KEYNOTES DECEMBER 2017 JANUARY 2018 60p THE PARISH CHURCH OF ST. PETER, ST PETER’S, WEST BLATCHINGTON Rector The Reverend Daniel Smith, BTh (Oxon), Dip Min The Rectory 23 Windmill Close, Hove. BN3 7LJ Tel: 01273 732459 E-mail: [email protected] Monday is ordinarily the Rector’s rest day; however please do not hesitate to contact him in the event of a pastoral emergency. Please refer all other urgent matters to the Churchwardens. CHURCHWARDENS Keith Bassant Tel: 561345 Jane Gough Tel: 554256 HON. TREASURER Mandy Gander Tel: 271982 CENTRE BOOKINGS Richard Delacour Tel: 07968 227639 PASTORAL CARE Transport to Church Keith Bassant Tel: 561345 Sick Visiting Carol Gander Tel: 555414 KEYNOTES EDITORIAL TEAM William Holden Tel: 706482 David Keeling Tel: 501504 Jane Cummings Tel: 880274 Michael Evans Tel: 567399 Charlie Flackhill Tel: 965122 Mandy Gander Tel: 271982 Maggie Lee Tel: 911968 E-mail: [email protected] Church website : stpeterswestblatchington.org.uk EDITORIAL Welcome to the the December 2017/January 2018 edition of Keynotes. The end of 2017 is fast approaching. Where has the year gone? Time certainly has flown. Very soon we will be looking forward to what the new year will bring. Let’s hope it is going to be a good one! In this month’s edition, there is a report from Anna, the new Co-ordinator at Hangleton and West Blatchington Foodbank. We hope you will find this an interesting addition and it will appear as a regular feature. St Peter’s helped to set the food bank up along with St George’s, and with so many of us volunteering there and donating, it’s nice to hear from the front line about what is happening. At the end of November, William Holden presented a beautiful new alms tray in memory of his late wife Margaret Holden. What a lovely thing to do. Many thanks William. It is with sadness that we report the death of Chris Alabone and our prayers and thoughts are with Marjorie and the family at this time. Chris was a faithful servant of St Peter's over the years holding the office of Churchwarden on more than one occasion, PCC Secretary, Deanery Synod member, choir member, server, reading the lesson, and an Editor of Keynotes for many years up to 2008. More will appear in the February issue of Keynotes. As you read this, we have entered into the year of Prayer as designated by the Diocese. There will be more details in the next issue of Keynotes It is time to renew subscriptions for Keynotes and we are holding the price at £5 for ten copies in the year. Please hand your subscription to a member of the Editorial Committee. We hope to see you all at some or all of our Christmas services which are listed further on in the magazine. It just remains for us to wish you all a wonderful Christmas and a Happy New Year. Thank you for your continued support. Editorial Committee Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 1 Thessalonians 5.16-18 RECTOR’S RAMBLINGS…………. Christmas – Health Warning! Advent and Christmas is a great time of year, but it’s not without its challenges! One household had 250,000 Christmas lights, but could not boil a kettle for fear of blowing the system! The challenge of Over-indulging Do you remember the episode of the Vicar of Dibley, where she had to consume four Christmas dinners? Christmas is a time when we usually eat and drink far too much, the average person gaining 6 pounds in weight. But Christmas is not simply about gaining weight, but losing what weighs us down. ‘Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you.’ (1 Peter 5:7). Whatever your concerns or worries this Christmas, bring them to God. The challenge of overspending Christmas is not about getting into debt, but God getting us out of debt. He spent exactly what was needed on the first Christmas night: ‘You are to give Him the name Jesus, because He will save His people from their sins.’ (Matthew 1:21). The challenge of ‘over too quickly’ Christmas doesn’t last very long, yet the effect of the first Christmas is long-lasting. ‘For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eter- nal life.’ (John 3:16). Jesus has come to bring us life in all its fullness, both for now and all eternity. How do we face these challenges of Christmas? ‘Yet what I can, I give Him - give my heart’. Your Rector and Friend, Daniel As we look around at our wonderful World, we can see that Autumn/Winter has arrived! The weather is definitely colder and the leaves are falling fast and furiously! All the time as we look and marvel, we must remember the beauty and holiness of God, but much more, of the love of God for whose glory these wonders exist. Every five years churches have to undergo a thorough inspection of its fabric, inside and out. This is known as a Quinquennial Report, and is carried out by the church's architect. Our Quinquennial inspection has recently taken place and we are now awaiting the report to see what major/minor repairs are needed. Hopefully, as we have just had our refurbishment, very little if anything, will need to be done. We will of course let you know the findings. We are so lucky to have a church with fabulous acoustics! All our lunch-time performers comment on this aspect and enjoy performing here, including our October performer, Margaret Watson. Margaret, along with her magnificent harp, gave us a very entertaining 40 minutes of well known tunes and songs. One of our congregation, Sadie Taylor, was thrilled to bits when she realised Margaret was coming to perform and said, -'My favourite lunch-time performer ever and it's my birthday!' Of course I couldn't let this go un-noticed, so before the concert I had a word with Margaret and during her performance she called Sadie forward and we all sang Happy Birthday! As you can imagine, Sadie was thrilled to bits! We look forward to our wonderful Advent/Christmas events here at St.Peter's, when we have the opportunity to get together and joyfully thank God for sending his Son, Jesus Christ, to be our friend and companion in everything we say and do. With love and blessings for a very peaceful and happy New Year. Jane Small Donations Scheme Would you like to make a donation to cover a specific item of expenditure in and around our Church? - Then please contact Mandy Gander, our Treasurer. Examples of items which might be attractive to potential sponsors are as follows: · Photocopying Paper £15 · Bottle of Communion Wine £8 · Candle Oil £65 · Lawnmower petrol £20 . Sanctuary Lights £42 Thank you for your sponsorship Turkey says:- What does a turkey say? ‘Gobble, gobble, gobble,’ right? Not always! A jewellery-loving turkey? - ‘Bauble bauble bauble’ A turkey in the shoe repair shop? – ‘Cobble cobble cobble’ A turkey with a sore leg? - ‘Hobble hobble hobble’ A rugby turkey? - ‘Huddle, huddle, huddle’ A dieting turkey? - ‘Nibble, nibble nibble’ A turkey who argues a lot? - ‘Squabble squabble squabble’ Then there was the dizzy turkey who just went: ‘Wobble wobble wobble’ WOMEN’S SOCIAL GROUP On 26 October as part of our programme, we met (15 members) for afternoon tea at Gill’s home and spent a couple of pleasant hours together. We are now ready and looking forward to the end of year events within our group and at St Peter’s and the many events and gatherings as customary at this time. Thank you to Gill for her easy and generous welcome and to Jane Gough who helped her on this occasion. Our programme for December 2017 and January 2018 is: 14 December Preparation for Christmas Service in Church with refreshments at Carol’s afterwards 11 January 2018 No meeting 25 January Coffee morning at Maggie Lee’s home Georgette ITB Electrical Services All Domestic Electrics Part P Compliant Fully Insured For a free quote call: Ian Barrett 01273 417484 or 07902 909605 Hove Deanery Synod Church of the Good Shepherd, Mile Oak Thursday 5 October 2017 7.30 pm This special Synod of Hove Deanery was held in the very welcoming modern church in Stanley Avenue, Portslade. In addition to the usual parish representatives, churchwardens and treasurers from all the parishes of the Deanery had been invited and around 50 people were present. Mandy Gander, Jane Cummings, Jane Gough and Keith Bassant represented St Peter’s. Apologies had been received from William Holden and Fr Daniel. The meeting was chaired by the Rural Dean, Fr Terry Stratford. Exceptionally there was no celebration of the Eucharist on this occasion and we moved directly on to the business of the evening. Minutes of the previous meeting on 7 June 2017 were accepted, with no matters arising. The main business and purpose of this special Synod was to introduce, and examine in some detail, the workings of Hove Trinity Trust, the fund financed from the sale of Holy Trinity Church in Hove, and established with a capital of approximately £196000 to form a Revolving Investment Fund (RIF). The first speaker was Mrs Julie Greenfield (Interim Programme Manager) who, after reading a statement from William Holden, one of the five Trustees of the Trust, gave the meeting a detailed up-date on the purposes of the Trust, the main points of which are: • The aim is that all churches in Hove Deanery will be Eco- Churches.