Running the Flora Marathon A family experience In

the
All Saints
newsletter
All Saints Anglican Methodist Church Berkhamsted A Local Ecumenical Partnership
June July 2005
Running the Flora Marathon
A family experience
In this issue A School Governor Roman Holiday
Newsletter no 160
June July 2005
Contents
All Saints' Church, Shrublands Road
Berkhamsted Telephone 01442 870119
Editor's Notes
Letters
345
Family News
5 6
2005 Centenary Year
6
The Flora Marathon
7
Being a School Governor
Book Review
An Unusual Visit to Rome
8 9 10
10
11 12
The Magic Formula
12
Alan Cox Obituaries
13 14 15
Young people
16 17 18
News events etc
MFC, NCH
19 20 21 22
23 24
Hives save lives
24
Caring for our carers
25
Pentecost sermon 2005
26 27 28
Make Poverty History
28 29
Churchwarden and Vestry
30 31
Comings and goings
Church Information
This June/July issue is a bumper one; there
are lots of people writing all sorts of articles.
No complaint from me; there is some very
good stuff written for us by our contributors.
I also think it is good when we can get
someone who has left to write something
for us. This time it is Richard Pyke writing of
his time with Alan Cox.
Please note the early copy date for next
time. Our printer, Tring School, breaks up for
the summer holidays, and we have to give it
to them before they disappear.
The copy date for the August/September
edition is Monday 4th July.
32
33 34 35 36
Editorial and Production
Team
Christina Billington, 13 Ashridge Rise,
Berkhamsted, HP4 3JT Tel 01442 385566
email: chrissybill@ntlworld.com
Chris Dipper, 3 Old Orchard Mews,
Berkhamsted, HP4 2DQ Tel: 01442 873006
Marilyn Pain, Woodland View Farm, Rossway,
Berkhamsted HP4 3UD Tel 01494 758898
email: mdpain@hotmail.com
2
Paul's letter
W
hen they had finished breakfast,
Jesus said to Simon Peter, 'Simon
son of John, do you love me more
than these?' He said to him, 'Yes, Lord; you
know that I love you.' Jesus said to him,
'Feed my lambs.' A second time he said to
him, 'Simon son of John, do you love me?'
He said to him, 'Yes, Lord; you know that I
love you.' Jesus said to him, 'Tend my
sheep.' He said to him the third time,
'Simon son of John, do you love me?' Peter
felt hurt because he said to him the third
time, 'Do you love me?' And he said to him,
'Lord, you know everything; you know that I
love you.' Jesus said to him, 'Feed my
sheep.’
John 21: 15-17
T
hroughout the Old and New
Testaments we are called over and
over to care for each other. In the
times of Moses, God gave the law to the
people. Whilst one of its objectives was
certainly to establish and uphold a good
relationship between the people and God it
also sought to protect those least able to
care for themselves. The God of the Old
Testament has often been interpreted as
being a vengeful God but, over and over
again, we are brought images of grace and
salvation in the writings of the Psalms and
by prophets such as Isaiah and Jeremiah.
The role of God’s servants is not to be
underestimated in this; ‘A faithful friend is a
secure shelter; whoever finds one finds a
treasure.’ (Ecclesiastes 6:14)
Christ came to us both to uphold and
fulfil the Old Testament. In the New
Testament we find that the care of all God’s
children is central to the Gospel message.
In each of the accounts of Jesus’ life and
ministry we find him continually breaking
new ground in enabling others to
understand how it is that God cares for
people and how subsequently we are called
to care for each other. In stories such as
‘The Woman at the Well’ (John 4:4-30) and
‘The Good Samaritan’ (Luke 10:25-37), Jesus
breaks new ground. We are forced to
reconsider who our neighbours are and
where our prejudices lie. When Naboth
Muchopa, Secretary for Racial Justice for the
Methodist Church, recently led worship at
All Saints’ he focused on the second of
these stories and said that the question at
its heart is not, ‘What will the consequences
be for me if I help?’ but rather, ‘What will
the consequences be for them if I don’t?’
In the recent General Election campaign,
it seemed to me that the major political
parties assumed, possibly correctly, that the
main question the electorate (usually
described as “hardworking families”)
wanted answered was, ‘What can you do for
me?’ Sure, there was one day in the
campaign that addressed the situation in
Africa – and a lot of political point scoring
went on that day – but mostly, the question,
‘What can we do for our neighbour?’ was
ignored – except when the waters of
asylum and immigration were yet again
being muddied and there the answer
seemed to be, ‘impose quotas and keep
them offshore on an as yet unspecified
island.’ In the light of the Biblical
imperative to offer hospitality to the alien in
our midst and to love our neighbour, are
you thinking what I’m thinking?
This year presents us with a unique
opportunity to ask ourselves the question,
‘What can we do for our neighbour?’ and
3
answer it by freeing people from the
poverty that binds them and causes so
much unnecessary pain, anguish and death.
We have the opportunity to end this
shameful situation.
In July, eight world leaders will meet in
Scotland. They will have it in their power to
deliver crucial changes on trade justice,
debt and aid: changes that will make
poverty history. But they will only use that
power if enough people tell them to.
So please, whether you want to
congratulate Tony Blair on achieving his
“historic and unprecedented third term” or
not (?!), write to our Prime Minister and ask
him to do absolutely everything he can to
take advantage of the many opportunities
during 2005 to stop a child dying needlessly
every 3 seconds, just because it was born
poor; ask him to use his international
leadership to deliver crucial changes on
trade justice, debt and aid. You can send
your letter to him c/o House of Commons,
London SW1A 0AA. What will the
consequences be for your neighbours if you
don’t?
And, if you think that I am following or
promoting a ‘left-leaning agenda’, we are
both in good company. The Daily Telegraph
recently accused the Church of England of
doing just that in some prayers produced
for the General Election campaign! The
paper thought that there was bias in a
prayer asking God for “a land where the
weak are protected, and none go hungry or
poor…” If this is ‘left-leaning’, so be it. It is
also profoundly Biblical. The Bible leaves us
in no doubt: God does have a bias and it’s
to the poor.
With every blessing
Paul
4
A letter from
John Malcolm
“Church Life is Changing”
T
he above heading is taken from the
opening line of a report introducing a
survey to be called “The 2005 English
Church Census”. It will survey almost 38,000
churches and the associated 23,000 church
ministers (many ministers look after several
churches). To be produced by Christian
Research this will be the first major survey
since 1998 and will be the fourth survey of
its kind.
What Peter Brierley, the executive director of
Christian Research, has to say about this
latest major survey of Christianity in England
can be summed up by these words:
“Church life is changing , and despite some
of the gloomy headlines, not always for the
worse! There are reports of churches
growing of all denominations; there are
stories of midweek increases, and the
largest churches of all, including some
cathedrals, say Sunday attendance is going
up. Then there is the excitement of the
emerging church and all that that may
mean”. At about the same time the Church
of England has issued church attendance
figures for 2001-2003. For the first time in
several years these show a small increase in
numbers, particularly in weekday
attendances.
A
ll Saints' has had its full share of
change recently. The move to weekly
joint services, the departure of both
Father Mark and Father Martin and the sad
death of Father Stephen and Rev Alan Cox
are all quite recent events. Even our
Methodist Minister has become a Father! (I
was tempted to call him Father Chris, but
thought better of it! - that’s an ‘in’ joke for
those present on Sunday 1st May). Some
people find change difficult and a few have
moved on to pastures new. That’s only to be
expected when we’re faced with a
significant change to our routines. Change
is never easy.
I’m writing this letter in the week when we
celebrate Ascension Day. Now that’s a
church feast day that’s seen much change
over the years. If we could imagine
ourselves in St Peter’s on a
sixteenth century Ascension Day,
we’d find the church packed with
people come to celebrate one of
the three great festivals of the
church year (the other two being
Easter and Pentecost!).
In the centre of the nave would
be the great Paschal candle – no
pews in those days. When I say
‘great’ Paschal candle I mean it. In late
mediaeval times such candles reached
enormous proportions with one in Salisbury
Cathedral recorded at 36 feet high! After the
Gospel reading for Ascension Day the
candle would have been extinguished,
signifying the fact that Jesus had left the
earth and returned to his Father in heaven.
Nowadays the Paschal candle traditionally
stands to the north of the chancel and it
isn’t removed until Pentecost Sunday. Go
back to the very early church and you’ll find
that until the late 4th century, Ascension
and Pentecost were celebrated on the same
Sunday. Change in the church, as in life, is
nothing new. And I’d be prepared to lay
odds that every time the timing of
Ascension Day was changed there were
those who found the change difficult and
wanted to move on to pastures new.
I’m encouraged by what is happening at All
Saints and before closing would like to
share a recent experience that has shown
for me and my family the vitality of the
Christian church around the world. In
Christian terms the most significant change
so far this year has to have been the death
of Pope John Paul II and the election of
Pope Benedict XVI. It so happens that by
chance the Malcolm family were in Rome
the week of John Paul’s funeral. That’s a
story in itself, but for me the key to this
issue of change and the position of the
church worldwide is that of youth. Some
four million pilgrims came into Rome for the
funeral and the overwhelming impression
was of young, not old, people. Whether lay
or ordained a majority seemed to be in their
early twenties or thirties. If you couple that
with the estimated 2 billion people who
watched the funeral on world wide
television, you have an incredible testimony
to the power of Christianity in our world.
Church life has always changed and
evolved, whether at local, national or
international level. I hope that the 2005
English Church census will show that things
in our own country are heading for
improvement. If so, then as Peter Brierley
says “the sooner we can trumpet the results
from the housetops the better”. Watch this
space!
Blessings to you all
John
Family News
T
he death of Alan Cox in March after a
long illness was a huge loss for the
whole church community as well as his
family. To Audrey, Paul and the other
members of his family, we offer our love,
prayers and concern as we join them in
giving thanks for his life and ministry.
Alan would have been the first to rejoice in
the presentation made to Audrey Cox in
May to mark her 50 years of church youth
work. Thank you, Audrey.
Our condolences to Barrie Allcott and his
family on the recent death of his sister.
Nancy and George Wood are mourning the
death of their niece Carol Corbett (nee
Smith). Carol was an active member of the
5
YPF and we offer our love and sympathy to
all her family.
Susan and Graham Doggett’s premature
twin grand-daughters have been in our
thoughts and prayers as have all the family.
May Kempster is still most unwell. We
assure her of our love and concern.
We are glad to know that Brian Parsons is
now more mobile after surgery and pray for
his continued improvement.
Karen Rance and Lee Wilson were married
at All Saints on Easter Saturday. We wish
them a long and happy life together.
Congratulations and best wishes too to
Edward Stewart and Luciana Viera who were
married recently.
Thomas James Holloway and Harry Oliver
Mabbs were baptised in March. We
welcome them into the church family.
Congratulations to Barry and Christine
Dipper who celebrate their Silver Wedding
on May 27
Robin Wood has moved to Greenes Court.
We hope he will be very happy in his new
home.
Alice Beaumont, Lydia McMunn, Hannah
Wakely and Catherine Wilton were
confirmed in April and we pray for them as
they make this new commitment.
David Williamson was honoured to be
invited to preach in Wesley's Chapel when
he spoke at the founder’s day service of the
school in Sierra Leone at which he taught 50
years ago. We share his pleasure.
We offer our sympathy to the family of
Eileen Howlett who died recently. Eileen
was a former member of the MFC and her
contributions to the flower festivals were
much appreciated.
