The 50p Herald

April 2021 The parishes of St Margaret Downham St Mary the Virgin and St Peter

Ministry Team Rector (currently vacant) For general enquiries please phone or text 07485 039204 or email [email protected] and a member of the ministry team will contact you

Associate Priests

The Revd Jean Andrews 3 Sewards End, SS12 9PB Tel: 01268 733817 email: [email protected]

Note: The Revd Jean is currently on sick leave, therefore please do not contact her unless in an emergency

Churchwardens

St Margaret Downham Lee Baxter 30 Louvaine Avenue, Wickford SS12 0DP Tel: 01268 734266 email: [email protected] Michael Roome 1 Broome Close, CM11 1SX Tel: 07770 795388 email: [email protected] Joan Griggs 8 Warren Road, Wickford SS11 8NE (Assistant warden) Tel: 01268 763924 email: [email protected]

St Mary the Virgin Ramsden Bellhouse Beryl Clements 8 Duffield Road, , CM2 9RY Tel: 01245 601298 email: [email protected] Derek Hayden Laurel Cottage, 7 The Grove, Billericay CM11 1AU Tel: 01277 656211 email: [email protected]

St Peter South Hanningfield Derek Greasley 67 Park Lane, M11 1NL Tel: 01268 711092 email: [email protected] Melissa Clark Poplars Farm, Warren Road, Common CM3 8DG Tel: 07807 177464 email: [email protected] Contents Reopening our churches 2 Thanks from the Revd Jean 2 New Associate Priest comes to the benefice 2 A brief introduction by the Revd Barry Hobson 2 Easter morning, the ‘Other’ Mary 3 Benefice Lent appeal 4 From the registers 5 Keeping our services going through lockdown 5 News from St Margaret’s Downham 7 News from Downham WI 8 News from Downham Village Hall 8 Downham C of E Primary School 9 News from St Mary’s Ramsden Bellhouse 9 News from Ramsden Heath Horticultural & Allotment Society 10 Community coffee mornings in Ramsden Heath 11 Times to remember ... 12 South Hanningfield illageV Hall 14 With all your soul, strength and mind 15 What’s on where and when 16 100 years of the Parochial Church Council 17 Church in changing times 19 Puzzle corner 20 Children’s pages 22 Smile lines 32 Contacting The Herald 33

The Herald is published monthly by Downham Parochial Church Council on behalf of the churches in Downham, Ramsden Bellhouse and South Hanningfield. iewsV expressed by contributors are not necessarily those of Downham PCC. The Herald is on sale in St Margaret’s, St Mary’s and St Peter’s at 50p per copy. Alternatively you may purchase an annual subscription for £5.00. If you wish The Herald to be delivered to you please contact Robert Andrews on 01268 733817 or email [email protected] 1 Reopening our churches With the easing of Coronavirus restrictions we plan to reopen our churches for public worship on Easter Sunday 4 April. Please see page 16 for details of our planned services.

Thanks from the Revd Jean The Revd Jean thanks all those who have sent cards, flowers and other greetings since she left hospital. Unfortunately the wound did not heal as expected which means that she is currently having to visit her GP’s practice nurse daily to have the dressings changed, but it is now responding well to treatment. Following the operation a biopsy showed that Jean had a very rare cancer of the small bowel. Only a few hundred such cases are diagnosed each year compared with over 40,000 cases of cancer in the large bowel. Her consultant is confident that he has removed all traces of the cancer, but Jean will be under the supervision of the hospital for some time yet and may have to have a course of preventative chemotherapy. Please continue to pray for her.

New Associate Priest comes to the benefice Last month we announced that both the Revds Suzy and Miranda had left the benefice, and the Revd Jean was on sick leave following major surgery. We are pleased to announce that the Bishop is appointing a retired priest, the Revd Barry Hobson, formerly Vicar of St Andrew’s Hornchurch, to look after the benefice for the time being. The Revd Barry will be licensed to the benefice during a Zoom service on Sunday 11 April, but some of you will meet him before that because he has agreed to conduct services of Holy Communion at Ramsden Bellhouse and at Downham on Easter Sunday. The Revd Barry has written a short introduction below.

A brief introduction by the Revd Barry Hobson I know this has been a strange and disturbing time for all of us. There is not a home in the country that has not been touched and affected by this pandemic in one way or another and, of course, the church is no different. My name is Barry Hobson and on 11 April I will be made Associate Priest to the parishes of Downham with Ramsden Heath, South Hanningfield and Ramsden Bellhouse. This is an interim appointment as the parish awaits its new Rector Just a little about me, I am married to Mary and we have a grown-up family 2 who have in turn blessed us with grandchildren. We live in Edney Common so I will be traveling into the parishes to work. I look forward to getting to know as many of you as possible over the next few months. I have ministered in parishes from the east end of up to Sunderland and back again stopping off in Nottingham and Cambridgeshire along the way. With all that is going on there is still a need for our church to be church and with the change in circumstances we are going to have to face some tough questions as the church in our respective communities. Are we going to continue with our online presence? How are we going to maintain good pastoral care? How do we restart physical worship? And when we do will we change our services to accommodate online services as well? I suspect we will gravitate towards some kind of hybrid which accommodates both those that can meet together with those that cannot, but still wish to be part of the church. So please be patient with us as we try and work out the best way forward. I feel it important at this point to remember those who have stepped up to the plate during not only the interregnum but also during the pandemic period. A big thank you for that ministry and for the new ministries that may have been discovered, consequently we do not want to lose them or their ministry, indeed we are to identify them and value them. In a sense the pandemic has highlighted one important thing - life is always about change and that change has to be managed otherwise it will manage us. When God sent his son to us, he did so in a proactive way; ‘But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us’ (Rom 5:8). We have challenges awaiting us, but we are not alone, and we are not without hope. I wonder what the future will look like. Revd Barry Hobson

