St Mary’s Church Parish
Magazine – January 2004
Readings for
Sundays and Festivals in January
Greetings from all
the Flower Arrangers
But Father
Christmas Is A Girl!
Daily prayer topics
in January
Is it a bird? Is it a boy?
Or is it - a girl?
The Finance Committee meets at the
Rectory at 8:00 pm on Monday, 5 January to work on the budget and the Shopping List
for 2004, to be presented to the PCC later that month.
The feast of The Epiphany is being
marked with a Choral Eucharist at 7:30 pm on Tuesday, 6 January.
Wallington Youth Forum is being launched by Churches Together and has its first meeting at
On Sunday, 18 January (the Sunday in the
Week of Prayer for Christian Unity) there will be a united service at St
Michael’s at 6:30 pm. Accordingly
there will be no evening service at St Mary’s that night.
On 24 January, St Patrick's Church will be
holding a Prayer & Fasting Day from 10 am to 4 pm. Prayers will
concentrate on homelessness, health, effects of war and the lack of fresh
water.
Have you a favourite
piece of classical music? Would you enjoy playing it to others, and listening
to their choice? "These You Have Loved" is a gentle
opportunity to do both, and it will happen on Saturday, 24 January, at
7:30 pm in the Centre. Bring the CD with your chosen piece (not more than about
10 minutes long), and, if you like, be prepared to say a few words about why
you are so attracted to your particular choice. Or just come and listen, and be
entertained and uplifted by the choices others have provided. Wine, nibbles and
good conversation complete the atmosphere - entrance £3.50, proceeds to the
Shopping List. A cultural beginning to the New Year's fund-raising activities!
If you would like to take part, please give your name, your money, and the
title of your piece to Selwyn or Harold by the previous Sunday, January 18th. "If
music be the food of love, play on - give me excess of it!"
The re-wiring project
is at last underway and will continue throughout January. In order to create as
much time and space as possible for the firm to complete their work by the end
of the month, there will be some temporary changes to the regular pattern of
weekday morning services, as follows:
In the week beginning
Monday, 5 January, Morning Prayer will not be said at all; the only Eucharist
will be the Choral Eucharist for The Epiphany, at 7:30 pm on Tuesday 6th.
For the remaining
three weeks of January, Morning Prayer will be said on Monday, Tuesday,
Wednesday and Friday, at 9:00 am each day, in the quiet
room in the Rectory,
and the midweek Eucharist will take place not on Wednesday mornings but on Tuesday
evenings, once again at 7:30 pm.
Morning Prayer will
not be said on Saturdays at all during the month, but Evening
Prayer will continue to be said at 5:00 pm, in church, on its usual days.
Thus, for this month,
only the church will be kept completely free in the mornings for the electrical
work to continue apace.
Sunday, 1 February is The Presentation
of Christ in the Temple (otherwise Candlemas)
and we hope that the new lighting and re-wiring system will be in place for
Bishop Nick to come and preside and preach at the 9:30 Eucharist and to
dedicate the new system. Wine and
nibbles in the Centre afterwards.
Saturday, 7 February is the annual Ringers'
Sunday, 8 February - our Guides &
Brownies will play their usual important part at the 9:30 Eucharist.
|
SUN |
4 |
SECOND AFTER
CHRISTMAS |
|
|
Mon |
5 |
Magazine Panel
meets at |
6.00 pm |
|
|
|
Finance
Committee meets at the Rectory |
8.00 pm |
|
Tue |
6 |
The
Epiphany. Choral Eucharist |
7.30 pm |
|
Wed |
7 |
St Mary's
Guild. Pam Akhurst talks about life in
|
2.30 pm |
|
SUN |
11 |
THE BAPTISM OF
CHRIST |
|
|
|
|
Ringers' AGM at
2 Peaks Hill, Purley |
7.45 pm |
|
Mon |
12 |
Bible Study
Group. Venue to be advised. |
8.00 pm |
|
Thu |
15 |
MU&OG New
Year Party. Church Centre |
8.00 pm |
|
SUN |
18 |
SECOND AFTER
EPIPHANY |
|
|
|
|
United Service
at St Michael's (No Evensong at St Mary's) |
6.30 pm |
|
Mon |
19 |
PCC. Church Centre |
8.00 pm |
|
Tue |
20 |
MU Corporate
Eucharist |
7.30 pm |
|
|
|
Bible Study
Group. Venue to be advised. |
8.00 pm |
|
Wed |
21 |
|
3.00 pm |
|
Sat |
24 |
'These You Have Loved' evening. Church Centre |
7.30 pm |
|
SUN |
25 |
|
|
|
Mon |
26 |
Bible Study
Group. Venue to be advised. |
8.00 pm |
Sun 4 Jan
Christmas 2
