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 |
|
April-June 2005
Celia Hayes
PCC Meeting: 25th May
Daily Prayer
Good Neighbour Award
The Kingdom Of Heaven
Annual Church Meeting
Benefice Rogation Walk
Confirmation
PCC Meeting: 30th March
Church Walks
Moonwalking
Refectory Duty
Talents
Jumble Sale
Church Flowers
John Webb
Births, Deaths & Marriages
January-March 2005
October-December 2004
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
Ekklesia
Elizabeth Tew's Talent this year is making unique birthday cards, which will be on sale at reasonable prices in the Church Hall during after-service coffee, starting on Sunday, 17th April.
Renowned local artist Jennifer Lines' Talent will be selling cards made using reproductions of some of her paintings. They will be on sale in the Church Hall during after-service coffee, on Sunday, 19th June.
Following the acquisition last year of new chairs for the Church Hall we now wish to dispose of the remainder of the oak and ash chairs which are surplus to our requirements.
If you would like to make a small donation to the Church and also need some sturdy chairs please contact Stephen.
To advertise here please contact Andrew.
To advertise in the Pewsheet please contact Chris.
St. Andrew's website is:
I first met Celia when our daughter Rosalind transferred from Alton Convent Junior School to the Senior School in 1991.
Celia was always enthusiastic about her subject, had a good rapport with her pupils and managed to run a successful choir.
This was no mean feat seeing that teenaged girls frequently have other interests and prefer to chat during lunch times, concentrating on other activities, especially those involving important extra curricular matters such as boys, clothes, make up, etc. They are also extremely adept at disappearing at the end of the school day too!
Nevertheless, regular choir rehearsals went ahead and the concerts were always of a high standard. Celia gave opportunities for the keen ones to take part in ensembles, part singing and solos. For some, this was a great confidence boost and probably their finest hour in any musical activity. For others, these opportunities provided valuable groundwork for a possible future career in music.
I used to enjoy sharing the learning of the choir music with my daughter and made sure she knew her part in time for the next rehearsal. As parents, we always looked forward to the concerts and enjoyed them enormously.
The Christmas Concerts were certainly the highlight of the Autumn term. Celia's friend and colleague, Susie Hare, a professional freelance musician and composer, wrote a Christmas musical called Follow that Star.
Celia enthusiastically took up the challenge to teach it to the school choir. Our daughter was given one of the solos to sing. It was exceedingly popular with the girls. In 1994, the first performance took place at Alton Convent School.
I remember frequent trips Celia organised to Alton's local radio station, Wey Valley Radio. Celia's commitment to her pupils shone through as they regularly appeared at the studio to take part in the broadcasts.
The Convent School Choir was invited to perform on Monday evenings for about fifteen minutes or so during the Summer term. The weather always seemed to be at its hottest on those occasions and the room was microscopic in size i.e. not much bigger than an average bathroom. Nevertheless, we all used to squeeze in, with our little keyboard for accompaniment, Celia directing, about ten in the choir and on one occasion, two saxophonists as well. How the girls managed to sing, play and be interviewed in that tiny airless space is beyond belief. But they did!
A gifted teacher will notice those pupils who have a desire to use their God given talents to shine. We are indebted to Celia for giving Rosalind so many opportunities to sing, both as a soloist and a member of the choir and for broadening her musical knowledge whilst she was at school.
Celia will be remembered with affection for all the good times we spent together and the love of music that we all share.
Carol Fuller
As well as the usual business, the following points were discussed at the Parochial Church Council (PCC) Meeting, held on Wednesday, 25th May:
"Lord, teach us to pray..." [Luke 11.1]
Following on from this invitation from his disciples, Jesus gave us his enduring pattern for prayer in words which we now know as The Lord's Prayer.
It is a basic need of all people of faith, often of others too, to want to connect in some way with the divine, the transcendent or, simply, 'something bigger than ourselves'. Christians have always been urged to spend some time each day in prayer and "-ologists" of one form or another have taken years of research to discover the person of faith's long-known understanding that time given each day to a stilling, reflective activity is beneficial to overall health and wellbeing.
