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Parish Magazine

May 2018 40p

I am

the true vine

John 14 v 6

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By now you’ll have seen the “Think Different” display boards

inviting us to dream about what God might be calling you

and I into; they are an invitation to dream and imagine the question “what if?” what if we had unlimited resources, what

if we would be guaranteed success, what would we do for God’s Kingdom? I’m sure when the disciples set out with the

words of Jesus still fresh in their minds “Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing,

and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.” They maybe never imagined the

Gospel would grow in the way it did, and the Church flourish across the whole world for many hundreds of years in the

way it has; but I bet they dreamt about it, imagined what could be, and then took one step at a time. I can imagine

they watched the stars at night, saw the grains of sand, and considered God’s words “I will surely bless you and make

your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and

as the sand on the seashore.” and wondered how these promises might come true through Jesus Christ, and His

promised Holy Spirit in and through their lives and ministry.

I’m sure on the Think Different displays there will be some ideas we’ll never see the light of day, I’m sure some of them

we’ll try and won’t work out, and that’s ok. I mean how many inventors and pioneers got it right the first-time

round? But I’m sure some of the ideas will resonate with others, and two or more will share a similar passion and

vision for the future and area of ministry; and those individuals will hopefully come together and make these

dreams a reality, starting small, starting with what’s in their hand, what they can achieve, but always believing and

praying for greater things.

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What I’m not looking for us to be, is just a busier church, for

that isn’t what God calls us into, but I’m passionately longing for us all to discover what God is calling us into, what shape

of ministry He has for each of us, and what gifts God has already given us, that He longs to draw out of us, and to use

for His Kingdom and His glory. For me the coming months are an exciting season of discovery and pressing into God to

see and hear what He’s calling us into.

Rev’d David

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Rayleigh Branch Meetings

A big thank you to everyone who came to our Easter coffee morning and

sale. You helped raise £75.50. Molly Holly also sold quite a lot of items

on her Mother’ Union stall. She raised £82.30.

At the moment there are a lot of

colds and virus about, and

understandably some people

missed the Easter sale. Well

hopefully we have seen the last of

the snow and spring is on the way.

The sun, when it makes an

appearance, seems to be getting

stronger. If you have been unwell I

hope you will be feeling better very

soon.

I missed a meeting in February due to a cold. Our speaker was John

Townsend. Everyone who went enjoyed his talk. It is always good to hear

God's word.

Lastly a good old fashion sore throat remedy. In a mug put half the juice

of a fresh lemon, one or two teaspoons of honey and half a teaspoon of

glycerine add hot water. Take this morning and night.

GOD BLESS to you all.

June Walton

May’s meeting is on Wednesday 9th May, 10.45 am in the Parish Centre

(Cloister Hall).

This will be a discussion on current issues. Come and join us.

We start with refreshments and end with midday prayers. We start after

the Wednesday Holy Communion Service, which is at 10.am.

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RAYLEIGH PARISH “CAMEO” GROUP

Although details have not been finalised we will be enjoying

a cream tea at our first meeting of the month.

The 10th is Ascension Day Communion, usually held in Holy Trinity at

8.00pm.

On the 10th we have a film evening, so need a prompt start. The film is

still a mystery so hopefully will prove to be a lovely surprise.

“The Famous People of Essex” is the theme of the talk by Keith Lovell.

Keith is always a mine of information about our county of Essex.

Our final meeting is a trip to Hyde Hall Gardens. Much new work has

taken place over the winter so will undoubtedly be of interest to those

who don’t have the opportunity to visit regularly

If you have never visited us at CAMEO or haven’t been for some while,

this might be a good time to join our happy group.

May 3rd Cream Tea May 10th Ascension Day Communion

MAY 17th Film Show May 24th Famous People of Essex Keith Lovell

May 31st Visit to Hyde Hall

PLEASE NOTE

We meet on Thursday Evenings at 7.30pm – 9.30pm in the Parish Centre

unless instructed otherwise.

