St Michael & All Angels, Bude Haven St Winwaloe, Poundstock Our Lady & St Anne, Widemouth Bay St Mary the Virgin, Week St Mary St Marwenne, Marhamchurch St Anne, Whitstone MAY Free 2021 MAIN CONTACTS FOR OUR BENEFICE: Please contact any of the following for information or enquiries about Anglican Church life in the Benefice: Our Parish Priest & Rural Dean: Father David Barnes,The Rectory, The Glebe, Week St Mary, EX22 6UY Tel: 01288 341670 [email protected] Our Churchwardens: St Anne’s, Whitstone: Mervyn Collins: 01288 341598 Phyllis Walter: 01288 341699 St Marwenne’s, Marhamchurch: Rob Corney: 01288 359754 Angela Grills: 01288 361247 St Mary the Virgin, Week St Mary: Lesley Booker: 01288 341221 Dick Sowerby: 01288 341348 St Michael’s, Bude Haven: Our Lady & St Anne’s, Widemouth Bay: Judy MacDonald: 01288 362254 St Winwaloe’s, Poundstock: Hilary Kenny: 01288 361504 Barry Smith: 01288 361716 Stratton Deanery website: www.strattondeanery.co.uk/ Editor of Voices Together: Clare Hicks, Trelowen, Lynstone, Bude EX23 0LR. 01288 352726; [email protected] Copy deadline for June 2021 issue— by Friday 21st May please ELECTRONIC COPIES OF VOICES TOGETHER If you would like to receive a copy of this magazine please email Lesley Booker: [email protected] 2 PARISH NEWSLETTER Dear Friends, In one of the departments of the Natural History museum in London there once stood a giant piece of rock which must have been at least 2 metres square. At the side of this monolith was a sign which reads, “there is only one thing that is certain in the natural world, that is all things must change”. Robert Gallagher wrote, “Change is inevitable”. He went on to say, “except from a vending machine”. The truth is, as the world around us changes so do we. We only have to look back at the last 12 months to realise what changes we have all been through during the pandemic. The Church at large has never been immune to change. From the very begin- ning, the Church’s roots were firmly entrenched in Judaism and the Jewish Law. As the gospel spread throughout Europe it had to change to enable others to embrace the Christian message. Over the past 50 years or so there have been many changes in the Church, both in the buildings and in the liturgy, some for the good others have just been lost in the fullness of time. It was only some 30 years ago that the first woman was ordained within the church and that seems as though it happened an age ago. However, as time marches on, so the Church will continually change so that it might spread the Good News with- in the context it finds itself. The 23rd of May is a special day in the life of the Church because it is the day we celebrate the feast of Pentecost (Whitsun in old money), the Church’s birthday. It is the day that the early followers of Jesus were empowered with the Holy Spirit to do God’s work here on earth. The gift of the Holy Spirit changed Jesus’s disciples from being timid people locked away behind closed doors into courageous witnesses and preachers of the Good News. The same gift of the Holy spirit is offered to us today. It costs nothing! It’s free! All we have to do is accept it and use it for the furtherance of God’s love here on earth. Yours in Christ’s service David 3 This month’s magazine has been kindly sponsored by Christine Willey Remembering Eric in his birthday month St Marwenne’s House Group The aim of the group is about growing in discipleship. It meets every Wednesday evening, currently on Zoom. Contact Janet Ward on 01409 255759 or email her at [email protected] for more details and a zoom invitation. Sponsoring Voices Together Please would you consider sponsoring our magazine? It is partly through the generosity of our readers that we are able to keep the magazine free of charge. Any amount, small or large, will be grateful- ly received. For more information please contact Heather Whitlock on 07771 964672 or Clare Hicks on 01288 352726. Advertising in Voices Together If you run a business and would like to advertise in this magazine, please contact Heather Whitlock on 07771 964672. If you are a not-for-profit local group or organisation and would like to put a one-off advert in for an event or similar, please contact Heather as above or the Editor (contact details p 2). We would ask for a small donation, depending on the size required. Adverts accepted at Editor’s discretion. Thank you. 4 Not ready to return to church yet? As our churches gradually return to hosting live congregations once more, there will be people