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Pictures of St Mary Magdalen's, Taddiport |
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The new flag |
Altar decorated for harvest |
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Harvest decoration: hydrangeas |
Harvest decoration |
(Sorry for the late appearance of this)
Sermon We are children of this world and also children of light: too often our best abilities are devoted to the first.
HARVEST Can you provide some refreshments for the supper after evensong on Friday 28th?
DAISIES Wanted: Michaelmas daisies please, in quantity, by nightfall on Saturday 29th.
BALLOON RACE The buyer of the winning balloon at the Church Fete was Oliver Hodgkinson. The other winner who found the balloon was Holly Harden-Sweetnam of Goring on Thames.
FREE PAPER The latest Pro-Life Times will be distributed after the service.
LESSON READERS Please take your list from the table in church.
PRAYER BOOK SOCIETY At evensong at Clannaborough church yesterday we heard a most interesting explanation by Fr Otto of Cranmer’s approach to liturgical language. We shall try to have it printed in one of the society’s magazines. There is no electricity in the church and it is so dark that candles are necessary in daytime. We emerged blinking into the afternoon sunlight and went for a delicious cream tea at a nearby farm.
DAMAGE During August a boy threw stones at the window of the room behind the organ and broke several panes. He was reported to the police and will be interviewed by them, but don’t hold your breath. If he denies it probably nothing will happen.
DIARIES The 2008 diaries were on sale at the Fete, too early for most people to be thinking about such things. Now that people are actually wanting them, the box of diaries has been mislaid, but we shall try to have them in church next Sunday.
DIVERSITY Our church was “selected” to take part in “Celebrating diversity in the Church of England”, probably one of these “mission” exercises that clergy pensions are being raided to pay for. Every one on the electoral roll would have been asked to classify himself according to race, out of 15 categories (including “dual heritage”—specifying what we were a mixture of) on a separate sheet of A4 and return it to the Revd Lynda Barley, Head of Research and Statistics for the Archbishops’ Council. We were told that it was very important to provide this information. Fortunately JDH was able to give a comprehensive answer very briefly on one small piece of paper.
Sermon All who estrange themselves from the Father’s love are called to repentance, as were both the Prodigal Son and his elder brother.
TADDIPORT All the repairs to the church have been completed, and volunteers have swept and garnished it and put all the furniture back. Our new flag was flown for the first time from the new flagpole on Holy Cross Day last week.
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Pictures of St Mary Magdalen's, Taddiport |
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The new flag |
Altar decorated for harvest |
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Harvest decoration: hydrangeas |
Harvest decoration |
IRELAND We should like to thank local clergy for helping out for three Sundays, when our Canon from Wales suddenly said he could not come. In the meantime JDH was given duties at Skibereen, Baltimore, Caheragh and Castletownshend. The last is where Somerville of Somerville & Ross (An Irish RM and his Experiences) was organist for 70 years. The Church of Ireland in SW Cork is thinly scattered but faithful and welcoming. They have unwisely inflicted a new “Book of Common Prayer” on themselves, which means that the old one has probably been banished. There is a crisis impending for the Roman Catholic Curch, owing to the lack of priestly vocations, but perhaps Poles will arrive to fill the gaps, as they are doing in other occupations which the Irish no longer wish to engage in. The same illiberal ban on smoking is in force there as it is here, but in Ireland you do not see all those notices which deface English streets and public buildings and insult our intelligence. Here is a picture of JDH’s favourite Irish road traffic sign, which will do for this week’s joke. (It means, “Caution, children crossing”.)
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CORONATION The Archbishop of Canterbury has said that the next Coronation must be in the traditional setting of the Coronation Mass and retain the old sacramental and Christian symbolism. (What makes the monarch is actually the anointing, and the whole ceremony is like a form of ordination.) If Prince Charles, or our republican governors or various woolly bishops are still hoping for something multifaith (i.e. of no faith) then they will be disappointed.
FUTURE DATES Great Torrington Harvest Thanksgiving will be on Friday 28 September at 6.30 p.m.. Michaelmas will be kept on the following Sunday; no celebrity has been found to preach this year.
GUILD OF SERVANTS OF THE SANCTUARY The Guild will meet here on Friday. Would any one be able to contribute or serve light refreshments after the mass that begins at 8 pm?
Sermon We are the stewards to whom much has been given, and of whom therefore much will be expected.
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TADDIPORT Work is going ahead on the church roof. The church has been emptied as far as possible and the organ covered against dust and debris. Parts of the ceiling have come down so it will be some time before everything can be put back, so for the time being there will be no services.
SUMMER LOCUM For the next three Sundays JDH will be serving in a group of parishes in County Cork where everybody is apparently called O’Donovan. Canon Palmer from Newport in the diocese of Monmouth had arranged to come to Torrington, but has suddenly had to withdraw. We are now trying to find people to cover the various services. At the time of writing we have covered them all except 26 August at 10 a.m. and 2 September at Taddiport at 9 a.m..
HUMPTY DUMPTY One of the best stuffed people to have appeared on our streets recently is
Humpty Dumpty on the wall of what was Dr Searle’s house, opposite the Vicarage, with elegant buckled shoes, slim legs, and an arm gracefully draped round the finial of the gatepost. Just after he appeared some one climbed up and pulled his legs off, but the resourceful occupants of the house, not waiting for the attentions of all the King’s horses and all the King’s men, repaired the damage. Do go and admire him. On the front of the house King Kong is clinging to an upstairs window.
MADNESS Umberleigh railway station consists of a platform and a small shelter, open to the four winds. There are now four notices telling us that it is against the law to smoke “in” this station.
EBBSFLEET The Bishop of Ebbsfleet in his latest letter to the clergy writes about the Pope’s description of the Christian communities “born out of the Reformation” as being not proper churches. The Bishop says of the Church of England, “The women priests experiment may have attacked our claim to catholic and apostolic continuity and fidelity and a women bishops experiment will surely destroy it. But I have only to stand at the altar in one of our ancient parish churches and celebrate Mass to realise that what I am doing might not be what has always been done but it is certainly what was done in ancient times on that very spot. As V S Stuckey Coles said ‘The catholic oblation of Jesus Christ is made’.” Our catholic status does not depend simply on what the Pope says about it. The Church of England was not “born out of the Reformation” but existed before it, and has preserved the Catholic orders and sacraments. Our own bishops and management are trying to destroy this inheritance, and we must save what we can from the wreckage.
Sermon Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, all is vanity. And a great many serious and moral people have agreed with him.
CHURCH FETE All the prizes have now been distributed except those for the balloon race. The furthest balloons so far have been reported from Somerset. The prizes for the Beautiful Knitting Draw were generously contributed by an internet reader in Staffordshire. Our takings came to £1600, which is a record. There are still some photos in the Card Shop window at £1 each.
ROSCOFF We bring greetings from Fr Caraës, Michèle Beaumin and her sister Marie-Françoise and others. There is a little account of our visit in the Deanery News, which please take from church. From Roscoff the Hummerstones went on to Vézelay in Burgundy and stayed there for the festival of St Mary Magdalen, the Patron Saint of the great basilica. Relics of the saint were carried in procession through the village to the church, where the congregation must have numbered 1000. We shared the house we were borrowing with two Californian monks, Fr Simon and Fr Moses, who were painting frescoes in the little Russian chapel depicting the lives of St Stephen and St Herman (=St German of Auxerre, who came to Britain in AD 429). We were assured by the French people that the whole of England was under water but privately had our doubts and were relieved to find Torrington, and even Taddiport, high and dry.
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The Mass at St Barbara's Chapel |
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Getting ready for the procession. Our Lady
of
Kroaz Batz has a rain hat, St Barbara braves |
The Orthodox church in Vezelay. Fr Simon
explains his work in progress: frescoes depicting the life of |
MOTHERS' UNION Thursday 9 August is the day when we commemorate our Founder Mary Sumner and we are invited by the Northam Branch to meet at St Margaret’s Church for Mass and coffee at 10 a.m. followed by an illustrated talk by Nicholas Marshall the diocesan MU treasurer, and then a bring & share lunch. Please tell Clarissa Hummerstone (622166) if you wish to come.
REMEMBRANCE DAY As Remembrance Sunday this year is also Armistice Day, the intention is to hold the ceremony at 11 a.m. at the War Memorial. We can finish our service here early to enable people to take part.
BEYOND THE VICARAGE WALL Humpty Dumpty has appeared just across the road
on a particular high stretch of wall. The playground next door has been
decorated with Eurasian-Negroid faces to remind us what Torrington is really
like, despite appearances.
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New Kitchen: We thought it was time we got the papers ready to apply for a Faculty (i.e. permission to go
ahead), but on asking for the papers we learned that “It’s not as simple as that”. First we need to get an application form to apply for the application forms; when that is granted we can go on to the next stage. (We have already filled in
one, pre-application application form.)
Smoking: Please note that the churchyard in Torrington is now designated a smokefree area, i.e you are free to smoke in it. Later on we
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may instal a pond in which to duck anti-smoking enforcers. Any No Smoking notices found defacing the fabric will be taken down.
Frithelstock: We have sadly said goodbye to our PCC secretary Mrs Jean
Hopkins, who in her short time of holding office has managed to push us on with our plans to repair the damaged masonry at the west end of the church. Her splendid St Gregory banner on its stand and the accompanying notice will be one of the reminders of her membership of our congregation. We wish her every happiness in her new home in Hampshire.
Little Torrington: Mrs Swingler deserves a paragraph to herself for all that she has been through. First her
serious injury on her own drive, then, whilst on the way to Heathrow to fly to Germany for her granddaughter’s wedding, a collision in which thankfully neither she nor her fellow-passenger Mary Newcombe was injured.
After arriving in Germany she had a fall necessitating a stay in hospital, where
she is now writing her memoirs.
Taddiport: At the time of writing work has is about to begin on the roof. We are delighted with what has been done so far. When the scaffolding has been removed from the tower we shall be able to fly our new flag, kindly given by Mr and Mrs Geoffrey Mitchell.
Here are some pictures taken at our Church Fete last week by
Chris Sinden
(The signal flags were thought to say, owing to some muddle, "Torrington
welcomes the Smoking Ban
and the advance of the Nanny State", but we learned later that we had been
misinformed.)
