CHRIST CHURCH - PORT SUNLIGHT Founded 1904 Telephone: 0151 645 3870 Issue No. 90: October & November 2018 Remembrance Issue Our Mission is to offer our best to God through Worship, Fellowship and Care for the Community Sunday Services Family Worship 10.30am Afternoon Worship ccpsurc.info 3pm Free - please take a copy! 1 CONTENTS WELCOME! 3 The First Word Welcome to the 4 Jean Pinder Remembrance issue of 5 Bible readings for worship The Magazine, from Christ Church 6 The Unknown Warrior Port Sunlight. 6 The war horses of World War 1 The Magazine is 7 The Soldier’s Kiss produced six times a 8 High Flight year by volunteers and 9 Christmas Charity Concert is available free of charge at the back of 10 Events 2018 church. 10 Cornish cream tea results It is also available in 11 Our ‘Sunlighters of the Year’ large print and in colour 13 Thank you! on our website: 13 Autumn Charity Concert Report ccpsurc.info 15 Roll of organists Many thanks for all 16 Church Hall / BBHQ update contributions and 17 Fabric assistance in producing this edition. 18 Quarterly church meeting 18 Carers’ meeting We hope you enjoy reading The Magazine. 18 Social media 18 The Magazine by post We hope you feel part 19 Weddings of this beautiful church. 20 Baptisms 20 Meeting times of our organizations Cover shows: 21 Funerals and interment of ashes Side view of Port 22 Contacts Sunlight War Memorial 23 Editorial details by Sir William 2 Goscombe John. 24 Services in October and November 24 The Last Word Photo by Jan Burrell THE FIRST WORD Dear Friends In a corner of Cologne Southern Cemetery, a couple of miles from the city centre, are the Commonwealth War Graves. There are almost 2,500 graves, many from the final year of WW1. Line after line of white crosses and manicured lawns. The names sound familiar, the regiments represented come from all parts of the UK. The majority died when they were still in their late teens or early twenties. This is a place of pilgrimage. Great Grandfathers are buried here, Great Uncles never known. A century may have passed, but still people come. Beside the occasional cross, flowers – symbols of a visit, a connection, a memory. On the outskirts of Cambridge, a couple of miles from Westminster College, is the American Cemetery. I do not know how many Second World War graves are there, or how many ‘missing in action’ are commemorated on the walls, but the numbers are vast. It is a place the like of which I had only previously seen on TV and in films. Again, line after line of white crosses, the symmetry broken only by the occasional Star of David, and the grass as neat and short as a US Marine’s haircut. This is a place of pilgrimage. Every day of the year Americans visit this place, some for the first and only time, others regularly, every time they visit the UK. Out in the middle of nowhere, 150 miles South West of Paris and 60 miles East of Dijon in western France is the small village of Marigny l’Eglise. Just outside the village is the village cemetery, and in the cemetery there are ten war graves. Seven are British, two Polish and one Russian. The villagers tend the graves, and they are simple and neat, almost plain alongside the traditional French graves with their small monuments and photographs. The contrast with the Cologne War Graves, or the American Cemetery, is immense, but this too is a place of pilgrimage. We were there because one of 3 the graves is that of Sergeant Grayham Byrne - my wife Liz’s uncle. He was an air gunner, and died when the aircraft that he was crewing was involved in a mid-air collision while dropping supplies to the French Resistance. He was 21. On Remembrance Sunday we pause to remember the sacrifices that were made for the sake of freedom. We remember the thousands who died, and the thousands who survived. We remember not only the World Wars, but also the countless other troubles and conflicts that have taken place since, and are indeed still ongoing. Some of us remember friends and loved ones, all of us remember selfless courage in the face of adversity. We remember and give thanks. At the going down of the sun, and in the morning, we will remember them. Rev Ian Smith JEAN PINDER As we go to print we have just heard of the death of Jean Pinder on Monday 24th September 2018. For many years until ill health intervened Jean was a regular and faithful member of our Sunday morning congregation. In recent years she lived in a residential home in Higher Bebington. There will be a cremation at Landican on Tuesday 16th October at 10:30 am followed by a service of thanksgiving at St Barnabas Church, Bromborough, at 11:15 am. We send our condolences and good wishes to her family and friends. 