Ecclesiasticus 24: 1-12 (page 32)
Ephesians 1: 3-14 (page 34)
John 1 10-18 (page 37)
Tue 6 Jan
Epiphany of the Lord
Isaiah 60: 1-6 (page 38)
Ephesians 3: 1-12 (page 40)
Matthew 2: 1-12 (page 41)
Sun 11 Jan
Baptism of Christ
Isaiah 43: 1-7 (page 773)
Acts 8: 4-17 (page 775)
Luke 3: 15-17, 21-22 (page 775)
Sun 18 Jan
Epiphany 2
Isaiah 62: 1-5 (page 776)
1 Corinthians 12 1-11 (page 777)
John 2: 1-11 (page 778)
Sun 25 Jan
Conversion of
Jeremiah 1: 4-10 (page 1062)
Acts 9: 1-22 (page 1063)
Matthew 19: 27-30
(page 1066)
Mon 12 Aelred of Hexham, Abbot of Rievaulx,
1167
Tue 13 Hilary,
Bishop of Poitiers, teacher, 367
Sat 17
Mon 19 Wulfstan, Bishop of
Wed 21 Agnes,
child-martyr at
Sat 24 Francis
de Sales, Bishop of Geneva, teacher, 1622
Sun 25 Conversion
of
Mon 26 Timothy
& Titus, companions of Paul
Wed 28 Thomas
Aquinas, priest, philosopher, teacher, 1274
Fri 30 Charles,
King and martyr, 1649
Sat 31 John
Bosco, educationalist, 1888
Sunday 4 January
Evening Prayer will be
said
Sunday 11 January
Canticles: Stanford in
C
Anthem: Lo, Star-led
Chiefs – Crotch
Sunday 18 January
No Evensong at St
Mary's
Sunday 25 January
Canticles: Brewer in D
Anthem: O Taste and
See – Goss
Saturday, 6 December -
the bunting is bobbing in the breeze.
The stalls are set out, the sandwiches filled, the urn bubbling. Will any people come? You do, of course, lots
and lots of you.
Les gives us a tune or
three on the organ. The tombola runs out of prizes.
SMYLE sell their peppermint creams.
Many young faces are transformed into a cat's, a dog's or a
tiger's. The new cook book 'Harvest
Home' is a best-seller and everyone says they are really enjoying themselves.
Thank you again, all
of you, for coming, buying and selling, and joining in all the fun of the
Christmas Fair. And for helping
raise a record £1,550.
Dee, Derek, Jane,
Margaret, Pam, Pat and Selwyn
Every year I say I'm
not going to feel a lump in my throat but, once again, looking around a
candlelit St Mary's encircled by happy little faces (and some happy bigger
faces) with echoes of Away in a Manger, I found myself with that lump! Attendance should be thrown down like a
gauntlet to the 'hard of heart' each Christmas!
The pews were full of
eager faces as we watched the Christingle story
unfold. But what was that we saw? ... a normally quiet, gentle, well-respected SPA wrapping an
even more gentle, well-respected minister in bubble wrap - shrouding him in
orange cloth and piercing him with long spikes!
Something I feared the Sun would snatch and twist into a headline-grabbing
front page story ... Wallington Minister and his SPA Caught in Wild Bubble
Wrap Acupuncture Incident !!!
Seriously, it was
great fun to see Selwyn transformed in front of our very eyes into a human Christingle - although Matthew was initially quite
concerned as Selwyn was twisted round in the bubble wrap and whispered
"What Heather doing to poor Selwyn?". And we were relieved that blood wasn't drawn
when Heather couldn't find the right spot to stab the stick into! But, it all
came good and the story of Christingle unfolded.
We had two readings
which recounted real stories of children's experiences and how the Children's
Society had helped them; and it was good to see a dad doing one of the
readings!
Many people had
brought presents which will be given to children who do not receive gifts -
again it makes you stop and think, give thanks and be more determined to make
changes!
We had a very fitting
thank you to Pam Vernon who has run Toddlers for over 15 years... I know how
much Matthew loved it and it is truly the end of an era. Despite the birth of
Families we have nothing to replace the warmth of the stories, service and
prayers the children experienced every month thanks to Pam and her team.
Les played the organ
to accompany some fab carols - including my favourite
'In the Bleak Midwinter' which is rarely ever aired.
If you missed it this
year, make a note in your '04 diaries to catch it next year ... it is one of
the services St Mary's does so well!
(a sponsored
group trek on behalf of The
Children's Society)
Well, I have travelled
halfway around the world (and back again), in just 12 days! It was not until I
embarked on the journey that I started to realise
what exactly I was about to do. I was extremely nervous and quite overwhelmed
at the prospect of what lay ahead.
