Readings
for Sundays and Festivals in March
Saints
and Commemorations in March
Our
local WWDP Services on Friday, 7 March are:
Churches
Together in Beddington & Wallington
What
is the sixth commandment?
The
Bishop of Southwarks Lent Call 2008
Centro
Social Alvorada, Brazil
Apparently its a
misquotation, but St Augustine is alleged to have said He
who sings, prays twice. Its a good point, because so much of what we believe
is shaped through the words that we sing and the way we sing them. Thats why
choosing hymns is such a difficult job and why, at St Marys, Jenifer, Andrew
and I choose hymns together so that, even if you dont like all the ones we
choose, you dont end up with one persons favourite hymns week after week.
The words and the music
together are important, and our favourite ones are often associated with
significant times in our lives weddings, baptisms, confirmations, funerals.
They remind us of times and of places, of people we love and stories we hold
dear. In many ways the hymnody of the Church throughout the centuries is the
repository for the emotions and response of the Church to Gods love. We can
encounter that transformation on an emotional level that we cant always do
when we read the Bible or listen to a sermon. Music can in many ways take us
into the heart of God.
Its certainly like that for
me when I hear the Exsultet, the traditional first
hymn of Easter. Its a call to wake up and rejoice not just a call to a
sleepy congregation at 5.30 in the morning but to all of creation and all of
heaven:
Rejoice, heavenly powers! Sing, choirs of angels!
Exult all creation around God's throne!
But why
this rejoicing? The Exsultet is at the centre of our story as Christians, a
story of our liberation through Jesus birth, death and most importantly
resurrection. If God had not raised Jesus from the dead on Easter morning then
Jesus is a prophet who teaches us about Gods love and Gods kingdom, but
perhaps no more than that. But on Easter morning we celebrate the mystery and
triumph of the Resurrection:
Jesus Christ, our King, is risen!
Sound the trumpet of salvation!
Rejoice, O earth, in shining splendour!
Radiant in the brightness of your King!
Christ has conquered! Glory fills you!
Darkness vanishes for ever!
In order for us to enter
into this song with all our heart and mind we need to get ready and prepare
ourselves for the feast. Part of that is caught up in the way we live Lent;
part of it is in the way we approach and live through the drama of Holy Week.
You can read below about our services for old and young, services that help us
to sing the song of Easter with hearts and minds on fire with Gods love.
So this Easter, rejoice and
sing as well as you can, exult with all creation that Gods love has conquered
and we are inheritors with and through Christ of Gods kingdom.
Our programme during Holy
Week is designed to help in our spiritual pilgrimage as we prepare to walk with
Jesus the way of the Cross and to celebrate together the joy of his
resurrection.
We begin on Palm Sunday with
the Procession of Palms and a Passover Supper, remembering that we too share
the heritage of this feast of liberation. As we share the ritual food,
including the lamb that was the sign of the Passover, we remember that,
particularly in Johns Gospel, Jesus is portrayed as the ultimate Passover lamb
without blemish, by whose blood we are saved.
Throughout the week we
journey on, day by day spending time with Christ and in church were offering
meditations on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday mornings and Monday and Tuesday
evenings. Others may choose to travel with Jesus through the events of Good
Friday as we contemplate the Stations of the Cross on Wednesday evening.
By Maundy Thursday the drama
is picking up speed, moving beyond our control. We remember Jesus offering
himself as servant and slave of all as he washes his disciples feet, before
prefiguring his death in the Last Supper as he tells his disciples This is my
body; this is my blood. While we rejoice in our salvation, we huddle in terror
as the altars are brutally, even violently stripped and we wait and watch
throughout the night as we remain in prayer with Jesus in the barrenness of the
garden.
Eventually we reach Gods
Friday Good Friday. At 10.30 am there will be a childrens
service and workshop in the Centre. The Churches Together Walk of Witness
begins at 12 noon from St Elpheges. At St Marys, from 1-2.00 pm we have a
service of words and music, followed by a more liturgical service at 2.00 pm.
Throughout these services
our desire is to truly enter with Jesus into his Passion, so that when we hear
the echoing shout of Alleluia! He is Risen! we are able to make it our own. May you have a precious,
holy and life giving Week.
