At Candlemas the service will begin as usual in the church Centre, for our candles to be blessed before we carry them into church in procession, welcoming Christ as the Light of the World. On Ash Wednesday the Choral Eucharist will as usual include the imposition of ashes, and during the service the choir will sing the ‘Collegium Regale’ Eucharist by Herbert Howells (read about him on page 10). Please remember that the ashes are made by burning last year’s palm crosses, so could these be returned to Selwyn either in church or through the Rectory letterbox by Shrove Tuesday afternoon. Please note also that there will be no Eucharist on the morning of Candlemas, though Morning Prayer will be said at its usual time.

8 February is Shrove Tuesday - and this means a Pancake Party in the Centre from 7.30 pm. Tickets from Pat or Betty

Friday Lent lunches will take place at The Rectory, starting 11 February, at 12.45 for 1 pm on all the Fridays of Lent except 4 March and Good Friday. Each week we shall hear something in detail about one of the projects supported by the Bishop's Lent Appeal, details of which can be found on page 8. This is followed by a time of silent prayer for that week’s topic and a bread and cheese lunch, with the opportunity to make a donation towards the work of the topic.

Churches Together are hosting a series of Lent meetings in St Elphege’s Church, Wallington, on Wednesday evenings at 8:00 pm (not, obviously, Ash Wednesday or the Wednesday in Holy Week). This year’s theme is “Christ-lives; Christ Lives!” Each week a guest speaker from a different Christian tradition will speak for about forty minutes on ‘living the Christian life’, and will give examples of people, or a person, who has lived or is living a noticeably Christian life amidst difficult circumstances (‘Christ-lives’), thereby proving the truth of what Christians affirm when we say that ‘Christ Lives!’ This should give us plenty to meditate on and be inspired by during Lent, and of course enables us to look forward to Easter when we proclaim the resurrection for the first time. After the talk there will be an extended coffee break for socialising and discussion, followed by about twenty minutes of questions to the speaker on his or her theme. Details of all the talks are to be found here.

The speaker for the last talk on 16 March will be Fr Antony Grant of the Community of the Resurrection at Mirfield. For those who have never encountered them before, the Community of the Resurrection (CR for short) is an Anglican religious order of men, founded in the 1890s, that has its mother house at Mirfield in West Yorkshire. It is probably the most influential and best known of the Anglican religious communities.

In 1902, after the Boer War, it founded a college, which shares the site at Mirfield, for the training of priests – originally to be sent to South Africa to minister to all sides in the aftermath of that conflict and to be part of the process of reconciliation. Daughter houses of the community followed, and its presence in South Africa and Rhodesia (Zimbabwe) grew, and its influence was enormous through the rest of the 20th century. It founded many schools in impoverished black areas, and another college in South Africa for the training of black clergy, which numbered Archbishop Desmond Tutu among its students many years ago. For decades the community and its members individually witnessed against apartheid, most courageously in the long ministry of Fr Trevor Huddleston in Sophiatown, while back in the UK the original decision to station the mother house at Mirfield was a consequence of the Christian Socialist conscience of the order, which made the brethren deeply concerned about the gap between the established church and the industrial working class. For some time there were houses and a theological college in the West Indies, too – where Bishop Wilfred Wood was trained. These days the community’s work in the UK tends to be mostly in the fields of academic writing, retreats and spiritual direction, and parish missions – but the work of the college continues and of course it’s where Selwyn was trained.

Fr Antony will probably give a little of the history and purpose of the Community and then speak specifically about its work, past and present, in South Africa. That seems to fulfil the remit of being a story of people living the Christian life or giving an example of Christian living under peculiarly difficult circumstances – and there could hardly be a better way of showing that ‘Christ Lives!’ than by having a speaker from a group whose whole reason is to proclaim the truth of the resurrection by the quality of its life (especially as this will be the nearest meeting to Easter).

Sunday, 13 February. The 9:30 Sung Eucharist will be attended by the Guides and Brownies. The speaker will be Alison Saunders, diocesan representative of USPG (United Society for the Propagation of the Gospel) who will be talking specifically about some of the Society’s work in the shanty towns of Brazil.

Dates for your Diary:

Friday, 4 March. Women's World Day of Prayer. The morning service will be at 10.30 am at St Elphege's; the evening service will be 7.30 pm at Holy Trinity.

Saturday, 5 March. Ringers’ Annual Quiz Night, 7.00 pm

Sunday, 13 March. The 9:30 am Sung Eucharist will include the re-dedication of the bells. Bishop Tom will preside, preach, and dedicate, and Archdeacon Tony will also be present.

What’s on in February?

