Bridge, We Hope You Find It Interesting
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July 2020 We are delivering this to you by email again this month and next. We’ll review the situation later in the summer. Though this continues to be a ‘limited’ version of Bridge, we hope you find it interesting. Please BRIDGE cascade to others. Newsletter of the ‘Jervaulx’ parish - Middleham with Coverdale, East Witton & Thornton Steward Letter from the rectory A spin off from the Black Lives Matter campaign is the conversation that has been sparked about the place of statues in our society. Whatever your point of view is the one thing that unites the different points of view is the strength of feeling that these monuments stir in us. In the course of the conversation I haven’t heard anyone express an opinion along the lines of, it’s only metal and stone, what is all the fuss about? What we can’t get away from is that these statues and monuments have been invested with meaning beyond the stone or metal that they have been fashioned from. The same is true for flags. We have seen images on our TV screens of people burning flags of their enemies. Why? It’s just a piece of cloth. But the cloth has been invested with meaning. The same is now true of football shirts! Sport clothing manufacturer, Umbro, has recently had to apologise for making a new kit for Irish club Linfield in colours very similar to that used by the Ulster Volunteer Force. A 10 pence piece and a 50 pence piece are a very similar size and made of the same metal but one is five times more valuable because of the meaning we have attached to it! People of faith understand this completely. God is spirit, people are physical. How do physical people connect with a spiritual God? By investing physical things with spiritual meaning, in the same way that stone and metal is invested with historical, political or cultural meaning. This is important in Celtic Christianity where people connect with God through nature. Icons are important in some traditions where the picture of a saint has been helpful to inspire the faithful to a similar level of devotion. There are those who resist the idea of investing physical things with spiritual meaning on the grounds of idolatry. It’s considered a slippery slope. It’s easy to slip from an object prompting worship of God to worshipping the object itself. It’s ironic that in our super sophisticated, high tech world that our approach to statues sometimes doesn’t look that much different to the approach societies we would consider primitive have to their sacred objects. Jesus also understood our need for sacred objects but took it a step further with what we call sacraments i.e. an outward, physical sign of an inward, invisible grace. Jesus promised that when we eat bread and drink wine in remembrance of him, he is present with us. (Cue centuries of discussion of what that means!) May our awareness of sacred objects in our own lives help us to understand the meaning that others invest in different objects and for us to be kind to each other in the current debate. Rev Jeff Payne Verse of the month: Luke 22:19 Then he (Jesus) took a loaf of bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” If you currently need help with groceries…. We have ‘Open Pantry’ supplies in the church (all quarantined). Text/ phone confidentially 07796 988302 When your circumstances change, you can make a contribution yourself Many thanks. ‘The earth is the Lord’s and everything in it, the world and all who live in it.’ Ps 24: 1 Coverdale Bookclub Tuesday 14 July at 11am ‘Great Expectations’ Charles Dickens – meeting by Zoom Tuesday Tuesday 11th August at 11am ‘Three Tigers, One Mountain' by Michael Booth We hope we may be together in the Foresters Arms, but if not, we will be zooming..... More details from [email protected] for how to join in. Everyone welcome. Bible Book Club – by Zoom. Email Liz [email protected] if you could like to join in. Saturday 25th July at 11.30am – 12.15pm. This month’s book is ‘1 Peter’ – the first letter written by Jesus’ friend, and apostle – exploring how to live well in a difficult world. Middleham news Please note that volunteers are still willing and able to help out with shopping, collecting prescriptions, or if you just want a chat. Who to contact for help or if you are worried for yourself or someone else: The Town Clerk, David Keep, is working from home, contact him by e-mail: [email protected] Councillor Honor Byford, 01969 625304 or 07849918215. [email protected] Councillor Nigel Hopper, 07594814524, [email protected] St Alkelda’s: Revs Liz & Jeff 01969 326069 or Liz 07796988302 Jeff 07443581463 Racing Welfare Gail Burton-Pye, 07788184140 [email protected] The Middleham Key Centre can also be contacted if you have any general queries or concerns in the coming weeks. You can email [email protected] or ring 01969 624002 and leave a message. Alternatively, you can ring Pam on 07772 736006 or Lesley on 01969 622615. All messages will be checked within 24 hours even though the office is closed. Middleham Sports and Community Wellbeing Association (MSCWA) MSCWA is ‘cautiously optimistic’ that we may be able to put out the goal posts again by mid- July, but we are also pleased that, more so recently, the community from Middleham and wider have managed to (find where we are!! ..and..) enjoy sitting or walking with the family or dogs in a socially appropriate way on the sports field, or in the community garden. We have been fortunate to have increased our funds due to Kathy Wheeler’s efforts (as Fundraising officer), so that the floor in the changing rooms and corridor of the pavilion have been re-carpeted. We are also in receipt of supportive emergency government funding as we have been unable to function and fundraise locally with events and hiring the facilities. The monies will be used to maintain the facilities, improve the pavilion and barn store, as well as maintain much needed machinery for grounds upkeep. Hopefully July will bring a slow return to be able to use the facilities with appropriate safeguards. Meanwhile work has continued on maintaining the cricket field and surrounds to enable public use for exercise and fresh air. Contacts: Community Garden-contact Nigel or Amanda 07594814524 Messy boots-Kathy Wheeler 07866132787 Cricket-Richard Sanderson (or me 01969 625365) 5 aside football/Senior Football/Rounders/Golf-Nigel or me. Richard Fletcher (Secretary MSCWA 01969-625365/[email protected] Text-07743018274) Middleham Cricket Club Cricket is still in abeyance with no practice or play likely before August, as we write. Meanwhile the Pavilion remains ‘out of bounds’ until we receive more Government guidance. As always, we are looking for new players and junior members in the future. Sincere thanks are also due a local resident for her donation towards the club upkeep. Contact: Richard Sanderson 07710652348 (or me (RF) 07743018274) The Federation of Middleham VA and Spennithorne VC CE Primary School (FEDMAS) Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you. Ephesians 4:32 Life has been very strange at our schools over the last few months. A school is simply a building without the chatter and laughter of pupils. One week after lockdown, we collaborated with Leyburn Primary to provide childcare for our key worker children and it was a pleasure to work alongside other local professionals. During this time, we engaged with the majority of children in online learning and weekly face to face meetings which the children relished. It cannot be underestimated the power of social interaction for us all and I feel that this is where the lockdown affected the children significantly. People worry about the pupils falling behind and to an extent, so do I but taking the point of view that the children are not staying at home but staying safe at home, puts everything into perspective. When all children return to school, we can worry about that then. One of the activities during lockdown was producing their own time capsule to remember this significant event in history. Rather than study history, we wanted the children to understand that during the pandemic, they are part of history. We will be burying these booklets in a capsule in each school ground and hopefully, in years to come, someone will find these artifacts and learn about how lives were lived during the pandemic of 2020. As schools start to reopen, we have opened bubbles with groups of no more than 15, separated for safety. Whether this is the new norm or not, what I do know is that our school house is returning to be our school home. Mrs L Evans (Executive Head Teacher) The Federation of Middleham VA and Spennithorne VC CE Primary School (FEDMAS) Other Updates: East Witton East Witton Parish Council wants to say a big thank you to all those residents who kept the village green in apple pie order during the coronavirus lockdown. Our contractors were unable to carry out the task for several weeks because of working restrictions. But at least a dozen of you came to the rescue and kept the grass in check. Many thanks from the chair Mary Fawbert and the rest of the councillors.