Church of St Mary, Wexham
www.stmaryswexham.co.uk September 2017 Church of St Mary, Wexham
Patronal Festival We celebrate this month the Blessed Virgin Mary after whom this church is named..
Parish News Price 50p
PRIEST IN CHARGE: The Rev’d Mary Kent ORGANISATIONS The Rectory, 7 Grangewood, Wexham, SL3 6LP MEN’S FELLOWSHIP meets for a meal and discussion 01753 523852 on the last Thursday in each month. Licensed Lay Minister: Contact Paul Horth—[email protected] Mr E Kent 01753 523852 MONDAY CLUB for elderly people Churchwarden: Mondays 2p.m.to 4 p.m. Mrs S Edwards, 2 Church Grove, Wexham, Contact Mrs C Callaway 01753 731798 Slough, SL3 6LF 01753 527410 BINGO CLUB: Mondays at 8.00 pm PCC Treasurer: Contacts: Mrs L Shelley 01753 771834 Mr B Edwards 01753 527410 Mrs C Donaldson 01753 712974
PCC Secretaries: Mrs C. Elderfied, Mrs Y Hickman TIDDLERS TODDLER GROUP: Thursdays 10.00 am - 12 Noon Parish Magazine Editorial Team: Leader: Mrs L Galvin 01753 518066 Mr E Kent The Rectory, 7 Grangewood, Wexham, Slough, SL3 6LP, 01753 523852 BROWNIE GUIDES: Thursdays 6.15 pm - 7.45 pm [email protected]; Leader: Mrs B Neame 01753 733911 Mrs P Anderson 01753 533387; FRIENDS OF ST MARY’S: Contacts: Mrs L Shelley 01753 771834 NORMAL SUNDAY SERVICES Mrs C Donaldson 01753 712974 8.00 am—Holy Communion - Common Worship Traditional Language (said) LOCAL CONTACTS: 10.00 am— Parish Communion - Common Worship Contemporary Language WEXHAM COURT PARISH COUNCIL: All Age Parish Communion—First Sunday in each month (Slough, Berks, part of St Mary’s Parish) General Enquiries: Cllr Sandra Malik 07816 006824 4:00pm— Occasional Service of Evening Prayer Parish Hall booking Clerk: See Magazine Calendar page for details) Mrs Lynne Cresdee 01753 574945
WEXHAM PARISH COUNCIL: YOUNG CHURCH AND CRECHE: (Wexham and George Green, Bucks, part of St Mary’s Parish) 10.00 am in the Church Hall Clerk to the Council: Mrs Angela Galvin 01753 644887 Leader: Mrs S Horth 01753 551511 WEXHAM, BUCKS, RESIDENTS’ ASSOCIATION: Chairman: DIRECT GIVING: Mr G Spring, 4 Brookside, George Green 01753 536977 If you would like information on our Direct Giving scheme, or Gift Aid, please contact GEORGE GREEN WI: Mr B Edwards 01753 527410 Contact : Mrs J Boot 01753 520296
CHURCH FLOWERS: ST MARY’S CHURCH HALL - 01753 693461 For Wedding flowers and arrangements for special www.stmaryswexham.co.uk occasions, please contact Mrs J Boot 01753 520296
St Mary’s is an Anglican parish church which seeks to proclaim the Christian faith by sharing the love of Christ with those who enter its buildings and with all who live within the communities of Wexham and George Green .
2 Sunday 3rd - 12th after Trinity 8.00 am Holy Communion 10.00 am Parish Communion with Young Church
Sunday 10th Patronal Festival Blessed Virgin Mary (Our Archdeacon Guy to preside and preach)
10.00 am Parish Communion with Young Church followed by games and buffet lunch in the hall
Wednesday 13th September Communion at The Pines
Sunday 17th - 14th Sunday after Trinity 8.00 am Holy Communion 10.00 am Parish Communion & 10.00 am Young Church in the Hall
Tue 19th September PCC Wed 20th September Deanery Synod at St Marys Hall Thur 21st September Toddler Group Service
Sunday 24th 15th Sunday after Trinity 8.00 am Holy Communion 10.00 am Parish Communion 10.00 am Young Church in the Hall 4.00 pm Evening Worship
Wed 27th 10.30 am Morning Praise at The Pines pm Home Communions Thurs 28th 10:30am Holy Communion at Oak House
OTHER DATES IN SEPTEMBER & LATER
9th September - Ride & Stride (for details see last magazine) 23rd September - Murder Mystery Dinner 30th September - Meet & Mingle Fundraiser Sunday 1st October - Harvest Festival with Canon Rod Cosh, Area Dean Saturday 14th October - Discovery Café
From the Registers
2nd July 2017 Harry Mark Lucking
23rd July 2017 Harrison Clark Cayless
Remember to pray for them and their families
3 From the Rectory:
As we move in to the autumn with our magazine I want to thank very much indeed the people involved in its production and distribution, and also the people who have more than walked the extra mile during the trying period when our old copying machine finally gave up working and became increasingly difficult to use. Our P.C.C. made decisions about what to do next and we remain in a period of getting used to our new technology; so please bear with any delays or errors which occur as a result.