Tue	1	Visit from Sherwood Park School	10.15 am
		Magazine Panel meets at 35 Vanguard Way	6.00 pm
		Deanery Synod at The Good Shepherd, Carshalton Beeches	7.45 pm
		Bible Discussion Group meets at 24 St George's Road (last before Lent - restarts on 5 April)	8.00 pm
Wed	2	St Mary's Guild. Pam Vernon talks about her trip to the Galapagos Islands	2.30 pm
		CANDLEMAS. Sung Eucharist	7.30 pm
		Induction of Rev Stephen Coe at Holy Trinity Church	7.30 pm
Thu	3	MU&OG. St Christopher's Hospice - a talk by Lindy Margah. Church Centre	8.00 pm
SUN	6	LAST BEFORE LENT
Tue	8	Shrove Tuesday
		Pancake Party. Church Centre	7.45 pm
Wed	9	ASH WEDNESDAY	7.30 pm
		Choral Eucharist and Imposition of Ashes
Fri	11	Visit from Sherwood Park School	10.15 am
		Lent Lunch at the Rectory	12.45 pm
Sat	12	Rectory Rummage	10.00 am -4.00 pm
SUN	13	LENT 1 Guides & Brownies at Sung Eucharist where the speaker will be Alison Saunders from USPG
WED	16	MU Corporate Eucharist	10.00 am
		First Lent Group at St Elphege's	8.00 pm
Thu	17	MU AGM. Church Centre	8.00 pm
Fri	18	Lent Lunch at the Rectory	12.45 pm
SUN	20	LENT 2
Mon	21	Social Committee meets at 2 Caraway Place	8.00 pm
Tue	22	Churches Together meet at St Patrick's Church	7.45 pm
Wed	23	Second Lent Meeting at St Elphege's	8.00 pm
Fri	25	Lent Lunch at the Rectory	12.45 pm
SUN	27	LENT 3'Weekenders' sale at the Rectory	11.30 am-5.00 pm

Music at Evensong in February

Sunday, 6 February

Canticles: Sumsion in A

Anthem: Ave Verum - Byrd

Sunday, 13 February

Canticles: Moore in Fauxbourdon

Anthem: Let My Complaint Come Before Thee - Morley

Sunday, 20 February

Canticles: Holman in F Minor

Anthem: Salvator Mundi - Tallis

Sunday, 27 February

Canticles: Purcell in G Minor

Anthem: I Am Thine - S S Wesley

Readings for Sundays and Festivals in February

Wednesday 2 February

Candlemas

Malachi 3: 1-5 Page 60

Hebrews 2: 14-18 Page 63

Luke 2: 22-44 Page 63

Sunday 6 February

Last before Lent

Exodus 24: 12-18 Page 89

2 Peter 1: 16-21 Page 92

Matthew 17: 1-9 Page 92

Wednesday 9 February

Ash Wednesday

Joel 2: 1-2, 12-17 Page 97

2 Corinthians 5: 20b - 6: 10 Page 101

Matthew 6: 1-6, 16-21 Page 102

Sunday 13 February

Lent 1

Special Readings from Guides

Sunday 20 February

Lent 2

Genesis 12: 1-4a Page 109

Romans 4: 1-5, 13-17 Page 110

John 3: 1-17 Page 111

Sunday 27 February

Lent 3

Exodus 17: 1-7 Page 113

Romans 5: 1-11 Page 115

John 4: 5-42 Page 118

PCC Notes

15 November 2004

After opening the meeting with prayer, Selwyn reported that the Faculty for rewiring the tower and vestries had been received, so CES would be starting work at the end of November, with the intention of finishing by Christmas if possible. Ian said that the Tower and Bells project was on course – wheels and clappers would be removed in November, and the lifting gear installed immediately thereafter. He presented a cash flow forecast which suggested a cash shortfall at that stage of some £2,200: this would be less if, as was hoped, major parts of the project could be zero-rated for VAT. (We have since been assured by the bellfounders that their VAT-able portion will be much smaller than we had envisaged – a saving of over £1,600 on Ian’s conservative assumption. And the Ringers had a particularly successful time at the Christmas Fair, so we are hopeful that no shortfall will, in the event, occur.)

The Centre Committee had come to the conclusion that practical difficulties in installing panic alarms in the lavatories outweighed the benefits of doing so, unless this was a legal obligation. Pat will consult her sourcebooks and consult with Sutton Council if need be.

The PCC unanimously agreed to Selwyn’s proposal that we should ask the Chancellor of the diocese to vary the new churchyard regulations so that we may continue to use the present interment plot in the churchyard until it is full, while at the same time providing a garden of remembrance for the pouring of ashes.

We were pleased to welcome Alison Saunders of USPG and the Guide and Brownie leaders. Alison showed us a short video on the work of USPG, which is asking its supporting churches to hold a special service to emphasise its work. Materials will be provided. Selwyn felt that this would be an admirable focus for the next Guides and Brownies’ service in February, and the leaders agreed to meet with him shortly to plan the shape of the service. The PCC also urged the regular Sunday morning congregation to give their full support to the G&B services: it is probably the only contact with a church that many of these girls have, and it was felt to be particularly important that we should be as welcoming as possible to them.

