Parish Magazine Online
MARCH 2010
Bob Ball, Engineer Observer
One Wednesday in early February (you remember it, it was dark and very cold), Derek Wells left Church only to find that the Evil One had sucked the air from one of his tyres and it was flat.
Depressing enough, but more was to follow. There arrived from Church a committee of about 100 (or so it seemed) Choirmen plus Director of Music, all determined to demonstrate their engineering prowess.
Trouble is that modern cars are supplied with a lifting device that resembles a pair of needlework scissors and a 'spare' wheel that originated on a Dinky toy (you may remember them as well). The situation was recovered by the Choir Chaplain who provided a proper jack to lift the car - you see, us chaps need a woman to look after us!
There was a happy outcome and Derek tells me that KwikFit replaced the tyre the following morning. The last word belongs to engineer Phil Righton who suggested the following musical captions to the pictures above.
It's only A minor problem
I will lift up mine eyes unto the choirmen, from whence cometh my help
The modulation from four sharps to one flat
happened punctually and pian-hisssssss-imo
"I need a poker to get this Jack High"
Och, t' ive this happen! Lacrimoso commo lamentoso sostenuto!
The three kings never had this trouble
Finale? Now let's depart to the bar in peace for a tonic
Joy and Geoff Levine
Friday 29th Jan
Dear Friends,
We had a good flight and arrived safely at Bangalore to be met by
friends from the Karigiri leprosy hospital, a real joy and surprise.
Unfortunately Augustine, the administrator of the hospital became ill on
the journey back to Vellore and was diagnosed with chiccungunya. He
has been in some considerable pain but is beginning to feel better.
We have settled into Karigiri amazingly despite us both having had minor stomach upsets almost immediately. The work is opening up rapidly and we feel very positive indeed about the way things are going. The atmosphere is wonderful to work in and remains challenging on every front. Joy has begun group work with all three year groups of student nurses and has spent considerable time on the wards.
A four year old girl operated on for cancers on the face on Monday is making a good recovery. Staff work well as a team and there was much prayer support. Joy has also spent some time counselling staff with Valsa the clinical psychologist.
Tuesday, Republic Day, was an extraordinary day, beginning with a service and flag hoisting at 7.45am, the chief guest and speaker being an old friend Dr (Mrs) Sagunthala Karat, a consultant we have met several times since 2005. She and her husband worked with Dr Paul Brand on the reconstruction of hands for people with leprosy. She is an energetic compassionate woman in her 70s. We had breakfast with her and the Director - a relaxed and informative time.
There was a medical camp in Karigiri on the same day offering free medical care and 800 patients came - a remarkable day. During this time young doctors clustered around for an impromptu tutorial with Geoff. Whilst this was going on, Joy spent time with the Director of the Hospital pleading the cause of the Sri Lankans in the refugee camps. To her surprise he agreed to offer medical care saying he would visit the camps and that the people could come to Karigiri. Joy is arranging a meeting with him and her friend Sister Regina the nun who works in the camps.
There are 26 of these camps around Vellore and, in one camp, 2500 people without water, sanitation, education or medical care. Geoff has begun teaching sessions with doctors both at Karigiri and the Community Health and Development Hospital which have gone well. Yesterday we visited many homes in the slums near Ida Scudder Ward where we will be much involved. People have TB, diabetes, HIV/AIDS, lung diseases and some require surgery for which attempts must be made for it to be done at vastly reduced prices. One man needed surgery to his back costing 30,000 rupees but he only earned 150- 200 rupees/day. Through the negotiation of Sushil, the doctor at ISW it was reduced to 5000 rupees.
Today we have been at an educational group for people with diabetes followed by a clinic also at ISW. In an hour Geoff is teaching nurses to further their understanding of diabetes and enable them to play a greater role in caring for patients. Tomorrow, Saturday, we have a long session planned with the medical staff looking at new developments in diabetes care and also, clinic organisation etc.
We have seen many people with terrible complications resulting in amputations which could have been avoided but we are very encouraged by the determination and commitment of the staff. They are truly delightful people to work with. We ask for your continued prayer and support.
Thursday 4th Feb
The work here is progressing beyond our expectations. It is both satisfying and exciting. Joy is involved seeing patients every morning with Valsa, the clinical psychologist, working with families where there is physical abuse, leprosy and drinking problems. She is training Valsa in aspects of family therapy, and, where appropriate with nurse observation so that they also learn. Today she took her first supervision session. She is working with the student nurses in year groups, 20 at a time and these sessions have gone really well. The time spent on the wards and with the many relatives visiting from the rural villages is a source of joy though sometimes harrowing when the plight of these families comes to light. She has become a familiar figure and feels close to them with frequent requests for prayer. There is strong sense of being able to build on previous work and relationships.
