Wivey and the Hills Magazine March 2019 Price 50p Contents and about the magazine Wivey and the Hills magazine is published 10 times a year by the Benefice of the seven parishes of Wiveliscombe, Brompton Ralph, Clatworthy, Chipstable, Huish Champflower, Raddington and Tolland. Its purpose is to promote the life of all the Christian churches in this area and that of the wider communities which they serve. Contents Contents and magazine information 2 Letter from the Rector 3 What’s Been Happening 4 Charity Focus 5-6 On the allotment 7 Something Historical 8-10 Looking ahead - Wivey and the Hills 11-25 Regular Events 26 Ways to help your community 27 Quick view - Events February 28-29 Growing in Faith 30-32 Adverts for local businesses 34-53, 56 Useful Contacts 54-55 New Subscribers Form/bank details 56 Welcome to your March edition of the Wivey and the Hills magazine! As ever, there is so much going on in our area! New for this month’s magazine is a charities focus section, this month looking at Semiliki Trust. You may guess what the ’something historical’ focus is about from the front cover as it considers the mystery of just who is it at the centre of the window? We hope you agree that the magazine is good value at £5 for the year. Thank you if you are one of the 95% or our subscribers who have paid for this year...if you have not been able to do so, could you please make an effort this month to drop the payment into your distributor? If you don’t know where they live, or it is inconvenient, you can pay by BACS or drop cash or a cheque in an envelope into the community office or any one of our churches. (details on the back cover). Lorna Thorne, Peter Pearson, Abbie Rayson, Acting editorial team Articles and events, comments and feedback: [email protected] Advertising: Lorna Thorne [email protected] 01984 629423 Magazine Distribution: Janet Hughes, 12 Lion d’Angers, 01984 624213 Deadline for March edition: 10 March 2019 Cover photo: the Rose Window, St Andrew’s 2 Letter from the Rector This month begins with the start of Lent, Ash Wednesday falling this year on 6th March, just four days after our Parish Weekend, and ends with the clocks going forward during the early hours of Mothering Sunday, 31st March, just ten days after the Vernal Equinox. And there’s an important theme here - the relationship between control and exuberant growth - are they mutual enemies, or are they interdependent? I learned in February that it takes a whole day to prune a Rambling Rector (I’m sure some would say that two days would be more effective - especially on Sunday mornings), and I myself witnessed as a schoolboy what can happen when a flock of sheep break into a garden and prune all the hydrangeas down to the root: the following summer, we had our best show of hydrangeas ever. Lent is indeed a time for spiritual and moral pruning, for taking an honest look at the result of the previous ten and a half months of spiritual growth, working out what growth has been rewarding and brought us closer to God and our neighbours, and what is excessive and counter-productive and needs to be brought back under control. When a plant has been well-pruned, it channels its vernal energy into the parts that the gardener wishes to see make greatest progress. Metaphorically, if we use the spiritual opportunities which Lent brings to exert responsible self-control over those impulses which we know will take us further away from God, we shall be putting our bodies where they belong - under the control of our wills, and our wills where they belong - under the control of our spirits, which themselves belong under the control of God’s Holy Spirit. Then our lives will be able to harness the vigorous life which flows from Christ’s Resurrection at Easter but that’s the stuff of April’s letter. With my best wishes for a rewarding and productive Lent, Your friend in Christ, Martin 3 What’s been happening - Wivey and the Hills Electoral Roll – Renewal It is now time to renew the Electoral Rolls for each church, so please if you would like to be included on the Electoral Roll for your church then complete an application form, these will be in your church, from the Electoral Roll officer or a copy can be downloaded from the Wivey and the Hills Website, wiveychurches.org.uk Forms for St Andrew’s must be returned by 10th March. All our Churches have an ‘Electoral roll’ that entitles you to vote for the PCC at the Annual meeting. It also serves as an indication of membership of the Church and, at St. Andrew’s we produce a ‘directory’ with people’s names, addresses and phone numbers. Every six years (the last time was 2013) the roll is completely renewed, and everyone must re-apply. From the Registers Eternal rest grant unto them O Lord and let Funeral at Taunton Deane Crematorium perpetual light shine upon them. 26th January Valerie Freda Coombes (90) May they rest in peace. Amen Supporting Charities - using our heads as well as our hearts There are many ways to do good in the world and our hearts guide us towards charities to support. Sometimes though the needs seem so great and it is hard to know which charity can make the greatest difference. Ultimately it is a personal decision for each of us but as well as following our hearts it is worth using our heads to try to decide where we think our money will do the greatest good in the world. Here could be a few things to consider when supporting a charity: 1. Is there a personal connection? It is so good to hear at first hand how the money is being spent. 2. Can the charity leverage its money (in other words, does a little go a long way)? For example, many volunteers with Christian charities such as CMS live on a very basic stipend whereas other charities employ people with the same skills at very high ‘consultant’ rates. 3. How much of the money received goes to the intended beneficiaries? Some charities spend a third or more of their income on fundraising costs, whilst others rely totally on volunteers. The next page is the first of an occasional series in which we will look at some of the charities supported by our churches. 4 Charity Focus - the Semiliki Trust Semiliki Trust www.Semilikitrust-org.uk Semiliki Trust is a small charity run by volunteers which supports the work of the Anglican church in the Eastern DRC. It is named after the Semiliki river which forms part of the border between DRC and Uganda. The Trust mainly supports medical projects in a country where there is little or no government health care. It helps medical coordinators supports dozens of health clinics in rural areas and occasionally has a special fundraisng focus: for example, in the current financial year the trust spent £48000 equipping three operating theatres so they could carry out caesarian sections and other life saving operations. The photo shows the arrival with great excitement of one of the crates of equipment at Bukiringi health centre. The equipment was provided and transported into the DRC by the charity Medaid who sourced it at well below market rates, some from ex military sources. The St Andrew’s Connection St Andrew’s has been supporting Semiliki Trust since 2014. Every 3rd Sunday there is a fundraising breakfast of bacon, croissants and coffee before the family service. Between 2015-16 over £3500 was raised to send 1500 Children’s Bibles to be shared out among six dioceses. It took over a year for these to be printed in Malaysia and transported by sea and then through Kenya and Uganda and finally into the Congo. Bishop Ande of Aru wrote: we express our deep gratitude to you all for these Bibles. Some of it was distributed to schools to organize Bible studies with school chaplains. We also distributed more than 100 Bibles to the women of the Cathedral because of one Bible per family to organize the family Bible study. This will help our schools and families understand the Word of God and grow in faith. THANK YOU. 5 Charity Focus - the Semiliki Trust In February 2018 newly appointed Bishop Desire and his wife Claudaline of Goma visited St Andrew’s and spoke at our family service. Since then the soup lunch every first Sunday has been for ‘Goats for Goma’ Donations go into a goat fund. Approx £50 is need for a vulnerable woman to be given a goat to give her a livelihood and some respect in her community. The photo shows one of the nine goats that has been given so far with money raised by these lunches. Meanwhile proceeds from the breakfast and some regular donations have been paying for the £50 a month salary of a teacher at Hope school in Goma and for a daily helping of porridge for the children at the school, which was set up by Claudaline to give an education to orphans and the children of destitute women who can’t afford the fees charged by other schools. At the forthcoming breakfast before the Benefice Mothering Sunday service on 31 March the proceeds will go to support Claudaline’s work with vulnerable women. Bishop Desire wrote about this work in an email dated 09/02/19: Hello dear friends.