant of 15,000 from the Surrey
Association of Bellringers has given us a real boost and now begging
letters are being sent to many other grant-making trusts. Here's hoping!
Aside from
fundraising, there were many other activities to hold the ringers'
attention. The Association holds
meetings, where ringing affairs are discussed as well as bells being rung, and
social activities such as the Association Quiz, barn dances and dinners. We entered all the competitions with varying
degrees of success (usually 2nd to Croydon!) and had a most successful outing,
which included Canterbury Cathedral, at the end of August. (This year's outing date - August 30). We also had a Tower Christmas Dinner at TGI
Friday's.
On the home front, the
band continues to flourish. We
generally manage to ring all 10 bells twice on Sundays but it needs just about
everyone there. We lost two ringers
during the year - Nigel Thomson, who moved with his family to East Grinstead,
and Angela Collins, who returned "up North" to work. We did, however,
gain another young lady, Sonya Murray, who came as a ready-made ringer from
Kent. She is a great asset to us.
We work hard to
improve our standards and it was gratifying to hear a local resident remark on
an Open Day that they could tell the difference between our Sunday service
ringing and the ringing on our practice nights!
We started a new
recruit in the summer and she would be delighted if anyone felt they would like
to join her. How about a New Year Resolution? Try a new challenge. Thursday
evenings, 7.45 pm. See you there.
The Society's officers
remain the same: Master - Stewart Kimber, Steeplekeeper - Stan Coleman, and
Secretary - Jean Kimber.
I should like to take
this opportunity to thank everyone who has supported our Project in the past
year, whether by donating money from their own events or by actively supporting
ours. Our total is creeping up. We've nearly reached 45,000 and if we can get
to 50,000 soon, we will be able to start putting in bids for the work to begin
next year. Please help us reach our target.
Have you ever had that
feeling that someone is looking at you? If you felt like that during the last
three months of 2002, and the someone was a church-warden, then you were right,
we were looking at you.
Sundays in October,
November and the beginning of December were the days for the Annual
Congregational Count. The figures collected are sent to the Archdeaconry and
thence to the Archbishops Council for compiling the Statistics for Mission -
a national programme. On the way, they provide the Diocese with information for
the Fairer Shares Assessments (our Treasurer can tell you all about those) and
for all sorts of other useful projects.
So why were we looking
at you? To fill in the form correctly, we had to remind ourselves whether you
had been to church more than once that day - or that week, and assess whether
you are under or over 16 - this last not as easy as you may think. We also had
to make up our minds whether each Sunday was normal or whether there was some
local event to affect the figures - half-term for instance. We always hoped we
would not have such wide fluctuations that we would have to start calculating
averages. Fortunately not so this year.
We were pleased that our
final figures showed a small increase on last years. That is good news and
very interesting at this particular time when so much is written and spoken
about the decline in churchgoing.
When the Rector gave
his annual talk to the Guild in 2002, he recalled its foundation and early
history: how originally it was a
communicants guild intended to promote regular attendance at the Eucharist,
but had since developed social and recreational activities. One of the highlights of the church calendar
used to be the supper the Guild arranged at Candlemas.
At the Guild AGM, the
Rector put forward his proposals to make clear the present purpose of the
Guild. He drew up a new constitution
based on present practice, but looking forward to revived or new practices
which could help the Guild - despite its small membership - to contribute to
the mission of St Marys. The
members agreed that they would try to attend, as a group, on the five following
occasions in the church year:
|
Candlemas |
Sunday, 2 February 2003, 10 am |
|
The Stations of
the Cross |
Wednesday, 16 April 2003, 2.30 pm |
|
Sunday of
Thanksgiving for the Gift of the Eucharist |
Sunday, 22 June 2003, 9.30 am |
|
Harvest Thanksgiving |
Sunday, 21 September 2003, 9.30 am |
|
All Souls |
Saturday, 1 November 2003, 7.30 pm |
We would like to
remind everyone that the Guild is open to all parishioners and to residents of St
Marys Court, where it meets at 2.30 pm on the first Wednesday of the month.
