PLATFORM The Parish Magazine of St. Matthew’s, Redhill April 2020 Digital Edition
Picture sourced from dreamstime.com
Say hello! our website: www.stmatthews-redhill.org.uk on facebook: facebook.com/StMattsRedhill on twitter: @StMattRedhill ind us : Station Road, Redhill, Surrey, RH1 1DL email the team : [email protected]
— — THE PARISH CHURCH OF SAINT MATTHEW, REDHILL THE DIOCESE OF SOUTHWARK: THE BISHOP, RT REVD CHRISTOPHER CHESSUN THE AREA BISHOP (CROYDON): RT REVD JONATHAN CLARK ARCHDEACON OF REIGATE: THE VEN MOIRA ASTIN AREA DEAN OF REIGATE: REVD ANITA COLPUS
The Vicar: REVD CANON ANDREW CUNNINGTON, St. Matthew’s Vicarage, 27 Ridgeway Road, Redhill 01737 761568 [email protected] (day off Friday)
The Vicar’s PA: Helen Simmons, [email protected]
The Parish of ice remains closed during this time of the COVID19 lockdown. Please contact the vicarage for enquiries about Banns, Weddings, Baptisms and Con irmations.
The Parish Magazine Team: Tim Whittle, Mark Mann, Margaret Philipson and Freda Dugan.
St. Matthew’s PCC is registered as a charity with the Charity Commission - no. 1132579
Mission statement for the Parish of St. Matthew, Redhill We welcome all We follow Jesus We worship God
Welcome to our digital edition of Platform.
In our best efforts to continue publishing the news of our parish, we’ve opted to distribute the magazine digitally during this period of lockdown. Certain sections have been removed in the effort to maintain privacy of individuals while we ind our feet in this new format.
If you want to print PLATFORM, please remember that PLATFORM is usually created in an A5 booklet format. Therefore, you may have to be prepared to iddle with the printer’ settings when using A4 paper. We would suggest looking for the “zoom to 140%” or “ it to printer margins” or “multiple pages per sheet”.
—2— In This Edition
4 Foreword By Tim Whittle 5—6 “Dear Friends” By Anne Currie 6 COVID-19 NOTICE 7 Our Life Together By Father Andrew 8—9 Mothers’ Union By Hilary Richardson 9 Lunchtime Music By Edward Crutch ield 9 FROM THE REGISTERS Baptisms, Marriages & Funerals. 10 DATES FOR DIARIES Church events for the coming months. 10 READINGS Service readings for this month. 11—12 By The End Of The Week By Father Andrew 12 Re lections 13 The Month In Review By Father Andrew 14—15 Growing Up In 1960’s Redhill By Tim Whittle 15—16 The Bishop’s Letter A message to the Diocese of Southwark. 17—end ADVERTISEMENTS
If you are a UK taxpayer, the Government’s Gift Aid scheme means that St Matthew’s PCC can reclaim 25p for every £1 that you donate, at no extra cost to you. For further information please speak to Christine Mann.
Submission Guidelines Word count for submissions should be kept within 500 words. The editorial team reserve the right to make such editorial revisions as in our opinion may be necessary to make all content suitable for publication. These may include revisions for the sake of consistency of style, layout, reduction in word count, correction of grammar or spelling, or greater readability.
—3— Foreword In 1957, having been in hospital to have my appendix removed, I returned to my class at Cromwell Road, Redhill to find that, out of my class of over forty children, there were only three children plus the teacher in the class; the rest were ill with Asian flu. None of my class died as a result of Asian flu but it is estimated that out of the nine million who caught it in Britain, 14,000 died; worldwide the figure was around two million dead.
I was thinking about how Britain and the world have changed since 1957: no motorways and fewer cars then (we did not have one); fewer airports and very few people holidaying abroad (I first went abroad in 1972); only two TV channels (we did not have a TV) and four radio channels (three BBC plus Radio Luxemburg); and no internet. One thing that has not changed though is that if humanity think they can control this world, we do so at our peril.
As I write this, things are changing so rapidly with regard to Coronavirus that while putting this addition of Platform together, I was aware that some of the information is probably already out of date. By the time you read your copy of Platform, it is extremely likely that even more will be out of date and so please do check with the church website for the latest information as to what is and what is no longer on and what is happening at St Matthew’s.
Tim Whittle
PLATFORM DEADLINE Article contributions for the next edition should be emailed to Tim Whittle via [email protected] before Monday 6th April 2020 The Platform team will try to be flexible with late submissions but it may not be possible to consider them for publication in that month. Please contact Margaret Philipson for all advertisement enquiries.
