St
Mary’s Church Parish Magazine – April 2004
Readings for
Sundays and Festivals in April
Annual Parochial
Church Meeting
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.
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 |
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)
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
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
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
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.
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.
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 (11th). 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
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
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
Secretary to the
PCC
We are delighted to
have John Phillips as our speaker on 17 April.
John is the Heritage
Manager for Special Projects for Sutton Council. He originally moved from York to join the Sutton Library Service,
then, about ten years ago, moved to the Heritage Department, where he has
remained in his present post.
He has always had a
keen interest in local history, garden history, archaeology and has an ongoing love affair with Carew Manor and
Sir Francis Carew. He is considered by his peers to be an expert in these
fields.
John lectures on local
history at libraries and at Honeywood Museum in Carshalton and is the Field
Officer for the Beddington, Carshalton & Wallington Archaeology
Society. He organises archaeological
digs within the borough, especially at Carew Manor, and the many interesting
artefacts which have been found at these digs can be seen on display at
Honeywood. He also arranges and
conducts walks along the River Wandle and elsewhere within the borough - always
continuing his dialogue whilst he walks.
John is giving his
lecture on behalf of our Tower and Bell Fund and all proceeds will be to that
fund. Please do join us, you will not
be disappointed.
Stan Coleman
March
11 1938 - March 11 2004
It is with much
sadness that we record the death of Stewart Kimber. Stewart was a lifelong member of St Mary's, Tower Captain of the
Bellringers, previous editor of this magazine, and a great deal more. Some 300 people attending his funeral and
memorial service on 22 March bore witness to his popularity.
We shall be reflecting
on Stewart's life in more detail in next month's magazine.
…celebrating our Christian Celtic Heritage will be based at the St
John's College, Durham this summer between 2nd August and 9th August.
Led by Revd Rob Marshall, Author and Broadcaster, the pilgrimage will
include visits to the resting place of St Cuthbert and the Venerable Bede, Holy
Island and a whole host of other sites associated with the Celtic/Anglo Saxon
Period.
Accommodation is provided by St John's College, Durham situated in a
World Heritage site just a few metres from Durham Cathedral.
Price for the week (5 Half Board and 2 B&B, all trips included) is
only £345.
Full details are available from LTG Pilgrimages at www.ukdtg.com or telephone 01274 599622.
The Women's World Day
of Prayer always takes place on the first Friday in March. It is a world-wide movement of Christian
women who unite on that day of prayer.
It is the largest ecumenical movement in the world that is organised and
led by women.
WWDP begins as morning
comes first over the islands of Tonga in the South Pacific and prayers continue
round the world until the last service takes place on St Lawrence Island off
the coast of Alaska.
This year the service
was prepared by the women of Panama - this is the fiftieth year that the
Panamanian ladies have been involved - no mean feat! Locally, as usual, we had
two services - both were very well received and well attended. In the morning the service was held at St
Mary's and Selwyn welcomed the congregation.
Our speaker was Mrs Marion Simpson, reader from St Nicholas, Godstone,
and the service was led by our reader, Jenifer Davison. The evening service was
held at St Patrick's church and there the address was given by Mrs Linda
Baines, wife of the Bishop of Croydon. She confessed to much trepidation at the
start of the evening - she need not have worried!
Next year the service
will be prepared by the women of Poland - our local committee is very much
hoping that there will not be too many Polish words round which we have to get
our tongues!
Hope to see you there
next year.
Mary Tapp
Chairman -
Wallington Branch WWDP
Bank Holiday Monday
3rd May 2004
7.30 pm
Tickets (including
refreshments) available from
Sue (8669 3220) or Pat
(8660 1047) and at door
Adults
£6 Students £2 under 12 yrs free
Proceeds to go to The
Malcolm Sargent Cancer Fund for Children
and to Church funds
Programme:
Capriol
Suite - Warlock
Cello
Concerto in G
- Boccherini
Variations
on a Theme of Tchaikovsky - Arensky
Allegro
from String Quartet in D - Schubert
Adagio
in G minor -
Albinoni arr Giazotto
Choreography - Dello Joio
Conductor: Ian
Butterworth
Leader: Jillian
Warburton
Cello: Jenny Burt
Organ: Jonathan Vaughn
Thu 1 The
Board for Church in Society meeting tonight
Fri 2 The
poor and the marginalised in our society
Sat 3 Churches
Together at Holy Trinity Church today
Sun 4 For
the faithful observance of Holy Week
Mon 5 For
a closer walk with our Lord
Tue 6 For
a prayerful approach to the joy of Easter
Wed 7 For
all who risk their lives to save others
Thu 8 Thanksgiving
for the Sacrament of our Lord's Body and Blood
Fri 9 Peace
in the Holy Land and among all nations and peoples
Sat 10 The
life of the world to come
Sun 11 Alleluia!
