St
Mary’s Church Parish Magazine – May 2004
Readings for Sundays and
Festivals in May
The Friends
of Beddington Park
Silver and the Church:
Treasures from London Churches
|
Sat |
1 |
St Philip and St
James. Eucharist |
9.00 am |
|
SUN |
2 |
EASTER 4 |
|
|
Mon |
3 |
Bank Holiday.
(Church closed for concert rehearsal all day) |
|
|
|
|
The Albinoni String
Orchestra Concert in church |
7.30 pm |
|
Tue |
4 |
Magazine Panel meets
at 35 Vanguard Way |
6.00 pm |
|
|
|
Bible/Discussion
Group meets at 24 St George's Road |
8.00 pm |
|
Wed |
5 |
St Mary's Guild
meets at St Mary's Court. Freida
Thasan talks about Switzerland |
2.30 pm |
|
|
|
Churches Together
AGM at Wallington Baptist Church |
7.45 pm |
|
Thu |
6 |
MU&OG Countdown.
Church Centre |
8.00 pm |
|
SUN |
9 |
EASTER 5 Commissioning of new PCC at 9.30
Eucharist (Warning! Car Boot Sale in field this morning) |
|
|
|
|
United Service for
Christian Aid Week at URC, Wallington |
6.30 pm |
|
Mon |
10 |
Sutton Deanery Synod
meets at St Peter's with Bishop Andrews, St Helier (No wedding bookings
in church) |
7.45 pm |
|
Tue |
11 |
Bible/Discussion
Group meets at 24 St George's Road |
8.00 pm |
|
Wed |
12 |
'Spirits of their
Age' poetry evening. Church Centre |
7.30 pm |
|
Fri |
14 |
St Matthias. Eucharist |
7.30 pm |
|
Sat |
15 |
Trustees of St
Mary's Court meet |
10.00 am |
|
Sun |
16 |
EASTER 6 |
|
|
Mon |
17 |
Wedding bookings in
church |
8.30 pm |
|
Tue |
18 |
Bible/Discussion
Group meets at 24 St George's Road. |
8.00 pm |
|
|
|
Swearing-in of new
Churchwardens and PCC at St Mary Magdalen, Addiscombe |
8.00 pm |
|
Wed |
19 |
MU Corporate Eucharist |
10.00 am |
|
Thu |
20 |
ASCENSION DAY. Choral Eucharist |
7.30 pm |
|
|
|
PCC meets. Church Centre |
8.30 pm |
|
Fri |
21 |
A Bat Walk in
Beddington Park |
9.00-10.30 pm |
|
SUN |
23 |
EASTER 7 Carew Manor
open to the public for tours |
|
|
Tue |
25 |
Bible/Discussion
Group meets at 24 St George's Road |
8.00 pm |
|
SUN |
30 |
PENTECOST |
|
|
Mon |
31 |
Bank Holiday |
|
|
|
|
Visit of the Blessed
Virgin Mary to Elizabeth. Eucharist |
9.30 am |
Do you have your
tickets for the Albinoni String Orchestra concert to be held in church
on Bank Holiday Monday, 3 May? Among
those performing will be Jenny Burt, a promising young cellist at present
studying at the Royal College of Music; and Jonathan Vaughn, an organ scholar
at Cambridge. (Click here for details).
The Eucharist
will be celebrated additionally in May as follows:
- on Saturday 1st
(SS Philip & James) at 9:00 am;
- on Friday 14th
(St Matthias) at 7:30 pm; and
- on Thursday 20th
(The Ascension) there will be a Choral Eucharist at 7:30 pm (followed by the
first meeting of the new PCC in the Centre.)
If there have been any
postal votes for the election of the new PCC, they will be counted on
the morning of Friday 7th, and the candidates will be informed of
the result during the day. The new PCC
will then be announced, as well as commissioned, during the 9:30 Sung Eucharist
on Sunday 9th. The new
Churchwardens and PCC will be sworn-in by the Archdeacon at St Mary Magdalene,
Addiscombe, at 8:00 pm on Tuesday 18th – just in time for the first
meeting of our new PCC (as above).
Last month we said an
enormous thank-you to Terry Head, who has hung up his alb after 40 years
loyal ministry as our head server, and 30 of those years as our Sacristan (more
about Terry here). Marion Martin has bravely allowed herself to be volunteered to
take over from him as from the last Sunday in April, and we wish her well as
she takes up her new duties.
For Chris Kimber,
Easter Sunday marked a special anniversary. Twenty five years ago, on that day,
he sang his first service as a St Mary’s chorister. He was just seven years
old. Over the 25 years, Chris has sung
all four parts, helped run the choir during one choirmaster interregnum, has
been known to play the organ for the 9.30 service, has been Choir Treasurer and
still serves on the Choir Praesidium. Many
thanks, Chris.