The diabetes education has proceeded beyond that which Geoff had planned with daily meetings with doctors at Karigiri, and extended and extra sessions at LCECU, the ward in the slums.. We are looking at clinic structure and protocols and patient education material both written and DVD as well as updating about diabetes.. Geoff is linking the units and hopefully the outcome will be useful to both.
Today is dusty and dry, about 38C. Augustine, the hospital administrator, is buying 3 tankers of water daily, drawn from bore holes deep below the dry river bed. The monsoon was modest and there is a real shortage of water but there are crops, rice and sugar cane and bananas of many shapes, sizes and flavours.
There is a very real sense of community and belonging and we are clearly now a real part of this. Every day the question is raised, can you come permanently? We do not know how this can be possible or whether it should. There are family considerations here. We have to give prayerful attention to this.
We have met up with Sister Regina and the rest of her convent community at Auxilium College. She is arranging to come with us to the Sri Lankan camp again. The computer is well used by both children and the women who have had little education. The situation in the camp is dire. Regina works in the Vellore prison where we intend to visit next week. We feel very close to her and to the nuns with whom we celebrated Dom Bosco Day.
Once again we believe that with your strong prayerful support, far more is being achieved than we could ever have anticipated. We value all your encouragement and the many ways you have contributed towards this. We look forward to sharing more with you on our return.
Every blessing, Joy and Geoff Levine.
Rod Garner
In the earliest period of the Church, believers gathered together in private for prayer and study because they were an endangered species. Political and religious authorities saw them as mad, bad or dangerous to know. This explains why persecution of the Church was a regular feature of the first centuries. It's happening again now in Nigeria only with a twist. This time it’s the Church persecuting its own members. One example: every fortnight 50 or so Nigerians cautiously log on for an online Bible study class. The participants range from students to married men and the one thing they have in common is that they are gay. To go to a main- stream church in Nigeria would risk beatings or even enforced exorcism. So hundreds are turning to House of Rainbow, Nigeria's one gay friendly church which is flourishing online after almost meeting a violent end two years ago. This hatred of gays extends beyond Nigeria. In Uganda, the death penalty is advocated in particular cases of gay sex. In Malawi two men have gone on trial for gross indecency after becoming engaged. Elsewhere gays face 14 year jail sentences, violence and rape in order 'to correct their sexuality'.
The leader of the House of Rainbow, a gay pastor named Rowland Macaulay is now in Britain preaching via You Tube and seeking funds to further his work. Apart from bible study he wants to initiate other courses to give gays the life chances they would otherwise be denied. In Nigeria the churches are powerful in the fields of education and social services where the State infrastructure is weak or non-existent. If religion doesn’t want you or condemns you where do you go?
This is a sad tale that throws light on the serious rift in the Anglican
Communion on the gay question and the authority of the Bible. St.
Augustine once remarked that in our reading of scripture the key is
compassion. If the text has no compassion in it we must find a new way of
interpreting its meaning. The Church in Nigeria does not apparently see it
that way and has chosen to interpret texts literally with no regard for the
human consequences or the claims of compassion. It is a dire approach that
contradicts a gospel of love and reconciliation and makes more difficult the
healing of our Anglican divisions. The debate goes on but the so called
dialogue is bearing little by the way of fruit.
Whisper the phrase 'parish share' into the ears of PCC members, and other anoraks of parish finance, and see the blood drain! Its not a term, though, that's percolated the consciousness of most worshippers. A pity, because the parish share is essential to how the Church of England now maintains its witness to the nation. Our Diocese contains about two hundred and thirty parishes. Five years ago it was agreed that the then resourcing of those parishes by just over two hundred people of 'vicar status' should be continued for the future.
Most - not all - of the cost (stipends, national insurance, pension provision, and housing) of supporting these parish ministers is recovered by the Diocese from the individual parishes through the 'parish share'. So last year (2009) the cost to the Diocese of keeping its commitment was £7.2* millions, but only £6.4* millions was looked for from the parish share. This year costs will increase to £7.6* millions (largely as a result of extra pension costs) and the parish share being asked is £6.8*millions.
