At 6.30 pm on Sunday, 6 April, in place of Evensong, the choir will present a concert for Lent and Passiontide - including the Requiem by John Rutter. Refreshments will be available in the Centre afterwards and a retiring collection will be made in aid of church and choir funds.

A reminder that Selwyn's Friday Lent lunches continue on Fridays 4 and 11 April, but not on Good Friday. Posters giving details about the projects being supported by this year's Bishop's Lent Appeal are still on display in the Centre, or you can read about them in last month's magazine.

Please note the Annual Parochial Church meeting will take place in the Centre on the evening of Tuesday, 8 April. Full details can be found on page 16.

On Easter Monday, 21 April, the Church will be open to visitors from 11 am to 5 pm

The Presidents for both Eucharists on the morning of Sunday, 27 April will be announced as soon as possible. Evening prayer will be said at 6.30 pm .

Two saints’ days will be moved out of Easter week and will take place as follows:

St Mark - Monday, 28 April.

Eucharist will be celebrated at 10 am.

St George - Tuesday, 29 April.

Choral Eucharist will be at 7.30 pm.

A leaflet giving details of Easter services will shortly be available in church, but they are also covered in the following ‘Holy Week' article.

Holy Week

On Sunday 13 April we begin Holy Week - the annual celebration of the events of Jesus’s death and resurrection. As those events are at the heart of our faith, the services that mark them are uniquely important in the Church’s year, and substantially different from our regular celebrations. If you haven’t 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 30 March.

The week begins with the 9.30 Eucharist on Palm Sunday. We assemble in the church Centre to hear the Gospel reading of Jesus’s 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 Jesus’ arrest, trial, death and burial is read, with members of the congregation reading the words of individuals as the story develops.

Then, following the great success of the last two years, we shall be celebrating a Passover supper on the evening of the Wednesday in Holy Week, 16 April, at 7.30 pm in the Church Centre. It has 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 Jesus’s 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 ‘service-leaflet’ giving all the words everyone needs, and 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 lamb stew eaten with pitta bread, bitter herbs dipped in salt water, homemade fruit puree and ideally 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 God’s 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 as before make use 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, we have previously limited numbers to about 45 people. So many thoroughly enjoyed the last two years 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 (17th) 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 that 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 Jesus’s 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 evening’s 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 - don’t 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. At time of writing details of this are not yet to hand, but if as expected it follows very much the pattern of recent years it will end by 1.30 pm, allowing people to be in church in ample time before 2.00 pm. The walk will be led by someone carrying a large cross, and we shall stop at various places along the route for readings, prayers and hymns.

Our own afternoon service will begin at 2.00 pm. There will be about an hour’s meditation, including anthems sung by the choir, congregational hymns, the familiar Passion readings from Isaiah, Hebrews and St John’s 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 Jesus’s 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 6.00 am 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.

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 Rector’s 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 Easter is so late this year, I would be delighted to give in if regular attenders say you would really miss this symbolism of darkness and light being acted out all round us, and would prefer to start the service even earlier – say 5.30 am? Please let me know as soon as possible!

As I said, if you’ve 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

Readings for Sundays and Festivals in April

Sun 6 April

Lent 5

Jeremiah 31: 31-34 (page 522)

Hebrews 5: 5-10 (page 524)

John 12: 20-33 (page 525)

Sun 13 April

Palm Sunday

Isaiah 50: 4-9a (page 529)

Thu 17 April

Maundy Thursday

Exodus 12: 1-14 (page 162)

1 Corinthians 11: 23-26 (page 165)

John 13: 1-17, 31b-35 (page 165)

Fri 18 April

Good Friday

Isaiah 52: 13-53: 12 (page 167)

Hebrews 4: 14-16; 5: 7-9 (page 172)

Sun 20 April

Easter Day

Acts 10: 34-43 (page 541)

1 Corinthians 15: 1-11 (page 543)

John 20: 1-18 (page 543)

Sun 27 April Second of Easter

Acts 4: 32-35 (page 547)

1 John 1: 1-2; 2 (page 548)

John 20: 19-31 (page 549)

Note: The above is not a mistake. It has been decided to list the readings for the current month rather than one month ahead as given previously. Hence, the above list has already appeared in the March magazine. Ed.

