'Contact' Feb 2024 by philmex1

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FEBRUARY 2024

The Parish of Hythe St. John the Baptist

St. Anne

Isaiah 43 : 19 1

THE PARISH OF ST JOHN’S AND ST ANNE’S, HYTHE Please look at the back page of this magazine for further information about service times. Please do not attend services if you have Covid symptoms, even if you think it is just a cold. For recordings of morning prayer and weekly Sunday services, simply click on the ‘Online Worship’ tab at the top of the website page and a new menu will appear. You can then select which service you wish to see. Ctrl + click: https://www.stjohnshythe.org/ (our website) https://www.facebook.com/stjohnshythe/ https://www.facebook.com/St-Johns-St-Annes-Youth172652072776655/ Worship at St John’s continues to be livestreamed via Zoom so that our church family may worship together. Please contact Sue Blomley if you would like your name added to join the Zoom list. Other acts of worship and activities are available on our church website and Facebook pages. Would you like to contribute to the work of our parish? Please use the QR code on this page to find out how. In church we now have a card machine which is easy to use and saves us handling coins and notes. Please contact office@stjohnshythe.org for help or other alternatives.

Thank you!

VICAR’S LETTER This year, as we approach the start of Lent, I’m acutely aware that Ash Wednesday falls on another festival this year Valentine’s Day; a day where love is celebrated and romance blossoms….or in the church calendar, the day we remember St Valentine was martyred! Both occasions will be impacted by each other. Valentine’s Day will be affected by the call to repentance and the start of a the Lenten season, and Ash Wednesday will be affected by the love and romance of Valentine’s Day - which isn’t a bad thing. The significance of the sacrifice that Jesus made on the cross, will be enhanced by the clash, reminding us of the love that led Him to offer His life for our freedom. So, we countdown towards Lent, turning our focus from Christmas and Epiphany and looking to the future. Let us do so with hope and expectation, that in this 150th anniversary year of our church building, His Spirit will continue to move amongst us, bringing growth, healing and restoration to our community of faith. There’s lots to look forward to this year! God is good. Many Blessings!

Lee Rev Lee Davies

Vicar of Hythe 3

WELCOME BISHOP PHILIP! On Saturday 13 January, Craig Fowkes, Emily and Lee Davies represented the Parish at the welcome service for our new Bishop of Winchester, Phillip Mountstephen. It was a joyous occasion, full of hope for the future of our Diocese. I am pleased to announce that Bishop Philip will be joining us for part of our Patronal Festival Celebrations in June…more info on this nearer the time!

https://winchester.anglican.org/bishop-philips-service-of-welcome/

Lee Rev Lee Davies Vicar of Hythe

PARISH OF HYTHE MONTHLY PRAYER LIST

In February we pray especially for: Cliff & Val, Bob & Faye, Rita & Family, Brian, Craig, John, Tim & Pam, and Anne.

We pray for our families and friends. We pray for peace and healing in our troubled world. In the words of a prayer attributed to St Francis of Assisi:

Photos by PrestonPix.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT We love because He first loved us. John 4:19

1 John 3:1 See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! 1 John 4:8 Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God.

1 Chronicles 16:34 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever. 6

ARTICLE: A WALK IN THE NEW FOREST A day in 2010. I am walking with Sophie the dog and, this time, my ten year-old granddaughter, Caitlin. Passing the site of the Pony Sales on our left we soon cross the railway line and continue on the open Forest. Caitlin loves the ‘great outdoors’ and is fascinated by the cobwebs sparkling with dew hanging from the gorse bushes on this late summer morning. Still talking about this, we spot three Fallow bucks about 200 yards away. In a few weeks it will be the rutting season and they will be fierce rivals for the attention of the does, but for now they are all friends together. I occasionally see deer when walking in the Forest, but never three males together and it really makes my day. As for Caitlin, as soon as she gets home she will be keen to tell Mum and Dad about it. Luckily, Sophie hasn`t seen them so I hastily put her on the lead. We lower our voices and the deer don`t seem to be bothered by us .Soon they are off in a flash as two people come running past with three large dogs. No doubt they are enjoying the Forest in their own way; but I think somehow they have missed something. That walk is now a treasured memory. Experiences like that, coming to us unexpectedly, are real blessings. We don`t earn them and we can`t create them. We just need to pause for a few moments and turn aside from whatever we are doing. We shall never know how many times we have missed them because we were too busy or in too much of a hurry. I have heard that Jews are supposed to find a hundred blessings every day. We may not achieve that, but let`s make sure that we don`t miss any which come our way. Norman Curtis 7

