July 2012

Dear Friends,

First, a few 'thank yous'. The church's Art Festival, held this year over the Jubilee weekend, made a total profit of around £1800, subject to a few further expenses. We should be grateful to all those who worked so hard, in particular the organiser, Ernest Bradley, the 'tea lady' Tyrrel Bingham, and Jules Shaw, who brought together all the outside attractions. There were many others in what was very much a team effort. It was particularly gratifying to see a lot more people helping with the mammoth task of hanging the more than 500 pictures. And Winne Weldon has decided to retire as a sidesperson after many years in post, so thank you to her.

Sylvia and I have just begun this year's Start! or 'new Christians' Course, meeting on Sunday evenings at 7.30pm at our home, 2 Kirkstead Abbey Mews, Thorpe Hesley. Most people today, at best, have only a 'Sunday School' knowledge of Christianity, the majority far less than that. The aim of the evenings is to learn a little more of the basics of Christian belief and to discuss this is in a non-judgemental setting. That is, no particular level of commitment or of knowledge is assumed, either at the beginning or the end. The intention is simply to show what is, necessarily, a very much simplified outline of the faith and to leave participants entirely free to make up their own minds about it. If anyone else is interested in taking part I think it would be perfectly possible to join us up to, say, Sunday 8th July (we might do a brief 'catch-up' evening with anyone who did this). Do have a word with either me or my wife about it.

This year we should be able to have our full quota of services in the Old Church as the problem of the key has been sorted out. We can only have up to six acts of worship or the financial responsibility for the building would fall back upon the present congregation, rather than, as at present, on the Churches Conservation Trust. That is an eventuality devoutly to be avoided! And anyway, they do an excellent job keeping the structure in order and ensuring the building is frequently open to interested visitors, all under the stewardship of Matthew Wiles. That total will not include a wedding blessing to be held there later in the year, an uncommon but welcome request. Incidentally, though theoretically possible, holding a wedding there is not to be advised. The seating capacity is, at most, 40 and the church would have to be legally relicensed, a process which would certainly be highly expensive (to the couple concerned) and probably long drawn out. The summer's services will be as follows:

  • Sunday 29th July 8.15am Communion.
  • Sunday 5th August 6.30pm Evensong.
  • Sunday 12th August 8.15am Communion.
  • Sunday 19th August 6.30pm Evensong.
  • Sunday 26th August 8.15am Holy Communion.
  • Sunday 2nd September 6.30pm Evensong.


You will see that I plan to mark the 135th anniversary of the 'New' Church's dedication on the final Sunday of July. I was ten year's out in a recent sermon, by the way! The 135th is not a particularly significant anniversary, of course, but I don't expect to be around when it comes to 150. So I thought this would be a nice thing to do as a way of giving thanks both for the wonderful building we have and also for the life of our worshipping community. If anyone has, tucked away somewhere, any memento of the church in times past, it would be nice to be able to display these. If you have anything suitable, could you let me know, please?

A church is not just a building though. It is also a witness to the faith that inspired its construction. A visitor to the church recently commented to me on how fine the windows along the north side were. These are the ones relating to the estate's Land Agents. They are indeed very good in terms of artistic merit but most of them also portray some basic truths about the Christian faith. One shows the story of the lost sheep. Another Jesus meeting and welcoming children (I don't think it has the grumpy disciples in it though!). Anyone with children could do worse than come in and show them these pictures, as good as any in a book. And both of those mentioned provide the evidence for this statement - “God's love and power extend over all creation. Every life, including our own, is precious to God” (from the funeral service). And there is church history there also. In the window last-installed (in memory of Guy Canby) there is a Celtic Cross from Northumberland, a reminder of the contribution made to the church in these isles by monks and nuns from Scotland and Ireland.

You may have noticed a further, and more significant anniversary this year, that of the Prayer Book. The 1662 Prayer Book (not itself the first) was introduced by Act of Parliament from St Bartholomew's Day, 24th August 1662. This too, I think, is worth taking note of in our Sunday worship. The nearest Sunday would be the 26th but, since this is a Bank Holiday weekend, I think the 19th would be more sensible. So our service then will mark the 350th Anniversary of the Prayer Book. And why don't we take a leaf out of St Paul's Cathedral's book? They recently held an exhibition on this theme, asking for the loan of people's prayer books, together with any story attached to them, plus a photo of the donor. One of my own copies was in the exhibition, which is how I know. Does anyone have a particularly interesting copy of the Prayer Book, or one you could tell a story about? Once more, let me know about it. If we just get a few things for both these special days, maybe the best thing will be to combine the two displays in one. We'll see.

With best wishes,

Richard