Saints in April

Mon 28 Mark the Evangelist

Tue 29 George, martyr, Patron of England, c.304

What’s on in April?

Tues	1	Parents and Toddlers meet in Church	10 00 am
Wed	2	St Mary's Guild meets at St Mary's Court -speaker from 'Contact' Sutton Welcare	2.30 pm
		Churches Together Lent Lecture at St Elphege's	8.00 pm
Thu	3	MU&OG. Jenifer Davison leads Lent Meditation.Church Centre	8.00 pm
Fri	4	Women's World Day of Prayer coffee morning at Beddington Gardens Methodist Church	10-12.00 am
		Lent Lunch at the Rectory	12.45 pm
SUN	6	PASSION SUNDAY
		Choir Concert for Lent and Passiontide	6.30 pm
Mon	7	Magazine Panel meets, 35 Vanguard Way	6.00 pm
		Bible Study Group meets, 23 Mortlake Close. (Last session before Easter. To recommence early May.)	8.00 pm
Tue	8	Annual Parochial Church Meeting. Church Centre	8.00 pm
Wed	9	Churches Together Lent Lecture at St Elphege's	8.00 pm
Fri	11	Lent Lunch at the Rectory	12.45 pm
SUN	13	PALM SUNDAY
Mon	14	Eucharist	7.30 pm
Tue	15	Eucharist and Stations of the Cross	7.30 pm
Wed"	16"	Stations of the Cross	2.30 pm
		Passover Supper, Church Centre	7.30 pm
Thu	17	Maundy Thursday. Sung Eucharist of the Last Supper	8.00 pm
Fri	18	Good Friday. Liturgy of the day	2.00 pm
Sat	19	Easter Eve
SUN	20	EASTER DAY
		Paschal Vigil	6.00 am
Mon	21	Bank Holiday. Church open	11 am-5.00 pm
SUN	27	EASTER 2
Mon	28	St Mark.Eucharist	10.00 am
Tue	29	St George. Choral Eucharist	7.30 pm
Wed	30	St Elphege's celebrate their Patronal Festival Mass at St Mary's	8.00 pm

Annual Parochial Church Meeting

This year's APCM takes place in the Centre on Tuesday, 8 April at 8.00 pm. The minutes of last year's Annual Meeting, this year's Annual Report and Financial statement from the PCC, and the Agenda for this year's Meeting, will all be available in good time, from Saturday 29 March at the latest. Among the business of the Meeting is the election of Churchwardens and PCC members for the coming year. If you are considering standing for election in either of these capacities, then you need to be on the Electoral Roll, and the relevant forms will be available in plenty of time, from Saturday 29 March if not before.

You may like to take part in this year’s 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 in plenty of time. Once again the system will then spring into operation. It works like this:

Return your application form to Selwyn, Margaret Freeman, Pat or Diana before the Annual Meeting. Should an election be necessary, a voting paper will be got to you by the late evening of Thursday 10 April. 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 there sometime during the week from Tuesday 15th to Tuesday 22nd, and they will be stored safely and unopened as they arrive, together with the papers filled out during the Meeting itself.

Selwyn as Chairman of the PCC is required to be present during the count, but as usual will be on holiday immediately after Easter. Voting papers will therefore be counted on the morning of Monday 28 April, by people who have not been candidates in any of the elections. All 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 4 May.

That is just in time for the Churchwardens and PCC members to be in training for the first meeting of the new PCC which will happen on Monday 19 May, and to attend the Archdeacon's Visitation and Swearing-In either at St John’s, Shirley on the evening of Wednesday 7 May, or at The Good Shepherd, Carshalton Beeches on Wednesday 21st.

Selwyn Tillett

Help Wanted

At the back of the church there is a list asking for volunteers to help in the creche. Nobody has signed it for ages.

Please may I have some help so that the young mums can stay in church while their children are cared for during the service?

Pam Vernon

Archbishop Rowan's baptism of - fur!

Here's something for the person who has everything: the Rowan Bear, a hand-made teddy bear modelled on the new Archbishop of Canterbury.