Justine
What's on in March |
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Sat |
1 |
21st Century Marriage . The Centre |
10.00 am - 2.00 pm |
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SUN |
2 |
LENT 4 - MOTHERING SUNDAY The preacher at the 9.30
am Eucharist will be the Reverend Canon Robert Titley,
Canon Treasurer of Southwark Cathedral and Senior Diocesan Director of Ordinands |
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|
|
Mon |
3 |
Lent Course. The Centre |
8.00 pm |
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|
Tue " |
4 " |
Magazine Panel meets at 35
Vanguard Way Social Committee meets at
2 Caraway Place |
10.30 am 7.30 pm |
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|
Wed " |
5 " |
Lent Course. The Centre St Mary's Guild meets at
St Mary's Court. Speaker to be advised |
10.30 am 2.30 pm |
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|
Thu |
6 |
MU&OG. Sue Stevens of
Sutton Women's Aid will be speaking on the subject of Domestic Violence. The
Centre |
7.30 pm |
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Fri |
7 |
Women's World Day of
Prayer Services: St Mary's St Patrick's, Wallington |
10.30 am 7.30 pm |
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Sat |
8 |
21st Century Marriage. The
Centre |
10 am - 2.00 pm |
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|
SUN |
9 |
LENT 5 - PASSION SUNDAY |
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Mon "` |
10 " |
Staff meeting at The
Rectory Lent Course. The Centre |
9.30 am 8.00 pm |
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Tue " |
11 " |
Time for God Quiet
Worship. The Carew Chapel PCC meeting. The Centre |
9.30 am 8.00 pm |
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Wed |
12 |
Lent Course. The Centre |
10.30 am |
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|
Thu |
13 |
'Praise & Play' for
pre-school toddlers Palm Sunday - A Donkey for a King |
10.00 am |
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Sat " |
15 " |
A Workshop on Admitting Children to
Communion. Led by Diane Craven, Diocesan
Children's Adviser. The Centre PCC "at home"
afternoon. The Centre |
10.00 - 12 noon 12.15-4.00 pm |
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Holy Week |
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SUN |
16 |
PALM SUNDAY Eucharist Procession of Palms and
Sung Eucharist Passover Supper in the
Centre (No Evensong tonight) |
8.00 am 9.30 am 7.00 pm |
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|
Mon |
17 |
Eucharist Meditation Meditation |
9.00 am 9.30 am 7.30 pm |
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|
Tue |
18 |
Eucharist Meditation Sherwood Park School Service Meditation |
9.00 am 9.30 am 10.30 am 7.30 pm |
|
Wed |
19 |
Meditation Eucharist Poetry for Pleasure. The
Centre Stations of the Cross |
9.30 am 10.00 am 2.00 pm 7.30 pm |
|
Thu |
20 |
MAUNDY THURSDAY Morning Prayer Eucharist, washing of feet
and stripping of the Altar A vigil of silent prayer
will be kept in the Carew Chapel following the end of the Eucharist until the
start of tomorrows 1.00 pm service |
9.00 am 7.30 pm |
|
FRI |
21 |
GOOD FRIDAY Children's Workshop and
Service in the Centre Churches Together Walk of
Witness starting at Sts Church, Stafford Road, Wallington Service of Words &
Music Last Hour by the Cross |
10.30 am 12.00 pm 1.00 pm 2.00 pm |
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SUN |
23 |
EASTER DAY Vigil and First Eucharist
of Easter Eucharist Sung Eucharist Choral Evensong |
5.30 am 8.00 am 9.30 am 6.30 pm |
|
Mon |
24 |
Easter Monday Bank
Holiday. Church open |
2.00-5.00 pm |
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Thu |
27 |
Praise & Play for
pre-school toddlers The Resurrection - The Happiest Day |
10.00 am |
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Fri |
28 |
'Kith Kin & Kanine'.