Our thoughts and prayers are with Martin
and Geraldine Wright as they take up their
new ministry in Reigate. We miss them very
much.
Jamie Spall had
the excitement
of being
selected as a
mascot to
accompany the
victorious
Gossoms End
Football Club to
the famous
6
Anfield ground when they triumphed in the
FA Club Cup.
We continue to pray for the Judd family,
Chris Billington and Jonathan and Ann
Hayes and also assure our other less mobile
friends including Maud Bandle, Jean Keys,
Peggy Mardle, Gussie Barker, Muriel Gudgin,
Margery Newton and Kath Tavener of our
love and thoughts.
Audrey Hope
Teachings from
Noah's Ark
Don’t miss the boat.Remember that we are
all in the same boat.
Plan ahead. It wasn’t raining when Noah
built the Ark.
Stay fit. When you’re 600 years old someone
may ask you to do something really big.
Don’t listen to critics. Just get on with the
job needing to be done.
Build your future on high ground.
For safety’s sake, travel in pairs.
Speed isn’t always an advantage. The snails
were on board with the cheetahs.
When you’re stressed, float awhile.
No matter the storm, when you are with
God, there’s always a rainbow waiting.
The Flora Marathon
Jane, Andy, Ben and Hayley Elliott
A
weblink appeared – keep fit whilst
having fun and involve the whole
family. Want to know more, click
here. I thought it sounded a good idea so I
clicked. Before I knew it I had joined myself,
Andy, Ben (10) and Hayley (8) up to take
part in the family marathon. All we had to
do was run, walk, cycle 25.2 miles between
us before April 10th and then run the final
mile after watching the marathon on telly
on April 17th, unless you were
one of the lucky ones picked to
run it up in London. Two days
later 4 flora family marathon
caps arrived and a
pedometer. We worked out
that if I walked the children
briskly to and from school
for a week that tallied 2 ½
miles. I also went power
walking for 2 miles most
lunchtimes, plus we went
out for longer than usual
family walks at the
weekends. After the first
week I logged our miles
onto the webpage and it
was great watching the total
go up. We read stories and
training plans of celebrity
families and felt good as we were doing
much better.
On April 2nd a letter arrived from London:
CONGRATULATIONS YOU HAVE WON A VIP
WEEKEND AT FLORA FAMILY MARATHON. I
couldn’t believe it; I was shocked, the
children started getting excited especially
when I read out what our weekend
entailed. Andy was working so I rang him;
he wasn’t as enthusiastic!
Saturday April 16th arrived; our suitcases
packed we got on the 8.35 train to
Marylebone feeling nervous and excited. At
Marylebone we stepped off the train to be
greeted by Anna (one of the PR team) who
was holding a board ELLIOTT FAMILY it said –
we felt like royalty! We were whisked to a
waiting car and taken to Thistle Tower Hotel
by St. Catherines Dock. This was where all
the famous runners and celebs were
staying. We were shown to our rooms – yes
the children had one to themselves! We
were given t-shirts and sweatshirts and left
to settle in. At 1pm we met the other 9
families, the PR team and were taken
aboard a private cruise where we cruised
down the Thames, eating a delicious lunch.
We docked at the London Eye, were shown
to private pods and enjoyed our flight with
goody bags for all. Back on the boat and
taken to hotel to chill out before dinner.
Showered and changed we were back in the
foyer and found ourselves standing next to
Kenzie from Blazin’ Squad. All the
families walked to an Italian restaurant
to fill up on carbs before our run. We
sat with Blazin’ Squad as we ate
and during the evening
Lorraine Kelly popped in to say
hello.
5.45am Sunday 17th April, the
telephones in the room woke
us up. We were off. Running
gear on we boarded the
coach and were taken to the
green start (the womens elite
start) where we met Steve
Redgrave, Gordon Ramsey,
Cheeky girls, Chris Parker, to
name but a few. We warmed
up and at 8.30am we were
off. We were running our final
mile, this is what our weekend was all
about. 7 minutes later and second place
Ben was finished, closely followed by Andy.
Hayley and I finished in 12 ½ minutes.
Medals were presented, photographs taken.
Whisked off quickly as the womens race
was about to start, back on the coach to the
sports café where an amazing spread was
put on. Tummies full we walked down to
the VIP grandstand box where we watched
the first runners cross the finish line.
This was an amazing experience, we have
done this for charity. If you would like to
give please go to
www.justgiving.com/Elliottfamily
This was a weekend we will never forget.
Roll on next year!
7
Being a School
Governor
…for eleven and a half years has been, at
different times, fun, hard work, a burden, a
pleasure, a nuisance, frustrating, time
consuming but at all times it has been a
privilege.
F
or those who don’t know I am currently
Co-Chair of Governors at The Thomas
Coram C of E Middle School here in
Berkhamsted. I was the Chair for five years
on my own and am co-chairing this year as I
hand over the reins completely at the end
of this year.
So what do governors do? We meet
regularly, either as a whole governing body
or in smaller committees. We are described
as the ‘critical friend’ – we are supposed to
ask the school the difficult questions
without being threatening because, above
all, we are there to support the
headteacher, the staff and the pupils. We
are answerable to the Local Education
Authority, Ofsted, the Diocesan Board of
Education, parents and local Anglican
churches. The Governing Body receives a
small sum of money annually from the
PCC's of St. Peter with All Saints, Sunnyside
and St. Mary’s, Northchurch. As a Church
school there are some differences to the
way the school is funded and we have
certain financial responsibilities. Having a
separate fund has enabled us to contribute
to small building projects and some ‘extras’
for staff and pupils. Each of these churches
provides us with governors from their
congregation. Most of the governors, as
well as serving on a sub-committee, take
responsibility for a curriculum area. This
involves visiting the school two or three
times a year to talk with curriculum leaders
and observe classroom activities. We
actually encourage governors to get
involved by helping in the lesson rather
than sitting at the back like an inspector.
The purpose is to ensure the whole
governing body has an overview of the
curriculum. It is also an opportunity for staff
8
to talk to governors directly and drop heavy
hints about what piece of
equipment/football shirts/books would be
really useful ‘if only we had the money’!
We are responsible for approving and
monitoring the budget although all the hard
work is done by the school and we do have
an excellent bursar. You don’t have to be a
mathematical genius to understand it – I
cope as long as I don’t get too much detail!!
Some governors have been heavily involved
in recruitment interviews for all levels of
staff. It has probably been one of my
favourite tasks – especially when I have
seen newly qualified teachers grow into
their posts and blossom and I find myself
interviewing them for promotion. This has
happened quite often at Thomas Coram.
The cost of living in this area has meant we
have had some problems with recruitment
but we have usually managed to be fully
staffed even if the method has not been
conventional – God does indeed move in
mysterious ways.
We are responsible for our premises and
some of our governors take a particular
interest in ensuring the pupils and staff
have a pleasant and conducive environment
to work in. While I have been a governor
the school has extended and improved the
changing rooms beyond recognition. They
have built a new library and refurbished two
science labs and the food technology area.
This has greatly improved the facilities for
the whole school. Unfortunately we still
have two mobile classrooms to cope with
numbers but we do have plans to extend
the main building. We will seek planning
permission in the hope that funds will
become available – but I’m sure there are
schools in greater need at the moment.
The Governing Body are required to approve
attainment targets for the pupils. This is not
something we enjoy. The school has always
resisted setting unrealistic targets for pupils
despite the LEA’s best efforts to persuade us
otherwise. We do not get our knickers in a
twist over league tables. We believe in
enabling the individual child to achieve their
best throughout their school career and not
just in one week in May at the age of 11.fi
The school provides many extra curricular
activities including day trips which many
governors have enjoyed as well as pupils.
My favourite trip was a day out in London
with a group of Year 8's who hadn’t gone on
the residential trip to France. It was a
loosely planned day! We were to go up to
London on the train and then trek to various
free landmarks, including walking down
Whitehall from the National Gallery. I had
made a phone call to Downing Street to see
if there was any chance of getting through
the gate and was told that if the children
were in school uniform (which they would
be) and were well behaved (well, they
might be) they might be let in. It depended
what was going on at the time, apparently.
Well, we got to the gate and it was a good
time and the children were well behaved so
the gates were opened and we were let in. I
don’t think the children could quite believe
it – some of the staff couldn’t. But we have
the photos to prove it! I think it might be a
bit different now, sadly. It was a great day
and very cheap!
I like to think that we, as a supportive
governing body, foster an atmosphere of
trust and inclusivity and, as the majority of
the members of the governing body are
active Christians, we promote the Christian
ethos of the school.
T
homas Coram School is a Church of
England (Voluntary Aided) School with
a strong Christian ethos but it is first
and foremost a school for the community.
The vast majority of our pupils have no
church background. However the Governing
Body is obliged to have a large
representation from the Anglican churches
in Berkhamsted. The Diocese are also able
to make appointments and these are usually
agreed between the Rector and the
headteacher. The candidates do not
necessarily have to be Anglican! And there
is a requirement for a specific number of
the church appointed governors to be
current parents at the school.
The work of the governor is often unsung
and you may be blissfully unaware of the
people in your midst who are or who have
been school governors locally: Linda and
Neil Bisset, Chris Dipper, Felicity White,
Sheila Dawkins, Richard Hackworth, Peter
Drury and not forgetting Mike Limbrick and
Rod Cottrell who have moved away (not to
escape me I assure you) – and that’s
without starting on St. Peter’s congregation
who are equally well represented.
Linda Bisset is retiring at the end of this
term after eight years as a governor at
Thomas Coram during which time she has
chaired the Finance Committee and acted as
Treasurer to the Governing Body. She was
also on the Appointment Panel while we
were searching for a new headteacher – as
this took almost two years the Appointment
Panel got to know each other very well and,
although we took our job very seriously, we
managed to have a lot of laughs along the
way! Linda will be very hard to replace but I
would urge you to consider trying. If you
9
have a bit of spare capacity in
your busy lives talk to Linda or
me. Being a governor doesn’t
mean taking on a leadership
role (we have already found a
new Chair for Finance). There is
plenty to do behind the scenes.
I won’t beat about the bush and
suggest that being a governor is
just turning up at six meetings a
year. Governors have a lot of responsibility
these days. Hertfordshire gives its governors
an enormous amount of support and there
is no need for anyone to feel that they don’t
know enough about education to become
involved. There are lots of courses to go on
and the Governing Body at Thomas Coram
subscribes to the training services so
governors don’t have to pay anything for
their training. We very rarely have long term
vacancies on our governing body which
means that the work is shared out and no
governor should feel over-burdened. That is
the prerogative of the Chair! I do encourage
occasional frivolity and we have thrown
some jolly good parties for the staff – great
teambuilding!
I have loved being a governor but it is time
for a break – but don’t you lot go getting
any ideas for filling up my time in the near
future – I’m taking a break to spend more
time with my family…
Julie Wakely
fade into obscurity?
The book draws heavily on the recently
discovered manuscripts at Nag Hammadi in
Egypt to describe the state of the fledgling
church; until this discovery, we had only the
word of the winners in the arguments. The
documents are those of other Christians
whose points of view were discouraged and
in the end almost lost. Constantine and the
council of Nicea had such an all-consuming
victory.
But when we look at what they were
arguing about, we are having the same
arguments today. Was the resurrection
physical or spiritual, was Jesus truly God on
earth, or a wonderfully Spirit inspired man?
Is the kingdom of God within us, and
available for everyone, or is it only in Christ?