Produced by the highly popular UK Christian webzine Ship Of Fools and Madeley Bears from Redditch, Rowan Bear is made from tipped German mohair. Fully cotterpin-jointed with traditional black glass eyes, the 11"-tall collectors' item is stuffed with steel shot and fibrefill. His cope, mitre and stole is in white, hand-painted silk. The black cotton cassock boasts 39 buttons - one for each of the Church of England's historic Articles of Religion.

The first Rowan Bear made his first public appearance at the recent Winter Bearfest in Kensington, London. Similar made-to-order bears are available at £120 (+p&p).

'We recommend Prime Minister Tony Blair buys one for comfort because the real thing is unlikely to be quite so cuddly,' said Ship Of Fools’ co-editor Stephen Goddard.

'Dr Williams has a striking appearance that provides a creative challenge to translate into teddy bear form,' said Lynne Madeley, whose company produces a variety of contemporary collectables - including Earsprout and basket bears. 'They all have larger than normal ears - an important feature for an archbishop committed to listening to his flock!'

Ship Of Fools is a website visited by more than 1.5 million people a month, who like to sample what it calls its "unique cocktail of iconoclasm and devotion".

On Easter Sunday, April 20, Ship Of Fools launches The Ark, the world's first internet reality game show. Dubbed 'Big Brother in biblical drag', 12 bible heroes and villains, played by 'ordinary' people in their own homes, will set sail on a virtual Ark, battling it out for the right to step onto Mount Ararat.

More details from http://ship-of-fools.com/ and www.madeleybears.co.uk

Is There A Cassowary* Under The Pews?

The Churchwardens have been counting again. This time it is pews, tables, notice boards, hymn books and 'all the moveable furniture and ornaments' for which they are legally responsible. This inventory has to be done each year and shown to the Bishop's representative - in our case the Rural Dean.

Last time we were counting we were pleased to find that 'people' were up. Now we find that 'hymn books' are down - which is why hymn books have sometimes had to be shared recently.

Pat Kingsbury

PS If it was your pet Cassowary that made off with one of our hymn books, could you please ask him to return them - they really don't make good eating!

* If I were a Cassowary on the plains of Timbuktu / I would eat a missionary, cassock, band and hymn book too

A doggerel attributed to Samuel Wilberforce, 1805-1873, Bishop of Oxford, then of Winchester, who has a memorial brass at St Mary's (find it in the South aisle, West wall). He was the son of William Wilberforce, the Yorkshire MP famous for successfully campaigning to make the slave trade illegal in this country.

Although British missionaries of that time gained a reputation for being less than sensitive to the culture of their host countries, the last hundred years have seen many changes. St Mary's supports USPG, one of the major missionary societies, as part of the Parish's planned charitable giving programme

Cassowary : a large flightless Australian bird that can grow up to two metres in height

C'mon you choir

2 March - Home

St Mary's Choristers 10 - Wallington Scouts 1

8 March - Away

St Mary's Choristers 2 - Boys' Brigade 3

A Trip To The Theatre

On Wednesday, 9 April, the ringers are going to the theatre to see "Mama Mia" - the Abba musical. There is a spare ticket on offer. It is for the centre Dress Circle and would normally cost £40, but is available for just £30.

The show is at the Prince Edward Theatre in Old Compton Street and starts at 7.30 pm. If you would like to come along, please see Jean Kimber or ring 8660 4254 as soon as possible.

Jean Kimber

Bibles that are falling apart are usually owned by people who aren't.

Sutton Deanery Synod

The Synod meeting was held on Wednesday, 12 February, at St Paul's Church, Roundshaw.

The speaker was the Revd Barrie Tabraham, Methodist Minister of Christ Church with St Philip. The Revd Charlotte Elvey, Priest in Charge, was unable to be present, she was to have given the Anglican point of view on this presentation of the Anglican/Methodist Covenant. Christ Church with St Philip is a joint congregation of Methodists and Anglicans and the services are a complete mixture from Anglican Rites and Methodist Worship Books.

Barrie talked us through the 'Anglican-Methodist Covenant' answering the question 'What is in the Report?'. It contains:

* A summary of progress made so far towards achieving greater unity, from 1972 and 1982 schemes.

* Shared mission.

* Description of what is needed for "full visible unity …"

* Four areas considered Key Areas:

1. Common profession of faith.

2. One baptism and one Eucharist.

3. Common ministry of oversight.

4. Common ministry of work and sacrament

* A proposed covenant to be voted on by General Synod and the Methodist Conference this summer.