Easter morning, the ‘Other’ Mary As the traditional Easter story is rehearsed again this month, you may notice that there is one name that frequently occurs. It is that of the ‘other’ Mary – not the mother of Jesus, but Mary of Magdalene, who stood by her at the cross and became the first person actually to meet the risen Christ. That’s quite a record for a woman who, the Gospels tell us, had been delivered by Jesus from ‘seven devils’ – New Testament language for some dark and horrible affliction of body, mind or spirit. As a result, her devotion to Him was total and her grief at His death overwhelming. In church history Mary Magdalene became the ‘fallen woman’ a harlot who was rescued and forgiven by Jesus but there is no evidence to prove she 3 was a ‘fallen woman’ but the contrast is sublime, Mary the virgin mother, the symbol of purity. Mary Magdalene, the scarlet woman who was saved and forgiven, the symbol of redemption. Surely, we all fall somewhere between those two extremes. The dark cloud from which she was delivered may have been sexual, we are not told. What we do know is that the two Marys stood together at the cross, the Blessed Virgin and the woman rescued from who knows what darkness and despair. The second great moment for her was as unexpected as it was momentous. She had gone with other women to the tomb of Jesus and found it empty. An angelic figure told them that Jesus was not there, He had risen – and the others drifted off. But Mary stayed, reluctant to leave it like that. She became aware of a man nearby, whom she took to be the gardener. She explained to him that the body of ‘her Lord’ had been taken away and she didn’t know where to find Him. The man simply said her name ‘Mary’ and she instantly realised it was Jesus. She made to hug Him, but He told her not to touch Him because His resurrection was not yet complete. She was, however, to go to the disciples and tell them she had met Him. She did – but they wouldn’t believe her. Her words – ‘I have seen the Lord’ – echo down the centuries, the very beating heart of the Christian gospel.

Benefice Lent appeal In the March 2020 edition of The Herald we launched our traditional Lent appeal to support the work of Water Aid and Anvil House Billericay. Our three churches handed out tubes of Smarties to be filled with money and returned on Easter day. Little did we know that on 23 March 2020 the whole country would come to a standstill because of the Coronavirus pandemic and that churches would be closed for much of the year. Consequently we collected less than £150 rather than the £800 or £900 that we usually raise. As a result we decided to carry over the funds and add them to this year’s appeal. We couldn’t have foreseen that we would still be in lockdown 12 months later, but with churches closed since December we were unable to formally launch the 2021 Lent appeal. Unfortunately we cannot provide Smartie tubes (those that remained have long since been eaten by the mice!), but we would encourage you to make a donation that we can send to these two charities. If you come to church on Easter day there will be envelopes available for your contributions. Otherwise please consider sending a donation to Robert Andrews, treasurer of St Margaret’s Downham, at 3 Sewards End, Wickford, SS12 9PB. Cheques should be made payable to Downham PCC. 4 Alternatively if you wish to pay by electronic banking, please email Robert at [email protected] or telephone 01268 733817 and he will provide the necessary account details.

From the registers

Downham Funeral in church 1 February Andrew Phillip Gratton Funeral in church followed by burial in the churchyard 17 December May Violet Vorley 19 January Dinah Elizabeth Grace 22 February Letitia Read 10 March Henry Vichion

