Churches Together in Beddington & Wallington are holding a Lent Event … a day of creativity and art, drama, creative writing, stained glass, graphic art and much more! The date is Saturday, 3 April between 9.30 am and 4.00 pm at the Trinity Centre, Holy Trinity Church, Maldon Road, Wallington. Places must be pre-booked. Light lunch and refreshments will be available. This event will be presented by Pilgrim Hearts whose aim is to help us discover our creativity to convey the Christian message. Further details from Carolyn Churchyard on 8254 9522.

There will be no Eucharist on the morning of Wednesday, 14 April. There will however be a said Eucharist in the Carew Chapel on St George's Day, Friday, 23rd, beginning at 7.30 pm, and another additional celebration on Monday, 26th at 9.30 am for St Mark's Day. The presidents at the 8.00 and 9.30 am Eucharists on Sunday 18th will be announced later. Evening Prayer at 6.30 pm on that day will be said.

Do get your tickets for the talk being given by John Phillips on The History of St Mary's Church on Saturday, 17 April. Details here. Proceeds go to the Tower and Bells Fund.

On the evening of Tuesday, 20 April, we once again welcome Fr Paul Hough and the congregation of St Elphege's as they celebrate their Patronal Mass at 8.00 pm. This year there will be refreshments in the Centre after the service, hopefully allowing many people from both our congregations to meet each other. It is always a joyful occasion, and it would be good to see a bigger representation from St Mary's than there has sometimes been in the past!

Advance date for your diary: Bank Holiday Monday, 3 May - a concert by the Albinoni String Orchestra - details here.

What’s On In April?

Leaflets giving full details of the events in Holy Week are available in church. The main events are highlighted below.

Thu	1	MU&OG. Easter Decorations with Mrs B Tate. Church Centre	8.00 pm
Fri	2	Sherward Park School Easter Service. All welcome	10.15 am
		Lent Lunch at The Rectory	12.45 pm
		Eucharist	7.30 pm
Sat	3	Churches Together Lent Event at Holy Trinity Centre	9.30 am
*SUN*	4	*PALM SUNDAYProcession of Palms and Sung Eucharist*	*9.30 am*
Mon	5	Magazine Panel meets at 35 Vanguard Way	6.00 pm
		Lent Reading Group meets at 24 St George's Road	8.00 pm
Tue	6	St Mary' Court. Eucharist *Eucharist and Stations of the Cross*	10.00 am *7.30 pm*
Wed	7	St Mary's Guild - Stations of the Cross. All welcome *Passover Supper and Eucharist. Church Centre*	2.30 pm *7.30 pm*
*THU*	8	*MAUNDY THURSDAY Sung Eucharist of the Last Supper - with feet-washing and stripping of the altars.*	*8.00 pm*
		After the Eucharist a continuous Vigil of Prayer is kept in the Carew Chapel until the start of the Good Friday liturgy at 2.00 pm
*FRI*	9	*GOOD FRIDAY*
		*Walk of Witness through Wallington (starting at St Michael's, Milton Road)*	*11.45 am*
		*Liturgy of the Day*	*2.00 pm*
		'The Darkest Hour' by Harold Moore. Passiontide Cantata at St Andrew's URC, Northey Avenue, Cheam	8.00 pm
*SUN*	11	*EASTER DAY*
		*Easter Vigil. First sung Eucharist of Easter*	*6.00 am*
Mon	12	Bank Holiday. Church open from 11 am
Thu	15	MU&OG Countdown. Church Centre	8.00 pm
Sat	17	'The History of St Mary's Church'. Church Centre A fundraising talk in aid of the Tower and Bells Fund	7.30 pm
SUN	18	SECOND OF EASTER
Mon	19	Social Committee meets at 2 Caraway Place	8.00 pm
Tue	20	St Elphege's Church celebrate their Patronal Festival Mass at St Mary's. All welcome	8.00 pm
Wed	21	MU Corporate Eucharist	10.00 am
		Annual Parochial Church Meeting. Church Centre	8.00 pm
Fri	23	St George. Said Eucharist in Carew Chapel	7.30 pm
SUN	25	THIRD OF EASTER
Mon	26	St Mark. Eucharist	9.30 am