Elaine Pagels takes us through the
goings on in a very easy read. At the end I
felt my whole idea of Christian doctrines
had been given a reality facelift, I know
now why they decided as they did, but I
cannot help a wry
amusement, in that they
thought they settled the
disputes in 325 at the
council of Nicea, but 2000
years later the same
questions are still
being asked. And I
think that is the real
question.
A very worthwhile read!
Christina Billington
Beyond Belief
the secret gospel of Thomas
by Elaine Pagels
Book Review
H
ave you ever wondered why the
Christian Church spends so much
time and energy arguing and falling
out over matters of doctrine? Well, Elaine
Pagels book goes some way to explain this,
in that, the church has always been like it,
right from the beginning.
The Gospel of Thomas she explains, had a
significant following, but other Christians
disagreed with it, and one of them wrote a
Gospel to counteract the Gospel of Thomas,
it is called the Gospel of John. So why is
John the one we love, and why did Thomas
10
Some Jokes
To err is human but to really foul things up
requires a computer.
The bed is where one good turn can get the
whole duvet.
To keep your marriage brimming
With love in the loving cup,
If ever you’re wrong, admit it,
If ever you’re right, shut up.
Ogden Nash
Father: “Don’t you think our son gets all his
brains from me?”
Mother: “Probably. I still have all of mine.”
An Unusual visit to
Rome
L
ast January we booked an 8-day holiday
for early April in Rome and Assisi, not
dreaming what an eventful time it
would be. We joined a Methodist Recorder
readers group along with 46 other people.
As we left home we knew the Pope was
gravely ill, and most of us heard the news of
his death in the same way as you – via
television news - in our hotel rooms, on the
excellent BBC world news service, on the
evening of the day we arrived.
People have asked how it affected our
holiday. In many ways it made no
difference to the planned visits, though
some had to be rearranged to a different
day. The one thing we had to omit was an
audience with the Pope, booked for the
Wednesday! Our leader was Rev. Kathleen
Richardson who was the first woman to be
President of the Methodist Conference back
in 1990. She is now Baroness Richardson, a
greatly respected member of the House of
Lords, and Moderator of the Churches’
Commission for Inter-Faith Relations. When
she was president she had an audience
with the Pope and told us of their frank
discussion of church unity.
Our first glimpse of the Vatican City came
on the next morning when our coach took
us to the Ponte Sant’ Angelo Methodist
Church in Rome for a morning communion
service. This is just over the river from the
Vatican. Our driver found several roads had
been closed, but we had an excellent view
of the huge number of TV vans and dishes
assembled beside the river at the end of
the long road which leads up to St Peter’s.
Garibaldi’s chaplain was the first preacher at
this lovely church and it has been an English
language congregation since 1955, with
ministers funded by the British Methodist
Conference. It is part of the minority
Protestant church in Italy and works in
cooperation with the churches of the
Federation of Protestant Churches, which is
made up of Methodists, Waldensians,
Lutherans, Baptists, the Salvation Army, and
a number of free churches. They made us
very welcome, and even provided lunch for
us all.
Afterwards we had some free time and
were able to walk nearly as far as St Peter’s
Square, with many others who were
gathering to pay respect to the Pope. We
saw the beginning of the preparations to
cope with the expected crowds – the
barriers, the portable toilets, the extra
stewards and police drafted in from all over
Italy – though at that time the date of the
Pope’s funeral had not been announced.
We had free time again on the next
afternoon and returned to the Vatican City
around 5pm - and heard sounds of
clapping from within the square. Later we
learned this was the moment when the
Pope’s body had been carried into St
Peter’s. The crowds were much greater
now, and a long queue stretched right
down from St Peter’s and out into other
streets nearby. Stalls were piled high with
free bottles of water. We saw a notice
saying that St Peter’s would open again at
9pm – and felt we could not queue so long
– but six of our party were braver and
tougher! They queued for more than four
hours and were among the first to pay their
respects to the Pope when St Peter’s
opened again – at the earlier time of
7.30pm. They spoke of the sense of
privilege to be there, the atmosphere
among the people in St Peter’s Square, the
singing and chanting by some who had
gathered there. The ‘outpouring of love,
neither sorrowful nor triumphant, but done
with a sense of warmth and hope’. The
absolute quiet in the basilica, and
atmosphere of rest and peace. After
walking
down the
centre aisle
they had a
few
moments to
pray and
commend
him into
God’s arms.
11
We left Rome for Assisi on the Friday
morning, the day of the funeral, and we
relished the empty streets. From early in
the morning all cars and vans had been
banned from the streets and from entering
Rome. When we returned to Rome two
days later we found the basilica of St Peter’s
was open to the public again, though there
were still many people gathered in the
square, including a group from Poland.
Throughout the week there was the sense
of a community mourning, even among
those who were not believers, and many
large posters with a picture of the Pope,
bearing the words ‘Grazie’. We were glad to
have been there, but often voiced our
concern for the safety of the visitors from all
over the world – and the 200 heads of state.
There was a great sense of relief that the
funeral passed without incident.
An unforgettable holiday!
Ruth Treves Brown
The Magic Formula
It was like other Friday nights . . . . .
The table was laid, gleaming cutlery,
sparkling glasses! Wine chilled, soft music
playing and candles lit, awaiting guests!!
Oh no! We’ve got no milk for the coffees!
Ow! What are we serving for main course
again?
Who’s coming around tonight. . . . . ?
Oh yes! We don’t actually know!!
I
t was the All Saints' Safari Supper! The
evening was again organised by Les and
Freda Driver who must have the magic
formula for getting 18 couples, fed four
courses, at 15 different locations, all in one
evening!
So we were doing a starter for 8 people
at 7 o’clock. It was unusual preparing for
guests not yet known to us. This gave the
evening an anticipation and excitement not
normally experienced on a Friday night. Well
not to us anyway! It was also strange
having guests to the house while the
12
babysitter was there!
Paul Timmis
spent the afternoon
creating a tasty
curried parsnip soup
for their starter!
Everyone at their
home enjoyed it!
Well done Paul!
Our starters were
a choice of battered
tiger prawns or
stuffed mushrooms. Kate Spall, one of our
surprise guests, has a friend who says “Life
is too short to stuff mushrooms!”
I now feel the need to be completely
honest and admit that Tesco Finest had
indeed produced and stuffed our
mushrooms!! This was amusing as Steve her
husband works for Tesco!
We had a lovely main course at Ray and
Jean Emsalls', and experienced carrot and
cumin for the first time! This will definitely
be served in our house in the future!
On again then for dessert course. This time
our hosts Peter and Jo Bryant decided that
they had overlooked serviettes and had to
instantly produce some to keep the
standards high! Having said that, nothing
could have topped their “Palestinian”
Chocolate Dessert!!
We had been informed that coffee was at
10 o’clock prompt, at the church hall, but
yet more suprises! On to John and Gill
Malcolm's instead! Thankyou to them for
coffee and chocolates which we enjoyed as
we compared our experiences and
“journeys” to get there!
Les Driver did suggest fancy dress for
next time although he was in his African
get-up this time! Shame the rest of us
weren’t given the opportunity!
It was a great opportunity to get to know
more people in the Church, to put faces to
names and names to faces! This was just
our view of the evening. I’m sure there
were many other tales to tell from other
dining tables across Berkhamsted
Thankyou to Les and Freda and all who took
part!
Alison and David Turner
Alan Cox an appreciation
W
e wanted a tribute to Alan, where
do we start? Alan was a dearly
loved and much respected minister
and friend. How can anyone give a truly
fitting and adequate tribute to him? When
he and Audrey retired a booklet was
produced to celebrate their ministry at
Berkhamsted. Many people contributed to
this and so we thought a compilation of
some of the items in this booklet would be
just as pertinent now as then.They came
from the hearts of his congregation then
and are just as relevant now.
“Sometimes people are a little like shoes, at
first you really notice how new they are to
you, but, as the years go on, they become
part of you, comfortable,
indispensable…but taken almost for
granted, sometimes you only realise their
value to you when they are gone”
“Alan often started his talks with a story, to
make us laugh – we had stories about his
youth – stealing sixpence from Mother’s
mantelpiece – the
corduroy shorts his
mother made,
which he hated, his
college days, and
the people that
influenced his life.
The kindness he
always showed
when a member
was ill by visiting
them at home and
in hospital was
much appreciated.”
“I was a hurt,
bruised person,
hanging on by a
very fine thread to
my faith , when
Alan’s healing care
showed me
through his ministry that it was
worth giving God another try.
Through Alan many hurting
souls that might have been
lost have been found and
shown the way home.”
“This is a chance to tell the story of how
Alan has been faithful in telling the story of
Jesus, has proclaimed faithfully the
evangelistic message and in so doing has
seen many enter the Kingdom of God, grow
in Christ and serve God in the world and the
Church. Many ministers never see people
enter Christian ministry, lay or ordained.
Through Alan’s ministry many heard the call
of God.
At Alan’s ordination the congregation joined
to pronounce him worthy of being ordained
and all who have been influenced by his
ministry affirm that decision.”
“Alan came to us, Spirit led, when we
greatly needed his type of ‘down to earth’
ministry, preaching a gospel which spoke to
our very hearts, challenging us to share with
him the church’s ministry, convincing us
that God had given gifts to each one of us
which we could use in His service – even a
smile can be used for God! Alan introduced
‘Away Week-ends’ to our church. We had
times of great fellowship and teaching,
housegroups and many wonderful sermons
and special times like Maundy Thursday
‘Upper-Room’ gatherings. In Alan we saw a
man who walked humbly with God and
practiced what he preached.”
“Alan’s very quiet but dedicated pastoral
care of us all. The church walks he led and
arguing afterwards about how many miles
we had actually walked!! Picnicking in the
snow one Easter and seeing
newborn lambs. We enjoyed
much fun and fellowship but
were also blessed with superb
teaching.
It was a joy to us to
share with Alan one of
his great ambitions
when a coach load of us travelled
13
to Wesley’s Chapel to hear
Alan preach from Wesley’s
pulpit.”
“We were often moved by
Alan’s words at a funeral, so
sensitive and appropriate, and
his sense of fun coming
through at a wedding but not marring it
with trivialities.”
“Alan was at his best when in full flow
preaching the Word. His instincts were best
when, in good Methodist tradition, he was
preaching and leading worship.”
“Thankyou Alan for your thoughtful and
helpful interpretation of the Scriptures, for
your friendship, caring and understanding
of life’s many problems and for your lovely
sense of fun and humour”
A
lan was born on 21st July 1926 and
was brought up in the Christian faith.
When he was 17 he was received into
membership of the Methodist Church and
remained in Methodism for the rest of his
life. Alan was accepted for the ministry
whilst at Cliff College (1948-9). He trained
for the ministry at Hartley Victoria College
(1959-53). Alan and Audrey married in 1955
and his ministry was supported and
enhanced by Audrey’s many gifts. Alan was
proud of his three children, Judith, Andrew
and Paul who heard the call to discipleship
and responded in faithful service.
Alan wished to be remembered as one of
John Wesley’s preachers. He was faithful in
his studies and clearly presented the call to
discipleship. His pastor’s heart shone
through the whole of his life, as he faithfully
visited and was a friend to his people.
Wherever he served the whole community
loved and respected him. Throughout his
life Alan played sport and enjoyed
gardening, walking, studying butterflies and
was a gifted organist.
He led pilgrimages to Israel and wrote a
history of the Uzuakoli Motherless Babies
Home.