For more information contact Mrs S Bentley 01268 772431 or Mrs H Jones 01268 786245

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Parish Registers

Baptisms

April 1st Jade Michaela Sharply

George Stephens

Russell

Faye

Charlotte Emma Dawn Williams

8th Eleanor Rose Hopper

Weddings

May 19 James Kerry & Debbie Thurgood

27 Andrew Wiggins & Cassie Kettle

Funerals

March 14 Bryan Chinnery 78

April 4 August Riemer 93

20 Alice Lucy Spencer 91

John Butler’s Metropolitan Police Funeral was held at the church on the

10th May 2016, a day most that attended will never forget.

Regular Prayer Groups

Daily 09.00-09.30 Morning Prayer Yew Tree Room

2nd Weds. 10.45-11.45 MU Prayer Group Parish Centre

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History Corner……

CENTURY HEARTH TAX PAYMENTS IN RAYLEIGH

There are many kinds of records available for examining different aspects

of a town’s history over the years. Some have been, or were, in existence

for centuries, whilst others were comparatively short-lived. An example

of the latter was the Hearth Tax, which was introduced in1662 as a way

of easing Charles 11’s financial difficulties. After a lot of debate during

1661 and 1662 it was proposed to introduce a tax on hearths.

In using this tax to learn something about a town’s population, it is

assumed that the size of a person’s house, as measured by the number

of hearths it contained, is a rough index to their wealth and position in

local society, so the population is being classified by house size. Clearly,

such assessments should be used with caution, and it should also be

borne in mind that the majority of people lived in houses with only one

fireplace.

The duty was established in 1662 at a level of 2 shillings for each fire

hearth. The lists were drawn up by petty constables and a duplicate was

sent to the Exchequer. The lists also included the names of those who

were exempt from parochial rates on account of poverty. Of 27 exempt

Rayleigh people in 1671, nine were widows. Also, those parishioners who

received charity were omitted from the lists.

The Rayleigh list for 1662 shows that the houses of Henry Stevens and

Thomas Greene each contained nine hearths, the largest number, there

was no grand manor house in the village. The next largest was occupied

by the clerk (clergyman) who was Abraham at this time. This had eight

hearths. Two others of similar size were occupied by “Richard Hopper,

gent” and “Timothy Ryland, gent, entries which referred to their social

standing as well as their wealth. Nine years later, the 1671 list shows

that Samuel Bull was the local clergyman. Supplementary information

year reveals these were vacant, and some occupations can also be

determined – Thomas was a local constable and two of the properties,

those of John Mason and John, were described as being “with a smithy”.

May 2018 Noel Beer

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Tuesday 15th May: Holy Trinity

Saturday 26th May: St Michael’s

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It may seem a long time ago by the time you read this but this is to

reiterate a thank you to all who attended the Friends AGM on March

25th. There we welcomed David Oxtoby as both our new Rector since the

last AGM (as reported in the April magazine) and as Vice Chairman and

a Trustee of the Friends. Thanks were also given to Nick Rowan in his

absence for his term as Vice Chairman after Mike Lodge’s secondment

and during the interregnum. The cheque for £48,000 was presented by

the Friends’ Treasurer Derek Kentish to the PCC Treasurer Adrian Hall.

Thanks were also due to ESW Legal and Accountancy Services of

162-168 High Street, Rayleigh who had performed the independent

examination of the Friends Annual Accounts for 2017.

David Oxtoby gave the Rector’s Address thanking the Friends for their

hard work both raising money for the PCC for the ancient fabric and for

providing an interesting programme of events. Our president Mark

Francois gave his presidential address requesting that at some point his

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bear - Portcullis - would have another opportunity to parachute from the

tower.

Mark also presented The Thanksgiving Shield to Alan and Thea

Kentish in recognition of years of support for the Friends, including

Thea’s cards, curation of the second-hand books for many years and

Alan’s assistance with the Friends’ GiftAid claim.

We welcome to the Friends Committee Chris Redrup and Jacky Wragg.

Subsequent to the business meeting, the presentation by Gordon

Simmonds on the proposed refurbishment of Holy Trinity was also

gratefully received.

