Chronicle the Parish Magazine of Christ Church Charnock Richard October/November 2019 LETTER from the EDITOR
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
The Chronicle The Parish Magazine of Christ Church Charnock Richard October/November 2019 LETTER FROM THE EDITOR Dear Friends, As I write this letter to you today there is a definite nip in the air, the leaves are falling to the very wet ground, the days are getting shorter, but the sun is shining. Yet we have plenty of things we need to do. We need to prepare our gardens for the winter months. We need to make sure any plants which may be affected by frost are protected, either by lifting them out of the ground and bringing them into the greenhouse, or by protecting them in situ, by mulching or lagging. We need to collect, shred and compost all the dead herbaceous and woody plant material; we need to collect the fallen leaves for separate composting to leaf mould. There is so much to do. As the nights lengthen, as we settle down with the curtains closed, how about getting to know the scriptures better? Ruth Hassall, the Director of Discipleship at Blackburn Diocese, has produced a little booklet which is intended as a guide to remind us afresh of the richness of the Bible, and its importance in the life of a Christian. The Bible is the best selling book in the world and in it we find the great story of God and His love and purposes for the people He created. We read the story of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus, and we discover the invitation to find our place in this story. It is a book that brings comfort, wisdom, challenge and, no matter how many times you read it, always brings something new. Ruth has suggested that we start with the book of John. Her plan of action for us is split into six sections. The first section suggests we read John beginning at chapter 1 and ending at chapter 5. I suggest you read one chapter at a time and look into it a little deeper. I will give you the next section in the next Chronicle. If you would like the booklet to help you, please let me know. We have plans to undertake major work on our Church in the near future to ensure it is fit for purpose in the twenty-first century. A few months ago we produced a list of architects who had been recommended to us and who were listed as approved architects with the Diocesan Advisory Committee of Blackburn Diocese. We interviewed four architects at the end of July and the Parochial Church Council decided to appoint Rebecca Grimshaw of Anthony Grimshaw Associates of Wigan as our church architect. We will be working with Rebecca over the coming months as she takes into account the briefing paper we gave her and brings forward her suggestions for the necessary remedial work caused by water ingress and her proposals for the west end of our Church. It was lovely to meet many of you as you visited the Church during the Scarecrow Festival. It is a wonderful opportunity to catch up with friends we may not have seen for some time. Malcolm had made some rustic snowmen and reindeer which he is selling for church funds. We actually sold out of reindeer but he has now produced some new stock. If you would like a snowman or reindeer (pictured on the bottom of the next page) just let us know. The cost is £20-00, but all monies raised will go into church funds. On Thursday, 9th October 2019 the children from our school and their teachers attended the School Harvest in Church. The children brought their harvest gifts which were placed around the altar. Representatives from each class came up in turn to give a short presentation, they were eager to participate and displayed much enthusiasm. It is so good to have the children heavily involved in the service. As the children returned to school we welcomed the children from our Pre-School who also brought harvest gifts. We talked about the gifts of God’s creation. I showed them some seed potatoes, acorns and crocus bulbs. Malcolm had planted some seed potatoes in a bag, I believe Mrs. Eaves is in charge of looking after them. Hopefully, there will be some new potatoes for Christmas! The children were also given an acorn in a pot and some crocus in a pot. All the harvest gifts were given to Chorley Homeless. I would like to thank everyone who donated them. Remembrance Sunday is 10th November. There will be a Holy Eucharist at 9.30am, but the Service of Remembrance, including the Solemn Act of Remembrance, will be held at 10.30am. This will be followed by a procession to the Memorial Garden for a short act of worship. This year, Lancashire Sings Christmas, when we join the listeners from Radio Lancashire, will be held on Thursday, 19th December 2019 in the Football Club. Last year, we were delighted when a reporter from Radio Lancashire came out to visit us and their listeners heard about the wonderful community of Charnock Richard. This year, I am confident, they will be visiting elsewhere. Why not join us at some or all of these events? We would love to see you. Margaret Stewart 01257 792692 / 792536 / 795665 or [email protected] CHARNOCK RICHARD SCARECROW FESTIVAL 2019 A huge thank you to all who got involved with the Scarecrow Festival in September. The event was a huge success and helped us to raise money for some very worthy village causes and charities. Below are a small selection of photos from the weekend! Business Winner Committee Choice Business Runner-Up Public Vote 1st Public Vote 2nd Public Vote 3rd Reindeers & Snowmen £20 A MESSAGE FROM FATHER ANDREW My dear friends, As we move in to November, we are reminded of loved ones who have gone before in the important days marked by the church, All Souls, Remembrance Sunday and our memorial service for the families of those whose funerals we have been involved with during the past three years. For four years, we have been thinking particularly of the Great War during the centenary of that most terrible conflict. This year we may have chance to resume our reflections on the Second World War, recalling what was being fought for and the sacrifice of all those involved. In the life of our nation, we have a long and proud military tradition from Agincourt to Trafalgar and victory in the 20th century world wars. All of this makes us a nation which thinks of itself as successful and able to conquer adversity. This has undoubtedly contributed to our characteristics of resilience and pride, which are positive attributes but it also means that we sometimes disregard the details of other people’s wars. A few weeks ago I visited the concentration camp at Dachau, just 15 miles from the centre of Munich. It was a full day visit in which we spend five hours in the camp on a warm, sunny autumn day. The visit was strenuous because this was no ordinary tourist trip; listening to the details of a very dark period in German history demanded concentration, emotional engagement and a strong stomach. One of the first displays we saw in the reception room where all prisoners were registered and their possessions taken (assuming they were not killed earlier in the courtyard for a minor misdemeanour such as drawing attention to themselves) told the story of the lives before Dachau of the prisoners and the guards. We were asked by our guide not to read the stories of the guards not only because this would give some element of humanity and normality to their lives, but mainly for the reason that the emphasis should be on the victims rather than anyone else. I was particularly struck by two pictures from the official Nazi photographer – the Nazis used every propaganda opportunity they could involving cinematographic techniques to depict good an evil in the characters: two men stand out as they enter the camp in 1938, probably as political opponents of Hitler, but certainly not imprisoned for racial reasons. One man is well built and sports traditional Bavarian costume (lederhosen and knee length boots), his stance is individual and confident – he strikes a pose; the other man looks directly at the camera, head up and questioning. Within six weeks when the photographer returned to take a picture of the same group, the proud Bavarian is wearing camp clothes, his head is bowed down and his hair has been shaved off. The other man has his head buried deep in his chest, afraid to look up and he has lost a considerable amount of weight. It took only six weeks to thoroughly break the prisoners. Remember this was before the war started when photographers were able to take propaganda pictures. By 1941 the conditions were so horrendous and health of the prisoners so poor no picture could be taken to promote the Nazi system. This is incredibly tough history and far removed from the way many people remember during November in a sanitised way. For me, I was struck by how fast things can change without opposition – the collapse of imperial Germany after a navy mutiny in 1918, Hitler’s seizing power in 1933 and the crushing of the human spirit in the concentration camps. With the rise of nationalism across Europe and particularly in the politics of our own country, we have seen recently in the racist chants of those in the Bulgarian football stadium love of national identity above respect for fellow human beings.