St. Faith and St. Laurence Harborne

2020 USEFUL NUMBERS (See also back page)

Task Group Chairs Finance and General Purposes REVD. CANON PRISCILLA WHITE 427 2410 Worship and SALLY GRIFFITHS 429 9436 Education: RACHEL LUCKMAN 445 1965 Mission: PAULINE SITFORD Email: [email protected] 427 7005 Socials: DAVID GLANVILL 682 8360 Children and Young People : RUTH JEAVONS Giving REVD. CANON PRISCILLA WHITE 427 2410

Parish Safeguarding Team Vicar: Rev’d Canon Priscilla White Mobile: 07896 935798 Parish Safeguarding Co-ordinator and Children’s Co-ordinator: Ruth Jeavons Mobile: 07870 703304 Vulnerable Adults Coordinator: Sue Glanvill Domestic Violence Coordinator: Alison Keepax Mobile: 07726524256 Members: George Reeves, Ruth Jeavons and Christine Terry The safeguarding group have a watching brief over safeguarding in the church. The policy pack is available in the hall, as are posters with contact details of emergency numbers. If you have concerns about the safety of a child, young person or vulnerable adult, please speak to the relevant member of the safeguarding team or one of the other team members, or to the Vicar. Concerns may have then to be passed to the Bishop’s Safeguarding adviser in confidence. In an emergency contact Police or Social Services.

Activities Choir Practice: Thursdays 6pm. (see back cover for Organist and Choirmaster) Women’s Fellowship: HELEN HAYWARD 422 5724 Stay and Play: Thursdays 9.30am- 11am HILARY SHAYLOR 454 0451 Lesson Readers Secretaries: (10am) PETER STOKES 422 6843 (6.30pm) DIANA LEADBEATER 427 1930 Servers Secretary: ALISON KEEPAX Planned Giving: JACKIE TAYLOR 422 2930 Flower Rota: ANITA TIPPIN 454 7586 Transport DAVID GLANVILL 682 8360 Co-ordinator: (Please contact David if you need, or can offer lifts to church )

Uniformed Organisations Scout Association Ring 0345 300 1818 and ask for 293rd Birmingham Scout Group GSL Leader: TOM McARDLE Beavers: Monday, 6pm MALCOLM ADEY Cub Scouts: Wednesday, 6pm MATT CAWSEY or RICHARD PAINTER Scouts: Tuesday, 7.15pm Leader: KEVIN PAYNE

Guides: Wednesday, 7.30pm Guider: AMANDA JONES 01384 636928

Brownies: Wednesday, 6pm-7.30pm Brown Owl: JANET JONES 429 8167

Rainbow Unit: Wednesday, 4.45pm-5.45pm Leader: JANET JONES 429 8167

Dear Friends, In a month of Remembering, two poems to ponder

The old men’s story August 4th 2014 Venerable old men, dangling children on their knees, Story upon story Sharing stories of deeds of years gone by. So much the same

Stories of adventure, not told before, Differ in place,

Stories to stir the heart to pride, to sorrow . in time, in name.

And in the sharing, wisdom. Black and white photos

And in the wisdom growth Shades of grey

And when those venerable men Ink faded letters finally take their last stand On display

Take their rest. Grey-haired grandchildren

In the passing, memory. To lay the wreaths And though memory can fade, Wishing that conflict it can too be burnished May end in peace. And newly polished memories set out upon a table Like medal ribbons Telling and retelling those precious stories That hold within themselves The gift of a grandfather to his grandchild

Comparisons have been made between the COVID situation and that that many lived through in the war. While I am not entirely convinced, there is some reality there that may help us in finding the resilience we need in a time of great difficulty.

Sometimes we find ourselves having to develop a resilience greater than we want or desire; that has certainly been the case in my family over the last five years. Resilience based on God’s all-encompassing love for us, is however, one well worth having.

Priscilla

1 Aspects of life at St Faith and St Laurence

Morning Prayer – is normally said Monday to Thursday and Saturday at 8.15 am in the Lady Chapel. We use Common Worship Daily Prayer, all are welcome to come and join in. SUSPENDED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE

Task Groups – The church has a number of task groups enabling areas of church life. These are listed in the magazine with the contact details of the chairs. If you would like to be a part of a groups please contact the relevant chair or Priscilla. All are welcome to join.

Stay and Play meets on Thursday between 9.30 and 11am in the Hall to give a chance for people with young children to meet and the children to play. All are welcome. Cost £2 per family. SUSPENDED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE

Sunday Club meets on the first, third and fourth Sundays of each month except during the holidays. We hold an extra Sunday Club on days when there is a baptism. All are welcome to join in hearing and experiencing a Bible Story and learning together about what it means for our daily lives. SUSPENDED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE

Messy Church takes place on the first Saturday of each month, most months. A chance for children and parents/ carers to have an informal time of worship, and discovering about a Bible story through song, craft, listening, cooking and so much more. Dates are published in advance and all are welcome to come along. SUSPENDED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE

Planned Giving helps people make giving regular. You decide how much you can afford to give. You can join the envelope scheme weekly or monthly or pay by Standing Order or annually by cheque. Income tax payers are asked to Gift Aid their giving, so the Church can reclaim the tax on their donations at no extra cost to the donors. For details, contact Jackie Taylor.