In other news, The Friends are

opening the tower on Bank

Holiday Monday 28th May

from 10am to 5pm (last

tours 4.30pm) (not as shown

in the programme card) and

usual sales of refreshments,

plants and pre-loved items. As

before the age limit (no under

8s are allowed up the tower) is

set by the church insurers and

people need to wear suitable

footwear to ascend a stone

staircase and walk on a lead

walkway (e.g. no flip-flops,

stilettos or other inappropriate

footwear).

We are still in search for gardens willing to open for the Friends

Garden Trail on the August Bank Holiday (Sunday 26th and/or

Monday 27th August) – if you own such a garden or know of a garden

please get in touch with Jane Brown – 01268 742215.

Tickets are still available for the Friends Full-Day Coach Outing to

Ipswich on Friday 29th June (including a 4 hour barge cruise on the

Orwell and visit to Wilkins Tea rooms at Tiptree). Tickets are £34 for

members (£36 for non-members) including all travel but excluding

refreshments. Liz Simmonds - 01268 745825 - has the booking forms

and more details.

Ian Gale, Trustee.

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More on Vision to Serve Ministries, Hyderabad, India

Revd Tracy Marlow

You may have read my article last month reporting on some aspects of my trip to India.

By the time you read this article Wayne Pranked would have transferred the latest funds from Rayleigh to support the school.

Everything in the Vision school from the uniform to the books and pens, even the very bricks and mortar are enabled by the good people of Rayleigh. In my last report although I mentioned the

support of the parish of Rayleigh to the Vision to serve Ministry I didn’t say how we do and can support.

The main way people are currently supporting is by sponsoring a child. There are currently 20 of the 75 children in the school

supported in this way.

There are many organisations that you can support children through, including Compassion and World Vision. The difference in

supporting a child through the Vision school is this. Firstly, you won’t get letters from the child (although you will hear annual updates) This is for several reasons, the main one being they have

no administrator to organise this. All of your money will go directly to the project, no overheads nor staff to be paid. Callister works

for a church to support his family; he and Jaya are not paid for the work in the school or villages. Another difference from other child sponsorship schemes is that you can choose how much you want

to contribute, from as little as £5 per month. The money supports the child by paying for books, uniforms

including shoes, report cards and general school costs. Funds consistently need to be raised to pay for the teacher’s monthly salary. At the moment their pay is 5500 rupees per month - that’s

£65, and we hope to increase this soon as the teachers are struggling.

The biggest fund-raising project at the moment is to raise money for the playground.

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We are currently renting this small piece of land for £150 per

month. However, the owner of the land wants to sell it and there are other parties interested. If we lost this land the school could

be in serious danger of closure, since the government states, as here in the UK, thT there must be an outside play area. To purchase the land and decorate the school, which is also a real

need, we will need to raise £40,000. The good news is we have £21,200 already pledged. We totally believe God wants this

ministry to flourish. Jesus' words in the gospel of Luke should now be our words as we are called to join in with his mission to the poor and oppressed in our own land and abroad “The Spirit of the

Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the

captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed." (Luke 4 v 18)

Thank you to all who support The Vision School, Hyderabad.

If you would like to support this mission please contact me, Revd Tracy Marlow 07886442254 or Wayne Prankard 07801993889 Watch this space for how the gospel is preached through Vision to

Serve Ministries.

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TLM Miscellany

Apologies to our long term TLM supporters, but we

have some new donors who have asked about our

focus of support in TLM – the Anandaban Hospital. I

have repeated recent information about Anandaban

here for our newcomer’s benefit.

Anandaban Hospital is the centre of excellence for leprosy referral in

Nepal and provides holistic leprosy care and world class reconstructive

surgeries. It provides its services through outpatient, dermatologist and

orthopaedic services. It is the only hospital that has a large outpatient

clinic and mother and child care centre

which serves the general community as

well as those affected by leprosy. Three

years ago, Nepal suffered a severe

earthquake. Whilst the hospital itself

survived the shock, it became the

centre for many of the injuries

sustained by the ‘quake. Worried about

the likelihood of an aftershock, many

patients slept outside in tents! Whilst the Parish supports TLM in general,

Anandaban is our focus.