The practice of saying prayers at fixed hours of the day and of the night was general among the Jews, whom the earliest Christians copied. In monastic communities, a complex pattern of daily "offices" gradually evolved, so that by the 5th century, seven 'day hours' and one 'night office' had become the norm, though only those living in monastic community were expected to observe them all! At the Reformation, this was reduced to two, Mattins and Evensong, which all clergy are expected to say each day, and which is a pattern lay people have long been encouraged to adopt.
The practice was simplified by the publication of various prayer books, the first by Thomas Cranmer (1489-1556) in 1549, culminating in the Book of Common Prayer of 1662. Cranmer's genius was in giving the Church services in the vernacular, in other words, English as then spoken. Given his motivation, I personally think he would be astonished that his writings of 500 years ago have taken so long to be updated!
The Church of England has just published a new version of the 'daily offices' in a book entitled: Common Worship - Daily Prayer. Copies are available from Just Looking in Alton, the Church House Bookshop online and other bookshops, at a cost of £20 for the hardback edition.
It provides in the vernacular, English as now spoken, a stimulating range of services for use in church and at home, for corporate and individual use. There is a brief "Prayer during the Day", which could be used by anyone wanting to set aside one prayer time each day but looking for inspiration and help; there are the offices of Morning and Evening Prayer (Mattins and Evensong), and Night Prayer (Compline), for those who find bedtime most suitable for some stillness. With each of these, extra 'seasonal' material is provided - prayers, readings &c. for different times of year, such as Lent or Christmas.
This book has been well thought out and, I'm certain, will provide a useful tool for many Christians who are looking for a little guidance in their prayer life. I shall certainly use it myself, and I commend it to all.
Ben Flenley
Comments? email Ben
Related Links:
The Daily Prayer feed
Learn To Pray
Invitation To Prayer
Common Worship
Julian Meetings
Medstead lady receives award for services to the community
Congratulations to Elizabeth Tew on her Hampshire County Council Good Neighbour Award. She was recognised for her work since 1991 as chief co-ordinator of the Medstead Voluntary Care Group.
Originally, Elizabeth was the only full time coordinator, organising drivers on various journeys to, for example, doctors, dentists, hospital appointments, shops, banks, as well as making provision for the elderly and housebound to be visited.
Under her stewardship the Group has grown to eight coordinators working on weekly rotation, using an automatic transfer telephone system to coordinate over 600 journeys a year. She has also computerised monthly reporting, runs the Group's stall at the Village Fête and manages bookings for the Church Hall.
The Award was given to Elizabeth on 15th March by the Leader of the Council during a ceremony held at The Castle, Winchester.
Awards were given to both individuals and volunteer groups, and the 40 winners were given a scroll and gifts in recognition of their hard work and dedication.
Elizabeth works tirelessly on behalf of the Group and has, undoubtedly, made a huge contribution to the village. Her award is thoroughly deserved. Thank you, Elizabeth, on behalf of all Medstead residents.
The Group Duty Co-Ordinator can be contacted on 01420 561438.
Kathryn and I don't get to the cinema very often, and are usually amongst the last to see new films after their release. Quite often, we only view the latest epic or animation when one or other of our children brings it home on DVD - ah, the blessings of having been so fruitful! In my daily newspaper today, there was a large front-page advert proclaiming 'Free Tickets for the Kingdom of Heaven', a film soon to be released. Well, what self-respecting priest couldn't find a sermon in that! Immediately I 'went online' to see if a trailer had been released, and indeed it has.
I watched, but what caught my attention was something said by one of the characters, which was: "There you are - not what you are born, but what you have it in yourself to become." That also struck me as going right to the heart of our faith: entry to the Kingdom is both free and not dependent upon heredity but upon what has been planted in us by God to become.
Entry is free. We are still within the season of Eastertide, which lasts right up until Ascension Day and Pentecost. At this time of year, we have focused upon the self-sacrifice made by Jesus to put us right with God, to atone for our sins, to "unlock the gates of heaven and let us in." There is nothing we can do to gain our own salvation; it is by grace alone that we are saved.
