Contact Dec 2020/Jan 2021
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THE PENKRIDGE TEAM MINISTRY TEAM RECTOR: TEAM VICAR: Rev. Greg Yerbury Rev. Susan Mayo The Rectory, The Vicarage, New Road, 3 Bitham Close Penkridge, ST19 5DN Penkridge, ST19 5HT 01785 714344 01785 715605 [email protected] [email protected] CHURCHWARDENS Dunston Coppenhall Gary Pliva Robert Lawrence 01785 715833 01785 251293 [email protected] [email protected] Linda Pliva Amanda Horne 01785 715833 01785 246960 [email protected] [email protected] Like us & share @DunstonwithCoppenhall Bishop Michael’s Pastoral Letter for December 2020 “Christmas this year will not be like any other we have known”: we will all have heard that many times of late. At the time of my writing this, it is not clear what restrictions we will be subject to in December; but it does seem very likely that much of what we are accustomed to will not be possible in the usual way. There are likely to be constraints on family gatherings. Eating and drinking together will be very complicated. Opportunities to sing carols will be much reduced. Many people will be experiencing challenging levels of anxiety, isolation, poverty and mental health issues. Does all this mean that Christmas will be cancelled this year, or at least dramatically diminished? We only have to reflect for a minute on the meaning of the word ‘Christmas’ to realise this cannot be true: it is the celebration of Jesus Christ, the ‘Great Little One’ in whom our God comes to us. As so much of what we have taken for granted is absent or muted 1 this Christmas, perhaps the very heart of our celebration can stand with more clarity in a new light; perhaps we can focus more attentively on the truth which gives meaning to this great story. That is the truth of God’s boundless mercy for us, which brings him to share our life as one of us: Sacred infant, all divine, / What a tender love was thine: / Thus to come from highest bliss / Down to such a world as this. The baby born at Bethlehem is not introduced to a comfortable, easy or settled life. From the outset the Holy Family knows the meaning of anxiety, displacement and suffering; remembering that should itself give us hope. So the heart of Christmas this year will be the same as every year, and indeed it may be easier for us to see what that heart is. The numbers with whom we can meet as family and friends may be few, but Christ will surely make his home among us if we welcome him in. We may not sit down to so many or so exuberant meals, or indulge in so many cheerful social drinks together; but he still gives us his body and blood as food and drink to strengthen us. We may not be able to belt out our favourite Christmas carols in church as usual, but the song of the angels is not silenced, telling the good news of salvation, and urging us, like they urged the shepherds: ‘Do not be afraid’. Knowing that there is so much sadness, darkness and anger around us and within us, perhaps we can recapture this year the meaning of Advent: that our God loves this fallen world, and us his hurting children, so much, that he decides to come as Emmanuel, God with us. The poet and priest R S Thomas imagines that momentous decision like this in his poem The Coming: And God held in his hand On a bare A small globe. Look he said. Hill a bare tree saddened The son looked. Far off, The sky. many People As through water, he saw Held out their thin arms A scorched land of fierce To it, as though waiting Colour. The light burned For a vanished April There; crusted buildings To return to its crossed Cast their shadows: a bright Boughs. The son watched Serpent, A river Them. Let me go there, he said. Uncoiled itself, radiant With slime. +Michael Bishop of Lichfield 2 Notices Living our Faith Advent Course 2020 You’re invited to a 4 week course for Advent on Zoom exploring how we can truly live good lives. You’re welcome wherever you are on your faith journey. 7pm Wednesdays 25th Nov, 2nd, 9th and 16th Dec Login details from Rev Sue at [email protected] or in the weekly email. Why not take time out this Advent to reflect on the important things in life? Thank you so very much for your amazing generosity - £420 went to the most vulnerable women and children at Staffordshire Women’s Aid from the November collection. We also took another groaning car full of food to the Stafford Christian Foodbank! You’re all amazing!! God bless you for your kindness. COLLECTIONS FOR THE FOOD BANK AND STAFFORDSHIRE WOMEN’S AID The next collections are Wednesday 2nd December 2020 from 10-11am. AND Wednesday 6th January 2021 from 10-11am. Hyde Lea and Coppenhall Village Hall Donations for SWA can be in the form of supermarket gift vouchers/cards or cash whichever is easier. 3 Notices We’re hoping that we might be able to have Drive-in Community Carol Singing in the Village Hall car park in Hyde Lea COVID REGULATIONS PERMITTING We’ll email nearer the time with more details when we know if we’re able to go ahead Watch this space!!! The Editor says “Thank You All” I have now completed two years as editor of this magazine and what a year 2020 has been: we will all remember it! It has been disappointing that we had to stop printing the magazine due to the risk of passing on the virus. Over 450 households and a population of well over 1000 people were receiving a hard copy up until February 2020. However, it has been emailed for the remainder of 2020 and over 200 people have been receiving it this way. Please spread the word and ask neighbours and friends if they do not get it by email, to send me their email addresses and I will add them to the list whilst the restrictions continue. On the bright side, at least we have saved a few trees by not printing this year! Thank you also to all those readers who have sent very kind comments on the magazine and particularly to those who have contributed with articles, recipes, poems, short stories and even the odd joke. I wish you all God’s blessing for an illness free, happy Christmas, a safe and peaceful New Year, and may 2021 soon be free of COVID-19 so that we can stop fearing the virus, be back to some form of a normal life with services in our churches and printing and distributing this magazine. Paul Russell, Editor, Contact Magazine [email protected] 4 Notices SAVE OUR HOSPICE Katharine House Hospice is facing an uncertain future due to the financial impact of Covid 19. The pandemic has had a major effect upon its ability to generate funds, as all fundraising events have been cancelled and all the shops were closed for a long period. The hospice wants to be there when you need it – to provide vital care to people living with a terminal illness and supporting their families. Please see below a link to the fundraising page for the emergency campaign. justgiving.com/campaign/savekhhospice or go to khhospice.org.uk to make a donation or see other ways to support Katharine House PASTORAL CARE TEAM If you would welcome some help from or can give help to others during the pandemic please telephone Judith Lawrence on 01785 251293 or email at [email protected] or text or WhatsApp Rev. Sue on 07716 024911 A number of people in our village support the Children’s Society by donating money or holding a house box. A total of £388.47 was raised this year. A very big thank you to all those people who so generously contributed. The Children’s Society helps to change the lives of the country’s most vulnerable children and teenagers. Children who have nowhere else to turn - including children in care, young carers, neglected teenagers and young runaways. Funds raised are helping this life-changing work. If anyone would consider having a house box to throw in their loose change, please contact me, Sue Millett 01785 249800 or 07906236806 5 6 7 Farming Update by Mike Madders Welcome to this month’s column and the good news is we have finally caught up with the field work. After a wet start to October I was worried that we were in for a repeat of last year. However, drier weather in the second half of the month and into early November allowed us to get on with harvesting the maize and sowing our winter cereals. We have also been able to do most of the spraying. All of which means we should be well set up for next year’s growing season. On a recent tour of the farm I was really pleased to see how good the oil seed rape, grass seeds and early sown barley looked. Even the wheat, which has not been in the ground long, is coming up nicely with minimal slug damage despite some of the seed beds being less than perfect. Before I finally move on from the trauma of last year’s extremely challenging season, it is worth noting that one of the big reasons that this year’s sowing has dragged on is the fact that this year’s harvest was so late.