Sermon: The sending out of the Seventy. Only St Luke mentions them,
and after their return we hear nothing more of them.
FLOODLIGHTING The deadline for bookings for August and September, if you want them printed in
The Crier, is Wednesday 11 July. There is only one edition of The Crier for these two months. Please ring 01805 623169 to book.
PATRONIZING The Royal National Institute of the Blind has changed its name to the Royal National Institute of Blind People. This must be because we did not realize that the blind are actually people. For the same reason a Chaplain to the Deaf is now called a “Chaplain among deaf people”.
THANKS Our website (on which this newsletter is reproduced, along with much other material) is now hosted by Ben Waymark of Clickcreations instead of Tiscali. Ben’s wife Bertie has kindly offered to spruce up the design a bit when they return from Canada after the summer.
TADDIPORT “We” keep forgetting to report that that the enjoyable evening at Cross House, several weeks ago now, raised £320 for church funds. Thank you, all who helped.
P.C.C. The three vacancies on the Parochial Church Council have been filled by Mr John Beard, Mrs Joan Green and Mr Bob Wright, so we are back to strength.
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Church Fete: "The Vicarage garden is a great place for us children to unwind." |
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FETE Massive thanks to all our team of helpers. Attendance was as usual excellent. Geoffrey Cox MP and the May Queen and her retinue opened it. Particular thanks to the people who put the hair of all ten girls in ringlets the night before. There was a record number of entries for the dog show—113, which includes multiple entries, where the same dog was entered for more than one class. We had a lot of good books and bric-a-bric, much of which was kindly passed on from Pam and Geoffrey Mitchell and from the Red Cross shop. The signs are that we did quite well financially; more about this next week. And after a terrible week, what a beautiful sunny day!
Sermon Christ sets his face towards Jerusalem: from now on all his human support will be progressively stripped away.
CHURCH FETE Urgent! We need small prizes for the Lucky Dip, labelled B or G (boy or girl). Odd things found at the back of drawers or in charity shops are more fun than prizes specially bought new.
Balloon Race! Very few forms have gone. Can you take a form and sell 10 tickets?
Preparations on Friday! Helpers wanted to set up the stalls, men in particular, at 6 p.m.
White Elephants, Nearly New, Plants, Books, or anything that will sell, are all wanted. We can collect (TorRINGton 622166).
SAFARI SUPPER Friday 13 July at 6 pm. Tickets are available from Barbara Down this morning or ring at any time before Monday 9 July (Tel 623169) and state your choice of main course (beef pie, chicken breast or vegetarian pie). All proceeds to Christian Aid.
CONGRATULATIONS ... to Fr Northam Cavell-Northam, who sometimes joins us here, on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of his ordination to the priesthood.
Ad multos annos!
FRITHELSTOCK Good news that the newly re-founded band of ringers at Frithelstock are well on the way to making those ancient bells sound again. At present they are practising in other churches in preparation for the great day. We have been generously presented with a set of ropes, and much work has been done in clearing out the tower and other maintenance.
FUNGUS Michael Steer has been to look at the alarming mushroom on the church ceiling. He will get up for a close look soon; in the meantime we hope it will not prove to be dry rot. Wet rot is not so bad, and water has been penetrating just there.
Sermon St Luke pushes back the narrative of the Incarnation to the conception of the Forerunner and uses the narrative of St John to reinforce the narrative of Jesus Christ.
FETE One of the competitions at the Fete will be that old chestnut of guessing which childhood photographs belong to which PCC member. Please would members look out a suitable photograph, which will be looked after very carefully. While we are about it, we need three new members, so please think of suitable people to nominate and pass their names in.
BALLOON RACE Can you sell some tickets for the race before the Church Fete? All you need to do is collect £1 from each competitor and record his name on the form provided. Forms will be available in church this morning. Each form has space for ten names, so if several people sold ten we should be off to a good start.
NEW ATTRACTION Bossanova and Emilio will be coming from Beaford to enjoy the Fete. They are Alpacas.
CHURCHYARD IN BLOOM It is good to see the flower tubs back in the churchyard for the summer, and Adrian Freeland has mended the vandalized flower container by the gate into the square.
VICARAGE GARDEN Some volunteer help would be most welcome to prepare the garden for the fete. Our customary helper is overseas. Please tell Clarissa Hummerstone if you can spare some time (telephone 622166).
MILK BOTTLE TOPS Thank you, all those people who have been saving bottle tops. NB only milk bottle tops will do; for some reason tops from bottles of squash or anything else are not wanted.
SAFARI SUPPER Friday 13 July. First course at our church: soup, fruit cocktail or fruit juice; main course at Methodist Church, beef pie, chicken breast or vegetarian pie, roast potatoes, vegetables in season. Baptist Church: hot & cold puddings, tea & coffee, mints. Bring
& Buy. Tickets £7.50 (young people £4). Ring 622270 or 623169
Sermon By the alchemy of suffering God can bring love and goodness out
of our sin, once it is repented of.
THANKS
Thank you, all who helped in any way to raise £160 for the Children’s Society at the coffee morning yesterday.
MOTHERS’ UNION Our branch is invited to Goodleigh on Friday at 2 p.m. to celebrate the centenary of the branch there. If you would like to come please telephone Valerie Down (623169) or Clarissa Hummerstone (622166).
THANKS AGAIN Thanks to all who provided rose petals for the procession at Corpus Christi or who helped to scatter them. A member of our congregation who was educated at a French convent told us that tea-leaves and coffee grounds were collected and dried and used to make intricate borders along the church aisles where the Blessed Sacrament procession would go.
AN OLD FRIEND Greetings from Graeme Sims, formerly our Reader at Little Torrington, later ordained priest at Bideford. After several years of service in rural parishes in Shropshire he has retired, together with sheepdogs and sheep, to 18 acres in Wales. He and his wife Maureen were at the funeral of Yvonne Anstice who was a member of the congregation of St Giles’s Church at Little Torrington before moving to Great Torrington and joining the Methodist Church.
ASCENT OF SNOWDON This Saturday a group of young people will do a sponsored climb of Mt Snowdon to raise money to support medical staff who do not wish to participate in abortions and are under intense pressure to do so. The sponsor form is in church for anybody to sign.
MEMORABLE QUOTATION Boris Johnson, speaking about Mr Blair’s fulminations against free speech on the internet:
“I would much rather have cyberspace regulated by public scorn than by Tony Blair, who should depart as soon as possible to complete his farewell tour in an open-top submarine.”
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SILVER BAND Our thanks, as usual, to Naomi Alexander and fellow members of the Torrington Silver Band for kindly turning out to
lead our Corpus Christi Procession this morning.
SPONSORED CLIMB We have been asked to support a sponsored ascent of Mount Snowdon to raise funds to publicize the plight of those doctors and nurses and other medical staff in the National Health Service who are conscientiously opposed to participating in abortions, and for whom there is less and less tolerance. The climb will take place on 23 June. A sponsor form is in church.
FETE 7 JULY The list is still in church for people to sign up for whatever they would like to help with.
NO SMOKING Minute regulations have been issued (helpfully included in the latest Deanery Newsletter) about the signs we are supposed to display telling people not to smoke in church. Since people have never smoked in our church, or in any other church that we have heard of, there is naturally no need for any signs, since no change in behaviour is being called for. The real and underlying purpose of all these signs is to remind us that the Government is in charge of every department of our life. Our parish church will remain a “no-smoking-sign-free zone”. The churchyard will continue “smoke-free”—i.e. you may smoke freely there, and you may stub out your cigarettes afterwards. (What, incidentally, are we meant to do if we do not stub them out? Leave them burning? Swallow them?)
Apologies: the newsletter for the 3 June was never published here, so it has now been added.
MAGAZINE
The
Deanery Magazines are ready for collection.
MOTHERS'
UNION Please
tell Valerie Down (623169) if you can go to Monkokehampton for the Deaner
Festival on Wednesday 13 June at 2.3o p.m..
FETE
We
remind you that the Fete will be on Saturday 7 July, and ‘vill be opened by
Geoffrey Cox, MP.. Please look at the schedule and sign up for whatever you
think you can help with.
WHITE'S
LANE SCHOOL Many
people have asked what is happening to the Bluecoat School (Mark II) in White's
Lane. At
the moment it is empty and falling into disrepair. Children (or young
people) have
broken in and clone a lot of damage. There has been a muddle about who is
responsible for the buildings. They ought to belong to the Denys Yonge Trustees
(who own the Barley Grove school buildings) but through an oversight the
County Council never properly handed them over. When that transfer has taken p
lace the Trustees will probably be obliged by the terms of the trust to sell the
property for the best price and apply the proceeds to Church of Englancl
educational work, but at the moment the solicitors for both sides are discussing
who should be responsible for insuring the buildings and protecting them from
damage.
CORPUS
CHRISTI
Next
Sunday we shall observe the feast of Corpus Christi with a procession of the
Holy Sacrament round the town centre, as
a blessing
on the community. We shall be led by a party from Torrington Silver Band. The
procession will leave the church at about 10.45 and end back at the church with
Benediction.
THANKS We are most grateful to the Little workingparty who dismantled the Easter garden yesterday.
Sermon The gift of divers languages is the opposite of “speaking in tongues”. It was the sign of the undoing of the confusion at Babel.
OLIVE JOY You will have heard the sad news of the death of a longstanding member of this congregation and of the Mothers’ Union. The funeral will be on Thursday 7 June at 12 noon.
TADDIPORT External work on the church is almost finished and the scaffolding will soon be taken down. A new St George’s flag has
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| The roof of Taddiport church tower. Two slopes of tiny 4 inch slates slope inwards to a lead-lined gully that discharges rainwater through a spout in the tower wall |
been ordered from Plymouth. A time capsule is being prepared for insertion under the roof of the tower, to be discovered when the next major repairs take place—we hope many years hence.
MOTHERS’ UNION On Thursday our branch is invited to Northam to hear Maureen Styler, a lively speaker, on the 2007 M.U. diocesan theme, “Deeds, not Words”. If you would like to come, please tell Clarissa Hummerstone (622166).
ROSCOFF There is a list in church to sign if you are likely to come to Roscoff for the week end of the 15 July. (N.B. the date of the Church Fete has been altered to the 7 July to enable the French visit to take place.)