Entry is within our nature. God has placed within us all the desire to worship him and to seek to serve him in all his ways. Worshipping God should be second nature to us, yet some seem to have buried that innate desire through deliberate rejection or the pursuit of worldly 'gods'. As an old collect says, "our hearts are restless till they find their rest in you." Much of the dis-ease to be found within society lies here: that people are trying to deny what God has created in us.
I imagine that the film 'Kingdom of Heaven' will be violent, bloodthirsty and many characters will be killed. By the end, will there be peace? The Kingdom of Heaven couldn't be more different: it is guaranteed through Christ's death alone, not ours; 'tickets' are freely available to all.
Ben Flenley
Comments? email Ben
This year's Meeting of Parishioners and Annual Parochial Church Meeting (APCM) was held on Tuesday 12th April at 7.45pm in the Church Hall. 27 residents of the Parish and members of the congregation attended. Following the meeting:
Ben also thanked Sarah Delany for the valuable work which she had done over the last three years, especially for her two years as Churchwarden.
The PCC's first meeting of the year immediately followed the APCM. As usual the purpose of this meeting was to elect Treasurer, Secretary and Standing Committee.
Please remember all those who serve the Church in your prayers as they work for the Lord in this Parish.
If you are interested in filling one of the vacancies, either on the PCC or as a Deanery Synod representative, please contact one of the Chruchwardens.
On Rogation Sunday, by ancient tradition, the faithful beat the bounds of the parish and invoke the Almighty to bless the fields and the crops.
This year's Benefice Rogation Walk was organised by St. Mary's, Bentworth. As it coincided with an unusual combination of a warm and sunny bank holiday weekend, attendance was down on last year with 33 walkers, evenly spread between the four parishes, taking part. With only one family on the walk, the nature and observation trail designed specifically for children was opened to enthusiastic adults.
Initial planning was based around a visit to a local milking parlour, followed by a Bluebell Walk to the rear of Gaston Grange using public footpaths. However, this was thwarted by the presence of overflowing slurry combined with barbed wire strung across the first access stile.
Hence, the final route followed a more moderate circuit from St. Mary's Church, via the School, to the Village Green and then cross-country to Ashley Lane, Powell's/Ashley Farm Track, through Bullfield to East End Copse. Here we made a short diversion to Rushmore Pond and Stubbins Copse (for the Bluebells) before going down the beautiful Oxdrove Way for a relaxing high tea at Ashley Farm served by Peggy and Bill Ives in their lovely garden. After this welcome break we took a shorter route back to Bentworth, arriving just before 6pm having completed the four-mile circuit.
Despite the shortage of grazing herds, the selective groups of horses, the solitary flock of sheep, the glimpse of a lone fox and the abundant crops and wildlife provided the necessary stimuli to match the traditional hymns and prayers on the service sheets. As the walkers returned home in high spirits, they all agreed that it had been a successful event and thanked all those involved with its organisation, especially those who had provided the delicious food and the Ives Family who had welcomed us into their home.
Next year: Medstead or, for a more ambitious day, a combination of all four parishes?
Confirmation is widely seen by the Christian Church as giving the opportunity to those baptised as infants, or not previously baptised, to state for themselves at an age of understanding their profession of faith in Christ, and is viewed by many as the completion of initiation into the Christian Church. Being confirmed within the Anglican Church, as with many other denominations, also provides admission to receiving Holy Communion. A Confirmation service will be held on Sunday, 24th July at St. Mary's, Bentworth at 10.00am, to be presided over by the Bishop of Basingstoke.
Who should consider being confirmed?
Firstly, I have met quite a few adults in these parishes who have started on the Christian journey but, for a variety of reasons, have never been confirmed. In some cases, people have reached adulthood without being baptised, often because their parents took the decision that their children should make this kind of decision for themselves once old enough. Here, now, is a moment for adults in this position to consider whether the time is right to take this step.
