Apparently it’s a misquotation, but St Augustine is alleged to have said “He who sings, prays twice”. It’s a good point, because so much of what we believe is shaped through the words that we sing and the way we sing them. That’s why choosing hymns is such a difficult job and why, at St Mary’s, Jenifer, Andrew and I choose hymns together so that, even if you don’t like all the ones we choose, you don’t end up with one person’s 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 God’s love. We can encounter that transformation on an emotional level that we can’t always do when we read the Bible or listen to a sermon. Music can in many ways take us into the heart of God.

It’s certainly like that for me when I hear the Exsultet, the traditional first hymn of Easter. It’s 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 God’s love and God’s 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 God’s love.

So this Easter, rejoice and sing as well as you can, exult with all creation that God’s love has conquered and we are inheritors with and through Christ of God’s kingdom.

Walking with Jesus

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 John’s 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 we’re 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 God’s Friday – Good Friday. At 10.30 am there will be a children’s service and workshop in the Centre. The Churches Together Walk of Witness begins at 12 noon from St Elphege’s. At St Mary’s, 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
Sat	1	21st Century Marriage . The Centre	10.00 am - 2.00 pm
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
Mon	3	Lent Course. The Centre	8.00 pm
Tue "	4 "	Magazine Panel meets at 35 Vanguard Way Social Committee meets at 2 Caraway Place	10.30 am 7.30 pm
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
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
Fri	7	Women's World Day of Prayer Services: St Mary's St Patrick's, Wallington	10.30 am 7.30 pm
Sat	8	21st Century Marriage. The Centre	10 am - 2.00 pm
SUN	9	LENT 5 - PASSION SUNDAY
Mon "`	10 "	Staff meeting at The Rectory Lent Course. The Centre	9.30 am 8.00 pm
Tue "	11 "	Time for God Quiet Worship. The Carew Chapel PCC meeting. The Centre	9.30 am 8.00 pm
Wed	12	Lent Course. The Centre	10.30 am
Thu	13	'Praise & Play' for pre-school toddlers Palm Sunday - ‘A Donkey for a King’	10.00 am
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
Holy Week
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
Mon	17	Eucharist Meditation Meditation		9.00 am 9.30 am 7.30 pm

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 tomorrow’s 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 St’s 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
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
Thu	27	Praise & Play for pre-school toddlers The Resurrection - ‘The Happiest Day’	10.00 am
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
SUN	30	EASTER 2

Readings for Sundays and Festivals in March

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

Saints and Commemorations in March

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

Shifting the Saints

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.)

Thinking of you

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

From the Registers

Baptisms

13 January        Charlie Musgrove
20 January        Gerald, Jamie and Georgea Hall
                        Gracie Drewelus-Paul
                        Tillie Johnson

Wedding

2 February Paul Edward Kossowicz

and Vicky Angela Wiltshire.

Funeral

31 January Evelyn Rose Poulter, age 89 years

Snippets

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 .

Sutton Deanery Synod

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 God’s 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

Friends

Have you heard of The Friends of St Mary’s?

In 1961 a group of church members realised that certain desirable, though not strictly essential, projects at St Mary’s 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 Mary’s. 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 St’s 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 Mary’s, 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 Mary’s.

Heather Cosgrove

CAN YOU HELP?

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.

What is the sixth commandment?…

………. 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 blow……Derek 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