—4— “Dear Friends” Writing this somewhere near the beginning of March I was beginning to wonder whether we were facing the re-enactment of the story of Noah! However, the rain which has plagued us for what seems like years, is finally giving way to some spring sunshine. Great for our well-being and the gardens, but we still must give a thought to those who are clearing up or who remain inundated by flood waters.
But it is good to see the odd green leaf appearing along with the crocus and daffodil flowers.
At the start of April, we will be preparing for our Easter celebrations and I do hope that by the time you read this we will have seen the end of the Covid-19 Coronavirus epidemic around the world. If not, our Easter celebrations may well be somewhat different to those in past years and I am sure we will find ways of celebrating this great festival together, even if we are kept at a distance.
The evening Lent group has been looking at the stories of Noah and Jonah among other things. One thing they both have in common is the generosity of God in his giving of second chances or new beginnings. Noah is pivotal in the new beginning of humankind’s relationship with God after the flood, and Jonah is given the chance to rethink his actions. In fact, God chose to place him in the belly of a big fish to make sure he stayed still long enough to do this!
April and Spring are synonymous with new life, new beginnings and this is one of the main themes of Easter itself. Salvation through the suffering of Jesus on the Cross and his resurrection gives us that chance of redemption, a change of thought, a new way to be.
Beginning with Palm Sunday, our services during this week would have offered a great opportunity to engage with the Easter Story in all sort of different ways. Through quiet reflective services at the start of the week, walking with Christ on his final journey via the Stations of the Cross on Wednesday evening and Good Friday morning too, although in a more informal way. The great drama of the Maundy Thursday service would have followed by the all-night vigil. The solemn continued on next page... —5— “Dear Friends” continued... liturgy of Good Friday afternoon, followed by the service of waiting and darkness on Saturday evening; and then, of course, the great celebration on Easter Day itself.
I wish you a thoughtful and prayerful Lenten journey followed by a blessed Easter.
Yours in Christ,
Anne Currie
The Archbishops and Bishops of the Church of England have urged everyone to follow the instructions given by the Prime Minister to stay in their homes in a national effort to limit the transmission of the coronavirus (COVID-19).
But they called on the Church to “continue to pray, to love, to care for the vulnerable”.
It follows the announcement by the Prime Minister Boris Johnson of sweeping restrictions aimed at slowing the spread of the virus.
It means all Church of England churches will close with immediate effect in line with the Government’s instructions. There will also be no Church weddings or baptisms.
Funerals at the graveside or in crematoriums can still take place, but only in line with the Prime minister’s Statement.
In a joint statement the bishops said: “In the light of the Government’s measures, announced by the Prime Minister this evening, we urge everyone to follow the instructions given.
“We will give a fuller statement of advice as soon as possible. Let us continue to pray, to love, to care for the vulnerable, and build our communities, even while separated.”
—6— Our Life Together
As of Tuesday 24th March:
Today is the irst day of our enforced self–isolation and it has come like a bomb shell to our well-ordered lives. There are now no worship activities in the church and the only way we can keep in touch pastorally is by phone or email. We will strive as best we can to provide worship via social media, but of course, I realise that this can only touch part of our church family.
We continue to pray as a staff team in our own homes at 8.30am and 5.30pm and we can be united in God’s presence by observing those same times wherever we happen to be.
We can continue to light a candle in our windows each evening at 7pm. We can each make sure that in the above ways, we keep in touch with one another.
For many years now I have been preaching the same sermon over and over again and it is this ….In Christ we have an expression of God who is with us wherever we go and whatever we do. He is not locked inside church building, nor is he only to be found by those who consider themselves holy, or have a good academic background. He gets in everywhere – and my prayer for you all is that you will know this to be more true than you dared to think
Fr Andrew
Platform is always looking for news and articles to print in the magazine. If you would like to contribute then please contact Tim Whittle or via our email address: [email protected]
—7— I recently attended a meeting of the Southwark Mothers’ Union Diocesan Council.
As well as the usual housekeeping business, we had a presentation from Kate Singleton, the current Diocesan Safeguarding Advisor, and her Assistant, Louise Vernon. Susan Gibbin has recently taken on the role of MU Diocesan Safeguarding Officer, but was unable to be present. Kate and Susan have worked together to produce an up-to-date Safeguarding Policy for Southwark Mothers’ Union, which is in line with Diocesan practice, and also with Mothers’ Union practice from Mary Sumner House. As with the parish, training is available from the Diocesan Safeguarding team, and 2,100 people were trained during 2019.
