The Parish Church of St Andrew's, Medsteadwelcome | faith | services | events | news | archive | people | church | village | friends | location |
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The Parish Church of St Andrew's, Medsteadwelcome | faith | services | events | news | archive | people | church | village | friends | location |
|
October-December 2004
Christmas Flowers
Nine Lessons & Carols
Carols On The Green
The Spirit Of Christmas
Sunday Lesson Changes
PCC Meeting: 24th Nov
Benefice Standing Committee: 3rd Nov
Music Recital
Patience
Christmas Gift Boxes
Karamoja Supper
Service of Licensing
Christmas at St. Andrew's
Christmas Competition!
Dever Singers Concert
Christmas Trees For Sale
The Bishops' Letter
Churchwarden Wanted
Our Prayer Book
Refectory Duties 2005
St. Andrew's History
Children In Need
Thank You, Jan
Talents
Remembrance Day
Jumble Sale
Advent Study
Sanctuary Lamp
David Bray Memorial
Skittles Evening
Births, Deaths & Marriages
July-September 2004
April-June 2004
January-March 2004
November-December 2003
Focus: Diocese Of Winchester
Anglicans Online
The Church of England Newspaper
The Church of England Gazette
Church Times Online
BBCi: Christian News
Ship of Fools
St. Andrew's website is:
May I express my sincere thanks to everyone who helped to create the floral decorations in the church for the service of Nine Lessons & Carols and for the Christmas services - the church looked beautiful.
If you have enjoyed the floral decorations and would like to join the team, please contact Gill to find out more. New members of the team are always very welcome.
Gill Siddall
One hundred and twenty-two people attended the service of Nine Lessons and Carols which took place in our church on Saturday 18th December.
Everyone enjoyed the unfolding story of Jesus' birth and the singing of traditional carols. Additional enjoyment was provided by the Choir who sang a number of arrangements and by Ben who provided many of us with our first opportunity to hear him singing solo, when he sang an extract from the Messiah.
The choir, under the direction of Wendy Busby and Celia Hayes, had spent time preparing the choral items. Their hard work culminated in a joyful musical offering for the congregation.
This wonderful event was then rounded off with mulled wine and mince pies in the Church Hall.
A collection of £339.37 was taken at the service and this will be sent to the Kathryn Mercy Home in Devakottai, Southern India, where the money will be used to educate members of the Untouchable caste so that they can break away from the grinding poverty in which they live.
Chris Tew
Related Links:
Mercy Home
Indian Priest To Visit The Benefice
Tuesday night, 14th December, saw the Village and Church community come together to celebrate Christmas on the Green with carols, mince pies and some rather excellent mulled wine.
The Reverend Ben, with the help of Adrian Barnes on the organ, soon got the crowd singing in cheerful voice. This was followed by some great jazz from The Jazzmanian Devils, and the chance to catch up and exchange Christmas wishes with neighbours and friends.
The highlight for me has to be the children singing Away in a Manger and, of course the special visit from Father Christmas (who is, after all, a very busy man this time of the year!)
Cathy Smoothy
In 1647 Parliament ordered the abolition of Christmas. As the season approached, the Mayor of every town ordered the Town Crier to warn the citizens that they were not to celebrate Christmas in any way. If they did, they were severely punished. Shops and markets stayed open and workers toiled as usual at their places of work. Parliament itself sat on every Christmas Day in order to set a good example.
Such an unpopular order could not go unchallenged, and there were riots in London, Oxford, Ipswich and Canterbury. The whole of Kent rose against the law and there were clashes between citizens and soldiers that resulted in many a broken window and many a broken head. Whole congregations were arrested and taken before the magistrates.
But slowly the light of the Christmas celebrations was extinguished and December 25th became like any other day. Only behind closed doors was the season celebrated by people who went in constant fear of discovery, until the Restoration of the Monarchy brought the ban to an end. Sadly, following the lead of Charles II, the revived celebrations had more to do with orgy than religion, hedonism rather than faith, but at least the faithful were no longer persecuted.