Day one of our new copier was interesting. Our Churchwarden, Treasurer and LLM (Licensed Lay Minister) went down to the Hall, eagerly awaiting its arrival. A spring clean of its new home had taken place – the Hall vestry has not been so uncluttered for years! The van duly came and the new machine put in place. A lesson on how to use it followed requiring much concentration on the part of those involved. Arriving later, having met one of the chaplaincy team from the hospital at the Church and then encountering our Community Policer Officer in the churchyard, your bemused parish priest discovered that, the back door of the Hall having been left wide open, a sparrowhawk had entered and was flying in a panic from light fitting to light fitting before suddenly deciding to roost above the stage. Fascinatingly, it hung upside down looking a bit like a large brown bat.
Sadly we had no facility to video the ensuing and unavailing efforts to remove the bird. Careful encouragement with a feather duster taped to bamboo canes had no effect. Raw meat was procured. Our resourceful churchwarden created a “mouse” out of a J-cloth and this was trailed temptingly in a life-like manner but without effect. Expert advice was sought. Meanwhile feathered wings continued to brush the light fittings and brought down substantial chunks of dust from areas never normally reached. In the end our LLM brought a packed lunch with work to do and sparrowhawk-sat for the afternoon, rounding off a frustrating day by discovering he couldn’t make the new copier function. A phone call was made to the hire company who arranged to return the next day on which they discovered a mysterious problem they had never encountered before – with the copier that is! Meanwhile, the bird had been left to sleep for the night.
In the morning some of our wonderful volunteer cleaners arrived and made a few efforts to evict the intruder which had substantially increased their workload for the occasion. After a while they became aware that there was no sign of the sparrowhawk. This fact was subsequently confirmed by other people who came in to the Hall during the day. Presumably the deficiency of food on the premises had become evident and the bird had, in its own time, made an exit through the carefully opened doors.
Such is parish life and a sample of the random duties of your parish leaders. Should you wish to assist the band of stalwarts in their varied labours on behalf of us all, please get in touch. We could really do with some extra help and you never know what will happen next! Blessings 4 Mary Editorial - Changes in the Magazine
The demise of the church copier at the end of June meant that quick decisions had to be made. The July/August edition was commercially printed and to save cost it was printed in A5 format. This meant we had a smaller type face than normal but due to the clarity of the copying meant in most cases it was still readable. This edition is back to the old format but it is planned to move to the A5 format in future editions. In the meantime the editorial team will be researching the best size and style of print for the future. It is also planned to produce a few large print editions, so please tell us what your needs are.
We now have a new copier which has a colour facility and we hope to produce two editions a year with some colour pages in them.
One thing the editorial team needs is feedback, what do you like in the magazine, what do you just pass over. Please let us know.
Sue Edwards is now retiring from editing the magazine so she has more time for her work as Church Warden and we thank her for the many editions she has produced over the years.
Ted and Pauline
5 Young Church Programme for September
September 3rd This Sunday is Parish communion with Young Church so we will all be in Church together.
September 10th This Sunday is St Mary's Patronal Festival so we will be celebrating with fun games and food.
September 17th Today we will be talking about saying sorry and how God forgives us over and over again. We will be making cards and doing some painting.
September 24th This Sunday we will hear a story about a man who owns a vineyard- we will have fun playing a relay race with prizes! And we will be doing some cooking.
6 YOUNG CHURCH 2 In preparation for our Harvest which is on October 1st, some word searches. This is to get you thinking and to thank God for our food and homes. TK
7 Notices, News and Events
Men’s Fellowship
The Men’s fellowship will be meeting in the Church Hall on September 28th at 20:00 and we’ll be having either Pizza or a Curry. Contact Paul Horth for details (01753 551511)
A good opportunity for relaxation, good company and good food as well as some challenging topics to talk about.
No Churchyard Gardening this Month October is likely to involve leaves, so check October’s Magazine.
