Parish Magazine of Earls Colne & White Colne
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The Parish Magazine of Earls Colne & White Colne june 2021 Dear Readers, The month of June begins a lengthy period in the church’s year, known as Ordinary Time, that runs right up to the 21st November when we celebrate the festival of Christ the King. This June, however, from the 21st we hope, will be far from ‘ordinary’, a time where Covid-19 restrictions are relaxed, perhaps with the wholescale need for social distancing to disappear and, I pray, our freedom to sing in church returns! What a joy that will be. Ordinary Time in the Church’s year are the numbered weeks that fall between Christmas and Easter and then Easter and Advent. It stems from the Latin word 'ordinalis' meaning numbers in a series and represents the ordered life of the church, the times when we are neither feasting in celebration or spending time in contemplation. During a visit to most Anglican or Roman Catholic churches during this time you will see the colour green on the altar. We tend to think that if something is “ordinary” it is unnecessary or of less value. But actually, Ordinary Time is far from that and it reminds us that God walks among us in every aspect of our daily lives and our ordinary times. Just as most of our life is spent doing ordinary things, most of the church year is in ordinary time. In fact, if every day was extraordinary, then really, no days would be extraordinary. So, these days are just as important as the extraordinary ones, for it is in these days that we can reflect further on God’s story and find unexpected transformation. We have seen such transformation in our villages during the pandemic as people have freely offered their time, their skills and their care for one another. How wonderful it is to live here. We go forward into this time, that is both ordinary and extraordinary, with the strength of great community. And, if you hear that we are in “ordinary” time, please know that this is not a “throwaway” season, but instead is a vitally important time when we remember that God is in the ordinary and that as such, we are made to be extraordinary. As we gather with friends and families in ways that we’ve not been able to for so long and as we remember those we’ve lost, www.colnechurches.com 3 we celebrate the miracle of each other and the relationships that eternally connect us to one another, and vow never to take our freedoms for granted again. Revd Sharon was ordained Deacon last September and we are delighted that she is to be Ordained Priest by Bishop Roger on the 26th June. Please keep Sharon in your prayers as she prepares for this next exciting chapter in her journey with God, the Diocese and our villages. Revd Sharon will be presiding at Holy Communion for the first time on Sunday 27th June, 10am at St Andrew’s Earls Colne. We hope that there will be no restrictions on numbers but please keep an eye on our Facebook Page and website for updates. www.colnechurches.com . to everyone who gave a donation towards the purchase of Easter Lilies. Your generous gifts were very much appreciated. As you can see from the photo, some of the lilies were used in the arrangement for the Maundy Thursday service. Thank you, also, to everyone who sent cards and expressed their condolences on the recent death of my mother. Again, this was very much appreciated. Liz Pottinger. 4 www.colnechurches.com Wed 2nd 9.30 am Earls Colne 7.15 pm EC Baptist Sun 6th 10.00 am Earls Colne # 10.00 am Colne Engaine 10.30 am White Colne Wed 9th 9.30 am Colne Engaine Sun 13th 10.00 am Earls Colne # 10.00 am Colne Engaine Wed 16th 9.30 am Earls Colne Sun 20th 10.00 am Earls Colne # 10.00 am Colne Engaine 10.300 am White Colne 6.30 pm Online Wed 23rd 9.30 am Earls Colne Sun 27th 10.00 am Earls Colne # 3.00 pm Earls Colne Wed 30th 9.30 am Earls Colne # - streamed on Zoom and The Three Colnes Facebook Page Morning Prayer - Mondays and Saturdays at 9.00 am on The Three Colnes Facebook Page. Most mobile phones and other devices will connect automatically to the free Wi-Fi, but if not then look up settings and Wi-Fi and County Broadband should be displayed. Click on and you should connect. www.colnechurches.com 5 100 Years Anniversary of the Dedication of the Earls Colne War Memorial On the 26th June 1921 the village of Earls Colne got together to remember the fallen in our Wars by dedicating the War Memorial situated near St Andrew’s Church. To mark this significant anniversary we will gather again, at the War Memorial for a Rededication Service at 3 pm on Sunday 27th June followed by refreshments in the Village Hall. We are delighted that we will be joined by some of the descendants of people who were part of this event 100 years ago. Keep an eye on our website: (www.colnechurches.com) and the Parish Council website for details: (www.earlscolne.org) Essex Villages Puzzle by Gareth Millar Can you re-arrange each of the following blocks of letters to reveal the names of six Essex villages? 