The Parish Giving Scheme is another way that you can give at no extra cost to yourself. It reduces paperwork and increases cash flow for us. Details are available from Geoff Bennett or Priscilla.

We support Recycling. We have a special collection on the first Sunday of every month when we collect ALUMINIUM cans and foil which can be sold and the money raised is donated to our Mission Partners in Chile (through USPG) Local supermarkets have battery recycling facilities in this area. WILL RESUME WHEN THE CHURCH IS OPEN.

2 Home Communion We have a team of lay people trained and able to bring Home Communion usually on a monthly basis. This is for those who are unable to come to church long term. If the situation is more temporary for example after an operation you can also receive communion, usually from Priscilla. In either case please contact Priscilla. SUSPENDED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE Traidcraft Traidcraft sells a range of fairly traded food, cards, clothes and accessories. We use Traidcraft tea and coffee and everything we buy helps fight poverty and supports our church. You can order seasonal gifts through the church at Christmas time when catalogues will be available. Any questions, please ask Ruth Jeavons or Bronwen Jones.

'easyfundraising’ Next time you shop online, think of St Faith and St Laurence and raise free donations with 3,000+ retailers: https://www.easyfundraising.org.uk/causes/stfaithandstlaurence

Women’s Fellowship meets on the first Monday of the month from March to December. Meetings are held in the Committee Room at 7.30pm. We have talks on a variety of subjects. See Programme of the Month for details. SUSPENDED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE

Prayer Ministry Team Prayer ministry is offered during the 10am Communion on Sundays. People can receive prayer for themselves or for any situation that is important to them. It takes place in the Lady Chapel during the distribution of communion. SUSPENDED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE

Foodbank We collect food for the Quinton and Oldbury Foodbank. There is a box in church and food can be placed there at any time. The list of things that are needed is in church and in the hall. Food is distributed from St Boniface Church on Wednesdays and Paul and Barney's place on Fridays. Vouchers are required to receive food.

Choir and Music. Choir Practice takes place weekly, normally on Thursdays 6-7pm. Anyone interested in singing in the choir should contact Simon Palmer, Organist & Choirmaster. (Contact details on page cover) We also like to encourage instrumentalists to perform in church, either in services or in concerts. SUSPENDED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE

Call in for Coffee time together over a cuppa on a Wednesday morning from 10.30 -12.00. if needed we can arrange for someone to collect you and then take you home. If you are passing, do call in, or bring a friend, all are welcome. SUSPENDED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE

3 The Church is still open.

Wednesday private prayer is operating between 1 and 3pm, all are welcome to drop in. Sunday services are at 10 am in Church. The booking line number is The phone number is 07942 221573. The bookings line will be open from 9am on Monday till 12 noon on Friday. Please Text (preferred where possible) text with contact name and number of people and a phone number or leave a message on the phone with the same information Please remember to stagger arrivals on Sunday between 9.30 and 9.55ish and to wear your face covering throughout unless exempt.

Activities on Zoom Wednesdays (Coffee) and Chat meets at 11am (except on November 11th when we will start at 11.20am A chance to meet up and chat about anything and everything, bring your own coffee ฀ Zoom ID 953 7644 6364 Password coffee

Saturdays Family gathering meets at 10am 1st Saturday of each month Bible story and craft and fun together. Zoom ID 827 8902 7469 Password family November 7th The Prodigal Son Do encourage people to come along. If they do not receive our emails with the sheets on the details will be on the website each month

Sunday 4pm Zoom evening service ID: 833 3854 7339 Passcode: evening

Sermonline (normal rate call) for the sermon for the Sunday 0121 270 6364

WhatsApp For those that have it WhatsApp is a handy way to keep in touch. The church has three groups, a “Virtual Church” group, a general chat one and one to pick up requests for or offers of help. If you would like to join any or all then please contact Priscilla as above.

4 Readings for November

1st November All Saints/ All Souls 10am Communion in Church Revelation 7.9-17 Matthew 5.1-12

4pm Zoom evening worship - All Souls’ Commemoration Jeremiah 31.31-34 2 Corinthians 4.5-12

8th November Remembrance Sunday 10am Morning Worship in Church Micah 4.1-5 Philippians 4.8-13

4pm Zoom evening worship Micah 4.1-5 Philippians 4.8-13

15th November Trinity 19 10am Communion in Church Zephaniah 1.7,12-18 Matthew 25.14-30 4pm Zoom evening worship Revelation 1.4-18 Luke 9.1-6

22nd November Christ the King 10am Morning Worship in Church Ezekiel 34.11-16,20-24 Matthew 25.31-46 4pm Zoom evening worship 2 Samuel 23.1-7 Matthew 28.16-20

29th November is Advent Sunday and as I write is still in the planning stage. All Advent details will be in the next Magazine There will be an Advent course via Zoom on Thursday evenings and on a day- time to be decided. 5 All Souls’

We have normally held a Service of Commemoration for those who have died over the last year on either the last Sunday in October or the first in November, with a service on a Wednesday commemorating all names of those who have died that people want to be remembered. Clearly this year we are going to need to do things differently.