Advance dates for your
diary:
Sunday 13 June (Corpus Christi) – there will be no Evensong
at St Mary’s. This is partly
because that night sees the annual Churches Together Christian Music Festival
taking place once again at St Elphege’s, at 7:00 pm; but also because our own
choir will by then be rehearsing thoroughly for their performance of Handel’s Messiah,
in church at 6:30 pm on the evening of Sunday 4 July. Though this is very long notice, please make
sure you have the event in your diaries now, and invite all your friends to be
there. Admission will be free, with a
retiring collection in aid of the Tower & Bells Fund afterwards, and there
will be refreshments in the Centre during the interval. The performance will include about
two-thirds of the oratorio, though omitting some of the longer choruses in the
Passion music. The soloists will be
Stephen Brown (tenor), Joanna Soane (soprano) and Leon Berger (bass) – all of
them young professional operatic and recital soloists, and well known to St
Mary’s audiences as members of Chimes Musical Theatre. This is a wonderful
opportunity to hear them in more serious vein (and many will remember Stephen
Brown singing as tenor soloist in our performance of Stainer’s Crucifixion
a few years ago). They will be joined
for the Messiah by the mezzo Camilla Cutts, another member of Chimes who
is also making a name for herself in the world of opera and oratorio. It promises to be a memorable evening!
Sun 2 May
Fourth of Easter
Acts 9: 36-43 (page 869)
Revelation 7: 9-17 (page 871)
John 10: 22-30 (page 872)
Sun 9 May
Fifth of Easter
Acts 11: 1-18 (page 872)
Revelation 21: 1-6 (page 875)
John 13: 31-35 (page 876)
Sun 16 May
Sixth of Easter
Acts 16: 9-15 (page 876)
Revelation 21: 10, 22-22: 5 (page 878)
John 14: 23-29 or John 5, 1-9 (page 879)
Thurs 20 May
Ascension Day
Acts 1: 1-11 (page 240)
Ephesians 1: 15-23 (page 243)
Luke 24: 44-53 (page 244)
Sun 23 May
Seventh of Easter
Acts 16: 16-34 (page 880)
Revelation 22: 12-14, 16-17, 20-21 (page 883)
John 17: 20-26 (page 884)
Sun 30 May
Pentecost
Acts 2: 1-21 (page 885)
Romans 8: 14-17 (page 889)
John 14: 8-17 and 25-27 (page 889)
Sat 1 SS
Philip and James, Apostles
Sat 8 Julian
of Norwich, spiritual writer, c 1417
Fri 14 Matthias
the Apostle
Wed 19 Dunstan,
Archbishop of Canterbury, restorer of monastic life, 988
Tue 25 The
Venerable Bede, monk at Jarrow, scholar, historian, 735
Wed 26 Augustine,
first Archbishop of Canterbury, 605
Mon 31 Visit
of the Blessed Virgin Mary to Elizabeth
Sunday 2 May
Canticles: Sumsion in G
Anthem: I Will Lift Up Mine Eyes - Walker
Sunday 9 May
Canticles: Stanford in C
Anthem: Blessed Be The God and Father - S S
Wesley
Sunday 16 May
Canticles: Holman in F Minor
Anthem: Sing Choirs of Heaven – Shepherd
Sunday 23 May
Canticles: Purcell in G Minor
Anthem: O Lord The Maker of All Things -
Mundy
Sunday 30 May
Canticles: Berkshire Service - Archer
Anthem: Prevent Us O Lord - Holman
Sat
1 Thanksgiving for the life
and witness of the Apostles
Sun 2 All teachers of the Christian Faith
Mon 3 All who will visit St Mary's Church
today
Tue 4 The Bible/Discussion Group meeting this
evening
Wed 5 The AGM of the Diocesan Board of Finance
Thu 6 Our link dioceses in Zimbabwe
Fri
7 All parishes with clergy
vacancies
Sat
8 Bishop Nick Baines on the
anniversary of his consecration
Sun 9 Commissioning of our new PCC
Mon 10 Deanery
Synod meeting this evening
Tue 11 The
work of Lambeth WelCare Service
Wed 12 The
Merton Deanery and David Monteith, Rural Dean
Thu 13 All
involved in the recruitment and training of clergy
Fri 14 The
coalition forces in Iraq
Sat 15 The
Iraqi people
Sun 16 The
safety of all aid workers in places of unrest
Mon 17 Vocations
to the priesthood
Tue 18 The
Archdeacon's visitation to St Mary's
Wed 19 Peace
and stability in troubled areas of the world
Thu 20 The
PCC Meeting tonight
Fri 21 All
who have been made refugees by war
Sat 22 Those
who live rough and who sleep out in our cities
Sun 23 The
Anglican Communion and Anglican Consultative Council
Mon 24 The
Methodist Church
Tue 25 All
who are anxious, distressed or discouraged
Wed 26 Rowan
Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury
Thu 27 Bishop's
Council Meeting tonight
Fri 28 For
respect for the sincere belief of others
Sat 29 That
we may learn to live together without fear
Sun 30 Thanksgiving
for the gift of the Holy Spirit
Mon 31 The
courage to carry Christ within us and present Him wherever we go
Friday 21 May
Led by Derek
Coleman, an expert on these nocturnal creatures.