CHRISTIAN AID Thanks to all who helped with the fund-raising this year and raised £816.46. (There will be a safari supper for Christian Aid on Friday 13 July, the first course at our church at 6 p.m.)
EASTER GARDEN The garden will be dismantled this week. Very few plants were lent this year, but would their (three) kind owners please take them home. Today being the last day of Eastertide, the paschal candle will be removed from the sanctuary to stand beside the font.
BLAGOVEST The Russians sang as beautifully as ever, and over £600 was collected at the door afterwards, a sign of real appreciation. They returned to St Petersburg yesterday.
Sermon See how these Christians tolerate one another. That is not being one “as the Father and I are one”.
NO SMOKING It looks as the absurdity of having to display “No Smoking” signs in church (on pain of a heavy fine imposed on the Vicar) is receding. The Dean of Peterborough was warned by the police that his cathedral might have to be “closed down” if he did not comply. It only needs one incumbent to be imprisoned for refusing to pay the fine for the whole subject to be dropped and common sense to take over. We will watch carefully to see what happens to the Dean before deciding how to respond to this new law.
CHRISTIAN BOOKS Dove’s Bookshop in Barnstaple is open 10—5, Monday to Saturday. Bibles, books, commentaries, educational materials for children, cards and gifts.
MOUSE The goods from the Traidcraft stall were left overnight in church. The next day there was clear evidence that a mouse had got through the wrappings of a fruit cake and chocolate honeycomb crunch and eaten some of each. He had also investigated a packet of pasta but apparently not liked it.
O little mouse, how did you dare
To eat that Book of Common Prayer?
Was it by hunger you were pressed,
Or by the words, “Read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest”?
CHRISTIAN AID Today being the end of Christian Aid Week, there will be a collecting tin at the back of the church for last-minute donations.
BOOKS Thanks to Ray Burnham we have some interesting books, mostly on religious and philosophical subjects, added to the church bookstall, and some others added to the little catalogue on the parish website.
ROSCOFF Does anybody wish to come on the 13 July?
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Olga Kozlova (2nd from right in
back row)
with the Blagovest Ensemble who will be singing in our church on 22 May |
Sermon If thou be the Christ, tell us plainly. In a totalitarian society dependence on God is a kind of disloyalty.
STREET COLLECTION Can you spare some time to collect for Christian Aid in the Square this week? Tell Clarissa Hummerstone if you can. Chair provided.
MAY FAIR Our thanks to all who decorated the church or provided or served refreshments or minded the exhibition or helped in any way. The theme “The Numbers of our Faith” inspired arrangements that were as good as any we have had before. Our visitors contributed over £900 to the kitchen fund.
ACCIDENT We are grateful to a friend for telling us that the word “accident” is disappearing from “correct” English. The reason is, that to the official mind, there is no such thing; when something goes “wrong” some one is always to blame. And in a perfectly regulated society, such as ours has been since 1997, there must be nothing beyond the reach of control. When Our Lord stilled the storm and the disciples said, What manner of man is this, that even the wind and the waves obey him? the subduing of chaos was proof of God’s presence. No longer! It is now a commonplace of everyday life.
BLAGOVEST Our Russian visitors will be singing in church on Tuesday 22 May at 7.30. Thank you, those who are kindly giving them hospitality. Please spread the word about the concert; who knows how much longer we shall be able to hear music of this quality? If Russia became prosperous these talented people would not need to undertake such tours.
ROSCOFF It is becoming fairly important that we should have some idea of how many people would like to come to Roscoff for the week end of 15 July, for which we confidently await an invitation. Please tell JDH.
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LOYAL TRIBUTE |
Sermon Receive ye the Holy Ghost. As God breathed over the waters, so there is now a new creation.
Celebrant & Preacher on 22 April: Fr Terry Grigg; on 29 April Fr
Keith Haydon.
Sermon on 6 May: A new commandment I give unto you. We are to love as Christ loved us, and in the full knowledge of what that love entailed.
PCC MEMBERS Please give your consideration to the choice of people to fill the three vacancies on our Parochial Church Council. The normal term of service is three years.
TADDIPORT There is now scaffolding all over St Mary Magdalen’s Church in preparation for extensive renovation of the roof and
tower.
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STREET LAMP The lamp in the churchyard just outside the priest’s door that has been switched on for 24 hours a day has now been disconnected until some can come to mend it. That lamp runs off the church supply and we wish to be sure that it uses no more power than we are paid for.
PRAYER BOOK SOCIETY The Prayer Book Society, in the person of Mr John Stevens-Guille has arranged a luncheon, the last of a long series, at Yatton Court, Beaford (a delightful place to meet at this time of year) on Monday 1 May, costing about £10, to which you are invited, whether you are a member or not. Please tell John Downing or Clarissa Hummerstone if you wish to come.
STUPID STUPID STUPID The ban on smoking in public comes into force earlier in Wales than in England. Churches there must display a flat, rectangular sign containing the red “international No Smoking sign” of a minimum size (metric, which we can’t be bothered to look up) and the words, “It is against the law to smoke in these premises”. People already know they should not smoke in church, and if they light a cigarette they will be asked to put it out. So, as with about 99% of new rules issued by the idiots unfortunately in charge of this country, there is
no need for this one.
EVEN STUPIDER “Just say No to abstinence” is the message enjoined on schools by Ofsted inspectors. According to them, people who “preach” abstinence are to blame for promoting teenage pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases. While smoking becomes a capital offence, guilt-free, family-undermining promiscuity among our children is encouraged by the State.
Jeremy and Clarissa Hummerstone and family wish to thank all who kindly sent them cards and greetings at Easter.
The Vicar will be away for the next two Sundays looking after some parishes in Yorkshire, and will return too late to be sure of producing a newsletter on Sunday 6
May.
Sermon The Beloved Disciple—why could he see what the others couldn’t?
PROCESSION Children who would like to carry candles in the procession this morning will find a supply under the St Michael statue
SPRINGCLEANING Thanks to all who cleaned and polished the church last week in preparation for Easter, and to all who made the Altar of Repose for Maundy Thursday and the Easter Garden, and all who helped with decoration yesterday.
LENT BOXES The Lent boxes may be returned any time from now on.
FLOODLIGHTING The deadline for bookings for the floodlighting is Wednesday 11 April, if you want the names printed in The Crier. Please ring 01805 623169.
DONATIONS St Michael’s Church has received over £500 in donations given in memory of Sheila Bright and Tom Finnamore. We are most grateful to their families for thinking of us.
(Easter Picture and other things in printed version.)
The name for this festival in many countries is rooted in the original Jewish
name of Passover, Pesach. So, for example, the French call it Le Paques. The
name Easter is of Germanic origin and, according to Bede, comes from the German
goddess of spring, Eastre. So, in England at least, the festival originally
celebrated the onset of spring with all the overtones of renewal after the long
death of winter. As was the custom, the Church took over this festival in order
to get rid of it. It christianized what was essentially a pagan celebration; but
it kept the name. And along with the name - like Yule - it kept some of the
customs associated with it. Thus symbols of spring proliferate: baby rabbits and
birds, flowers and trees in leaf. Of course, one of the main symbols is the egg,
chocolate or otherwise. We can find this symbol in other cultures too so it is
not only English. There is something primeval in the egg symbol and even other
religions like Islam use it as a decoration. The egg - the quintessential symbol
of new life and a new beginning! In the Orthodox Church eggs are not given, but
they are eaten at the first meal after the end of the fast and they are real
eggs, hard-boiled and often painted red.
In November Our Lady told us,
"Do not forget that you are travellers on the way toward eternity.
Therefore, little children, permit God to lead you as a shepherd leads his
flock." Our Mother has a wonderful way of telling us that we do not belong
here and that we are all involved in a great travel plan, which will take us
home. Easter Day, more than any other day, is a signpost which points us in the
right direction. "Through the cross," Jesus is telling us,
"through the cross is the way home." This truth is the message we must
take to heart an make our own. It is not a secret, but it is hidden from the
eyes of those who think they know better. "Don't be afraid," we hear
Jesus telling us, "don't be afraid to go through this unlikely doorway,
because if you do you will realize that it is not a dead end but a
thoroughfare." I suppose this was the idea in the mind of C.S. Lewis when
he wrote the Narnia books. The children found such a doorway in the back of a
wardrobe and when they went through it, through the clothes that covered it,
they found themselves in another place, in Narnia, the land where evil is
defeated by the sacrificial death of the King. In this and in many other ways
our heavenly Father tries desperately to open our eyes to this truth, and we so
often choose to remain blind. We reject the cross, we fear death, we complain
when we are sick, we spend countless sums on prolonging our stay on this side of
the door, and all because we do not trust the voice of the Shepherd who is
calling us, "Come home!"
Let us remember the words of St Rose
of Lima: "The Lord our Saviour raised his voice and spoke with incomparable
majesty. 'Let all know,' he said, 'that after sorrow grace follows. Let them
understand that without the burden of affliction one cannot arrive at the height
of glory. That the measure of heavenly gifts is increased in proportion to the
labours undertaken. Let them be on their guard against error or deception. This
is the only ladder by which paradise is reached, and without the cross there is
no road to heaven.'" This is in essence the gospel and hope of the poor and
needy of this world. The glory of Easter is quite simply the vindication of Good
Friday, and these two events are inseparable intertwined.
ANNUAL MEETING Thank you, all who came, and for making it a useful and expeditious meeting. We heard reports on our finance, the church fabric, the electoral roll (now 90), and all the church activities. Elections to the PCC are yet to take place: we need 3 new members, and ideally some one else for the Deanery Synod.
DONKEYS Thanks to Bart Kelly for bring Oscar and Noah to lead our procession. They will still be here for the school service on Wednesday. Oscar was Driving Champion 18 years ago. Noah has a bad foot so cannot give rides at present. Thanks also to Cameron Chapman who was a great help in preparing the donkeys’ stable at the Vicarage.
Sermon The woman taken in adultery: Christ makes no attempt to belittle her sin; her encounter with him is truly an occasion of healing.
Baptism of Luke Alexander Pluckrose 10 am.
Palm Sunday Next Sunday the service will begin in the Square at 10 o’clock with the blessing of palms. Please bring a palm (box, pussy willow or some other greenery). We shall then process into church. The St Luke Passion will be read.
