errington St. John ilney All Saints ilney St Lawrence ilney Cum Islington Village News March 2019 Edition. Contacts Page Donna Read – Village News editor [email protected] Clergy & Readers Revd Martin Dale The Vicarage, 37 Church Rd, 01945-880 259- Tilney St Lawrence, PE34 4QQ Revd Barbara 8 School Rd, Tilney All Saints, 01553-810808 Pearman PE34 4SJ Mrs Stevie Brooks 4 Clement Close, Outwell, 01945 592762 Wisbech, Cambridgeshire PE14 8QY Churchwardens Terrington St John Mrs Christine Chaffe 10 King John Avenue, Kings Lynn, 01553-691 613 PE30 4QA Mr Tim Clayton Silverton House, Church Road 01945-880 406 Terrington St John, PE14 7RY Tilney St Lawrence Mr Geoffrey Place Woodstock, Workhouse Lane, 01945-881 126 Tilney St Lawrence, PE34 4QH Mrs Wendy Shattock 5 Aylmer Dr. Tilney St Lawrence 01945 881 285 PE34 4RQ Tilney All Saints Mr David Cook 11 Pullover Road, Tiley All Saints 01553 760303 Kings Lynn PE34 4SG Mrs Audrey Clearview, Shepherdsgate Road, 01553 829603 Wootton Tiley All Saints Kings Lynn PE34 4RP Please note that the deadline for submissions for the June 2019 edition will be the 17th May 2019 Letter from the Vicarage I came across this story some time ago. “A chairman decided that his company would sponsor a number of concerts in the town as a marketing exercise. The first concert they sponsored was Schubert’s Unfinished Symphony. Unfortunately the chairman had a prior engagement on the opening night and so gave his ticket to the Head of the Personnel Department. The next morning the Chairman asked him how the concert was and the Head of Personnel replied that he had enjoyed it very much. But he then proceeded to hand the Chairman a memorandum which read as follows: “As we are sponsoring these concerts, I have noticed that we could make significant cost cuttings - at no real expense to the quality of the performance - if we attended to the matters below. 1. For considerable periods of time the oboe players have nothing to do. The number should be reduced and their work spread over the whole orchestra, thus eliminating peaks of inactivity. 2. All 12 violins were playing identical notes. It seems an unnecessary duplication of effort and the staff in this section of the Orchestra could drastically be reduced. If a large volume of sound is really required, this could be obtained through an electric amplifier. 3. Much effort was put into playing demi-semiquavers. This seems an excessive refinement and it is recommended that all the notes should be rounded up to the nearest semiquaver. If this were done it would be possible to use trainees and lower grade instrument operators. 4. No useful purpose is served by repeating with horns the passage that has already been handled by strings. If all such passages were eliminated, the concert could be reduced from 2 hours to 20 minutes. If Schubert had attended to all these matters, he would have been able to finish the symphony before he died!” For many of us, there is a tendency to treat the reading the Old Testament in the same way as the Head of Personnel saw the presence of the 12 violins in Schubert’s Unfinished Symphony – as unnecessary. We have limited time to read our Bible and so, of necessity, the Old Testament is overlooked. But we do so at our peril! If we ignore the Old Testament, we miss 39 books of God’s Word, recording God’s interaction with His Chosen people and their neighbours – and even their enemies. And there are some gems in the Old Testament – stories from which we can learn and which can encourage us in our Christian lives. We can read of fascinating conversion stories, like that in Daniel 4 of the pagan king, King Nebuchadnezzar– the most powerful man of his day who came to worship the true God of Israel. We can read in the Old Testament the stories of the great men of God referred to in the New and find that they had the feet of clay too – which gives us encouragement to persevere with God and realise he hasn’t given up on us. You can read how the great Patriarch Abraham lied to save his own skin. And, without the intervention of God, he would have left his wife Sarah - separated from the husband she loved - languishing in Abimelech’s harem (Gen 20). And while Sarah was in her haremic prison, Abraham was enjoying the wealth and riches that Abimelech had showered upon him in exchange for Sarah. And