Cassie reported a strong overall financial position. The mortgage was paid off, and she was able to increase the contingency fund from £3,000 to £10,000, which is much more realistic for an old church with a budget the size of ours. The Finance Committee were recommending various expenditures, but even after all of these, and full payment for the tower and vestries’ rewiring, there would still be some £20,000 in unallocated funds, once our Gift Aid tax rebates had been received. With this welcome news, the PCC agreed:

(a) to seek a Faculty to restore the Hamilton window, badly damaged during the war (cost covered by a recent generous donation);

(b) to ask Granville and Burbidge, Architectural Conservators, to undertake an initial survey of the church’s internal decorations, so that we may better understand the importance of what we have, how best to conserve it, and at what likely cost; and

(c) on Andrew Wilson’s recommendation, to repair the Great Trumpet on the organ, which has not worked consistently well since the restoration in 1992.

The PCC also agreed that the churchwardens should investigate our options concerning the church’s central heating boiler, as the wardens were not persuaded that the present one was working efficiently, or that it would last much longer in any event. More on this next time.

An initial report was received from the Parish Directory working party. It was agreed that more work was needed, and Ian Akhurst and Derek Whiting were added to the working group, which was thanked for what it had done so far.

Small changes to the parish boundaries, proposed by the diocese, were agreed; they would have the effect of transferring Holy Trinity School into that parish, but would retain St Mary’s Court in ours.

Finally, Heather presented the proposed revisions to wedding fees for 2005 (small increases to fees for flowers and use of the organ – all others to stay the same). She also spoke about the Children’s Society’s new “Safe and Sound” policy, which aims to secure the appointment of a manager in each local authority to co-ordinate the provision of safety net services for the more than 100,000 children under 16 who run away each year. The PCC agreed to her proposal that the collection from the Christingle service should be given to the CS, and noted that Emma Thompson and Oliver had raised over £400 on their sponsored Thames Bridges walk. Well done!

The major item on the agenda of the next PCC meeting on 26th January will be the budget for 2005.

The meeting ended with prayer at 10:10 pm.

Ian Akhurst

What Happens Next?

…Based on an article written by the Archdeacon of Wandsworth, the Ven David Gerrard, which appeared in The Bridge (April 2004)

Fifteen years ago most parishes were filled by the Bishop or the Patrons (the individual or body legally responsible for finding a new incumbent) on a fairly informal basis.

The parish prepared some information. Patrons scratched their heads, remembered some likely man who they had heard wanted a move, had a quiet word with him, told the churchwardens who he was and, if they didn't object to him after a meeting, he was appointed.

Nowadays it’s different. The process begins with the Archdeacon, in Beddington's case the Ven Tony Davies, Archdeacon of Croydon, meeting with the PCC and explaining the process to them. This will happen on 8 March. Once the vacancy has officially begun the PCC has to discuss whether or not they wish to bar women from being appointed, elects two members as their representatives, decides whether to ask for advertising and draws up a full parish profile, perhaps with photographs and colour printing, even a video. They also draw up a job description and person specification.

The Bishop's staff meeting, and the Area meetings of Bishop and Archdeacons discuss each vacancy on a monthly basis. If there is an external patron, Lady Nairn in the case of St Mary's, the Archdeacon meets or corresponds with them. The Archdeacon usually preaches and explains the process to the whole congregation, and this will happen on Sunday 17 April.

Most posts are advertised. Parish websites are checked. Enquiries trickle or pour in and can come from all over the world - Australia, Africa, Brazil, Canada. Each enquirer has to be sent an application form, profile and other information. Applicants apply. Short-listing meetings are held with parish representatives and patrons. The four or so short-listed candidates are then invited to visit the parish.

Each candidate's three references are requested, along with a confidential reference from their local bishop confirming that they are safe to receive.

Parish representatives, Patron and Archdeacon, draw up lists of suitable questions for the interviews. Interviews are held, usually chaired by the Patron or Bishop. Everyone has to agree - no majority voting. Interviews can be immensely encouraging - or incredibly depressing. Usually an appointment is made, again from anywhere. If no appointment is made, we begin again.

The successful candidate and spouse are invited to meet the Archdeacon, surveyor and wardens at the Rectory to see what work might need doing there. As it can now take five months from this meeting to the Induction of the new Rector, the system is being changed so that the house can be put in order before an appointment is made.

It is a lot of work. The system is ancient - and daft. But we try to make it work as well as possible, so parishes get the best possible priest for them.

In the meantime, Sunday services will be taken by a variety of clergy. These will be either from other parishes which have more than one priest in their team, so that one has some time to come here occasionally, or retired clergy with a Sunday free. Heather has a vast number of clergy contacts as a result of her many years as Warden and subsequently as a member of Deanery and Diocesan Synod, and initially she will be compiling a rota for Sunday Eucharists.

Jenifer and Betty will largely look after Sunday Evensongs, though we are allowed to borrow Readers from other parishes to give them some time off!

Weekday Morning and Evening Prayer will continue as now, though it is probable that the only weekday Eucharist will be the MU monthly corporate Eucharist at 10 am on the third Wednesday of every month.

