FEBRUARY 2021

If you have an item for the MARCH magazine please submit it to Richard Hudson (editor) at 01509 413185 or [email protected] by FRIDAY 12th FEBRUARY

THE MINISTRY TEAM The joint benefice of Barrow, Walton, &

Rev’d Clive Watts (Priest in charge) 07534 899522 (Day off Friday) [email protected] Rev’d Fiona Cotton-Betteridge 07903 665912 (Working Fri., Sat., Sunday) [email protected] Pam Knowles (Reader Minister) 36 Ribble Drive, 01509 412774

For general enquiries or for Baptisms, Weddings and Funerals please complete the enquiries forms on our website or contact Hannah in the Church Office or the Rev’d Clive Watts.

Website www.barrowandwoldsgroup.com

CHURCH OFFICE - Administrator: Hannah White Opening hours: Monday and Wednesday 10.30am-1.30pm, Thursday 10am – 11am 01509 416520 [email protected]

For pastoral matters (ministry to the sick, bereaved or housebound) please contact any of the following: Rev’d Clive Watts [email protected] 07534 899522 Rev’d Fiona Cotton-Betteridge [email protected] 07903 665912 Pam Knowles [email protected] 01509 412774 Beverley Lott [email protected] 01509 412876 David Spencer [email protected] 07905 230825

If you would like to receive this magazine regularly or would like to receive a large-print version of future issues, please contact Ruth Boothey on 413811.

HAPPY NEW YEAR Perhaps it seems a little late to wish you a Happy New Year but we are in 2021 and I do hope you’re finding things to be happy about and to thank God for amongst the uncertainty, stress and sadness generated by the pandemic and inevitably felt by all of us to a lesser or greater degree. As we undergo another lockdown I find myself increasingly looking forward to small highlights throughout the day such the day’s main meal or that piece of cake which I won’t allow myself to indulge in until 4pm! And we can all surely thank God for the skills and dedication of the doctors and the staff who support them and the scientists who have produced the vaccines that help us look forward to a safer and happier future. I also love my opportunities to get out of the house to get some exercise. As soon as January arrived I headed over to , as I do every year, to see the only patch of butterburs I’m aware of round here. They are not the most beautiful flowers but to me they represent the turning of the year and the prospect of longer days and eventually warmer weather. Our God-created world is a wonderful place. Night and day and the seasons are as old as the Earth itself; butterburs were growing and water droplets falling from clouds for millions of years before there were any people to find the flooding of the Soar or a few inches of snow a major disruption. Isn’t it strange that the more ‘advanced’ we become the less prepared we seem to be to accommodate these age-old events? ‘The earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it, the world and those who live in it; for he has founded it on the seas and established it on the rivers.’ Psalm 24 verses 1,2 Richard Hudson Barrow 2021 – God’s Creation - Butterburs, Floods and Snow

Church News As I expect many of you will know by now, our churches have closed while the current restrictions are in place. A significant factor in taking this decision was the uncertainty over the new strain of Covid which we are told can be caught more easily. Fortunately we can still worship together via Zoom and the services can be viewed after the event on our website www.barrowandwoldsgroup.com Our latest innovation is a weekly PHONE SERVICE at 4pm on Sundays. If you or anyone you know does not have internet access and would value joining the significant number of people already enjoying these please contact Clive ([email protected]) or phone me and I’ll pass the information on. Hannah will deliver service sheets etc. to those who wish to take part. CONGRATULATIONS - Mike Hyde was licensed as a Reader Minister for the Barrow and Wolds Group of church via an online service on Saturday January 23rd. Mike is based in the parish of St. Mary’s, Wymeswold, the church at which he has been worshipping for some time, but will serve across the four churches of the Group. Some of you will remember that Mike was the preacher at one of our Zoom services in a previous lockdown period. We congratulate Mike on his appointment. FOR THIS YEAR’S MOTHERING SUNDAY IDEA CONTINUE READING THE MAGAZINE AND SEE INSERTED SHEET (or if online, separate attachment).

To cheer you up – 1 – from a survey of best topical jokes of 2020. Why did the pirates have to go into lockdown? Because the “Arrrrr!” rate had risen. From the desk of the associate Priest…