* Recommendations to the churches on how to move forward.

What is NOT in the Report:

* No proposals to make churches into a single church straight away, but working towards a greater sense of unity.

* No consideration of practical experiences for money and property.

* No discussion on 'touch-stone' issues.

* Direct experience of local ecumenical partnerships.

* Any survey of current opinion within the two churches.

* Women in ministry.

* Validity of Orders.

* Oversight of Bishops.

* No mention of 'Establishment'.

What is proposed?

Affirmations based on the agreement reached:

* We affirm one another's churches as true churches belonging to the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church of Jesus Christ and as truly participating in the apostolic mission of the whole people of God.

* We affirm that in both our churches the word of God is authentically preached, and the sacraments of Baptism and the Eucharist are duly administered and celebrated.

* We affirm that both our churches confess in word and life the apostolic faith revealed in the Holy Scriptures and set forth in the ecumenical Creeds.

* We affirm that one another's ordained and lay ministries are given by God as instruments of God's Grace, to build up the people of God in faith, hope and love, for the ministry of word, sacrament and pastoral care and to share in God's mission in the world.

* We affirm that one another's ordained ministries possess both the inward call of the Holy Spirit and Christ's commission given through the Church.

* We affirm that both our churches embody the conciliar, connexional nature of the Church and that communal, collegial and personal oversight (episkope) is exercised within them in various forms.

* We affirm that there exists a basis for agreement on the principles of episcopal oversight as a visible sign and instrument of the communion of the Church in time and space.

There are Six Commitments:

* We commit ourselves, as a priority, to work to overcome the remaining obstacles to the organic unity of our two churches, on the way to the full visible unity of Christ's Church. In particular, we look forward to the time when the fuller visible unity of our churches makes possible a united, interchangeable ministry.

* We commit ourselves to realise more deeply our common life and mission and to share the distinctive contributions of our traditions, taking steps to bring about closer collaboration in all areas of witness and service in our needy world.

* We commit ourselves to continue to welcome each other's baptised members to participate in the fellowship, worship and mission of our churches.

* We commit ourselves to encourage forms of eucharistic sharing, including eucharistic hospitality, in accordance with the rules of our respective churches.

* We commit ourselves to listen to each other and to take account of each other's concerns, especially in areas that affect our relationship as churches.

* We commit ourselves to continue to develop structures of joint or shared communal, collegial and personal oversight, including shared consultation and decision-making, on the way to a fully united ministry of oversight.

Following Revd Tabraham's presentation of the Anglican/Methodist Covenant, the Revd John Gould gave a brief Parish Profile focusing on the building of the new church of St Paul's Roundshaw.

The next meeting of the Deanery Synod will be held on 8 May at St Dunstan's, Cheam.

Jenifer Davison

Daily prayer topics in April

Tue 1 World leaders and peace between nations

Wed 2 Research scientists and their work

Thu 3 Greater spiritual awareness

Fri 4 Bishop's Lent Appeal

Sat 5 Child Contact Centres

Sun 6 Give thanks for the Episcopal Church of the Sudan

Mon 7 All standing as candidates for the PCC

Tue 8 Our Annual Parochial Church Meeting tonight

Wed 9 St Raphael's Hospice

Thu 10 All who work and worship at Southwark Cathedral

Fri 11 Refugees and asylum seekers

Sat 12 Church primary schools, their teachers and pupils

Sun 13 Give thanks for the Church in Jerusalem and the Middle East

Mon 14 Those who have been recently confirmed

Tue 15 Dulwich Deanery

Wed 16 A closer walk with our Lord

Thu 17 Thanksgiving for the Sacrament of our Lord's Body and Blood

Fri 18 Repentance for the sins which nailed our Lord to the Cross

Sat 19 Silent watching at the tomb of our Lord

Sun 20 Christ is Risen! Alleluia!

