The Parish of Acton ST MARY’S and ALL SAINTS

Rector The Revd Nick Jones 020 8992 8876 020 8993 0422 (parish office) [email protected] Twitter: @georgenewbrook

Associate Rector The Revd Dean Ayres 020 8992 9384 [email protected] The Acorn Curate The Revd Mary Spredbury 020 8995 8879 [email protected]

Facebook (www.facebook.com/stmaryacton).

Churchwardens Yvonne Kisiedu 020 8248 4891 Vacancy

Other Church Officers PCC Secretary: vacancy Treasurer: Elizabeth Simpson Stewardship Secretary: Phyllis Kwan

November 2020 Parish Secretary: Janet Coker Telephone: 020 8993 0422

Email: [email protected] Website: http://www.stmaryacton.org.uk Registered charity no. 1130252

The Parish Office remains closed at present ‘An inclusive and progressive Christian community at the heart of Acton reimagining our faith for the 21st century’ The magazine is edited by Alan McCallum Items for inclusion in the December edition should be sent by email to [email protected] by 21st November

Services at St Mary’s Volume 24 No.11

CONTENTS Sunday 9am Holy Communion 10.30am All Age Eucharist Page From the Rector 5 Thursday 11am Remembrance 7 Midweek Communion Remembering the departed 8 This short service without music is very suitable for those still Collects 9 anxious about being in large crowds as well as those Ealing Foodbank 10 still working at home. A book for Advent 11 Giving to the Church 11 St Mary’s is open for personal prayer and The Kalender 12 Some Diary Dates for November 14 reflection Daily Readings for November 15 Monday to Wednesday, Friday and Saturday Our Monthly Giving Project 16 John Lindley 17 10.30am to 11.30am St Cecilia 20 Do come along as you are able.

Please wear a face covering and ensure you follow the social distancing guidelines

4 Wishing you God’s love and peace in these uncertain times From the Rector

Dear friends

We move now into a season of remembering. Someone pointed out to me many years ago that the word “re-member” carries the connotation of putting parts back together. To remember, therefore, when we do it well, is not to get stuck in the past, but to heal. We begin with the Feast of All Saints, celebrating all the saints of the church and marking the title feast of our church in South Acton. This incorporated what is traditionally known as the “commemoration of the Faithful Departed” which I personally find rather sanctimonious if not a little spooky and FEAST OF ALL SAINTS therefore our service this year is entitled ‘A Service of Thanksgiving for A Service of Thanksgiving for Those Those Who Have Died.’ From there, we come to Remembrance Sunday on 8th November with our Act of Remembrance supported by a local Who Have Died trumpet student at the Royal College of Music who has been practising in ST our building. I’m thrilled Chris will be part of our service together with our 1 NOVEMBER organist and singers – the College is doing us proud just now and I know how much this is appreciated at a time when congregational singing in not possible. With everything scaled down, there is perhaps more space for 9am Holy Communion reflection and for each of us to remember in a healing way this year. As 10.30am All Age Eucharist we have done previously, we will be keeping a season of remembrance right up to Advent, a newish tradition in the Church of most evident from the red vestments that the clergy will be wearing. This is the time of year when I usually write something about Christmas plans. We are very much making Christmas plans at the moment and there will be a uniquely wonderful and spiritual experience this year as we approach Advent, but circumstances are changing too rapidly and are too unpredictable to commit the plans to paper right now. Do, though, watch this space! What is, however, committed to paper is the plan to work with Oaktree Anglican Church to see if we can’t join forces to provide an even more vibrant Christian witness at the heart of Acton, gaining strength from doing ministry and mission together but not losing either the distinctiveness each community brings as we look at how the two might become one. The slides from my presentation at our annual meeting are now available both in hard copy and via email.

