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Focal Point, May 2014 1 Focal Point, September 2014 2 Focal Point, September 2014 3 Focal Point, September 2014 4 Focal Point, September 2014 5 Focal Point, September 2014 6 Focal Point, September 2014 Problems or need advice with your PC? Affordable, professional and personal service for small businesses and individuals Technical support ~ Installation and set-up ~ Virus removal ~ PC optimisation ~ Advice on buying the right equipment and software ~ Tuition ~ Repairs Call David Harris on 07974 286314 or email: [email protected] *Special rates for seniors* 7 Focal Point, September 2014 8 Focal Point, September 2014 From the editor s I write, there is a definite nip in the air but what a glorious summer A we have had. Fingers crossed for good weather for the fete on the 6th when there will be all the usual stalls and fun, including a dog show, music from Oldland Brass and the Ukulele Orchestra of Great Bitton, an art exhibition, cream teas, the return of the Companions of the Longbow and displays by a martial arts group. There is also the chance to see the tree carver at work as he creates the Bitton Owl tree sculpture in the Glebe Field. And why not enter the Great Bitton Bake Off to be judged by Janet Ballinger - the recipe is on page 18. Our new vicar Jeremy, who is on our front cover (thank you Liz Midgley for the photo), will be opening the fete at 2pm. We were all cheering on Bitton’s swimming star Siobhan- Marie O’Connor as she won six medals at the Commonwealth Games, as well as gymnast Claudia Fragapane, a former pupil at The Meadows Primary School, who won four golds. The pair scooped more golds than Team Wales! See page 24. The private toll road has opened at Kelston and the business- man who has invested an enormous amount of money is hoping he will be able to recoup it. In the first few weeks he was not getting the 1,000 vehicles a day he needs to break even but hopes that will pick up once the schools go back. Meanwhile repair work to the section of the A431 affected by the landslip is now under way. And the refurbishment of the Aubrey Meads Play Area, which includes a new community garden, is going well, with the official opening planned in the autumn. Becky Feather 0117 932 5037 [email protected] 9 Focal Point, September 2014 Churches and services UPTON CHEYNEY URC Elder: Muriel Williams 0117 961 6843 Minister: Meryl White 0775 914 6645 Sunday services (3pm) September 7 Led by Pam Dix September 14 Special service to commemorate our 180th anniversary, led by Meryl White September 21 Led by Meryl White September 28 Led by Angus Gregson Our coffee afternoon is on Tuesday the 23rd at 2pm; we are also holding a table-top sale on Saturday the 20th from 10.30am ST MARY’S CHURCH Vicar: Rev Jeremy Andrew The Vicarage, Church Avenue, Warmley 0117 967 2724 Ordained minister: Rev Richard Humphrey, Splinters, Kenilworth Drive, Willsbridge 0117 949 0502 Lay ministers: Ken Gibson, 8 Church Road, Bitton 0117 932 2122 David Bailey, Westover, Bath Road, Bitton 0117 932 8949 Churchwardens: Barbara Merritt, 32 Bath Road, Bitton 0117 932 3926 Jim Heavens, Eastover, High Street, Bitton 10 Focal Point, September 2014 Message from the vicar Dear Friends, I want to start my first letter with a word of thanksgiving for the wonderful welcome and support all in the benefice and the wider community have given Rachel and I and our family. Gifts, meals and words of encouragement have helped us acclimatise and settle and we are very grateful for your care. I am also very encouraged by you all, as during the vacancy the churches have continued to work together and different people have offered their support and commitment to ministry and ‘found a job to do’ to support the church’s normal pattern of life. Thank you for offering such ministry and commitment which I hope you will continue to do and in which I hope to share. This last month has been an interesting period of transition and change for us as we have laid down some things, waited, and have now begun to take up some new things. I always try, during a period of change, to have some things that remain constant and one of those things is my commitment to read and study scripture. Something that has struck me as I have finished off the book of Leviticus and begun Numbers in my reading plan, is how the different tribes of Israel were assigned different tasks for the benefit of the whole and according to God’s commandments. A