Readings for Sundays and Festivals in April

Sun 11 April

Easter Day

Acts 10: 34-43 (page 841)

1 Corinthians 15: 19-26 (page 855)

John 20: 1-18 (page 855)

Sun 18 April

Second of Easter

Acts 5: 27-32 (page 859)

Revelation 1: 4-8 (page 862)

John 20: 19-31 (page 862)

Sun 25 April

Third of Easter

Acts 9: 1-20 (page 864)

Revelation 5: 11-14 (page 867)

John 21: 1-19 (page 867)

Sun 4 April

Palm Sunday

Isaiah 50: 4-9a (page 840)

Luke 22: 14-23: 56 (page 842)

Thu 8 April

Maundy Thursday

Exodus 12: 1-4 (page 162)

1 Corinthians 11: 23-26 (page 165)

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

Fri 9 April

Good Friday

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

Hebrews 4: 14-16 & 5: 7-9 (page 170)

John 18: 1-19: 42 (page 173)

Saints in April

Mon 19 Alphege, Archbishop of Canterbury, martyr, 1012

Wed 21 Anselm, Abbot of Le Bec, Archbishop of Canterbury, teacher, 1109

Fri 23 George, martyr, Patron of England, c304

Mon 26 Mark the Evangelist

Music at Evensong in April

Sunday 18 April

Evening Prayer will be said

Sunday 25 April

Evensong music to be advised

Sunday 4 April

Canticles: Berkshire Service - Archer

Anthem: Thy Father's Love - Simon Lole

Sunday 11 April

Canticles: Arnold in A

Anthem: Sing Ye To The Lord

Sutton Deanery Synod

A meeting of the Sutton Deanery Synod was held on Thursday, 12 February, at St Oswald's, Cheam. The Rev'd Russell Lawson, Curate-in-Charge, gave a brief overview of the parish. The church was built in the 1950s but there has been a hall there since 1930. The buildings need a lot of development and the new entrance and porch were recently finished, replacing the old obscure entrance round the side of the church. The congregation is now getting into fund-raising for further work. The church is the only one on the estate and they have a growing congregation. The clergy divide their time between St Oswald's and St Alban the Martyr which is on the other side of the A217. St Oswald's is a daughter church of St Dunstan's.

Reports were received from the Education Representative and the Diocesan Synod. The Director of the Southwark Diocesan Board of Education, Linda Borthwick, is retiring in July and interviews for her successor will be held early in March. The Board produces briefing sheets for heads of schools, chairs of governors and clerks on topics such as appointment of staff and personnel procedures; admission and appeals guidelines; new Ofsted framework, etc. There is a revised 47-page booklet on "Admissions & Appeals in Church of England Schools".

At the Diocesan Synod, Bishop Tom said that the 2003 Lent Call had raised £100,000 for which he thanked all who had helped to raise the money in churches and church schools around the diocese. He went on to talk about faith and unity, and said that faith within unity can send a clear message to the world, whereas deep divisions weaken the mission of the Church. In England, the C of E is deeply involved in community development, our work and our mission will be weakened if we fracture over issues such as women in the episcopate and homosexuality. Also at the Diocesan Synod, Andrew Britton, Chairman of the Board of Finance, said he was anxious that parishes understood that the greatest proportion of money paid in Parish Shares was used to pay for the local clergy stipends and pensions.

After the reports, the Rural Dean asked the Rev'd Sarah Goatcher, rector of St Nicholas, Sutton, to explain her new appointment as the Anglican Ecumenical Borough Dean of Sutton. She said it involved working with other Christian denominations in the borough and representing the Christian interest at interfaith forums; also it was her job to represent the Anglican Church in health, welfare and education.