Ramsden Bellhouse Funeral in church 2 March Ann C Pickard

Keeping our services going through lockdown What a time we’ve been having these last few months! Not only have we had to cope with the longest lockdown yet but, in our Benefice, we’ve gone from having three priests working with us to none, what with the Lord calling Suzy and Miranda to minister closer to home and Jean rather seriously unwell (and now, thankfully, on the mend). Fortunately the Lord has sent Rev Barry Hobson to work with us from mid April, but in the meantime...! In some ways lockdown has helped us as it means we only have one service to organise on a Sunday (yes, I do keep looking for silver linings in the misery!). When I took over hosting the online services due to Jean’s indisposition I glibly thought it would be simple and straightforward - after all, I spend my time designing and building systems and software for a multinational corporate, and I’ve been using video chats at work for, oh, 7 or 8 years. It’s one of those things that’s a lot harder than it looks! Just when I had got it together, Miranda left and I ended up leading the online services as well, the contemporary version of Morning Prayer. I’ve discovered there is a lot of work involved! I usually start by printing out the readings, psalm and collect on the Monday, and set aside some quiet time with the Lord 5 to contemplate them to see what sort of structure the service should have. The sermon is an important part of that. The diocesan podcasts available on the Diocese’s website are a potential source of sermons - but don’t arrive until sometime on Friday. I’ve recently discovered the “Canterbury Preacher’s Companion”, an essential book that I’d heartily recommend to churchwardens everywhere in case they suddenly need to take a service. If I’m delivering the sermon I’ll normally spend about an hour rehearsing it, working on emphasis and so on. Once I have readings and sermon I can start looking at hymns, taking hints from the lectionary at the back of our hymnbook and working out which ones will fit into the theme of the service and provide a lot of its shape. The great thing about choosing the hymns is I get to select my favourites! The music is provided by tracks I buy from Amazon, played by John Keys, as I’ve not liked to bother Robert while Jean’s unwell. All that’s left is to type up the slides with the hymn words (complete with the typos you’re probably all used to by now), add the music, and time each verse so that I don’t have to remember to change the slide during the hymn. And - with a bit of luck and the Lord’s blessing - things will run more-or-less smoothly on Sunday morning. I’d like to add a big shout-out to Beryl, Mike and Terry for all their help in the services. Easter is an important - the most important - day of the year and we’ll be broadcasting a live stream on Zoom of the communion service at St Peter’s (respecting the privacy of those attending in person: they won’t appear at all) at 10.00am. Beyond Easter we’re going to be embarking on a new journey as Barry brings the leadership of our three churches together. Maybe Easter - that amazing reminder of the new life that Jesus brings to everyone who accepts Him into their hearts and loves Him in turn - will be a beginning of new life in our Benefice and our churches, as we come out of lockdown and grow together. I have no idea what our destination may be, but I have a feeling that it’s one of those occasions when the voyage is more important than arriving. We’ll find out where we’re going when we get there, and I pray that God will lead us safely through any stormy waters that we may encounter en route. I find myself wondering if we should maybe think of this summer as a time of pilgrimage, seeking what it means to be rural churches in these secular times and how to continue to fulfil our main purpose: to spread the Gospel of the love of our Lord Jesus Christ; and to display our love of God through worship and prayer, and His work in our communities. Melissa Clark 6 News from St Margaret’s Downham We had a funeral in church on 22 February and when we arrived to get ready for the service we were disappointed to find that fly tippers had deposited a lorry load of rubbish in the church car park. We are grateful to Michael Thomason, who in his role as Chairman of the Parish Council, arranged for the rubbish to be cleared, although not before the mourners arrived for the funeral. Unfortunately this is not the first time we have been plagued in this way. However, Michael was pleased to report that one of the culprits of an earlier event has been identified and taken to court where he received a community order. Unfortunately, not a great deterrent so we must continue to keep alert for any suspicious activity in the area of the church.

Easter services We will resume services in church on Easter Sunday 4 April. Unfortunately we will be unable to have our traditional sunrise service, but there will be a service of Holy Communion at 11.00am. Covid-19 restrictions mean that we are still limited in the number of people we can accommodate, therefore it will be necessary to pre-book a place with Mike Roome (you will find his contact details on the inside front cover).

Finances This is the time of the year when we would normally be preparing for our annual church meetings. We are unsure when/ how/if they will take place, but the annual accounts for 2020 have been prepared and have been examined. With the church closed for much of the year and none of our usual fund-raising activities taking place it is not surprising that the accounts show a deficit of approximately £6,000. We are indebted to many members of our congregation who have been very generous with their giving during this difficult time. We are fortunate that good financial management means that we have sufficient reserves to cover this deficit. 7 Fund-raising events Normally at this time we would be making plans for our Fête and Flower Festival to be held at the end of June. At the moment we are unsure whether such an event would be allowed, but with so many church weddings postponed from 2020, we now have weddings booked for most weekends during the summer. We have therefore reluctantly decided to cancel the Fête and Flower Festival again this year. Whether or not we might have our Christmas Bazaar will be dependent upon the course of the Coronavirus pandemic during the summer and autumn.

News from Downham WI Hopefully if all goes according to plan and Government restrictions are lifted in June, our first meeting in Downham Village Hall will be on Tuesday 20 July at 2.00pm. I hope I am not being too premature in predicting this date. The National Federation of Womem’s Institutes (NFWI) has requested that our subscriptions should be paid in April, which, after many discussions with other Presidents and Federation advisers,will be your membership for April 2021 until March 2022. Although we registered our thoughts, those mainly being that in April halls are not open yet, people can’t meet up in groups, how many will be allowed to meet, this all fell on deaf ears by the hierarchy. Our committee members have been in contact with members and so far 24 have agreed to rejoin. Some are waiting further information from Government, which I fully understand, none of us know how things will be. Due to many complaints regarding the subscription last year (lockdown prevented us from meeting) NFWI have informed us that instead of paying £44 subscription for this year, if we as a WI can afford to forgo the share we receive they are prepared for us to do this. Our treasurer has assured the committee that we are financially able to do this, so any member joining will only pay £22.40 for the coming year. We do hope to see everyone as soon as is possible, maybe with a coffee morning prior to the July meeting, but of course it all depends on the outcome. But rest assured, we will keep in touch with everyone and let you know what is happening. We are really looking forward to seeing everyone again. Meanwhile, take care, and keep safe. Anyone wishing to enquire about joining our WI please telephone Sylvia on 01268 574115 for further details.