Behind the Commonwealth Parliament's ban was a good motive: to inspire people to abandon self-indulgence and profligacy and lead holy lives more suited to citizens of heaven. What do we see each Christmas in our society today other than commercialism and constant urging to spend and party beyond what is reasonable? But outright bans, such as that of 1647, are not the answer.
We all need to celebrate from time to time, and Christians certainly need to celebrate such a joyous festival: our annual commemoration of God's own profligate act - that of sending his only Son into the world to redeem us. Cromwell couldn't keep the Christmas spirit (should that be Spirit?) down; neither should we.
Ben Flenley
Comments? email Ben
An explanation of the change in lessons for Sunday services
A Revised Common Lectionary was introduced with the Church of England's new service book Common Worship in the year 2000, and for a number of reasons.
Firstly, it promotes a far wider usage of the Bible in our worship, Sunday by Sunday. Three readings are provided for each principal Sunday service: one from the Old Testament, an Epistle and a Gospel.
To many, if not most, of even the hardiest of churchgoers, the Old Testament remains pretty much a closed book, which does a great disservice to a very significant part of our Christian heritage. It perpetuates the misunderstanding that the God of the Old Testament is in some way different from that of the New, though clearly God is God. In the Book of Common Prayer (BCP), the Old Testament is rarely heard at a Communion service.
Further, the Revised Lectionary, being based on a three-year cycle of readings, ensures that far more of the Bible is read in church than before: the BCP has only one set of readings for any given Sunday, not a cycle of three.
Secondly, several of our principal ecumenical partners also use this three-year cycle, or one very similar to it, so that Christians of many denominations now follow the same sets of readings Sunday by Sunday, drawing us more closely together and enabling us to feel part of a far greater whole than just the Church of England.
Thirdly, by using the Revised Lectionary in our four churches, we shall all hear the same portions of scripture, whether we are attending a BCP Communion service, Common Worship Communion, Family Service (which normally might have only one or two readings) or Evensong (BCP).
This will additionally benefit those who travel around our churches, as themes will follow through in a logical sequence from week to week, regardless of the precise form of service attended.
The Church of England has based its new Lectionary on the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible. But, as to the version of the Bible to be read in church, let me be quite clear: this is not a back-door attempt to ease out the King James (or Authorised) Version.
Any reader is free to choose their preferred version when reading at the BCP Communion service; my only caveat would be that the passage should be readily understood.
To quote from the instructions in the BCP itself, "such language spoken to the people in Church, as they might understand, and have profit by hearing the same" should be used. Without doubt, some passages, particularly from the Old Testament and the Epistles, are becoming almost impenetrable to many twenty-first century ears.
Nor is there any intention, hidden or expressed, to abandon the BCP in its entirety. Its place in the Church of England is guaranteed. This is no "thin end of the wedge"!
The Benefice Standing Committee, which comprises the Churchwardens from each of the four parishes and myself as Rector, has approved the adoption of the Revised Common Lectionary for use at all services in church, commencing from the first Sunday in December for a trial period of twelve months, so as to cover an entire Church year.
We will, of course, welcome your comments but ask that you give this a fair chance first, for the reasons outlined above.
Ben Flenley
Comments? email Ben
In addition to routine business, the following subjects were discussed at the Parochial Church Council (PCC) Meeting, held on Wednesday, 24th November:
Our Rector leads the Standing Committee, comprising the Churchwardens from each parish. It is responsible for the strategic planning of all our church activities. Their combined thoughts and recommendations are forwarded to individual Parochial Church Councils for approval and implementation.
The activities and events considered in their autumn meeting included:
A very successful concert was held in St. Andrew's Church on Sunday 28th November. Attended by over 90 people, it featured Fiona Brockhurst, French Horn, Patrick Busby, Piano and Wendy Busby, Soprano, who played, with outstanding style, a programme which included:
Horn Sonata in F major. Op 17
Ludvig Van Beethoven for Horn and Piano.