The main speaker at the meeting was the Rev’d Gary Jenkins, vicar of Holy Trinity, Redhill who spoke on the subject of "Co-habitation - A Christian Reflection". He said that the incidences of co-habitation had increased in society and was the majority practice before marriage. Statistics show that 40% of births in the year 2000 were outside marriage. He went on to compare the differences between marriage and co-habitation. He ended his talk by saying that Christians, when asked, should be willing and able to explain why marriage is important. If Christians, if the Church, sincerely believe that marriage, compared to living together, is better, then we must really make an effort to 'sell' it to our increasingly secular nation. In a world where more and more people have sincere doubts about whether marriage is really a good idea at all, we need to develop a convincing biblical argument for marriage. We need to be in the business of persuading people that marriage is good, is from God, and is best. And when we have persuaded them, we need to do everything we can to help them build strong, successful marriages by good premarital counseling and by introducing them to Christ.

Jenifer Davison

Deanery Representative

PLEASE NOTE: Anyone is welcome to attend Deanery Synod meetings, although non-elected members cannot vote. The Standing Committee is seeking to arrange meetings which provide information and inspiration for the benefit of churches within the Deanery. The next meeting is to be held at St Peter's, St Helier and will be focusing on Christian Youth Ministry within the Borough

Annual Parochial Church Meeting

If you are not on the Electoral Roll of St Mary's (Anglican-speak for our official membership list) but would like to be, you have the opportunity soon when the Roll receives its annual update before the Annual Parochial Church Meeting. Simply obtain an application form from Eileen England and return it to her, duly completed, at any time up to the end of Tuesday 6 April. Eileen or 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 8.00 pm on Wednesday 21 April.

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 10 April 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 once again you need to be on the Electoral Roll, and the relevant forms will be available in plenty of time, from Saturday 10 April if not before.

Once you have got yourself on to the Roll, 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, Ian, 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 Friday 23 April – or you could always come to the Choral Eucharist for St George’s Day, at 7:30 that night, and pick one up yourself! 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 Wednesday 28 April to Wednesday 5 May, and they will be stored safely and unopened as they arrive, together with the papers filled out during the Meeting itself.

Voting papers will be counted on the morning of Friday 7 May, 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 9 May. That is just in time for the Churchwardens and PCC members to be in training for the first meeting of the new PCC and to attend the Archdeacon's Visitation and Swearing-In at St Mary Magdalene’s, Addiscombe on the evening of Tuesday, 18 May.

The first PCC meeting of the new session takes place in the Centre at 8.30 pm on the evening of Thursday, 20 May, immediately after the Sung Eucharist for Ascension Day.

Selwyn Tillett^.

Poor Old Humpty-Dumpty

Eric Green, free-lance journalist and former Church News Service writer, looks back to the Easters of his childhood…

It didn't seem right at Eastertide. My dad used to take my newly-boiled egg and pencil a happy face on it. "That's your Easter egg," Mother would tell me, "...now bash his head in with your teaspoon and eat him up." At six years old I couldn't understand the cruelty. Along with the singing of "Humpty Dumpty sat on the wall. Humpty Dumpty had a great fall."

How could we be taking a school holiday just to celebrate being nasty? Not only that, we glorified in the fact that the egg was beyond repair. We were victors. Its death gave more food for our egos and our stomachs. "All the king's horses and all the king's men, couldn't put Humpty Dumpty together again." Never again would my egg become as beautifully shaped as before.

But are we not spoiling a world that God had made perfect in the first place? Have we knocked him off the wall because we didn't want him to sit there watching over us?

Our efforts leave more debris on the floor than when we started. Is it because we're trying to bash God's creation with a teaspoon? The message of Easter tells of one who beat the efforts of 'all the king's men'. The High Priests and Pontius Pilate believed they'd seen the last of Jesus Christ when they nailed him to the Cross. He certainly looked beyond repair. But with God, nothing is impossible.

Within three days, Jesus had risen. He still lives.