14
After retiring he continued preaching until
he was not well enough to do so.
During his illness he experienced the peace
and presence of Christ. Alan died on 18
March 2005 in the seventy ninth year of his
life and fifty third year of his ministry.
The Service of Thanksgiving for Alan was
held on 4th April with over 350 people
attending. Alan had wished this to be a
joyful celebration with opportunity to praise
and give thanks to a gracious God, to accept
His love and forgiveness, to find comfort in
worship together and to proclaim Jesus
Christ as Saviour, Lord and Friend. The
hymns he chose reflected his faith. It was a
joyful service !!
Marnie and Ida, and Paul Wilson
Alan Cox
I
’m indebted to Chris Billington for letting
me know about the death of Alan Cox.
Chris contacted me to ask whether I
might right a few words about Alan. I’m
honoured to be asked.
Alan and I worked together as Ministers of
All Saints' in the mid to late eighties. I have
many fond memories. Alan had been
minister in Berkhamsted for some time and
welcomed me with his characteristic
warmth and style of humour. We developed
a good rapport and he became a valued
colleague and a good friend. I did not find it
an easy role as Anglican Priest in charge but
in Alan I found a colleague of warmth and
understanding. We shared I believe a joint
passion for the Lord and his Gospel and I
think we recognised that together we could
encourage the very rich resources of All
Saints', the many talented and gifted people
in our two congregations.
I must also add that one cannot talk about
our relationship with out a mention of
Audrey for whom I also hold the deepest
respect, whose faith and spiritual gifts so
much enhanced his own. Theirs was a
wonderful example of Christian marriage
and partnership of the Gospel. Between
them they had helped to build a church that
was confident, evangelistic and outgoing
and ready to share.
I shall always be grateful for Alan’s
inviting me to go
with him on Retreat
to Scargill in the
Yorkshire Dales.
Together we sat
at the feet of
Gerard Hughes
the author of
“God of
Surprises”.
During that
Retreat Alan
lent me Gerard
Hughes other
book “In search
of a Way.” I have to thank Alan for the many
experiences of that Retreat, his company
and the reading of that book that have
helped shape my ministry ever since. As I
prepare for my umpteenth pilgrimage to
Taize with Bishop Christopher of Hertford it
is as a result of the experience with Alan at
Scargill. It was so typical of Alan’s kindness
and generosity that seeing how much of an
impression the book had on me, he made
me a present of it and asked Gerard Hughes
to inscribe it, thus allowing me an additional
memory of a wonderful time together. I still
have the book albeit that it is on loan to a
theological student at Westcott House; I
must ask for it back!
Those few days together sum our
relationship together and my knowledge of
the wonderful man Alan was. Although he
would not have wanted gushing
sentimentality.
Modest man that he was, it was the fact
that we trusted and respected each other
that meant we could encourage others like
wise. Many then will still perhaps remember
the musicals: our joint productions Saints
Alive and While Shepherds Watched. With
reference to the latter, I remember the last
Sunday night performance when the whole
of All Saints' was filled with people, news
of All Saints' was filled with people, news
had spread far and wide. We had run out of
seats, the Rector arriving late could barely
squeeze through the doorway. The cast
having given of their best to the audience
all evening, Alan still had the stamina to
deliver the epilogue.
Alan was a Christian through
and through, a hundred percent
genuine. Alan may you truly
and deservedly rest in the
peace of Christ.
Your former friend and colleague
Richard Pyke.
Thank you
Please accept my sincere thanks for the love
and support given to our family over the last
ten months. Thankyou for the network of
prayer; we have been conscious of God’s
presence with us however dark the days.
Thankyou too for the generous gifts to the
Motherless Babies Home, Nigeria, that Alan
worked for all his life. We have now sent
£2,320 to this work and a further £500 to
the Hospice of St Francis in memory of Alan.
As a family we give thanks to God for our
lovely memories and we trust in Him for the
days to come..
Audrey, Paul, Andrew and Judith Cox.
15
Children and Young
People's Activities
Chuckles Toddler Group
Tuesdays 10.00 to 11.30am
Service 10.15am. A bible story for the very
young using puppets and lots of songs.
or
Songs 10.15am. Familiar and new rhymes,
songs and lots of fun.
Playtime 10.45am. Activity toys, home
corner, quiet table and a messy activity.
Coffee/juice and biscuits. Cost £1 per
family.
May 24
The lost sheep
May 31
Half term
June 7
Songs
June 14
The lost coin
June 21
Songs
June 29
The 10 bridesmaids
July 5
Songs
July 12
The sower
July 19
Picnic
For further information contact
Kate Spall (873470), Jenny Wells
(870981) or Paula Storey (864148)
Cradle Roll
This is a meeting group for adults with
children under 3 years old. We meet
monthly for coffee and a chance for the
children to play. We take it in turns to host
this. New members are always welcome.
Contact: Karen Pangbourne 870390
Explorers
The new children’s group which meets
during Sunday worship is called Explorers.
We warmly welcome all children over 3 to
join us in the Church Hall at 10am. We
follow a set syllabus and do many enjoyable
activities. We have divided Explorers into 4
age groups so activities can be geared to
the needs of each age range. Trekkers are
for 3-5 year olds. Hikers are for 5-8 year
olds. Climbers are the group for 8-10 year
olds and the above 10 year olds become
Pathfinders. The main leaders are Audrey
Cox and Carenza Wilton. New members are
always welcome. Contact: Carenza Wilton
(875147) Audrey Cox (866394).
16
Pathfinders
meet on the second and fourth Sundays in
the month, all welcome, the more the
merrier. Contact Penny O'Neill on 01442
843422 email pennyoneill@hotmaiI.com or
write Red House Farm, Little Gaddesden HP4
1 PL
Please join us for a bike ride to be followed
by a bbq @ 4:00pm @ Rebecca's house on
Sunday 19th June - all welcome, bring your
bikes and a picnic lunch to Church (or come
for the bbq only) and we'll go from there.
We'll also be having another sleepover - this
time in Rebecca's garden in tents or en
plein air on a date to be decided in July.
Rebecca and Penny look forward to seeing
you @ the above events.
Well done to those who did the Berkhamstd
walk.
Pathfinder Games Club
(for all children of middle
school age) meets
every Wednesday
evening,
from 7.00 pm -8.30 pm.
Contact: Jimmy Young
384929
Youth Club
for all young people;
meets Thursday evenings
in the Court House (7-9 pm). Contact: Jimmy
Young 384929
We are A C E!
ACE Youth Group gets together once a
month and enjoy all sorts of social
events.
We are all between 10 and 14 years old and
go along to All Saints Church.
We usually meet on the 1st Sunday of the
month, from 6:00 to 7:30; we meet
our friends, play games and have a great
time!! A few volunteers run our group and
our parents help out in turn too.
If you are interested in coming along call
Kate 01442 873470, Marilyn 01494 758898
or Alison 01442 875564
Reachout
I
n the last Newsletter we talked about an
organisation called ReachOut that is
intending to do a mission to
Berkhamsted Town between 25th-30th July.
They intend to do this by organising a task
force of ALL ages to go out and serve the
community, cleaning up the streets and
meeting community needs. This will
hopefully show Christ's love to people not
just through words but also in actions. There
will be evangelistic celebrations each
evening so those that are met during the
day can be invited along where they will
hear the message of Christ.
Application forms should be in All Saints'
Church by now.
Whilst in its embryonic stage, many
aspects need prayer, consideration and
thought. We are looking for local
sponsorship for the basic mission costs,
innovative ideas of what would bless our
community etc. If you are able to contribute
in any of these ways please contact us.
Strategically we very much value your prayer
to see many lives changed through
ReachOut and a powerful uniting witness to
Berkhamsted town. A prayer meeting has
been set up at Victoria Macdonald's, 9 Hall
Park. They meet every Wednesday from 69.39pm; food and drink is provided.
Adrian Abramian
01442 878466 or 07921220543
www.reachoutmission.co.uk
reachout@post.com
Audrey's Party
I
t was a shame if you were not at All
Saints’ church on Sunday 1st May
because, if you were not there, you
missed a lot. It was a special day because
Audrey had been teaching for 50 years and
there was some present giving. Audrey had
some flowers and a book that we had all
written in. There were some other presents
too, wrapped in gold and silver paper with
bobbles on top.
We said “thank you for teaching us” and
the grown-ups just said “thank you”.
There was a big cake that I helped make.
Mum made most of it, and there were lots of
other little treats.
Audrey takes us to lovely
places and we have a
good time with her.
By Imogen Jane Garner
(aged 6 ½) from
Explorers
50 years service
O
n Sunday, May 1st, we celebrated
with Audrey Cox fifty years service in
the Church, teaching and working
with children and young people. A
wonderful achievement.
The sun shone and it was a happy morning
at Church, although touched with sadness
that Alan was unable to share this special
day with Audrey. We were very pleased that
their daughter, Judith and son Paul, were
able to be with us.
We welcomed members of the Y.P.F., some
who no longer live locally, but came to share
the occasion with Audrey.
Visiting Minister Naboth Muchopa led the
service, which was introduced by Paul
Timmis. Chris Warren, who has known Alan
and Audrey for 26 years, gave the
presentation. He spoke of shared memories
17
of their time at All
Saints', the Sunday
School and the Young
Peoples Fellowship,
which Alan and Audrey
started and at one time
had over 60 members.
He also mentioned her
valuable work in
previous churches.
The presentation gifts
included a cheque, an
item of jewellery and a vase, which were
given through the generosity of the Church
Family. Chris also presented her with a
special certificate from the Methodist Youth
Department for 50 years service.
Teachers from the Explorers, Margaret
Ingram and Helen Garner, had compiled a
book from the children and this was
presented to Audrey by Explorer members,
Imogen Garner and James Pangbourne, and
was accompanied by a little speech from
them. A basket of flowers was given by two
of the younger members, Timmy Turner and
Ben Pangbourne. Helen Garner (with
assistance from Imogen) had made a
delicious chocolate cake, which was
enjoyed by everyone at the end of the
service.
People of all ages, young and old have
been touched by Audrey’s care for over 50
years.
You have guided so many young people,
some of whom have themselves entered
the Ministry. Thank you Audrey.
Lesley Bradshaw
Thankyou
T
hankyou for the generous and lovely
gifts presented to me on Sunday, 1st
May to commemorate my 50 years in
children’s work. I feel privileged to have had
the joy of teaching all those years and to
have experienced such happiness with
children. One of the most important things
we can do as Christians is to teach children
about the wonder of God’s love revealed to
us in so many ways and the joy of
committing our lives to follow Jesus, and
18
asking Him to be Lord of our lives. I am glad
to be back on Sunday mornings with the
children and working with a dedicated team
of leaders.
Audrey Cox
President and
Vice President
of Methodist
Conference 2005/6
President
The Revd Tom Stuckey
Tom Stuckey, Chair of the Southampton
District, was educated at Yeovil Grammar
School and City, London and Edinburgh
Universities.
He is passionate about the Methodist
Church renewing confidence and
enthusiasm for God. He would like to see
churches develop a natural ability to speak
about God and the faith in ways that make
sense to people inside and outside the
Church.
He is married to Christine, with three
children, Martin, Matthew and Joanne, and
two grandchildren, Ben and Sam. Hobbies
include playing the piano, watercolour
painting and MG sports cars.
Vice President
John Bell
John Bell, a retired business executive from
the Chester and Stoke District, was educated
at Grammar Schools in Sunderland and
Newcastle.
