November 2020
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NOVEMBER 2020 SERVING THE PARISHES OF ST MARY’S ALL SAINTS’ HOLY TRINITY Hordley 50p Baschurch Weston Lullingfields Per issue 2 CONTENTS THE RECTOR’S MESSAGE ..................................................................................................... 4 SERVICES FOR NOVEMBER................................................................................................. 6 REV STEVE ALSTON’S ORDINATION ............................................................................ 8 BASCHURCH PAGE ................................................................................................................. 10 HORDLEY NEWS ..................................................................................................................... 11 THE BISHOP’S PASTORAL LETTER for NOVEMBER ........................................ 12 WESTON PAGE ......................................................................................................................... 14 CLARENDON WAY ................................................................................................................. 16 THE BISHOP’S PASTORAL LETTER for OCTOBER ............................................. 18 WESTON LULLINGFIELDS ................................................................................................ 18 CROSSWORD .............................................................................................................................. 20 CARING FOR GOD’S ACRE ................................................................................................. 22 DAVID MORGAN’S PAGE .................................................................................................... 23 INDEX OF ADVERTISERS ................................................................................................... 33 WHO’S WHO ............................................................................................................................... 34 SUBMISSIONS FOR DECEMBER/JANUARY MAGAZINE Please send your stories, pictures or notices for the next issue by 15th NOVEMBER 2020 to: [email protected] The views expressed by individuals in this Magazine are not necessarily the views of the group of Churches in this Benefice. External advertising in this magazine does not imply an endorsement or promotion of the advertisement, nor its content, products or services. Errors and omissions, whilst regrettable, may occur. Front cover: The Harvest Festival for St Mary’s, Hordley was held in the grain store at Edward Jones’s farm. This enabled social distancing to be maintained. See page 11. 3 THE RECTOR’S MESSAGE Dear Friends, November is the month in which there are services for Remembering and Remembrance. Our annual All Souls Service, ‘Lights of Love’ where we remember our loved ones who are no longer with us. Then we have our service of Remembrance where we remember those who died in our two World Wars and we give thanks for all they sacrificed for our freedom. This year we have also had services of remembrance for 75th Anniversaries of Victory in Europe and Victory in Japan and the 80th Anniversary of the Battle of Britain. Sadly on Remembrance Sunday this year we are unable to gather as we normally would, but we will still remember. People often find it helpful to have something to help them remember, not because they forget but often because it helps to focus our minds and our thoughts. On Remembrance Sunday many gather at War Memorials and poppies are worn. For those remembering loved ones who have died, there is often a Gravestone or Plaque, or even a special tree. One of the most poignant memorials ever built is the tomb just inside the great West Door of Westminster Abbey. It is the tomb of the Unknown Warrior, representing all those who died on a battlefield in France during the First World War and who were buried without the knowledge of who they were. Over the years it has come to symbolize all who have died in battle both then and ever since. The idea for the tomb came from the Revd. David Railton as he stood at a graveside in Northern France. He had just conducted a burial service and saw a small wooden cross marking a grave with the words, ‘An Unknown British Soldier.’ He later said: “How that grave caused me to think … I thought and thought. What can I do to ease the pain of father, mother, brother, sister, sweet- heart, wife and friend? Quietly and gradually there came out of the mist of thought this answer clear and strong. ‘Let this body – this symbol of him – be carried over the sea to his native land.’” At the end of the war, the Revd. David Railton worked to make his idea a reality; it wasn’t easy, but as he persisted so the idea gained favour. During the night of 7th November 1920, four bodies were exhumed from different battlefields in France and brought to a chapel in Arras. There, one was 4 chosen by the touch of a hand on the coffin and from there the journey of the unknown warrior began. The body was brought to Dover on a Royal Naval ship and it landed at the quayside on 10th November 1920. People were waiting to get a glimpse in case it was their loved one. The body was then taken by train to London and spent the night at Victoria Station before being placed on a carriage driven by black horses. The coffin travelled through hushed but weeping crowds to Westminster Abbey and was brought in on the 11th hour of the 11th month. Over the days that followed more than a million people came to pay their respects and many millions more have been since. That tomb symbolizes the sacrifice made by millions of men and women over the years in the search for peace. It is a focus for us all, even those of us who did not live through the war, let alone fight in it, and it reminds us not only of their sacrifice but that the search goes on. As we gather each year on Remembrance Sunday and Armistice Day we remember those who paid the ultimate sacrifice in the First and Second World Wars. But we also remember those who have paid that sacrifice since. Many are surprised at the numbers of men and women who have died in war since the Second World War. A memorial to them stands as the focal point at the National Memorial Arboretum in Alrewas, Staffordshire. If you have never been then may I suggest you go, it is a sobering place, but also one of beauty and peace and one today that draws as many as the tomb of the Unknown Warrior. The inscription on the tomb of the Unknown Warrior says this: “They buried him among the kings because he had done good toward God and toward His house” This year in this month of Remembering and Remembrance we remember alongside our loved ones and those who died for our freedom, those who have given their lives in this Pandemic, especially those who have worked within our health service. Each one of them did their duty, each one of them had done good for their fellow human beings. I pray that we may do the same, because when we do, we remember and honour those who have gone before us. At the going down of the sun and in the morning we will remember them… 5 Services in November St Mary’s Hordley 8th November – Remembrance Sunday 9.15am 22nd November – Holy Communion Holy Trinity, Weston Lullingfields 1st November 9.30am - Worship for All 15th November 9.30am – Holy Communion All Saints’ Baschurch 1st November - 8am – Holy Communion (BCP) 11am Holy Communion (CW) 3pm & 6pm ‘Lights of Love’ 8th November – No service in church in the morning, instead there will be a broadcast service for Remembrance which will be available to view from our website and Youtube. Please do not gather at the War Memorial. Crosses and poppies may be placed at the war memorial before or after Re- membrance Sunday. We are also encouraging people to be creative and maybe paint a stone to place along the inner wall near the war memorial or to hang a poppy from one of the trees. 6pm Holy Communion 15th November 8am Holy Communion (BCP) 11am Holy Communion (CW) 22nd November 11am Holy Communion 29th November – Advent Sunday 11am Holy Communion 6 Bible readings for November 1st November – All Saints’ Day Revelation 7: 9-end /1 John 3: 1-3 Gospel: Matthew 5: 1-12 8th November – Remembrance Sunday Remembrance Service Readings TBC 1 Thessalonians 4: 13-end Gospel: Matthew 25: 1-13 These readings are for our evening service of Holy Communion 15th November 1 Thessalonians 5: 1-11 Gospel: Matthew 25: 14-30 22nd November – Christ the King Ephesians 1: 15-end Gospel: Matthew 25: 31-end 29th November- Advent Sunday Isaiah 64: 1-9 / 1 Corinthians 1: 3-9 Gospel: Mark 13: 24-end 7 Revd. Steve Alston- Ordained at last! It has been great to start working in the Benefice of Baschurch, Weston Lullingfields and Hordley and thank you so much for your friendly welcome and prayers. The current pandemic certainly makes things a bit different from normal, my ordination was delayed for three months and being an unordained ‘curate’ has had its challenges. Not having the ‘badge’ of the collar has meant that I often had to explain who I am to local people and I must admit that with no formal ordination service the beginning of my new life as your curate felt a bit messy. In Lichfield Cathedral on Saturday 26th September my ordination as Deacon finally happened. This also was different to usual and filled with ‘Covid safe’ restrictions. Instead of 500 people in the cathedral there were only 30 of us and I was only allowed two guests. We were all socially distanced, masked and not allowed to sing (although the Bishop said we could hum if we wanted!). Poor