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Lillington Parish Magazine St Mary Magdalene’s Church SEPTEMBER 2014 1 Phil Edwards Home & Garden Services General Handy Man NO JOB TOO SMALL! Whatever you need doing, a dripping tap, some shelves putting up, gutters cleaning, the garage clearing out or the garden looking after, give me a call Home: 01926 424485 Mobile: 07931 812235 e-mail: [email protected] TOM COLES Computer Problems? GAS, PLUMBING & Call Jan Lucas HEATING System set up Virus removal Tel: 02477 046 392 Tuition Mobile: 07949 288 682 If you’ve just got your computer and don’t know where to start, give me a call! I will show you step by step how to use your computer, including email, surfing the web, photos, Skype and more... 14, Woodlands Road Binley Woods I can also train more advanced users in Coventry. CV3 2DA subjects such as word, excel, access... [email protected] Tell me what you want to do, and I’ll show you how to do it! All Gas Servicing, Installation 02476 307 988 or 07847 015 154 Plumbing and Central Heating Work undertaken www.bootfinder.co.uk 2 References available FROM THE VICARAGE A common icebreaker at conferences and on courses is to answer the following question. If your house was on fire and you could grab just two things (assuming all people and pets are safely accounted for) what would they be? Photo albums, laptops and items of high sentimental value are popular answers. Over the summer, Naomi and I decided to clear out the garage. Over the years it has accumulated more and more ‘stuff’ to the point where you couldn’t really find the things you needed or wanted. We were ruthless, recycling or dumping anything that we hesitated for even a moment about. I took a veritable treasure trove of a carload to the reuseful shop, and was rewarded with oohs and aahs from the staff as they helped me unload. As we did this, the news was beginning to unfold about the terrible atrocities happening in Iraq. Christians, Yezidis and other minority groups being forced to flee from their homes, running for their very lives, leaving everything behind. As someone with the immense privilege of being able to ponder whether I really need a spare kettle in the garage, such a situation is unimaginable. Watching those you love being brutally murdered, watching children die from thirst and exhaustion, losing everything you own and all you have known. It’s very hard to know how to respond. I have given money and I am praying. I am also talking about the issues, keeping up to date with the news and sharing articles on Facebook. I have also changed my Facebook profile picture to an Arabic letter ‘N’. On July 19, Christians in the city of Mosul and on the surrounding Nineveh Plains were issued with an ultimatum to leave, pay a tax, or face death by the sword. The next day IS fighters drew the Arabic letter “N” on all property owned by Assyrian Christians, so they could be identified and driven out or worse. Since then, people all over the world have been using this letter as a sign of solidarity with these persecuted Christians. It may feel like there is little we can do, but we can remember and stand with them in our thoughts and our prayers. 1 Reflecting on what is happening in the Middle East – not just in Iraq, but in Gaza and Syria, has also helped me to think hard about what is important, and to hold a bit more lightly to my many possessions. Is it so easy for us in our blessedly secure and safe country, to put our trust and hope in material things, without even realising we are doing it. But Jesus had a story about that. A rich man’s farm produced a big crop, and he said to himself, “What can I do? I don’t have a place large enough to store everything.” Later, he said, “Now I know what I’ll do. I’ll tear down my barns and build bigger ones, where I can store all my grain and other goods. Then I’ll say to myself, ‘You have stored up enough good things to last for years to come. Live it up! Eat, drink, and enjoy yourself.’” But God said to him, “You fool! Tonight you will die. Then who will get what you have stored up?” This is what happens to people who store up everything for themselves, but are poor in the sight of God. So let’s remember to give thanks for the many blessings that we have, but also to make sure that we put our time and energy into what is really important. Not what we have, but who we are. Rev Charlotte Gale, September 2014 OCTOTOTS Octotots is our informal weekly get-together for babies, toddlers