Fiona Brockhurst & Patrick Busby
Auf Dem Strom (On the River) Opus 119
Franz Schubert: Master work for Soprano, Horn and Piano
Wendy Busby, Fiona Brockhurst & Patrick Busby
Franz Liszt Hungarian Rhapsody Number 6 in Db/Bb Major
Patrick Busby
Trois Chanson
Gabriel Faure Soprano and Piano
Les Roses D'Ispahan
Les Berceaux
Apres un Reve
Wendy Busby & Patrick Busby
Liebesleid Fritz Kreisler
transcribed for solo piano by Serge Rachmaninoff
Patrick Busby
Nocturne Lento "Con Gran Espressione"
Opus postumus Frederick Chopin
Patrick Busby
Polonaise in Ab "Heroic" Opus 53 Frederick Chopin
Patrick Busby
The audience were very enthusiastic in their applause for another great night of music from our talented musicians.
Afterwards, the audience enjoyed drinks, a buffet supper and a chance to meet the musicians. All credit must go to Wendy and Patrick for such a good evening and for all the practice they must have put in before the event, which raised a net income for church funds in excess of £750.
To download a programme from the event, right click on the link below, select "Save Target As..." and save the file to a local directory. The programme is a pdf file compressed using Winzip.
Bill Davis
It had to happen! Somebody's determined piece of software successfully evaded all my computer's protection systems (including the anti-virus and firewall software I have, which is worrying) and used my daughter's email account to forward some spam. Consequently, my internet service provider suspended my account and left me unable to connect to the internet until I had spent a considerable time sorting out the mess left behind on my computer. I've just managed to gain access once more.
The internet was conceived of as a great power for good in the world, with information being freely shared and communicated around the globe in nanoseconds. It has enormous benefits to offer and serves to make the planet seem even smaller than it appeared before. Sadly, there will always be those who, seeing an opportunity, will seek to make something pernicious out of what ought to be beneficial. Here's this wonderful tool for mass communication, clearly too good a prospect to be missed for those of a certain disposition. It just goes to show that, whatever kind of world we like to think we inhabit, there are always plenty of people out for no good.
Jesus told a story of a landowner who sowed his fields with wheat only for his workers to discover weeds (or tares in the King James Version) growing up amongst the crops (Matthew 13. 24-30). Their reaction was to suggest removing the weeds right away, but the landowner decided to let things lie until the harvest lest good crops be pulled up with the weeds by mistake.
Evil is an ever-present reality in life: whatever good we intend, someone will try to pervert it. In Twenty-first Century Britain, where people seem more and more to be urged to demand instant gratification, patience is a quality seldom extolled. Yet clearly, patience is needed in so many areas of life. Remember all those people who called for Clive Woodward to be sacked as England's Rugby Manager when he didn't bring results in his first few years? Patience was rewarded in the end (even if things now aren't quite what they were!)
In this life, undoubtedly, our patience is regularly sorely tried; retaliation is often prescribed by many. Yet, "vengeance is mine, says the Lord"; for our part, love of enemies is required even if, when our computers are attacked, 'love' isn't the first emotion that springs to mind!
Ben Flenley
Comments? email Ben
Related Links:
Shields Up
Definitive resource for testing the vulnerability of, and securing, your PC.
McAfee
Symantec
Leading Anti-Virus software vendors.
Microsoft XP Firewall
Sygate Technologies
Zone Labs
Personal Firewalls.
Microsoft Windows Update
Microsoft Windows online update, for the latest security patches, service packs, etc.
As part of the Benefice's Christmas celebrations we are joining in with the excellent project Operation Christmas Child, run by Samaritan's Purse.
Samaritan's Purse's philosophy is to meet the critical needs of the victims of war, poverty, famine, disease and natural disaster while sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ.
By the simple donation of a shoe box containing gifts for children, Operation Christmas Child enables people in the developed third of the world to make a small difference in the lives of those whose Christmas will be the direct opposite to that which we will enjoy.
This year an estimated 7 million shoe box gifts will be collected for children in 95 countries on 6 continents. At a time when we think of the massacre in Russia, the war-torn areas of the world and the natural disasters that have befallen many over the past few months, such a project could not be more timely.