He has a special interest in the role of
faith in the workplace, and in the selection
and training of people for ministry.
John is married to Joan, with two grownup children, Alison (a teacher), Martin (in IT).
He enjoys reading history and politics,
walking and gentle sports (he says he plays
tennis "badly".) He is a Newcastle United
supporter "through thick and thin”.
News and Events
Traidcraft
Thank you for buying fairly traded goods in
April and May to the value of £61.69 and
£56.68. Next stalls are on June 5th and July
3rd. Contact Ruth Treves Brown (863268) for
information about Traidcraft
Saturday Prayers with ABC
8.00am for breakfast and fellowship,
8.20am for prayer.
June 18th
Sacred Heart
July 16th
Berkhamsted Baptist
August 20th
Sunnyside
Please contact Billy Milton on 864393 with any
queries.
Country Walks
Friday June 3
Saturday July 2
We keep these walks to about 3 1/2 to 4
miles and meet for lunch at approximately
12.30. If you are unable to join in the walk,
why not come along & join in the sociable
lunch time? You would be most welcome just let the leader know to expect you.
contact 384713 for more information.
All Saints' Newsletter
You can now read the Newsletter in colour
on the All Saints' website!
http://allsaintsberkhamsted.org.uk/ or via
http://www.stpetersberkhamsted.org.uk/
Network news
We are pleased to welcome Rev. Caroline
Weaver when we looked at some core
questions like "What is Racism?" and “What
is Justice?” We decided that racism is words
or practices which disadvantage people
because of their colour, culture or their
ethnic or national origins; justice is a right
and responsibility of all. That means justice
is fair treatment and mutual respect in
words and action. Caroline gave us this way
of remembering what justice is:
J - esus guiding my priorities.
U - nderstanding other people ....as well as
myself
S - tanding alongside my weaker sister and
brother
T - aking time to hear (the views of) my
enemy
I - ntegral with the Gospel call.
C - onstantly topical ...never "old hat".
E - veryone's business ....starting with me.
from Methodist Conference 2002
District Away Day
Elaine Turner, President of Women's
Network, will be leading a District Away Day
at Chesham Methodist Church on Mon. 6th
June 10.15 - 3.30. Details are on the notice
board in the church or telephone 384713.
Open Gardens
Instead of our usual summer event you are
welcome to visit "Open Gardens" on four
Sunday afternoons from 2.30 - 4pm.
Programmes, covering all four weeks, cost
£2.50
Tring 12th June
Mary Haywood, 10 Weavers Road;
Barbara Clark, 72 Longfield Road;
June Buchanan, 3 Hobsons Walk;
contact 825625.
Hemel Hempstead 19th June
Lesley Pratt, 19 Longdean Park;
Gretchen Chidwick, 61 Hillfield Road;
Lucy Izzett, 1 Barberry Road;
contact 254212.
25 and 26 June, Nash Mills Flower
Festival
Sat 10.00 - 5.00; Sun 2.30 - 5.00
contact 262773.
Berkhamsted 2nd July
Sue Judd, 9 South Park Gardens;
Gill Lumb, 18 Cedar Road;
Helen Garner 16 Hall Park Hill;
contact 384713.
Visit as many gardens as you like and invite
your friends to join in.
Womans network special event
All are welcome to a Strawberry Tea on
Saturday, July 9th from 4 – 6pm at the home
of Ann and Jonathan Hayes,
21 Greystoke Close. Please park in
Graemesdyke Road.
A cream tea with
Strawberries and Cream
and a Strawberry
Dessert!
Please bring a cake for
our Cake Stall;
preserves are also very
welcome. We look
forward to seeing you.
19
Saturday June 25th St Peter's Churchyard
Berkhamsted 10 - 3pm
All the Usual attractions
plus for this year only,
Tower Tours!
Bottle Tombola, Barbeque
Music, Bric-a-Brac, Prize
Draw, Cake Stall, Plants,
Toy Stall, Crockery Smash,
Punch and Judy, Refreshments, Dancing
Display and much, much more!
Don't forget to rummage through your
house looking for suitable donations to the
Fair and as always, volunteers are very
welcome!
For further details of the Petertide Fair
contact Chris Clegg on 875818 or
one of the committee members
Julian Dawson,Paul Jullien, Stephen
Wade, Bill Stead, Judy Ewart, David
Booth
Keep an eye on our website for the
latest developments:
http://stpetersberkhamsted.org.uk
The Petertide Fair is a great day out for all
the family and at the same time we raise as
much money as we can for our causes. For
2005 we are supporting the following three
causes:
The Iain Rennie Hospice at Home is a
registered charity providing specialist
palliative care for terminally ill patients
in their own homes within the Chiltern
area of Buckinghamshire and
Hertfordshire. Following referral by
their GP or District Nurse, the “Hospice
at Home” cares for patients of any age
suffering from life-threatening illnesses.
20
The Iain Rennie nurse carefully and
sensitively assesses the amount of care
needed and works closely with the family,
District Nurses and other members of the
Primary Health Care Team. Nurses then visit
and care for a patient on a regular basis,
building up a close relationship with the
immediate family and extending their
support into the bereavement period. The
primary aim of all Iain Rennie nurses is to
provide a dignified and pain-free life for as
long as possible.
Gossoms End Scout Group aims to
promote the development of
young people in achieving their
full physical, intellectual, social
and spiritual potentials, as
individuals, as responsible
citizens and as members of their
local, national and international
communities. The method of achieving the
aim of the association is by providing an
enjoyable and attractive scheme of
progressive training, based on the scout
promise and law, all guided by adult
leadership.
Send a Cow is a Christian charity that
enables poor farmers in Africa to become
self-reliant by providing them with livestock,
training and advice. They work with some of
the most vulnerable groups in Africa,
including children orphaned by war, families
affected by AIDS, and disabled people.
Regular Activities at
All Saints
Ladies Meeting
Meeting on Thursdays in the lower hall at 2.45.
Anyone is welcome. Phone Rachel Stewart
864134 or Sue Sismey 866215
Transport is provided if needed
May 26 Rev T Cavanagh May Mooring
June 2 Rev Sally Long
Jeanne
Woodley
June9
Lyn Curtis
Joyce Ruberry
June 16 Mike Sismey
May Mooring
June 23 Members
Jeanne
Woodley
June 30 Freda Driver
Joyce Ruberry
July 7
AGM with Rev Paul Timmis
July 14 Tea Party
Grief and Loss Support Group
Grief and Loss Support Group
Visitors Meetings will be held at the Court
House at 7.45pm on Mondays 20 June and 18
July (no meeting in August).
Lunches at the Old Mill, Berkhamsted will be at
12.30pm on Wednesdays 15 June and 20 July.
All who have been bereaved, whether recently
or a long time ago, are welcome to come
along. For more information contact Thelma
Harris (865785).
Praying for our Neighbours
June 5
June 12
June 19
June 26
July 3
July 10
July 17
July 24
July 31
Greystoke Close and Marlin
Copse and Oaklands
Lincoln Court
Doctors Commons Road and Bay
Court
Charles Street (from Kings Road
to North Rd)
Charles Street (from North Road
to Cross Oak Rd)
Cowper Rd and Torrington Road
and Nightingale Lodge
Elm Grove and Sayers
Almshouses
Graemesdyke Road, right hand
side and side roads (going up)
Graemesdyke Road, left hand
side and side roads (going up)
Cleaning Rota
May 30th
June 6th
Andrew and Cecilia Cole
TBA
June 13th
June 20th
June 27th
July 4th
July 11th
July 18th
July 25th
Rachel Stewart Pat Hearne
Felicity White
Muriel Johnstone
Ray and Jean Emsall
Isobel Saffrey
Ann Thompson Helen Temple
Jean Merrett Jenny Hackworth
Linda Bissett Sheila Dawkins
A Week of Accompanied Prayer
in Berkhamsted
This is an opportunity for people to set
aside a week during their busy lives to allow
God to be more closely in touch with their
daily world through prayer. Each person
commits half an hour a day for a week to
meditative/contemplative prayer and a
further half-hour each day to meet with
their trained prayer guide at a mutually
convenient time. The purpose of the week
is to help you with your prayer in daily life,
suggesting ways of praying and giving
appropriate texts from scripture to draw you
into a deeper personal relationship with
God. This structure enables a ‘retreat’ in
daily life and is designed to meet you
wherever you are in terms of life and
spiritual journey.
The week starts with an initial evening
session on Friday 7 October (8pm –
9.30pm) at one of two venues. On the next
6 days (Saturday – Thursday) you will meet
individually with your assigned guide at a
mutually agreed time. The week concludes
with a final evening session with everyone
on Friday 14 October (8pm – 9.30pm) at
Beulah Chapel in Kings Road.
The cost will be £50 per person, which
will cover the travel, hospitality and
expenses of the guides. No one need be
prevented from taking part in the week
because of the cost. The organisers will
accept whatever you feel you can afford
and hope that some people will donate an
additional sum to cover part or all of the
cost for someone who would otherwise be
unable to afford to take part in the retreat.
Further information from Anne Strach
(872542) or Jackie Harbron (873012). (Blue)
application forms are available on the table
at All Saints’. Since places are limited,
please send in your application form as
soon as possible and by September 10 at
the latest.
21
House Groups and
Meditation Groups
Everyone is welcome to join any of the All
Saints’ house groups.
Tuesday Housegroup
We are now meeting fortnightly at 2pm at 1,
Montague Road, looking at some of the
sessions in the book ‘Called to be Saints’. We
would be very glad to welcome you along to
join us. We usually finish with a cup of tea
around 4pm. Ring Ruth (863268) if you would
like more information.
Tuesday The Hillside Group
“He went up the hillside with his disciples
and sat down and taught them there”
(Matthew 5: 1-2)
The Hillside Group meets at 8pm
at 22 Upper Hall Park:
Anyone from All Saints’ (Methodist or
Anglican) or St Peter’s is most welcome to
come. Contact: Rob and Julie Wakely,
22 Upper Hall Park, 01442 875504.
Wednesday Housegroup
Julian Meetings
The Wednesday House group meets
fortnightly on Wednesday evenings at 8pm.
It is open to everyone and we welcome new
members. We study the bible, pray together
and share fellowship.
If you would like to know more, contact
Audrey Cox (Tel 866394).
Wednesday June 8 at 11.30am Jenny
Wednesday June 15 at 11.30am Ruth
Home group on Thursdays
Wednesday July 13 at 11.30am Jenny
Wednesday July 20 at 11.30am Ruth
The Home Group meets in house group
members’ homes at 8 pm on Thursdays.
Contact Linda Bisset (Tel 862115)
Wednesday August 10 at 11.30am Ruth
We meet roughly fortnightly at Jenny’s or at
Ruth’s. All are very welcome to join us for
about half an hour of quiet prayer - even if
you have not done this sort of thing before.
Jenny lives at 57, Meadow Road (870981)
Ruth lives at 1, Montague Road (863268)
Berkhamsted Quiet Places
We next meet on Thursday June 23 from 9.30 –
12.30pm at Woodcock Hill, Durrants Lane,
Northchurch. Our leader will be Charlotte
Wright, painter and art tutor. Her title is “I was
the craftsman at his side” (Proverbs 8: 30). It
is helpful if you ring Frances Norrington on
871855 to reserve a place but you are also
welcome just to arrive on the day. We offer an
opportunity for stillness and reflection and for
experiencing healing in the context of God’s
love. Do come.