Mothers’ Union Please note that we shall be meeting on Tuesday, not Monday this week.
Bluecoat Coffee Afternoon Thank you, all who helped with this event. We raised £52 for school funds.
Lent Lunch £178 was raised for Christian Aid at the last lunch.
Sponsored Rubbish Collection Five adults and six children collected rubbish from Gas Lane and beyond, down to Common Lake, Quiet Possession and Juries Lane. Many fertilizer bags were filled. If you have not already sponsored the good work, it is not too late to do so.
Lemon Curd If you buy a jar of lemon curd in church today you will be helping Bridget Hummerstone to pay her way in Dharamashala (where the Dalai Lama lives) so that she can teach English to unemployed Tibetans. Part of the time she will be child-minding for adults who have found work. The lemon curd is made with free-range eggs and contains no artificial colouring or preservatives. Please make a donation for each jar of £1.50 or £2.
Free Newspaper The latest edition of Forward Plus is available in church. Help yourself to as many copies as you can find homes for.
Prayer Book Society On Tuesday 1 May there will be a luncheon at Yatton Court, Beaford, the home of one of our members, John Stevens-Guille. This will be the last of a long series of luncheons, and an invitation is extended to all who sympathize with the aims of the Prayer Book Society (whether or not they are members). Please tell JDH if you would like to come. The cost will be £10 per head, or slightly more if numbers are low. (Incidentally, if you would like to join the Prayer Book Society, now is a good time because JDH is diocesan chairman.)
EXTRACT FROM FORTHCOMING DEANERY NEWSLETTER
Clergy Terms of Service One of the worst aspects of Church life in modern times has been the treatment of unbeneficed clergy, who hold licences from the bishop for a fixed term or during the bishop's pleasure, with no assurance that they will keep their income or their house. For many years the bishops have successfully resisted calls to give these clergy the protection of employment law. Now, realizing that such a reform was going to be forced on them by legislation, they have acted pre-emptively to turn this bad news to their advantage. Licensed clergy will indeed be given long overdue protection, but by the same legislation the liberties of other clergy will be severely curtailed. Under the cosy-sounding title of "common tenure" all clergy will be liable to dismissal after a "capability process" where a post-holder failed to meet minimum standards, or on grounds of discipline, redundancy or ill health. Never mind, we shall all enjoy "parity" and "commonality" with one another. This humbug has been steered through the bureaucracy by Professor McClean,who will deserve an elaborate monument from a grateful management for all he has done to centralize the Church along the lines of the Toyota Corporation.
Little Torrington - Assistant Priest: Since Fr Yould left in October 2005 JDH has
advertised twice in
Jezebel's Trumpet for a successor. Several people expressed an interest and four came to look. The story then proceeds like that of the Ten Little Nigger Boys. One was intercepted and sent to another parish not a hundred miles away, one actually accepted the job but was then offered one nearer home which suited him better, and the other two were told by their accountants that their pensions would
suffer,so they withdrew. And then there were none. At which point JDH was told that he ought not to have been looking at all and that "those days are past". Nevertheless, we were assured that we should be permitted an assistant for the next few years, and that one would be provided through official channels. Suddenly we find, in a surreal interlocking of unrelated matters, that any new appointment will be conditional on JDH undergoing vetting by the Criminal Records Bureau, presumably lest he should appoint a child to the vacancy, or some one who is feebleminded or otherwise
"vulnerable", to whom he would have "unsupervised access".
This, on the grounds that this is not yet East Germany, he has decided not to
do. It looks as though life will be simpler if we just find a priest who needs a house and offer it to him in return for some help, and forgo the benefits of participating in any wider pastoral strategy.
Sermon The Prodigal Son: repentance is a gift from God; and we need to know what is wrong in order to repent of it.
Music Litany (on card). Hymns 77, 285, 75.
Organ Music: There will be a recital on Wednesday by our own Dame Jane Whiteley 3 p.m. Works from Buxtehude to Widor. (Tea and cakes will be served in the interval: contributions welcome.
Friday: The Lent Lunch will be served from 12—1.45 at the Baptist Church but provided by us. Please tell Clarissa Hummerstone if you can help or contribute.
Sunday: Concert by the English Concert: works by Bach, Handel and Vivaldi.
PCC MEETING Kitchen: progress is satisfactory. The final plans (incorporating the very latest advice from various experts) are about to be sent to the Diocesan Advisory Committee. (We have also had a visit from a lighting specialist from the DAC to suggest a scheme of lighting for the whole church.) Safety: the main door needs to be eased and sundry electrical cables adjusted. (The electrician will also convert all our nave light fittings to take low-energy bulbs—the ones we use now are 500 watts each.) Accounts: those for 2006 were studied and passed for presentation to the AGM, which will take place
on Thursday 29 March at 7.30 in church. Our share of the Diocesan Quota for this year is £24,819, of which we shall
pay what we can but probably not all.
FLOWERS The flowers picked for Mothering Sunday by the children and their grownup helpers will be blessed this morning. If you have a mother or equivalent person to give them to, please take a bunch on your way back from the altar. Our thanks, as always to Mrs Cotton for allowing us to pick in her woods, and providing a bonfire and refreshments afterwards, to the pickers themselves, and to the Creighton family for doing the bunching.
TADDIPORT At a recent meeting of the Trustees of the church we discussed the repairs to the church which are well advanced. All the damage done by the reversing tractor to our wall and railings has been made good by Pat Mitchell, and the railings and woodwork painted black, which looks very smart. Extensive work is planned for the roof and tower, which will be finished off with a new flagpole and St George’s flag. We decided the dates for the summer Coffee, Evening, Harvest Thanksgiving and the Carol Service, as well as the next Trustees’ Meeting.
Sermon We are living in the “last time” between the first and second comings. How should we spend it?
CHURCH SPRING-CLEAN We are organizing a working party to clean the church for Easter on Monday 2 April. We plan to work from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. as we did last year, with a break for soup and a pasty. There is a list at the back of the church. Please sign up for the day if you can help, giving approximate times, if you cannot stay all day.
THANKS ... to all helpers at the Bluecoat School coffee afternoon. The proceeds were for school funds.
WANTED Some one is seeking people to play Bridge with. Please see Clarissa Hummerstone for details.
RUBBISH There will be sponsored clearing of rubbish by children after school on Monday, meeting at the Vicarage. Will you be a sponsor?
CHURCH FETE 7 JULY This is the date despite any rumours of different days that you may have heard. This will leave the following weekend clear for our parish visit to Roscoff. (It is not too early to let us know if you are hoping to be in the party.)
MOTHERING SUNDAY Next Sunday bunches of flowers will be blessed in church for children to give to their mothers. Children & grownups are welcome to come picking at Cross, by kind invitation of Mrs Cotton, on Friday after school (assemble at the Vicarage). Other flowers to the Vicarage by 2 p.m. on Saturday, please. Help welcomed with bunching on Saturday afternoon.
ELECTORAL ROLL Please fill in a form (yellow) if you wish to be put on our church electoral roll.
100 PLUS CLUB Vacancies for new members. Proceeds to new kitchen equipment. PRIZES! To join, please give £10 to Jayne Hutchings or Barbara Down.
WANTED Hospitality for Russian singers .22 May
BAZAAR Thank you, all who helped with the Bazaar yesterday, bringing in £400 for the funds.
FLOODLIGHTS This Wednesday is the last day for booking the lights if you wish your entry to be printed in The Crier. Torrington 623169.
100 PLUS CLUB Vacancies for new members. Your subscription will pay for equipment for the new kitchen and may win you some of the monthly prizes. Please give £10 to Jayne Hutchings or Barbara Down.
FREE NEWSPAPER The latest edition of Pro-Life Times is available at the back of the church. There are articles about the increasing practice of euthanasia in our hospitals, and the distress of nurses who are opposed to it, and the One-Child Policy in China. There is a summary of the record of the Blair government on the ethics of family life, which concludes that in every respect conditions have been made worse: birth control drugs and abortion have been offered to schoolgirls as young as 11 without the knowledge or consent of their parents. The Mental Capacity Act allows—and in some circumstances even requires—doctors to starve and dehydrate patients to death. Our government exerts a strong influence within the the EU and in many other parts of the world in support of anti-life, anti-family policies, promoting abortion on demand. There are many, many reasons for wanting an end to this appalling regime, but these are quite enough on their own. In the words of Cromwell, that forerunner of NuLabour, to the Rump Parliament, we can say, “You have sat here too long for any good you have been doing. Depart, I say, and let us have done with you. In the name of God, go!”
Sermon The Devil, having failed in his temptations, departed for a
season. He will be back.
Monday Mothers’ Union Archdeaconry Branch Leaders’ meeting 10.45—3 pm at the Vicarage.
Tuesday Communions Torridge View (E). Magdalen Ecclesiastical Trustees meeting 2.30 in the church.
Thursday Communions Burwood. Bluecoat School coffee afternoon 1.15—3.15 run by our congregation. Small cakes wanted, please (to the church by 11.15 or to the Vicarage by 1pm).
Choir Practice 6.30 in church.
Friday Stations of the Cross 12 noon. Lent Lunch 12—1.45 pm in the Baptist Church.
Women’s World Day of Prayer 2.30 pm in the Baptist Church. Speaker Dr Jean Tyler.
Helpers wanted 6 pm to prepare church for Spring Bazaar
Saturday Spring Bazaar in church 10am—3pm. Coffee, light lunches and tea. Stalls, cakes, jumble, draw. Donations of puddings welcome and all offers of help. Please ring Mrs Partridge 622747 or the Vicarage 622166. There will be a small Fair Trade stall to mark the end of Fair Trade Fortnight. (NB No more jumble needed.)
Monday 2 March Funeral of Thomas Henry Finnamore 2.15 pm.
100 PLUS CLUB The first draw for 2007—8 will be on Sunday 1 April. To subscribe or renew your subscription please send £10 to Mrs Jayne Hutchings, Hideaway, Stonemans Lane, or hand it to Barbara Down. Cheques to “St Michael’s Torrington 100 Plus Club”. Prizes of £20, £15, £10 and £5 each month. All proceeds towards purchasing equipment for the new kitchen.
LENT During Lent the Mass begins with the Litany. The organ is silent except to accompany singing. Gloria and Alleluya are not sung. The liturgical colour is purple. (Since the organ will not be playing, please be particularly careful not to make a noise before the service.)