After lunch, we had another presentation, this time from Ish Lennox, the Lay Leadership Development Advisor for the Diocese; and Jean Kerr, who works on ‘Thy Kingdom Come’ for Lambeth Palace. Despite being in the “graveyard” slot after lunch (!), Ish and Jean led a lively discussion. We were all presented with a Prayer Journal for Thy Kingdom Come (which this year runs from 21st -31st May), and reminded that our lives are sacred journeys. Jean referred to the first letter of Peter, Chapter 2, verse 9, where Peter told the people of Northern Turkey... “You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people, in order that you may proclaim the mighty acts of him who called you out of darkness into his marvellous light.” We need to remember that we are called to enable other people.
There will no doubt be more about Thy Kingdom Come in the May edition of the magazine, but it is good to remember this is our calling, as we travel through uncertain times, towards the joys of Easter morning.
The meeting was held as the CoVid 19 precautions were beginning to be ramped up. At the same time, this prayer was posted on the Mothers’ Union Facebook page, and I offer it to you, even though things are sure to have moved on by the time you are reading this:
continued on next page... —8— continued...
Loving Lord, We pray for your love and compassion to abound as we walk through this challenging season. We ask for wisdom for those who bear the load of making decisions with widespread consequences. We pray for those who are suffering with sickness and for all who are caring for them. We ask for protection for the elderly and vulnerable to not succumb to the risks of virus. We pray for misinformation to be curbed that fear may take no hold in hearts and minds. As we exercise the good sense that you in your mercy provide, may we also approach each day in faith and peace, trusting in the truth of your goodness towards us. Amen. Hilary Richardson
Lunchtime Music for April
It is with great regret, that with the closure of St Matthews Church and to keep within the current health guidelines, that Lunchtime Music is suspended until further notice.
From The Registers
HOLY BAPTISM 16th February Constance and Stanley Hollister
—9— Dates For Diaries: April 2020
AS DIRECTED BY GOVERNMENT AND CHURCH GUIDELINES, ALL PUBLIC SERVICES AND GATHERINGS ARE CANCELLED IN THE EFFORT TO REDUCE THE TRANSMISSION OF COVID-19.
HOWEVER, PLEASE CHECK THE ST MATTHEWS WEBSITE AND FACEBOOK PAGE FOR DETAILS OF ONLINE EVENTS AND WORSHIP. Sun 5th PALM SUNDAY
Fri 10th GOOD FRIDAY
Sat 11th EASTER EVE Sun 12th EASTER DAY
Sun 19th EASTER 2 Sun 26th EASTER 3
Readings: April 2020
Sunday 5th PALM SUNDAY Isaiah 50: 4-9a Matthew 21: 1-11
Sunday 12th EASTER SUNDAY Jeremiah 31: 1-6 Matthew 28: 1-10
Sunday 19th EASTER 2 Acts 2 14a, 22-32 John 20: 19-end
Sunday 26th EASTER 3 Acts 2 14a, 36-41 Luke 24: 13-35
—10— By The End Of The Week
Much can happen between a Sunday and a Friday: On Sunday, although numbers were slightly down, and there was a growing concern in the air, the people of St Ma hew’s Redhill met for worship in the usual way. By Friday, the church had closed its doors to all but a few, and plans were in place to broadcast the Sunday service into people’s homes On Sunday, plans were being made between families to see each other the following weekend on Mothering Sunday. By Friday, most of those plans had to be abandoned, causing much heartache to those who were looking forward to it. On Sunday, our local school was planning for a busy week and I was scheduled to be working with classes and leading Collec ve Worship By Friday, the school was closing its doors to all but the most vulnerable and the children of key workers. The difference a few days can make….. On Sunday, the crowds lined the streets to greet Jesus as he arrived in the city and they strewed his way with palms By Friday, they had all distanced themselves from him and were calling out for his death. On Sunday, the disciples of Jesus were looking forward to an exci ng me as the teaching and miracles they had witnessed seemed to be set to change more lives for the good. By Friday, they had fled and gone into hiding. On Sunday, Jesus, the promised Messiah seemed to be invincible, able to do anything for anyone By Friday, he had been divested of everything and was dying on a cross. How the experience of that first Holy Week now resonates with our own enforced change of lifestyle. I imagine that on the Friday, those disciples could see no end to their situa on. They must have felt trapped, self-isolated from the one in whom they had put so much trust, not knowing what the future held. But a lot can happen between a Friday and a Sunday. continued on next page... —11— By The End Of The Week continued... By Sunday, Jesus had burst the bonds that held him. He had conquered death in a way that would bring las ng hope to people like you and me. By Sunday, the friends of Jesus were beginning to hear rumours that the impossible happened. By Sunday, although it was hard to accept to begin with, there was a growing sense that life would become great again. By Sunday, the wounds of their experience did not fade away, neither from the disciples or their saviour. They stayed with them, in a way that was painful to begin with, but resulted in a new understanding of what the love of God means. As I write this on the first day of our enforced self-isola on – it seems to me that one way of moving forward with hope is to pin point our lives somewhere on this chart – where our own experience chimes with that of the story of Holy Week and Easter. It may take a lot longer than three physical days before we come to a resurrec on we can all celebrate. As someone once wrote in a long ago medita on … It’s Friday ….but one thing’s for certain……Sunday’s a-coming With all my love Fr Andrew
- REFLECTIONS -
"Faith is a knowledge within the heart, beyond the reach of proof."