The evening Zoom service on November 1st will include a time of commemoration at which names will be read out. I will contact those whose relative's funerals we have taken over the past year letting them know about this and inviting them to join if they wish.

Anyone wishing to join can use the evening zoom service link elsewhere in the magazine.

I am also inviting names from others of anyone who has died either over the past year or longer ago who they wish to be remembered in this way. Anyone can send in a name or names. Please either email names to me, drop me a note or give me a ring on 07896 935798.

In this way we can at least still offer commemoration albeit in a different way.

Remembrance Sunday and Wednesday 11th.

The 10am on 8th November will be a Remembrance Sunday Service (not quite) as usual. We hope that a small contingent from the ATC will be able to join us. On the 11th (Wednesday) at 10.50am Sally and I will be outside the Church for a short outside socially distanced Act of Remembrance. All are welcome.

The Coffee morning that day will start late, at about 11.20.

6 Siegfried Sassoon With the clocks going back, and All Souls’ looming, I always sense a moody suspension of time. An hour is lost in order to gain an hour; the dead yet living briefly retake their vacated seats in the ancient church. It is unutterably sad, say what you will. Neither spooky nor made endurable by tomfoolery, but just sad. The commemoration of All Souls’ came from Cluny, as did so many extraordinary things. I like to imagine that St Odilo, who invented it, noted that certain faces, often young, failed to appear in that grand liturgy each autumn, and that he became their remembrancer. As, indeed, we do, as we hear a long list of the recent dead. The fearful ‘Dies Irae’ was sung (though not now), and the living would quake. Early in the morning, I watch wild formations of seagulls fly low across the new ploughing, and the sky gradually lightening from fading black to gold. On Tuesday, we went to see the Siegfried Sassoon exhibition at Cambridge University Library. It rained, and leaves fell all the way. Wet, ebony lanes; soaked joggers. I was not prepared for the poet’s minuscule hand as I pored over the showcases. The writing became smaller and smaller as the years progressed, and the later pages seemed have been written with a mapping pen. I never get over seeing the first draft of a famous poem. Tiny beyond expectation, here is ‘Everyone sang’. Everyone suddenly burst out singing; And I was filled with such delight As prisoned birds must find in freedom, Winging wildly across the white Orchards and dark-green fields; on – on – and out of sight. The repetition of visionary matters. I bump my nose from case to case in the preservative gloom as I try to make out Sassoon’s hand. His Great War is reflected on the TV screen as the newsmen don their poppies. I recall a visit he made to Thomas Hardy. ‘He showed me a “new old” poem, “On Stinsford Hill at Midnight”, and told me how he saw a girl singing alone one night as he returned home (a Salvationist girl who died soon after). She had a tambourine (he called it “a timbrel” in the poem). The poem leaves the reader to decide whether it was a live woman or a ghost.’ I once sat in the room where Sassoon talked to Hardy. I was helping to edit the New Wessex edition of Hardy’s works. I can’t remember if it was late in the year, but I can never forget the immense haunting of Max Gate since then – the clock-sounding rooms, the dull garden, the enchanted melancholy, the ‘presence’. Hardy, wrote Sassoon in his almost invisible hand, ‘never sits in the comfortable chair or on the sofa, but perches himself on a straight-backed chair, and leans his head lightly on his hand, in an easy attitude, dignified and self- possessed and calm’. To evensong in Selwyn College Chapel in a kind of dream. Young souls – like the Lord himself. Ronald Blythe

7 The Soldier

If I should die, think only this of me: That there’s some corner of a foreign field That is for ever England. There shall be In that rich earth a richer dust concealed; A dust whom England bore, shaped, made aware, Gave, once, her flowers to love, her ways to roam; A body of England’s, breathing English air, Washed by the rivers, blest by suns of home.

And think, this heart, all evil shed away, A pulse in the eternal mind, no less Gives somewhere back the thoughts by England given; Her sights and sounds; dreams happy as her day; And laughter, learnt of friends; and gentleness, In hearts at peace, under an English heaven.

Rupert Brooke, 1887–1915

8 Prayer of the month For the cold and homeless

God of compassion, your love for humanity was revealed in Jesus, whose earthly life began in the poverty of a stable and ended in the pain and isolation of the cross: we hold before you those who are homeless and cold especially in this cold weather. Draw near and comfort them in spirit and bless those who work to provide them with shelter, food and friendship. We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.

At this time of year, the homeless begin to gravitate towards our towns and cities, in search of food and warmth. COVID has exacerbated poverty this year, and it is reckoned that there will be up to 300 homeless people in the city centre by the end of the month. There are 15 organisations, including five shelters, preparing for the winter, but they cannot help everyone. We romanticise autumn, and focus on the turning of the leaves, the return to school and college and begin to think about end-of-year festivities. In these troubles times, let us open our hearts and arms to those who have nothing, so that the desperate can find new hope and mend their broken lives.