The Centre open for Coffee and Cake |
10-11.30 am |
|
Sat 29 March Don't forget to put your clocks forward one
hour before you go to bed |
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SUN |
30 |
EASTER 2 |
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Sunday, 2 March
Mothering Sunday
1 Samuel 1
: 20:28
Colossians 3 : 12-17
John 19 :
25b-27
Sunday, 9 March
Lent 5
Ezekiel 37
: 1-14
Romans 8 :
6-11
John 11 :
1-4
Sunday, 16 March
Palm Sunday
Isaiah 50
: 4-9a
Matthew 26
: 14-end of 27
Thursday, 20 March
Maundy Thursday
Exodus 12
: 1-14
1 Corinthians 11 : 23-26
John 13 :
1-17, 31b-35
Sunday, 23 March
Easter Day
Acts 10 :
34-43
Colossians 3 : 1-4
John 20 :
1-18
Sunday, 30 March
Easter 2
Acts 2 :
14a, 22-32
1 Peter 1
: 3-9
John 20 :
19-31
Some Saint and Feast Days
have been moved see below for details
Sat 1 David, Bishop of Menevia,
Patron of Wales c601
Fri 7 Perpetua,
Felicity and their Companions, Martyrs at Carthage, 203
Sat 8 Edward King, Bishop of Lincoln, 1910
" " Felix,
Bishop, Apostle to the East Angles, 647
" " Geoffrey
Studdert Kennedy, Priest, Poet, 1929
Sat 15 Patrick,
Bishop, Missionary, Patron of Ireland, c460
Mon 31 John Donne, Priest,
Poet, 1631
St Patrick's Day has moved
to 15 March. The Roman Catholic Church on discovering it clashed with the
second day of Holy Week, moved the Irish patron saint's feast, normally on 17
March, to the 15th. Church rules decree the saint's feast day does not rank as
highly as the Monday before Easter and therefore it had to be moved two days
back to 15 March, which falls on a Saturday. Senior Irish clerics wanted to
keep the date as close to international civic celebrations as possible, as they
are planned years in advance. The last time St Patrick's Day had to be moved
was in 1940 when it coincided with Palm Sunday, the first day of Holy Week. The
next date it will have to be moved again is 2160.
Joseph of Nazareth has moved
from 19 March to 1 April
The Annunciation of our Lord
to the Blessed Virgin Mary
Lady Day) from 25 March to
31 March
(Strictly speaking, John
Donne on 31 March shouldn't have been included as his feast day also falls
within the Easter Octave, but a piece about him had
already been written for the magazine, so we put him in.)
Every Sunday we pray for
people living and working in two or three roads
in the parish.
The roads in March will be:
Sunday 2 March
Crichton Avenue & Rookwood Avenue
Sunday 9 March
Queenswood Avenue & Queen Elizabeth's Walk
Sunday 16 March
Royston Avenue & Sandhills
Sunday 23 March
Iberian Avenue & Goidel Close
Sunday 30 March
Plough Lane & Plough
Lane Close
13 January Charlie Musgrove
20 January Gerald, Jamie and Georgea Hall
Gracie Drewelus-Paul
Tillie Johnson
2 February Paul Edward Kossowicz
and Vicky Angela
Wiltshire.
31 January Evelyn Rose Poulter,
age 89 years
A great deal of interest has
been expressed to those returning from the recent Pilgrimage to the Holy Land
for them to share their experiences with others. Plans are being made to do
this early in April. Be warned! The digital camera age has meant that well over
1,000 photos were taken!
Time For
God quiet prayer. Starting this month, this popular service will be held on the
second rather than the third Tuesday of each month at 9.30 am in the Carew
Chapel
Poetry for Pleasure at 2 pm
on Wednesday, 19 March. Please bring along one (or two) poems that you would
like to read and share with the group. All are welcome.
The ringers said a fond
farewell to one of their number at a lunch to mark the occasion on 24 February.
Derek Spittle has been a ringer at St Mary's for over 40 years, but he and his wife Margaret
are moving away to Fareham. Thank you, Derek, for all your years of dedication
and service.
Date for your Diary
Spring Clean! The spring
clean day last year was such fun (and did our church building no end of good
too) that there will be another on Saturday, 26 April. Dusters at the ready
folks!
Sorry, still no confirmation
of the date for the Guy Middlemiss and David Tabbat
Recital as mentioned in the last magazine.