As I bashed my childhood eggshell, only my dad's artistry disappeared. The inside yolk and white nourished my body. Jesus, as perfect as ever, still does.

Easter can demolish our old shell, and feed us into an everlasting new life in Christ.

Holy Week & Easter

On Sunday 4 April we begin Holy Week - the annual celebration of the events of Jesus' 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 are already available in church.

The week begins with the 9.30 Eucharist on Palm Sunday. We assemble in the church Centre to hear the Gospel reading of Jesus' 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 few years, we shall be celebrating a Passover supper again on the evening of the Wednesday in Holy Week, 7 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 is laid out with our normal tables, arranged around three sides of a square as they would have been in Jesus' time. We keep as near as possible to the outline of a modern Passover meal. It begins 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 will 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 are produced, explained and shared; there is also 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 is 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 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 is always 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 usual 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 three 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 (8th) 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 8.00 pm 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' 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. This will depart from St Michael’s at 11.45 am and end by 1.30 pm, allowing people to be in church in ample time before 2.00 pm. 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 2.00 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' 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 (11^th). 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 earlier this year than last, we can revert to our regular time of 6:00 am for this celebration!

As I have frequently 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

18 March 2004 …..

The Brass of Sir Roger Elmebrygge, our Gothic Knight, beautifully cleaned, set in new stone and wrapped in blankets, came home on the monumental mason's lorry. The difficult part of the journey - from the lorry to the Sanctuary - then began.

First, the surface floor slabs had to be drilled out. Unlike the previous site of the Brass, where there was nothing below it but a four-inch void, the Sanctuary floor has a base of slabs of slate. These were covered with the foundation - a mix of sand, cement and hydrated lime. Then the Brass in its slab was carefully wheeled on its trolley into the Sanctuary, lowered into the space, levelled and finally secured in place. The relief felt by the stone-masons, the watching warden (me!) and photographer (Pam Vernon), was palpable. All four had been holding their breath that neither men nor Brass would be damaged during the delicate manoeuvre of such a heavy piece of masonry - it did after all weigh some 15 cwt.

We now have a new challenge. What can we tell visitors who want to know the story of the Gothic Knight? The recent history of the Brass has been quite some saga, but we know very little about Sir Roger himself: where he lived, or what he did in his life. Who can discover more about him? There must still be another interesting story just waiting to be told.

Pat Kingsbury

PCC Notes

At its meeting on 23 February, the PCC learned that the receipt of a grant of £2,500 from Marshall’s Charity would see the re-wiring project paid for in full. We expressed gratitude for this, and also for all the fund-raising which had helped to support this project. The original electrical survey had included recommendations in respect of necessary work in the ringing room and vestries, but these were not considered to be as high a priority as other work. Graham Smith of CES will be looking again at what is required, and submitting a revised estimate. The plan is for these works to be done when the Tower & Bells project gets under way.

Members were conscious that a consequence of the new lighting system was that it had shown up the dirty state of the roof and wall paintings. Estimates are being sought for the cost of cleaning the roof, and professional advice is being taken with regard to the wall paintings.

We received a progress report on the restoration of the Gothic Knight. Despite a slight slippage in the planned timetable, the project was still on target to be completed by the end of March.

There was an up-date too on the progress of the Tower & Bells project. A site meeting, at which all interested parties would be present, was scheduled for 3 March. Providing there are no objections, an application for final faculty approval would follow. All being well, it is hoped that the project can begin in mid-April.

The PCC has, for some time, been trying to arrange a disability awareness training session which would be open to everyone. It seems that progress is at last being made, but no definite date has yet been fixed. We are hopeful that a date and time can be announced at the Annual Parochial Church Meeting.

Looking ahead to the APCM, which takes place on Wednesday, 21 April, the PCC finalised its Annual Report and approved the Financial Statement, both of which will be presented to that meeting.

Finally, this being the last meeting of the current parochial year, Selwyn thanked everyone for all they had contributed during the year.

Diana Harries