News from Downham Village Hall We seem to be approaching the end of the Covid-19 lockdown and we are now taking some bookings from June onwards. However, there is still some 8 uncertainty about what restrictions may remain in respect of indoor events as there has been no guidance on social distancing. We await further information. We are hoping to have our 2020 Annual Meeting by the end of June and appropriate notices will be posted in due course. At present we have no planned events of our own for this year. Web site: www.downhamvillagehall-.co.uk email: [email protected] The standard hire rate is £15 per hour, minimum 2 hours, for every day of the week. For regular hirers special arrangements are available - call our Bookings Secretary on 07732 709926. In certain circumstances a £200 deposit may be required. Full Terms & Conditions etc. are on our website.

Downham C of E Primary School Headteacher, Sue Crace and husband, Pat Crace have adopted new aliases during Lockdown 3 as part of their “Chef School”. Every Saturday night, families of Downham School have been invited to join in with a live cooking lesson with “Chef Crace” and “Chef WW” (Mr Welly Wednesday) via Zoom. Families have been able to vote for and download recipes from our school Facebook page ready to go live at 5.00pm. Over the weeks, families have made: vegetable chow mein, spaghetti Bolognese, chicken and mushroom bake and pizza to name but a few. As a school we have been focusing on the importance of trying new things; including food. Participating in “Chef School” has given the children the confidence, skills and most importantly a purpose for trying dishes that ordinarily they may not have had the opportunity or desire to have previously. Families are encouraged to share photographs of the final outcome and it’s fair to say that “Chef School” has been a BIG success so far. Feedback from parents and children has been overwhelmingly positive. Thank you to the Crace’s for giving up their time to help support, unite and bring joy and laughter to Downham families during these unprecedented times.

News from St Mary’s Ramsden Bellhouse We are pleased to be resuming services in church on Easter Sunday 4 April. The first service will be Holy Communion and we are delighted that the Revd Barry Hobson, our new Associate Minister has agreed to conduct the service, even though he doesn’t officially start work until the following weekend. eW 9 hope that as many as possible will join us on this special day.

Finances Normally we would be preparing for our annual meetings to take place by the end of April, but because of the continuing Coronavirus restrictions we are unsure when they will be able to take place. The accounts for 2020 have been prepared and examined. With the church closed for much of the year and with all our regular fundraising activities cancelled it is not surprising that the accounts show a deficit of just over £2,000. Thank you to everyone who has continued to support the church financially during these difficult times.

News from Ramsden Heath Horticultural & Allotment Society Can you believe that a year ago in March the Society had its last monthly meeting before everything was locked down. At that time we supposed it would be for about three months and then things would be back to normal and we could carry on with our lives. Now here we are, a year later, and still unable to meet socially. We all have everything crossed that things will start to get better as we gradually ease ourselves out of lockdown. So far as the Horticultural Society is concerned, we still cannot offer any firm news of when we will be able to meet as a group again. Rest assured, as soon as we feel it is safe and, more to the point, when the Christian Growth Centre is able to open for hire, we will get the ball rolling once again. Sue Lowing has speakers on hold ready to come along to talk to us. One thing we can offer, however, is that the Trading Hut on the allotment site is open for business on Saturday mornings from 10.00am to noon. Lynda Stares will be on hand to advise and assist with any purchases. Some of you may have heard that the Trading Hut is unable to be used due to work waiting to be carried out. All the stock has been moved to the second hut, which is safe, and Lynda will be serving from there. Payment will be cash only. Please come along and support the Society and the Trading Hut whenever you can. Lynda will be pleased to see you. We haven’t forgotten about the Unity Cup bulbs, which should now be near to flowering. It is our intention to have a ‘virtual’ Spring Show, and more information on this will be forthcoming. In the meantime, keep safe and well and enjoy your gardening – that’s one thing the virus can’t destroy!

10 Lynda Stares outside the trading hut

Community coffee mornings in Ramsden Heath The Ramsden Heath Cupcakes hope that you are all keeping well and safe and looking forward to getting nearer to “normal”. As soon as we know when we can use the Christian Growth Church again, even if it is outside, we will let you all know as soon as possible. Take care and all our best Ramsden Cupcakes 11 Times to remember ...

