Colne Engaine Parish Magazine For all the people who live here October 2014 COLNE ENGAINE PARISH MAGAZINE OCTOBER 2014 EDITORIAL THE PARISHES Editor: Michael Estcourt Earls Colne, White Colne and Colne 2 Brickhouse Road, CO6 2HL Engaine parishes are under the care of Tel/Fax: 01787 220049 our Team Vicar and arrangements for [email protected] Baptisms / Weddings / Funerals and All copy should be sent to Michael. other services or use of the Church Advertising: Terry Hawthorn should be made with; 6 High Croft, CO6 2HE. T: 01787 223140 Team Vicar: The Reverend Peter Allen [email protected] St Andrew’s Rectory, 5 Shut Lane, All advertising should be sent to Terry. Earls Colne Design: Juliet Townsend T: 01787 220347 14 Oddcroft, CO6 2ET. T: 01787 222459. [email protected] [email protected] Church Warden: Mr Desmond Shine 4 Brickhouse Road CO6 2HL PARISH COUNCIL T: 01787 223378 [email protected] Parish Clerk: Terry Rootsey Buntings Green Cottage, Halstead Road, PCC Secretary: Mrs Laura La Roche Colne Engaine CO6 2JG. Croft Cottage, The Green, Colne Engaine T: 01787 220200 T: 01787 223391 [email protected] ADVERTISING Our monthly magazine (double issues 1/4 Page 62 x 88mm £10 / £50 pa in July/August and December/January) 1/2 Page 128 x 88mm £17 / £75 pa is delivered free of charge to all 400 Full Page 128 x 180mm £20 or £100 pa households in Colne Engaine Cheques payable to Colne Engaine PCC. and Countess Cross. TO OUR READERS Please remember to mention this magazine if you answer any of the advertisements. We welcome advertising in our magazine, the income from which helps to cover production costs. This does not imply any endorsement or approval of the products and services mentioned in the advertising. FOR THE NOVEMBER ISSUE PLEASE PROVIDE SUBMISSIONS TH BY 4 OCTOBER 2014 Please provide Editorial in Word and Advertising as .jpg file Colne Engaine Parish Magazine October 2014 / 3 WELCOME FROM THE EDITOR During the last few months I have received many expressions of support, both verbally and in writing, concerning the quality of the Magazine and its impact in the village. Although flattered to receive these comments I should emphasise that I am only one cog in the wheel of its production. We are one of few villages where distribution of a monthly magazine of some 60 pages is delivered free to all houses in the village. Delivery is made to about 450 houses to a population of about 1500. The costs are borne by the advertisers without whom we would not have a magazine at all. So please use our local advertisers where you can and if using their services tell them you saw their advert in this magazine. So, how is the magazine produced and by whom? It starts with you, surprisingly! Without your interesting articles the magazine would be a poor read. So please keep sending them in and for those of you who would like to contribute and tell us what you have been doing or what you think would be interesting keep them coming. Everyone involved in its production does it voluntarily. You know the Editor, that’s me. Juliet Townsend does a huge amount of work in her spare time to design the magazine and make it look beautiful. Terry Hawthorn looks after all the advertising, an essential job. John Cameron proof reads the magazine. The Magazine is sponsored by the Church in the village. Printing is carried out by the Diocesan printers in Chelmsford. Someone (currently Juliet or Terry) from the village picks up all the magazines and delivers them to Geoff Marcoolyn who, in turn, divides them up into bundles and delivers them to twenty households for delivery to individual houses. The unsung twenty heroes of the whole distribution network are: Julia King, Tracy Johns, Joan Britland, Chris Murray, Mandy Seaforth, Louise Dutton, Mary Ashby, Janice Roper, Sally Scot, Millie Higgins, Michael Green, Margaret Dowdell, Cate Gunn, Alison Griffiths, Jeff McDonald, Margaret Sibson, Nick Chapman, Carol Law, Isobel Worsley and Carol Sibley. We are also most grateful for Richard and Wendy Jones from the village shop, Darran Lingley and his team from the Five Bells and the church who take copies for delivery to interested visitors. We are most grateful to them for keeping the wheels of production through to distribution well oiled. Finally, on another subject, please note the change of date of the Harvest Lunch in the Village Hall to which you are all invited is now 19th October. See page 12 for details. Will anyone interested in flowers and able to help decorate the church with produce, fresh or dried, please contact Janie Estcourt on 01787 220049. Harvested wheat ears, gourds, dried maize (corn cob) crab apples, autumnal colours are best and always good to decorate the window sills. Large potatoes, dried hydrangeas, anything you consider to be autumnal. Bring your own baskets/containers. Janie has her left arm in plaster till the end of October, so would like help to decorate the church on Saturday 11th October. She will be in the church with her good arm from 10 o'clock - 1pm. Thank you. It’s been a good summer, hasn’t it. Michael Estcourt, Editor Tel/fax: 01787 220049 Email: [email protected] 4 www.colne-engaine.org.uk LETTER FROM THE REVEREND PETER ALLEN I find the gospel account of the giving widow a very big challenge; “Sitting across from the offering box, Jesus was observing how the crowd tossed money in for the collection. Many of the rich were making large contributions. One poor widow came up and put in two small coins—a small amount by comparison, two pence. Jesus called his disciples over and said, “The truth is that this poor widow gave more to the collection than all the others put together. All the others gave what they’ll never miss; she gave extravagantly what she couldn’t afford—she gave her all.” Mark 12:41-44 (The Message) This little cameo demonstrates that it’s not so much what we give that gives measure to our giving or impresses God. Rather, it is how much we hold back that reflects better how sacrificial is our giving and commended in the sight of God. How Christians view and handle their money is an issue that isn’t always easily approached by ministers or always well received by congregations. My own opinion of this is that a number of factors contribute towards our sometime resistance to discussing money in the church, and perhaps particularly within the Church of England. There can be a belief that the church is wealthy and has no need for money and when it begins to discuss money it is just trying to grab more. The Church of England has provided ministers, services, buildings, and a ministry to communities and the nation for so long that its continuation of this provision is taken for granted. There can be a lack of communication about the costs of running a local church and its wider responsibilities to the national church purse to support poorer areas of the church family. We have inherited many ancient and listed buildings which the upkeep of and costs to make them versatile places of worship and gathering is a constant drain on financial resources. There may be something in the British way of thinking that sees discussing one’s money as something one just doesn’t do neither is it acceptable to have someone else challenge us to think about. There is dearth of good theology about money and how God views it and consequently how we as Christians should view our use of it. It is hard to talk about giving without making us feel condemned, got at, or failures in this area of our lives, especially when things are tight and we are struggling to make ends meet. There are a number of different opinions about what percentage Christians ought to aim to contribute towards the Christian mission of the church and para-church organisations. The Old Colne Engaine Parish Magazine October 2014 / 5 Testament gives a figure of 10 per cent as a start which some people find to big challenge and others find helpful. My view is that the New Testament teaches that there is an expectation that giving financially is all part of what it means to be a follower of Christ but that it is less prescriptive in giving a figure to it. Rather it talks about conscience and being cheerful givers rather than those who give begrudgingly and that perhaps it is better not to give if we don’t give with good heart and conscience. In a letter like this I can only scratch the surface of such a subject but it is a subject that does need scratching from time to time if we are to ensure we maintain the mission of the church and prepare our buildings to be around and versatile enough for future generations. Bless you, Peter PRAYERS FOR THE PARISHES IN OCTOBER 2014 Weekly on Thursdays at 9-9.30am. 2nd St Andrew’s, Colne Engaine 9th St Andrew’s, Earls Colne 16th St Andrew’s, Colne Engaine 25rd St Andrew’s, Earls Colne 30th St Andrew’s, Colne Engaine All Welcome FELLOWSHIP MEETING WITH BIBLE STUDY Monthly on Thursdays at 10am. Thursday 16th Oct at 19 Church Street, Colne Engaine. Thursday 20th Nov at 5 Swallowfield Earls Colne. We would be delighted to welcome new faces. Do give this friendly discussion group a try! Discussion is often triggered by the readings from our Bible Reading Notes but it is not necessary to read these to join in and enjoy the discussions.