22
With General Elections not long
past
A candidate came home in the small hours
and gave his wife the glorious news:
"Darling, I have been elected".
She was delighted: "Honestly?!" she cried.
He laughed in an embarrassed sort of way.
"Oh why bring that up?"
Politician to aide: "About their charge that I
am indecisive - do you think I should answer
it, or let it go, or answer it in part, or what?"
Methodist
Friendship Club
S
eptember 2004-June 2005
Here we are nearly at the end of
another Friendship Club year. We have
had a variety of speakers. We have travelled
to Kenya, South Africa, West Africa and the
Pyrenees. Speakers on different parts of
England including Berkhamsted and a great
selection on other subjects.
We have also had our regular monthly
devotional evenings and many good
evenings given by some of our own
members, plus musical evenings and a
Theatre trip.
Our fund raising has consisted of a
wonderful concert evening with Kate
Semmens and David Berdinner which raised
£823, Jumble Sale, Market Stall, Apple Fair,
Coffee evenings (one of which raised
money for the Tsunami Appeal) Project
Tables and a Sponsored Walk. We also gave
a donation of £100 to Marilyn Pain for the
‘Phakamisa Project.’
Our Projects for the year have been The
Hospice of St. Francis and Home-Start.
There are only 2 evening meetings left to
come, for this year. They are 7th June Poetry Evening and 14th June - Closing
Supper and A.G.M.
We start again in September and welcome
any ladies who would like to join us.
The Club meets every Tuesday at 8pm in the
Lower Hall.
Kath Whitfield
NCH
T
he second Sunday of July in every year
(this year 10 July) is designated by the
Methodist Church as ‘NCH Sunday’
when we remember and pray for the work
of NCH which is the children’s charity of the
Methodist Church. On that Sunday Audrey
Cox will preach and various members of the
Berkhamsted NCH Support Group will take
part in the service.
The child at the centre
NCH Sunday 10th July 2005
NCH has pioneered family centre work since
the 1960s and today
around half of our
projects are family
and children’s centres
which support
parents and their
young children who
are vulnerable, under
pressure, living in
poverty or at risk from
abuse.
‘No-one ever teaches
you how to be a
parent, and some people, especially if they
haven’t had a good childhood themselves,
really don’t know where to begin’
Vicky, mum at one of NCH’s family centres
‘You can sometimes go into a schoolroom
full of four year olds and pick out the ones
who are likely to have problems when they
get older. They are the ones who are
already behind because they haven’t had
the play and learning opportunities that
other children have. These are the children
who start failing from the moment they
start school, and many of them never catch
up. It is a terrible thing for a child’s future to
be decided by the time they reach four, but
this can sometimes be the case."
NCH family centre project manager:
"If a child’s needs are met in these early
years, and their parents or carers are
supported in their responsibilities, the child
benefits enormously and so do their
families, communities and society as a
23
whole. That’s why NCH believes the child
should be at the centre.
NCH believes that every child should
have the chance to live their life to the full
and has been working to make this vision a
reality for over 135 years. Please help our
work to continue through prayer and giving
on NCH Sunday, or through making a gift to
NCH in your will to ensure that we can go
on helping vulnerable children for many
years to come.
NCH Sunday is a special Sunday
designated by the Methodist Church to
remember the opening of the first
Children’s Home and the work done today
by its children’s charity.
Worship materials, prayer cards and gift
envelopes on The child at the centre theme
are available free of charge from our
Supporter Helpline 08457 626579 (calls
charged at local rate, open 9am—5pm
Monday to Friday).
For more newsletter articles and other
information visit www.nch.org.uk/methodist
Give me the good ye know,
That I, the child may grow!
Light for the whole day long,
Food that is pure and strong.
Housing and clothing fair,
Clear water and clean air,
Teaching from day to day,
And — room — for a child to play!
From ‘The Child in the Midst’
1923-24 Report of the National Children’s
Home and Orphanage
NCH Boxes
All the NCH boxes have now been opened
and I have banked the wonderful total
£1006.90, an increase on last year of £200.
Very many thanks to all box holders for
helping to reach this amount.
Mary Griffin
24
Hives save lives
N
ow bees are helping to save lives in
Africa. Hives Save Lives – Africa
(HSLA) does this by the simple
measure of supporting
beekeeping projects.
Where people are living
on less than 60p a day,
just two hives can
provide an income
from honey that makes
the difference between abject
poverty and access to food,
education and basic healthcare. The cost of
a hive? Just £32.00.
A beehive gives people the means to earn
their own livelihood. It puts their future
back into their own hands. It provided them
with self-sufficiency and dignity, not aid.
HSLA are building beehives specifically
designed for African conditions in Uganda
(creating more jobs alongside the honey
production) and providing appropriate
training. As the hives are established,
production and marketing opportunities for
other hive products create more jobs. The
industry is self-sustaining, and culturally and
environmentally in tune with local
communities.
A typical project supported by HSLA is an
orphanage caring for 80 children in Uganda.
Just 20 hives (and appropriate training),
gives them a much-needed reliable annual
income through the sale of honey and other
hive products, plus the educational benefit
for the children and the pollination value for
surrounding crops.
Hope for Africa? Yes, and on African terms,
providing support directly to where it is
needed most. Can you help? One painless
way is to shop online at
www.buy.at/hivessavelives, where you will
find some of the biggest retailers prepared
to pay Hives Save Lives a commission on
your purchases, without costing you a
penny more.
To find out more or make a donation,
please visit www.hivessavelives.com or call
01273 302586.
Who cares for our
six million carers
D
id you know that no fewer than six
million people in the UK are
voluntarily looking after loved ones?
A recent survey found that 77 per cent of
adults questioned would prefer to be
looked after at home by a relative or friend,
rather than in a nursing home or hospital,
so with an ageing population the number of
carers is likely to continue to grow.
Carers’ Week this year runs from 13-19 June.
This annual event raises awareness of issues
affecting carers, who often face health and
financial problems as a result of looking
after someone else. Many carers don’t
recognise themselves as such and are not
aware of the support available to them.
To give carers a break and highlight the
support that they can get, thousands of
events have been organised up and down
the country. Two popular actresses, Pam
Ferris and Miriam Margolyes are backing the
week by speaking out about their own
experience of looking after loved ones.
“Having looked after my mother, I know
how challenging yet fulfilling being a carer
can be,” says Pam Ferris, who starred in the
film ‘Harry Potter and the Prisoner of
Azkaban’. “Caring can be horribly isolating
at times but my most precious memories of
my mother come from the intimacy we
achieved through the caring process.”
Miriam Margolyes became a carer when her
mother was chronically ill. She says, “I have
been through the
experience of caring for a
sick and paralysed parent,
so Carers’ Week is a cause
close to my heart. It gives
us all a chance to salute the
wonderful people who step
into the breach and look
after a loved one,
sometimes for a month,
sometimes for a lifetime.”
The Week is a joint activity by
Carers UK, Help the Aged, an
Cancer Relief, the Multiple
Crossroads, Macmillan Cancer Relief, the
Multiple Sclerosis Society, the Princess Royal
Trust and Rethink, the charity concerned
with severe mental illness. Spokesman Paul
Matz says, “People with caring
responsibilities make an enormous
contribution to society but often, sadly,
don’t get the help and support they need to
lead fulfilling lives of their own.”
From: Efficiency and Ticket
Management Consultants
To: The London Symphony Orchestra
Re: Schubert's Symphony No. 8 in B minor.
After attending a rehearsal of this work we
make the following observations and
recommendations: We note that the twelve
first violins were playing identical notes, as
were the second violins. Three violins in
each section, suitably amplified, would
seem to us to be adequate. Much
unnecessary labour is involved in the
number of demisemiquavers in this work;
we suggest that many of these could be
rounded up to the nearest semiquaver thus
saving practice time for the individual player
and rehearsal time for the entire ensemble.
The simplification would also permit more
use of trainee and less-skilled players with
only marginal loss of precision.
We could find no productivity value in string
passages being repeated by the horns; all
tutti repeats could also be eliminated
without any reduction of efficiency.
In so labour-intensive an undertaking as a
symphony, we regard the long oboe tacet
passages to be extremely wasteful. What
notes this instrument is called upon to play
could, subject to a satisfactory demarcation
conference with the Musician's Union, be
shared out equitably amongst the other
instruments.
Conclusion: if the above recommendations
are implemented the piece under
consideration could be played through in
less than half an hour with concomitant
savings in overtime, lighting and heating,
wear and tear on the instruments and hall
rental fees. Also, had the composer been
aware of modern cost-effective procedures
he might well have finished this work.
25
Pentecost Sermon
2005
I
think it’s safe to say that people
interpret situations differently. Ask two
people to comment on an event that
they’ve just witnessed or participated in
and, chances are, they’ll find different
things to say about it. Different things will
have struck them as being important. There
can be little doubt that people interpret
situations differently.
Take, for example, election night. As the
results began to filter in, Peter Snow was
clearly getting very excited playing with his
swing-o-meter but he was surely the only
one getting so excited. The result was
generally considered to be a foregone
conclusion by most commentators and exit
polls: Labour would be returned to
government but with a reduced majority.
And so it proved. Yet, time and time again,
as various politicians of all parties quivered
and quaked before Jeremy Paxman, each
proclaimed the expected result a victory for
their party. And they’d all perhaps have
been justified. Except Robert Kilroy Silk!
Or take a sporting event. This weekend
sees four teams entering the Championship
play offs to see who’ll be playing
Premiership football next season. Yesterday,
Ipswich fought back to earn a 2-2 draw with
West Ham. No doubt this’ll have been
viewed as a great comeback by delighted
Ipswich fans. West Ham fans – who saw
their side move into a 2-goal lead – will no
doubt be less than happy that they’ve
thrown away such an important advantage.
Or take a personal dispute or
disagreement. Here each person involved
thinks…no, believes…that they’re in the
right and that the other is in the wrong:
hence the dispute.
People interpret situations differently.
Of course, situations aren’t static: they're
constantly changing and evolving. The
landscape can alter dramatically; new
horizons can appear suddenly. What strikes
one person as being highly significant at
one point might later be viewed to be less
26
significant as the ground shifts. Another
person may continue to see it as being of
key significance despite the changing
landscape or, conversely, may never have
seen its significance at all. So, here again,
it’s easy to see how different interpretations
of a situation come to be offered.
E
ven so, it’s difficult to see how John
and Luke can identify the coming of
the Holy Spirit – the same situation, if
you like – with such different events. The
two accounts couldn’t have been more
different if they’d tried.
In Acts, Luke describes a very public
event that takes place at the Jewish festival
of Pentecost: 50 days after Passover (when
Jesus had been killed). Sure, the account
begins with Jesus’ followers sitting together
in a house but even here we’re not
necessarily talking about the disciples but
all the believers – probably in the region of
120 people if Acts 1:15 is any indication –
and others are soon drawn in as the
situation develops so that by the end, the
event – which has presumably moved
outside – is witnessed by great crowds of
people.
In John, we’re offered a description of a
private, intimate moment shared between
Jesus and his disciples on the night of his
resurrection. It begins and ends with Jesus
and his disciples gathered together in one
room.
In the account in Acts, the coming of the
Spirit is described in dramatic terms and
with poetic language. Again, everything
takes place on a grand scale. ‘And suddenly
from heaven there came
a sound like the rush of
a violent wind.’ ‘It filled
the entire house.’
‘Divided tongues, as of
fire, appeared among
them and a tongue
rested on each of them.’