FLOODLIGHTING The deadline for entries to the Crier is this Wednesday. Please ring 623169.
ANGLICAN-ROMAN CATHOLIC UNITY Recent newspaper reports have hinted at some kind of breakthrough—willingness to accept the primacy of the Pope, perhaps. All such talk is vain because there are no grounds for
trust so our leaders will not be able to "deliver" any such thing. The RCs cannot trust us
to give up our determinedly schismatic ways any more than we can trust the Episcopal Church of the
USA to give up theirs. The parties within the C of E cannot even trust one another. The Anglican-RC-Commission has been wasting its time for years.
SERMON The love of enemies: a command that springs directly from the essential nature of God.
LENT BOXES Please take a box for the Additional Curates Society and return it at Easter. The Society is extremely well organized, and every penny you collect will provide clergy for poor parishes.
SHROVE TUESDAY JDH has a meeting in London on Monday and will take the chance with others of the family to visit Faith’s new baby, so we shall not be returning till Tuesday. This year, therefore, we shall not be having the the usual children’s pancake races and ascent of the church tower.
POLYCARP Bishop of Smyrna (now Izmir in Turkey), martyred in 155 AD. He had “known John and others who had seen the Lord”. He was arrested and urged by a government official (who wished to spare his life) to curse Christ. Polycarp refused, saying, “I have served him for 86 years and he has done me no wrong”. He was burnt alive, until the executioner shortened his torment by stabbing him with his sword.
100 PLUS CLUB The first draw for 2007—8 will be on Sunday 1 April. To subscribe or renew your subscription please send £10 to Mrs Jayne Hutchings, Hideaway, Stonemans Lane, or hand it to Barbara Down. Cheques to “St Michael’s Torrington 100 Plus Club”. Prizes of £20, £15, £10 and £5 each month. All proceeds towards purchasing equipment for the new kitchen.
SMOKING At a place of work belonging to the District Council some employees used to sit outside to smoke a cigarette during their break. JDH used to enjoy a chat as he passed. Suddenly the smokers were no longer seen. Smoking is no longer allowed “on the premises”, which includes the grounds and open air. And they can’t go outside the gate to smoke because that would be “leaving the premises”, which is also not allowed during working hours.
When the State Anti-Smoking Inspectors (STASI) start work—and there will be about 10,000 of them, supported by a huge bureacracy—things will get much worse. If the Germans had succeeded in conquering Britain they would have found no shortage here of willing snoopers to help them. They can be identifed today by the kind of work they are happy to do.
ABUSE Have you ever felt the urge to push a railway porter under a train, hit a postman with a big parcel, or say something rude to a nurse? We thought not. But if anything could provoke such unnatural hostility it would be these notices springing up everywhere telling us that such & such a company or institution will not tolerate abuse of its employees. We are now told that churches also should be places where clergy and people can feel safe from “inappropriate” behaviour. Well, there’s a novel thought! Perhaps laminated notices will be issued explaining all this in greater detail. Meanwhile, come to our Lent course, “egg-sucking for grandmothers”.
COMMUNIONS There will be no home communions this Tuesday because JDH will be away on the Ebbsfleet clergy retreat.
CYRIL & METHODIUS Along with St Benedict and St Bridget of Sweden, the brothers SS Cyril & Methodius are Patron Saints of Europe. Originally Greek monks, they became known as the Apostles of the Slavs for their missionary work in eastern Europe, in preparation for which Cyril invented the alphabet (“cyrillic”) that is in general use there today, in order that liturgical books might be produced in the vernacular. Cyril died in 859 aged only 42, but Methodius lived to become Archbishop of Moravia and later to work in Constantinople on a Slavonic translation of the Bible. He died in 885 aged 59.
NORTHERN CATHOLICISM JDH has been to Edinburgh to the funeral of an old friend Allan Campbell, who was the Chancellor of the Diocese of Moray, Ross and Caithness. He lived in the wonderful part of Edinburgh called the New Town, which, as a guide book says, is “with the debatable exception of, perhaps, Bath”, the finest example of Georgian town planning anywhere. The requiem mass was according to the sublime Liturgy in the Scottish Book of Common Prayer, in the little church of St Vincent where that book is in constant use, and where Chancellor Campbell was a faithful member of the congregation. (It is a little oasis of sanity
and sanctity left after the depredations of Bishop Richard Holloway, who having done his worst in the Episcopal Church, retired and took himself off to the Presbyterians.) Some one among the congenial company referred JDH to an interesting website, that of St Clement’s, Philadelphia, where Fr Gordon Reid (another of Campbell’s many friends) is now Rector. Many readers will remember that Fr Reid preached in this church at the funeral of Fr Malcolm Pearce in 1987. The St Clement’s website is particularly notable for its photo gallery copiously illustrating the activities of the church through all the liturgical seasons. Fr Reid himself naturally appears often, and wearing the most wonderful assortment of vestments. An eye-opener.
(www.s-clements.org) .
WESTERN LIBERALISM We have just had a distressed enquiry from a parishioner of Stratton, where the hitherto sound church has been presented by Bishop Bill with a rector and gay partner, both wearing wedding rings.
Beware Control Freaks “The urge to save humanity is almost always a false front for the urge to rule it.” (H.L. Mencken)
Sermon Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord. Once again the presence of Christ proves more than people want.
Bishop’s Visit Next Sunday the Right Reverend Bob Evens, Bishop of Crediton will be the preacher at 10 a.m.
Crib. Thank you, all who took down the Christmas tree and dismantled the crib and put everything away and tidied up afterwards. Thank you, also, to the children who lent animals to keep Jesus company. Please take them home again any time now.
Taddiport The annual torchlight procession of lepers visited St Mary Magdalen’s church last night. One girl was wearing a necklace of cigarettes and had a box of cigarettes fixed to her hair; she explained that she was a social leper.
The damage done last year by the tractor and trailer reversing into the wall and railing has been beautifully repaired, the gate now has a proper latch on it and the railings look very smart painted black. More work is planned for the tower and roof.
Lighting The deadline for publication of requests in the Crier for March is Wednesday 7 February. The telephone number for requests is 01805 623169.
The spire will be illuminated next Sunday 11 February for Sheila Bright’s birthday.
Churchyard Sad as it is (and it is) not to have mothers and children coming through the churchyard on their way to and from school, there has been a dramatic decrease in the amount of litter dropped along the paths.
Abbotsham Visit Ten of us joined Fr Otto and the congregation of St Helen’s, Abbotsham, for Candlemas last Friday. We were made very welcome and entertained with wine and delicious things to eat afterwards. We intend to arrange a return match soon.
Deanery Magazine JDH missed the deadline for filing his copy so will insert a sheet of local news before distribution. (The rest of it is mostly about the Archbishop of Canterbury, for some reason.)
Sermon All they in the synagogue, when they heard these things, were filled with
wrath. God’s word is so often not what we wish to hear; so unwise of him not to consult us!
Visit to Abbotsham On Friday, the feast of Candlemas (Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary), we shall combine at St Helen’s, Abbotsham, for the main Mass at 7 p.m.. If you intend coming please tell JDH so that we can give some idea of numbers (refreshments will be provided after the service). Transport will be available for all who need it.
Kitchen There was a useful meeting with the architect last Monday to discuss progress with the new kitchen and ringing chamber. It seems that almost all of the “interested parties” who have a right to be consulted have at last given their views, and it remains for the Diocesan Advisory Committee to make yet another visit before the specification can be finished and the work put out to tender.
Secularization With the latest row about “gay” adopters the net round British Christians has closed in a little more. There has never been any difficulty whatever about Roman Catholic adoption agencies deciding for themselves who are suitable parents—whereas some local authorities make it particularly hard for for practising Christians to adopt a child. We are told that in the provision of “public” services the State must make all the rules; meanwhile more and more of life, including anything to do with
children, is being forced into the “public” realm. Old Labour introduced economic nationalization; New Labour is enforcing the nationalization of thought and morals, whilst ruthlessly excluding any transcendental principle. This Government is on a collision course with Christianity, and it is urgent that Christians should be aware of this.
The Government of Burma has openly announced its intention of destroying all Christians, saying that it will be easy because Christianity is a gentle religion. In the past Christian gentleness has been more than equal to any persecution.
Sermon This day is the scripture fulfilled in your ears. Jesus comes out into the open: another manifestation of the Christ.
Concert This afternoon at 3 p.m. the Senior Girl Choristers of Holy Cross Church, Crediton, will give a concert of Music for a Sunday Afternoon. The programme is in the porch and contains something for every one. The Organist and Choirmaster is Neil Page. There will be a retiring collection which will be divided between our New Kitchen Fund and the Crediton USA Tour Fund.
Epiphany goings-on Last week the Bluecoat children each brought a toy for the Rumanian orphans. Margaret Zaharia told the school about the orphans, and the toys were blessed. Thank you to members of this congregation who also contributed toys. JDH is pleased to report that the children are being taught some good old-fashioned songs: this time they sang “This little light of mine”. Not long ago they sang, “Jesus loves me, this I know, because the Bible tells me so”.
Yesterday the Mothers’ Union branches of Torrington and Shebbear combined for their annual luncheon at the Black Horse (this is also where our choir meets). Unfortunately the Monkeokehampton branch was unable to be present.
Later the same afternoon there was the first of the three Epiphany tea parties for church children in the Vicarage. The King (who found the bean in his slice of cake) was Billy Palmer, who chose Amelia Matthews as his Queen. There will be two more parties during the next week.
Church times It is now about a year since JDH finally gave up taking the Church Times (or
Jezebel’s Trumpet), and he earnestly recommends other subscribers to do the same. Say goodbye to apoplexy and uncontrollable rage. Subscribe instead to the misleadingly-entitled
New Directions for some intelligent and entertaining religious journalism. To get this you need to belong to Forward in Faith, which we all ought to belong to anyway. The magazine alone is worth more than the subscription to FiF.
Goings on at No 10 The best way to keep up with the extraordinary
happenings - the arrest of squeaky-clean Ruth Turner, the headless-chicken
antics of Blair’s circle - is to read the blog of Guido Fawkes at http://5thnovember.blogspot.com/
and the comments that readers send in. As Guido says, “The denizens of Downing
Street can huff and puff all they like, but their house is coming down”.