Alleluia! Christ is Risen!
Mon 12 Alleluia
to our God who has broken the power of death
Tue 13 Alleluia
to our God who has won for us life enternal
Wed 14 That
the Good News may be proclaimed throughout the world
Thu 15 All
who have been baptised and confirmed this Easter
Fri 16 All
who are longing for new hope and a new life
Sat 17 Victims
of terrorism and natural disasters
Sun 18 For
all who struggle with doubt and fear
Mon 19 For
homes where there is violence or neglect
Tue 20 Our
local community, shops and industries
Wed 21 Our
Annual Parochial church Council meeting tonight
Thu 22 Our
church wardens
Fri 23 England,
its Government, Church and people
Sat 24 PTOs,
retired and retiring clergy
Sun 25 All
who have lost faith in God
Mon 26 Give
thanks for the Gospel of St Mark
Tue 27 Woolwich
Area Council meeting tonight
Wed 28 The
Church and people of the South Pacific
Thu 29 Church
schools, teachers, pupils and governors
Fri 30 The
Bible Society and all who translate the Scriptures
A teacher was
observing her classroom of infants while they drew. She would occasionally walk
around to see each child's artwork. As she got to one little girl who was
working diligently, she asked what the drawing was. The girl replied, "I'm
drawing God."
The teacher paused and
said, "but no one knows what God looks like."
Without missing a
beat, the little girl replied, "They will in a minute."
March 20 Stewart
Frank Winthorpe Kimber, aged 66, of Peaks Hill, Purley
Mark, the son of Mary,
whose home in Jerusalem became a place of rest for Jesus and his 12 apostles,
is considered the traditional author of the second gospel. He is also usually
identified as the young man, described in Mark 14.51, who followed Christ after
his arrest and then escaped capture by leaving his clothes behind.
Papias, in 130, said
that in later years Mark became Peter's interpreter. If so, then this close
friendship would have been how Mark gathered so much information about Jesus'
life. Peter referred to him affectionately as his 'son'. Mark was also a companion to Paul on his
journeys. When Paul was held captive at Rome, Mark was with him, helping him.
Mark's Gospel, most
likely written in Italy, perhaps in Rome, is the earliest account we have of
the life of Jesus.
Early in the 9th
century Mark's body was brought to Venice, whose patron he became, and there it
has remained to this day. The symbol of Mark as an evangelist, the lion, is
much in evidence at Venice.
Enjoy your Easter chocolate even more by…
Did you know that the
chocolate you enjoy this Easter could help people on the other side of the
world to enjoy simple things - like clean water? If you choose fairly traded chocolate then you will be making a
difference to cocoa farmers and their communities.
Fair trade benefits
people like 13 yr old Desmond Mensah.
"I'm very happy that we have this well; I've never seen clean water
like this before," he said as he used the first-ever pump in his village
in Ghana. It was paid for by money from
the premium, earned by the farmers' organisation Kuapa Kokoo, on fair trade
sales in cocoa.
Traidcraft is the UK's
largest fair trade organisation, helping thousands of families around the world
to work their way out of poverty. It
was established in 1979 as a Christian response to poverty and it is in
churches of all the main denominations that it achieves its most obvious and
active presence.
As well as fair trade
tea, coffee and chocolate, the Traidcraft range also includes such foods as
pasta, rice and sugar. With fashions,
gifts, toys and crafts, the fair trade selection offers something for everyone. Trading is a very practical way to make a
difference to the lives of some of the poorest people in the world.
Traidcraft food items
can be obtained locally at the Oasis Bookshop in Wallington, so buy fair trade
chocolate this Easter. Look out for the
Fairtrade mark when you're shopping, or buy direct from Traidcraft, either
online at www.traidcraftshop.co.uk,
or by telephoning 0191 491 0591
There's always a lot
to be thankful for if you take time to look for it. For example, I am sitting
here thinking how nice it is that wrinkles don't hurt.