‘All of them were filled
with the Holy Spirit and
began to speak in other
languages, as the Spirit
gave them ability.’ ‘Now
there were devout Jews
from every nation under
heaven living in Jerusalem.’
‘Each one heard them
speaking in the native
language of each.’
Again, the picture
painted by John is quite
different. The coming of
the Spirit is described in
matter of fact terms,
using simple language.
Jesus ‘breathed on them
and said to them,
“Receive the Holy Spirit.”’
The Spirit that comes
with great power in Acts,
in John comes to the
disciples as gentle
breath.
If we were trying to
square these accounts we might say, as
others have done, that what happens in
John is a foretaste for the disciples of what
is to come for all believers in Acts. Or we
might say, as others have done, that the
disciples received the Spirit in part in the
way that John describes and were later filled
with it as Luke says. I’d say, ‘Life’s too short
to try and square the varying accounts!’ The
gospel writers (and Acts is an extension of
Luke’s Gospel) each offer their own and
different interpretation of the Jesus event.
How or when or where something
happened is less important to them than
why it happened. And so it should be for us
here. The coming of the Holy Spirit –
however it happened – took place in
fulfillment of a promise that Jesus made to
his followers before his death, that he’d
send them the Paraclete (John 14: 16) – an
advocate to plead the cause of the guilty; a
counsellor to give advice and guidance; a
comforter; a giver of strength and, always, a
helper.
In Acts, Luke focuses on the way in which
the Spirit gives Jesus’ followers the strength,
courage and ability to communicate God’s
promise of salvation in Christ to all peoples.
John focuses on the gift of forgiveness that
the new community – the Church – will now
be empowered to offer. Both then see that
with the gift of the Spirit comes the promise
of new life.
of new life.
So here, as elsewhere,
it’s more fruitful to ask the
why question than the how
or when or where
questions.
But there’s another
important thing to note:
and both Luke and John are
in agreement on this.
Jesus’ followers are
together when the Spirit
comes. They might be
talking about different
numbers – believers or
disciples – but the fact that
they’re together is crucial.
When, on the night
that he was betrayed, Jesus
prayed for his disciples, he
prayed that they ‘may be one’ (John 17:11):
that they’d stay together and experience a
unity based on God’s love.
In the days that followed that prayer, the
situation in which the disciples find
themselves constantly changes and evolves.
The landscape alters dramatically – as Jesus
is arrested, tortured, killed and buried. All
confidence gone, their lives are filled with
uncertainty and they fear for the future. But
new horizons can appear suddenly, and so
it is for the disciples when the risen Jesus
appears in the midst of them.
The ground may well have shifted, but
because they remained together they were
in a position to receive the Spirit. The Spirit
may well come to individual followers and
be a blessing to them, but it's God’s gift for
the Church, that its work – and God’s
purposes – might be fulfilled. If the first
followers of Jesus hadn’t stayed together,
there would’ve been no Church to
empower. Staying together is then
important.
n recent months our life together at All
Saints’ has continued to change and
evolve. We’ve come together as
Anglicans and Methodists each week in
worship. This is a step that we’ve taken
with confidence, believing that this journey
to being one is what God wants for us and
of us: believing that this is where the Spirit
I
27
is guiding us and leading us.
For us all, the landscape has altered
dramatically – and that’s not easy. And,
since Easter, the ground has shifted again –
and that’s not been easy either. So it’d be
understandable if some here have lost
some confidence in the decision that we
made together; it’d be understandable if
some here were feeling uncertain or even
fearful about the future. It’d be
understandable. We’re only human. And
we interpret situations differently.
But if this is how you’re feeling,
remember that situations aren’t static:
they're constantly changing and evolving.
The landscape can alter dramatically and
new horizons can appear suddenly, as
Pentecost proves. And surely, another
powerful message of Pentecost is that God
can only help us move forward if we stay
together; the Spirit can only touch this
community and set it on fire, if there’s a
community here to touch.
If the disciples had drifted off because
they thought they’d had enough, there’d
never have been a Church at all – and God’s
purposes would’ve been denied. But a
couple of handfuls of disciples, in John, or
around 120 believers in Acts (about the
average number of worshippers here at All
Saints’ since we came together) hung in
there and, as a result, made transformation
more than a possibility. If we drift off now,
who knows what we’ll be denying God the
possibility of doing in this place.
So our prayer this Pentecost must surely
be that we remain together and remain
open to where the
Spirit might lead
us. For in such
togetherness
comes a unity
based on God’s
love. And with the
Spirit comes the
promise of new
life. Amen.
Rev Paul Timmis
28
Make Poverty
History 2005
I
f you have your white band, have
emailed Tony Blair and have booked your
seats to Edinburgh there are still lots of
other ways to get involved and show your
support for Make Poverty History.
4 June
Break the Chain
On 4 June, The Diocese of
Winchester and the
Winchester branch of the
Mothers Union are arranging
an event called 'Break the
Chain'. The event will start at
12:00 noon in the Abbey
Gardens, close to the City
centre. At 1:00pm there will
be a procession through the
City centre and on to
Winchester Cathedral, when
we will surround this beautiful and historic
building with a chain of people as a sign of
solidarity at 2:00pm. The afternoon will
include key speakers (t.b.a) but will include
the Bishop of Southampton, The Rt. Rev.
Paul Butler, Christian Aid and others.
We hope to have a festival atmosphere
which will include stalls from Christian Aid,
Traidcraft, a Christian puppet theatre,
balloon modelling, Christian band
Namelessmusic and lots more. All are
welcome.
For more details please contact David Hinks
on 01962 624806 or email
david.hinks@chsewinchester.clara.net>
20-26 June
Refugee Week
24-26 June
Glastonbury Festival
01-July
White Band Day 1
International White Band Day 1, when across
the globe, in the South and in the North,
millions of people will wear a white band as
an act of solidarity against poverty and call
for world leaders to do more to eradicate
poverty.
2nd July
G8 Mobilisation
Edinburgh
As the leaders of the world's richest
countries gather in Scotland for the G8
summit, join tens of thousands of others in
Edinburgh on 2nd July demanding trade
justice, debt cancellation, and more and
better aid for the world's poorest countries.
Be there. Make your voice heard.
Why should I come to Edinburgh?
We want as many campaigners and
members of the public as possible to show
the Prime Minister and his fellow G8 leaders
that the UK public cares enough about
global poverty and injustice to come in
person to Edinburgh, just as Jubilee 2000
did at the Birmingham G8 in 1998- but on an
even greater scale.
What will be happening on the day?
The day's events will start from 11am, and
will include:
rallies with international speakers, celebrity
supporters and music
the creation of a giant human white band
around Edinburgh city centre, with
staggered starts at 12pm, 1pm and 2pm - so
no need to rush!
entertainment, 'market stalls' and activities
an opportunity for you to send your
messages directly to the G8 meeting in
Gleneagles
The event will be a family friendly, safe and
fun day - so bring as many people as you
can!
Additional new information will be released
as soon as it becomes available.
04-July
Global Student Forum '05
"Hungry for life?"
A National Conference for 6th formers from
UK schools. Key sixth form students from
schools across the country exploring issues
of trade, debt and aid.
13-July
BOND/MPH Parliamentary Launch
of UK Presidency
13-July
Twentieth anniversary of Live Aid
10-Sep
White Band Day 2
Across the world millions of people will
show their support for the fight against
poverty by wearing a white band, and will
call on world leaders to do more to
eradicate poverty.
See http://www.makepovertyhistory.org for
more information.
A Prayer
Lord, since you exist,
we exist. Since you are
beautiful, we are
beautiful. Since you are
good, we are good. By
our existence we honour
you. By our beauty we
glorify you. By our
goodness we love you.
Lord, through your power
all things were made.
Through your wisdom all
things are governed. Through your grace all
things are sustained. Give us power to serve
you, wisdom to discern your laws, and grace
to obey them at all times.
By Edmund of Abingdon, c. 1180 1240 Scholar
and Archbishop of Canterbury
29
What have I done?
I
s this the question every newly elected
churchwarden asks? Over the weeks
after being approached and asked to
stand for election and before being elected
there may be time to try and find out what
is involved. Then after the election, and
before admission to office at the
Archdeacon’s Visitation, the reality begins to
become apparent!
For me, in this year of clergy vacancy in
the parish, it has meant a possibly steeper
learning curve than would happen usually.
For, of course, not only did the election of
wardens occur during a vacancy, with no
Rector in place, it also coincided with the
ending of Martin’s ministry at All Saints’ and
I had not served as a deputy warden
previously.
It is also a time of change and
reorganisation – for the parish, in the
setting up of a Team Ministry with the
Gaddesdens, Potten End and Nettleden,
and, for us, at All Saints’ in the first months
of fully joint worship on Sunday mornings
with new patterns for worship still evolving
and not yet familiar.
From a purely practical
perspective, this meant I was
immediately involved in
trying to find organists
for the Anglican–led
services in the following
few weeks. The
telephone was in use
constantly and I even
resorted to a mobile
phone when Michael needed
to make urgent calls at the
same time!
Over the last few weeks I have become
aware that we have an unusual situation,
for, not only do we have visiting Anglican
clergy to take a Eucharist, we may also have
an organist who is not familiar with the
service either! Mix this in with a
churchwarden only just beginning office……
I think you might see the picture emerging!
But that isn’t the full picture, for it
30
doesn’t take into account the help that has
come already from so many people which is
certainly much appreciated. I am also very
grateful to Peter Bryant and Gill Malcolm for
sharing the deputy churchwarden role and
we continue to learn together the many
tasks involved and we hope you will
continue to support us both in practical
ways and in your prayers.
In the parish, churchwardens represent
the laity and work closely with the minister
and, in addition, the churchwarden is also a
bishop’s officer, responsible and
accountable to the bishop.
I am writing this just a couple of days
after the Archdeacon’s Visitation at St Peter
and St Paul, Little Gaddesden when Carole
and I were admitted to office along with
many churchwardens from other parishes in
this part of the diocese. The year lies
ahead. With God’s help, I will do my best.
Tracy Robinson
From the vestry
M
any churches have been grappling
recently with the question of what
is needed to become a place
where Christian disciples can really grow in
confidence and share infectious enthusiasm
about their faith. In the Church of England
over the past decade there have been a
range of publications and initiatives that
explore the features of a “healthy church”.
Within the Methodist church, the General
Secretary, Revd David Deeks, has been
having conversations
around all the districts,
asking, under the banner
of “Our Calling”, “Where
are we heading?” The
result of these
conversations has been a
report entitled “Priorities
for the Methodist Church”,
which was adopted by
Conference in 2004.
I
n summary, the report says this:
In partnership with others wherever
possible, the Methodist Church will
concentrate its prayers, resources,
imagination and commitments on this
priority:
To proclaim and affirm its conviction of
God’s love in Christ, for us and for all the
world; and renew confidence in God’s
presence and action in the world and in the
Church.
As ways towards realising this priority,
particular attention will be given to the
following:
Underpinning everything we do with
God-centred worship and prayer
Supporting community development and
action for justice, especially among the
most deprived and poor – in Britain and
worldwide
Developing confidence in evangelism
and in the capacity to speak of God and
faith in ways that make sense to all involved
Encouraging fresh ways of being Church
Nurturing a culture in the Church which
is people-centred and flexible
At the Methodist General Church Meeting
and also at the joint leadership meeting we
began to think about the challenges that
this poses for us, as we start reflecting on
our priorities at All Saints’. We need to
recognise that we can’t do everything, and
that we should focus our resources on our
gifts and strengths and in those areas of
particular concern to us. It will take time to
work out what our priorities should be, but
we hope that everyone will be involved in
the process as we develop our thoughts
over the next few months.