Mon 21 Rejoice for God's promise of eternal life

Tue 22 Give thanks for the communion of saints

Wed 23 Praise God that through baptism we become His sons and daughters

Thu 24 That we may be faithful witnesses of Christ's death and resurrection

Fri 25 That we may walk in love as Christ loved us

Sat 26 That the Gospel may be proclaimed throughout the world

Sun 27 Give thanks for the Scottish Episcopal Church

Mon 28 Give thanks for the Gospel of St Mark

Tue 29 The Church of England and the English people

Wed 30 All translators of the Scriptures

Music at Evensong in April

Sunday 6 April

Choral Concert for Passiontide

Sunday 13 April

Canticles: Arnold in A

Anthem: Go To Dark Gethsemane - J S Bach

Sunday 20 April

Canticles: Stanford in C

Anthem: If We Believe That Jesus Died - Goss

With thanks from Cloud 2½

Although by the time you read this little article in the April magazine (having been too late for the March issue) six or seven weeks will have passed since St Valentine's Day, John and Mary Tapp nevertheless wish to say an enormous "thank you" to all of you who helped to make their Golden Wedding celebration so special: to Selwyn for the service (even the embarrassing bits!), to Heather for her cloak & dagger connivance with one daughter, and to Cassie who transformed the purloined photographs into the magic bubbles on the front of our card. We could go on and on - the flower ladies, organist and choir - thank you all so much.

The feeling of warmth and affection that we felt that day will be an abiding and treasured memory.

I think by now we have come down to about Cloud Three - which is possibly a good thing because to sustain the momentum for Cloud Nine for too long is really far too exhausting.

Mary and John Tapp

Ladies - time to review your Spring wardrobe

Cassie will be hosting her next Weekenders' display on Saturday 5^th (3pm-9pm) and Sunday 6^th (11am-2pm) April. Many of the congregation will be familiar with these comfortable, easy-care clothes; available in a range to fit from size 10 to size 32. The classic black, navy, red, cream and white are available, with this season's new colours being Sapphire, Coffee, Powder Pink, Ice Blue and Soft Peach.

10% of the value of all new orders will be given to the Rewiring Fund. Just turn up at the Rectory between those times, and feel free to bring your friends! If you'd like a sneak preview, Cassie has brochures and swatches for you to view beforehand.

The Shrove Tuesday Pancake Party

The ingredients were the same as usual - pancakes for 50 or so, a raffle with lots of prizes, corny quizzes with no prizes, and Les Cozens at his best at the piano.

Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves and although money raising was never the main aim of this annual event, we still finished with a healthy profit of £240 in aid of the Rewiring Fund.

Thank you everyone.

Why open St Mary's on Sunday Afternoons?

Last year I wrote an article about opening the church on Sunday afternoons and was gratified that people came forward to offer their services as stewards for an hour or two during one or two Sundays during the summer.

The church is generally open on Sunday afternoons after Easter from 3 pm to 5 pm during the summer. But why? There are three principal reasons:

* the spiritual comfort any church may afford

* the possibility of remembering a happy event

* the enjoyment of the building

Worshipping every week in such surroundings can make one blasé about their beauty. All of the stewards on duty on Sundays have heard visitors say how beautiful the church is and they say it from the very first moment they enter. It would be a shame to hide this particular light under a bushel.

Often visitors come to the church wishing to relive some earlier event in their lives. There are frequent rewarding conversations about the fact that the visitor was married at St Mary's; was in the congregation at a wedding; used to be in the choir here as a treble and so on…. On one occasion a couple had come back to the church in which they were married because they were going through a rocky patch. It is to be hoped they found some answer in the venerable stones of the building and the tranquil atmosphere.

Visitors may come for spiritual comfort and it would be a pity to deny them this solace by not being able to open the church. Please do not feel that you have to be an expert on the church, a welcoming face and a cheerful greeting are all that is really necessary.

If you feel you could afford a Sunday afternoon between 3 pm and 5 pm, do not hesitate to approach me with a view to putting your name on the list to act as a steward. The list will be published on the noticeboard on the wall of the north side of the tower.

Kevin Winstone

Towering Saints

To our slight embarrassment, the Rector frequently thanks us, the ringers, and praises us for our various activities. Now, quite unprompted, Lloyds TSB Banks has canonised us!

We have looked through St Mary's Yellow Pages but there doesn't seem to be a sculptor among us. If anyone has the skill to cast the saintly ringers in stone, their attachment to the tower could be included in the Project estimate.