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Remembrance REMEMBRANCE SUNDAY TH 8 November As we come again to Remembrance Sunday on 8th November, there are three important anniversaries to remember this year. 9am Holy Communion The first is the end of the Second World War, marked by VE day on 8th May (the end of the war in Europe) and VJ day (the end of the war 10.30am All Age Eucharist in the Far East) on 15th May. Of course, due to lockdown, many of the celebrations planned for this year, the 75th anniversary, were sadly cancelled or scaled down but both were commemorated. For those living at the time both were days of great celebration and relief after six years of danger and hardship. The second anniversary this year is the 80th anniversary of the Battle of Britain, the battle fought in the skies over the south of England during the summer of 1940 between the RAF and the Luftwaffe. At the height of the battle Britain had 749 fighter aircraft defending this country against the 2,550 aircraft of the Luftwaffe. The RAF was greatly assisted by the recent installation of radar stations which gave some warning of impending attacks. The 2,945 aircrew were from many countries including Australia, Canada and Poland – almost 1/5th of the aircrew were not British. The average ago of pilots was 20 and they had only 2 weeks training before becoming operative. 544 RAF aircrew lost their lives and a further 320 were killed on the ground in bombing raids. It was a decisive victory at a time when there was a real threat of invasion. The final anniversary is the liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camps by Soviet troops on 27th January. Although there Remembering the departed were other concentration and death camps it is perhaps Auschwitz, where over 1 million people were murdered, that we remember most. The date is now remembered each year as Holocaust Memorial Day when we We remember all who have died and particularly those who suffered from remember all victims of genocides. the Covid-19 virus. God of compassion, be close to those who are ill, afraid or in isolation. In their loneliness, be their consolation; in their anxiety, be their hope; in their darkness, be their light; through him who suffered alone on the cross, but reigns with you in glory, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen

8 7 Collectar (Latin Collectarium). So, when Archbishop Cranmer was putting Collects together the prayer book for the newly created , he was able to draw upon a rich tradition. Latin texts lie behind most of the BCP’s collects, but some are original compositions, as far as we can tell, and The church’s new year begins on the first Sunday of Advent, which each one, whether following the sense of its Latin source, or being in 2020 falls on 29th November. The previous Sunday, the last in the old completely independent, is sharpened and shaped very skilfully for the year, is consequently 22nd November, and it is on this day that we say the rhythms of English speech. In total, Cranmer’s 1549 service book has most famous of our collects: ‘Stir up, we beseech thee, O Lord, the wills of eighty-four collects which cater for the cycle of the church’s year, including thy faithful people; that they, plenteously bringing forth the fruit of good fixed feast-days for those saints that the new church continued to honour, works, may of thee be plenteously rewarded; through Jesus Christ our and a dozen or so collects embedded within services, which remained Lord. Amen’. fixed - for example, ‘Lighten our darkness…’, said at every Evensong. Common Worship uses modernised language, but here I’ve chosen They have been called ‘jewelled miniatures’, ‘one of the chief glories of its original sixteenth century form as it was created for use in what was the Anglican liturgical tradition’. But it will be a task for another occasion to then the Church of England’s new . Even in its take a closer look at Cranmer’s skill in creating them. more modern form, however, it begins with ‘Stir up…’ and it is this which in recent centuries has made it part of our common culture: the day Joyce Hill became known as Stir Up Sunday, when the Christmas pudding mixture was stirred up and wishes were made. So it has prompted me to write about Collects this month. Ealing Foodbank The liturgical term ‘collect’ for a short prayer has the same etymology as the verb ‘to collect’, although we pronounce them differently. Both come from Latin ‘a gathering together’, and ‘to gather together’. The The Ealing Foodbank is open and will welcome clients with referrals, collect, known for centuries in the Latin liturgy as a collecta, is a short between 10am and 12noon, at St Hall, 1 Church Rd, Hanwell prayer which brings together an invocation, a petition, and a conclusion W7 3BA on which calls upon Christ or ascribes glory to God. I always think of it as a Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays. rather efficient form of prayer! You can see the elements of it in the ‘Stir NOTE - NOT WEDNESDAY up’ collect above. However, as is often the case in the Church of That day is reserved for donations to be received, between 10am - 4pm. England’s traditional collects, the invocation (the address to God) only comes after the no-nonsense opening words of the petition, ‘Stir up’. During lockdown we will only be able to receive donations at our Central Another well-known example of doing things this way is the Evensong Store in Hanwell on Wednesdays between 10am and 4pm. collect, ‘Lighten our darkness, we beseech thee O Lord; and by thy great Please check their website: mercy defend us from the perils and dangers of this night; for the love of thy only Son, our Saviour, Jesus Christ, Amen.’ In the medieval liturgy there were elaborate rules about which https://ealing.foodbank.org.uk/give-help/donate-food/ collects were said when in the church’s year, and since the number of days between Epiphany and Easter and between Pentecost and Advent varies from year to year according to the date of Easter, it was convenient to have the collects in a separate book so that they could be drawn upon as and when required. This special book of collects was known as a