Watch the weekly notices for
further info .
One of the great joys of
ministry at St Marys is the number of weddings in which we are asked to get
involved. Its a real privilege to be invited to share their special day with
couples and to help them plan the service so it reflects their personalities
and their love. As well as all the fun, getting organised for the big day can
also be very stressful, and sometimes in all the sea of detailed planning its
easy to lose track of the real reasons for all the fuss namely the love and
commitment of two people. So this year were holding a number of sessions for
couples getting married in 2008 called Twenty-First Century Marriage.
Spread over two Saturday
mornings, the course provides an opportunity to look at marriage in the modern
world the pressure points, the challenges and the fun. Its a chance to take
a step back and to remember the important things, to regain a sense of
perspective. Based on a DVD the course provides opportunity for individual
reflection as well as things to do as a couple. Its equally applicable to
those who have been married for a while (How do you show your partner that
theyre valued as much now as when you first met them?" was one question
that stuck in my mind), and if the feedback we get is good we may open it up to
the whole church community.
Justine
Tuesday, 12 February
Church of the Good Shepherd, Carshalton
There was a warm welcome for
Deanery Synod at the Good Shepherd. After opening prayers,
the business matters of minutes and reports was over in a very short time leaving
our guest, Bishop Nick Baines, almost lost for words.
The Bishops of Southwark had
made a plan that all three Area Bishops would visit every parish in their
Bishopric on a four-year cycle. Bishop Nick came to Croydon in 2003 half way
through the initial four years cycle and so set about visiting the 8 deaneries
with 103 parishes in record time. On such a visit he spends a day in a parish
talking with the priest(s), travelling around the area, visiting the church and
meeting the churchwardens, the PCC and members of the congregation. Bishop Nick
said his visits can be divided into two main headings:
1. Pastoral
To know and to be known
- Addressing agendas in the
parish
- To encourage and
stimulate, giving suggestions of how
- To support, stressing he
was not coming to judge and criticise but to help.
2. Strategic
- Setting details on a
larger canvas learning the trends
- Learning the parochial
REALITIES on site, (sometimes finding reality very different from what he had
been told beforehand)
- Considering the
particular in the light of the general
He recorded facts and
impressions, sharing his observations with the parish; realising the strengths
and weaknesses in a parish, offering help where he felt it was needed if he
could and encouraging everybody as they seek to serve Christ. He reminded us
all that the priests have the cure of souls of the whole parish, not just the
church. Bishop Nick had re-read reports from all the 103 parishes in the
Croydon Episcopal Area on the day of his visit and he shared his observations
and the issues they raised under several headings.
FAITH
- Knowledge. He stressed the
need to read the Bible: we cannot gain knowledge by liturgical osmosis
- Ways must be found to help
build confidence and different ways of learning.
- He said how important it
is for people to hold a Bible and so might learn to find their way around it
easily. He encouraged the use of bibles in the pews rather than biblical
extracts on sheets.
- We need confidence in our
Christian faith and knowledge of the bible, but he found that lacking. We
should remember that NOBODY will teach the Christian Faith except the churches,
whereas anybody can organise a party.
- We must have confidence in
the Church (of England).
- We must be attractive to
those outside the churches.
- There are parishes in the
very run down areas where all other agencies have moved out but where the
parish church remains because it is subsidised by other parishes through our
Fairer Shares contributions.
- We must have confidence in
our identity knowing who we are and what we are for.
PEOPLE
He felt that he needed to
split the needs for clergy and laity because their needs were different:
Clergy
- He looked at staffing
levels and changing models of staffing.
- The demands on the clergy in
a complex world and society. There is lots of legislation to work with as well
as grappling with organisation, finance and buildings etc.
- There may be personal
pastoral issues.
- Things come the way of the
vicar that never used to; there are no boundaries; there are often conflicting
expectations.
- Management of change such
as new ways of communication.
- How do they keep their
vision and their spirituality
- What resources are there
to help them? How do they show leadership learning from each other supporting
each other being supported by the Bishop. Some
Deaneries have been reshaped making it easier for the clergy and the churches
to work together and with local organisations.
