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SEPTEMBER 2021 1 2 MISSION A community seeking to live well with God, gathered around Jesus Christ in prayer and fellowship, and committed to welcome, worship and witness. The Church Office Bolton Abbey, Skipton BD23 6AL 01756 710587 [email protected] The Rector The Rectory, Bolton Abbey, Skipton BD23 6AL [email protected] Website www.boltonpriory.church The Church is now open every Sunday for a 10.30 service. Places have to be booked via the Church Office. The Tower remains open for private prayer but the Church itself is closed during the week. For the audio services, the weekly sheet and magazine please look at: www.boltonpriory.church BAPTISMS, WEDDINGS and FUNERALS By arrangement via the Church Office 3 4 Issue Number 485 REVEREND CHRISTOPHER ARMSTRONG RIP September 2021 Christopher was born in Cambridge in 1935. Shortly before the outbreak of the Second World War, his father, A H Armstrong, From Revd Nicholas Mercer accepted a post at Valetta University in Malta. This meant that as a family they had to endure the trauma of the siege of Malta in I woke this morning to hear the news of the report from the 1941/2. This had a lasting impact on him. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and it makes for very Back in Britain, Christopher attended boarding school, first near dismal listening. Malvern, later moving on to Downside School, Stratton on the Just when we thought we were turning the corner on the pandemic Fosse, which was at that time run by the Benedictine community. in this country, at least, we now find we are facing a new ‘pandemic’ When he finished school, Christopher joined the monastic in the form of climate change. Once again, the threat is to the whole community, becoming Brother Anthony. This didn’t stop his love of world and the threat is now imminent. learning, languages or travel; he studied at University in Spain, As we can see from our television screens there are fires, flooding Switzerland, Cambridge and Paris. and extreme weather events around the world. Fires are burning in It was whilst studying at Cambridge he met Meriel Moir, who was Greece, Russia, Turkey and America and there has been also studying there. They married at St Peter’s Church, Rowlestone, unprecedented flooding in Germany, the Netherlands and India. The Herefordshire in 1967. They bought Rowlestone Mill, a disused seas are rising and floods, wildfires and droughts are increasing. The watermill, which they let to various tenants over the years, but report rightly sounds ‘code red for humanity’. retuned to every holiday. This is a global challenge and there are no short cuts. Denial is not an They then spent time in Scotland where Christopher worked as a option and we cannot simply deflect responsibility by demanding that lecturer in French at Aberdeen University. The cottage they lived in other countries reduce emissions, somehow hoping that this absolves had previously been a Quaker meeting house, which they us from personal responsibility. We must now all play our part. renovated and researched. After a short time at theological college The psalmist reminds us that the world does not belong to us but that in Edinburgh, Christopher was received into Anglican orders. They ‘The earth is the Lord's, and the fullness thereof; the world, and they then moved back to England, where Christopher worked in Parishes that dwell therein,’ Psalm 24. in Herefordshire, Worcestershire, Yorkshire, Cambridgeshire and We are stewards of God’s creation and have a Christian duty to look North Wales. He also taught for five years at the theological college, after the world as its temporary custodians. This places a Westcott House in Cambridge. His last post in Aberdaron and the responsibility upon us all and in all our lives. We need to think about surrounding parishes was significant as throughout his life he had everything we do and its impact on God’s creation. In the parish of visited Ynys Enllis (Bardsey), the island off the end of the Llyn Bolton Abbey we have to ensure that, not only is our Church carbon Peninsula. neutral, but that all our lives are carbon neutral too. On a personal In 1999, Christopher retired and he and Meriel went to properly live level, this will mean changing our consumption including cars and at Rowlestone Mill, tending the garden, keeping bees, pursuing his heating. These are tough choices but will have to be made sooner many and varied interests. He was interested in so many things it is rather than later. difficult to write about them all. Some of the organisations he was There is no time for prevarication. The time is now