9 10 • increase the amount you are regularly giving through the A book for Advent Parish Giving Scheme or Standing Order • Make a one off donation as you can via this link or QR https://givealittle.co/campaigns/97b6a1f3-1d62-4b43- I know it feels a bit early to be thinking about Advent but it’s only a 80a1753222745d3a month away now. As at Lent I like to have a book to read as it helps me to focus on the season. The book I have brough this year is “Frequencies of God – Walking through Advent with R.S. Thomas” by Carys Walsh (published by Canterbury Press). It has a poem by R S Thomas for each day followed by a short (3 page) commentary which I am hoping will set up for the day each morning. I enjoy poetry, particularly during these odd times but I haven’t read much of Thomas’ poetry so I am looking forward to it. R S Thomas was a welsh priest and poet (1913-2000), a parish priest in Wales for all his working life service in parishes along the border with England and also deeper in Wales. I met Carys Walsh some years ago when her husband was the vicar of a church in Earls Court. She was ordained during his time there and led a number of retreat days as well as If you use the online giving page and are able to complete the Gift being a tutor in Spirituality at a theological college. I am much looking Aid declaration then your donation will be increased by 25%. forward to both reading the poems and her reflections on them. If you prefer you can make donation directly to our bank account at Mary Barclays 20-92-60 Account no. 30116521 Please use your name as a reference. Thank you for your support at this difficult time. Giving to the Church

The London Kalender These are anxious times for all of us and that includes our personal finances. Until recently we had been unable to hold church services and we are only just starting to let out our hall. Although our 4th Alexander Riall Wadham Woods, Officer in the Royal Navy, Priest, church house has recently been let we have lost several months’ income 1954 and currently, both the Language School in the office block next to St Alexander Woods, born in 1880, was the youngest son of a naval Mary’s and the Nursery at All Saints, are struggling to pay us. As a result doctor. He entered Britannia, in Dartmouth in 1894; served as a we have seen a heavy decline in our income and will make a substantial midshipman until the end of 1899 when he was promoted to Sub- loss this year. Please consider if you are able to make a donation tor to Lieutenant. Subsequently he studied signals and in this discipline he increase your regular giving. Every little really does help at a time like made a huge contribution, in 1916, in the Battle of Jutland. His bravery this. So, only if you are able, please: resulted in promotion and the awarding of the Distinguished Service Order • join our Parish Giving Scheme or transfer to it (DSO), with a similar award the following year. His life was underpinned by strong belief in the Christian Faith, and his desire to worship 11 12 through the Blessed Sacrament, to love God and his neighbour. spirit of the contemporary scientific evolution. Typically his sermons, In 1931, he retired from the Royal Navy after several command which became a model for the pulpit oratory of the following century, positions with the rank of Rear Admiral. The Bishop of London then proceeded from an analysis of language via a linear argument to clear approved of his request to be ordained and he arranged for him to study conclusions concerning ethical conduct rather than any evocation of at Bishop’s College, Cheshunt, for two years. Following ordination, mystery. He became a Doctor of Divinity, Preacher at Lincoln’s Inn and Admiral Woods, as he was known, served as the Chaplain to the Red the Tuesday Lecturer at in the City of London, where Ensign Club in Dock Street for twenty years. He befriended and in 1664 he married Elizabeth French, a niece of . ministered to seafarers of all types, especially during the Second World He was appointed in 1672, a position he held War. During this time he also served as Honorary Curate to St Paul, Dock for 17 years. However, during the reign of James II he lost favour at Court Street, latterly with Fr Joe Williamson as Vicar, ministering to the people and during this difficult period retreated to his house in Edmonton, where of the parish. All this time he was suffering from a gradually progressive, there is now a street named after him. inherited muscular disorder which he dealt with valiantly; as he had done With the accession of William III and Mary II matters changed. He was in so many other aspects of his life. He died aged 39 on this day in 1954. appointed Clerk to the Closet and Dean of St Paul’s and after two years In 1956, the East Window of St Paul, Dock Street which was a became . He died after a short time in office on memorial to those who died in the war and also to Fr Woods, and a this day in 1694 and was buried in St Lawrence Jewry, where there is a plaque in his memory were dedicated, and unveiled by Her Majesty fine memorial to him. King William III said after Tillotson’s death that he Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother. had ‘lost the best friend I ever had and the best man I ever knew’. Sources: No Earthly Command by Arthur Calder-Marshall, published by Rupert Hart-Davis, (c) The Diocese of London, the London Kalender 1957.www.stgite.org.uk/floatingchurch.html#admiralwoods.