Meet at 9 pm in Church
Road outside Carew Manor. The walk will
finish at about 10.30 pm. Everyone is
invited, but please leave Fido in his kennel!
There is no charge for the walk, but a small donation to the London Bat
Group would be appreciated.
Bat facts....
Bats are not blind,
but they can also "see" in the dark by listening to the echoes of
their high frequency calls
They have good
steering - they won't get caught in your hair!
Bats rarely live in
belfries. They prefer somewhere quiet, not draughty, and free from cobwebs
Bats often choose
modern houses as roost sites - about half of all known pipistrelle bat roosts
known in the 1980s were in houses less than 25 years old
In Britain it is
illegal to disturb bats or the places where they roost
Bats can live for up
to 30 years
Britain's commonest
bat, the pipistrelle, is only 4 cm long and weighs about 5 grams - less than a
2p coin!
Of the 16 species left
in Britain, 6 are Endangered or Rare and 6 others are Vulnerable
Pat Kingsbury
'Families' held their
Easter party on the 4th April (a little early I know, but so many people now go
away for the holidays) and the hall was beautifully decorated with yellow and
pink balloons and bunches of daffs adorned the crisp white (paper) table
cloths!
The theme this year
was 'Best Bunny' and thanks to so many people there were droves of cute, cuddly
and somewhat outrageous bunnies (I have to confess at this point that despite
Matthew looking fab he had been kindly loaned the outfit from Mrs Flower at All
Saints and the face paint was due to Helena).
Talking of face paint,
an enormous queue formed when Helena offered bunny face paint (so much so that
Polly Deal, a friend from Holy Trinity jumped in to offer a second pair of
hands - managing somehow to reach the children despite a rather large bump
forming around her middle!) Judging the 'best bunny' was a really hard task and
eventually we came up with four... but we had to award everyone a dip in the
sweetie tin as the efforts were so good.
Lots of interest was
shown by many visiting parents when the Easter egg hunt took us into the church
(yes, it did rain again just an hour before the party!). Robert ended up doing
a mini tour around and answering as many questions as he could. Every child
went away with an egg (thanks to all those who donated) and then went on to
stuff themselves with masses of party food.
We had craft tables -
as ever manned by our now resident Katy Seymour and the SMYLE gang - making
Easter cards and decorating Easter cakes (a sea of sticky custard-yellow icing
and millions of dolly mixtures later and the results were... shall we say...
colourful!
We are ever grateful
for the support given by so many people here at St Mary's, and the fact
that we are reaching further afield into other churches (we had people from
Holy Trinity, All Saints, St Michaels and even a Chinese Christian church), I
feel helps keep the 'one church', 'working together' firmly alive. It's lovely to share events with everyone
and there is a real sense of family and unity - I hope that we can all share
events in each others churches in the coming years (this is me with my Churches
Together hat on!).
We are hoping for a
heat wave June - as the Families Fun Day will be taking place then.
Carolyn
For the flowers on
Sunday, 6 June, we would like to have a 'Parish Garden', using flowers
and greenery donated from parishioners' gardens for the arrangements. If you don't have a garden, you might like
to buy a bunch of your favourite flowers instead.
Hopefully we will have
a wide range of different flowers and if anyone would like to have a go at
arranging their own flowers on the Saturday they would be very welcome - help
will be on hand if required.
Please let Sue Ardley
(tel 8669 3220) know nearer the time if you are able to donate flowers. We can arrange for flowers/greenery to be
collected from you, or they can be left at the church on Friday, 4 June between
9.30 and 11.00 am.
Many thanks from Sue
and all the flower arrangers.
How do we know God?
What does it mean
to believe? What is the Church?
What does it mean
to belong to the family of God?
These and other questions
will be explored over a cup of tea or coffee at 24 St Georges Road, Wallington,
on Tuesday evenings commencing on 4 May, from 8 to 9.30 pm. Everyone is welcome. Transport can be arranged. Just bring your bible and enjoy a lively
evening with fellow Christians. If you want to know more, ring Jenifer on 8773
2004.
Meetings in May will
be on the 4th, 11th, 18th and 25th
Wednesday, 12 May -
7.30pm Church Centre
Jackie Egerton invites you to an evening in which we shall
continue to explore how poetry is able to convey so powerfully the individual
spiritual experience as well as reflect the beliefs and doubts of the age in
which it was written.