At the time of writing, it is early April and already your phials and boxes

are coming in. I’m very grateful for this as it does spread the load rather

than have a B-I-G count at the end of the month. Thank you.

Some of you have expressed concern that your donations are dwindling.

We live in an era when technology is advancing, and we are moving

towards that period of handling less cash, with contactless cards paying

for your needs rather than coins or notes. Please keep the coins and

notes that you have coming in, though – every little helps. Questions

have been asked about cheques. Of course, these are very acceptable.

The best method is to make any cheque payable to “The PCC of

Rayleigh”. Our PCC have a Leprosy Mission sub-account and when I bank

your donations, I ensure it reaches that sub-account. The Parish then

raises the appropriate cheque for us all for passing to TLM HQ. Cheques

made out directly to TLM are acceptable as well, but it does take longer

to debit your account and we would rather there be no ‘surprises’ on your

account.

David Medcraft

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Saturday Film Afternoons

Join us to enjoy a film, and if you have never been to one of the film

afternoons, do come. You would be very welcome. We start at 2pm. There is no charge.

Next showing: Saturday May 26th

Luncheon Club at St Michael’s: The luncheon club at St Michael’s will run on the following

dates:

Thursday 10th May

Thursday 24th May

11am – 2pm

There are flyers available in the churches / Parish Centre, advertising

the afternoon, in the weeks leading up to the show.

DEADLINE FOR PARISH MAGAZINE: Please email articles for inclusion in the next issue

to

alison.ball@parishofrayleigh.org.uk

Hand written articles can be left in the pigeon hole in the Parish Office

by SAT If you are sending a poster, please send it in pdf format as well as Word if possible.

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Coffee at Holy Trinity after the 9.00 and 10.30am services Choir and Music Group provide our service music at Holy Trinity. To join the Choir please contact the choir director. A supervised Crèche is available every week during the 10.30am service at Holy Trinity (except for school holidays) and it is located in the Cloister Hall. Toys are available the Yew Tree Room, if parents prefer, where there is a speaker to relay the service.

BCP Book of Common Prayer CW Common Worship

Services in May

Holy Trinity

May 6th Easter 6

8.00am Holy Communion (BCP)

9.00am Holy Communion (CW)

10.30am Holy Communion (CW)

3.00pm Confirmation Service

Thursday 10th May 8.00pm Holy Communion

Ascension Day

13th Easter 7

8.00am Holy Communion (BCP)

9.00am Morning Worship

10.30am All Age & Parade

12.30pm Baptism

20th Pentecost

8.00am Holy Communion (BCP)

9.00am Holy Communion (CW)

10.30am Morning Worship

Venue TBC 6.30pm Churches for Rayleigh

United Service

27th Trinity Sunday

8.00am Holy Communion (BCP)

9.00am Morning Worship

10.30am Morning Worship

Please check the weekly notice sheet for updates on services and

Parish wide information.

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DAILY SERVICES Morning Prayer daily at 9.00am until 9.30am in The Yew Tree Room. All are welcome – join us when you can. Enter through the Parish Centre. WEDNESDAYS 10am Holy Communion at Holy Trinity. 1st & last Wednesdays are CW, others are BCP.

VISITING SERVICES: ROSEDALE COURT: 3.00pm - 3rd Tuesday

GT WHEATLEY: 2.00pm - 4th Wednesday SWEYNE COURT: 3.00pm - 4th Wednesday

May 6th Easter 6

11.00am SundayOne

3.00pm Confirmation Service at Holy Trinity

Thursday 10th May 8.00pm Holy Communion

Ascension Day at Holy Trinity

13th Easter 7

11.00am Holy Communion

20th Pentecost

11.00am All Age & Parade

Venue TBC 6.30pm Churches for Rayleigh

United Service

27th Trinity Sunday

11.00am Lord’s Supper

Please check the weekly notice sheet for updates on services and Parish wide information.