Moving on

As most of you will have heard by now, my last Sunday at St Mary’s will be Easter Day, 27th March. I have been appointed Priest-in-charge of what is called the Wensum Group, a team of small rural parishes centred around the A1067 about eight miles north-west of Norwich. There are five parishes but eight villages, fourteen churchwardens and six functioning churches – plus one more closed at present on safety grounds and two legally redundant. Most are small, well-maintained, Grade 1 listed but with minimal problems of fabric or finance. The rectory is in Weston Longville, where Parson Woodforde served for more than twenty years and kept his famous diary; the largest village (which means it has 450 people) is Great Witchingham, where Bernard Matthews’ Turkeys, the biggest local employer, have their headquarters. The total population is only 1300, but there’s a combined total congregation of 70; that proportion of the population would give us about 1000 in St Mary’s every Sunday! The previous incumbent worked in the villages for 24 years with a series of debilitating personal illness and bereavement, and the people generally and the parish representatives have said there is a blank canvas on which they need someone with energy and enthusiasm to help them think creatively about their future, and to build up a real sense of community spirit across all the villages.

Both Cassie and I will be desperately sad to leave St Mary’s, but of course so much of both our lives has been taken up with the church’s unusual and individual building and financial projects. All these are now complete or very near completion: the mortgage was paid in September, the tower lighting and heating will be finished and paid for in January; even the bells will be back in place, ringing safely and paid for too, by the time we go.

Several months ago we realised that we had a difficult decision to make. The PCC has adopted a Mission Statement of 20 ideas for the continuing growth and mission of the St Mary’s family, most of them enabling St Mary’s to turn outwards in mission to the wider community around us, and to recapture many of the things which should be the goal of any parish church who have not had to work with the unique problems that have been our common task for the last twelve years. The Mission Statement is a job description for the next four or five years, and the job it describes is not the one I have been doing. It needs a new hand on the tiller without too much loss of momentum, and we both felt, however reluctantly, that moving soon was the right decision for us and for St Mary’s.

Elsewhere in the magazine under the title What Happens Next? you’ll find a clear explanation of what and who is involved in the process of appointing every new parish priest; and I would ask you to keep the churchwardens and the PCC especially in your prayers over the next few months as the process gets under way. Would you also please pray for the people of Alderford, Attlebridge, Great & Little Witchingham, Lenwade, Morton-on-the-Hill, Ringland, Swannington and Weston Longville as their interregnum continues; and for Cassie and me as we work through the difficult process of winding down here and moving on. Our last Sunday will be Easter Day; my licensing in the villages will take place in Weston Longville on Friday 13 May.

Thank you, everyone, for your enthusiasm, your support, your hard work, your prayers and your friendship over the last twelve years. Even though we are writing ourselves out of the continuing story of St Mary’s, I’m confident and even joyful that I can leave it spiritually, financially, musically, liturgically, pastorally and personally in very safe hands.

Selwyn Tillett

Herbert Howells 1892 - 1983

Herbert Norman Howells was born on October 17 1892 in Lydney, near Gloucester. One of eight children, he had a musical life from an early age. His father, although a plumber by trade, was also organist at the Baptist church in Lydney. In 1905, Howells became a chorister and assistant organist in the local church and, having taken piano lessons with the organist and choirmaster at Gloucester Cathedral, was accepted as an articled pupil at the Cathedral, where he received lessons in organ, theory, harmony and counterpoint.

While in the position of head organist at Aylburton church in Gloucestershire, he attended the Three Choirs Festivals. There he heard music by Handel, Delius and Vaughan Williams that he claimed helped shape his thinking about music and encouraged him to continue his search for beauty in composition.

Ivor Novello, a former classmate of Howells’, who was studying at the Royal College of Music, persuaded him to apply for a position there. Howells submitted samples of his work and won an open scholarship there in 1912. He studied under some of the most famous names - music history with Parry, composition with Stanford, harmony and counterpoint with Wood and choral techniques with Sir Walford Davies.

In 1917, Howells was offered the position of organist at Salisbury Cathedral but he became very ill with Graves Disease and had to abandon it. His condition worsened and he was given six months to live. However, he took part in an experimental procedure to try to cure him, after which he made a full recovery and lived to 90!

He received many awards over the years, including an Honorary Fellowship of the Royal School of Church Music in Croydon. He wrote many types of music but his choral compositions stand out as his finest works.

His Collegium Regale were works written specially for the choir of King’s College, Cambridge. They consist of the Te Deum and Jubilate, written in 1944, the Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis, written in 1945, and the Office of Holy Communion, which the choir will sing on Ash Wednesday, 9 February, completed in 1956.

Jean Kimber

Happy Birthday To You. Happy Birthday To You …

Congratulation and best wishes to Cathy Ward who celebrates her 90th birthday on 30 January .

Lenten Talks At St Elphege's RC Church

Churches Together in Beddington & Wallington :

1. Wednesday, 16 February, hosted by St Elphege's

Pat Gaffney will speak on:-

"Pax Christi International Peace Movement"

Mr Gaffney is its General Secretary

2. Wednesday, 23 February, hosted by W.URC

Reverend Margaret Collins will speak on:

"Stories of Children and Young People"

Reverend Collins works for Barnardo's

3. Wednesday, 2 March, hosted by St Michael’s

Canon Stephen Gendall will speak on :-

“Zimbabwe Experiences”.

4. Wednesday, 9 March, hosted by Springfield,

Stuart Windsor will speak on :-

“The Persecuted Church”.