Murder at the Palace A Murder Mystery Dinner Saturday 23rd September 2017 At St Mary’s Church Hall Church Lane Wexham, Buckinghamshire, SL3 6LH Starting at 7pm
Following on from our sell out Murder Mystery Dinner last year. We now present a new production set In Constantinople in 1913, just before the outbreak of the First World War. Join us at the Topkapi Palace in Constantinople where the Sultan Rashid the Magnificent is hosting a dinner. You’ll find political posturing, jealousy in the harem and lots of intrigue amongst the servants to entertain you. Enjoy a three-course meal and solve the murder mystery as the cast act out their scenes. You even get a chance to interrogate our actors Ticket price £12 (accompanied children £5) to include meal and entertainment. Bring your own drinks and money for a raffle. We are raising money for St. Mary’s. Our last production was a sell out and places are limited so get your tickets soon
For tickets contact Jill Bell on 07812741279 e mail [email protected]
8 ‘He gave us eyes to see them’ Caravaggio’s Matthew in the Contarelli
This month we turn to the treasury of stories in the New Testament. 21st September is the feast day of St Matthew the evangelist, and his call by Jesus is described without any embellishment in chapter 9 of his Gospel. It was a bold step for Jesus to call a tax collector, someone so hated by the people. And it was an equally bold step for Matthew to respond – to turn from the security and profit of his lifestyle and step out into the unknown.
It is the subject of one of three paintings on Matthew’s life that Caravaggio produced for the Contarelli Chapel of the church of San Luigi in Rome in 1560. The group of tax collectors are about their daily routine of counting money. They are dressed in rich 16th century Italian costumes. Jesus and Peter break into that scene on the right wearing ordinary cloaks. They are even barefoot by contrast. But it is Jesus in the shadow who brings light onto the canvas, and that play on light and darkness heightens the dramatic intensity of the scene. We see simply the face of Jesus and his right hand pointing. But pointing to whom? Is it the bearded man who seems to say, ‘Is it me?’ or is He pointing to the younger man at the end of the table engrossed in his money?
Perhaps Caravaggio is saying that Jesus can call any and all of us. His call to follow can break into our daily routine at any time of day, whoever we are, whatever we have to commend ourselves, and whatever our faults and worries. As He says in that same chapter, ‘I have come to call not the righteous, but sinners.’ We can take heart that His church is not a museum of saints: it is a kingdom of sinners who have the courage, like Matthew, to follow. ( From the Parish Pump Resource)
The Call of Matthew Painted in 1599-1600
9 Volunteering Volunteering, like volunteers, comes in all shapes and sizes. Many years ago, having been conscripted into Her Majesty’s Army I learned by hard experience the truth of the saying ‘Never Volunteer’. For example, as a naïve country lad with only a couple of weeks training I, and my fellow stoics, were paraded on the barrack square and after the usual haranguing about the state of our hair, clothes, boots, demeanour, rifles, and all other accoutrements, we were asked if any of us liked music. Sensing the chance of a good skive, several raised their arms in confirmation, only to be told, “Good. Be at the Sergeants Mess tonight at 18.00 hours, the piano needs moving”. ‘Once bitten’ as the saying goes, it was many years before the ‘twice’ occurred.
Fifteen years ago we had two dogs. Molly was an English Springer Spaniel and loyal to the point of devotion. One sunny spring afternoon my wife, Jill, and I were walking them down Galleons Lane near to a place I knew where Wood Anemones grew in profusion and which I thought would make a lovely photograph. Instructing the dogs to ‘stay’ with my wife I clambered across a ditch, through the brambles and bushes to where the Anemones were growing. Carefully selecting a position where the sun illuminated the flowers but my shadow didn’t interfere, I raised the camera for my wildlife shot of the year, and found Molly in the middle of the view finder, sat gracefully, if a little chubbily, on the centre of my subject. The other dog was called Brandy and looked like a cross between a Jack Russell Terrier and a toilet brush. Shortly after this we were walking them through Black Park car park where I saw a notice asking for Volunteers to join a group which was to start work in Langley Park in a few weeks. This is where the ’twice’ occurred. I was due to retire in less than two years and thought that while I can still move and think I should find something to fill at least part of my retirement. I volunteered. The work was organised for the first Saturday in each month so I turned up on the first occasion and I’m still an active part of the group.
Although the dogs and I had walked through parts of Langley Park several times a week I never knew much about it. It was just trees, grass, and a lake, but a year or so after my first volunteer session it suddenly developed into another piano moving moment. I found more involvement than I ever expected. I also discovered that it’s a Grade II listed parkland with a recorded history going back almost a thousand years. It has an arboretum with many unusual trees, a lake designed by Lancelot ‘Capability’ Brown, and one of the best Rhododendron gardens in the UK. I won’t bore you any further on the details. I’ve seen birds fall out of the trees in a stupor after I get started, but it is a wonderful place to work and the volunteer group went from strength to strength. We now work every Saturday, two of which each month we have been trained to lead and organize ourselves without the supervision of Park Rangers. One added benefit to my retirement is that I now know lots and lots of people in the area who I didn’t know before, many of whom I call friends, although I can’t confirm that the relationship is reciprocal.