22nd John Tillotson, Archbishop of Canterbury 1694 Born in 1630 in Sowerby, Yorkshire, John Tillotson graduated from Some Diary Dates for November Clare Hall (now College), Cambridge in 1650. He was first a teacher and was later ordained in 1661. Whilst initially he tended towards , once the Act of Uniformity was passed he settled into 1st All Saints Day Anglican ministry; first as Curate in Cheshunt in Hertfordshire and then in 8th Remembrance Sunday 1663, as Rector of Kedington in Suffolk. He devoted himself to the study 11th Remembrance Day of biblical and patristic writers, especially Basil and Chrysostom. 19th Hilda, Abbess of Whitby He was highly regarded as a preacher adopting a clear style in the 22nd Cecilia, Martyr of Rome (see page 20) 30th Andrew the Apostle 13 14

Daily Readings for November Our Monthly Giving Project

Date Psalm 1st Reading 2nd reading 1st 149 Isaiah 35 Luke 9:18-27 The Children’s Society nd 2 2 Daniel 1 Revelation 1 rd 3 5 Daniel 2:1-24 Rev. 2:1-11 Established in 1881 originally as the Church of England Children’s th 4 9 Daniel 2:25-end Rev. 2:12-end Society, The Children’s Society works to help the most in need children in th 5 15 Daniel 3:1-18 Rev. 3:1-13 our communities across Britain. Its founder was Edward Rudolf, a th 6 16 Daniel 3:19-end Rev. 3:14-end Sunday school teacher, who sought to respond to the needs of the th 7 18:31-end Daniel 4:1-18 Rev 4 children he worked with in South London. The work soon grew. Today, a th 8 91 Deuteronomy 17:14-end 1 Timothy 2:1-7 network of frontline services and an army of volunteers exist to tackle th 9 20 Daniel 4:19-end Rev. 5 continuing child poverty and neglect. th 10 21 Daniel 5:1-12 Rev. 6 Our main fund-raising focus to support this vital work is usually the th 11 23 Daniel 5:13-end Rev. 7 :1-4,9-end Christingle and Crib service we hold on Christmas Eve. As November th 12 26 Daniel 6 Rev. 8 progresses, we will be making available collecting envelopes and small th 13 32 Daniel 7:1-14 Rev. 9:1-12 collection boxes shaped like Christingle candles, as well as online links, to th 14 42 Daniel 7:15-end Rev. 9:13-end encourage giving which you can either bring to the service or give to us in th 15 98 Daniel 10:19-end Rev. 4 advance. The whole collection at that service is always for The Children’s th 16 47 Daniel 8:1-14 Rev. 10 Society. However, you can give at any point during November and th 17 52 Daniel 8:15-end Rev. 11:1-14 December as well. The basket next to the Giving Project display on the th 18 56 Daniel 9:1-19 Rev. 11:15-end north side of St Mary’s church is carefully monitored and money can be th 19 62 Daniel 9:20-end Rev. 12 put in there. Otherwise, simply put your donation in the weekly collection th 20 63 Daniel 10.1-11.1 Rev. 13:1-10 placed in a carefully marked envelope so that we know what it is for. st 21 78:1-39 Daniel 12 Rev. 13:11-end nd 22 29 Isaiah 4.2-5.7 Luke 19:29-38 Thank you in advance for your generosity. rd 23 96 Isaiah 40:1-11 Rev. 14:1-13 th 24 97 Isaiah 40:12-26 Rev. 14.14-15-end Nick Jones (Rector) th 25 112 Isaiah 40.27-41.7 Rev. 16:1-11 26th 125 Isaiah 41:8-20 Rev. 16:12-end 27th 139 Isaiah 41.21-42.9 Rev. 17 28th 76 Isaiah 42:10-17 Rev. 18 29th 44 Isaiah 2:1-5 Luke 12:35-48 30th 47 Ezekiel 47:1-12 John 12:20-32