yet it was to this same Abraham that God promised he would be the father of many nations (cf Gen 15:5). You can also read of how the Patriarch Jacob lied and cheated his brother Esau out of the birthright and blessing due to the eldest son. Yet God blessed Jacob – though he went through much suffering before he became the spiritually broken man, Israel of Jabbok’s Ford (Gen 32:22 et al) Take Israel’s greatest Old Testament king, King David. King David is described in the New Testament by St Paul (Acts 13:22) as “a man after God’s own heart”, yet in one incident (2 Sam 11) he broke arguably five of the Ten Commandments (murder, adultery, stealing, lying and coveting his neighbour’s wife) in his adulterous fling with Bathsheba. For all these men and women of God, their strength lay not in their human frailty but in their tenacity to seek God and his will in their lives. And perhaps it is that which we have to consider as we approach, that God reaches out to us despite our human frailty. As God the Father said of Jesus “listen to Him” (Mt 17:5). And having listened we are challenged then to follow him. Vicar’s warning When you enter this church, it may be possible that you hear, “the call of God”. However, it is unlikely that He will call you on your mobile. Thank you for turning off your phones If you want to talk to God, enter, choose a quiet place and talk to Him. If you want to see Him, send a text while driving. Come with us to Switzerland! Maddy is organising a trip to Switzerland from 30th July till 6th August 2019 at Hotel Athos in Interlaken. Price around £1000 per person 2 sharing (all inclusive of flights, meals in the hotel and the outings on railways, gondolas and boats). Please call Maddy at 01945- 880 259 if you want to find out more. Lent Course 2019 We are planning to hold an Alpha Course during Lent at the Vicarage on the following Thursday from 6.15 pm to start at 6.30pm at the Vicarage as follows: Thursday 7th March 2019 Thursday 28th March 2019 Thursday 11th April 2019 and Tuesday 16th April 2019 All are most welcome. Please can you let Maddy know at 01945-880 259 if you'd like to come or just turn up Bowling of a Tuesday Night A poem by Gwen SPRIGGS I’ve taken up bowling, At the age of eighty-two, My family laughed, “Well done Mother, good on you”. Well, I really enjoy it, I think it’s great fun. I bowl that ball down the carpet, It’s really not easy you see, Because the ball is weighed one side, Which seems ridiculous to me. But soon I get the hang of it, Now all the power is mine, As I roll that ball down the carpet, And the all my friends whine. “Too fast, Gwen” they shout, Just take your time. But if I bowl it gently, It doesn’t reach the Jack, So I have to bowl it fast, Then it knocks everyone else, Off the Jack. I’m not a serious person, I like to have a bit of fun, So bowling on a Tuesday night, Well yes, I really like that one. My team won last night, Twelve Nine, I really don’t know what that means, But I am having a whale of a time. Tilney All Saints News Although it’s only February, (as I write), it’s been a lovely sunny day today. At this time of the year the sun always makes me feel hopeful for better things to come. There are so many dismal things happening in the world, it’s easy to lose sight of simple joys. The warmth of the sun after a chilly spell is one of those simple joys. We could rejoice in them more than we actually do. Our church group at Tilney All Saints is another one of the joys of life. We are a group of friends, meeting together in the simplicity of Christian friendship. We meet one another with open hearts and minds, ready to offer a welcome to anyone who would like to join us. Our services aren’t slick and professional, sometimes they might seem a little bit casual (we are experimenting with being able to respond to what seems important at the moment) but a lot of preparation goes into them. Come along and try us. You will always be welcome and you could meet some new friends. You may also get to meet God if you are especially blessed. We meet at 11am each week, except for the second Sunday of the month which is a 10am united service circulating round the four churches. Mid-week service: Every Wednesday morning at 9.30am, I perform a mid-week service of Holy Communion in the Lady Chapel of Tilney All Saints Church.