Kahlil Gibran.
—12— The Month In Review February 2020 We gathered in the Church Hall for the start of our lovely Candlemas service on 2nd February and formed a circle of light round the church as we heard the story of Simeon and Anna encountering Jesus for themselves in their own place of worship. Later that day we continued the theme with a rip roaring Messy Church session where we again welcomed new families to our church.
We welcomed groups of children from St Matthew’s School to learn about what happens at a church wedding and we were privileged to welcome many friends of the late Robert Webb for a celebration of his life in our church on Saturday 15th. The family Baptism of Connie and Stanley Hollister was the centre piece of our Family Service a day later and the following Sunday afforded an opportunity for our great team of servers to meet together and for Fr Andrew to thank them for all they do. In the evening, our service of Choral Evensong saw a change in the seating arrangement, with the congregation able to sit nearer the choir and for this wonderful service to give a greater sense of us all worshipping together. More children from the school came along to learn about the life of St Matthew and as we moved into the more solemn season of Lent with two services on Ash Wednesday, so our beautiful stations of the cross were once again set up in the church.
A fantastic Messy Science Day was held in our Parish Room on the last Saturday in the month – with people attending from many parts of the Diocese and in the following week both our daytime Lent Group- following the book “I Thirst” by Stephen Cottrell and our Tuesday evening group looking at Forgotten Followers held their first meeting. It has been another very busy month for our Foodbank and for the volunteers who run our coffee shop – and even amidst the inclement weather our gardening team were in full force continuing to make our grounds look so inviting.
Father Andrew
—13— Growing Up In 1960’s Redhill
Resuming my recollections of growing up in Redhill in the 1950s and 1960s (see PLATFORM April 2019) and as a pupil at Reigate Grammar School.
The big change for me in the early 1960s was that I passed the Eleven-Plus and went to Reigate Grammar School which was then a boys only state school. Six of us, all boys, passed from Cromwell Road Junior School, which was a record year; even though with over forty pupils, it was well below the national average. It might also be added that there were not too many pupils at the Grammar School from the Batts Hill Estate where I lived, with only two boys from Colman Way there and two girls at the County School.
Going to the Grammar School was quite a shock for me as for the first two years I went from at or near the top of class at Cromwell Road to near the bottom, I was never actually bottom. My mother did tell me later that our family doctor had said that she thought it would take me a couple of years to settle in. My biggest problem was in languages as we never had any language lessons at Cromwell Road and we had to study not just French but also Latin, I never could see the point of studying a dead language. I was useless at both and in fact the only languages I ever took to were computer languages. By comparison, there were quite a few boys from St Mary’s Prep School who had spent two years studying both French and Latin. In the third year I was able to drop Latin and later French and concentrate on the sciences, maths and history at which I was always better. I was though always good at chess and played for the school chess team throughout the years.