The event is free but
we ask you to contribute £1 towards the cost of refreshments and photocopying.
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
A Parish Quiet Day is
planned for Saturday, 5 June at St Mary's Abbey, West Malling. The beauty and prayerful atmosphere of the
grounds of this Benedictine Abbey have proved very enjoyable and refreshing on
previous occasions. The cost for the
day will be approximately £8, depending on numbers involved and whether or not
we need to hire transport.
We begin at 8.30 am
with Morning Prayer at St Mary's, then travel to West Malling, arriving in time
for coffee at 10 am. There will be two
talks, one in the morning and one in the afternoon, followed by silent time in
which to read, meditate, pray or just walk and enjoy the grounds.
Lunch is at 12.30
(bring a packed lunch), tea and coffee provided. Hopefully the day will be
sunny and we can enjoy our lunch together in the orchard.
The day ends with
Evening Prayer and we should be back in Wallington by 5 pm.
There will be a
tick-list at the back of the church for those interested in coming along;
otherwise ring Jenifer on 8773 2004.
At a standing
committee meeting for Deanery Synod we discussed just what would be useful for
us to hear about and discuss at future
meetings. We came up with the idea that we would like to learn about some of
the good things happening around us in Sutton, many of which are run by
Christians putting their faith into practice.
The next Deanery Synod
is on Monday, 10 May at St Peter’s with Bishop Andrew, St Helier, at 7.45
pm. The speakers will be Mark Tomlinson
of St Helier Community Church and Rosey King, Sutton Schools worker. They will be telling us about the exciting
plans for a special project for young people, called ‘Soul in the City’, which
will be running for a fortnight this summer.
Everyone is welcome to
attend the Deanery Synod meetings, so do come along to hear about this local
project.
Another date for your
diary: At the meeting on Wednesday 6th October, the main topic of
discussion will be the Sutton Furniture Project.
Heather Cosgrove
Those present of the congregation accustomed to Mr Wilson’s organ playing on Sundays, when the greatest excess is an exotic suspension or an adventurous reharmonisation of a final verse – who can forget his “Abbot’s Leigh”, were delighted by a concert given in aid of Church Funds which showed the entire panoply of his skills. From a sedate, thoughtful version of a Mendelsohn Organ Sonata to a medley of Blackpool tunes played as much in the appropriate style as the church’s organ will allow. There are many differences between the organ in church and a mighty Wurlitzer but Andrew managed to conjure some sounds from it that might be heard in the Tower Ballroom.
Andrew started off
with his own very idiosyncratic version of the Bach Toccata in D minor. It is
always possible for this piece to sound hackneyed but Andrew’s version is quite
unlike any other. Andrew also played his
own arrangement of “We’ll Gather Lilacs” which, of course, we had heard on
Refreshment Sunday as the bouquets of flowers were being distributed. There
were a couple of classical “bonnes bouches” of surpassing sweetness whose
cloying tendencies were well balanced by more astringent items.
In the second half Andrew played, among other things, a medley of tunes some of which were chosen by the audience. Indeed on the way down to the concert in the ‘bus Andrew met one of the members of the audience who asked him for the “Great Gate of Kiev” from “Pictures at an Exhibition” by Mussorgsky which he then included. One member of the audience was heard to remark that it would be a good piece to work up in its entirety so that Andrew could work on the more Slavic sounds that the organ can produce.
All organists are
mildly eccentric what with worrying about having the right shoes of sufficient
flexibility; playing a number of keyboards and the pedals; electing the exact
registration and avoiding the out of tune pipes - Andrew is no exception. What the
audience got therefore was a delightfully enjoyable evening of varied styles
played and introduced in Andrew’s inimitable manner.
When’s the next one?
Kevin Winstone
As reported in last
month's magazine, Stewart finally lost his four-year battle against cancer on
11 March at the age of 66 – exactly 66, it was also his birthday.
Those speaking at the
Thanksgiving Service for his life held immediately after his funeral on 22
March shared with us their memories of Stewart – as a bellringer, as a work
colleague, and as a member of the St Mary's congregation.
David Manger, who had
known Stewart since around 1960, told of how Stewart learned to ring at
Beddington in 1951 and had remained a Beddington ringer, much of the time as
Ringing Master, for the rest of his life.
Although having been a ringer for only three years, he was elected in
1954 to the Ancient Society of College Youths, and subsequently became a
supernumery member of the St Paul's Cathedral band. David's first impression on meeting Stewart was that here was a
fellow to be reckoned with; with his upright bearing, military moustache and
red MG, he appeared to command respect right from the beginning – and that was
before they got into the tower!