Sermon The Marriage of Cana. By the mystery of water and wine we participate in the Divine nature.
Roscoff We hope to arrange a visit to the parish of Roscoff to coincide with the Pardon of St Barbe, which falls on Thursday 17 July.
The sad news has reached us that Pierre Corre, who has been very active in promoting the link between our two towns, has died suddenly of a heart attack.
Tree The tree outside the priest’s vestry that used to bear blossom that was beautiful to look at but had an overpowering stench like old glue (there’s a sermon in that) blew over in the gale and has been cleared by the Council. They have also been asked to reduce the box tree nearby, that grazes one of the windows, and to remove the large cypress opposite the main door.
Free Paper The latest Pro-Life Times is available this morning.
P.C.C. The PCC generally approved the proposals for a new method of apportioning the Parish Share. We decided to commission a scheme for lighting the church, so that any future works to the lighting will be part of the general scheme. Mr Portman explained the new health and safety; the policy was then adopted and Mr Portman unanimously elected Health and Safety Officer—so watch out! A copy of the policy will be kept in church. A more detailed plan of the new kitchen has been prepared, incorporating recent suggested refinements, which may be looked at in church; the main delay now is caused by the failure of builders to submit quotations. There has been an increase in planned giving and collections, which is most welcome. We shall combine with Abbotsham for Candlemas (2 February), possibly for an away match. The next meeting will be on Thursday 15 March.
Christian Unity The Unity Octave begins on Thursday 18 January.
Thanks The cast, producer and author of the children’s play, “St Boniface and the Little Fir Tree” worked hard to prepare for the performance on Christmas Eve and gave the audience a great deal of pleasure. Thanks also to the manufacturers of some artistic and inventive stage props.
Mothers’ Union The annual Epiphany Luncheon will be on Saturday 20 January at the Black Horse. Please sign the list if you wish to come.
Floodlighting The deadline for requests to printed in the next Crier is this Wednesday 10th. Telephone 623169.
Gay Europe We are indebted to Archbishop Cranmer
for the news that The EU’s justice minister, Franco Frattini has announced that EU member states “which do not eliminate all forms of discrimination against homosexuals, including the refusal to approve ‘marriage’ between same-sex couples, would be subject to sanctions and eventual expulsion from the EU”. Frattini, a Freemason, was elected EU commissioner and apparently is entitled openly to promote immoral practices (if we may make so bold), whereas the European Parliament rejected the nomination of Rocco Buttiglione because he was a practising Catholic and would be suspected of upholding traditional morality and family values. Well, we already have “civil partnerships” which this Government is promoting as equivalent to marriage; is that why they were introduced, we wonder? If “civil partnerships” are not acceptable to the European gay brigade as a form of marriage, with any luck we shall be expelled from the EU, so some good may come of it.
Exeter Christian Union Exeter University Christian Union was recently suspended by the Guild of Students because it accepted as members only those who signed up to certain Christian doctrines. We learn (again from the good Archbishop) that the CU is now taking the Guild to court over the issue of religious freedom. Christians in several universities have had their liberty curtailed in this way, so now a judge must decide which freedom is more important: the freedom to join any association, whether or not you agree with its aims, or the freedom to make rules about who shall be entitled to join your association. The case will no doubt go to the highest European court, whatever that is, and the potential ramifications are enormous. Again and again and again, Christianity is now seen as a problem in modern England, which is not necessarily a bad thing for the Christians, who will have to think about what their faith means, nor a bad thing for the English, who may be reminded of the rock whence they were hewn.
The Newsletter is very short this week and reproduced only in its printed form (see "click here" above).
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picture copied from publication by St Michael's Abbey, Farnborough |
Thanks Jeremy and Clarissa Hummerstone and family thank you for all your cards and greetings, and wish every one a Merry Christmas. The picture above is printed sideways so that the newsletter can be folded and made into a Christmas card. It is copied from a picture by the monks of Farnborough Abbey.
New Light The light in the south aisle has at last been mended, with a new fitting to accommodate a long-life bulb. To save money we shall convert all the others in due course. Eventually we shall renew the lighting entirely and improve the building enormously.
Flowers Thanks to all our decorators for their wonderful work. The flower list for 2007 is now in the church.
Sermon The “many other things” that John the Baptist preached are not recorded, but we know the effect he had.
The Magdalen Charity annual distribution will be on Thursday: 11.30 Taddiport, 12 noon Little Torrington. To be eligible you must have been resident in the parish for 12 months and receive the Old Age or Widow’s Pension.
Childrens’ Play “St Boniface and the Little Fir Tree” on Christmas
Eve at 6 pm, followed by prayers at the Crib 6 pm. Can you bring a toy animal to keep Jesus company?
Midnight Mass begins 11.30 pm. We shall not use “glow sticks” as at
Chelmsford Cathedral, but genuine candles. Why use incense if not, partly, to disguise the smell of burning hair and clothing?
Magazines The Deanery Magazines really are in church this week, having been mislaid and found again.
Stamps Now is a good time to remind you that Taddiport Church collects used stamps for the Leprosy Mission. This year we shall also be collecting used postcards.
Toys Toys in good condition are wanted for our Epiphany blessing of toys for orphans in Rumania. The blessing will be done on 17 January with the Bluecoat children present.
Readers’ Lists Please take your list of readings if you have not already.
Decorating All hands please for decorating on Saturday morning, (then we shall avert our eyes from the decorations on Sunday). Please come on Friday, Saturday afternoon or Sunday if that suits you better.
Common Fund A new way is being discussed of assessing parishes for the amount they contribute to the cost of running the diocese—their “quota” or parochial share. At present it is calculated according to a parish’s estimated ability to pay. The proposal now is to approach it from the other end, so to speak, and charge the parishes the actual cost of providing clergy. Since those costs—unlike people’s financial circumstances—are known exactly, the new system ought to be much simpler and consequently less expensive to administer. The central costs—payment of diocesan employees, and so on, and contributions to national church institutions—will be allocated in the same proportion as the cost of clergy. With some arrangement for rich areas to subsidize poor ones (perhaps using one of the reference tables compiled by the Government) it ought to be possible to devise a system that is simple to run and easy to understand.
Sermon Make straight the way of the Lord. John Baptist is the
last Old Testament prophet announcing the coming of the Messiah.
Concert Tonight at 7.30 the North Devon Choral Society will sing works by Cherubini and Mozart. See posters and programmes in church.
Thanks The retiring collection last Sunday for the Bishop of Koforidua’s water tank raised £150, nearly a tenth of the whole cost. Thank you, all contributors.
Magazines The Deanery magazines are in church this morning for you to collect.
Christian Institute The excellent Christian Institute, which monitors the encroachment of the State-supported secularism promoted by this government, will undertake the defence in court of people persecuted for their beliefs. They have already successfully represented several people, including the fireman who refused to take part in a “gay pride” march in Glasgow, and Hull University Christian Union, which was threatened with expulsion from the Student Union because it would not allow unbelievers to take charge of it. They have established a legal defence fund to which they invite contributions. The first case to be supported by the fund will be that of Joe and Helen Roberts, who, when they telephoned their Council to complain about their “gay rights policy”, were visited by the police, who tried to “educate” them about their Christian beliefs on homosexuality. Joe and Helen are suing Lancashire Police to stop them from doing the same thing to anybody else. A leaflet about this is in church.
Lesson Readers The new lists of lessons and readers are ready for collection. Thank you, as always, to those who undertake this ministry. If there is a day you cannot manage please tell JDH, or even better, arrange to swap with some one else. The titles of the books of the Bible are those printed in the Authorized Version itself, and also available on a separate sheet.
Gas Have you ever needed a spare part for a gas fire or cooker and been
told, "This is obsolete, and I am not allowed to repair it"? We needed
control knobs for two perfectly good fires, and the gas man said he actually had
knobs that would fit, but would not fit them. Nor would he sell me the knobs for
me to fit them myself. What were we supposed to do, buy two new gas fires? Help
is at hand. Gas Appliance Spares (Preston) Ltd. hold a huge range of spares.
They are courteous and obliging, and reply by return of post. Twice they have
found matches for parts I have sent them, when I had quite given up hope. Their
address is 412-414 Watling Street Road, Preston. PR2 6UA. Telephone 01772
702755. Website www.gas-spares.co.uk. JDH
Ghana Fr Grigg, who is a Canon of Koforidua Cathedral in Ghana, told
us about his recent visit and the state of the church there. Koforidua was one
of the many dioceses that were carved out of the diocese of Accra, and now it
also has been divided. It began with 10 priests 25 years ago and now the same
area has 39, 8 of which are in the new diocese of Volta. There has been a huge
increase in church membership during that period. Two of the pressures on the
Church are Islam, which with money from Saudi Arabia is building new schools in
many villages and attracting the Christian children, and a somewhat similar
financial pressure from the rich Episcopal Church of the USA, which is trying to
promote American liberalism in Africa, including the ordination of women. When
an American bishop spoke to the diocesan synod and the then Archbishop ( who was
bishop of that diocese), swayed by the prospect of money, urged the synod to
vote in favour of women priests, all the clergy walked out, so that no vote
could be taken. How very different from the home life of our own dear Church! Fr
Grigg appealed for contributions to the cost of providing a water tank for the
Bishop's house, which has no running water, which means that all the water has to be
carried in. The cost will be £1600. At the end of the mass a retiring
collection raised £150 towards the project. This is not the place to make a
cheap debating point about the expenses (let alone the stipends) of English
bishops (expenses have been as high a £136,000 per year, or £372 per day - and
would that include the money for attending the House of Lords, which is generous
beyond the dreams of avarice? ) but we need to be reminded that even the ordinary
parish clergy here live in comfort that the Bishop of Koforidua could hardly
imagine. Next Sunday Fr Grigg will be preaching at St Helen's, Auckland.
Advent The organ is silent except to support singing; Gloria is omitted; the Lent Prose will be sung after the first lesson; the liturgical colour is purple. During the Canon hymn 313 is replaced by two verses of no. 273. Today’s mass begins with the Litany. This is Year C of the lectionary, during which St Luke’s Gospel is read.
Christmas Bazaar The final amount raised should be revealed in next Sunday’s newsletter. It was boosted immensely by Don and Pat Whittle, who gave us lots of very saleable things when they moved to Brittany.