Jabbers In earlier times smallpox was a worldwide deadly infectious disease. About three hundred years ago Lady Mary Wortley Montague returned from Turkey, where her husband was the British ambassador, having learnt of a method there for preventing people from catching the disease. This was by inoculation using cowpox. Lady Mary had her own children inoculated, and because of her influence, the method was in 1721 tried out on some criminals condemned to death, presumably considered expendable. About fifty years later Dr Edward Jenner investigated the evidence that milkmaids who caught cowpox from milking infected cows did not get smallpox. In 1796 he took some fluid from cowpox blisters and scratched it into the skin of a little boy named James Phipps. He developed a single blister at the scratch site, but later was unaffected when exposed to other children who had smallpox. Jenner published his work, and gradually the technique of vaccination was adopted in Western Europe, helped by work by Pasteur and Koch. In 1949 there were still more than 600,000 cases of smallpox world-wide, but by 1980 it had been eradicated. I remember having a smallpox ‘jab’ in, I think, 1965: it left a circular indentation. Today there are just two laboratories in the world where a smallpox specimen is stored. The vaccination procedure has been used to deal with poliomyelitis, rabies, anthrax, diphtheria, tetanus, rubella, measles and whooping cough. And now, Covid-19! Having had the second of my Pfizer jabs, I and many thousands of other people are pretty well immune to C-19, but there are still lots of other ‘slings and arrows of outrageous fortune’ before we get back to normality, if indeed we ever do: all the ‘scientists’ who have been enjoying the limelight may not want to shrink back into obscurity, and so continue to put the frighteners on BoJo, so be prepared for delays. How many people will have lost so much confidence that they never recover?

Gabbers It is three hundred years this month since the Great Britain acquired, in the person of Robert Walpole, its first Prime Minister, although he didn’t acknowledge the title. He had been the Chancellor of the Exchequer and then became also First Lord of the Treasury. At that stage in the country’s development of parliamentary governance the political parties were Tories (not Conservatives until 1840) and Whigs, both being abusive titles: the first came from a 17th Century Irish word for Irish Catholic brigands. Tories were supporters of the Crown, which in 1721 meant the Hanoverian King George I, although there renegades called Jacobites, who favoured the deposed Roman Catholic King James II. A Whig, on the other hand, was a ‘Scottish Covenanting brigand’ who supported religious dissenters and minimised 12 church involvement in state affairs. Walpole was a Whig, and was Prime Minister until 1742, a longer period in office even than Blair or MrsThatcher. Both political parties were prone to splitting, unlike today, when there were no ‘whips’ to keep them ‘singing from the authorised hymn-sheet’, and it was the personal qualities of politicians, particularly in holding the attention of the House of Commons, which enabled government to continue. Outstanding examples of the 18/19 centuries were William Pitt the Younger (Prime Minister for 19 years), a Tory, and his frequent opponent Charles James Fox. Walpole was considered a formidable speaker. His tenure as PM brought about ‘cabinet government’, because King George I’s command of English wasn’t good enough to follow the proceedings in the Commons and he had to rely on what Walpole told him, after ministers had got together and decided on their policy. Consequently the monarch’s ability to choose his prime minister and other ministers was weakened, another reminder how changes have occurred in Britain unwittingly. Not that George I minded: he preferred being in Hanover where everyone did what he wanted, whereas in Britain there were arguments everywhere about everything from everybody.

Cloggers Back in the days of real British football when I was young, football boots were boots, not coloured carpet slippers. They were made of stiff, thick leather, and no amount of ‘dubbin’ seemed to make them more flexible. To all intents and purposes, one might as well have worn clogs, carved out of solid wood (still one factory at Hebden Bridge making them, I think). They would have been suitable footwear for the two burly fullbacks of any respectable team, if any opposing centre-forward came into the goalmouth: Ils ne passeronts pas! No wonder God invented shin pads. I wonder who were the ‘cloggers’ when Tottenham Hotspur won their first FA Cup, defeating Sheffield United 3-1 in a replay at Bolton in April 1901? Spurs were not at that time in the Football League , but of course the FA is separate and its Cup competition is older. The only London club in the League’s two Divisions in 1901 was Woolwich Arsenal – I wonder what became of them? All the other clubs were in the Midlands or the North. Chelsea joined in 1905/6, and Clapton Orient (!) in 1906/7. More recently, there is no news of the Cowley brothers after their expulsion from Huddersfield Town (who are now roughly mid-table in Division 1, rather than haunting the relegation zone). Their earlier success with Lincoln City lingers on, as the team, having been promoted, are now in the promotion zone for another rise. So whether the boys are living from their pay-off from Hudds or have gone back to school-teaching is not known, but there might soon be an opening at Sheffield United (0- Leicester City 5). Derek Greasley

13 South Hanningfield Village Hall We are making plans in anticipation of the Government relaxation of lockdown rules, however, all dates are subject to change. All Covid precautions will remain in place. We are all looking forward to resuming activities at the hall as soon as we are able.

Dates for Your Diary

Tuesday 6 July at 7.00pm Village Hall AGM We are looking for new members to join the Village Hall Management Committee, in particular a new Chairperson and new Secretary. We are also looking for a Bookings Secretary. If you are interested in any of these roles or just helping with the running of our village hall, please call Val on 07803 750780. The official notice and nomination details will be included next month.

Saturday 10 July Village Hall Open Day - 10.30am - 3.00pm We would like to invite you all to tea/coffee and cake to celebrate the re- opening of our refurbished hall.

Regular Activities Please check with the listed contacts to find out when their activities will resume. South Hanningfield Village Hall Coffee Morning Second Wednesday of each month 2.00 - 4.00pm Upholstery Class Friday mornings 9.30am - 1.00pm Contact Fiona on 01621 776586 or 07887 507208 Pilates & Keep Fit Monday 9.45am - 10.45am Thursday 10am - 12.00pm Contact Hayley on 07758 427379 If you would like to book the South Hanningfield illageV Hall for any regular activities or events, please call our Bookings Line 07396 546050 to check availability and prices. Please ‘Like’ our Facebook Page ‘South Hanningfield Village Hall’ where we advertise all our events such as coffee mornings, quiz nights, etc. 14 With all your soul, strength and mind It’s very easy to just sit quietly and let the time pass by or just fill it in. Not exactly wasting time, but not using it for any useful purpose either. But as Christians we live in expectation all the time, don’t we? We live in the hope and promise of Christ’s return – even though we don’t know the ‘when’ or the ‘where’. Of course, there’s waiting and there’s waiting. I won’t say I’m the most patient person I know! If the internet goes down or something mechanical takes a few seconds too long to process, you can often hear me chuntering. But there are other times when the waiting itself is precious. I’m thinking this month of when we receive the bread and wine at the distribution of Holy Communion. Perhaps you have avoided church since the original lockdown in March, or been going but not receiving communion, or indeed you have been participating with an online service with your own equivalents at home. Whichever it is for you, cast your mind back to when you were last in that position – or indeed look forward to when we are all able to gather together again and we ‘queue’ to approach the altar. Actually, we don’t ‘queue’. We ‘process’ to the altar. We join the procession – a line of like-minded people with a similar intention to receive Christ. A time of physical movement and spiritual anticipation for holding those elements of Christ Himself: God being placed into our hands. How amazing is that! What do you think about when you are processing and waiting for Holy Communion? Are you conscious of those around you or immersed in the moment? Do you pray quietly to yourself, join in with the singing or let your mind focus on the moment? The Revd Dr Jo White

Can it be Easter already? Can it be Easter already? Can it be Easter already? Can that be really so? The time of Lent has passed The carols and the Christmas tree The forty days and forty nights Don’t seem that long ago! Went by so very fast.

Can it be Easter already? If it is Easter already, Do April showers splash? That time has sped away. The weeks gone by since Christmas Perhaps it’s time to ponder, pause day And savour every day! Have gone in just a flash! Nigel Beeton

15 What’s on where and when We plan to reopen our churches for public worship on Easter day. The following details are provisional and subject to change at short notice.

Sunday 4 April - Easter Day 10.00am St Peter’s South Hanningfield Holy Communion 10.00am St Mary’s Ramsden Bellhouse Holy Communion 11.00am St Margaret’s Downham Holy Communion Sunday 11 April - Easter 2 9.30am St Mary’s Ramsden Bellhouse Holy Communion 11.00am St Margaret’s Downham Holy Communion 6.30pm St Peter’s South Hanningfield Evening Prayer Sunday 18 April - Easter 3 10.00am St Peter’s South Hanningfield Family Service 11.00am St Margaret’s Downham Holy Communion 6.30pm St Mary’s Ramsden Bellhouse Holy Communion Sunday 25 April - Easter 4 9.00am St Peter’s South Hanningfield Holy Communion 10.30am St Mary’s Ramsden Bellhouse Family Service 11.00am St Margaret’s Downham Holy Communion Sunday 2 May - Easter 5 10.00am St Peter’s South Hanningfield Holy Communion 11.00am St Margaret’s Dowham Holy Communion 6.30pm St Mary’s Ramsden Bellhouse Evening Prayer

Please note: because of the need for social distancing it will still be necessary to pre-book places at St Margaret’s Downham. Please contact Mike Roome (contact details on inside front cover) by mid-day Saturday. Unfortunately it is not possible to resume Family Services at Downham yet, but we plan to do so as soon as possible. Online Zoom services - we are aware that several members of our congregations who are unable to attend services in church have enjoyed our weekly Zoom services. We are investigating whether it will be possible to host short Zoom services, perhaps on a weekday or provide online services in some other way.

16 100 years of the Parochial Church Council In pre-pandemic times, April was the month when local parishioners and church members met to elect churchwardens and members of the Parochial Church Council. Whilst it is often referred to as the Annual General Meeting, in fact there are two meetings held. The first is the Meeting of Parishioners which meets to elect the churchwardens. Anyone who lives in the parish and who is on the local authority electoral roll, as well as people on the church electoral roll can vote for churchwardens. The second is the Annual Parochial Church Meeting which meets to elect members of the Parochial Church Council and to receive reports on the financial state and the activities of the parish generally. Only people who are on the church electoral roll may vote or stand for election as a member of the PCC. Last year the annual meetings were held in October, during the brief respite in lockdown regulations. We are still awaiting advice from the Church of and from Government, but it is likely that we will be required to have our meetings no later than the end of May.