16 15 came from France, the United States and Switzerland. In 1853 he had John Lindley become a corresponding member of the Institut de France and in 1857 received the Royal Society's royal medal. During his professorship at London University, he wrote many scientific and popular works as well as making significant contributions to John Lindley was a renowned botanist, gardener and the Botanical Register, of which he was the editor for many years, and orchidologist, who lived in Acton for many years. to The Gardeners' Chronicle, where he was in charge of the horticultural th He was born in Catton, near , on 8 February, 1799, one department from 1841 of four children of George and Mary Lindley. (née Moore). John’s father An eminent botanist of the time, , sought was a nurseryman and ran a commercial nursery garden. Although Lindley's collaboration on his “Encyclopedia of Plants”. This covered George Lindley had great horticultural knowledge, the undertaking was nearly fifteen thousand species of flowering plants and ferns. It was a not profitable and the family lived in penury. Sadly, John lost the sight of massive undertaking and Lindley was responsible for most of it. one of his eyes during his infancy. He was educated at Norwich School After the death of and the death also of their patron, but his family was too poor to pay for him to attend university. In 1815 he King George III, the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew went into a decline. became an agent in Belgium for a London seed merchant. John was The Government commissioned a report on their future to be prepared by introduced to Sir Joseph Banks, a naturalist, botanist, and patron of John Lindley, and John Wilson, head gardener to the Earl the natural sciences who had made his name on the 1766 natural-history of Surrey. The report recommended that the Gardens be retained but the expedition to Newfoundland and Labrador. Banks also took part in Government did not accept their findings and proposed to abolish it, Captain Cook’s first great voyage (1768–1771). Joseph Banks offered distribute the plants and pull down the glasshouses. The public was John employment as an assistant in his herbarium. His employment indignant at these plans and the Government backed down and the ended with the death of Banks a few months later. Gardens were saved. In 1820, at the age of twenty-one, Lindley was elected a fellow of In 1845, Lindley was part of a scientific commission set up by the the Linnean Society of London. (The Linnean Society of London is the Government to investigate potato blight and the Irish famine. Although world’s oldest active biological society, founded in 1788). In 1822 John the commission was powerless to solve the problem, their report brought was appointed assistant secretary to the Royal Horticultural Society and about the repeal of the 1815 Corn Laws which had forbidden the import of its new garden at Chiswick where he supervised the collection of plants. cheap wheat from America. Also, that year, he became Assistant Secretary to the Horticultural John was acknowledged to be the top authority on the Society. The following year he married Sarah Freestone and they classification of orchids of his time. Over many years, Lindley had eventually had two daughters and one son. described a large number of orchid species, and many other plants, In 1828 John was elected a fellow of the Royal Society of London naming them and giving each a concise description of the plant’s and in 1829 he was appointed to the chair of at University College, characteristics. He was held in high regard by other botanists and was London, which he retained until 1860. In 1829 Lindley sought to augment honoured by naming more than 200 species with the epithets "lindleyi", his income and became professor of botany at the newly "lindleyana", "lindleyanum", "lindleyanus", "lindleya" and "lindleyoides”. established London University while still continuing his post at the Royal In 1861, Lindley took charge of organising the exhibits from the Horticultural Society. He had not been to university himself but apparently British colonies for the International Exhibition at South Kensington. This was an excellent teacher, giving six hour-long lectures each week was exhausting work and seems to have taken a toll on his health. His He also lectured on botany from 1831 at the and memory also began deteriorating. He resigned his university from 1836 at the Chelsea Physic Garden, starting the society's flower professorship that year and his position as Secretary to the Royal show in the late 1830s. Also in 1833 he was awarded an honorary degree Horticultural Society two years later. of Doctor of Philosophy from the University of Munich. Other honours In 1863 he travelled to the spa town of Vichy, but his health

17 18 continued to decline and he died at his home in Acton in 1865, aged 66. th On 6 November that year, John Lindley was buried in Churchfield Road St. Cecilia Burial Ground but, unfortunately, his gravestone was removed when the local council took over responsibility of maintaining the Burial Ground.

He was survived by his wife, two daughters and a son. The St Cecilia, who lived in the 3rd century, is commemorated by the daughters were accomplished artists themselves and the son, Nathaniel, church on 22nd November, is recognised as the Patron Saint of music and became a distinguished lawyer, the and a life peer. musicians. According to a late 5th-century legend, she was a noble John and Sarah had moved to Acton Green shortly after their Roman who, as a child, had promised God she would remain unmarried. marriage and lived in a couple of properties there until 1836 when they When she was married against her will to the future saint Valerian, then a moved into Bedford House. He lived there until his death. The house, pagan, she told him that an angel of God wished her to keep her promise. located at the South end of The Avenue, still exists although the Bedford Valerian promised to respect this wish if he was allowed to see the angel. Corner shops stand on the site of the garden. An English Heritage plaque She replied that he would if he were baptized. On his return from baptism is situated on what is actually the rear of Bedford House. he found Cecilia talking to the angel. She then converted his brother Tiburtius, who also saw the angel. Both men were martyred before she was. She distributed her possessions to the poor, which enraged the prefect Almachius, who ordered her to be burned. When the flames did not harm her, she was beheaded. St Cecilia was buried in the catacomb of St. Callistus, near Rome. At the beginning of the 9th century, Pope Paschal I discovered her incorrupt relics in the catacomb of St. Praetextatus and had them moved to Rome, to a basilica in Trastevere that now bears her name.

John Lindley’s grave

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