Sun 2 Mar
Next Before Lent
2 Kings 2: 1-12 (page
500)
2 Corinthians 4: 3-6 (page
502)
Mark 9: 2-9 (page 503)
Wed 5 Mar
Ash Wednesday
Joel 2: 102, 12-17
(page 97)
2 Corinthians 5: 20b
6: 10(page 101)
Matthew 6: 1-6, 16-21
(page 102)
Sun 9 Mar
Lent 1
Genesis 9: 8-17 (page
507)
1 Peter 3: 18-22 (page
508)
Mark 1: 9-15 (page
509)
Sun 16 Mar
Lent 2
Genesis 17: 1-7, 15-16
(page 510)
Romans 4: 13-25 (page
511)
Mark 8: 31-38 (page
513)
Sun 23 Mar
Lent 3
Exodus 20: 10-17 (page
514)
1 Corinthians 1: 18-25
(page 517)
John 2: 13-22 (page
518)
Sun 30 Mar
Lent 4
Numbers 21: 4-9 (page
519)
Ephesians 2: 1-10
(page 520)
John 3: 14-21 (page 521)
Church Centre
Saturday, February 15
First question - 7.30
pm
Teams of six needed.
No team? Contact Pat Kingsbury.
6 per head. Ring 8660
4254 to book.
Fish & Chips etc.,
tea & coffee
8.00 PM AT ST
ELPHEGES CHURCH, STAFFORD ROAD
SPIRITUALITY AND
TUESDAY 11 MARCH
2003
SPIRITUALITY AND THE
LOCAL COMMUNITY
WITH STEVE CHALKE of the Oasis Trust
WEDNESDAY 19 MARCH
2003
SPIRITUALITY IN THE
WORKPLACE
WITH JILL GARRETT former MD of Gallop
and Head Teacher
WEDNESDAY 26 MARCH
2003
SPIRITUALITY AND
MISSION
WITH CANON PHILIP KING Past General
Secretary of the C of E Synod Board of Mission
WEDNESDAY 2 APRIL
2003
SPIRITUALITY AND
SCIENCE
WITH DR DENIS ALEXANDER Research Scientist & Broadcaster, author
of Rebuilding the Matrix
WEDNESDAY 9 APRIL
2003
SPIRITUALITY AND
SUFFERING
WITH DR MARIE JOSEPH of St Raphaels Hospice
Mon 3 Anskar, Archbishop of Hamburg, missionary
in Denmark and Sweden, 865
Fri 14 Cyril
and Methodius, missionaries to the Slavs, 869 and 885
Mon 17 Janani
Luwum, Archbishop of Uganda, martyr, 1977
Sat 1 Readers re-dedication services
today
Sun 2 Give thanks for the Province of
the Indian Ocean
Mon 3 Anglican sponsored AIDS programme
Tue 4 Our Parents & Toddlers group
Wed 5 Clergy working with young people
in schools and colleges
Thu 6 The work of the Mothers Union overseas
Fri 7 Local businesses and shops
Sat 8 Our Guides and Brownies
Sun 9 Give thanks for the Church of the
Province of Burundi
Mon 10 The
Spires Centre
for the homeless in Streatham
Tue 11 Lasting
solutions to housing and homelessness
Wed 12 The
Deanery Synod meeting tonight
Thu 13 The
Bishops Council meeting tonight
Fri 14 Doctors,
dentists, nurses and healthcare workers
Sat 15 The
Ringers Quiz Night and all attending
Sun 16 Give
thanks for the Province of Hong Kong
Mon 17 Local
hospitals and clinics
Tue 18 All
who work in the industries and on the estates in the parish
Wed 19 All
involved in preparing couples for marriage
Thu 20 An
end to all racism
Fri 21 Zimbabwe
and its people
Sat 22 All
who serve on Diocesan and Provincial missions
Sun 23 Give
thanks for the Church of the Province of Central Africa
Mon 24 General
Synod meeting, 24-26 February
Tue 25 Our
PCC meeting tonight
Wed 26 The
Board for Church in Society meeting
tonight
Thu 27 All
PTOs in the diocese
Fri 28 All
churchwardens in the diocese
Battishill O Lord Look Down
Harris Holy Is The True Light