Rachel Luckman

9 ‘We will rebuild in the spirit of forgiveness’

Eighty years ago this month, on November 14th 1940, the Luftwaffe came to Coventry. It was a frosty moonlit night. A fire guard of four was standing watch at Coventry Cathedral: Provost Howard, the cathedral stonemason Jock Forbes, and two youngsters in their twenties. The building they were guarding had been constructed between 1373 and 1433 as St Michael's parish church; it had only been playing the role of cathedral since 1918, after Coventry had undergone a huge expansion. Before its elevation in status, St Michael's had been reckoned one of the largest and most beautiful parish churches in Eng land, and Coventry was proud of its red sandstone cathedral in the heart of the city. Shortly after 8pm, the cathedral was hit by incendiaries. They fell on the chancel roof, the nave roof and the south aisle above the organ. The fire guard realized that they couldn't save the cathedral. Instead they rushed to retrieve as many of its treasures as they could - armfuls of candlesticks, the altar cross, ancient communion vessels, prayer books, the colours of the Royal Warwickshire Regiment. By morning, the interior of the cathedral was nothing but rubble and charred beams. The Revd A. P. Wales, wandering among the rubble, picked up three of the large hand-forged medieval nails that were lying in the ruins where they'd fallen out of the beams. He formed them into a cross, tied it with wire, and presented it to the bishop - the first Cross of Nails, original of hundreds offered down the years in token of peace and reconciliation to individuals and congregations all over the world. Provost Howard spoke to a reporter from the Coventry Standard as they stood in the smoking ruins at ten o'clock the next morning. “We shall build it again.” King George VI visited two days after the raid, and a pillar was set up to show the spot from which he had first viewed the ruins. Eventually the question of what to do next came up. Leave the ruins as a Garden of Remembrance? Or rebuild? Sir Giles Gilbert Scott, designer of Liverpool's neo-Gothic Anglican cathedral, was invited to submit plans in 1942. His design was initially accepted, but then rejected by the Royal Fine Arts Commission in 1947. Scott resigned, and the search was on for a new architect. Basil Spence’s design chosen in 1951, retained the ruins complete and made them an integral part of the plan, by setting his cathedral at right angles to the old one so that the new building's main door, at its south end, opened directly on to the ruins. This ninety-degree twist from the conventional east- west orientation of a church, with the new cathedral's altar now placed at the north end, caused a huge amount of discussion.

10 Work began in 1955. Her Majesty the young Queen Elizabeth laid the foundation stone in 1956, and she returned for the cathedral's consecration on 25 May 1962. A striking image guards the new cathedral: Jacob Epstein's bronze sculpture of St Michael and the Devil, fixed to the wall near the entrance. First impressions inside the new cathedral are of clean lines, bareness and simplicity. The 'west' wall is a screen of glass, floor to ceiling, engraved with ranks of saints and angels, conceived by Basil Spence and designed by John Hutton. The Chapel of Unity stands offset on the 'north' side. The chapel is lit by tall, thin windows with thick slabs of cast glass faceted like jewels, a gift from the German Evangelical Churches. In the baptistery, a great rugged ball of rock scooped from a Bethlehem hillside does duty as the font, its top carved into a scalloped bowl, all cradled in a tall concavity of glass that rises to a tremendous sunburst of gold and silver. The high altar, a plain slab, enormous and low-built. On it stands the original Cross of Nails fashioned the morning after the Coventry raid, now silver-gilt, sheltered below a twisted crown of thorns. Above looms Graham Sutherland's great work, Christ in Glory in the Tetramorph. It was a controversial decision to hang this giant tapestry at the 'east' end, instead of inserting a conventional great window letting in light. East windows are the pride and glory of most cathedrals. The tapestry was woven at Felletin in France by Pinton Freres, at twenty-three by twelve metres the largest tapestry in the world at that time. The present Coventry Cathedral is a house of atonement and of re- conciliation. Is its sister ruin alongside, sitting so low and empty, always to be a dark reminder, a shadow forever dogging the footsteps of the future? 'Father Forgive' says the inscription behind the rubble altar -not 'Forgive Them', but just 'Forgive'. Many Cross of Nails have been made from the old cathedral's nails, and have been presented to over a hundred centres throughout the world as a symbol of reconciliation. One of them is in the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church in Berlin, itself ruined by bombing late in World War II. One of the crosses was on HMS Coventry when she was sunk during the Falklands war - it was later retrieved by divers and is now carried on HMS Diamond instead. In 1962, two mighty acts of creation came together to influence the faith of my generation. The Cathedral Church of St Michael and All Angels in Coventry was consecrated, answering the prayers of the city, since the night the beautiful old cathedral was destroyed by bombs in November 1940, that a new building would rise from the ashes. (Concluded on next page)