who are still unable to attend church at this time. Also, there may not be a service every week in your local church just yet. In order to ensure that everyone still has the opportunity to worship on a Sunday we will continue to provide a Zoom service every week for the time being. The time will necessarily have to be varied sometimes but those who wish to remain on the email circula- tion list will be reminded of each week's time a day or so before and will also receive the zoom link then. At the moment, the Zoom will be from Week St Mary Church when there is a service there and from a home when there is not, the exception possibly being when we have a fifth Sunday United Benefice Service when I may be able to travel to Zoom from other churches (unless they get their own equipment set up in due course). The timetable for the next few months will probably look like this (but may be subject to change or additions): 1st Sunday Zoom from WSM Family Service @ 10am 2nd Sunday Zoom from home Morning Prayer @ 10am 3rd Sunday Zoom from WSM Holy Communion @ 11.15 4th Sunday Zoom from home Morning Prayer @ 10am 5th Sunday Zoom from a Church - Benefice Communion @10am Every Wednesday: Morning Prayer on zoom at 9 am. Zoom Holy Communion will be clergy led and the Family services or Morning Prayers will usually be led by Worship Leaders from across the Benefice. Please let me know if you want to join the mailing list— [email protected] Voices Together during the Coronavirus pandemic As the churches still have limited opening, there are various places where you will be able to collect your magazine. David Williams has kindly offered his house, Rock Haven, Upton, as a collection point and you can also collect one from the Crescent PO and shop in Bude, the Beach House shop at Widemouth and usually in the village shops. The magazine will also be available on the Voices Together facebook page and St Michael’s facebook page and also on the Stratton Deanery website. Lesley Booker will also send out as a pdf attachment to emails (see bottom of page 2 for Lesley’s details). Any problems with obtaining a copy please contact either Heather Whit- lock (07771 964672) or Clare Hicks (01288 352726) 5 MOTHER* & CAMEO TODDLER COFFEE POT CLUB Come And Meets every Tuesday 10am— Meet Each 12pm in Other Week St Mary Parish Hall. Contact Emma Woolfe or Kathy Jef- Next meeting: frey 2-4– pm (Search for Coffee Pots in Fa- Contact: cebook Groups) Sue Dickenson (*Grannies, Grandads, Carers etc) All Welcome 01288 341016 Widemouth Bay Summerhouse Activities We meet on the 2nd & 4th Friday of each month Join us and off load any prob- lems, have a cup of tea and cake. Some- times we play a game. Whatever we do it get us out of our house to enjoy time with friends. Ring Hilda on 01288 361323 for more details 6 Meet ’n’ Eat STRATTON Next Soup and Sweet DEANERY Lunches BOOK CLUB We are reading: 'WHY' writ- Held in WSM Par- ten by ish Hall at Russell Stannard. 12.30pm on the First Monday of each month first Mon- day of 14 Monterey Close, Bude, each month (not EX23 8DX at 7.30pm August) Gail Brace: 01288 352412 Everyone is very New members always welcome Locally reared, pasture fed beef and lamb Restaurant quality, rare breed beef and traditional lamb. Low food miles, supporting local jobs, local delivery available. 10 or 15Kg Beef boxes, mixed joints, steaks & mince etc. !/2 Lamb packs approx 10 Kg Email [email protected] or phone 01288 361 666 to order 7 REMEMBERING REVEREND CANON CHRISTOPHER SCOTT Clare Hicks writes: We were all saddened to hear recently of the death of Father Christopher who was Rector of St Michael’s and St Marwenne’s from 1998 until he retired in 2008. We send our condolences to Linda and all the family. With their help and permission I have written the following about Christopher’s very full life: Christopher was born on the 9th April 1944 at Henley. He attended school at St Edward’s Oxford where he twice won the Organ Prize. After leaving school he taught in Raipur, India for 9 months before returning to England to study Theology at Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge. In 1966 he trained for the priesthood at Cuddesdon Theological College in Oxford. He was ordained in 1968 at Canter- bury Cathedral by Archbishop Michael Ramsey and took up the post of Curate at St Edward’s, New Addington, near Croydon. In 1969 he was priested at Trinity tide. 1971 saw him becoming Priest-in-Charge of St George’s, New Addington, the daughter church of St Edward’s.