4 BIBLE READINGS FOR WORSHIP DURING OCTOBER AND NOVEMBER As part of your preparation for worship, you might find it helpful to read the set Bible passages for the day. I normally use two or three of the readings in the morning service. Some visiting worship leaders may, on occasion, choose not to use the set readings. Ian Smith Hebrews 9.11-14 7 October Mark 12.28-34 Genesis 2 v18-24 Psalm 8 Hebrews 1 v1-4, 2 v5-12 11 November Mark 10 v2-16 1 Kings 17.8-16 Psalm 146 Hebrews 9.24-28 14 October Mark 12.38-44 Amos 5.6-7, 10-15 Psalm 90.12-17 Hebrews 4.12-16 18 November Mark 10.17-37 Daniel 12.1-3 Psalm 16 21 October Hebrews 10.11-14 (15-18) 19-25 Isaiah 53.4-12 Mark 13.1-8 Psalm 91.9-16 Hebrews 5.1-10 25 November Mark 10.35-45 Daniel 7.9-10, 13-14 Psalm 93 28 October Revelation 1.4b-8 Jeremiah 31.7-9 John 18.33-37 Psalm 126 Hebrews 7.23-28 2 December ~ Advent Sunday Mark 10.46-52 Jeremiah 33.14-16 Psalm 25.1-10 4 November 1 Thessalonians 3.9-13 Deuteronomy 6.1-9 Luke 21.25-36 Psalm 119.1-8 5 THE UNKNOWN WARRIOR To save the world, you asked this man to die, if this man could see you now – would he ask you why? At the west end of the nave in Westminster Abbey is the grave of the 'Unknown Warrior'. The idea for such a memorial is said to have come from a British Chaplain of World War 1, who noticed, in a back garden at Armentieres, a grave with the simple inscription: An unknown British Soldier. In 1920 the body of another unknown soldier was brought back from the battlefields to be re-buried in the Abbey on 11th November. King George V, Queen Mary and many other members of the Royal Family attended the service, 100 holders of the Victoria Cross lined the nave as a guard of honour. On a nearby pillar - another tribute, The Congressional Medal, the highest award which can be conferred by the United States of America. The Unknown Warrior received in death more honours than he ever could have received in life. Submitted by Olive Burns THE WAR HORSES OF WORLD WAR 1 As we approach the centenary of the end of World War 1 and we remember the great sacrifice made by so many people, we should also remember the animals who were drawn into conflict. The British Army used over a million horses and mules in four main roles: for riding (officers, messengers and scouts); for the cavalry; for moving all supplies (ammunition, rifles, food, medicine, tools, ambulances etc.,) and in teams pulling the heavy guns. The British Army employed 1,300 officers as veterinary surgeons and 27,000 men in the Army Veterinary Corps and horse hospitals treated up to 2,000 animals at a time. The horses and mules worked in appalling conditions and every year 15% of them died, mostly due to exposure to the elements, hunger and illness rather than enemy action. After the war there was no peaceful retirement for the horses and mules who had contributed so much. They became a problem for the army and the Treasury and many of the older weaker animals remained on the Continent. Officers’ 6 mounts were returned to Britain, along with the youngest, healthiest animals: 25,000 were retained by the army and 60,000 were sold to British farmers. Reference: BBC (n.d.) Who were the real war horses of WW1? [online] Available at: BBC.co.uk [Accessed 2/10/18] Submitted by Olive Burns, edited by Jan Burrell THE SOLDIER’S KISS Only a dying horse! Pull off the gear And slip the needless bit from frothing jaws, Drag it aside there, leave the roadway clear, The battery thunders on with scarce a pause. Prone by the shell-swept highway there it lies With quivering limbs, as fast the life tide fails, Dark films are closing o’er the faithful eyes That mutely plead for aid where none avails. Onward the battery roll but one there speeds, Heedless of comrade’s voice or bursting shell, Back to a wounded friend who lonely bleeds Beside the stony highway where it fell. Only a dying horse! He swiftly kneels, Lifts the limp head and hears the shivering sigh, Kisses his friend while down his cheek there steals Sweet pity’s tear, "Goodbye, old man, Goodbye".