This is what you need:
...and this is what you do:
Any of the items listed below are suitable for the box:
- A cuddly toy.
- A toothbrush and tooth paste.
- A bar of soap and flannel.
- A picture book (no words).
- A note pad.
- A colouring book, pens, pencils, crayons, felt tips.
- A hat, gloves, scarf (no other clothing).
- A small ball.
- A puzzle or jigsaw.
- A toy car, truck, plane etc.
- Jewellery, clip on ear rings, make up, hair accessories.
- Sweets which must be well within their sell by date and not chocolate.
Please do not include any of the following items:
- Edible items, such as crisps, biscuits, cakes, tinned food.
- War related items such as guns, knives, toy soldiers.
- Glass, mirrors or other fragile or sharp items.
- Liquids of any type, such as perfume, bubble bath, blow bubbles, toiletry sets, aerosols, shampoo.
- Medicines.
The boxes will be collected from November 10th onwards.
I have arranged for St. Andrew's Church Hall to be open on Saturday, November 6th from 10am-12 noon.
Please bring your box to the Hall where you can pick up a leaflet, a label to stick on the box and an envelope to place your cheque in.
The person who writes the cheque will need to fill in their name and address on the envelope and this will then be placed in the box.
If you wish to obtain a leaflet before this, I hope to have them by 31st October, so that they will be available at the United Benefice Service at St Andrew's at 10am.
If you wish to bring your box to this service, please do so!
Let's try and fill as many boxes as possible - I have ordered 200 leaflets!!
Kathryn Flenley
As part of the Diocese of Winchester's link with the Church in Uganda, Alton Deanery, of which our benefice is a part, has a particular link with the diocese of Karamoja in Northern Uganda.
Karamoja is suffering from severe drought and the death of cattle, the main currency, as well as raids from the Lord's Liberation Army.
This year the annual supper in aid of Karamoja will be held in the Kingsley Centre, Kingsley on Friday 19th November, at 7.15pm.
The highlight of the evening, apart from the good food and fellowship, will be a presentation by the Deanery Team, Revd. James Campbell, Revd. James Croft, Daniel Kifleyesus and Margaret Bell, who have just returned from a visit to Karamoja on behalf of the Deanery.
They will be describing their experiences during the period they were in Karamoja.
Entrance will be by ticket only, priced £5, from Diana Davies-Scourfield. Only 100 tickets are available to the Deanery so book early!
At the end of the evening there will be a retiring collection for projects in Karamoja. The deanery has already raised money for bicycles and motor bikes for clergy as well as funding towards buildings and generators.
Diana Davies-Scourfield
Thank you to everyone who helped to make my Licensing such a wonderful occasion. It was lovely to have so many of you there in the cathedral and also at the Church Hall afterwards.
On Saturday 2nd October about 50 of us from the Benefice were delighted to be able to attend Carol Fuller's Licensing ceremony at Winchester Cathedral.
The service was led by The Right Reverend Trevor Willmott, Bishop of Basingstoke and we had a chance to see the new Bishop of Southampton, The Right Reverend Paul Butler, in action as he gave the sermon.
After the service we returned to our Church Hall for a splendid buffet lunch and an opportunity to wish Carol the very best for her future new role as Reader.
No one can remember when St. Andrew's last produced a Reader, and we must thank Carol for all the work that she has put into this achievement, of which Carol and St. Andrew's must be proud.
I read once that Cardinal Newman firmly believed that each one of us has a "call" in our lives. He has committed some work to each of us which He has not committed to anyone else.
We may not be sure exactly what this is in this life but we shall certainly be told in the next. We all have a mission. We are links in the chain, a band of connection between people.
The key link in the chain for me was our dear David Bray who helped me come to the decision to train as a Reader. His encouragement, wise counsel and prayers were greatly appreciated. It was good to have Anita here again, too.
