The Parish Magazine April 2020 Edition
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CONTENTS rish Mag e Pa azin T e 1869 150 YEARS S e e y rv E in 2019 g g in Cha onn The rvil, Sonning and S The John King Trophy and Gold Award Parish Best Magazine of the Year 2018 National Parish Magazine Awards Best Editor 2019 Best Print 2018 Best Content 2016 Magazine Best Overall Magazine 2015 Serving the communities of Charvil, Sonning & Sonning Eye since 1869 April 2020 — Easter the church of st andrew, SERVING THE COMMUNITIES OF CHARVIL, SONNING and sonning eye SINCE THE 7th CENTURY Church of St Andrew Serving Sonning, Charvil & Sonning Eye CONTENTS 2 The Parish Magazine - April 2020 Please mention The Parish Magazine when responding to this advertisement Dreaming of a bigger home? It’s all figureoutable haslams.net | 0118 960 1000 CONTENTS The Parish Magazine - April 2020 3 information — 1 Contents April 2020 Services at The vicar's letter, 5 This month's FRONT COVER St Andrew’s rish Mag e Pa azin T e 1869 150 Palm Sunday 5 April YEARS S e e y rv E in 2019 g g in Cha onn Parish noticeBoard The rvil, Sonning and S — 8.00am Holy Communion The John King Trophy and Gold Award Parish Best Magazine of the Year 2018 National Parish Magazine Awards Best Editor 2019 — Annual Parochial Meeting, 7 Best Print 2018 Best Content 2016 Magazine Best Overall Magazine 2015 — 10.30am Family Service starts Serving the communities of Charvil, Sonning & Sonning Eye since 1869 — Choral scholarship offer, 7 April 2020 — Easter in The Ark garden — Organ scholar successes, 7 — 6.30pm Evensong with the — VE Day bell ringing, 7 Passion Gospel reading — Coronavirus precautions, 7 — For your prayers in April, 7 Maundy Thursday 9 April — Why Easter won't go away, 9 — 7.30pm Holy Communion with the church of st andrew, SERVING THE COMMUNITIES OF CHARVIL, SONNING and sonning eye SINCE THE 7th CENTURY Church of St Andrew — From the editor's desk, 9 Serving Sonning, Charvil & Sonning Eye the Stripping of the Altar — STAY, 10-11 — The Persecuted Church, 13,15 Daffodils on the A4 Good Friday 10 April between Sonning and Charvil — 2.00pm The Last Hour with features Picture: Peter Rennie readings, prayer and silent — The A4 habitat, 17 reflection — Didcot day out, 19 EDITORIAL DEADLINE — VE Day memories, 21 The editorial deadline for every issue is Easter Eve Saturday 11 April — Easter 2020, 22-23 12 noon on the sixth day of the month — 8.15pm The First Easter — Sonning Regatta, 24-25 prior to the date of publication. The Communion with the lighting deadline for the May issue of of the Easter Fire around the villages The Parish Magazines is: — Sunday at Six, 29 Monday 6 April at 12 noon Easter Day Sunday 12 April — Inner Wheel concert, 29 — 8.00am BCP Holy Communion — FoStAC music evening, 29 — 10.30am Parish Eucharist with — Sonning Floral Society, 29 The Parish Magazine online making Easter Garden in The Ark — Sonning Art Group, 29 This issue, as well as past issues dating — 3.00pm Messy Easter Church in — Monday Club, 29 back to January 1869, can be viewed The Ark online. To view copies from April 2009 THE ARTS to the present day go to: Sunday 19 April — China from China? 31 http://www.theparishmagazine.co.uk — 8.00am Holy Communion — Easter in Art, 31 The more recent issues stored there — 10.30am Family Communion also provide click-through links to — 6.30pm Choral Evensong — Murillo's John the Baptist, 33 websites of our advertisers where more — Book Reviews, 33 information about their products and services can be found. Sunday 26 April home & Garden Earlier issues from 1869 to 2012 are — 8.00am Holy Communion — Recipe of the month, 35 stored in a secure online archive. If you — 10.30am Parish Eucharist with — Passionflowers, 35 wish to view these archives contact: Sunday Club and STAY on — All Things Paraquatable, 35 [email protected] Sunday in The Ark who will authorise access for you. — 6.00pm Sunday at Six in The Ark the sciences — Christian Scientists? 