Many different ways can be devised for sharing the £6.8* millions cost between the 230 parishes. At its simplest, each might be asked to contribute the same amount, but that would not be fair from a Christian viewpoint. Some parishes have large congregations and others are small; some serve leafy suburbia and others sink estates. So the system devised for calculating what share of the total each parish ought to pay reflects those differences.
In practice each parish tells the Diocese its regular weekly congregations (of the over-sixteens) and the Diocese combines this with the Government's detailed Indices of Deprivation (adopted as a proxy for levels of income in the parish) to arrive at an ability to pay. (The detail is in a briefing paper written for the PCC and available from Bob Neate or any ashen faced PCC member.)
For 2009 the Diocesan formula meant Holy Trinity's parish share was £53900 (before a prompt payment discount); the formula has produced a figure 8% higher at £58100 for 2010. The increase is well above the average (6%) because Trinity's reported attendance has held steady whereas there has been a downward drift in many parishes in recent times. Bringing the amounts down to an easily graspable level, the first £5.75 a week of individual giving at Trinity in 2009 was needed to meet the parish share; this year it will have to be the first £6.25 a week.
When you bear in mind that, apart from meeting their share, parishes are on their own when it comes to the maintenance and upkeep of their church buildings, you can begin to see the financial challenge constantly confronting parishes. But, if shares are not met, a year or two on the numbers of parish ministers will have to be reduced, and, in their absence, the visibility of the Church in our Diocese and land will be dimmed.
The solution is in our own hands (or pockets).
*Amounts have been rounded.
Feb 13th Sidespersons
Mar 6th Festival Committee
Apr 10th Church Choir
Apr 24th Servers
Jun 5th Wardens
Jul 3rd Sunday School
Sept 11th Readers
Oct 2nd Beavers and Cubs
Nov 6th Rainbows, Brownies, Guides
Dec 4th Trinity Fellowship
The Archbishop of York, Dr. John Sentamu, has praised the recent launch of the Fairtrade Kit Kat at Nestle's factory in York. Dr. Sentamu said: "I can remember two years ago saying that Nestle should make their chocolate fairtrade, and many people in York stood up to support the campaign for Fairtrade justice. So when I heard that Nestle was making Kit Kat Fairtrade, I simply said 'Wow!' It goes to show that people can make a difference.
I have visited the workers at the co-operative in the Ivory Coast who will benefit from Kit Kat four-finger bar becoming Fairtrade, and I know that this is a real step forward in giving them the justice, recognition and pay they deserve.
The next step is to make all other produce Fairtrade where possible -
in particular my own favourite, the Yorkie! In the Ivory Coast,
Nestle has invested heavily in a research centre for delivering millions
of high quality cocoa trees, which also has the potential to develop
millet, sorghum, cassava and coffee. This is breath-taking for all
concerned. Fairtrade Yorkie - here we come!"
Bob Ball
Now please follow these instructions!!!
1. Make a mark in your diaries against the days from Friday May 14th to Sunday May 30th. Between these dates is a veritable feast of artistic events to suit a wide range of tastes.
2. Find a group of friends, neighbours, work colleagues to give Festival Brochures to and bring them to some of the events.
The Festival opens on Friday 14th May with a dinner at which the speaker will be Lord Fearn who will no doubt tell of his various escapades as a Member of Parliament, a Peer in the House of Lords and as a Pantomime star. A two course meal will be served in the Parish Centre all for the amazingly low price of £8.
The following evening we have a superb group, Close Harmony who are mainly musicians from Liverpool Cathedral who sing in the style of the King's Singers. They have a considerable following and you are assured of a great evening's entertainment.
In the first week we have a series of Lunchtime recitals with artists including students from Chethams Music School, David and Fiona Williams, a Poetry Please session, Merchant Taylors' Stanfield Choir and a recital by John Forster, our Organ scholar.
Saturday 22nd and Sunday 23rd sees the Annual Art Exhibition in the Parish Centre during the daytime, whilst we have the famous Wingates Band performing on the Saturday night in church. They have been British Champions and are truly superb.
Tuesday 25th May brings an innovation - a talk and demonstration by Southport Magic Circle together with a light supper. This is a super event for all ages and promises to amaze and astound you!
Our final weekend has another first - The Love and Joy Gospel Choir. They have performed at many major venues and been on Television on numerous occasions. Simply a 'must go' concert.
We close with The Festival Eucharist on 30th May at 10.15am.
Buy tickets for any three concerts and get a 10% discount.