One final bit of advertising is that we meet in the car park at Langley Park at 10.00 am each Saturday. Parking for volunteers is free as is tea, or coffee, and biscuits. If you think you might like a different experience, we would welcome you, but please bring your own packed lunch and wear suitable clothing and footwear.
You Have Been Warned John Watson
10 On the Money
The new £10 note has provoked some disgruntled comments from Jane Austen fans. For it comes with an odd quotation from Pride & Prejudice: ‘I declare after all there is no enjoyment like reading!’
What’s wrong with that? Well, within the context of the book, those words were spoken to deceive. The simpering Caroline Bingley was only trying to woo Mr. Darcy, whom she knew loved reading. Caroline Bingley actually hated reading!
So these words, now printed on thousands of £10 notes, are a prime example of ‘proof-texting’. This is the practice of taking isolated, out-of-context quotations from a document to establish a proposition which may not reflect the original intent of the author.
What about us? How often do we so focus on finding a comforting biblical quotation that we forget to consider the context? Take a prime example: Jeremiah 29:11, much loved for its cuddly promises that God has in mind great plans that will benefit us. (It was Bible Gateway’s second most popular verse in 2016.) For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope.
Yes, God spoke them to comfort Israel, but what was actually happening at the time? Israel had sinned greatly, and so God had let her be taken into exile in Babylon. She had 70 years of captivity, exile and hardship ahead of her. And now God commanded Israel not to expect immediate blessing, but instead to seek peace and prosperity for Babylon. She should pray for her enemies, who had taken her captive.
So – in practice, the words of Jeremiah 29:11 are a challenge as well as a blessing. Israel will not be rescued right away, she needs to accept her current situation so totally that she prays for those difficult people around her. She must be patient. BUT – God does promise that it will ultimately work out for her blessing. He has in no way abandoned her.
For us, it is perhaps a call to commit to the place in which God has put us, whatever that is, and to ‘go all in’, to seek to build up the people around us, and accept the difficulties and limitations. We can then know that God will bless us, in his perfect timing.
Going back to Austen – perhaps there really is no enjoyment like reading … quotes in context!
From the Parish Pump. This is based on an article by Nell Goddard on Jane Austen and the new £10 note. Nell was writing for the LICC (London Institute for Contemporary Christianity.)
11 WORLD WAR 1 - A Personal Perspective The battles at Ypres and Passchendaele
I started looking at my family History when I was in my late Teens. I knew that my dad had fought in the First World War but like all the soldiers of that generation he didn’t talk about it . I had only one snippet of information from him. He had been injured and had spend three days in a shell crater before he was rescued.
The recent services of commemoration at Ypres on July 31st showed the awfulness of war and how even a hundred years later most families will have a relation who was in the army.
The early battles had been fought by the professional army, the disaster at the Somme was fought by volunteers but the battle of Passchendaele was mainly fought by ordinary men who were conscripted into the army in 1916.
This happened to my father, just an ordinary person, seen here slightly self-conscious at the end of his training in Wiltshire. Information is sparse but he arrived in France at the beginning of 1917 and was most likely in reserve trenches during the Spring. His regiment then moved to Ypres and was involved in several battles in the lead up to Passchendaele. From the dates of the telegram he was probably shot at the battle of Polygon Wood in late September. There were half a million casualties from both sides for the gain of five miles. Anyone who has visited Tyne Cot cemetery or seen the 54 thousand names inscribed on the Menin gate can not be unmoved by the sheer waste and senselessness of war.
I have a second picture taken in 1918 of my dad as he went back to the front as a Stretcher Bearer. This time there is a tiredness and loss of hope in the photo. No wonder they never talked about it.
I wonder if the country had known in 1914 the cost in terms of lives and suffering that the war would bring they would have still gone ahead. And yet 20 years later there was another World War!
As I write this, we are facing another crisis, with the danger of a nuclear war. We need to pray for our leaders in the difficult decisions they have to make and for ourselves in the way we can bring peace or conflict. Ted Kent
12 Answers to last times’ quiz on places, coasts and rivers in the UK Only one entry so congratulations to David who got jjj right but of course he might argue with my answers.