Laity
Bishop Nick spoke about
- Perceptions
opportunities frustrations.
- Identifying gifts and
leaders. Creating trust and release.
- Confidence, particularly
in evangelism and outreach.
- Vocations and succession
planning, seeing where a gap will soon appear.
- Children and young people.
- Desire versus change.
- Losing the competitiveness.
- Working together in
neighbourhoods.
Concluding questions he had
identified
- How to identify, appoint,
nurture, encourage and equip clergy to do what we are asking of them in a
complicated world.
- How can clergy identify,
appoint, nurture, encourage, train and equip lay leaders and ministers.
- How to prioritise and be
disciplined.
Two very good observations
he has identified:
- Clergy and lay commitment
- Ministry of Encouragement
How can we know where Gods
spirit is at work? We cannot measure how we are getting on.
Bishop Nick was happy to
take questions on any subject. One of the questioners ask
how do we know what to believe when the Christian teachings have changed over
the years. He reminded us that a Christian view of scripture is to engage with
the world in which we live and using the scriptures to find the will of
God. We need to use our Bibles more and
maybe in different ways; we could use the Psalms as a way of speaking with God,
remembering that the Psalms were Jesus hymn book.
The evening was very relaxed
and informative and the Bishop stayed around after the meeting had closed with
the Grace, talking to all who wanted to see him.
Heather Cosgrove
Deanery Synod Representative
The Theological Book Club
met for the first time on 21st February. After lots of discussion, we have
decided to read the following books over the next 8 months.
21st April 7.30pm at the
Rectory God Outside the Box by Richard Harries. A book
looking at the hard questions that challenge Christianity. How do we
deal with evil? How can we defend a flawed church?
In July
The Crucified God by Jurgen Moltmann. A very influential book which
takes death, despair and dreadfulness and relates them to the liberating hope
of liberation that is seen in the agony of the cross.
In
September Participating in God Paul Fiddes. This book suggests that the doctrine of the Trinity
is more than something thought up by theologians to confuse us. Rather it
teaches us about the true nature of God as based in relationships into which we
are drawn.
In
November The Scope and Authority of the Bible by James Barr. This month we are looking at the nature of the Bible
what is it and how should we read it What about
fundamentalist readings, or very liberal ones. How do they arise? How do we
deal with them?
Its not too late to join
simply get hold a copy of the book, read it (you dont need to have read it all
and it isnt an exam!), and come along. We hope to learn from each other and
encourage each other as we learn more about God.
Justine
The Service this year has
been prepared by Christian Women of Guyana. The theme is
'God's Wisdom Provides New
Understanding'.
Over 3 million women
worldwide will be praying and worshipping together during an annual day of
prayer on Friday 7th March. They will be using an order of service prepared by
Christian women from Guyana.
Emma Wilcock,
National President of Womens World Day of Prayer in England, Wales and
Northern Ireland, said:
"This is always an
exciting day. The extent of unity in prayer is shown by the factmeetings
will begin at sunrise in Tonga and finish only with sunset in neighbouring
Western Samoa, after there have been meetings in over 170.
In the British Isles, there
will be well over 6,000 prayer services in different places. They bring
together women, men and young people from every background and a very wide
range of Christian traditions."
Many women of Guyana still
bear the marks of those who experienced and fought against slavery and the
system of indentured labour, with the imperialism and discrimination which that
involved.
In recent years, women in
Guyana have been Prime Minister, President, Chief Justice and Director General
of the Foreign Affairs Ministry, as well as holding many other senior positions
at home and in international organisations. However, domestic violence and
human trafficking remain problems in the country. The Womens World Day of
Prayer meetings contribute to strengthening the dignity of.
A word about the WWDP logo:
It was designed by an Irish nun for the 1982 service. In the centre is the
cross formed by praying figures from the four corners of the earth. All are
joined together within the circle of the world and enfolded in God's love.
Morning Service
10.30 am St Mary's, Beddington
Speaker: Revd Steve Taylor, Wallington
Baptist Church
Evening Service
7.30 pm St Patrick's, Wallington
Speaker:
Revd Lynn Billin, Curate at St Paul's, Roundshaw
All
Welcome. Refreshments will be
served following both services
On Thursday, 10 January, the
speaker at our Branch Meeting was Judy Acheson, CMS worker in the Congo.