David went on the
speak of Stewart's ringing prowess, quality of natural leadership, and
fun-loving camaraderie. As a loyal
member of the Surrey Association, he served as Master of the Northern District
and twice undertook the post of Master of the Association for periods of three
years each. He also represented his
Association on the Central Council of Church Bellringers for 13 years from 1968
to 1980. The fact that he was elected
to these positions was, in itself, a measure of the high regard in which he was
held, but earlier this year the Surrey Association rewarded his achievements by
electing him a Vice President – probably the highest award an Association can
bestow on one of its members. Needless
to say, this honour gave Stewart much pleasure.
David was the first to
comment on Stewart's wonderful sense of fun, and this quality was picked up
when Peter Franklin, a work colleague from the Financial Times since
1978, spoke of his reminiscences. He
told of Stewart's entire working life having been in the printing and
publishing industry (Stewart's father had worked for The Times so there
was printing ink in his blood); how he started as an apprentice proofreader and
by 1978 had gravitated back to the FT.
But computerisation was ravaging their industry and when eventually
redundancy loomed, the opportunity of retraining as journalists was offered and
so it was back to school for the both of them.
On completing the course they became sub-editors with the FT -
and there Stewart remained for the rest of his working life. How to sum up Stewart? - a master of his
profession, a jovial, caring human being, the FT's guru on all things
grammatical (he could tell you the difference between "that" and
"which"), amiable, sociable, a great family man.
Lastly, Selwyn spoke
of Stewart's association with St Mary's from the age of eight when he joined
the church choir. It was as a 13 yr old
treble that he was "head-hunted" by the then Captain of the ringers,
Frank Jennings, to join his band of ringers.
Selwyn liked to
remember Stewart through a series of mental snapshots: the picture of Stewart
as a man of inner stillness and peace who could be found after the Sunday
morning service sitting on the table at the back of the church, legs dangling
over the edge, watching the world go by like an over-sized garden gnome on a
mushroom. Just sitting and waiting
patiently for the next person or the next thing to happen that needed his
attention. It seemed almost like his own
brand of meditation. And his response
when this habit was remarked upon – "Oh yes, well, I'm here like a coiled
spring"!
Pictures of Stewart as
a man of fun - playing Wishy-Washy in a Youth Fellowship panto; or scampering
down the centre aisle in church at full speed as part of a three-legged race -
but with a small toddler clinging to his ankle! As a person of innocence who attracted improbable happenings to
himself - going to the aid of a party of young men in the act of ram-raiding a
local gun shop, and genially asking if they needed a hand!; managing to lose a
tank whilst serving as a military policeman on National Service; or on long-ago
afternoon when umpiring at a ringers' cricket match, and at the precise moment
when the wicket-keeper took a ball full in the face from the fast bowler, and
was hopping about at one end of the pitch clasping a broken nose and spouting
blood, had his attention distracted by a bee flying up his trouser leg and
expressing its confusion in the only manner available to it . . . Stewart as a man of patience - patiently
spending eleven years as 'Acting' Editor of this magazine, when he was supposed
only to be doing the job until a new priest (Selwyn) had been appointed.
And a much more recent
picture when Stewart’s loyalty and courage were summed up, week after week,
when he had made his way with everyone else up to the communion rail on a
Sunday morning, latterly walking with greater and greater difficulty and
leaning heavily on a stick which he obviously hated. How he had borne the last couple of years very gently, with great
determination, with ridiculous cheerfulness and with no fuss; how seeing him be
where he had to be, and moving when he had to move, on Sunday mornings, became
a simpler and more powerful statement about that same inner strength, peace and
courage, and where it came from, than anything he could have tried to put into
words. There had been only two or three
occasions when his frame simply couldn’t do it and he asked for communion to be
brought down to him in the ringers’ pew (or, as he irreverently put it, “today
I’m ordering a take-away”).
It goes without saying
that we shall all miss him, and our thoughts and prayers are with Jean, Nick,
Chris and all his family. It was a
privilege to know him and we are all thankful that we were able to enjoy his company
for so long.
His warm welcome of
"Hi there"
"There is too
much chattering between the service ringing touches"
"Who am I going
to play Cribbage with?"
I remember Stewart
saying, "I hate weeping women."
(Whilst planning the
refreshments for Stewart's Thanksgiving Service ) "We can't have Gala Pie
- Stewart's not here to cut it up."
"A caring
teacher, it was never too much trouble to show us how to do things."
"I will always
remember Stewart for his amazing ability to correct my bellringing mistakes
before they even happened."
"Stewart was an
inspiration and changed my life"
When being suspicious
of a visitor, Stewart’s advice was (should the need arise) “You catch him
Pierre and I’ll sit on him!”
When the nurse bared
his legs on my last visit to him in hospital, he said "Well, we've been
friends for a long time."