Thanks too, go to Rev. Geoffrey Armstead who gave me much help and support while he was here with us. It was Geoffrey who suggested St. Michael's, Basingstoke as a possible placement church during my training. The Rev. Jo Stoker and the congregation at St. Michael's received me warmly and gave me valuable feedback. My thanks go to them.
Carol Fuller
Related Links:
Reader Ministry in the Church of England
This year we will be holding the following special Advent and Christmas services and events:
5th December: Christingle, 11.00am.
12th December: Holy Communion, 8.00am & Family Communion, 11.00am.
14th December: Carols on the Green, 7.00pm.
18th December: Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols, 5.00pm.
19th December: Family Communion with Nativity play, 11.00am.
24th December: Midnight Mass, 11.30pm.
25th December: Family Communion, 11.00am.
We have been busy recently updating the site with a whole set of new features, including:
To encourage you to browse we have three free Gmail accounts to give away in our Christmas Competition. Gmail is Google's desirable and currently invitation-only free webmail service.
All you need to do is answer these three simple questions:
Winners will be the first three correct entries emailed to the webmaster by 24th December, so get browsing!
The Reverend Simon Baker and his wife Diana live in Medstead Rectory and are regulars at our services. They are also members of the Dever Singers who meet and practice in Micheldever Church, in Rector Ben's former parish.
The choir have arranged to give a concert of Carols and Christmas Music in St. Mary's Church, Bentworth at 8.00pm on Thursday, 16th December, to which all are invited.
The concert will be similar to the one we all enjoyed in Medstead last year so make it a date in your diary!
Christmas trees for sale: call the Plants on 01420 563297 and come and choose your tree!
Parishioners from Bentworth, Lasham, Medstead and Shalden met in St Andrew's Church Hall on Wednesday, 8th December to discuss the important Bishops' Pastoral Letter.
The meeting was chaired by Ben and we discussed how we could become better:
We divided into five groups, each discussing one of the above areas and prepared notes for Ben to collate into a single document which will advise the Bishops what we seek to do for each of the communities and how the Diocese can help us.
Sadly, Sarah Delaney is to resign as Churchwarden in April. We need someone to replace her - could that be you?
If so, please contact either Ben, a Churchwarden or a member of the Parochial Church Council.
The Annual Parochial Church Meeting (APCM) and Meeting of Parishioners takes place at 7.45pm on Tuesday, 12th April 2005, at which we elect Churchwardens
As you enter the Church, please take a little time to look at the Prayer Book on the table by the door - and also do use it to request a prayer for someone in need.
It is there for all to write in, as and when we feel the need - these prayers are offered to God, from the altar, during the intercessions.
When saying your daily prayers please include "all those included in our Intercessionary Prayer Book".
The dates when St Andrew's team is on duty at Winchester Cathedral Refectory are:
We do need some new members on our team, if you are interested please phone Mary, on 01420 561440.
I am researching the history of our parish church with a view to producing a booklet that will tell a little more than has currently been published.
Particularly scarce, perhaps non-existent, is a picture of the church before the major changes which took place in the mid-nineteenth century. The church would have had a shorter nave and perhaps a tower, so may not be easy to identify.
However if you have a drawing, painting, or even perhaps an early photograph which you think may be of Medstead Church, please contact Chris.
Many thanks.
Chris Tew
Related Links:
St Andrew's: The Church
Many thanks to the youngsters who raised £66.44 for Children In Need at the Medstead Misfits' Stars In Your Eyes competition, on Friday 3rd December.
The standard of singing, dancing and guitar playing was very high! Thanks also to all who sponsored them.
I am sure you will all wish to join me in saying a big thank you to Jan Evans who has masterminded the Church flower arranging rota for the last four years with energy, enthusiasm and great organisation.
You will be pleased to know that Jan is staying on the rota and will be my second in command.
We have a wonderful team of flower arrangers, so if you are reading this and would like to consider joining the rota we would be very pleased to welcome you.
You really do not need to be a talented 'flower arranger', just someone who likes to see the Church looking beautiful and can spare a few hours a year to help make it so. It is not an onerous task, we usually take our turn on the rota twice a year plus a little extra help for the major festivals.