Another problem I had was that very small, I did not shoot up in height until I was fifteen, and so thin that my school nickname was ‘Oxfam reject’. I had played for the Cromwell Road football team but the Grammar School played rugby and I was not exactly built for that game. To add to my woes, while on my first ever cross-country run, I managed to trip over on a road which had just had chipping laid on it, but not been rollered in. I ended up having the skin on both knees and hands cut to pieces and when I arrived back from continued on next page... —14— Growing Up In 1960’s Redhill continued... ‘Accident and Emergency’ with bandages everywhere, my mother commented that the only thing I lacked was a black eye! Despite this accident, I was actually quite good at cross-country (I was built a bit like Zola Budd) and normally did well for my school house in the annual cross-country run. Nowadays school cross-country runs, for safety reasons, just seem to go around flat fields but ours went up Colley Hill. I can remember us charging down a flight of steps that I now walk down very gingerly and the sight of all these boys careering down the steps would have given anyone from Health and Safety, a seizure. Despite that, I do not actually remember any boys falling down the steps and injuring themselves.
Tim Whittle
The Bishops’ Letter
Bishop Jonathan writes…. I write this just as we are beginning the season of Lent – a time when we recognise our distance from God and renew our resolve to live lives worthy of our calling as disciples of Jesus. “Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return. Turn away from sin, and be faithful to Christ” – the words spoken at the imposition of ashes on Ash Wednesday are challenging, but ultimately reassuring. We turn back to God knowing that in his grace and forgiveness we can always begin again. All of us in our individual journeys of faith are called upon to recognise our failures to follow Christ, and especially in Lent to ask God to enable and strengthen us. But our sinfulness is not only individual – we are all enmeshed in a society distorted by sinfulness, which can distort our understanding and emotions to the point where we don’t recognise the evil caused by actions which seem perfectly right and good to ourselves. That is ‘structural sin’ – the continued on next page... —15— The Bishops’ Letter continued...
sin which we can be part of all unknowingly. The Revd Andrew Moughtin-Mumby, Rector of St Peter, Walworth and Area Dean of Southwark & Newington, brought a motion to the recent meeting of General Synod, a motion which was passed unanimously. Among other things, it asked the Synod to “lament, on behalf of Christ’s Church, and apologise for, the conscious and unconscious racism experienced by countless Black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) Anglicans in 1948 and subsequent years, when seeking to find a spiritual home in their local Church of England parish churches; … express gratitude to God for the indispensable contribution to the mission, ministry, prayer and worship of Christ’s Church in this nation made by people of BAME descent in the Church of England; … resolve to continue, with great effort and urgency, to stamp out all forms of conscious or unconscious racism, and to commit the Church of England to increase the participation and representation of lay and ordained BAME Anglicans throughout Church life; … so that we can move towards truly being a Church for all people; to the greater glory of the God in whose image every human being is made. During the debate, the Archbishop of Canterbury took it further: “There is no doubt when we look at our own Church that we are still deeply institutionally racist” were his words. The Church as a whole, and I hope all of us as individuals, oppose all forms of racism. But that does not prevent us as individuals, or as a body, from being influenced by biases we do not perceive. As we enter this Lent, let us pray for God’s grace to open our eyes to the uncomfortable truths about ourselves and about our Church, so that we may also be ready to receive with open hearts God’s forgiveness. Then we will be renewed in our desire truly to be a Church for all, rejoicing in our diversity and witnessing in our unity to the love and power of God. Bishop Jonathan (Croydon)
http://www.southwark.anglican.org/information/resources/bishops-letter Occasionally the webpage is not updated, but recent letters are still available in the downloads section of the diocese website.
—16— ADVERTISEMENT
—17— ADVERTISEMENTS
At Woodlands we believe in honest, straight-forward services to best help you find and keep high-quality tenants. So what can Woodlands offer you above the competition? We are a family-run company with excellent local knowledge and can offer a range of flexible services to meet your requirements. At Woodlands we value all our customers and our team are always on hand to help! Please call us for more information on 01737 372797 Or pop into our high street office for a chat at 49 Station Road, Redhill
—18— ADVERTISEMENTS
—19— ADVERTISEMENTS CW Plumbing & Hea ng I am fully insured, DBS cleared and Gas Safe cer fied.
Please contact me for all your boiler and gas services and safety cer ficates.
Christopher Whi on Tel. 07561 118895 E-mail: [email protected]
Gas Safe Number 620035
Christopher Whi on If you would like to advertise PLUMBING AND HANDYMAN SERVICES your business or services in From dripping taps to full bathroom Platform, please contact refits, gu ering, general repair work, Margaret Philipson flat pack furniture, pu ng up shelves, finishing unfinished who can advise with projects… and much more! advertisement submissions.
NO JOB TOO SMALL For your FREE quote, please contact [email protected] Christopher Whi on Tel. 07561118895 E-mail: [email protected] Fully insured
—20—