Rayleigh Parish Churches

St Michael’s

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Flower Rota: 6th May Barbara Butler in

memory of John Butler

Sylvia Lester in memory of Ron

Deborah Pocock in memory of Tim

13th May

Jacky Wragg

Pat Thomas in memory of

mother Isabella

20th May Jane Brown in memory of Roger Seaman

Joyce King in memory of mother, Beatrice

27th May Robert and Julia

Swann and family in memory of Granny (Nancy Logan)

Wedding Flowers

By the time this article is published we will no doubt be in the grips of Royal Wedding excitement. The flower team will offer their own

tribute to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle and will include a plant that has long been a tradition in Royal Bride bouquets.

Every royal wedding bouquet contains at least one sprig of myrtle, a tradition which dates back to 1840, when Queen Victoria married

Prince Albert. Myrtle symbolizes hope and love, making it a fitting addition to any bride's bouquet, royal or not. The royal myrtle plant, was given to Queen Victoria by Prince Albert's

grandmother. The couple brought back the plant from Germany to the Isle of Wight, where it has thrived. It was included in bouquets

carried by the Duchess of Cambridge, Diana, Princess of Wales, and the Queen.

Congratulations to Meghan and Harry from the Parish of Rayleigh Flower Team

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During the week before Easter a series of art works produced by groups

associated with the Parish’s two churches were displayed in Holy Trinity. The art

work depicted 15 Biblical Stations of the Cross and told the story of the first Easter: Jesus’s arrest, trial, death and resurrection. The pictures were templates that had been coloured in by church children’s groups, church youth groups, Beavers, Cubs, Rainbows, Brownies and Guides. It was not just the children and young people that were involved; The Mothers’ Union, Craft etc. and the Sunday night Post-Alpha group did some of the pictures too.

It was wonderful to get people of all ages involved in creating the pieces. The pictures showed us different aspects of Jesus’s journey, as described in the

gospels, through those difficult days and allowed us to think about what he did to heal our relationship with God and to bring us forgiveness. We produced a

guide to help people to reflect on the pictures and on what Jesus had done for us. We had a number of visitors to the church during the week and a lot of the guides were used.

Walking the Stations of the Cross has been a long-held tradition within the Church of England, offering an opportunity to journey with Jesus and the Church Community as we pause and reflect upon the events of Easter. The pictures were also used as part of “The Hour at the Cross” on Good Friday.

All those involved in the project enjoyed taking part and learnt more about the Easter story. These are some of their comments.

Janet Carter (Young Church at Holy Trinity) said “These sessions gave us the ideal opportunity to discuss the Easter story in detail with the children. We were

also able to answer their questions in a relaxed environment.”

Deborah Prankard (Young Church at St Michael’s) said “It was good to focus on the meaning of Easter and the gift that Jesus gave us”.

Clare Izod-Kyffin (Cub Leader) said “The Cubs enjoyed colouring in the station of the cross poster. As a leader it gave me the opportunity to discuss the Easter

Story and explore what the Cubs understood about why we celebrate Easter”.

One of the Rainbows, Amber said "I enjoyed colouring the pictures especially the

rainbow as the colours are bright and makes me happy"

The young people from the parish’s Vibe youth group told us what they thought.

Izzy said “I really liked the art but the story is sad”. Sam said “I liked doing the art although it is interesting to find out why and what Jesus did for us”. Sophie said “I liked doing the drawing and finding out about the main people in my religion”. Harry said “I think this story is really interesting and it is a great way to learn about it using art”.

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Prayer Space for May….

This month, the Prayer Working Group are offering

some insights to basics in prayer so we can enhance our Parish Prayer Life. It’s not intended as the “be all

and end all” of prayer but to remind us – young and

old – of some fundamentals.

Importance of Prayer

Prayer is one of the most important things a Christian can do. It is a time we are communicating with God and it should

be taken very seriously. While there is deep theological meaning in prayer, it doesn’t have to be complicated and

difficult. It’s something anyone can do anywhere at any time.