The history of the PCC And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. Romans 8:28 To those who are members of our three Parochial Church Councils, when you next attend a PCC meeting, which is probably more likely to be by Zoom than in person, you could say “Happy 100th Birthday!” to your colleagues. It is a hundred years since Parliament passed The Parochial Church Councils (Powers) Measure 1921, which was an important stage in the birth of PCCs. During the First World War army chaplains found that many men who thought of themselves as church goers were ignorant of the basics of religion. This led to a new interest in mission for the church. There were national days of prayer during the war and in 1915 there was a National Mission of Repentance and Hope. The public were more in the mood for victory than repentance. After the Armistice there was a desire for change in the national church and this led to a discussion about the links with the state. There was a concern that Parliament was often slow to enact laws for the church and many people felt the national church should have more authority to govern itself. The setting up of Parochial Church Councils was part of that process. In the past a lot of local secular administration had been the responsibility of churchwardens in the vestry meetings. Gradually their functions were passed to local councils. Most of their remaining powers were transferred to PCCs by The Parochial Church Councils (Powers) Measure 1921. 17 The purpose behind these new councils was to give the laity a more prominent role in parish life to go alongside the deaconry, diocesan and national councils which became the synods and have an important role in church life. Some conservative clerics were concerned at this reform and felt that congregations would pick and choose clergy or object to a new incumbent chosen by a patron. The process of starting PCCs to share in decision making in parishes was widely accepted but a few older incumbents and those in more rural areas, failed to do either out of reluctance or ignorance. A leading churchman in the reform movement was William Temple who became leader of the ‘Life and Liberty movement’ which hugely influenced the move towards democratic government in the Church of England. He was Bishop of Manchester in the 1920s, Archbishop of York from 1929 to 1942 and Archbishop of Canterbury (1942-4). He had been a secretary of the National Mission of Repentance and Hope in 1916 and became chairman and joint leader with H. R. (Dick) Sheppard of the Life and Liberty movement. ‘We demand liberty for the Church of England’ he declared at a meeting in July 1917. One difficult issue was what level of commitment to church life enabled a person to be eligible to serve on a church council. It was decided that anyone on the electoral roll whether they attended services or communion regularly could participate. The then Bishop of Oxford resigned over the issue because he thought that councils must only be made up of committed regular communicants. The next Bishop of Oxford in his monthly diocesan magazine endorsed the principle of democracy and reassured people that it was not a negative step nor would limit the powers of clergy or wardens. He encouraged the congregations to consider how to use each other’s gifts. In Aylesbury the idea of the new PCCs had been discussed as early as 1918. It was felt that they would support the clergy particularly with financial issues. It is strange to think that the proposal for clergy and congregation to work together for the benefit of the church could be controversial. The birth of PCCs was a major step in the life of the church. I wonder what the next one hundred years will bring?

Could you become a PCC member? At the moment St Margaret’s Downham is well served by a strong PCC, but our other two churches need more people to come forward to serve in this important role. What does it involve? The 1921 legislation referred to earlier is now replaced by the Parochial Church Council (Powers) Measure 1956. Section 3 states “... every parochial church council is a body corporate with perpetual succession”. Effectively this means that every PCC has the same legal status as a limited company and members of the PCC are its

18 directors and also its charitable trustees. As a member of the PCC you take decisions corporately on behalf of the council and provided those decisions are not made fraudulently or with extreme negligence, then you are protected by limited liability. Legal action can only be taken against the PCC and not against individual PCC members. This is an important level of protection which is not enjoyed by the trustees of many secular charities. If you are on the church electoral roll, please consider offering your services. The PCCs usually meet about four times each year and members are expected to support the parish clergy in maintaining the spiritual and pastoral life of the church, as well as the social and fund-raising activities of the parish. If you think you could do it, please speak to one of the churchwardens. Their contact details are on the inside front cover.

Church in changing times The Archbishops of Canterbury and York have recently written an article for the Spectator magazine, responding to the recent media coverage asking: ‘Where is the C of E?’ The Archbishops say: “Let us offer an answer. … the Church of England has been a bedrock of faith, love, hope and compassion in this country for centuries through wars, plagues and pandemics — we still are, and we will go on being just that. “You can imagine our shock, then, when we read in the media about what is supposedly happening… That the parish system, with its beautiful vision of serving every inch of the country and every person in it, is being systematically dismantled. That clergy are being made redundant. That there are plans to somehow centralise everything and for services, even beyond Covid, to be online rather than in person. “So let us try to set the record straight. There are no plans to dismantle the parish network. We are committed to our calling to be a Christian presence in every community. “…Yes, there are hard decisions currently being made across many dioceses. Overall some stipendiary posts will be lost. …But the aim is to make each parish and each Christian community sustainable. If that doesn’t happen, there really will be no Church of England. “…There are rascally voices around who want to undermine the church — it was ever thus. But the real story is that we so believe in that vision of serving every inch of the country, and every person in it, that we are having to expand what it is to be the church.”

