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Towards the Conversion of England
Fr Aidan Nichols, OP, a scholarly writer tipped from time to time
to be the next Archbishop of Westminster, has produced yet another
volume from his prolific pen. This book, The Realm, is
quite short, a mere 160 pages; and its thesis – a plea
for the conversion of England to the full faith of Roman Catholicism – one
that you would not expect to be endorsed in a Church of England
parish magazine.
Yet the main themes of his blueprint are ones upon which we might
reasonably and sensibly draw. Fr Nichols is concerned
To revive the beauty of the liturgy
To reclaim the Bible
To rethink ecumenism, and
To relaunch Christian philosophy and doctrinal orthodoxy.
In our fractured and confused society, the Church still has a
Gospel to proclaim, and the best way of proclaiming the Gospel
is to live it.
MRK
CHURCH FEUD
There was a feud between the Pastor and the Choir Director of
the Hicksville Southern Baptist Church.
It seems the first hint of trouble came when the Pastor preached
on 'Dedicating Yourselves to Service' and the Choir Director
chose to sing: 'I Shall Not Be Moved.’ Trying to believe
it was a coincidence, the Pastor put the incident behind him.
The next Sunday he preached on 'Giving.' Afterwards, the
choir
squirmed as the director led them in the hymn: 'Jesus Paid It All.’
By this time, the Pastor was losing his temper. Sunday morning
attendance swelled as the tension between the two built. A large
crowd showed up the next week to hear his sermon on 'The Sin of
Gossiping.' The Choir Director selected the song: 'I Love
To Tell The Story.’
There was no turning back. The following Sunday the Pastor told
the congregation that unless something changed, he was considering
resignation. The entire church gasped when the Choir Director led
them in: 'Why Not Tonight?’
Truthfully, no one was surprised when the Pastor resigned a week
later, explaining that Jesus had led him there and Jesus was leading
him away. The Choir Director could not resist: 'What A Friend We
Have In Jesus.'
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USPG Lent Boxes
Many thanks for the generous response to the USPG Lent Box collection
this year.
A total of £287.43 was raised which is over £100 more
than in 2007. In addition, this year £148 of the total was
gift aided which means that a further £41.89 will be recovered
in Tax Benefit making a grand total of £329.32 – a 56%
increase. Many thanks.
Malcolm
Phipps
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The Princess and the Frog Prince
Once upon a time, a beautiful, independent, self-assured princess
happened upon a frog in a pond. The frog said to the princess, "I
was once a handsome prince until an evil witch put a spell on me.
One kiss from you and I shall turn back into a prince and then
we can marry, move into the castle with my mother and you can prepare
my meals, clean my clothes, bear my children and forever feel happy
doing so."
That night, while the princess dined on frog legs, she kept laughing
and saying, "I don't THINK so."
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Notes from the Parish Church Choir-Stalls
Welcome to Ashley, Daniel, Jonathon and Sam who
have joined the Choir, they made their debut at Pentecost and were
easily recognizable by their red robes. We all hope you will enjoy
your singing and being part of the Parish Church family.
Congratulations to the younger members of the Choir who have been
presented with Royal School of Church Music medals; red ribbons for
the two head-choristers, dark blue for the senior boys and light
blue for the juniors.
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A Gardener’s Hymn
All things bright and beautiful, all creatures great and small,
All things wise and wonderful, the Lord God made them all.
But what we never mention, though gardeners know it’s
true,
Is when He made the goodies, He made the baddies too.
All things spray and swattable, disasters great and small,
All things paraquatable, the Lord God made them all.
The fungus on the goosegogs, the club-root on the greens.
The slugs that eat the lettuce and chew the aubergines.
The greenfly on the roses, the maggots in the peas
Manure that fills our noses, he also gave us these.
The drought that kills the fuchsias, the frost that nips the
buds
The rain that drowns the seedlings, the blight that hits the
spuds.
The midges and mosquitoes, the nettles and the weeds,
The pigeons in the green stuff, the sparrows on the seeds.