Mr Windsor is National Director of Christian Solidarity Worldwide .

5. Wednesday, 16 March, hosted by St Mary’s

Father Antony Grant CR, will speak on:-

“The Work of the Community of the Resurrection”.

All talks begin at 8 pm, with refreshments at 8.50 pm, followed by questions to end at 9.30 pm.

The Bishop of Southwark's Lent Call 2005

Bishop Tom has suggested the following projects as worthy of our generosity for Lent 2005. If you would like to support these projects, then don't forget to come to Selwyn's Lent Lunches - the first is on Friday, 11 February.

St Philip's Church : St Vincent, Windward Islands

St Philip's Church requires extensive renovation, hopefully by 2006, its 150th anniversary. Local income is almost totally dependent on the production of bananas, the only source of employment. Owing to EEC quotas and other competition, bananas are no longer the viable crop they were, and the parish income has been markedly reduced. It is very involved in social outreach, collaborating with others to fight poverty and to provide activities for the elderly and for young people.

The Children's Trust : Tadworth

Specialises in the care, rehabilitation and education of children with profound and multiple learning disabilities, acquired brain injuries and life limiting medical conditions. Its own residential specialist school, St Margaret's, drastically needs improvements and expansion. The children currently live in two very old hospital wards and a 1930s operating theatre, which although updated and modified, still fall far short of today's expectations.

Anglican Women's Centre : Kumasi, Ghana

A training centre sponsored by the Anglican Diocese of Kumasi, to assist women who are maginalized by illiteracy, poor education, poverty and rural isolation. The programmes will give experience of specific economic and craft activities, to enable the women to function more effectively in their communities and families, to be self supporting and have a degree of financial independence. This will help them avoid sexual abuse and domestic violence which can lead to prostitution with the danger of contracting HIV/AIDS.

Epic Arts: Cambodia

Epic Arts is a trust that uses the arts to promote integration between people of all abilities and disabilities. It is estimated that one in 350 Cambodians has some form of disability. Katie runs workshops in schools, orphanages and day centres for physically disabled children and adults. The aim is to see people become more confident in their ideas, and what they feel they 'can' do. She is working with six or seven organisations already helping with disability issues and tries to use performance as a way of shifting people's attitudes towards disability.

ZIMBABWE PROJECT

At the end of 2004, Southwark people who had visited Zimbabwe reported inflation over 700%, high unemployment, fuel scarce and electricity rationed.

Croydon Area : Central Zimbabwe

Two specific needs are highlighted:

Clergy are often the people who hold communities together, and Bishop Ishmael Mukuwanda of Central Zimbabwe has established a fund to help them with school fees for their children and medical fees for their families.

St Patrick's Mission has a school for 700 children, a farm, and a hospital mainly for maternity cases, which is used by people from far and wide. This hospital, which offers a place of refuge and genuine pastoral care, is being rebuilt.

National Nest-box Week : 14 – 21 February

This month it's time to think about nest-boxes. Up to a million baby birds fledge from nest-boxes every year. Would you like to host a family or two in your garden?

The British Trust for Ornithology on 01842 750050 can help you with information on box building and suppliers.

Remembering 20 November

It was a cold, wet, miserable afternoon. However, as I arrived at St Mary's with Tony and Judy, to be warmly greeted by Selwyn, we felt the atmosphere was tangible with warmth and affection.

The bells were ringing as we began to relax and to greet old friends as they arrived. How generous of the ringers to ensure that the bells were not dismantled until after John's service.

We had the same hymns that we had sung at Icklesham in July - all John's own choice: Glorious Things, Angel Voices ever Singing, and Ye Holy Angels Bright. And the singing was wonderful. We said Psalm 121 and Mark Chilcott read from Proverbs Ch.3 and Judy from 1 Peter Ch.1. We heard generous and loving tributes from Philip Town and Imogen Clout, and Tony spoke of what John had done since he left Beddington, 26 years ago.

Chris Kimber had asked a young flautist friend to play one of John's favourite pieces, Gluck's Dance of the Blessed Spirits. This was a delight and gave us a pause, and then Selwyn's thoughtful prayers enabled us to calm our emotions and collect our thoughts. Then Rachel Chapman sang the Pié Jesu from Fauré's Requiem, her loving and unforgettable tribute to a much-loved great-uncle.

So many people contributed to this beautiful service for John. We thank them all. Selwyn for all his help and generous welcome, Cassie for the lovely service papers, Philip and Imogen for their tributes, Mark for his reading, the ringers and the organist. And of course Heather and her helpers who organised such delicious refreshments in the Centre, which gave us a chance to talk to so many dear friends.

And lastly, thanks to everyone who joined us for this Service of Remembrance and Thanksgiving. As someone said as we were leaving, "John would have loved it".