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Rainbow Mick Gullick has taken a photograph of the church tower showing a rainbow ending at the foot of the spire. If our clockwinder
is up there longer than usual it will be because he has found the crock of gold.
St Cecilia We had our annual mulled claret evening (somewhat late) to show our appreciation for our church musicians.
Mothers’ Union The Action and Outreach Committe will meet at St Sidwell’s, Exeter, on Friday 8 December. If you would like any MU Christmas cards or other publications please tell Clarissa Hummerstone.
Trustees The annual distribution of the Torrington Almshouse, Town Lands and Poors Charity will be held on Friday 8 December in the Plough from9.30—12.45 a.m. and from 2—3.30 p.m.. Each eligible household is entitled to a voucher for £12 redeemable in shops in the town.
Magazine The Deanery Magazines are in church for you to take. (Please take copies for other people as well.)
Sermon To judge
the one who is actually judging us is to take the role of Pilate—a dead-end ambition.
Bazaar Thank you for all who helped with yesterday’s Christmas
Bazaar. So far we have made £565. The draw for the hampers has not yet taken
place so tickets are still on sale this morning, as are Dr Tyler’s
photographic cards.
Free Speech Several
university Student Unions have begun to ban Christian Unions from their
premises because CUs will accept as members only those who will sign an
evangelical statement of belief; they also hold traditional views about
homosexual “practices” and so on. Non-evangelicals, even
non-Christians may attend CU meetings, but not join. The trouble seems to have
been started at
Murder at the Vicarage The garden is silent and empty after a series of murders. In the early summer the puppies killed a hen and three teenage chicks. During the holidays three more hens, six more chicks and a guinea-fowl vanished over several days; this time we thought it might have been a fox but we have only ever seen one once in the garden a long time ago. Recently the cockerel was strangled with a piece of cord and the last hen vanished at the same time.
Misprint in last newsletter “Tax reclaimed on donations to the church is an important part of my income”: that should have read our (meaning the church’s) income. We don’t want to attract the attention of Yates of the Yard.
Bookstall Adrian and Di Bowyer have kindly offered to take charge of
the bookstall, so the gaps in the shelves will be filled up more efficiently.
We have quite a good stock of books in reserve but are always glad to receive
more.
Faith Have you noticed that ordinary Church of England schools are now often
referred to as “faith schools” as though they were pursuing some sectarian
programme (let alone a Christian one, which is hard enough to discern in many
cases)? We have even heard of a “faith community” in
Money In the letter about our finances sent out a week ago no mention
was made of Gift Aid. The tax reclaimed on donations to the church is an
important part of my income, so please, if you are a taxpayer, tell Mrs
Armstrong that you wish the tax to be reclaimed. Another very helpful thing to
us is regularity of giving, because then we can predict more accurately what
our income is going to be. A Standing Order with your bank (please ask for a
form) or the use of weekly envelopes (sets obtainable from Mrs Armstrong) are
two ways of achieving this.
Tesco Poll Three quarters of the people coming out of the Plough, having
seen the Tesco exhibition and having perhaps talked to the persuasive
attendants, voted against having a supermarket on the Vicarage Field.
Lamp Would some one with electrical knowledge please disconnect a lamp
from the power supply in church, following a decision of the PCC? JDH will show
you where it is.
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The much lamented Shell
Guides were discontinued before Yorkshire had been covered but Peter
Burton, a collaborator in the Guides, has now written and illustrated with
his own photographs a guide to North Yorkshire (not the North Riding,
unfortunately) following a similar format, and worthy to be added to your
Shell Guide collection. Adelphi Press £14.95. West and |
Do you remember when the Radio
Times was a patron of some of the best illustrators working in |
Sermon: The widow's mite: the stone temple must be maintained with
money, the spiritual temple with spiritual offerings.
Christmas Bazaar Saturday 25th November: If you can help in any way, tell
Mrs Partridge or Clarissa Hummerstone. More details next week.
PCC Meeting
Assistant Priest: Nobody on the horizon.
Gift Day: We shall do it again next year, with certain refinements.
New Kitchen: We are working our way through the list of bodies which
have a right to be consulted about the plans. Two more sent representatives
last week. As for the Faculty, we have now managed to send off the application
for the application.
Treasurer’s Report: We are on course to pay the Quota in full. Before
the next meeting members will receive information about the proposed new way of
calculating the Quota so that we can discuss it.
Harvest Supper: Next year we shall charge a fixed price.
Church Repairs: Paul Callaghan has unblocked another rainwater hopper
and removed a tree growing in one of the valleys.
Forward in Faith: Mrs Foster reported on the Autumn Assembly held at
Bovey Tracey and JDH explained how he thought the new arrangements of bishops was
intended to work. It was decided to send a subscription of £50 to the Tamar
regional office, because our normal annual subscription as an affiliated parish
goes to the central office in
Next Meeting: Thursday 11 January 2007.
Poppy The broadcaster “Jon” Snow will not wear a poppy because it makes a
“statement”. And what statement
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The white poppy is for PEACE, suggesting that the red one is for something else: militarism and violence, perhaps. This the patriotism of the Woodcraft Folk. |
would that be? Something on the lines of, “The wearer is showing
respect to the sacrifice of all who died in the wars in defence of freedom and
of this country”? And how contentious is that? (His dislike of statement-making
accessories did not extend to the wristband he wore last year that explicitly
said “Make poverty history”.)
Some people now wear white poppies, in recognition of the
contribution made to society by the trade in opium and heroin.
Sermon The greatest commandment. Christ’s teaching here is
entirely traditional, and the admiring scribe is in turn praised for his wise
answer.
Christmas Hampers There are lists in church of the contents of the
hampers. Please sign your name against anything you would like to contribute.
Letter about Money Today the circular letter the PCC discussed is being
distributed. It is a summary of our financial condition and rather depressing.
However, do please read it and see whether there is any room in your own
budgeting to increase your support. If you can pass a copy on to any of our
members who are not here today that would be most helpful.
Thanks We have received a card from Don and Pat Whittle thanking us for
the Dartington jug, which has been much admired by their French neighbours (and
which we forgot to photograph—perhaps Don will do it and send us a copy). The
card is on the table at the back of the church.
Forward in Faith At the SW Assembly at Bovey Tracey Fr Jonathan Baker,
Principal of Pusey House, Oxford, who edited the book Consecrated Women,
the most considerable of the publications dealing with the issue of woman
bishops, told us that the Church of England is now irrevocably set upon
dividing itself into catholic and protestant, so we must now be (as we have
been already) organizing ourselves as a distinct church, against the day when
the inevitable split finally occurs. NB: there is no avoiding this: it is
going to happen. The glue that bound us together for centuries has almost
dissolved away. To keep us locked, EU-like, in one federation, would only cause
frustration and resentment. The parting can be amicable and we can all end up
as friends.
Sermon Bartimaeus receives his outward sight in confirmation that he
already has the necessary inward sight to know what he must do.
The Christian Institute This excellent body, which monitors the effect of
legislation on Christian life, has arranged a public meeting on Tuesday 7
November at 7.30 in the Evangelical Church, Stoat Park, Whiddon Valley. The two
speakers will talk about threats to Christian liberty, the promotion of gay
rights, and the morning-after pill. JDH will be going and can give a lift to
any one else who wants to go.
Invitation Your invitation to the evening with the Bishop of Crediton at
the Plough next week may be extended to any one else you like to bring.
Laying on of Hands In the course of the ordination of a priest, other
priests join with the bishop in laying hands on the ordinand. This essential
part of the ceremony—not an optional extra—marks his admission to the college
of priests who share in the bishop’s sacramental ministry. If women cannot be
priests, it follows that at our ordinations women clergy must not join in this
laying on of hands (any more than they might stand as concelebrants at our
altars). It is now proposed that, to avoid hurting the women clergy’s feelings,
no one should join with the bishop, but any one may individually
lay hands afterwards as a kind of blessing. A misunderstanding to be resisted.
The Advance of National Socialism The vetting of people who are seeking,
in the unpleasant phrase, “access to children” is really taking off. A priest
who is also a hospital chaplain and a school governor may be commanded to be
vetted separately for each role, reporting to the local Gestapo with his
passport, birth certificate, details of his bank account, etc.. The intention
of our poisonous rulers is that ultimately 9½ million people in this country
will have been vetted, some several times, and the procedure must be undergone
not once only but periodically. The reason for this manic activity is nothing
to do with the protection of children, which it will not achieve, and
everything to do with the avoidance of blame. It is also a useful way of giving
white-collar employment at public expense to the surfeit of graduates emerging
from our crazy system of education. The largest group remaining unvetted will be
the parents themselves: how long before parenthood will require permission from
the State?
Sermon What is the nature of Christ’s glory, which James and John are
so anxious to share?
Free Paper This month’s edition of Forward Plus has a photograph on
p. 13 taken at our recent Confirmation.
Organ Concert On Wednesday at 2.30 p.m. Jane Whiteley will play works by
Bach, Buxtehude, Dubois and Boellmann. Tea and homemade cakes will be served in
the interval. Entrance £5, payable at the door. All proceed will go to
Elizabeth Finn Care North Devon.
Possible Temporary Reprieve How sinister the phrase is, when the devil
had finished tempting him, he departed for a season! Tesco, we hear have
withdrawn their application to build a monstermarket on the Vicarage Field, but
intend to come back with plans for a smaller one on the same site, armed as
before with offers the District Council cannot refuse.
Even-handed Scorn We often hear, in discussions about Islamist
intolerance, that the world would be better off without any religions at all;
even that all the evils of the world have been inspired by religion (including
those committed by Mao, Stalin and Hitler?). Clear-eyed fearless rationalism is
evidently all we need. Roy Hattersley, whom we do not often quote, has asked,
When have committed rationalists ever operated soup-kitchens, hotlines for the
suicidal or hostels for crack addicts?
Sermon Who then can be saved? This is the question from the
disciples, horrified at the demand made by Christ of
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Some of the clergy following the Holy Mile. (JDH omitted to obtain the written consent of their parents before taking the picture but did offer to pixillate the faces of any who wished to remain anonymous.) |
the young man who had great possessions. And the answer is, Without God’s
grace, nobody.