Drawing Near to God

It’s impossible to know someone if you don’t spend time with

them. Prayer is an opportunity to spend time with God. To really understand the heart of God, you need to pray. In

John 15:15, Jesus says He no longer calls us his

servants, but calls us His friends. Talking with God develops a deeper relationship with Him. The deeper

the relationship becomes, the more time you want to spend with Him. In 1 Corinthians 3:9, God calls us His fellow

workers. How can we be His fellow workers if we do not talk

to Him?

Prayer Changes Us

We often think prayer changes God. This simply isn’t the case. Prayer changes us. When we spend time with God,

He is working to change our heart to be more like His. The more time we spend with Him, the more we are like Him.

Our habits and lifestyles will change. We will no longer live a self-centred life, but one that is focused on others with a pure

and sincere heart. Prayer changes us inside out.

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How Should We Pray?

God loves our prayers and He desires us to enter into closer communion with Him through prayer. There is no required

method of prayer. It truly is simply a conversation with our Father in Heaven. Prayers can be long or short, petitions or

praises, questions or affirmations. Prayers can be for oneself or for another. They can be from a joyous heart, a downcast

heart, a repentant heart, or a broken heart, but all prayer should be in reverence of God and with a desire to submit to

His will. That will produce prayers of trusting faith, knowing

God will hear and believing He will answer.

There is Power in Prayer

The power in prayer is not a power that comes from the act

of prayer. It is a power that flows from the One to whom we pray. In our impotent humanity, we are blessed to be able

to reach upward to God in prayer knowing that He hears. In

His omnipotence He responds and we receive—that’s the power of prayer! Prayer unleashes a deeper communion with

God in our hearts and it comforts our souls. It grows a richer faith in who He is and unleashes power in us to live our lives

in service to Him and others. The power is not in our petition. The power comes from His response and a

confidence in knowing He is ever-present with us.

Lord of all, You are the God of power teach us to make time and space for you –

the opportunity to pause and ponder, to take stock of our lives,

to reflect on your goodness and to understand what it is you want to say to us.

Draw near to us in the quietness, and may we hear your voice

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Five have a Wonderful time !

At the end of February five CAMEO members plus another church

member joined a party of 27 on a 9 day Pilgrimage to the Holy Land. Our

flight from Heathrow was the last to take off before all flights were

cancelled due to ice and snow – we spent four hours on the tarmac while

the pilot de-iced the wings – to arrive at Tel Aviv at 10.pm in

temperatures of 22º! They rose throughout our stay to 28º, and as we

all received pictures from home of snowed up back gardens, I’m afraid

we smirked smugly in what can only be called as a most un-Christian

way!

Only one of us had been before, to the rest of us the packed and

punishing schedule was physically taxing beyond our imagination – but

we wouldn’t have missed a moment of it. We visited iconic sites of

Christ’s ministry and final days – the pools at Bethesda where he healed,

the Mount of Olives where he wept over Jerusalem, the site of the old

Temple, the Garden of Gethsemane with its exquisite church, the deeply

moving Church of the Holy Sepulchre commemorating his crucifixion ,

burial and resurrection; perhaps most memorably of all – for those who

could face it - the Via Dolorosa, empty and silent at 5.30am, praying at

each of the 14 Stations of the cross – an unforgettable experience.

Our 5-day stay in Jerusalem ended as we headed east to see a murky

section of the river Jordan! Then away from white limestone and rocky

outcrops, north up the fertile Jordan valley to Galilee for an all- too- brief

4 days. After the often emotional sites in Jerusalem, Galilee was balm to

the soul. Our hotel on the side of the lake soothed us with its calm and

peaceful aspect as we set forth each day to explore the places so familiar

to Jesus, and to us through the Bible: Capernaum, Nazareth, Jericho and

sites connected with the Beatitudes & the Transfiguration. Two especially

striking churches were those at Tabgha, commemorating the Feeding of

the 5,000 with its wonderful mosaics, and Mensa Christi on the shores of

Galilee - built unusually of black basalt - commemorating Peter’s

declaration that Jesus was indeed the Messiah, and after the

Resurrection, being commissioned by Jesus to lead his church.