Kate and Steve Spall
Thank you Phakamisa,
A heartfelt thank you to the MFC for hosting
Glenda Howieson from Phakamisa,
South Africa in April. Your welcome was
wonderful and not least the very
generous cheque you gave towards the
work of Phakamisa. May our Lord continue
to bless you.
Marilyn Pain
The Odd Typo
S
ome of you have noticed a few typos
in this magazine now and then. To
improve this I thought I would publish
a few rules for contributors.- This is meant
to be humorous!
1. Verbs HAS to agree with their subjects.
2. Prepositions are not words to end
sentences with.
3. And don't start a sentence with a
conjunction.
4. It is wrong to ever split an infinitive.
5. Avoid clichés like the plague. (They're old
hat.)
6. Also, always avoid annoying alliteration.
7. Be more or less specific.
8. Parenthetical remarks (however relevant)
are (usually) unnecessary.
9. Also too, never, ever use repetitive
redundancies.
10. No sentence fragments.
11. Contractions aren't necessary and
shouldn't be used.
12. Foreign words and phrases are not
apropos.
13. Do not be redundant; do not use more
words than necessary; it's highly
superfluous.
14. One should NEVER generalise.
15. Comparisons are as bad as clichés.
16. Eschew ampersands & abbreviations,
etc.
17. One-word sentences? Eliminate.
18. Analogies in writing are like feathers on
a snake.
19. The passive voice is to be ignored.
20. Eliminate commas, that are, not
necessary. Parenthetical words however
should be enclosed in commas.
21. Never use a big word when a diminutive
one would suffice.
22. Use words correctly, irregardless of how
others use them.
23. Understatement is always the absolute
best way to put forth earth shaking ideas.
24. Eliminate quotations. As Ralph Waldo
Emerson said, "I hate quotations. Tell me
what you know."
continued over the page
31
Comings and
goings
Baptism
6 March
Lauren Hall
Confirmation(at St Peter's Church)
16 April
Alice Beaumont
Lydia McMunn
Hannah Wakely
Catherine Wilton
Weddings
26 March
Karen Rance and Lee Wilson
23 April
Luciana Vieira and Edward Stewart
Funerals
30 March
Norman Barton
4 April
Alan Cox
3 May
Eileen Howlett
Judith Limbert
Gillian Malcolm
Michael Robinson
Philippa Seldon
Deanery Synod:
John Banks
Alan Conway
Mike Eller
Patrick Lepper
Jenny Wells
St Peter's Area Committee:
Julian Dawson
David Ewart
Rachel Hill
Polly Rafter
Bill Stead
Anne Vickers
All Saints' Area Committee:
Andy Beaumont
Peter Bryant
Chris Dipper
Isobel Saffrey
Felicity White
New Rector
We are please to see that a new Rector for
Northchurch and Wigginton as been
appointed.
The Revd Jonathan Gordon has been
working as Chaplain to Southampton
Institute since 1998. He is married to Rachel
and has three daughters.
APCCM
At the recent St Peters and All Saints APCC
meeting the following people were elected
Anglican Officers 2005
Churchwardens:
Carole Dell - St Peter's
Tracy Robinson - All Saints'
PCC:
Linda Bisset
Chris Clegg
Peter Drury
Barbara Groet
Richard Hackworth
Kate Hennessey
Christopher Hunt
Patricia Hunt
Paul Jullien
32
Typos continued
25. If you've heard it once, you've heard it a
thousand times: Resist hyperbole; not one
writer in a million can use it correctly.
26. Puns are for children, not groan readers.
27. Go around the barn at high noon to
avoid colloquialisms.
28. Even IF a mixed metaphor sings, it
should be derailed.
29. Who needs rhetorical questions?
30. Exaggeration is a billion times worse
than understatement.
And finally…
31. Proofread carefully to see if you any
words out
Services for June
and July
Anglican Methodist Services - all to be held
at All Saints' Church unless indicated
otherwise
For information, (A) denotes Anglican led
and (M) denotes Methodist led.
June
July
5 June 10am Eucharist (A) Rev Liz Hughes
3 July
12 June 8.45am Communion (M)
Rev Paul Timmis
10am Morning Worship (M)
Rev Paul Timmis
6.30pm Evening Worship (M)
Jenny Harris
19 June 10am Communion and Baptism (M)
Rev Tony Cavanagh
6.30pm Evening Worship (M)
Clifford Watkins
26 June No 8.45am Eucharist
10am Morning Worship (A)
John Malcolm
6pm Circuit Songs of Praise
at Nash Mills
10 am Eucharist (A)
Rev Jane Bannister
10 July 8.45am Communion (M)
Rev Paul Timmis
10am Morning Worship (M)
Audrey Cox
6.30pm Evening Worship (M)
Rev Tony Cavanagh
17 July 10am Communion (M)
Rev Caroline Weaver
Sun 6.30pm Pepper Praise
at Collegiate School
24 July No 8.45am Eucharist
10am Morning Worship (A)
Jenny Wells
6.30pm Evening Worship (M)
John Seddon
31 July 10 am Eucharist (A)
Rev Miriam Mugan
6.30pm Evening Worship
Rev Bill Andrews
Weekday Anglican services:
Eucharist
Tuesday 9.30am
Evening Prayer
Friday
5.00 pm
Morning Prayer
Saturday 8.45 am
33
Diary Events 2005
SEPTEMBER
13 Tues
14 Wed
15 Thur
The following is a list of social events and
key church meetings in 2005
17 Sat
MAY
21 Sat
25 Sun
25 Wed
JUNE
7 Tues
8 Wed
9 Thur
14 Tues
18 Sat
21 Tues
22 Wed
25 Sat
26 Sun
8am ABC Prayer Breakfast
at All Saints
7.30pm Chiltern Chamber
Choir at St Peter’s
8pm Church Council Meeting
8pm Methodist Circuit
Meeting at Cupid Green
7.30pm Company AGM and
8pm Joint Council
at Oxfield Close
8pm Christmas Tree Festival
Meeting
8pm Methodist LP Meeting
at Tring
8am ABC Prayer Breakfast
at Sacred Heart Church
8pm PCC
8pm Leadership Team
Meeting
Petertide Fair
Explorers’ Picnic
at Crabtree Farm, Ley Hill
JULY
9 Sat
4-6pm Women’s Network
Strawberry Tea
at 21 Greystoke Close
16 Sat
8am ABC Prayer Breakfast
at Berkhamsted Baptist
Church
17 Sun
6.30pm Pepper Praise
at Collegiate School
23 Sat
8am ABC Prayer Breakfast
at Sunnyside Church
25-29Mon-Fri ReachOut week
30 Sat
ReachOut Celebration
AUGUST
20 Sat
34
8am ABC Prayer Breakfast
at Sunnyside Church
OCTOBER
2 Sun
7–14Fri-Fri
11 Tues
14 Fri
15 Sat
NOVEMBER
1 Tue
9 Wed
13 Sun
19 Sat
DECEMBER
2-4
3 Sat
13 Tues
17 Sat
18 Sun
8pm Methodist Circuit
Meeting at Nash Mills
8pm Area Committee
8pm Methodist
Pastoral Committee
8am ABC Prayer
Breakfast at St Mary’s
Northchurch
Harvest Festival celebration
3pm Hospice Service
Week of Accompanied
Prayer
8pm PCC
8pm Bishop of St Albans
to preside at All Saints service
to celebrate the centenary.
8am ABC Prayer Breakfast
at St Peter’s
8pm All Saints’ Day service
8pm Area Committee
Remembrance Sunday
8am ABC Prayer Breakfast
at Northchurch Baptist
Fri-Sun Christmas Tree Festival
Festival Concert
8pm PCC
8am ABC Prayer Breakfast
at Sunnyside Church
6.30pm Carol Service
The All Saints Prayer
O God our heavenly Father, your Son Jesus
Christ prayed that we might be one as you
and he are one. Look with compassion on
your children of All Saints'.
Teach us to put aside all our prejudices and
fears, to seek to understand your purpose
for us, and to use together our different
strengths and insights.
Grant us courage to follow your leading and
humility to learn from each other, so that in
unity and love we may reflect your glory,
both in worship and in daily life. We ask this
in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Amen
For your
information
Methodist weekly
Sunday Notices
Mandy Perkins 875255
email Smallto95@aol.com
Women's Meeting
Sue Sismey 866215
Rachel Stewart 864134
Emmaus Group
Anglican weekly
News for Pews
John Malcolm 874993
email johngill@clara.co.uk
Jean Green 878227
email j.green@c-of-e.freeserve.co.uk
Methodist choir and organist
Church and Halls Booking
Jenny Ginn 866476
Ruth Treves Brown 863268
email keithruth@trevesbrown.me.uk
Anglican choir
Y.P.F.
Jimmy Young 384929
email christianjimmy@fish.co.uk
Peter McMunn 874894
email peter.mcmunn@sidellgibson.co.uk
Anglican organist
Pathfinder Games
Vacancy
Jimmy Young 384929
email christianjimmy@fish.co.uk
Catering
Anglican Pathfinders
Penny O'Neill 843422
penny_oneill@hotmail.com
Gill Lumb 863885
gill25@clgml.plus.com
Chris Dipper 873006
Flowers
Explorers
Sue Sismey 866215
Audrey Cox 866394
Carenza Wilton 875147
email carenza_wilton@hotmail.com
Joint Treasurer
Nigel Garner 865675
email garnernigel@yahoo.co.uk
Chuckles Toddler Group
Jenny Wells 870981
Kate Spall 873470
email s.spall@ntlworld.com
M.F.C.
Mary Griffin 874736
Tape Recordings of Services
Janet Conradi 833402
Church Cleaning Rota
Kate and Steve Spall 873470
email s.spall@ntlworld.com
NCH
Mary Griffin 874736
Christmas Tree Festival
Mike and Sue Sismey 866215
Posters and Notice Boards
Ruth Treves Brown 863268
Christina Billington 385566
Kath Whitfield (porch) 865132
35
Church Ministers
and officers
All Saints Church Telephone 870119
Methodist Minister
Local Preachers
The Revd Paul Timmis
32 Finch Road
Tel 866324
Vacancy
Audrey Cox
Brian Parsons
Clifford Watkins
David Williamson
Arthur Wray
Ruth Treves Brown (on trial)
Rector
Youth Worker
Anglican Priest in Charge
Vacancy
Jimmy Young
Tel 01442 384929
Supernumerary
The Revd Barrie Allcott
Joint Church Council
Mike Sismey Secretary
Nigel Garner Treasurer
John Banks Halls Committee
All Saints Church
Churchwardens
Tracy Robinson
Peter Bryant and Gill Malcolm
Stewards
David Pain
Cecilia Cole
John Wignall
Diocesan Lay Minister
Christina Billington
Readers
Jenny Wells
John Malcolm
36
All Saints' is an Anglican/ Methodist
Local Ecumenical Partnership.
Through its Anglican congregation it is part
of the Parish of Great Berkhamsted (with
St Peter's Church) and the Diocese of
St Albans.
Through its Methodist congregation it is part
of the Hemel Hempstead & Berkhamsted
Circuit and the London North-West District.
All Saints' is a member of the Association of
Berkhamsted Churches.