During the Sunday Parish Communion at 10.15am a series of addresses will reflect on four key elements in the life of Jesus. Under the heading JESUS REDISCOVERED we shall consider:
Themes:
21st Feb - Jesus and History
28th Feb - Jesus and the Jews
7th Mar - Jesus and Strangers
21st Mar - Jesus and Failure
On Sunday evenings at 6.30 p.m. Compline will be said in the Chapel. There will also be an address on the Archbishop of Canterbury's Lent Book for 2010: 'Our Sound is our Word' by Canon Lucy Winkett of St. Paul's Cathedral, London.
Themes:
21st Feb - The Sound of Scripture
28th Feb - The Sound of Lament
7th Mar - The Sound of Freedom
14th Mar - The Sound of Resurrection
21st Mar - The Sound of the Angels
On Wednesday evenings at 7.15pm a service will be held in the Choir Stalls that will include a meditation on a passage from St. John's gospel. We shall be led by the Men's voices in the choir.
Themes:
24th Feb - The Wedding in Cana
3rd Mar - Healing at the Pool of Bethesda
10th Mar - The Feeding of the Five Thousand
17th Mar - The Man Blind from Birth
24th Mar - The Raising of Lazarus
Revd Michael Burgess
Vicar of Outrington, Lymn, Diocese of Chester
This month we turn to the New Testament, where St. Paul exhorts the Christian community to sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs to God. St. Luke tells us in his Gospel that the angels sang praises to God at the birth of Jesus, and he has given us three poems that have become part of Christian song: the Magnificat, the Benedictus and the Nunc Dimittis.
The first two are full of praise and rejoicing. The last comes as Mary and Joseph fulfil the Law of Moses and bring the child Jesus to Jerusalem. In the temple they meet Simeon and Anna. Simeon represents each of us who can look back over life with gratitude in the face of death as he says, "Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace". It is a story that has inspired preachers (Origen preached four sermons on it) and artists, and also composers.
In the Christian Church these words of the Nunc Dimittis have become part of worship at the end of each THIS day, not just the end of life. Cathedral and parish church choirs have sung setting of these words in that great tradition of Anglican choral music at Evensong – settings that have captured the sense of quiet resignation, but also conveyed the glory of the light that is Jesus shining for all people.
The setting I commend to you this month is by Rachmaninov. It is part of his Vespers, the night-long vigil sung in the Russian Orthodox Church of the eve of great feasts.
Rachmaninov composed the work (and it comprises 15 pieces) at great speed. After just two weeks he finished it in this month of February 1915. In this country the work was only heard at All Saints Church, Margaret Street in London until recent years, when its place in choral music was reassessed. Performances and recordings soon followed, and the Vespers are now seen as one of the great masterpieces of religious music.
This was no more so than in the beautiful setting of the 5th canticle, the Nunc Dimittis. Just 36 bars long, it begins with a rocking, undulating figure in the upper voices. A solo tenor enters as the voice of Simeon, and it ends with the basses moving down to a low B flat: 'a sigh of wonder and resignation on the threshold of eternal rest and peace', one critic has called it. Rachmaninov later recalled, "After I played the passage at the end of the 5th canticle where the basses slowly descend to that low note, the conductor shook his head, saying 'Now where on earth will we find such basses? They are as rare as asparagus at Christmas!'".
Nevertheless he did find them. It was one of the composer's
favourite pieces, and he asked for it to be sung at his funeral in the
hope that it would send his 'ship of death gently towards the
unknown region'.
Betty Glasgow
Our next meeting is on Tuesday 9th March when, because it's Lent it
will be a Quiet Evening held in the Lady Chapel and starting prompt
at 7.30pm and not the usual 8pm. We're very pleased that Canon
Roger Wikeley has agreed to lead us and we're looking forward to a
thought-provoking evening which will be an oasis of peace in a
frantic world. The evening always ends in the Parish Centre with a
cuppa and the chance of a good natter. Do come along if you possibly
can. We know you'll find it worth while.
Help from the men of the Parish, on Sunday 14th March, the Ladies
who serve coffee in the Parish Centre are going on strike, they have
decided as it is Mothers' Day the men should take over and run the
kitchen. Volunteers please report to Hilda Blomley.
We are taking a break from Lent Lunches this year and will instead be
holding a Hot Brunch - bacon baps, soup and rolls etc - in the Parish
Centre after worship on Sunday 7th March. All proceeds to WATER
AID. We have supported this charity in previous years and are
impressed by the vital work it does in making the precious commodity
of water available to communities that lack access to it.