In his whole life of some 33 years or so Jesus probably walked virtually everywhere he went. He will have been carried as a baby and child and may have ridden a donkey or mule on occasions but basically he walked everywhere. In our sense of travel he never really travelled. We know that Jesus could read – he read from the scriptures in the synagogue and expounded upon them but his only known writing was when he doodled in the sand whilst waiting ‘for someone without sin to cast the first stone’. He certainly did not write influential books. There is evidence that he worked with his hands – probably as a carpenter in the family business. He was brought up in a family and his ministry lasted at the most three years. Yet his life has changed the world. His method was to deal with the people he encountered – he taught those who turned up, he healed those he came across who were ill, he challenged the thinking of the religious and of those in authority. He made visible - to those with eyes to see - the loving, father, creator God who is not usually visible. He touched the untouchables and washed the guilty clean. No one was too disgusting for his attention. Jesus was born into the people who had been chosen by God to be in relationship with God and then show how wonderful God was to all the other nations and Jesus became the means by which all nations could come to God. We do not need to travel or write great books to show Jesus to today’s world – we can simply use Jesus’ model of caring for those our life brings us up against, making a difference to lives lived out in our villages – maybe in the house next door; welcoming strangers, smiling, challenging wrong thinking. We can choose each day to rejoice in the gift of the God given day. We can trust in the totally trustworthy God that Jesus trusted in and pointed us towards. If you ever think that you are too small to make a difference just spend one night in bed with a mosquito! May God richly bless you!

Reverend Fiona

Looking ahead: LENT

Rev’d Cliv and Rev’d Fiona will be running a Lent Course this year on Thursday evenings on Zoom, starting Thursday 25th February for five weeks. Based on the “Spot the Difference” group study course for Lent by Nick Fawcett. What difference does being a Christian make to your life and what difference should it make? In Spot the Difference, Nick Fawcett considers five ways in which commitment should manifest itself: in a quality of love, a spontaneity of witness, a disposition of joy, a generosity of spirit and a vibrant inner faith. The five sessions in this group study course for Lent are: 25th February: A love that shows 4th March:An allegiance that shows 11th March:A joy that shows 18th March:A concern that shows 25th March:A faith that shows To register to join the course, or for more information please contact either Rev’d Fiona or Rev’d Clive.

Ash Wednesday this year, the beginning of Lent, is February 17th and we are holding an Ash Wednesday service at 7.30pm via Zoom, for which you will need to use the same link as for Sunday services. More information will be distributed on email nearer the time. If you would like more information and the link for this please contact the church office. And a message from Rev’d. Clive: We are currently making plans for Lent, Holy Week and Easter this year, thinking about how we can share this important season in the Church’s year in the midst of lock-down and COVID 19 pandemic. We are planning to put together packs of materials and other things to help you mark Lent, Holy Week and Easter and are planning to deliver these soon. If you are not on Rev’d. Clive’s weekly email list and would like to receive one of these packs please contact the church office (416520). Unfortunately it will not be possible for us to organise our customary Churches Together in Barrow Lent Lunches, the proceeds from which having always been donated to the CTiB charity. It has been decided that any money raised by Churches Together this year will given to falcon Support Services, which was last year’s charity. As some of you will remember, only half of the 2020 Lent Lunches were held due to the first lockdown. To cheer you up – 2 Why was production down at Santa’s workshop? Because many of his workers had to elf isolate. Friday March 5th is the annual World Day of Prayer (formerly called the Women’s World Day of Prayer). For many years a service has been held in Barrow on this day, the venue being the village’s three churches in rotation. The Committee has reluctantly taken the decision that there will not be a service this year BUT you could still receive one of the service booklets to join the worldwide community who will be using the same materials in their own language. An important feature of the WDP service is that each year Christians from different countries play a major part in devising the service and incorporating lots of information about their country, its pleasures, its challenges and the faith community. This year that country is Vanuatu, an archipelago of 80 islands in the South Pacific. In case you don’t manage to holiday in that part of the world this year here is the opportunity to sample life on these tropical islands! Please contact Richard (413185, 0777 608 6448 or [email protected]) if you’d like to receive a copy. A message from Pam Knowles: First of all I would like to say Thank You to David Boothey who has organised the sponsorship for the floodlight for our church for a large number of years. David has now stepped down, and I have taken over. The floodlights for our church play an important part regarding the security of the church, and the contributions paid for sponsoring the floodlights, go some way towards the cost of running them. If you would like to sponsor the floodlights for a week - or more if you wish - throughout the year, please contact me on 01509 412775 or [email protected]. Also, if you already sponsor the floodlights for a regular week in the year, please contact me to confirm that you wish to carry on.

Dear Members

A Happy and safe New Year to you all from your committee.

Unfortunately we are still in lockdown but hopefully some of us will get the new vaccine sooner or later and we might be able to meet together. We cannot hold meetings at church as everything has then to be sanitised after use.

My hope that we keep up with our projects still continues. I am happy to tell you that I took a large bag of beautiful knee blankets to Pingle Nook. The manager was delighted that the MU had sent the blankets. At Mary Sumner House in , they are working very hard with all our overseas projects especially in the poor areas of Somalia at this time.

Abroad, members are aware that like them, we are suffering with this terrible virus and the fact our members are still supporting them with our annual Subscription is amazing.

We are hoping that you will remember that, as usual, £5 goes to run our diocese office and £20 also goes to MU in London to run all our projects home and away. This makes a total this year of £25. We were hoping to arrange to collect this from you in the near future but this will now be delayed (with the agreement of the Treasurer in ) because of the current increased restrictions.