"I was a little
afraid of him at first, but soon realised he was a gentle giant with a heart of
gold. "
I remember on a
Mini-Ring Outing, Stewart managed to break not one but two ropes on our first
visit
“Great Fun"
9-15 May 2004
We believe in life
before death
A collector's prayer
Lord of life,
underneath me are
two feet –
please may they do this task
willingly;
in front of me are
rows of doors –
please may they open to me cheerfully;
in my hand are
dozens of envelopes –
please may they be filled
generously;
in my heart are
millions of needy people –
may all I do this week make this
a world in which they can thrive.
Amen.
By supporting
Christian Aid Week, you are among millions of people who think poverty is a
scandal we do not have to accept. Your actions, commitment and contributions
will bring about a better life for people in poor communities all over the
world. We believe in life before death. Life is for living, not merely
surviving.
A little of your time
can help people in the Third World stand on their own two feet. You can be an
important part of this year's Christian Aid Week by volunteering to deliver and
collect our red donation envelope.
Your
co-ordinator this year is Jane. who
will be very grateful for offers of help with collecting. Please contact her 8395 8821 - she will tell
you how to get involved.
Certainly not the
audience in church on 17 April to hear John Phillips give a talk on the early
history of St Mary's. Fascinatingly
accompanied by slides, we listened to an enthusiast giving us both facts and
surmise which held our complete attention for over an hour.
The Roman lead coffin
in our church is there for all to see (as is a stone one in the nearby
Dovecote), but the possibility that a Roman road ran nearby - well I
never!! And there may have been a moat
around the church and manor - all very plausible when explained by John. Before Wallington was every dreamed of,
there were two villages nearby - Beddington and Bandon. And jolly important Beddington was too.
And so the evening
progressed with references to the Carew family and its patronage, and historic
detail on various parts of the church building. Altogether a most enjoyable and interesting experience. The interest aroused by the talk was
evidenced by the number of questions asked and answered at the end.
With John giving
generously of his time and talents, St Mary's Tower and Bell Fund benefited to
the tune of £370 and Jean Kimber, in presenting John with a token of our
appreciation, expressed the thanks of us all.
To conclude our
evening we were invited to take refreshments which had been prepared and served
by our Ringers, to whom we offer our grateful thanks for yet another memorable
and well-organised evening.
Reg Willis
April 11 Lily Ella Barton of 25 Church Lane, Wallington
Kyle
Gary George Holdgate of 16
Robin Court, Care Road, Wallington
Dylan
William Parks and Archie Roy Parks both of 8 Chiswick Close,
Beddington
Just a note to say
thank you very much to those from St Mary's who have provided magazines for the
inmates at HMP Downview. They have been
very gratefully received.
The prison does
provide a number of magazines for use in the library and later for distribution
to the wrings. However, there are never
enough to go round.
At present we are
having a large amount of building work done.
The old C wing is being refurbished and a new juvenile unit is being
built for occupation by Christmas, so a mere 14 yrs after it was first
converted, the prison once again looks like a building site. The building work has restricted access to
the library, so magazines that can be sent back to the cells are highly sought
after.
However, I shall be
retiring from Downview, my last day there being 28 May, so please after that
date - no more magazines. I would offer to continue taking them in, but feel I
need to give my successor space without someone breathing down her neck, so I
shall probably not be visiting Downview for some time after I leave.
So thank you once
again ….. magazines please until 28 May, but not after.
Sue Bailey
The Friends held their
second AGM on 24 March. Dee Hyatt, as
Chairman, put on record the Friends' considerable achievements during last
year. In particular, they had become a
recognised force and gained the ear of the Council, so the Children's
Playground had been refurbished, ramps installed in the road to the Café, and
fly tipped rubbish had been cleared.
A ballot of all
members to decide the Friends' next project resulted in top votes for a 'Winter
Walk' around the ponds. Although
development of the tennis court took second place, it was agreed to consult
local youth services before proceeding with this; so - security lighting for
pedestrians crossing the park from London Road to Croydon Road will be this
year's second project.
Pat Kingsbury
Terry Head retired at
the end of April after 30 years as Sacristan.
He first started serving at St Peter's, Streatham at the age of 12. After moving to Hackbridge he joined St
Mary's Servers and later succeeded Edgar Smith as Sacristan when Edgar
retired. He talked about the last 30
years with one of our Magazine Panel:
What do Sacristans
do?
"They look after
the 'church things' - the wine and wafers, and the candles, changing the
seasonal colours on the Altar and often drawing up the Servers rota."
You must have seen
a lot of changes in the last 30 years.
"The Services
have evolved and changed and many things are done differently. Since priests have celebrated the Eucharist
facing the congregation, the ceremonial involving Servers has been simplified
and fewer are needed for each service.
I like the way the Carew Chapel is now used for weekday services."
What have you
particularly enjoyed about being Sacristan?
"I feel it is a
way of serving God that one can do by oneself, in a quiet and personal
way. I like handling the old chalices
and pattens which have been used over many years. It is like handling sacred history. And I've enjoyed the job's quiet weekly routine."