Please contact me if you would like to know more. I look forward to hearing from you!
Gill Siddall
There is still money outstanding from the Parable of the Talents programme. If you have not yet submitted your harvest to Mary Spinks, please do so without delay!
There was standing room only in St. Andrew's on Remembrance Sunday, as one of the largest congregations in recent years assembled for the Act of Remembrance, supported by representatives from various Village Organisations.
Thank you to all the children who came to the Church Hall during the Service to help make the 20 foot Poppy and Poem Banner.
Thirty-five enthusiastic pairs of hands contributed to the finished piece. The Banner was then hung from the fence at the front of the Church for all to see.
Kerry Magennis-Prior
Our Jumble Sale on 13th November was another great success, adding £665.08 to our funds.
Many thanks to all those who helped by collecting, sorting, selling, clearing up or making cakes.
Geoff Spinks
A Siel HB300 electronic organ, complete with synthesiser and stool, was given to us for the Jumble Sale.
If you are interested in acquiring this and will make a donation to the church please phone Kay Johnson on 01962 773433.
This group of seven, under the leadership of Carol Fuller, used Raymond Tompkinson's course book God's Advent People to prepare for Advent by creating a little space for reading and reflection.
Over the five week course, the group learnt there are Advent people all around us: perhaps sitting on a bench in a shopping arcade, walking the dog, or sitting cold and hungry in a doorway, the Advent God is not far from us even if we are not consciously attending on him.
If you would like to borrow one of the course books and spend a little time reflecting upon the God who came to dwell among us as a human being, please contact Carol.
We will now be looking for suitable study material for Lent, starting on 9th February 2005. If you have any ideas or would like to join us, again please contact Carol.
Following the damage to our sanctuary lamp, Mary Leonard has kindly donated a new lamp in memory of her late husband Bill.
The lamp was dedicated by Ben on 21st November at the 11.00am Family Communion Service.
A banner, made by some of David's friends to commemorate his ministry, was dedicated by Ben at St. Andrew's on 7th November, at the 11.00am Family Communion Service.
We welcomed Anita Bray back to St. Andrew's for the dedication. It was good to see her back again in Medstead, if only for the day.
The banner depicts the words "Love, by this shall all men know that you are my disciples", from John 13:35, in silver letters on a maroon background.
Initially it has been hung on the south wall of the church nave, where it will brighten this area.
The Social Committee have organised a skittles evening at The Northbrook Arms, East Stratton for Thursday 11th November starting at 7:30pm.
We will try to organise lifts for those who want them. Food, costing a very reasonable £6.95, includes a choice of lamb goulash & rice, or a basket meal (scampi, chicken, sausages, veggie nuggets, or a burger in a bun) served with chips.
The Social Committee is vital to our fund-raising effort and also urgently requires new members.
If you have thought about volunteering to join in the Social Committee's work this would be a good opportunity to see how we operate.
For more information, please contact Sharon Blackshaw or Bill Davis.
Bill Davis
Congratulations to Julia and Paul Phillips on the safe arrival of their 5lb 13oz baby boy, Jack William, on Saturday 13th November, a brother for Harry James.
Mother and baby are doing well after a very speedy delivery!
We pray that God will richly bless them.
We congratulate Neely Wren and Peter Kelly on their marriage at St. Andrew's on Saturday, 23rd October.
May God richly bless them through all their days.
On 1st October the friends and relatives of the late Silvanus Ayres came to st. Andrew's to say their last goodbyes.
Silvanus must have been one of the very last of a breed of itinerate workers who followed the seasons around the country as fruit pickers.
Although based in the Medstead area, Silvanus would be missing for months on end as he travelled from farm to farm fruit picking. Come the autumn, he would reappear in Medstead to be seen regularly in the Castle Of Comfort, only to disappear again when the fruit began to ripen again the following year.
Although the member of a large extended family, Silvanus was a very private person, who never marrried. In recent years he had been 'missing' for some time, but was eventually 'found' in a nursing home.
May light perpetual shine upon him.