Unfortunately, technology failure prevented Judy from projecting all her
photographs onto the screen (though we were able to view them later on her
laptop computer). Nevertheless, with the aid of a map of the Congo she gave us
a very interesting talk about all that is being done through CMS there: youth training,
the publishing of a manual to be used with young people encouraging discussion
and decisions about more constructive behaviour. The ministry for young people
has fully endorsed this work, allowing the manual to be published complete with
its references to God and Christianity.
Judy asks for our prayers
for the Revd Azama, an MU member who is doing great
work with victims of rape, providing homes, training, counselling, etc. for
them. Judy travels thousands of miles across the Congo in the course of her
work as co-ordinator of youth and children's programmes. A lot of young people
want to leave the Congo because of the wars and rebel attacks of the past, but
Judy says that peace has now come to virtually all of the country and she and
her team are working hard to encourage them to stay and rebuild their nation,
to be proud of their achievements and to become true followers of Jesus.
Judy's faith, energy and
enthusiasm for her work was very evident and we could
have listened to her all night, such wonderful work deserves our prayerful
support.
Jenifer Davison
MU Branch Leader
Have you heard of The
Friends of St Marys?
In 1961 a group of church
members realised that certain desirable, though not strictly essential,
projects at St Marys could not be carried out because all the money in the
church funds had to be used on the day to day running of the church. Cornerstones was formed to collect a small donation from
interested people to create funds finance these projects.
In 1971 it was realised that
such a fund was still needed and the group reformed as Friends, with a
constitution agreed by the PCC, to raise funds for enhancing both the worship
and the building at St Marys. Everybody
who was interested was invited to join and many members of the congregation
gave a donation to the fund, usually once a year.
When many of the original
members moved away and joined other churches they continued to give to Friends
as a way of keeping in touch with Sts even if living far away; a letter telling
of the news of the church as well as the projects recently financed is
produced about once a year. Friends has also attracted people who visited St
Marys, maybe for a concert, a special service, on an open day or who just
dropped in on a summer Sunday afternoon.
Projects that Friends have
funded over the last 25 years have included the polycarbonate sheeting that
protects the stained glass windows which were being vandalised on a regular
basis, the original floodlighting, equipment for the Junior Church, the
amplification system, the New English Hymnals, repairs to the Carew Chapel
floor, the Years Mind book, new altar frontals and linen, and the restoration
of the brass of the Gothic Knight.
At the beginning of 2008
there are less than 40 members. New members are needed.
One project Friends hope to
help is the restoration of the Chancel stained glass window that was destroyed
by bomb blast in the 1940s. A donation
is promised from the family of an ex-churchwarden and his wife which will pay
for much of this work but more money might be needed to complete it. There are
other requests for help for projects both large and small, and to help Friends
to respond it needs to build up its funds.
To become a member please
give a donation (which currently range from 1 to 60 a year). Margaret
Treasurer, the Friends treasurer (really!), will willingly accept your
donation or give you a standing order form for the Friends account.
Please consider joining, it
is surprising how relatively small donations from many people can be gathered
together and used for the glory of our Lord at St Marys.
Heather Cosgrove
'Pray
without ceasing!'
Venues for joint prayer
meetings to be held on Wednesdays at 8pm
|
2008 26 March 30 April 28 May 25 June 30 July 27 Aug 24 Sept 29 Oct 26 Nov December |
St Mary's Springfield Wallington Christian
Centre St Patrick's St Michael's Wallington Baptist Wallington Methodist Wallington URC All Saints Hackbridge No Meeting |
2009 28 Jan 25 Feb 25 March |
Bandon Hill Methodist Holy Trinity St Elphege's |
Preparations are well under
way for our forthcoming Flower Festival and various members of the
flower-arranging team and other church groups can already be seen looking
speculatively at different areas in church as they begin to think about their
displays.
The plan is that, as well as
having a programme listing all the displays, eachshould
also be labelled individually. In addition, some pieces of prosepoetry
will also guide the visitor and highlight the theme of the festival, A Walk Through Life.