36 Weekly and health monthly services — Is dark chocolate good? 36 Every Wednesday in The Ark — Motion is lotion, 37 — 10.00am Holy Communion — Dr Simon Ruffle writes, 37 Please note: Services are not being held in Sunrise of Sonning until PUZZLE PAGE, 39 further notice. children’s page, 41 From the registers Funerals information — Church services, 3 —Thursday 13 February, John Henry Lawrence, interment of ashes, St Andrew's — From the registers, 3 —Saturday 29 February, Linda Beatrice Reeves, interment of ashes, St Andrew's — Parish contacts, 42 —Tuesday 3 March, Janet Middlemiss Funeral Service in St Andrew's, followed — Advertisers index, 42 by cremation at Reading Crematorium CONTENTS CONTENTS 4 The Parish Magazine - April 2020 Please mention The Parish Magazine when responding to this advertisement BOOKING NOW BOOKING NOW DINNER AND A SHOW FROM £51! STORYTIME & MORE IN THE WATERWHEEL BAR Every Wednesday at 10.15am, pre-school children will be treated to stories and singing in the theatre, as well as colouring-in and dressing-up in the bar. Due to popularity, we ask you to pre-book, by calling the Box Office on (0118) 969 8000. Entry is £4.50 (which is payable on the door) and includes a healthy snack and drink. Tea, coffee and homemade cakes are also on sale for parents and grandparents. Don’t forget our bar is open 11am - 5pm Tuesday - Sunday, with hot food served between 12 noon and 4pm. Check out our website to see all our Bar Events. BOX OFFICE FIND(0118) OUT 969 8000MORE millatsonning.com CONTENTS CONTENTS The Parish Magazine - April 2020 5 The vicar's letter Dear friends, First of all may I wish STAY on Friday a very happy first birthday! It has been a delight indeed to watch how this group of young people and their dedicated volunteer leaders have established this open access youth club and I must pay tribute to Westy for leading this very important new work in our parish and wider community. We now have some 90 young people registered for membership and I know, from numerous sources, just how much they enjoy being part of it. The media, perhaps with some justification, tend to concentrate on bad news stories from churches in this country but here is a very good news story and we should rejoice at that. It will be good to once again host our Easter Saturday event with egg hunt, egg and spoon races, free BBQ, tower tours and parish walk. This will also feature a Messy Church craft stall run by Revd Kate. I must also wish Messy Church a happy second birthday this month. Rev Kate has assembled an excellent team of volunteers who put this on each month and there is always a wonderful atmosphere in The Ark as all those children enjoy imaginative activities, age appropriate worship and a lovely meal. I am very proud of both my colleagues in what they have brought to our work with children and young people and I would like to thank them both. CORONAVIRUS At the time of writing, the Coronavirus is spreading around the country and we’re hearing much about contingency planning. It is anyone’s guess how things will have developed by the time we gather to worship on Easter Day, if indeed we are allowed to. I fully understand that there are many who are fearful, especially those with elderly relatives and friends and it is important that we all seek to follow the advice on preventative measures. On 1 March we ceased shaking hands at church and the use of the common cup in communion as these seemed sensible precautions, especially for our more elderly worshippers. It was good to hear from three members of the congregation who are medical doctors that they approved of our decision. Of course, there is always a temptation to overreact when faced with these invisible viral enemies, but I do also believe that it is valuable for Christians to retain a sense of perspective, not least at this time of Easter. Human beings have faced many such epidemics through the ages, mostly without the benefit of the NHS on hand. Our short lives are fragile and this materialistic, so-called, advanced society has perhaps been lulled into a false sense of security. God has not promised us an easy and illness-free ride through life. The veil between this world and the next can be very thin indeed and sadly some in Britain, maybe many, will succumb to this virus. In the face of this, Christians and even more importantly, non-Christians, need to hear again what God has actually promised us through Jesus; the gift of eternal life. SPIRITUAL FOCUS It is the central message of this Easter season. We are each called to repent of our sins, to turn to the risen Christ and then to submit our lives to Him. If we don’t live our lives as a preparation for eternity, we will have missed entirely the wonderful message of Easter. Whatever happens to our earthly bodies, the empty tomb on that first Easter Sunday proclaims that death need not be the end. So let us keep calm, carry on, and stay focused on what really, ultimately matters, the state of our spiritual health. Happy Easter. Christ is risen! 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