Gift Day The total sum so far collected is now £944, which with
recovered tax will come to well over £1000. Thank you, all who contributed to
the appeal. A message of thanks will also appear in the next Crier.
Songs of Praise The service in our church at 3 pm this afternoon will
form part of the Two Moors Festival. It will be led by the Very Revd Jonathan
Meyrick, Dean of Exeter
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A door in the sacristy in the shrine church. Junior clergy are kept under lock and key until required for duty. |
Cathedral, with the choirs of
Walsingham JDH has been in Walsingham in
Roscoff The visit went off well, thanks to the hard work of volunteers and the kindness of the Scouts in lending their minibus. At the Sunday Mass the principal celebrant and preacher was the Right Revd John Ford, Bishop of Plymouth. Although the weather was very unsettled the sun seemed to come out whenever we needed to be out of doors. We have been given a sumptuously illustrated book about Breton church art and architecture, which may be borrowed at any time. There is a report on the Roscoff parish website http://www.beaulien.fr/WKBGT.htm
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Our visitors from
Roscoff. Concelebrants behind, l to r: JDH, the Bishop of |
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Jasmine Prisk and Amelia Matthews led the procession |
Whittles Don and Pat have succeeded in selling their house and this is
their last appearance at church as residents of the parish. Now that they will
be living entirely in
Floodlighting The deadline for requests to be printed in The Crier
is Wednesday 11 November. Please telephone 623169.
Thanks We were well supplied with Michaelmas daisies for our festival
this year; thank you, all contributors.
Taddiport We have been told that we are to receive an anonymous donation
of £1000, most welcome news. A tractor and trailer has demolished part of the
churchyard wall so we are obtaining tenders for the repairs. Whilst we are about
it we hope to replace the undamaged railings as well as the damaged ones, and
the iron gate.
Deanery The Deanery Synod needs a Secretary, Treasurer and two people to
represent it at the Diocesan Synod. If any one reading this is interested in any
of these posts please tell JDH. You do not need to be an existing member of the
Synod. At present all the office-holders come from the Torridge group of
parishes, so it would improve the balance—and spread the load—if some of the
vacancies could be filled from our parishes or from the
Fame According to the Western Morning News the cannabis crop has
been exceptionally prolific at Little Torrington this year. There is expertise
of all kinds among our parishioners.
Offence The Vicar of Bishops Lydeard has been rebuked for telling a joke
in his newsletter using the word “Nip”, meaning Japanese. The Director of
Somerset Racial Equality Council, whose name is David Onamade, has called on the
Vicar to “consider his position” after giving such offence to all his
Japanese readers. It must be quite tough hunting out racial inequalities in
Bienvenu! With great pleasure we welcome Fr Caraës and 21 of his
parishioners. They will be providing some of the music this morning.
La Collecte O Dieu éternel, qui as établi et distribué les ministères des
Anges et des hommes dans un ordre merveilleux; Veuille faire, dans ta
miséricorde, que comme tes saints Anges te servent continuellement dans le
ciel, de même, par ton ordre, ils nous secourent et nous défendent sur la
terre; par Jésus-Christ notre Seigneur, qui vit et qui règne avec toi et le
Saint-Esprit, un seul Dieu, aux siècles des siècles. Amen.
Sermon The Right Reverend John Ford, Bishop of
Thanks to all who contributed in any way to our Harvest Thanksgiving. The
church was beautifully decorated and the delicious supper was enjoyed by many.
Saturday Gift Day at church. We hope every household in
There was no newsletter this week. JDH was at a family wedding on Saturday & did not leave himself enough time to write one.
Sermon The Church cannot be reduced to a happy gathering, however
high-minded. There is too much at stake.
Harvest The Harvest Thanksgiving evensong on Friday will be followed by a
buffet supper. Contributions of food would be most welcome.
Roscoff Visit URGENT ! The party will consist of 21, including 4 couples,
6 young people with sleeping-bags and one child. They will arrive late in the
evening of Friday 29 September and leave on Sunday evening. Can you offer
accommodation for two nights?
We also need transport for collecting the visitors from
Michaelmas We shall be keeping our Feast of Title on Sunday 1 October.
Can you provide some Michaelmas daisies? If you can, please leave them in the
Vicarage porch on Saturday or before, with long stalks if possible.
Pope The sympathies of the BBC (or Al Beeb) are evidently with those
Moslems who have expressed outrage at the Pope’s suggestion that Islam might
ever condone violence. If his apology was not grovelling enough they will simply
be forced to commit acts of violence just to show us how peaceful their religion
is.
Touch The governing body of one of our schools willsoon discuss—and no
doubt approve unanimously—a twenty page “Touch Policy”—every line a
laugh!—defining exactly when a member of staff may touch a child. No one here
wrote it, of course. It was written by people who are paid out of our taxes
specially to produce this sort of nonsense, and then to foist it on the obedient
volunteers who “govern” our schools; we poor suckers then “adopt” it and
it becomes yet another of the million cords that bind the teachers who actually
do the work, but who evidently cannot be trusted to use their common sense. It
is high time that we refused to participate in this patronizing charade.
Harvest Services Harvest Thanksgivings as follows: Taddiport on Monday
18 September at 7, Little Torrington on Saturday 16 September at 6.30, Great
Torrington on Friday 22 September at 6.30, Frithelstock on Sunday 1 October at
6.30.
The preacher at Taddiport, the Revd Brian Hankin, will take
away with him a collection of used postage stamps which we have been saving for
him; these bring in a good income for the Leprosy Mission. If you have any
stamps they may be given to JDH before the 18th or brought to the service. (In
future we have also been asked to save our old picture postcards for the same
cause.)
Floodlighting The deadline for bookings for the floodlighting of the
spire (if you want it reported in The Crier) is Wednesday 13 September.
Telephone 623169.
Flag The reason that greater festivals have not recently been marked by
the flying of our church flag is that the flag was frayed at the corners and and
is in
Mothers’
Holy Cross Day Tertullian (born 160 AD) wrote: “When we go in or out,
when we dress or put on our shoes, at the bath, at the table, when the lights
are brought, when we go to bed, when we sit down, whatever it is which occupies
us, we mark the forehead with the sign of the Cross”. Dr
Thomas Arnold of
Since the Incarnation we have been permitted to make
representations of God because he has made himself visible in his Son. There was
a long and bitter controversy about this in the Church, which was settled at the
7th Ecumenical Council in 787 with a decision in favour of the use of icons. The
occasion marked what has since been known as the Triumph of Orthodoxy. (One of
the motives of the unorthodox Iconoclasts—“image-breakers”—was the
avoidance of offence to Jews and Moslems, who might otherwise have been
converted to Christianity, since they upheld the stern prohibition of
images.)
Roscoff We have suggested delaying the visit until the ferry
sailings permit a visit of three nights. There is no boat on the Monday after
the week end we first proposed (29 Sept—1 Oct).
Damp The damp stain to the right of the arch of the north transept (the
choir vestry) was caused by a blocked gutter and rainwater hopper, which Paul
Callaghan has kindly unblocked.
Photographs The photographs taken at the Fete left over from the sale in
the card shop have been brought to church in case anybody wishes to have them or
to give any to some one they recognize in one of the pictures. Please make a
donation to church funds if you take any. The surviving pot plants are also free
to kind homes.
Mothers’ Union The Northam MU has spare seats on their coach to
Crediton to meet “Trish” Heywood the World Wide President on Saturday 16
September, leaving
Welsh Exchange Thank you for making Fr Gareth Parry so welcome. He had a
busy time during his short stay, with a christening and a wedding, as well as
the usual Sunday services. Meanwhile the Vicarage party was happily lodged in Fr
Parry’s house at Penmaenmawr. The Rector there, Fr Michael Outram, told us he
had actually stayed in Torrington Vicarage in 1991 whilst we were in the
Vicarage at Aspley Guise in Bedfordshire. Fr Outram was at the time Chaplain of
Wellington College. After leaving North Wales we borrowed a house at Port Eynon
in the
Sermon: Will ye also go away? To go or to stay is a matter of
our free choice.
P.C.C. Meeting We had a short but useful meeting. The kitchen project is
making steady progress: some refinements have been made to the plans in the
light of advice by the ringers; the structural engineer’s report has been
received. It was decided to revive the old custom of a Gift Day; this will be on
Saturday 7 November, by which time we hope to have distributed envelopes to
every house in the town. A letter will go to every one on the electoral roll
about money.
Devon Historic Churches The sponsored “Ride or Stride” on 9 September
has been mentioned before. Please take a sponsor form from church if you can
join in.
Roscoff We are waiting to hear whether some Roscovites are coming for
Michaelmas weekend (31 September—1 October). Can you let us know whether you
can offer hospitality for (probably) two nights, and for how many?
The Revd Derwent Davies Please pray for Prebendary Davies, formerly
Rector of Bideford, who is seriously ill in Crediton hospital.
Mothers’
On Saturday 16 September the World Wide President
of the MU will be visiting Crediton at 10 a.m. If you would like to be there
please tell Clarissa Hummerstone.
Harvest Thanksgiving Please note the date: Friday 22nd September at 6.30
pm. The preacher will be the Revd Francis Otto, Vicar of Abbotsham.
Free Paper The latest Pro-Life Times will be distributed this
morning.
The principle of no smoke without fire That is the title of an excellent
article by Christopher Howse in yesterday’s Daily Telegraph, copies of which
are in church. (Read
the article here.) A clergyman against whom an allegation is made of
improper behaviour with children is effectively guilty until he can prove
himself innocent. If no charge is brought and there is no legal process, his
reputation may be destroyed, he may lose his home, and there is nothing he can
do about it. We have of course a very local example of this grave injustice.
People who make or encourage such allegations should have the courage to state
their suspicions publicly and have them examined in a court of law. Otherwise
they themselves ought to be sued for defamation of character.
Polish Our new server Charles Porter and his wife Wendy have de-coked
and polished the thurible and made a cotton bag for it to go in to keep it
shiny. Thank you!
Sponsored Ride or Walk The Devon Historic Churches Trust has arranged a
sponsored Bike Ride or Stride to raise money to be divided equally between the
Trust and your favourite church or chapel. The event will take place on Saturday
9 September and sponsor forms are available in church for you to take if you are
able to take part.
Orange Do you use an
Balloon The first ticket has been returned from one of the b