This is where YOU may come
in. Do you have beautiful handwriting?
Can you do calligraphy? If your answer to either of those questions is
'yes', would you be willing to make some labels or copy some pieces of prose or
poetry for us? Of course we can make labels on the computer, but if you have
the skill and the time we would love to display your talent as part of the
Festival.
If you would like to help
please send an example of your skill to:
The PCC Secretary of St. Mary's Church
55 Upland Road
Sutton, Surrey
SM2 5HW
.. or
leave it in an envelope on the table at the back of the church, labelled
'For the
attention of PCC Secretary'. Please remember to include your own contact details. We look forward to hearing from you.
. was one of the
questions asked at the Ringers Quiz Night. I am ashamed to say only one team
got the answer! Apart from that, all went well and 360 was counted at the end
of another enjoyable evening.
The ringers have had an
enjoyable year all round. Early last February, the first "Society"
child for 10 years was born to Chris and Tamasine and
we were able to ring a Quarter Peal to welcome Jack. On his visits to the
belfry he has behaved impeccably.
The fame of our own Quiz
Night had spread and we were asked to run the Association Quiz in April. It was
a great success but meant we couldn't take part. We were also unable to take
part in the 6-bell competition but had more luck in the others. We were placed
1st and 3rd in the Call Change competition at Oxted
and 3rd in the 8-bell at Bermondsey.
During the summer we were
delighted to acquire a new, fully-fledged ringer. Alan Brown had learnt at
Camberwell about 25 years ago, moved away and has now come back. Luckily for
us, he chose to join the Beddington band and a Quarter Peal was rung to welcome
him to our ranks.
But then came the blowDerek
Spittle, one of our most senior and experienced ringers announced he was moving
away. He's off to Fareham in Hampshire where, although they also have 10 bells,
there is no proper band and the sound they make is reminiscent of kitchen
utensils! He'll have the fun of finding a suitable tower. (My son, Nick,
recommends Portsmouth Cathedral; 10 good bells and a friendly local band. We'll
see)
We manned the tower during
the May Day celebrations in the Park, attracting a goodly crowd when the rain
came down! We were back again at the end of the month and again in September.
In between we had been on our Outing to six Surrey towers. We also hosted the
Association's Summer Business meeting in June, producing one of our
eagerly-awaited teas.
Once more we improved our
blood pressure by climbing 400 stairs over the Christmas and New Year period.
At our AGM we had a change of personnel. Ian Atkins has been appointed as our Steeplekeeper, while Diana and I remain in the other posts.
Grateful thanks were expressed to Stan Coleman who had done sterling work as
our previous steeplekeeper. Valerie has been very
unwell for the past six months but it is good to see her joining in our
activities again, albeit at ground level for the time being.
Jean Kimber
- Poet,
Priest and Orator 1571-1631
31 March
Sweetest love, I do not go
For weariness of thee,
Nor in hope the world can
show
A fitter love for me ..
. the beginning
of 'Song' are of the best known lyrics which established John Donne's
reputation as one of the greatest love poets of the English language.
John Donne who is commemorated
on 31 March was brought up as an English Catholic. His education was carefully
planned and followed by travel in Italy and Spain to prepare him for a career
as diplomat or Catholic priest. But at 19 he rebelled, came to London to study
law, sailed with Raleigh and Essex to hunt down Spanish treasure ships and
became the young man about town - Jack Donne, a great visitor of ladies and
frequenter of plays. He was noticed at Court and had a future assured.
All this came to a sudden
end when his secret marriage to Anne More was discovered. He lost his job. Anne
lost her dowry. Years of living in poverty followed - first at Pyrford near Woking, then at Mitcham.
It was at sometime during these years that Donne became an Anglican and a
priest, but not until after Annes death was he appointed Dean of St Pauls
Cathedral.
At St Pauls Donnes gifts
as a preacher blossomed and he became known as an outstanding orator. His
religious verse, as well as his love poetry is regarded as some of the greatest
in the English language. Unusually for the poetry of that time, it reveals much
of the man himself - his conflicts, his longings and his holy discontent -
all expressed in a direct and compelling colloquial style.