(Why were we canonised? When a computer is sorting out a name and address, the first thing it sorts is your title, eg Mr/Mrs etc. Then it takes your surname. Hence, from St Mary's Society of Change Ringers, we get 'Dear St Ringers'. Shame it's so prosaic - we could have done with the publicity.)

I should like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who supported the Quiz Night. It was most successful, raising £352 for our fund.

However, success can't and shouldn't be measured solely in monetary terms. From the many comments we received, people really enjoyed themselves. For us, that's what it's all about - having fun together. Yes, everyone could donate £6 and save us all the trouble, but that would be missing the point. The more we can do for people, the more we hope they'll feel involved in our Project.

The Trophy was fiercely contested this year and it was good to see some new faces there too. "Modesty" forbade the Rector from announcing the winners to the congregation but, for your interest, here are the top five, who all did amazingly well:

* The Rector's XI

* Vernal Pastures (Springfield)

* Bells & Whistles (Ringers and Choir)

* Croydon Parish

* The Puppy Walkers (for Guide Dogs for the Blind)

Everyone should be congratulated though - we don't make the questions easy! This year's special prize (the Wooden Spoon) went to Bob the Builder. Next year he wants a DIY round!

Our next major event is an evening of 'Nostalgia' presented by Peter and Joan Davalle - see page 23 - so keep the date free.

Jean Kimber

Richard of Chichester (c1197 - 1253)

Ever wonder where the prayer ... 'May I know thee more clearly, love thee more dearly, and follow thee more nearly, day by day' comes from? Richard of Chichester, a bishop in the 13th century, wrote it.

He began life as Richard de Wych, of Droitwich, the son of a yeoman farmer. But Richard was a studious boy, and after helping his father on the farm for several years, refused an advantageous offer of marriage, and instead made his way to Oxford, and later to Paris and Bologna to study canon law.

In 1235 he returned to Oxford, and was soon appointed Chancellor, where he supported Edmund, Archbishop of Canterbury, in his struggles against King Henry III's misuse of Church funds. After further study to become a priest, Richard was in due course made a Bishop himself. He was greatly loved. He was charitable and accessible, both stern and merciful to sinners, extraordinarily generous to those stricken by famine, and a brilliant legislator of his diocese. He decreed that the sacraments were to be administered without payment, Mass celebrated in dignified conditions, the clergy to be chaste, to practise residence, and to wear clerical dress. The laity were obliged to attend Mass on Sundays and holy days, and to know by heart the Hail Mary as well as the Lord's Prayer and the Creed.

Richard was also prominent in preaching the Crusade, which he saw as a call to reopen the Holy Land to pilgrims, not as a political expedition. He died at Dover on 3 April 1253. In art, Richard of Chichester is represented with a chalice at his feet, in memory of his having once dropped the chalice at Mass! One ancient English church is dedicated to him.

And, of course, he is author of that famous prayer, now set to popular music, which runs in full:

'Thanks be to thee, my Lord Jesus Christ for all the benefits thou hast given me, for all the pains and insults which thou hast borne for me. O most merciful redeemer, friend and brother, may I know thee more clearly, love thee more dearly and follow thee more nearly, day by day.'

Passion Flower

Why is the passion flower called the passion flower? This beautiful climbing plant, that grows in many of our gardens, was discovered in South America by Spanish missionaries centuries ago. Drawings were sent back to Europe and in 1609 an Italian priest interpreted the flower to represent the crucifixion, otherwise known as the Passion.

The 5 petals and 5 sepals represent the 10 disciples who remained steadfast (Judas and Peter both abandoned Jesus). The corona is the crown of thorns. The stigma is the cross or nails, and the 5 stamens are the number of wounds Jesus received.

Wildlife Helpline

This is the time of year when you may find all sorts of baby birds and baby mammals in need of a helping hand. If you're not sure what to do with an abandoned baby something-or-other, try the Wildlife Helpline National Service 01522 544245 or 0790 191 6608 or www.wildlifehelpline.org.uk.

PCC Notes

The PCC met on 25 February, when the main items of business were up-dates on the electrical works, and a look ahead to the APCM.

We learned that an emergency faculty for the urgent, remedial, electrical works had been granted, and the work already completed (and to a high standard, which bodes well for the remainder of the project). There are high hopes that faculty approval for the main part of the work will be received by Easter. There was good news, too, of a possible charitable grant towards the re-wiring costs, which will be more than welcome.