Secondly, there will be children who were baptised as infants, or not (as above), who have had some exposure to the Christian faith and are feeling ready to take this important step on their journey of faith.
What is important to state is that no-one should regard Confirmation as in any way a 'completion' of faith's journey, for all of us should continue to grow in the faith throughout our lives; there is always more to discover!
I have arranged for a series of Confirmation preparation classes to be held at Bentworth Rectory on Tuesdays, from 6.00-7.30 pm for young people and from 8.00-9.30 pm for adults, beginning on Tuesday, 3rd May. I invite both young people and adults to consider coming to these, on an exploratory basis only if preferred, so that, together, we may explore the Christian Faith and the journey each of us can take in our relationship with God and each other. Provided there is room, anyone already confirmed but wishing to attend as a 'refresher' would be most welcome.
May God bless us all this Eastertide.
Ben Flenley
To pursue this opportunity further, or for more details, email Ben
For a schedule of Confirmation classes, please see the events page.
In addition to routine business, the following subjects were discussed at the Parochial Church Council (PCC) Meeting, held on Thursday, 30th March:
The Social Committee are organising two walks for Saturday, 25th June starting from the Church Hall and ending at the Castle of Comfort.
One will be approximately 7 miles and will start at 10:30am; the other will be about 3½ miles starting at 11am. It will be a grand opportunity to see some of the lovely countryside and to chat with your fellow walkers.
We will charge £7.50 per head and £5 for under 14's. Sandwiches and nibbles are included in the price. Bring your own water. Drinks can also be bought at the Castle if you wish.
A list is at the back of the church for you to sign up.
Patrick Busby & Bill Davis
Near midnight, on the hottest and most humid June night since 1978, 15,000 intrepid moonwalkers, including five from St. Andrew's, set out to walk the walk for 26.2 miles through the streets of London, to raise money for breast cancer research and cancer care.
Kerry and Pamela both had health problems before the start, at 15 miles Kerry suffered badly with sickness and nausea but managed to finish the marathon in some distress.
Pamela managed to reach Tower Bridge, just before 21 miles, when she was struck down by a tummy bug and collapsed, she was seen by a paramedic and sent by ambulance to the Medical Centre at Hyde Park. Davina travelled with her.
Marie and Malcolm carried on and completed the walk in a fraction over 8 hours. Whilst 3 out of 5 received their marathon medals, the one who deserved it most, unfortunately, missed out.
Thank you to all our supporters and sponsors.
Malcolm Goodall
Many thanks to the team who spent the day at Winchester Cathedral Refectory on Wednesday, 15th June, serving a steady stream of the thirsty and hungry public.
This is an important contribution to the Cathedral's activities and if you would like to join the team for our next session on Thursday, August 25th, please ring Mary on 561440.
Our talents should be used in the service of the Church. Make sure you collect your £10 from Mary Spinks after a Sunday morning service and see if you can make it grow into £20...or £50.... or even £100 or more for the Church!
In past years our talents have included: coffee mornings, cream teas, jam making and straight donations but it is fun getting together to increase our tenners!
Wendy and Patrick Busby and Jill and Bill Davis held a Talented Teas afternoon on Saturday 21st May, with musical accompaniment provided by Patrick.
Renowned local artist Jennifer Lines also sold cards made using reproductions of some of her paintings.
They would like to thank everyone who supported the event, which raised more than £250.
To help make your 'talent' as successful we will advertise it to your potential customers in the Pewsheet and on our website's news page.
The first advertisements are already with us, so let us have yours too. Please contact Chris and Andrew to place yours.
The 2005 Parable of the Talents started on Easter Day and we will be gathering in the harvest of our talents during September.
Yes, we did it! With the magnificent help of the helpers and enormous support from those who donated items and the astute buyers we made it the best so far.
In April 2004 we raised £488, last November £665 and on Saturday April 16th we raised a record £790.
The queue started to form well before opening time at 2.00pm and, once the doors were opened, the crowd thronged in and movement in the Hall became difficult.