census was taken, the first census of the people of Israel, and the ordering of the camp according to each tribe and the task they were given was made. For example, in Numbers 1: 50 the tribe of Levi is appointed to look after the tabernacle and all its furnishings. Whilst a census was taken in Numbers 1 to see those available in each tribe to go to war, there is no question of any military activity on the part of the Israelite tribes, and clearly the census is about organising the people in the most sensible and ordered way. So the subsequent rules made for the allocation of the tribal campsites were very relevant for this period in the wilderness 11 Focal Point, September 2014 and for the order of marching when the Israelites moved on. Perhaps your experience of the vacancy was far from a wilderness experience but the on-going journey requires the whole church to be ordered and ready for the way ahead. This is not my task but our task, as we look to the future and decide what we need and don’t need to take with us. This is all about organisation which echoes, to an extent, what Paul is trying to say in his image of the body of Christ; each bring their different gifts and skills, their allocated ‘place in the camp’, their particular tasks to do, for the church to function fruitfully. I have already enjoyed beginning to see this fitting together in our benefice and will continue to encourage each of you to take your place in the ministry and mission of the church; to see together what God is doing in Bitton, Warmley and Syston and join in. With love and prayers, Jeremy Read more about Jeremy on page 15 SUNDAY FUNDAY is on 14th September at 10.30am in St Mary’s Church Hall The new term gets under way with all the usual music, crafts, Bible stories and refreshments Parents are invited to stay and relax! Coffee, tea and newspapers will be provided 12 Focal Point, September 2014 Services at St Mary’s Sunday, September 7 6.30pm: Patronal Festival Sunday, September 14 8am: Holy Communion 10.30am: Morning Prayer and Sunday Funday in the Church Hall Sunday, September 21 10.30am: Family Service followed by lunch at Avon Valley Railway Friday, September 26 9.30am: Celtic Communion followed by coffee and cakes Sunday, September 28 8am: Holy Communion 10.30am: Fourth Sunday Special and Mary Poppins Sunday School www.stmarysbitton.org Flower rota September 6 Fete September 13 Wedding September 20 Judith Butson September 27 Wedding 13 Focal Point, September 2014 St Mary’s Matters he remnants of Hurricane Bertha are storming around as I write. Let us hope T they blow past before the fete. We all remember fetes that took place in horizontal rain and gales (good for burger sales) as well as scorching sunshine (good for ice cream sales) but thanks to your hard work and community spirit, everything worked out, though I hope there is sunshine to welcome helpers and Barbara Merritt visitors to this year’s medieval-themed fete on Saturday, September 6, which starts at 2pm. We also welcome you all to our Patronal Festival on Sunday, September 7 at 6.30pm in St Mary’s Church. This year the Rev Jeremy Andrew, our new vicar, is organising our special service. What is he planning for us? Come and see. Gloucestershire Historic Churches Trust has been very generous to us and recently paid £2,500 for the restoration of the table tomb by the West Door. Every year we undertake a sponsored walk, half the money raised going to the trust and half to St Mary’s Church. Usually we walk on a Saturday but this year we are going to do it on Sunday, September 14 as there are two weddings at St Mary’s on the Saturday. We will set off from St Mary’s at 2pm for St George’s at Hanham Abbots - all off road with one short, steep hill so wear suitable shoes. Sponsor forms are available in church and from Anne Carrington on 0117 935 3475. Refreshments will be available. Saltford Serenade entertained us most excellently with an evening of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. It was a beautiful sunny evening and the church was busy with people enjoying the music and Pimm’s. Many thanks to the Serenaders, to Elaine Pool and Liz Midgley who organised it and to all who helped in any way. (See report on page 16) Barbara Merritt Churchwarden 14 Focal Point, September 2014 A warm welcome eginning a new chapter in his life as the recently appointed vicar of B Bitton, Warmley and Syston, the Rev Jeremy Andrew, pictured, is enjoying some- thing of a homecoming.