So please keep up the knitting. I have made a white blanket for the Bliss charity but I am not clever enough to make knee blankets. White plain jackets for premature babies would be useful or larger items for the Homeless project.

Annette 413331 Dorcas 416929 ______

(Fish, chips) and BINGO – Lockdown modification: we supply the Bingo (via Zoom) and you provide your own Fish and Chips. Saturday February 13th from 7pm. To join in please contact Jez Bowman ([email protected]), giving him a few days’ notice. He will send you the Zoom link and your Bingo card. Actual, real prizes to be won!

MOTHERING SUNDAY As you know, we’ve lit candles in Holy Trinity Church on Mothering Sunday for the past few years. As it’s highly unlikely the church will be open on March 14th this year we’ve been putting our minds to something different which won’t lead to lots of people in close proximity. We are intending to write names on ribbons and suspend them from the top of the tower or even from the tower flagpole so that they can fly free. We hope it will look spectacular. Please see the separate insert (or online, separate attachment) for how you can get involved. To cheer you up – 3 Why couldn’t Mary and Joseph join their work conference call? Because there was no Zoom at the inn.

FROM THE REGISTERS IN MEMORIAM: Our sympathy is extended to the families of those who have died: Jennifer Sinfield John Allcock Rosalyn Sherwin Geoff King Patricia Watts Kevon Thompson FLOODLIGHT SPONSORS FOR FEBRUARY

DATE SPONSOR DEDICATION

7th

14th Marion, Claire & Celia In Loving Memory of Stuart

21st

28th

Floodlight Sponsorship: Pam Knowles, 01509 412774 or [email protected]

FLOWER SPONSORSHIP In the previous magazine it was remiss of me to not express the church’s thanks to Ann Beaumont who has retired from the task of co-ordinating the Holy Trinity flower sponsorship over many years. She has done a wonderful job. Pam Hallam has said that she will take responsibility for some of the flower arranging but I hope someone reading this will volunteer to look after the sponsorship side of things which involves contacting people who have regularly bought flowers for church and looking out for new people who would like to contribute to this important aspect of church life as flowers do so much to enhance the appearance of our church. The person taking on this task would then communicate with me monthly to get the sponsors’ name and dedication into the magazine. I look forward to hearing from you. Richard Hudson

From the East Akeley Deanery Magazine 100 YEARS AGO February 1921

Confirmation. A Confirmation was held in the Parish Church on Monday February 28th at 7.30pm by the Lord Bishop of Leicester. Besides 5 males and 23 females from Barrow there were also candidates from Quorn, Mountsorrel (St. Peter’s and Christ Church), Woodhouse and totalling 72 in all. The service was very reverently rendered and the Bishop gave two earnest addresses. There was a large congregation, the church being filled to its full capacity.

Communicants. There was to be an address given to Communicants and those newly confirmed on March 17th, by the Rev. R.H. Fuller, Rector of Emmanuel, Loughborough.

On Wednesday February 23rd a Lantern Lecture on “Mesopotamia” was given by Miss Swift from the Church Missionary Society’s Depot at Derby. The collection for the C.M.S. amounted to £2 5s.

The Children’s Union. A Lantern Lecture entitled “The High Road of Adventure” was given to the members of the Children’s Union and other children on Wednesday February 2nd by Miss Pinchard from the Society’s Headquarters in London. The collection for the Church of Waifs and Strays Society amounted to £1 6s.

Church Missionary Society. Miss M.J. Martin, C.M.S. Missionary in the Girls’ School, Onitsha, Nigeria wrote to thank the Working Party and supporters for the parcel of small gifts and the extra gift of money sent for Christmas.

Richard Hudson

FROM THE HOLY TRINITY PRAYER DIARY Please pray for:

February 7th Youth Group & Children of the Church

February 14th Churches within the Soar Valley: Quorn, Mountsorrel, , Woodhouse and

February 21st Bell Ringers – Captain of the Tower: Ian Stonehouse

February 28th Fabric and Finance Committee – Chair: Jez Bowman Treasurer – Martin Roberts

WHO’S WHO IN THE CHURCH Holy Trinity Church, Barrow on Soar Churchwardens: Andy Garner, 07841 528148 Richard Hudson, 413185, 0777 608 6448 Treasurer: Martin Roberts, 620122 PCC Secretary: Lynne Brookes, 1 Beveridge Street, 07860 197183 Verger: Pauline Haynes, 41 Sileby Road, 416432 Tower Captain: Ian Stonehouse, 31 Flint Lane, 412411, 07850 675 014 Sacristan: Clifton Martin, 17 Beaumont Road, 620981

St. Mary’s Church, Walton-le-Wolds Churchwardens: Jeremy Bowman, 07974 967473

Treasurer: Martin Roberts, 620122 DCC Secretary: