September 2020
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September 2020 £1 (£10 per year) 1 UNITED BENEFICE OF ST. MARY, GOUDHURST WITH CHRIST CHURCH, KILNDOWN Vicar: The Vicarage, Back Lane Goudhurst, Kent, TN17 1AN Tel: 01580 211739 Email: Lay Minister: Caroline Turvey Tel: 01580 211739 Email: [email protected] Benefice Administrator: Becky Addis, (Monday to Friday 9am-12 noon) Benefice Office, The Vicarage, Back Lane, Goudhurst, Kent, TN17 1AN Tel: 01580 211739 Email : [email protected] GOUDHURST Church Wardens: Ali Williams Tel: 07944 776008 Simon Taurins Tel: 07768 598239 Sunday Club: Huthrie Copplestone Tel: 01580 211902 [email protected] Church Room Bookings: Rosemary Southon Tel: 01580 211791 Ready Call: Jayne Russell (Chairman) Tel: 07766 553728 Joe Meyer (transport) Mon-Fri 9am-10am Tel: 01580 211750 Parish Hall Bookings: Nichola Osgood [email protected] KILNDOWN Church Wardens: David Denton Tel: 01892 890244 Vacancy Tel: Flower Arranging: Lynda Shepherd Tel: 01580 879549 [email protected] Village Hall Bookings: Evie Banfield Tel: 07872 348155 PARISH MAGAZINE Editor: David Denton Tel: 01892 890244 [email protected] Magazine Advertising: Ursula Ellwood [email protected] Subscriptions & Distribution: Pam Stubbs (Goudhurst) Tel: 01580 211013 Hilary Bird (Kilndown) Tel: 01892 890554 2 WHAT’S ON IN SEPTEMBER 2020 At the time of writing we are hoping and praying that we will be able to return to our normal pattern of Sunday services from 6 September. The services will look and feel different to the ones that we are used to, but we see this as a stepping-stone as we move towards a new normal. So this will be our pattern of Sunday worship: 8:00 – BCP Holy Communion, St. Mary’s 9:15 – Holy Communion, Christ Church 10:45 – Sunday worship (communion on the first Sunday of the month only), St. Mary’s In terms of continuing our online services, there will be a pre-recorded 9:15 service available from Christ Church, and the 10:45 service at St. Mary’s will be live-streamed. The arrangements for the 10:45 service are still being finalised but the service will be ticketed due to restrictions on numbers in the church building, and the tickets will be available via the church website. It’s also worth mentioning that there will be no band or choir at the 10:45 service although we will be using pre-recorded songs from the band on the screen. The arrangements for our Sunday Groups are also being finalised but we’re hoping to offer something for our young people on the Glebe Field during the service. And sadly we won’t be able to offer refreshments after the service either. Please keep an eye on the website for updates on all the above. Daily Prayers Our Daily prayers will continue Monday to Saturday at 10:00 throughout September as we meet via Zoom for a simple online time of prayer which everyone is welcome to join in. The prayer time lasts about 30 minutes, starting with a chance to catch up be- fore a time of shared prayer and reflection. Following on from the prayer time we will be continuing with our 30-minute bible study led by different people from our church community every day. There is a link on the church website to join so come and try it out. Community Cupboard Our food bank continues to be well stocked and we would love to hear from anyone who needs some support, either on a regular ba-sis or just as a one off. To access the foodbank please contact Ali Mackey at [email protected] To find out more about GK Church go to our website www.gkchurch.org.uk 3 INTERREGNUM MESSAGE Stop all the clocks Does anyone else feel as though the world ground to a halt this year? That time changed? W H Auden’s poem conjures up a picture of sadness and loss and perhaps, for you, the time past also has brought its fair measure of sadness. We can never turn back the clock. More than ever, we live in uncertain, challenging and changing times into which we can only move forward, but how do we navigate the uncertainty when so much has already changed? Well, here are a few pointers for you to ponder on as September marches on, the children return to their classrooms and we begin to re-imagine this new season in time. Paul in the bible says he has ‘learnt to be content in all circumstances’. He wrote this from prison before his death so knew what it was to suffer, to be deprived of ‘normal’ life and live with the ‘not knowing’ about the future. We would call this ‘resilience’, the ability to bounce back when situations come at us that leave us floored. Let’s not be reduced by the past but be challenged by it and instead of simply bouncing back, leap forward to what is ahead. Getting up and moving forward is a choice. We can say yes or no in our decision making. The road to life has unexpected turns but we have a choice to follow it. The plans God has for us give us hope if we leave the choice to him. Be the change you want to see in the world. We can’t go back to before pandemic times but we can start where we are and change what is to come. Patience is also a virtue that many of us find a challenge. How do we wait for a better time without complaining? We need to be as patient with ourselves as God is with us. God’s ways are pretty unfathomable while they are still in progress so don’t try to exhaust yourself worrying about what is to come, just live in the now. And most importantly, smile. We are refreshed in the presence of cheerful people, so cheer someone else up each day. Give people around you a reason to hope, a sense of well-being, an expectation that the new world we enter into will be alright because we journey into it together. Paul says in one of his letters that ‘We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed’. This is a very different outcome to that which Auden describes. So take heart this month. The God who gave Paul the courage to move forward, is very much alive, and in the habit of bringing hope in uncertain times to those who seek Him. If you are in need of some hope today and would like to talk to someone, Please don’t hesitate to call the church office on 01580 211739 or leave a prayer request in the box in either church and we will pray for you. Amen Caroline 4 'Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone' Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone, Prevent the dog from barking with a juicy bone, Silence the pianos and with muffled drum Bring out the coffin, let the mourners come. Let aeroplanes circle moaning overhead Scribbling on the sky the message He Is Dead, Put crepe bows round the white necks of the public doves, Let the traffic policemen wear black cotton gloves. He was my North, my South, my East and West, My working week and my Sunday rest, My noon, my midnight, my talk, my song; I thought that love would last for ever: I was wrong. The stars are not wanted now: put out every one; Pack up the moon and dismantle the sun; Pour away the ocean and sweep up the wood; For nothing now can ever come to any good. W H Auden 5 AN UNTIMELY DEATH IN GOUDHURST IN 1910 In 1847, the Scottish physician Sir James Young Simpson first used chloroform as an anaesthetic, testing it on himself. It was administered by dripping the liquid onto a cloth or a sponge held above the face so that the vapours were inhaled, and its effects worked quickly. There were early reports of fatalities due to chloroform, beginning with a 15-year-old girl in 1848. Skill and care were required to differentiate between an effective dose and one that paralysed the lungs, causing death. The use of chloroform spread quickly and, in 1853, it was given to Queen Victoria during the birth of her eighth child, Prince Leopold. I found the following inquest report by accident while researching my family history. The police constable giving evidence at the inquest was my great uncle, James Eversfield, who was living and serving in Goudhurst at the time. The inquest concerned the death of his fellow police constable, James Truphet Saywell, a 35 year old who lived at Riseden. On 21 September 1910 a group of hop-pickers was causing a disturbance at Goudhurst Station. PC Saywell was attempting to quieten things down when he injured his left shoulder. He didn’t take too much notice of the injury until he was unable to use his left arm and he went to see the village doctor. Dr Sealy, advised PC Saywell that it would be necessary to administer chloroform in order to put the shoulder back in place. On Saturday morning 1 October PC Saywell went to Dr Sealy’s surgery, accompanied by PC Eversfield, where he was stripped to the waist and laid on a mattress on the floor. Dr Sealy placed a cloth over his face and poured some chloroform from a bottle onto it. After that the doctor allowed drops to fall onto the cloth at intervals of a few seconds for four or five times.