involved with included the Craswall Grandmontine Society, the Bardsey Island chapel committee, the Traherne Society and the David Jones society. He was a great lover of books, and over his life Nicholas collected thousands, including antiquarian ones. He had a phenomenal mind and could talk about art, music, history, religion, 5 6 philosophy, literature etc. and whatever we were talking about he COP26 CLIMATE CONFERENCE would usually have a book about it somewhere! The Climate Emergency has prompted the publication of 26 prayers In 2009 Christopher and Meriel realised that a watermill with a nearly by the Revd Jon Swales who has long been a champion of green two acre garden was going to be a challenge in later retirement, so issues. In advance of the COP26 climate conference in November he they moved to Burley-in-Wharfedale to be near their daughter and set himself the challenge of writing 26 prayers. grandchildren. This is when they started attending Bolton Priory, This is the first prayer, Come Holy Spirit which became an important part of their lives. They not only Creator God attended the Sunday services, but Christopher really enjoyed his Father of Compassion, sessions doing guiding on Mondays; he knew such a lot and enjoyed We thank you that we gather together as your sons and daughters. sharing that knowledge with people. The mid-week communion and We thank you for the world that you have made. coffee after the Sunday morning service, were also an important part For of their weekly routine. Meriel died in August 2018 and it was not Soil and streams, long after that the Christopher was diagnosed with Vascular Mountains and music, Dementia. He died suddenly in his flat in Abbeyfield Grove House, Flowers and fauna, Ilkley, on 09 July 2021. We had a beautiful funeral in the Priory on 05 Laughter and love, August. Later this year Christopher’s ashes will join Meriel’s in the Dancing and daffodils, churchyard of St Peter’s Rowlestone. Flamingos and food. We thank you that we inhabit this world with non-human Bridget Turner, Christopher and Meriel’s daughter worshippers. Elephants and eagles, Red kites and racoons. Monkeys and macaws. To you be all honour, glory and praise. Creator God, THE PARISH MAGAZINE ONLINE AND AT BA POST OFFICE Father of Compassion, The Magazine is now published in both printed and online versions. We are concerned about this world of yours You can view it online or pick one up from Bolton Abbey Post Office. And this world of ours In the face of the climate crisis our hearts are restless and our souls PARISH MAGAZINE DEADLINE OCTOBER MAGAZINE are sad. Please could we have any copy for the October magazine by 15 Draw near to us as the healer of all hurts. September. It can be sent to the Editor or the Church Office. Please Father, we ask that you would lead and guide us send by email to either; [email protected] or By the power and compassion of the Holy Spirit. [email protected] In these strange and difficult days, we ask that you would mould us and shape us into the image of your son, and our saviour Jesus. POSTAL MAGAZINES May we, like him, be people of justice. If you would like to receive your magazine by post just let the Church Come Holy Spirit , We need you Office know, 01756 710587. The cost is £10 p.a. You can also read it Come Holy Spirit, Fill us afresh online at the Priory website www.boltonpriory.org.uk Come Holy Spirit, Empower us. In Jesus’ name we pray Amen 7 8 9 10 INCLUDE A DONATION A donation of £5 per box is critical to cover shipping and other project costs. You can give online at: samaritans-purse.org.uk/followyourbox or send a cheque, signed and dated, with your address written on the back to: Operation Christmas Child Freepost RTKB-BHTY-XHZB Victoria House NATIONAL COLLECTION WEEK 15-22 NOVEMBER Victoria Road Website: samaritans-purse.org.uk/occ BUCKHURST HILL shoeboxonline.org.uk Essex Each year thousands of IG9 5EX people generously pack shoebox gifts for children in DROP-OFF need around the world. Take your shoebox gift to a local drop-off location from Find out all you need to 15-22 November. know about how to pack your shoebox gift below. Explanatory leaflets are available at the Priory from Peter and Elaine Please remember that your Adams-Lambert. shoebox may be the only gift the child receives. We will publish details of the Drop-Off locations in the October Please pack quality items magazine. They have yet to be announced. that will last. PLEASE DO NOT INCLUDE: toothpaste, lotions and liquids, seeds, gum, chocolate or food items; medicines, aerosol cans, sharp or fragile items. SHOEBOX Get a standard size shoebox to pack for a boy or girl.