I trekked across beaches
, wooded coastline, around lakes, and climbed two mountains. The most
memorable part of the trek was climbing
I could not quite
believe that I had completed the trek and had raised money for The Children’s
Society. If you would like to hear more about my trek please contact me and I will be happy to talk to you about my experience
or, I could send you my diary account of the trek.
Overall I raised my
sponsorship target of £2,750 and the group as a whole raised £140,000 for the
charity. I would like to thank all those who sponsored me to trek
How could your gift help? Here are just a
few of the ways …
£5 could pay for an Urban
Survival Kit, which includes basics like toiletries, underwear, socks, warm
gloves, chocolate and the cost of a telephone call. The kits are a vital aid to
the street workers in establishing a dialogue and gaining the trust of the
children they help.
£20 could
provide a confidential counselling session for a
young carer with a health service representative who
will give them clear and simple advice about the medical care of their parent
or sibling.
£60 could
enable a skilled member of staff to help up to three children who are being
bullied at school.
£130 could
pay for a trained worker to undertake two days' work with the courts and local
authorities to relocate children on remand to community alternatives that will
steer them away from a life of crime and give them a fresh start.
Thank you all once again.
Sonya Murray
Tower
… we've changed from Flower Ladies! …. talking of
which, if there are any men out there who would like to join our happy team,
please do come forward - no experience necessary, help given.
We've had a couple of
new ideas we would like to suggest:
'In Memory '
If you would like to
have a floral decoration placed by the votive stand to commemorate a loved one,
please use the envelopes which you will find on the table under the tower and
give it to me at least two weeks before the day.
'
For the flowers on the
first Sunday in June and the first in August (providing no weddings come in for
those days) we would like to have a '
Sue Ardley
On 6 January we
celebrate Epiphany - the visit of the wise men to the baby Jesus.
But who were these
wise men? No one knows for sure. Matthew calls them 'Magi', and that was the
name of an ancient caste of a priestly kind from
Certainly Jesus
challenged and set aright the way in which the world handled all three of these
things.
Since the eighth
century, the magi have had the names Balthasar, Caspar and Melchior.
December 7th - the
Church Centre was packed to the rafters with very excited children. The Families Group were celebrating their
first anniversary/Christmas. Despite the
fact that so many had begun the Christmas visiting rota, we had a record
turnout of 37 children and mums, dads and carers.
Selwyn kindly came to
open the party with our Families prayer (we saw you pinching the party sausages!)
Party dresses abound as the disco music blared and some of our older girls
organised the dancing. Then came a double-two- way pass-the-parcel (I know -
complex but challenging!) and Matthew managed for the first time ever to win a
prize - he was so chuffed he wanted to ring everyone when we got home! We had a traditional tea with jelly and ice
cream whilst the grown-ups had mince pies, mulled wine and Jamaican rum punch.
Then we received
information that Santa had arrived - a slightly smaller and softly spoken Santa
appeared this year, accompanied by a little elf with very rosy cheeks! All the children sat by her feet as she
cleared the table groaning with pressies ... "I
know who that is," said a certain Miss De Ritter. "Father Christmas is a girl" said a
little Churchyard. I must say there was something awfully familiar.
Santa left and some
more dancing games took place and then sadly it was time to leave ... one final
dip into the lucky dip parcel bag on the way out and the hall stood silent ...
just the clearer-uppers left.
Many, many thanks to
all those who helped whilst Helena and I seemed to stand and greet, chat, and
say goodbyes... we couldn't have done it without you!
From the raffle that
took place we managed to raise enough money to make a small donation for the
hall, pay the postage for our 'out of the area families' and still add some
money to the kitty for 04’s events.
Carolyn
Nov 29 Adam
Scott Miles and Vanessa Lee Turnbull
Nov 5 Albert
Edwin Mitchell, aged 89
Nov 21 Irene
Betty Ethel Youell, aged 80
Nov 28 Arthur
Steed, aged
89
Dec 2 Frederick
Alan Underwood
One of the most
enjoyable Christmas events for me recently has been the annual visit of Carew Manor School, arriving with all their drums, wind
band, choir, sound systems and actors' wardrobes - and their own stage.
This year Scrooge
learnt the hard way what Christmas is about.
That was after various members of the school, junior and senior, had
read, played and sung solos about the background of some of the most familiar Christmas
customs, including the lighting of the Advent Candles - there for all to see
beside the High Altar.
Pat Kingsbury
60th Anniversary
of its Foundation,
December 1943 -
2003
We assembled in the
Church Centre at 1 pm on Saturday 13 December and it was like old times;
the years fell away. We had our buffet, wine and anniversary cake, enjoyed by
all, and more so when it culminated with the SMYF version of "Much Binding
in the Marsh" (a long-standing tradition that used to round off many SMYF
activities.