and their grown-ups. We meet in the Octagon on Thursday mornings from 10.30 – 12.00 during term time for a mixture of chat, bible stories and songs with plenty of toys to keep the little ones busy. We start back on 18 September. Our Sunday Club restarts on 7 September during our 9.30 am service. Children learn about following Jesus, through singing, games, plays, prayers, colouring, craft and stories from the bible. We start off in Church, then go out to the Octagon for Sunday Club. After about a half an hour, we go back into church for the end of the service. We welcome parents to come and join in if they’d like to, especially with younger children 2 FROM THE CHURCH RECORDS BAPTISMS Jun 22 William Henry Baldry Charlotte Louise Baldry James Johnson Jul 27 Amber Mai Francis Lily-Rae Thornicroft WEDDINGS Jun 21 Marc Gadsby and Cordelia Maughan Jul 4 Stephen Boyd and Rebecca Monnington FUNERALS Jun 17 Joan Booth (83) Jun 27 Audrey Heath (86) CONGRATULATIONS TO THE NEW MR & MRS GADSBY Marc and I met in chapter of life, has Nottingham when been a real he asked me to blessing. You may crew his dinghy. have noticed we There wasn't much are sometimes wind that day so accompanied by we ended up doing Marc's sons Robert a lot of talking and Simon who instead! (Which was lucky come to visit on occasions, and because my experience is have done a bit of serving. limited to sailing camp as a Girl Guide.) His work brought him As many of you know, Marc is down to Warwickshire in 2012 on the PCC and serving rota, and I, with my two sons Daniel and I am looking forward to and Callum, have finally made it singing in the choir (Something down to join him! We've been I have always enjoyed doing but so warmly welcomed by you all have not had the opportunity in at Mary Magdalene's and getting recent years) and leading the married in June, in the place prayers occasionally. where we want to begin a new Cordelia Gadsby 3 Autumn Organ Recitals All recitals start at 7.30pm and are free admission Wednesday 3rd September - Mark Swinton St. Mary’s, Warwick Wednesday 10th September - Michael King St Mary Magdalene, Lillington Wednesday 17th September - David King Lullington, Somerset Wednesday 24th September - David Williams All Saints, Leamington Spa Anniversary Recital Saturday 4th October - John Wilderspin Worcester Cathedral (with cheese and wine interval) 4 WARDENS' WORDS My last warden's words were written back in May, just as spring had given way to early summer. Well here I am again, in August - having just witnessed the remnants of hurricane Bertha battering what remains of the summer bedding, in a scene reminiscent of the violent summer storm so vividly captured by Vivaldi in his Four Seasons - as summer begins to give way to early Autumn. A few weeks ago Alan (Wright), Charlotte (Sanders) and myself met with Liam Wheeler from Ecclesiastical Insurance; a meeting I found useful and (strangely) interesting. Afterwards Liam sought me out to say that he thought that the church was exceptionally well run. This is something we should all be proud of and is a consequence of having so many members of the congregation involved in the week to week running of the church. Not that we should become complacent, if anything this should encourage us to do even more! Talking of which let me give you a brief update on Fabric matters. Heating - boxing-in of (some of) the exposed pipe work (including replacing the temporary arrangement over the vestry door step) will be carried out in September. Church Painting - quotes have been requested for: • Vestry/Office walls • Sacristy • South East corner of the church behind the font • North West corner - repairing the plaster on the west wall Memorial Bench (for Janet Gardner) - Diocesan authority received this very day! War Memorial - has been registered with the Imperial War Museum. Work to replace the "vicar's plaque" and to clean the war memorial is progressing. Octagon - by the time you read this the mechanism for opening the fire door should have been replaced. 5 Churchyard - the churchyard team continue to meet on Wednesday mornings - come rain or shine. New recruits are always welcome, especially as I find that these days I seem to spend more time on churchwarden "things" and less time pushing a mower. John Butler SAFEGUARDING CHILDREN The Churches’ Child Protection Advisory Service (CCPAS) has leant its weight to the growing number of calls for the mandatory reporting of abuse to be made law in the UK.