It was a Pilgrimage: there was a good deal of entirely appropriate worship

at various places, perhaps most notably a Eucharist in the desert on a

rock overlooking St Peter’s monastery, and another in the middle of Lake

Galilee where some were moved to tears.

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However, in both parts of our stay we were taken to more secular places

to give us a more rounded view of the country. A drive along the

settlements on the West Bank was revealing, it’s regrettable, divisive

wall snaking along for miles emphasising brutally the divided nature of

the land.

Archaeological sites at Herod the Great’s summer palace & underground

Antonia fortress, a complete Roman town abandoned after an earthquake

still being excavated at Beit Sha’an were all fascinating, as were the Dead

Sea Scrolls museum, a Crusader fortress at Acre, and the impressive

Bethlehem Arab Society for Rehabilitation, where all are welcome

regardless of age, gender, religion or race or financial situation – a rare

and immense achievement in this beautiful land of many tensions.

We left in a state of physical exhaustion, our minds seething with new

impressions & experiences, but spiritually quite undeniably renewed and

uplifted.

Which perhaps is what Pilgrimage has always been about.

Hazel Jones

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Yes, you do have permission to be nosey in order to keep an eye on each other….

Further to David Oxtoby talking in the services about us each

having permission to be nosey and look out for each other….enquiring if everything is OK if we do not see each

other at the services each week….We are determined that we will do better at noticing when people are missing from

church…when maybe they are not well…but with so many…and trying to be observant at different services, and

the fact that the same clergy are not present each week, it

is so easy to miss people. We need your help…we need you each to notice if there is someone missing from the pew in

front, or behind…or someone who usually sits next to you….we have our eyes open too…but we could do with some

help….Please tell us if you know of someone who is not well…and David has given you all permission to be

nosey…and ring them up to check that they are OK….

While talking about this, at a meeting, Brian Ash mentioned that he remembered reading a poem in a church

magazine…so I looked into the archives of the Church Times, and I found a copy of this poem….” The Church Clairvoyant”,

by Reverend Stanley Forrest,. Brian says this is not the one he means…but we thought it would be worth sharing with

you all…Remember though, the point of all this is…that we

keep an eye on each other, and please let the clergy know if you find out that someone is unwell.

Thank you….

Tracy Nutter

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The Church Clairvoyant (1955)

They grumbled at the anthems and the chants they couldn’t sing,

They moaned about the settings that the festivals would bring,

But they left the poor old organist to find out everything, By instinct, or possibly, by radar.

They groused about the particles of dust upon the pew,

They shivered in the icy draughts which from the windows blew,

But they never told the verger, or perhaps they thought he knew,

By instinct, or possibly, by radar.

They fetched the doctor fast enough when father had the

gout, They called the district nurse when tonsillitis was about,

But they never told the Vicar, for they thought he’d know without,

By instinct, or possibly, by radar.

The moral of these verses isn’t difficult to show: That if you think a man is wrong, politely tell him so,

Don’t leave the chap to ascertain the things he doesn’t know

By instinct, or possibly, by radar.

By Stanley J. Forrest

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2nd and 16th May

For more information please check out our Facebook page or contact the Parish Office on 01268 74215

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COULD THIS BE YOUR MINISTRY?

The Church has been sent by Christ to reveal and communicate the love

of God to all people. As Sidesmen, what a wonderful opportunity we

have!

We are all chosen to use our gifts and to participate in Christ's teachings.

A Sidesman's Ministry is to welcome all who come through our Church

doors. It is a privilege to welcome all and do His work - to show others

something of God's love, in return for the love He has shown us.

If we are unsure as to whether a Sidesman's ministry is one of our gifts,

it can be helpful to pray about this but at the same time to remember

Paul's words, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."

Please speak to a member of the Clergy or a Church Warden if you would

like to become a Sidesperson.

Cards e.t.c.

10.30 and end 12.30pm. It is still on the third Thursday of the month and £3 subscription each morning

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C L A S S I F I E D S

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