In the evening we were
entertained by Chimes
Musical Theatre with songs from the 1940s period
shows. One word describes it - fantastic!
Sunday saw us at the
9.30 Eucharist at which the guest Preacher was the Rev Diana Gamble, daughter
of SMYF joint founder and first Chairman, Ernie Gamble. We happily joined other
members of the congregation for nibbles and wine in the Church Centre after the
service, but not before a "Fellowship photograph" was taken outside
the west door - just like the old days.
Happy times and thank
you all for a brilliant weekend.
John Clayton
A Holy Week Retreat
Pilgrimage 2004 celebrating the lives of the Celtic Saints will be based at
Accommodation is
provided by
Full details are available from LTG
Pilgrimages on 01274 599622 or on www.ukltg.com.
Julian Meetings were
started by Hilary Wakeman 30 years ago and one is
held on the first Wednesday of the month at the United Reformed Church,
The meetings are held
to foster the teaching and practice of contemplative prayer and to encourage
people to practice contemplative prayer in their daily lives. The meetings are
ecumenical and they last for about three quarters of an hour.
If
you are interested in going to a meeting and would like to find out more about
them, please contact Mrs Irene Myers, tel no 01737
552499.
Thu 1 Thanksgiving for a New Year and a new
start
Fri 2 Spiritual directors and counsellors
Sat 3 The
Commonwealth and the people of
Sun 4 For peace,
justice and democracy
Mon 5 St Mary's Youth Group (SMYLE)
Tue 6 Thanksgiving for the revelation of
Christ to the world
Wed 7 St Mary's 'Families' and 'Happy Hands'
Thu 8 All schools and colleges as they begin a
new term
Fri 9 Our choir and
servers
Sat 10 The
Sun 11 Thanksgiving for
the baptism of our Lord and our own baptism into His family
Mon 12 The growth of our Bible Study Group
Tue 13 Wells for the
drought-stricken areas of the world
Wed 14 Displaced children
and children at risk
Thu 15 AIDS orphans and
those who care for them
Fri 16 Trinity
College of Music and all church musicians
Sat 17 The World Council of Churches
Sun 18 All organisations promoting Christian Unity
Mon 19 All Churches in
dialogue with the Anglican Communion
Tue 20 Orthodox
Churches in communion with the Patriarch of Constantinople
Wed 21 All Churches in
communion with the Bishop of Rome
Thu 22 Coptic, Oriental
Orthodox, autonomous and independent Churches
Fri 23 Churches whose
roots are in the protestant reformation
Sat 24 Churches in
communion with the Anglican Communion
Sun 25 The work, ministry and witness of the Archbishop of
Canterbury
Mon 26 All Christian
missionaries at home and abroad
Tue 27 Theologians and
all who teach the Christian faith
Wed 28 University and
college lecturers
Thu 29 The Board for Church in Society meeting tonight
Fri 30 The Mothers
Union and all who support Christian family life
Sat 31 Our
Link Dioceses in
Shopper to shop
manager: "Your opening sale has closed. What now?"
Shop manager: "Our closing sale opens."
A woman goes to the
post office to buy stamps for her Christmas cards. She says to the clerk,
"May I have 50 Christmas stamps?"
The clerk says, "What denomination?" The woman says, "God
help us. Has it come to this? Give me 6 Catholic, 12 Presbyterian, 10 Lutheran
and 22 Baptists..."
Words for Once In Royal David's City, as seen on one carol service song
sheet this Christmas …
"Where a
mother laid her baby,
In a manager for
his bed …" !!!
Listen to a cathedral
choir for a few moments. Are you listening
to boys singing, or to girls singing?
A scientist from
In one experiment,
Professor Howard recorded material by the boys’ and girls’ choirs at Wells
Cathedral, singing an identical repertoire at Evensong on consecutive
nights. Only 53 per cent of those who
listened identified the choristers correctly.
Professor Howard concluded:
“Girls can do the job as well as boys.”
He says: “The claim is that boys have a pure sound,
that girls’ voices are huskier. While
that might perhaps be true for individuals, it is not borne out chorally, where
all the voices blend together.”
The boys-versus-girls
argument has raged for more than a decade, ever since Salisbury Cathedral first
admitted girls. Dr Peter Giles, who
chairs the Campaign for the
Defence of the Traditional Cathedral Choir (CDTCC), and is a former senior
lay clerk at
It was the third year that Churches Together had organised a free Christmas Lunch for anyone who wanted some company and a meal on Christmas Day. This year it was held at Holy Trinity's splendid new Trinity Centre which was superbly equipped to deal with the catering for some 70 guests who attended. The weeks of planning paid off and a very good time was had by all. In fact, it would be hard to say who enjoyed it more - the guests or the volunteer helpers.