The Finance and Standing Committees, on behalf of the PCC, had the previous week convened in the churchyard when Graham Smith (Complete Electrical Services) demonstrated his ideas for a replacement floodlighting system. They were impressed with what they saw, and had no hesitation in recommending that his proposals be accepted by the PCC. This we did, with renewed thanks to the anonymous benefactor who has made it all possible. We were assured that the new floodlighting will be 'vandal-proof', and that the annual running costs will be a good deal less than those for the system that is being replaced. We are hopeful that faculty approval for this will be received in time for the work to commence during May. In the meantime, it had not escaped our notice that, thanks to Gerrie England's pruning of some tree branches, the churchyard paths are better illuminated, and the PCC expressed its gratitude to Gerrie.

Looking ahead to the APCM on 8 April, the PCC put the final touches to its Annual Report and approved the Financial Statement, both of which will be presented to that meeting.

We spent some time considering required information signs in and around the church in connection with our responsibilities under the Disability Discrimination Act.

In addition there was a brief report from the Quinquennial Report Working Party which had met and begun to draw up a plan of action, and an up-date from Cassie on the current state of the Housekeeping and Re-wiring fund-raising. She also alerted us to the fact that the basis of our ‘Fairer Shares’ is due for re-assessment in the near future.

Finally, this being the last meeting of the current parochial year, Selwyn thanked everyone for their hard work and commitment in the course of the year, and announced that the first meeting of the new year would be on Monday, 19 May.

Diana Harries

When praying, don't give God instructions - just report for duty.

A well-deserved round of applause to Ken and Angela Kennedy from St Paul's Church who stepped in so willingly to copy last month's magazine when our photocopier took a turn for the worse. Thank you so much for this, and for your offer of help whenever needed.

Duggie Dug Dug's Praise Party

at St Patrick's Church Hall on 12 April 2003 from 5 pm to 7 pm

Tickets from Oasis Bookshop or St Patrick's office

£3 per person or £10 per family.

Doug Horley is a well-known writer of Christian songs for children and presents Praise Parties. Fun for all the family with puppets, games, songs. Come along and join in the fun.

Carolyn Churchyard

St George

The Saint of an English Army before he was Patron Saint of England, St George may have been a soldier, but he was no Englishman. He was an officer in the Roman army under Diocletian, who refused to abandon his faith during the Terror, and was martyred at Lydda in Palestine about the year 300 AD - supposedly 23 April. Over the years St George became the example of a Christian fighting-man, a powerful helper against evil powers affecting individual lives. He was the soldier-hero of the Middle Ages, of whom remarkable deeds were reported.

In the Golden Legend of the 13th century, Jacobus de Voragine gave St George a handsome write-up. The story runs thus:

One day, St George rode up to the heathen city of Sylene in Lybia, where he found the citizens in great distress. A neighbouring dragon had forced them to surrender two sheep each day for its dinner, and when the sheep gave out, two of their children; and now they were about to sacrifice the King's daughter, dressed as if for her wedding. St George encountered the little party by a stagnant lake, where the dragon lived, and persuaded the sobbing Princess to tell him why she was so miserable. At that moment the dragon appeared, looking inexpressibly revolting. The Saint charged, and drove his spear into the gaping mouth. To everyone's amazement, he tumbled the monster over and over.

Then St George borrowed the Princess' girdle, tied it round the dragon's neck, and persuaded her to lead it back to Sylene herself. The sight of her approaching with the befuddled dragon on its makeshift lead emptied the town. When the inhabitants timidly crept back, St George promised to behead the dragon if they would all believe in Jesus Christ and be baptised.

It was a most effective form of evangelism, for everybody said yes at once. So 15,000 people were baptised, and four carts were commissioned to remove the dragon's body.

St George thus became a symbol of the war against evil, and is usually portrayed trampling the dragon of sin under his horse's hoofs. The Crusaders had a vision of him helping them against the Saracens at Antioch, during the first Crusade, and so brought the story of St George back with them from Palestine. Presently England put herself under the protection of the Saint. His day was a declared a holiday in 1222.

A red cross on a white field is the flag of St George.

Click here to return to St Mary’s home page