Do you have any
favourite seasons or services?
"Taking part in
the long ceremonial of stripping the Altar and reserving the Host on Maundy
Thursday is always a very moving experience.
And I always enjoy the Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve."
Are there any
things you regret about these 30 years?
"I regret that at
St Mary's we now have no boys and young men serving. In the 1970s we had seventeen.
I am glad we now use modern language in the services, but I miss some of
the old phrases - and I miss the 'Comfortable Words' which are not spoken any
more."
You've so many
years of experience, is there anything particular you would like to say to your
successor?
"Whoever takes
over should organise things their own way, and not be intimidated by the
past. I won't be looking to see what's
going on, but I will be around for anyone who wants to ask."
Easter Monday was
D-day for the ringers (Demolition day in the belfry). We had
bought our own tower-scaffolding, which Mike Morgan and Nick Kimber eventually
constructed - with the help of a little knowledge of Meccano and Lego!
The idea was to remove
all the clock mechanism from across the ceiling, leaving the trap door free for
when the bells are lowered. As the bells have not been moved since 1928, you
can imagine how well-embedded all the nuts and bolts were. Mike and Nick, with
Chris Kimber, Stan Coleman and Stan’s son-in-law, worked very hard indeed,
scrambling around the heights, removing rods and wires. Dan and the ladies
encouraged them from floor level and dusted and cleaned peal boards and removed
them to safe storage. (They also made tea and coffee!)
The dust of ages -
inches thick in places - triggered some allergies but the sufferers worked
gamely on. Dan did a sterling job of cleaning up while the rest of us had lunch
and it just needed Nick and Chris to remove the clock hammers from amongst the
bells, for all to be safe and sound.
Apart from the fact
that the clock doesn’t go and the bells sound louder in the ringing room, you
wouldn’t know we’d been. The only casualty was Chris’s toolbox, which suffered
a fatal blow when Mike dropped a large block on it! My grateful thanks go to
the “team” for all their hard work and especially to son Nick, who came up from
Southampton for the day specially to help us.
We’re now ready for
the Foundry to come. For those of you who weren’t at the APCM, the reason
nothing more has happened yet, is because English Heritage are demanding a full
archaeological survey of the tower. They have had three years in which to do
this survey but seem to prefer, as they often do, to throw in a spanner at the
twelfth hour! We await the Chancellor’s verdict.
Jean Kimber
NB If anyone wants to borrow our scaffolding
for home - or church! - improvements, we would be pleased to hire it out
Girl Guiding in
Beddington is alive and well, as those who attended the Church Parade service
in February will know when we all remade our promises. We received a new name for the new
millennium - we are now known as Girl Guiding UK - and have a ‘strap line’ of “Surprise Yourself“ and also new
programmes. Guides and Brownies have
theirs already and the new Rainbow Programme is about to be introduced. Uniforms also have changed - gone are the
dull navy and brown colours to be replaced with more practical and colourful
uniforms.
2004 is the 90th
Anniversary of the formation of the Brownies and in January a group of 15
Brownies and their Guiders (from 2 packs) spent a weekend at Butlins in Bognor
as part of the Brownie Renewal programme.
The staff at Butlins pulled all the stops out as 3,000 Brownies,
Guiders, Young Leaders and various guiding support staff spent a brilliant
weekend at ‘Funtasia’. The girls
enjoyed various activities including fencing, archery, bowling, keep fit and
access to the fun fair, and a session in the swimming pool. In the evening there were shows and discos
to keep everyone entertained. In
addition we all got to see the panto and the special celebration in which three
of the girls went on stage to take part.
Last year the London and South East England Region sent out a challenge to all Guides, Guiders and Senior Section member to take the 'Eye to Ei Challenge'. Ten Beddington Guiders decided to take up the challenge and which meant during the weekend of 21-22 February they had to get from the London Eye to the Eiffel Tower in Paris, completing various challenges along the way, and raise money for 'Sight Savers International'.
After six months of asking for sponsorship and various fund raising events,we met at Wallington station on a cold but dry Saturday morning to make our way to the check-in at Lambeth where we received our ‘passports’ and challenges.
For the first challenge we had to identify pictures of famous landmarks in both London and Paris. We got our ‘passport’ stamped then went on for a ‘flight’ on the London Eye. After lunch, we completed our English challenges by collecting a picture of the queen, pickled onions and scones before we boarded the Eurostar for Paris. On the train we made a Frisbee (don’t ask - but it kept the other passengers amused!) and we read our challenges for the next day. We had been given some Girlguiding Euros which we had to use to buy cards of ten different landmarks around Paris between 10.00 am and 3.00 pm in a game of Monopoly, and also attend a special service at the Eiffel Tower at 11.00 am! After a slight hiccup (our hotel had had a flood!!) we were relocated to a neighbouring hotel where we freshened up and then found ourselves a lovely little restaurant for our evening meal.