11 And to mark the consecration of the new cathedral, a symbol of reconciliation and resurrection, Benjamin Britten's War Requiem had its first performance. Both Britten, the composer, and Basil Spence, the architect, had to live through the long and painful process from blank manuscript paper and empty drawing board to final creation at Coventry. At first, even when the work was finished, both cathedral and requiem received more brickbats and insults than praise. When I joined the queue to visit Coventry cathedral for the first time in 1963, I had listened and re-listened to a recording of the War Requiem. I felt I could hear the sound ringing in my ears as the great queue of visitors slowly edged forward to the door. At first we made slow progress, but finally the pace quickened and, after a startled pause on the threshold of such a dramatic interior, we all filed around the edges. Dispelling childhood memories of old hassocks and beeswax polish, there was a smell of something fresh and new. Everything — carvings, glass, choir stalls - was original and modern. However, because of the way we were herded, it was very hard to see the other great, controversial creation inside the new cathedral: Graham Sutherland's gigantic tapestry depicting 'Christ in Glory'. We passed almost underneath it and were then confined to the side aisle on our way back under the Paradise Lost window to the exit. Outside again, I tried to make out the detail of the largest tapestry in the world, but the glass west wall was full of reflections of the sun. There was nothing for it. I would have to go round again. Fortunately, the queue was a little shorter this time and, being only mildly rebellious by nature, I strayed into the empty nave. The cathedral authorities stated that the tapestry 'must present the timeless truths of the Christian faith which are the same for all generations'. From the moment that I found myself in front of the tapestry, that is exactly what I felt I was being shown. Timeless truth. The tapestry is almost 75 feet high. A team of weavers worked for two years to complete it, and Sutherland had not been able to see it hanging upright until it was placed in the cathedral a few days before the consecration. It was an act of faith as large as the tapestry itself, for the artist knew that there could be no possibility of making adjustments. It would be right or wrong. When I go back now, my eyes are still first drawn to the huge, very human toes of Christ, which was what moved me first on that day when I stood in the nave and saw the tapestry clearly. I felt that I understood for the first time what the women had experienced when they went to the tomb on the first Easter morning. Peter Stokes

12 Saint of the month– Hugh of Lincoln, November 17th

St Hugh is probably best remembered as the builder of Lincoln Cathedral, but this was only one of many of his achievements. St Hugh was born in Burgundy, France in 1135. He became a monk in the Carthusian order when he was 15. He became a scholar and was a gentle but assertive man. In 1178, King Henry II founded the first Carthusian monastery at Witham, Somerset as a way of saying sorry for the murder of Thomas a Becket. He appointed Hugh as the prior of the monastery. Hugh made his mark from the start by refusing to move into the monastery until the king had built homes for the villagers. He became Bishop of Lincoln in 1186 and built a new cathedral there. Hugh stood up for the poor who were in danger of starvation as a result of the royal hunting and forestry laws that had been imposed after the Norman Conquest in 1066. Hugh refused to accept them. He showed great bravery offering sanctuary to the Jews who lived in Lincoln when Richard the First became king. Rioters threatened the lives of the Jews and Hugh confronted the troublemakers personally. He did the same thing in Northampton and saved the lives of many Jews there. Hugh travelled widely across his diocese throughout his life and loved to spend time with children and animals. He died in 1200 and was buried in the Angel Choir of Lincoln Cathedral. The Pope made Hugh a saint in 1220. St Hugh’s great tomb soon became a shrine for pilgrims who came to pray to him there. It became the second largest shrine in the country after Canterbury. His tomb is still a place of peaceful prayer in Lincoln Cathedral. Some twelve years ago, I joined a St. Hugh’s Pilgrimage. We walked from Leicester Cathedral to Southwell Minster (both which used to be in the original Diocese of Lincoln) and then on to Lincoln Cathedral where the great West doors had been opened in our honour! We slept in churches, school halls and even Mount St. Bernard’s Abbey. (A Roman Catholic Trappist Monastery in Leicestershire) On our route, we saw many windows, statues and carvings depicting Hugh, always with a swan. Today, people can stop at St. Hugh’s shrine and remember or pray for those who are persecuted because of their race, as well as those who are poor and weak in society. St Hugh’s symbols are a swan and a chalice with the infant Jesus on it. When Hugh died, his pet swan flew away and was never seen again; but it was destined to become the emblem in art of this most holy, heroic and humane Saint. Peter Stokes

13 COVER STORY

This month’s cover is of Llandaff Cathedral in Wales. It is where Simon, our Organist and Choirmaster was a Cathedral Chorister. (see pages 18 and 19)