Frances Read

Daily prayer topics in February

Tue 1 Our Young Families Group

Wed 2 Thanksgiving for Christ the Light of the World

Thu 3 Bishop's Council meeting tonight

Fri 4 All who work for relief organisations

Sat 5 Readers being re-licensed today

Sun 6 Queen Elizabeth and all the royal family

Mon 7 Thanksgiving for our families and all who love us

Tue 8 All attending our Pancake Party

Wed 9 The grace to keep Lent faithfully

Thu 10 The Diocesan Board of Finance meeting tonight

Fri 11 Archdeaconry Ecumenical officers

Sat 12 Our Guides and Brownies

Sun 13 The United Society for the Propagation of the Gospel

Mon 14 The General Synod Meeting 14-18 February

Tue 15 The Society for the Promotion of Christian Knowledge

Wed 16 Churches Together in Wallington

Thu 17 All Christians persecuted for their faith

Fri 18 The homeless and all who work to help them

Sat 19 The work of Amnesty International and the United Nations

Sun 20 Thanksgiving for our rebirth through baptism

Mon 21 Archdeaconry Advisers for Evangelism

Tue 22 All who are finding life hard and the outlook bleak

Wed 23 Our local clergy fraternity

Thu 24 Our link dioceses in Zimbabwe

Fri 25 All who have Permission to Officiate, lay and clergy

Sat 26 Southwark Readers Quiet Day at St Stephen's, Dulwich

Sun 27 Thanksgiving for the new life we have in Christ

Mon 28 All churchwardens in the diocese

Saints in February

Fri 4 St Gilbert of Sempringham, religious founder, 1189

Sat 5 St Agatha, martyr, patron saint of bell-founders

Southwark Guild of Servers

On Saturday, 8th January, the Servers’ re-dedication service was held at Southwark Cathedral, the first special service in its Centenary Year.

Four of St Mary’s servers were able to join with many other servers and friends from across the Diocese to celebrate the Eucharist at 12 noon. The procession at the start of the service was long with many servers carrying candles, The Book, incense and staffs; the Cathedral’s girls choir with the choir master, Canons and Readers, the Sub–Dean, Andrew Nunn, and the Bishop of Southwark, Tom Butler.

Tom Butler’s sermon included an acknowledgement of the special role servers play in a well run church service. He said that if they are fulfilling their special and important role they should hardly be noticed by the congregation but are an important aid to the Celebrants, especially visiting priests. Servers need to know what happens and when, have the altar set long before the start of a service and be prepared for each move before it happens throughout.

After the Eucharist we broke for lunch, a trip to Borough Market for a bacon baguette or pie and mash (& liquor of course). In the afternoon the Archdeacon of Croydon, Tony Davis, gave a history of the role of servers with anecdotes of his experience with servers as a parish priest for 22 years and as a visiting priest as Archdeacon and then he and Andrew Nunn did a double act answering questions, almost as good as Laurel and Hardy.

We were also admitted to the newly formed Southwark Guild of Servers and given the new badge .

At Evensong the Rector of Croydon Parish Church, Colin Boswell, preached and he brought along with him both his girls and boys choirs.

We certainly had a day to remember, a day when the Southwark Guild of Servers was formed, a day when we were reminded of the important role a server plays in a church service and two very special acts of worship. The servers’ service will be near the beginning of the year in 2006 please come and join us.

Also, please come and join us as a server at St Mary’s, Marion Martin would welcome a flood of volunteers

****

Please put Sunday 13th February in your diary. This is the day in February when we, the people of St Mary’s, welcome the Guides, Brownies and Rainbows to the morning Eucharist.

About 25 years ago one of my daughter’s friends, a Guide, said that there were not many people attending St Mary’s. The truth was that most of the congregation stayed away from the 9.30 service when there was a church parade saying that there was not a Eucharist and so they would go to the Eucharist in the evening. Selwyn changed the pattern; he introduced the Eucharist at a 9.30 when the Guides and Brownies visited. This was a big change for the G&Bs, Selwyn and the Guiders have been trying different formats to find the most suitable.

At this service Selwyn uses Eucharist D (usually we have A, B or C), the basic meaning is the same as you would expect but the words used are different and I find, very thought provoking. Selwyn, with the help of the Trebles and the congregation, sings the first part of the Eucharist.. As this will be Selwyn’s last Beddington Parade service it will be your last opportunity to experience our Lord’s story in this special setting.

PLEASE come and welcome our visitors, help them to understand what is happening and worship our Lord with them. Do not let it be a time to take the morning off but a time when we can be God’s hands and voice and welcoming smile.

Heather Cosgrove

Christmas Lunch Was On Us!

Christmas may seem a bit of a distant memory now, but thanks are due to Churches Together who once again provided Christmas Lunch at the Trinity Centre. It was a great success. About 80 people attended, including many voluntary helpers.

The entire Sainsbury's bill was paid with donated Nectar vouchers; one firm provided all the vegetables; the crackers were given, and all the cards and place mats were made by Brownies and Cubs; the Guides wrapped all the gifts; and a fish and chip shop peeled all the potatoes for us!

Entertainment was provided by pianist, a young magician and there were two entertaining monologues. Father Christmas gave everyone a gift on leaving.

Thanks to all who helped in any way. It will probably be at St.Michael's Church next so come and join us.

