Jeremy’s Jottings
The summer has finally arrived and we have been sweltering in the sun. The schools will soon be breaking up and our thoughts naturally turn towards the holiday season. Some of us will of course have already been on holiday whilst others will be about to go away, whilst others will be staying at home. Whatever we might be doing at this time of year, may I encourage us all to think again about the principle of holidays, opportunities to live life at a slightly different pace.
For the word ‘holiday’ comes from ‘holy day’ and holy days are of course those special days designated by the Church to remember particular happenings in the life of Christ or particular saints. So, in times gone by, everyone in our country would have marked a ‘holy day’ by having a ‘holiday’ at Christmas, Easter, Whitsun, All Saints Day (for examples), and local communities would have marked their patronal church festivals by having a holiday too. People would not have gone to work or school but would instead have come to church to mark the relevant holy day and then had a feast or festival afterwards (a big knees up!). Can you imagine Caversham or Mapledurham coming to a halt today in order to mark St Peter, St John or St Margaret, our own patron saints who we have recently celebrated? It would be unheard of, wouldn’t it?
But perhaps we would do well to recover the concept of ‘holy days’ for they do remind us all of the importance of taking regular breaks from what we normally do – even if we are staying at home – to get a fresh perspective on our daily, weekly, monthly or annual routines. And of course let us remember that each Sunday is a very special ‘holy day’, a day to remember the resurrection of Christ and hence our meeting together to worship. In the midst of our busy lives, let’s not forget the importance of putting time aside to worship on one day of the week in order to be renewed by the power of God through His word and by the Eucharist for living our lives the rest of the week. For, as someone once put it, when the worship ends, so the service begins. Worship is the springboard for all that we seek to do in serving God through our work, school, voluntary groups, caring and church activities for the rest of the week. Here’s wishing you a joyful ‘holy day’ season!
Jeremy Tear
Amersham Road Cooking Club (ARCC) P/T Development Worker. c.£10 ph
We are seeking to employ a development worker (15 hours p.m.) to promote the work of the cooking club which is run by local churches for children aged 7-11, and their families. The person will engage with and visit families, attend team meetings, and participate in cooking club sessions. The post-holder will need good inter-personal skills, be well-organised and enjoy working on an estate which faces issues of deprivation. They will also need to be supportive of the aims of ARCC including an understanding of the Christian faith which underpins our aim of helping people to reach their full-potential.
Contact Jeremy Tear on 946 2884 for an informal discussion and/or job description
Closing Date: 25 July; Potential Interview Date: 8 August
The post-holder will be required to have an enhanced CRB disclosure
The Curate’s Egg
I never did know what that was all about but it’s something to do with good bits and bad bits!
Sounds like the process of curacy!
I became an ordinand in 2009 at the end of a long vacancy when Richard Kingsbury retired. Alveen Thoresen and I held the fort for over 18 months then Dan arrived. After ordination in 2010 I became a curate for three years. It’s strange to think that I started my training without a training incumbent and have finished my training without an incumbent…no one to pat me on the back! Having trained for three years up to my ordination, the Oxford Diocese then told us that we needed to complete three more years of very active training, compiling a massive folder reflecting all our work and experience. Attending many Saturday workshops held all over the diocese. Fun places like Princes Risborough. In the snow! This huge folder (when marked) was then presented to the Bishop of Oxford and Andrew Bishop of Reading for their approval. Thumbs up or thumbs down!
Like Graeme I have just heard that I am no longer a curate, I’m now an Associate Priest.
I am meeting with the Bishop in August to discern my path forward. Unless he offers me chaplaincy in the Bahamas with a good salary I hope he will be happy for me to stay at St Peters as this is the church I am licensed to. Watch this space!
Marion Pyke
The Hurst Singers at St John’s
As part of the celebrations for the 125th anniversary of the consecration of the church, St John’s was very pleased to welcome the Hurst Singers for an Evening of Summer Music on Saturday 6 July. The warm sunshine was perfect for the occasion. The choir and soloists, conducted by Stephen Oliver and deputy conductor Lawrence Picking, presented a wide variety of music. This included “Hallelujah” by Leonard Cohen, a medley from “The King and I” and Simon and Garfunkel’s “Bridge over Troubled Water”.
At the end of the evening, the choir made a special presentation to Stephen as this was his last concert with the Hurst Singers. He is retiring from the role of their Musical Director after 30 years.
The concert raised just under £200, to be divided between the choir and St John’s.
The next musical event at St John’s will be the return of the MillsTones Dance Band on Saturday 14 September at 7.30pm, featuring the music of Glenn Miller, Count Basie and the other greats of the jazz and big band era. Tickets are £10 from 0118 9475120. Get your tickets soon, this has been a sell-out in previous years!
Sylvia Purkis
Caversham Church Fete
Thanks to everyone who helped make this year’s fete such a success. Indications are that we have raised over £8.5k for St Peter and St Margaret, which I hope means I remain on the treasurers’ Christmas card list for another year!
Hopefully those of you who saw it, were as bowled over as I was by the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight flypast, which proved such a draw to the local community. I include a picture of the Lancaster taken by Janet Allen in which you can almost see the pilot’s handlebar moustache – thanks Janet! Before anyone else asks, no I don’t really know how we got it and no, I can’t promise the same again. And as for getting something even more spectacular, remember we have a budget of £0 to spend on it!
This year we started the event half an hour earlier than usual to accommodate the flypast, which meant it was a long day for stallholders in very hot weather. We had the usual array of morris dancers, a brass band, street dancers and a children’s entertainer to keep people amused. We also had stalls selling items and fairground sideshows for the children to enjoy – basically, the staple fare of a traditional church fete which we have provided so well for many years. (Can anyone tell me when we ran our first fete? I think it must have been in the early eighties, but I would love a definitive answer to give the next local journalist who asks me!) We also provided a platform for local community organisations like Good Neighbours, FCCG, CADRA, the Ways and Means Trust and Progress Theatre, who presented scenes from ‘the Scottish Play’.
Would we be able to raise more money if, as people have suggested to me, we branched out into other attractions, such as a beer tent, or a burger bar? Very possibly… and we would have to, to make the additional financial outlay and organisational effort worth our while. But would there still be the same joyful community atmosphere as currently or would the fete’s character change? I’d love to hear your views on this.
In these straitened times it is more important than ever to contribute if you possibly can to what is, in money terms, the most important fundraising event of the year for the two churches. I was amazed, at the end of a very long and hot day, to see spritely septuagenarians still working their socks off. It makes such a difference to me and the other members of the Committee to know that you care about the event as much as we do. For those of you who, for one reason or another, were unable to participate this year, please keep the date free next year – as ever, it will be on the second Saturday in July, 12 July, 2014.
Nigel Smith, Fete Committee Chairman
Other editions of this newsletter can be found at the archive page