It is the seat of the Bishop of Llandaff, head of the Church in Wales Diocese of Llandaff. It is dedicated to Saint Peter and Saint Paul, and three Welsh saints: Dubricius (Welsh: Dyfrig), Teilo and Oudoceus (Welsh: Euddogwy). It is one of two cathedrals in Cardiff, the other being the Roman Catholic Cardiff Metropolitan Cathedral in the city centre. The current building was constructed in the 12th century on the site of an earlier church. Severe damage was done to the church in 1400 during the rebellion of Owain Glyndŵr, during the English Civil War when it was overrun by Parliamentarian troops, and during the Great Storm of 1703. By 1717, the damage to the cathedral was so extensive that the church seriously considered the removal of the see. Following further storms in the early 1720s, construction of a new cathedral began in 1734, designed by John Wood, the Elder. During the Cardiff Blitz of the Second World War in January 1941, the cathedral was severely damaged when a parachute mine was dropped; blowing the roof off the nave, south aisle and chapter house. The Dean and Chapter negotiated with the War Damage Commission that the monies allocated for the replacement of stained glass lost in the bombing could be used to fund work or works of art. The second scheme, which was to win the day, was a double wishbone concrete arch surmounted by a hollow drum to house the ‘positive’ division of the organ. The artist proposed to fashion the figure of Christ in Glory that would be mounted on the West face of the drum was Jacob Epstein. The figure is 16 feet high, weighs 7cwt and was cast by the Morris-Singer works in Lambeth. On the eve of the re- hallowing of the Nave on 10th April 1957, Bob Evans, the newly appointed curate of Llandaff, found himself sitting silently in the nave alongside Epstein. At last, the sculptor turned to the young priest and said “Well?” “I told him what I could see” was Bob’s reply and later, with the foolishness of youth, he added “Was it difficult for you, a practicing Jew, to create a Christ for a Christian congregation?” Epstein replied “All my life I have searched for truth and beauty and, in the end, I discovered that it is in the idea of the Christ that they are to be found.” Llandaff’s Christ looks not at the congregation at his feet, but through the clear glass of the west window of the Cathedral to the wider world beyond.

14 Bishop's Message: Three glimpses of the History of Costly Discipleship

I am writing on the day the Church remembers William Tyndale, who was executed, aged 42, on 6th October 1536. His greatest achievement was the translation of the Bible into English. His passion for the truth of Scripture led him into controversy with the ruling authorities, for whom he prayed with his dying breath.

The complex history of what is taken for granted, for example free access to the Word of God, is often neglected. When you read or hear the Bible, which I expect Christians to do each day, remember with gratitude not just the scholarship and inspiration but also the personal cost, even martyrdom, of those who prepared for us an accessible text.

In Black History Month there is also an opportunity to go deeper into the understanding of another part of history, the gruesome realities of the Triangular Slave Trade and its appalling consequences. Reading and hearing the stories told by survivors and descendants, the Holy Spirit reveals past sin and continuing prejudice and injustice. I am excited by the reimagining of neglected history and it’s power to change heart and minds in society today.

Thirdly the Britain’s Biggest Dig TV series, with its graveyard excavations at each end of HS2, in St James’s Euston London and Park Street Birmingham, not only told the story of ordinary humanity with its one out of one chance of dying, but also revealed the ancestry of local historian Carl Chinn, whose great grandfather was a teenage gang member and a violent Slogger. We learn that aggressive gangs are not just a present issue related to particular community but a common human condition, and more hopefully that people can rise from oppression.

As in the freely available Bible narrative of forgiveness and redemption and the huge achievements of the descendants of slaves so in Professor Chinn we see what a difference three generations can make.

15 ANSWERS TO LAST MONTH’S QUIZ

SPORT 1) Royal St. George's 2) Chester FC 3) Kent (St Lawrence Ground, Canterbury)

ARTS 4) Brutus 5) Emily and Charlotte 6) The Tate Gallery 7) Stephen Fry 8) Sir Walter Scott 9) "Something will turn up"

POLITICS 10) Lady Thatcher 11) Callaghan, Macmillan, Major and Brown 12) 650 seats 13) 1973 (then known as the European Communities)

HISTORY 14) Mary, Queen of Scots 15) George V (of Edward VIII and George VI) 16) Queen Anne 17) Edward V and Edward VIII 18) Charles Albert David 19) Beside a trout stream in the foothills of Mount Kenya 20) The 1810s (1811 to 1820) 21) In 1947 at Westminster Abbey 22) The Banqueting House (Whitehall, London) 23) 2002 and 101 24) The Young Pretender

THIS MONTH’S QUIZ Something completely different. Can you identify 50 TV sitcoms from the picture on the next page?