After an early
breakfast, at 9.00 am on a very cold but thankfully dry Sunday morning we found
ourselves on the Metro heading for our first ‘stop’ - Sainte Chapelle. We then managed to visit Notre Dame and the
Musee D’Orsay before making our way to the Eiffel Tower. Here, in conjunction with the Guides de
France, we had taken over one of the entrances and one of the rooms on the
first level for our Thinking Day celebration, where we remade our
promises. We also learnt that the event
had raised just over £25,000 for 'Sight Savers International', of which we had
contributed £250.
After the celebration
six of us climbed up to the next level (the ticket machine wasn’t working for
the lift) to get a better view, but unfortunately this was spoilt due to low
clouds. Then down again to get our ‘passport’
stamped, receive our challenge badge and on to the Champs Elysees, Place de la
Concorde and Arc De Triomphe.
By now it was getting
very close to 3.00 pm and we still had three more cards to buy. We hadn’t stopped for anything to eat, only
a drink whilst we were on the Tower.
When we got to the Palais du Louvre we had to perform an action song
rather than buying our card - so there we all were singing away with the
minutes ticking by! One member of our
group was determined we were going to do it and ran from the Metro to the
Centre Pompidou and then back to the Metro for our last seven stops which would
take us to the Sacre Coeur - our last card.
We got off the Metro with four minutes to spare and once again our
determined member ran off to purchase our last card - only to find that our
contact was not at the foot of the steps of the hill as per the instructions,
but rather at the foot of the steps to Sacre Coeur itself!! Rather out of breath she managed to purchase
our last card whilst the rest of the group travelled up in the lift!! Once
again the low cloud spoiled our view but we could all say we had completed our
French Monopoly.
We had planned to have
a coffee and a cake before we made our way back to Gard du Nord but on checking
our watches we saw that in fact we had to make our way directly there to catch
5.10 pm Eurostar back, which was going to be in first class! It was lovely to be offered drinks and a
very enjoyable three-course meal with yet more drinks as we unwound after our
hectic day.
We had successfully
completed all but one challenge, had managed to collect all our monopoly cards,
get our French bread and a copy of Paris Match. We also had one member of the
group led around the metro blindfolded to see what it would be like: her
comment was it was okay to be told "step", but she was not told
whether the step was up or down!). Unfortunately though, we did not have time
to purchase the garlic! However we all
agreed that we had a fantastic weekend.
If you have read this
and hadn’t realised that there is more to Guiding than just organising weekly
meetings and would like to find out more, or if you have any time to spare to
share skills or assist with testing the girls for their badges, then please
contact me on 020 8669 7084.
Ros Townsend
District
Commissioner
Churches Together
Lent Event
I was lucky enough to
be involved in the arts event that took place at Holy Trinity on 3rd April and
which offered people from all the CTBW churches and those from further afield
the opportunity to try different kinds of art and creative experiences.
It was a great success
- largely due to Daphne Larner from St Pat's who co-ordinated the
event. The worship led by Patrick from
Holy Trinity was relaxed and uplifting; the workshops were a creative oasis
from the busy world; the lunches were delicious and professionally produced;
and the crèche (run by our own Helena and Katy) was a warm and loving
environment where many people said they were happy to leave their little ones.
I hope that CTBW do
manage to organise other events like this.
I feel sure that many people at St Mary's would enjoy them immensely.
Thanks to Helena, Katy
and Margaret Mansfield for their help on the day.
Carolyn Churchyard
…a key to the West
Door of the church, that is.
If so, have you had
your key checked by Derek Sinclair over the last couple of months? He will be making some minor changes to the
door lock soon and needs to ensure that everyone's key will fit before he goes
ahead. So, if you haven't done so
already, get your key to him for checking.
If you have a key that
you no longer use, perhaps this is a good time to hand it back?
at St Patrick's
Church, Wallington on 1 May between 2 and4 pm
"Raising Money
for Christian Aid"
Please come and
support them and add some new plants to your spring borders.
This exhibition at
Goldsmith's Hall, Foster Lane, London EC2, runs from 20 April until 15 May and
marks the 14th centenary of the foundation of St Paul's Cathedral.
The exhibition will
present a dazzling array of church silver ranging from across the history of
the diocese of London, including extraordinary survivals from the Middle Ages,
magnificent silver-gilt altar sets from the 17th and 18th centuries, superb
jewelled vessels, together with ecclesiastical jewellery from the High
Victorian Gothic revival. In addition,
contemporary church silver is represented with examples of important
commissions by eminent British silversmiths.
An alluring gleam of
silver and gold in a magnificent setting.
Learn from the
mistakes of others.
You can't live long
enough to make them all youself.
Eleanor Roosevelt
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