Pam Vernon

From the registers

Baptisms

9 January Willow Grace Bowen of 83 Clarence Road, Sutton

Funerals

6 December Thomas Stephen Major, aged 79 of Wandle Road

9 December Sharon Cooper, aged 36 of Crispin Crescent

*14 December Gladys Hughes aged 80 of The Croft, Park Lane, Carshalton

16 December Joyce Amelia Yates, aged 84 of Richmond Road

* Gladys Hughes had been a Sunday School teacher at St Mary's in her younger days. More recently she organised coffee mornings for church funds, the sale of pears from the garden being a speciality. While her health allowed, she faithfully delivered magazines to a large number of people.

Moonshine at St Mary's

On Saturday, 22 January, the bellringers of St Mary's imported their own Chicago Speakeasy to Beddington and invited the local suckers to join in. The guys, having first cased the joint, duly turned up in their speakeasy duds and were delighted to be joined by a bevy of dolls, beautifully dolled up in their finery.

We were all invited to try our luck on various games of chance (or no chance!) starting with horse-racing under the guiding hand of our senior hostess, Mistress Kimber, then roulette spun by croupier Mr Christopher Kimber, followed by Russian Pool under the guidance of Miss Tamasine Edwards, whose dexterity and sleight of hand with the pack amazed everyone.

Our strength was maintained during the evening by some splendid food provided and served by the ringers, including some well brewed cups of 'tea'. The floor show was performed by Miss Edwards, accompanied by Mr Kimber, to hearty applause from the assembled company.

Unfortunately, the proceedings were interrupted by a raid by the cops which caused some consternation. However, having extorted an amount of hush-money from Mistress Kimber and sampled some of the excellent 'tea', the Prefect of Police declared all was in order and, in fact, duly joined the proceedings!!

By general agreement the Speakeasy was declared a great success and a good time was had by all. Our thanks and congratulations are extended to Mistress Kimber and all her ringers for an innovative idea, splendidly organised, and which provided all present with a jolly good evening of fun.

Reg Willis

11^th Inter-Church Quiz night

Saturday, March 5 2005

St Mary’s Church Centre

Doors open - 7.00

first question - 7.30

There will be a raffle and a small sales table

All-inclusive price £6 per person

Tea & coffee provided

But bring your own favourite drinks and glasses

Teams of up to 6 needed

Fish & chips (veggie option)

Place order on 8660 4254

Leave contact number if answerphone

The Friends of Beddington and The Grange Parks

The Friends held their first working party of the year on 16 January. With the valuable help of Carshalton Beeches Rotary Club, they cleared debris from the lake next to the Boating Lake Bridge.

Already, with encouragement from the Friends, the Grange Footbridge and the Children's Play Area have been refurbished, there are many more litter bins and the Parks are beginning to be alive with the colour of Spring and Summer bulbs.

To join the Friends, speak to Dee Hyatt or contact their Treasurer, Nick Fogg at 23 The Manor Way, Wallington, SM6 7PJ. Family membership costs £10 pa, single membership is £6 pa.

Hang On The Bell, Nellie

On a cold and blustery January morning, the ringers and friends turned out to help Steve Westerman, from Loughborough Bell Foundry, to remove the bells from the tower. The previous evening had seen a working party laying a hardboard covering over the tower floor, to protect it from the tons of bell-metal that would shortly be sitting on it.

The exercise was not without its excitements and traumas. Not only was our bellhanger caught in an 8-mile queue on the Monday morning at the Dartford Bridge, but the motor on the lifting-gear burned out during the afternoon! It was Tuesday lunch-time before a replacement arrived - the deliveryman being unable to find Beddington church.

Meanwhile, we made do with a hand-held rope to lower the lighter pieces on timber from the frame. It proved a handy way of delivering the builders’ ladder up to them, too.

The bells were lowered straight down through the trap-doors but as they neared the end of their descent, they had to be pushed manually to one side of the church. It needed six of us to help push the tenor - the heaviest bell, weighing well over a ton with its headstock. All the bells were down by the end of Tuesday and Chris Kimber was able to get some good video footage.

Next came the relatively harder task of removing the frame. It was very awkward to get out because it all had to be unbolted and attached in such a way that it could be guided down to the floor. Each piece had to travel nearly eighty feet and we discovered a very efficient, if not high-tech, method of ensuring the beams didn’t get caught on the way down - someone stands in the ringing room with a long broom and guides the beam away from the edge of the hole. It needed a good head for heights!

Some of the beams were too long and heavy to be carried outside and had to be carefully positioned on the trolley, trundled outside and tipped onto the grass. Our hoped-for storage area was made inaccessible by the scaffolding, so the yew tree became our frame’s last resting-place.

One of the largest and most rotten of the beams probably caused the churchwarden the most despair. As we positioned it on the trolley and opened the west doors, a howling gale whipped the dust and dirt of bygone ages off it and up the aisle, to settle ankle deep in front of the chancel. The pews were also thus adorned but the ringers, with stoical resolve, set about bringing back a smile to the churchwarden’s face.

By Thursday lunchtime, the task was completed and some of us collapsed in our armchairs before it was time for our AGM in the evening. The rehanging project was, of course, the main topic, but we did have to elect new officers. They are now, Jean Kimber - Tower Captain, Diana Harries - Secretary/Treasurer and Stan Coleman - Steeplekeeper.