16 17 40 Years in one place

2020 is a special year for me, as in October I will have been Organist and Choirmaster at St Faith and St Laurence for 40 years. I had hoped to mark this occasion with some big musical celebration, but, under the circumstances, this will have to wait for a while. Perhaps in 2021? I thought that members of the congregation might be interested in how I came to F&L, and why I have stayed? In 1980 I was studying music at Birmingham University and living in University Halls in Edgbaston. Having been a Cathedral Chorister as a boy at Llandaff Cathedral (Cardiff), I had always loved church music, and so joined the choir of my local church, St George’s, Edgbaston, under David Bruce Payne. I also enjoyed playing the organ, however, and so when I heard of an organist post at a church in Harborne, I wrote for details. I received a very pleasant letter from the vicar, Rev John Rossington, inviting me to an audition. This was to be on Friday 3rd October, 1980. It was quite a stringent test, particularly for someone who had not been a church organist before: I had to play an organ piece, accompany the choir in two hymns and a psalm, improvise on a hymn tune and rehearse the choir in an anthem. I gathered that there were two candidates. One of those on the interviewing panel was a past organist of St Faith and St Laurence – yes, David Griffiths! I can’t remember the evening much, but presumably it went well! I wasn’t told the result that evening, but was informed that I would hear in the post. John Rossington must have written and posted the letter the next morning, as I received it on the Monday. I still have it. On headed church notepaper, typed on an old typewriter it reads: 4th October, 1980. Dear Simon, Thank you for coming to the audition last night. I am very glad to say that I can offer you the post of organist and choirmaster here. The salary will be £600 p.a. plus fees for weddings and funerals.

I would be glad if you would phone me so that we can arrange to meet to discuss the work. I hope that you might be able to take the Tuesday practice this coming week, if that is not too short notice.

Yours sincerely, John Rossington

18 The letter was signed with John’s characteristically flamboyant signature. Looking back, the salary of £600 is interesting. Whilst this was very welcome extra cash to a student, I like to feel that the church got good value from me. In those days we had an hour’s ‘Junior’ practise on a Tuesday, as well as a two hour ‘Full’ rehearsal on a Friday. The choir sang at both the morning and evening services on a Sunday.

I particularly smile at John’s question about when I could start work. Typically, he was keen to get me working. So it was that I took my first rehearsal on Tuesday 7th October, just the day after I received his letter! It was the first of many, many rehearsals and services at St Faith and St Laurence over the next 40 years.

In the choir that evening were singers that I would get to know well, and whom would become friends. We performed so much great music together, went on trips, made recordings. It is so sad that many are not now with us. The group included Alan Lewis, Eileen Sweet, Andrew Smith and Richard Sitford. How lucky I was to begin with such a wonderful group of people, and such enthusiastic musicians.

At St Faith and St Laurence, over the years, I’ve been blessed with a wealth of wonderful musicians who have made my time at the church so enjoyable and rewarding. I can’t name them all, but to anyone associated with the music in all that time, my sincere thanks. I like to think that the high standards that the choir and musicians have aspired to have enriched the worship, and inspired members of the congregation.

On a personal level, my life has also become completely intertwined with St Faith and St Laurence. I met Susannah when she sang in the choir, and we were married here. Both my sons were baptised at F&L, and I am delighted that on June 12th 2021 (Covid-19 willing), Oliver, my eldest son, will marry Hannah here.

I’ve loved making music at St Faith and St Laurence over all these years, and am so glad I saw that job advertisement. As well as fine musicians, I have been very lucky to have supportive Vicars and PCCs, and receptive congregations over all those years. I really must have been happy in the job to have stayed for 40 years.

Thank you! Simon Palmer, Organist & Choirmaster

19 Musical changes under Covid-19

When the country went into ‘lockdown’ in March, services also had to stop at St Faith and St Laurence. At that time, we had no idea that it would be so long before they could recommence. A very important part of the services stopped as well – the music. As well as organists being unable to practise in church, the choir could not meet, sing, or rehearse. And so stopped, very suddenly, a tradition which at St Faith and St Laurence goes back all the way to the very beginning of our church, when the wife of the Vicar, Mrs Elsie Sissons, was the choir mistress. I was thinking about this recently, and wondering what Harvey Gray would have made of it all. Harvey was one of the original choristers in Elsie Sisson’s choir, for a long time the Chair of the PCC, and the Grandfather or current chorister Sam Gray. During lockdown some of our musicians made recordings, and a few took part in music on ‘zoom’ at various events, but this was never very satisfactory, and did not replace the joy of going to church and making music. When we heard that churches were to be allowed worship once again, we were delighted. In our church it was decided that we could have two singers plus an organist whilst maintaining suitable safe distances, so we considered how we could best use these smaller numbers to enhance the worship of our church once again, both to those present and those watching on ‘zoom’. We decided that as the congregation were not allowed to sing, the singers would sing a few verses of two hymns for them. This has worked well, divided between the singers, often with a ‘descant’ in the last verse. The singers then perform an anthem related to the theme of the service, for meditation, and at communion services the ‘Agnus Dei’ as well. As congregation members are assembling from 9.30 am, the organist is playing some music from then. Before and after the service, the organist has played a ‘voluntary’ which is advertised on the order of service. This often has some link to the service theme, or the anthem. Unusually, the anthem before the service is longer than the one after, as after the service the congregation have to leave the church promptly. I have been pleased with the musical contribution that our small group of musicians has made, and have been pleased with the very positive feedback that we have received. We are very lucky to have two other professional musicians at our church in addition to myself, Mark and Susannah, and I am very grateful to them for all their support. I have been very pleased to use Sam Gray as well, not only because he is now an excellent musician, but being at King Edward VI Camp Hill School for Boys with me – studying A level music – I have been able to rehearse with him safely. I am very pleased to report that other senior members of the choir are keen to get back singing, and they are going to be rotated into this small group of musicians from Half Term onwards, which will provide some welcome variety. This is not the same as having the full choir though, and I really do look forward to the time when we can resume choir rehearsals, and have more singers in the church.