The fly that gets the carrots, the wasps that eat the plums,
How black the gardener’s outlook, though green may be
his thumbs.
But still we gardeners labour, midst vegetables and flowers,
And pray what hits our neighbour will somehow bypass ours!
Thanks to Josie and David Bowler for this
poem
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The Verger was taking a group of boys up the tower. When they
reached the bell-tower the bells started to ring, a small boy leaned
over the safety rail to see more clearly. Unfortunately one of
the bells struck him in the face. He was knocked unconscious and
fell to the floor.
The Verger said “does anyone know the boy?”
A small voice replied “I don’t know his name but his
face rings a bell”.
Thanks to Frank Andrews for this.
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Quiz for June 2008
1. What does a ‘Cryometer’ measure ?
2. In which city is the Doge’s Palace?
3. Who plays Johnny Depp’s uncle in the 1993 film Arizona Dream?
4. Which New Zealand golfer won the 2000 Australian Masters in Melbourne?
5. Which continent has the larger land mass? Africa or North America.
6. Aston, Aston, Rizzo, Steveneon, Gilvear; which 1980’s group.
7. What name is given to the art of preparing, stuffing and mounting the skins
of animals to make lifelike models?
8. Which artist was appointed court painter to Charles IV of Spain in 1786?
9. The name of which Roman god means ‘shining father’ in Latin?
10. What is the name of the dog in Punch and Judy shows?
Thanks to Peter Openshaw for another quiz – Peter
has complied this from his hospital bed which goes far beyond
the call of duty!!!! Get well soon Peter.
Answers to May quiz
1. Cook Strait. 2. Biscuits. 3.Jamaica. 4. Amazon. 5. Slovenia.
6. Snooker. 7. Sri Lanka. 8. Ramadan. 9. Sao Paulo. 10. St. Lawrence
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The Church on the Bus
The Parish Church has received a letter of thanks for the tins,
sleeping bags, duvets and other gifts to help them with their ministry
to homeless people.
‘To all the Church,
Your kind donation is much appreciated.
Thank you so much from the Church on the Bus Crew’
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Word from the Bird…..
As Christians should we do more? Are we doing what we can to further
the kingdom of God? Do we know what is needed of our church and
us?
These are just a few questions we need to seek answers for. It
is all too easy to answer YES we could do more, and yes we could
do more to further the kingdom of God, and God will show us what
we need for ourselves and our church.
As Christians should we do more? We can all answer yes but where
do we start? Should we go into the community and tell everyone
about the wonder of God?
I don’t think many people will listen. We have to find different
ways of telling our story. Different ways in every situation and
way of life. Some of it will be trial and error until we find something
that works in our own particular situation. It may be just our
actions. I don’t think we should ever give up trying even
when all seems impossible.
Are we doing what we can to further the kingdom of God? I think
we would all like to answer yes, but to be truthful we would have
to answer no.
Do we need to know what is needed of our church and us? Is it
enough just to go to church and say our prayers? These things are
important but I don’t think it ends there. We have to find
what else we can do ourselves and what else our church can do to
serve the community.
Would it not be fantastic if we knew all the answers? It would
make our Christian life a lot simpler. Having said that we should
never stop trying to find the right answers to our questions and
not just sticking to the first things that come into our heads.
Phil Sparrow
Churchwarden SS Augustine
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The Lambeth Conference Prayer
Pour down upon us, O God, the gifts of your Holy Spirit, that
those who prepare for the Lambeth Conference may be filled with
wisdom and understanding. May they know at work within them that
creative energy and vision which belong to our humanity, made
in your image and redeemed by your love, through Jesus Christ
our Lord.
Amen.
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The Hymn Music of Sir Arthur Sullivan
The parody of "The Lost Chord" in the last magazine
reminded me of the composer's request not to burlesque the piece
as Sir Arthur Sullivan had written it "in sorrow at (his)
brother's death." I think that Sullivan's plea referred
to the music rather than the lyrics, as Adelaide Proctor's words
are risible; how, for instance, can one chord of music sound
like the two syllables of "Amen"?