On Saturday 13th March at 7.30pm in the Parish Centre there will be a
wonderful night of entertainment led by Master of Ceremonies Roger
Wall (a musical virtuoso).
Included in the entertainment there will be Vercoe the Clown (very well
known in Southport), a magician, comedienne, voices from Heaven, the
Trinity Belles, singers from Africa, singers from Trinity Choir (young
and not so young) and much much more.
The Concert is to raise money for the Kenya Health Research Project
and tickets can be had from Cyril and Barbara Legge. Please get your
tickets early because they are selling fast. Price only £5 each.
Now that I can no longer deny that I am rushing headlong into old age I am amazed and surprised at how much the world around me has changed. For example, when I was a small boy at school I was caned every day by teachers with big canes and sadistic habits and yet, at the end of the day, they were highly respected by society particularly by the parental element.
Today they don't wear collars or ties, they don't use the cane, they are on first name terms with their pupils yet are derided and are largely ignored by society. Most of them are certainly not respected.
Then we come to the professional footballers. In my youthful days they were paid £12 per week, no more, no less and behaved like gentlemen both on and off the field.
Today they are paid £25,000 per week and behave like hooligans both on and off the field. They argue with referees, break their contracts and each other's legs all in the name of sport. I find it difficult.
We are reminded every Sunday that we should love ones neighbour as oneself. I have no problem in loving ones neighbour; it is liking some of them that I find difficult.
But all is not lost; there are still underdogs to support and lost causes to fight for. Occasionally I can still remember what I am looking for when delving through a bedroom drawer and can quote my telephone number given sufficient time to remember it.
The question remains, however, is loving ones neighbour as oneself sufficient or does one have to like them as well?
It is a thorny question to which I do not know the answer - I shall ask the Vicar.
|
2nd Tue 11.30 am Holy Communion 12 noon Lunch Club 3rd Wed 5th Fri 6th Sat 9th Tue 10th Wed 12th Fri 13th Sat 16th Tue |
17th Wed 19th Fri 22nd Mon 23rd Tue 24th Wed 26th Fri 27th Sat 30th Tue |
N.B. Please check for additional Services for Lent
Please note that there is a large Craft Fair in the big hall on 6th March
as well as the Coffee Morning run by the Festival Committee.
Readings for March
7th - Lent 3 - Isaiah 55 vv 1-9 -
Luke 13 vv 1-9 -
Jane Howarth
14th - Lent 4 - Mothering Sunday - Special Readings
21st - Lent 5 - Isaiah 43 vv 16-21 -
John 12 vv 1-8 -
Alan Marston
28th - Palm Sunday - Isaiah 50 vv 4-9a -
Luke 19 vv 28-40 -
Ann Ferguson
Offertory for March
7th - A. Ferguson/M. Caplan 21st S. Ball/H.Riley
14th - Family Service 28th Cyril/Barbara Legge
Silver Cleaning for March (Saturdays)
5th - E. Shacklady and E. Walker
27th - B. Harvey and M. Caplan and all extra help for Easter
Flowers for March
No Flowers until Easter Day 4th April
Cleaning Groups March
Group A - 4th March - Thursday at 2.30pm
Group B - 18th March - Thursday at 2.30pm
Easter Cleaning to be arranged.
Coffee Rota for March (Parish Centre)
7th - J. Lovelady, A. Ellis, D. Roach, B. Watkinson
14th - Mothering Sunday - Volunteers from the MEN
21st - Ann Ferguson, Alice Etherington, Nancy Hart
28th - M. Caplan, D, Wigmore, J. Roberts.
SUNDAYS
8.30am Holy Communion
10.15am Parish Communion (First Sundays in month are usually a Family Communion with children taking part)
10.15am Sunday School
(For 3 year olds upwards - on all except first Sundays and school holidays)
6.30pm Evening Prayer
WEEKDAYS
11.30am Tuesdays
Holy Communion
7.15pm Wednesdays
Choral Evensong
7.15pm 1st Friday in month
Book of Common Prayer Communion
OTHER SERVICES
(e.g for Saints Days): as announced
Practising members of other Christian denominations are invited to receive Holy Communion.
If you are not confirmed but would like to receive a blessing please come forward with other communicants and place your hands below the altar rail.
We hope you will join us for refreshments in the Parish Centre after the Service