Friday saw the departure of the bells to the Foundry. Cameras were well to the fore, with even the locals coming down to watch and record. Chris Kimber climbed to the top of the tower and filmed the departure. By 2.30 pm I had received an email containing several pictures of our bells arriving safely at the Foundry - oh, the wonders of modern technology!

As I write this, we will soon be off to the Foundry to see what’s going on for ourselves. The closing date for the magazine copy is too early for a report of that trip but no doubt someone from the 40 going will share their experiences with those of you left behind.

We are still raising money and with that in mind, let me thank all those who came and supported our Prohibition Evening. It was great fun. We survived a raid, with no arrests, and were treated to a completely different side of many of our respected congregation! The money wasn’t real - but it might just as well have been. The range of emotions on the face of one ex-churchwarden, as he tried his luck - or otherwise - at Chris’s roulette table, was entertainment in itself. Some punters got a bit reckless on the horse-racing towards the end, but nothing beats seeing one over-anxious ringer shaking the horse and moving the dice!! It must have been the Demon Rum or the Bath-tub Gin got to her.

Coming up in March - Saturday 5th, to be precise - is our Annual Quiz. I have a few entries already, even before the official notices are out. This shows the popularity and, as places are limited, get in quick and avoid disappointment. There is an ad. elsewhere and a footnote to that is, if you want to come but aren’t part of a team, please ring Pat Kingsbury on 020 8660 1047 and she will help you find place.

We are so nearly there. The bells should be back before the end of February and the Re-dedication Service will be held on Sunday, March 13 at the 9.30 Eucharist, some details of which are in Carousel. We would love to see you all there.

Jean Kimber

The “Twenty-Five” Churches of the Southwark Diocese

An inter-war campaign of Church building.

By Kenneth Richardson

An Ecclesiological society publication,

Printed by the Alden Press.

ISBN 0 946823 15 4

(for suggestions about ordering books, please visit the Booklinks page)

What is the connection between The Good Shepherd Carshalton Beeches, All Saint’s Hackbridge, St Patrick’s Wallington, St Michael and All Angels South Beddington, Bishop Andrews’ Church, St Peter’s St Helier and Cyril Forster Garbett, Bishop of Southwark, 1919-1932? Answer: these churches, along with others in the Southwark Diocese, were either established or extended with aid from the Twenty-Five Churches Fund, initiated by Bishop Garbett in response to the major shift in London’s population in the 1920’s & 1930’s, to newly built cottage estates like St Helier, many of which were built in the Southwark Diocese.

This fascinating book covers a period of great change and expansion in the history of the Southwark Diocese which was overseen by a Bishop with all the right qualities for the job he had to do and who went on to become Archbishop of York. When he became Bishop of Southwark, Cyril Forster Garbett found himself leader of a diocese which was not only faced with the twin problems of housing deprivation and impending population migration expected to involve some 300,000 people, but which was utterly ill equipped to cope with the situation. There was a desperate shortage of clergy and those who were left were overworked and underpaid, morale amongst them was therefore very low. The Bishop set about improving pay and working conditions of the clergy in order to provide a satisfactory basis for recruitment of the new clergy that were needed for the establishment of the new churches to be built or extended in the new estates. He also set about raising the money needed for the building of new churches and halls with the establishment of the Twenty-five Churches Fund. The Bishops aim was to ensure as far as was practicable, that the new estates would have Anglican Priests and a place of worship in position to welcome the incoming residents as they arrived.

“We have three visitors when we first move in – the agent for the beer-house, the book-maker’s tout and the parson – and here the parson always manages to call first!” This quote from an inhabitant of one of the new estates and Kenneth Richardson’s book and Gazetteer of the Twenty Five Churches, complete with wonderful illustrations by John Bray, are ample evidence that the bishop’s aim was mostly achieved.

Most of these churches are still prominent landmarks with active congregations in the communities they serve and they are a fitting reminder of the work and ministry of Bishop Garbett and the Twenty-five Churches Fund.

Linda Wood

Weekenders

Your final chance to order something from the Weekenders collection of clothes will be at the Rectory after church (11:30) on Sunday, 27 February.

Although the last Weekenders' day was officially a couple of years ago, they've happened again since

(by popular demand).

Weekenders is a great collection of clothes for the ladies, easy to mix-and-match, brilliant for travelling with, and wonderful colours. (Details of the new season's colours will be available the week before the sale.)

As always, 10% of new orders will go to the Shopping List; there will be a large sale rail too, and this time everything really must go!

So, have you seen that Cassowary again? ..

*If I were a Cassowary on the plains of Timbuktu

I would eat a missionary, cassock, band and hymn book too

*A doggerel attributed to Samuel Wilberforce whose memorial brass is in the West wall of St Mary's

We first suspected his presence a couple of years ago, but we think he might be back - and as hungry as ever! The Church Inventory has to be done again by 1st March, and we shall have to report a serious deficit in the hymn book department unless we can track him down and find those missing books before he eats them all.. Search every nook and cranny …

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