More usually associated with W.S. Gilbert and the Savoy Operas, Sir Arthur Sullivan
did contribute to church music as well, with hymns, anthems and oratorios to
his name. George Bernard Shaw describes Sullivan's operetta scores as being "more
churchy than Offenbach" and with due reason, for Sullivan as a boy chorister
at the Chapel Royal had been taught by the Revd. Thomas Helmore, who was almost
single-handedly responsible for the renewal of music in the Church of England.
Subsequently, Sullivan wrote his first anthem, "By The Waters Of Babylon",
at the age of eight, acted as an organist in two London churches in the 1860s,
and was appointed editor of "Church Hymns and Tunes" in 1874.
In his lifetime, Sullivan wrote over 60 hymn tunes; most hymnals only preserve
four...possibly five...of them. Interestingly, three of the tunes can be used
at the major festivals within the Church (NOEL - "It Came Upon The Midnight
Clear" - Christmas/ LUX EOI - "Alleluia, Alleluia, Hearts To Heaven
And Voices Raise" - Easter/HARVEST SHEAVES - "To Thee, O Lord, Our
Hearts We Raise" - Harvest).
The fourth tune is, of course, ST GERTRUDE
("Onward, Christian Soldiers"), the hymnals' equivalent of Victorian
Gothic!! This tune occurs again in the "Vouchsafe, O Lord" section
of Sullivan's "Boer War Te Deum", whilst his "Festival Te Deum" of
1862, to celebrate the recovery of the Prince of Wales from typhoid, incorporates
a setting of ST ANNE ("Our God, Our Help In Ages Past") for the same
passage.
Other hymn tunes which, in my opinion, deserve wider use are SAMUEL ("Hushed
Was The Evening Hymn"), which the "Hymn Society Bulletin" claims
'is as good as anything Sullivan wrote for the church' and would make an appropriate
confirmation service hymn, and BISHOPSGARTH (an alternative tune to any 87878787
hymn) which was written to be sung 'in all churches of England and Wales and
Berwick-on-Tweed' on the occasion of Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee. "The
Music of Christian Hymns" describes it as 'one of his better tunes'. I have
seen a set of event-contemporary postcards which details Sullivam's setting of "Nearer
My God To Thee" (PROPIOR DEO) as the tune played by the band of the "Titanic" when
the liner went down.
Some years ago it was suggested that ST CLEMENT ("The Day Thou Gavest")
should be accredited to Sullivan. Ascribed in the hymnals to Clement Scholefield,
it was indicated that the tune stands so far ahead of the rest of Scholefield's
work that it may well have been written by another hand. It also bears several
distinct Sullivanesque touches, not least its highly sentimental streak and triple
time signature (the tune, when all's said and done, is a waltz!). Furthermore,
it was possibly "bad form" to name a tune after yourself.....and Scholefield
was a curate at St. Peter's, Cranlet Gardens when Sullivan was an organist there.
The professional view is that Sir Arthur Sullivan's church music is repetitive
and vulgar. Yet it is interesting to note that the untrained singers in a congregation
seem to appreciate, and readily pick up, a Sullivan tune, whilst the knowledgeable
authorities eliminate Sullivan's work from the hymnals on the assessment that
the music has very little merit and should be classified as "bad popular" (Oxford
University Press explaining to me why ST GERTRUDE had been omitted from the B.B.C.
Hymn Book).
Would it be too naive to venture that Sullivan's dismissal as a second-rate writer
of church music stems from the fact that he was not aiming his tunes at the purist
but at the tone-deaf people occupying the pews who simply enjoy a good sing-song?
The late Audrey Williamson stated that Sullivan composed the light baritone parts
in the Savoy Operas with the knowledge that his leading comedian did not have
a fine singing voice; could Sullivan have geared his church music to this principle
as well? What better for the non-singer in the congregation than a simple series
of repeated notes and an infectious parody of church-style music? The educated
connoisseur would rightly dismiss such works as trite; hence, Sullivan's poor
showing in most hymn-books, which is a pity as I feel there is a lot of rich,
and singable, material there.