1. YJU CL TIL ARE BUR XTA 2. ODE TER GO AS 3. NGH STL AM EHE CA 4. OU AMO CH RNH BU NCR 5. KEN BYL KIR ESO 6. RDE AYE YE LAH LA (Answers below) Essex Villages Answers 4. Burnham on Crouch 5. Kirby le Soken 6. Layer de la Haye la de Layer 6. Soken le Kirby 5. Crouch on Burnham 4. 2. Good Easter 3. Castle Hedingham Castle 3. Easter Good 2. 1. Tilbury juxta Clare juxta Tilbury 1. 6 www.colnechurches.com Can you sing or play an instrument (even a shaker or tambourine)? Now that we returning to our church buildings for many of our services, we are looking to put together a worship band which will help lead the music once a month in one of our three churches across The Three Colnes. If this interests you and you want to find out more please contact Revd Mark – [email protected] / 01787 220347 a. the sound of squeaking shoes b. a dunce or idiot c. to be half-drunk a. changeable or uncertain b. being in a dangerous position c. inclined to be irritable and grumbling a. stout, of large circumference b. displaying like a bird c. venturesome and in high spirits ******************* b. a strange, unexplained noise a. Looking faint or sick b. To stagger like a drunken person www.colnechurches.com 7 Earls Colne Heritage Museum The Harvard Connection Some more yellow signs have appeared on the lamp posts between Colchester and Halstead. This batch directs potential house-buyers to “Harvard Place”, the new development on the west side of Station Road. A press release from the developers explained that the name was chosen to commemorate a type of aircraft used by American forces during the War and still operating at our local flying club. However, regular readers of this magazine may remember that there is an even stronger historical link between Earls Colne and America’s oldest university: two of its founding trustees were former residents of our village. In 1635 Roger Harlakenden, the Lord of the Manor’s younger brother, chartered a ship called “The Defence” to take himself, his sister Mabel and a group of other emigrants to New England. Mabel was to become the wife of Governor John Haynes and Roger established himself as a leading commander of the colony’s militia. Another of the passengers on the ship was a young clergyman, the Reverend Thomas Shepard, whose Puritan views were too radical for him to obtain a parish appointment. Instead, he became an assistant Master at Earls Colne Grammar School. Although not licensed to take part in regular services, he was allowed to “lecture” in the church to parishioners who wished to hear him. Unfortunately for Thomas, that arrangement was not to the liking of the Bishop of London, William Laud, who summoned him to a stormy interview and, according to Shepard’s own diary account, thundered at him: “You prating coxcomb! Do you think all learning is in your head? I charge that you neither preach, read, marry, bury nor exercise any ministerial function in my Diocese; for if you do and I hear about it, I’ll be on your back and follow you wherever you go in any part of the kingdom, and so everlastingly disenable you.” William Laud 8 www.colnechurches.com So, unable to follow his vocation anywhere in England, Thomas Shepard joined the community at Newtown (Cambridge), Massachusetts. There, another Essex fugitive, the Revd Thomas Hooker, had become the Pastor. Shepard married Thomas Hooker’s daughter and eventually succeeded his father-in-law as Pastor of the town. Realising that the New England colony could not rely on the continued arrival of trained ministers of religion, leading members of the community resolved to establish their own college, modelled on those of Oxford and Cambridge. The original charter of Harvard University, dated 1637, names Thomas Shepard and Roger Harlakenden among its founder Governors. In his biography of Shepard’s father-in-law, Deryck Collingwood wrote: “The Massachusetts Ministers boasted in their ranks some of English universities’ finest minds, Thomas Shepard versed in the learning and culture which places like in later life Earls Colne fostered every inch of the pilgrim way” The congregation at Earls Colne must have suspected divine retribution when William Laud, by then Archbishop of Canterbury, was executed on dubious charges of treason in 1654.