Simon Palmer Organist & Choirmaster

20 ADVENT

This year, Advent Sunday is on November 29th.

Advent Calendar He will come like last leaf's fall. One night when the November wind has flayed the trees to bone, and earth wakes choking on the mould, the soft shroud's folding. He will come like frost. One morning when the shrinking earth opens on mist, to find itself arrested in the net of alien, sword-set beauty. He will come like dark. One evening when the bursting red December sun draws up the sheet and penny-masks its eye to yield the star-snowed fields of sky. He will come, will come, will come like crying in the night, like blood, like breaking, as the earth writhes to toss him free. He will come like child.

Rowan Williams

21 Anthem For Doomed Youth - by Wilfred Owen

What passing-bells for these who die as cattle? Only the monstrous anger of the guns. Only the stuttering rifles' rapid rattle Can patter out their hasty orisons. No mockeries now for them; no prayers nor bells; Nor any voice of mourning save the choirs, The shrill, demented choirs of wailing shells; And bugles calling for them from sad shires. What candles may be held to speed them all? Not in the hands of boys, but in their eyes Shall shine the holy glimmers of good-byes. The pallor of girls' brows shall be their pall; Their flowers the tenderness of patient minds, And each slow dusk a drawing-down of blinds.

Written between September and October 1917, when Owen was a patient at Craiglockhart War Hospital in Edinburgh recovering from shell shock, the poem is a lament for young soldiers whose lives were lost in the European War. The poem is also a comment on Owen's rejection of his religion in 1915.

Jon Stallworthy

22 THE DEADLINE FOR THE NEXT PARISH MAGAZINE IS SUNDAY NOVEMBER 22nd

A prayer for all time? This wartime prayer is taken from the ‘Field Service Book of the British Army’. Almighty God, in you alone we find safety and peace. We commend to your gracious keeping all the men and women who serve in the Navy, the Army or the Air Force, who face danger and put their lives at risk so that others might live in safety. Defend them day by day by your heavenly power; and help them to know that they can never pass beyond the reach of your care. Keep alive in them and in us your vision of that peace which alone we must seek and serve; Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

When I read it, I thought that while it is ideal for Remembrance it could easily be adapted for the present crisis facing our world … Almighty God, in you alone we find safety and peace. We commend to your gracious keeping all the men and women who are working at the front line of the Covid-19 pandemic, who face danger and put their lives at risk so that others might live in safety. Defend them day by day by your heavenly power; and help them to know that they can never pass beyond the reach of your care. Keep alive in them and in us your vision of that peace which alone we must seek and serve; Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen

Bob Peters

23

THE PARISH CHURCH OF SAINT FAITH AND SAINT LAURENCE HARBORNE B17 8RD At the junction of Balden and Croftdown Road

SERVICES

SUNDAY 8am HOLY COMMUNION 10am FAMILY COMMUNION 2nd SUNDAY– MORNING PRAISE 6.30pm EVENSONG and SERMON (2nd SUNDAY-SUNG EUCHARIST) WEDNESDAY- 11am HOLY COMMUNION

SUNDAY CLUB and Crèche run alongside Family Communion on 1st, 3rd and 4th Sundays

MINISTRY TEAM

Vicar: The REVD. CANON PRISCILLA WHITE M.A. 427 2410 115 Balden Road, B32 2EL Mobile: 07896 935798 E-mail: [email protected]

Licensed Readers: SALLY GRIFFITHS Ed.D., M.Ed. 429 9436 E-mail: [email protected] RACHEL LUCKMAN Dip. BA Mphil PhD 445 1965 Mobile: 07500 680 838 Email:[email protected] OFFICERS OF THE CHURCH:

Churchwardens: MALCOLM ADEY 421 1099 CORINNE TREACY Mobile: 07752640151 E-mail:[email protected] P.C.C. Secretary: GILL HUBBLE 426 4152 P.C.C. Treasurer: Electoral Roll: JUDITH BENNETT 427 8154 Organist and SIMON PALMER B.Mus.,L.T.C.L.,A.B.S.M. 440 6519 Choirmaster: Assistant Organist: MARK LAWRENCE 475 3951 Bell Ringers: JACKIE TAYLOR 422 2930 Sunday Club Co-ordinators: Church Hall Bookings: Please contact 07896 935798 BOOKINGS NOT CURRENTLY BEING TAKEN Church Hall: Church Hall may be contacted in an emergency on: 428 2406

PARISH MAGAZINE

Editor: Revd. Canon Priscilla White

Advertising Manager: Corinne Treacy Mobile: 07752640151 Email: [email protected] Produced by Peter Stokes Tele: 0121 422 6843 E-mail: [email protected]

PARISH WEBSITE:- www.saintfaithandsaintlaurence.co.uk