19 Puzzle corner

Across 1 Relating to the whole universe (6) 4 The disciple who made the remark in 8 Across (John 20:24) (6) 8 ‘Unless I see the nail marks — — hands, I will not believe it’ (John 20:25) (2,3) 9 He urged King Jehoiakim not to burn the scroll containing Jeremiah’s message (Jeremiah 36:25) (7) 10 Baptist minister and controversial founder of America’s Moral Majority, Jerry — (7) 20 11 ‘Look, here is — . Why shouldn’t I be baptized?’ (Acts 8:36) (5) 12 Repossessed (Gen 14:16) (9) 17 Port from which Paul sailed on his last journey to Rome (Acts 27:3–4) (5) 19 ‘Moses was not aware that his face was — because he had spoken with the Lord’ (Ex 34:29) (7) 21 Roonwit, C.S. Lewis’s half-man, half-horse (7) 22 Grill (Luke 24:42) (5) 23 ‘The lot fell to Matthias; so he was added to the — apostles’ (Acts 1:26) (6) 24 ‘I was sick and you looked after me, I was in — and you came to visit me’ (Matthew 25:36) (6)

Down 1 Coastal rockfaces (Psalm 141:6) (6) 2 Academic (1 Corinthians 1:20) (7) 3 Publish (Daniel 6:26) (5) 5 For example, the Crusades (4,3) 6 11 Across is certainly this (5) 7 He reps (anag.) (6) 9 Liberator (Psalm 18:2) (9) 13 Man who asked the question in 11 Across was in charge of all her treasury (Acts 8:27) (7) 14 They must be ‘worthy of respect, sincere, not indulging in much wine’ (1 Timothy 3:8) (7) 15 The human mind or soul (6) 16 ‘O Lord, while precious children starve, the tools of war increase; their bread is — ’ (Graham Kendrick) (6) 18 ‘We played the flute for you, and you did not — ’ (Matthew 11:17) (5) 20 Bared (anag.) (5)

Answers on page 33

21 Children’s pages

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29 30 31 Smile lines

Signs found outside churches.... • Free Trip to heaven. Details Inside! • Searching for a new look? Have your faith lifted here! • Dusty Bibles lead to Dirty Lives. • Come work for the Lord. The work is hard, the hours are long and the pay is low. But the retirement benefits are out of this world.

Miscellaneous observations on daily life… • Marathon runners with bad footwear suffer the agony of defeat. • If you think nobody cares whether you’re alive or dead, try missing a couple of mortgage payments. • In order to keep a true perspective of one’s importance, everyone should have a dog to worship him and a cat to ignore him. • The trouble with doing something right the first time is that nobody appreciates how difficult it was. • The most effective way to remember your wife’s birthday is to forget it once. • I ate a kid’s meal at McDonald’s today. His mum got really angry.

Notices found in church newsletters • This being Easter Sunday, we will ask Mrs Brown, our church warden, to come forward and lay an egg on the altar. • Ladies are requested not to have children in the church kitchen. • For those who have children and don’t know it, we have a crèche in the crypt. • Bring & share church supper: Prayer and medication will follow. • Don’t let worry kill you. Let the Church help! • The organist invites anyone who enjoys sinning to volunteer for the choir. • At the church meeting last week the rector spoke briefly and delighted the audience. • Remember in prayer the many who are sick both of our church and the community. • Smile at someone who you find hard to love. Say ‘hell’ to someone who doesn’t much care about you.

32 Contacting The Herald

Contributions to the May edition Copy for the next edition of The Herald should be sent by email to Robert Andrews at [email protected] by Friday 16 April. Please send files in .doc, .docx or .rtf format. Because we wish to maintain a common house style please keep any formatting to an absolute minimum and do not embed photographs or other artwork. If you wish to include photographs or other artwork they should be sent separately in .jpeg or .pdf format. If you are unable to use email or are unsure about file types please telephone Robert on 01268 733817, but be aware that the telephone line has BT Call Guardian installed to deter nuisance callers, therefore you may have to announce your name and press the # key in order to be put through.

Advertising in The Herald All general enquiries about advertising should be addressed to Mike Roome on 07770 795388 or email [email protected] Advertising rates are currently: Full page £100 for 12 insertions Half page £60 for 12 insertions Quarter page £40 for 12 insertions We will accept one off or limited run insertions on a pro rata basis If you have existing artwork your advertisements should be emailed to [email protected] preferably in .jpeg or .pdf format. If you wish us to produce artwork for you this can be arranged for a small one- off fee.

Answers to the Crossword puzzle

ACROSS: 1, Cosmic. 4, Thomas. 8, In his. 9, Delilah. 10, Falwell. 11, Water. 12, Recovered. 17, Sidon. 19, Radiant. 21, Centaur. 22, Broil. 23, Eleven. 24, Prison. DOWN: 1, Cliffs. 2, Scholar. 3, Issue. 5, Holy war. 6, Moist. 7, Sphere. 9, Deliverer. 13, Candace. 14, Deacons. 15, Psyche. 16, Stolen. 18, Dance. 20, Debar.

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