Could have bubbles in it (4) BATH Nautically tidy (7) BRISTOL Royal Fruit (4,5) LYME REGIS How old is the pen? (7) SWANAGE Creepy (7) CRAWLEY Serious Finish (9) GRAVESEND US President (7) LINCOLN Site of murder of Richard II (10) PONTEFRACT Masculine Pasture (9) MANSFIELD Food expiry date(5) SELBY This town should be in Wales (4) LEEK Sand in your hair (6,4) BEACHY HEAD They could pull the plug on you here. (4) BATH The artist keeps going (8) PAIGNTON A freshwater fish (5) BREAM The candle won’t light without it. (4) WICK The bricklayer finished here. (8) WALLSEND Invented by Mr Crapper (4) LOOE An area to the left of this sailor. (8) PORTLAND A lacertilian reptile. (3,6) THE LIZARD A long stick and indefinite article, (6) STAFFA (An island in Scotland, Fingal’s Cave ) Portion creep
Traditionally done on Mondays (3,4) THE WASH Bet you didn’t notice this, but dinner plates have got bigger. In the 1950s, a dinner plate measured 25cm No hope for a camel with these eyes. (3,7) THE NEEDLES across; now the usual is 28cm. And take a look at those very old wine glasses in the charity shops: our A Caribbean drink in the far north. (4) RUM/RHUM grandparents served wine in what looks like liqueur glasses to us now. These days, many wineglasses A mixed up cowboy’s hat ST NEOTS seem to hold nearly half a bottle….
Church service
A minister, known for his lengthy sermons, noticed a man get up and leave during the middle of his message. The man returned just before the conclusion of the service. Afterwards the minister asked the man where he had gone. ‘I went to get a haircut,’ was the reply.
‘But,’ said the minister, ‘why didn't you do that before the service?’
A Sudoku Puzzle for a ‘Because,’ the gentleman said, ‘I didn't need one then.’ change.
13 Portion creep Bet you didn’t notice this, but dinner plates have got bigger. In the 1950s, a dinner plate measured 25cm across; now the usual is 28cm. And take a look at those very old wine glasses in the charity shops: our grandparents served wine in what looks like liqueur glasses to us now. These days, many wineglasses seem to hold nearly half a bottle…. But chocolate bars are getting smaller!
Church service A minister, known for his lengthy sermons, noticed a man get up and leave during the middle of his message. The man returned just before the conclusion of the service. Afterwards the minister asked the man where he had gone. ‘I went to get a haircut,’ was the reply. ‘But,’ said the minister, ‘why didn't you do that before the service?’ ‘Because,’ the gentleman said, ‘I didn't need one then.’
Oldest computer The oldest computer can be traced back to Adam and Eve. Not surprisingly, it was an Apple. But it had an extremely limited memory: just one byte, and everything crashed.
WEXHAM HALL
ELDERLY PEOPLES’ CLUB
We welcome new members to our Monday afternoon get together in St. Marys Church Hall from 2pm to 4pm for an afternoon with tea, raffle and bingo, etc.
Plans for the coming year include outings, talks, quizzes, exercise classes, a birthday party and a Christmas dinner.
Come and meet other lo- cal people and make new friends
Tel: 01753 731798 or 01753 554849 for further details
EVERYONE WELCOME
14 TRANSWORLD 2000 LUIGI AUTOCARE UK Worldwide Freight LTD Distribution CAR WASH
Unit 6, Planet Centre Armadale Road Feltham Middlesex Telephone 01753 574999 TW14 0LW Uxbridge Road Telephone 020 3589 8164 George Green Fax 020 3589 8161 SL3 6AT
Smile Lines
From a church newssheet: The church council meeting on Tuesday will be gin with prayer.
On a church door: This is the gate of heaven. Enter ye all by this door. (This door is kept locked because of the draught. Please use side door.)
In an office: After tea break, staff should empty the teapot and stand upside down on the draining board.
DEADLINE FOR THE OCTOBER PARISH MAGAZINE:
Material for the October Parish Magazine must be with the Editorial Team by 19th September. Magazines will be available from Sunday, 30th September.
The PCC and the editorial team reserves the right to edit and shorten submitted material. Advertisers in the magazine are not necessarily known to the editorial team and the appearance of an advert does not carry an implied endorsement.
15 WEXHAM POST OFFICE & GENERAL STORES (Now with an off licence) Tel: 01753 526284
Wexham Road, SL2 4HE Near the Hospital Roundabout
Groceries, Bread, Milk, and Alcohol.
Opening Hours:
Monday - Friday 9.00 am – 8.00pm Saturday - 9.00 am—6.00 pm Sunday - 10.00 am—4.00 pm
*** IMPROVED PARKING***
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