Nigel
Swann
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Friends of the Parish Church
There is a saying that God smiles on the righteous - and so it was
that, after a period of cold winds and rain, a group of 17 Friends
sent out for a hike on a bright and warm Spring Saturday evening.
The object of the exercise was to complete the canal walk started
last year when we covered the stretch from Tapton Lock to Cow Lane
Bridge. This time round, we endeavoured to reach the bridge from
the direction of Staveley. This objective, however, was thwarted
by a 45 minute walking rule and, by the time that the three-quarters
of an hour was up, we'd only got as far as Dixon's Lock! A picturesque
place to stop for group photographs. This means that we have an incomplete
section of the tow-path, and perhaps a challenge for another year.
The evening was rounded off by restorative food and drink at "The
Lock-keeper". Our thanks to all those who joined us to make
the occasion pleasant and enjoyable. Our special thanks to David
Jackman for acting as guide to point out the various sections of
work carried out by the Canal Trust, and to Paul Wilson for advising
us where to go (and where not to go!!) in Staveley.
The Friends' next event is a serving of Waldorf Teas
planned at four venues on the afternoon of Wednesday 4th June. The
cost is £5.00 Please see the poster and sign-up on the sheet
at the back of church.
Nigel Swann
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COR AD COR LOCQUITUR
On 9 June, the Church celebrates the feast of St Columba. He
is someone who will already be familiar to many people. Born
of royal lineage, he preferred the religious life from a very early
age and was educated in Irish monasteries by some of the leading
teachers of his day. Life took an unexpected turn in 561 when
he was held to be responsible, at least in part, for a battle. It
was as a result of this that he left Ireland, eventually settling
on Iona. Iona, it is said, is the first Scottish island from
which it is not possible to see Ireland. On Iona, Columba founded
an abbey, from where missionaries were sent out to preach the gospel
through Scotland and northern England.
On the same day, the Church also celebrates the feast of St Ephrem
of Syria, though in the nuanced way of Common Worship, his name is
printed in italics as a “lesser” saint (whatever that
might mean!). Ephrem lived three hundred years earlier than
Columba (c.306-73); and his name tells us where he lived. Like
Columba, he was renowned for the austerity of his life and his holiness. Unlike
Columba, he was known as a biblical exegete and a scholar.
Ephrem’s voluminous writings are mainly in verse. They
are steeped in Scripture and make abundant use of typology and symbolism. Although
he abhorred any systematic presentation, yet his theology has a power
and a coherence, deeply enriched by the beauty of his poetry and
his great insights.
Soon after Ephrem’s death, Syria ceased to be a centre of
Christian learning. Within a couple of hundred years it was
under the influence of Islam. Soon after Columba’s death
(597), the Synod of Whitby (664) sought to establish unity of practice
within the nascent Christian Church in Britain. It has often
been interpreted as the establishment of Roman styles of faith and
practice and the defeat of Celtic Christianity.
It is curious that circumstance has brought these two men to share
the same feast day. Both lived on the fringes of the Roman
Empire, both were marginal figures. I doubt very much that
Columba had ever heard of Ephrem; I doubt that Ephrem knew
anything about Ireland, still less Iona. Yet from
the very margins where they were working, they same a common vision
of a tough, earthed Christianity, and invite us to think of Christian
discipleship as more challenging and radical – and exciting! – than
its frequent Anglican expression in social conformity or respectability.
The saints of God without exception reveal the wealth of what it
is to be human, and for all their diversity they reveal too a deep,
underlying unity. Columba and Ephrem meet not only on the pages
of a liturgical diary, but far more importantly in the court of heaven,
where indeed, heart speaks to heart, or to use the dominant Latin
of the West, cor ad cor locquitur.
MRK Back to top
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