The enormous pile of clothing slowly dwindled, the toys started to find new owners, the bric-a-brac was carefully considered and then acquired. Cakes disappeared and coffee, tea and biscuits were consumed.
Eventually the last buyers left and nothing was left but to dispose of the unsold items, put the tables and chairs away, clean the Hall and count the money.
What would we do without the efforts of Geoff and Mary Spinks, who so ably lead the Jumble Sale team. Many thanks to all concerned and particularly to Geoff and Mary.
Our next Jumble Sale is at 2.00pm on Saturday, 12th November in the Church Hall.
Colin Fuller
A big thank you to everyone who helped to decorate the church for the Easter services - the church looked lovely!
If you were unable to be there, take a look at the photos in the January-March 2005 news.
Thank you also to those of you who donated towards the cost of the lilies used in the arrangements.
The flower arranging rota for the second half of the year will be drawn up shortly - if you would like to join our team you really will be very welcome.
All that is needed is the enthusiasm to see the Church looking splendid:
If you require arrangements for a special service, such a wedding or baptism, please contact Gill.
Flowers from a recent wedding at St. Andrew's are pictured below:
Similarly, if you would like to discuss flower arranging at St. Andrew's or would like to volunteer to join our list please also contact Gill.
We are delighted to welcome Pauline Church, Pat Constantine and Jean Johnson who have all recently joined the flower rota.
Gill Siddall
Many will remember John, who was our Rural Dean as well as the incumbent at St. Mary's Church, Bentworth. In particular we were very grateful to him for taking 8.00 a.m. Sunday Services when Rev. David Bray became increasingly unwell.
Sadly we have to report that John has now been diagnosed with cancer of the oesophagus. He tells us that it is limited and his consultant is considering the options for treatment, including surgery. He has been referred to Bristol Royal Infirmary and says that family morale is high as they face the immediate future.
Please pray for John and his family as they cope with John's cancer and it's treatment.
Congratulations to Neil Hall and Victoria Bond who came to St. Andrew's on Saturday, 4th June on the occasion of their marriage, and to David Douglas and Eowyn Earp who were also married at St. Andrew's later on the same day.
Please pray for both couples as they start their married lives together, that they will grow in love for each other and the Lord.
Celia Hayes died on Wednesday, 1st June after a long illness. She will be remembered for her huge contribution to music in Medstead and the surrounding area, not least at St. Andrew's. We hold her family in our prayers at this time.
Celia's funeral service will be held at St. Andrew's on Tuesday, 14th June at 10.45am, followed by a private cremation. All are invited to the Church and to the Hayes household after the service for refreshments.
No flowers please, but donations would be welcome to either the Rosemary Foundation Hospice at Home, or to St. Andrew's Church.
Related Links: Appreciation
On the 24th May the funeral took place at St. Andrew's of the late Ernest Robert Usher, 1922-2005
May Light Perpetual Shine upon him.
On Sunday, 22nd May at 12.30pm we were pleased to welcome Harvey Lamerton Hunt to St Andrew's for his Baptism.
We welcomed all the members of the baptismal party, especially his parents Sholto and Alison.
On Saturday, 14th May we celebrated at St Andrew's the marriage of Sarah Lock and Steven Garbutt.
May God Bless their life together.
At the 11am Family Service on Sunday, 8th May baby Scott Daniel was baptised at St Andrew's.
We welcomed all the members of the baptismal party especially Scott's parents Julie and Geoff Wilson, his sister Ellie and his Godparents Paul, Julie and Wendy.
On Saturday, 7th May we celebrated at St Andrew's the marriage of Samantha Standing and Jonathan McEwan.
May God Bless their life together.
It is with much regret that we report that Daphne passed away on the evening of Thursday, 7th April. Her funeral took place at St Andrew's on Tuesday 19th April, at 12.30pm.
Daphne was a great supporter of St Andrew's Church for many years and her 15 years as a very able Sacristan were particularly valued.
Please pray for Tony and their family and friends as they mourn the death of this very special lady.
May she rest in peace.
Related Links:
Dedication