MOTHERS’ UNION At our January meeting, subscriptions were paid and Jenny told of the ongoing problems in accessing our branch bank account. Members voted on a change of signatories for the branch’s cheques. The programme for 2024 was discussed and the urgent need for speakers. So far we have no speaker in April. Jenny reminded us of the ‘World Day of Prayer’ service at St Michael’s Roman Catholic Church on Friday 1 March at 2.00pm. On Thursday 8 February, our speaker will be Sean Marsh from Calshot RNLI. In March, there will be no official meeting due to our being the host church for our Lyndhurst Deanery Service on Friday 22 March at 2.00pm, celebrating Lady Day. Refreshments will be required for hospitality after the service. On our 11 April meeting, we hope there will be a speaker. On Thursday 9 May, Gill Coombes will be exploring our MU theme for the year ’Faith in Action’. In June, we hope to attend the Festival Service and on 11 July, Rev Lee will be speaking about his marathon running. At our meeting on 8 February, the sales table colour will be blue. Our meetings are all taking place at St John’s Hall at 2.30pm. All are welcome. Sue Harvey & June Smith

What a buzz! The Waterside Churches’ Together United service, hosted by St John’s Church, brought together Christians from St Andrew’s, St John’s, Lighthouse, Cornerstone, and several more churches, including Ringwood. Led by Rev Lee, with a group of musicians and singers, the service included a time of group prayer and interesting speakers, as well as uplifting praise songs. Hope you can join us at the next Churches Together service: look out for adverts in ‘Contact’! Editors 8

WHO LET THE DADS OUT?

CELEBRATION OF LOVE SERVICE

SHROVE TUESDAY—PANCAKE DAY!

ASH WEDNESDAY SERVICE

50 YEARS OF ‘CONTACT’ You probably know that we are celebrating the 150th anniversary of the building of St John’s Church this year, but did you know that ‘Contact’ is 50 years old this year? The first issue was published in January 1972 when the Rev David Jennings was Vicar of Hythe and cost only 2 pence. Over the next few months, we will be publishing pages from all the 1972 issues of ‘Contact’, thanks to David and our very own Roy German who helped us complete the collection from their own archives.

1974

The front cover of the very first ‘Contact’ magazine and the back page with a list of ‘Who’s who’ from 1972. How many names can you recognise? 13

50 YEARS OF ‘CONTACT’

1974

Times of services were listed on page 2. 14

1974

50 YEARS OF ‘CONTACT’

1974

50 YEARS OF ‘CONTACT’

1974

50 YEARS OF ‘CONTACT’

1974

50 YEARS OF ‘CONTACT’

1974 19

50 YEARS OF ‘CONTACT’

1974

We hope you enjoyed reading pages from the January 1972 edition of ’Contact’. Next month we will publish extracts from the February and March 1972 issues. 20

ARTICLE: PANCAKES AND CARNIVALS Have you ever come home from work, or got to the end of a busy week and muttered, “I feel as flat as a pancake”? It’s an apt description of that feeling of exhaustion and emptiness, of having nothing left to draw on… The need just to sit and have a cuppa, or perhaps something a little stronger!

Pancake Day this year falls on Tuesday 13th February. We all know it’s the day before Ash Wednesday, the start of fasting of prayer leading up to Holy Week and Easter. But there are many explanations as to why pancakes, why Carnivals, why all manner of party-like expressions in different parts of the world. Here in the UK, we tend to associate it with the ancient custom of families eating up the last of the winter fatty meats and preserves, emptying the larder prior to the period of fasting in Lent, or as some would say, waiting also for the first fresh shoots of spring. In Brazil, and in many African and European countries, it’s now more associated with processions and Carnival: wild parties taking place before the Lenten shutdown, a last fling, and perhaps a few moments of public joy and celebration before austerity sets in for (or used to, at least!). Interestingly, the word Carnival itself from the root of eating the last of the meat, the ‘carne’ before Lent. But one gets the sense in most modern celebrations, the emphasis is all on party, with the idea of self-denial or self-examination being quietly pushed to one side and ignored. Pancake has become party!

As early as the mid 16th century, the famous painter Peter Breugel: The fight between Carnival and Lent’

ARTICLE: PANCAKES AND CARNIVALS Peter Bruegel the Elder presented a painting under the title, ‘The fight between Carnival and Lent’, cleverly illustrating the tension between the two, between partying and fasting, and the central idea, so often lost, that you cannot have one without the other!

Perhaps we could do well to wrestle with this same tension as we approach Lent and Easter this year. Just as we could not fully celebrate the joy of Christmas without exploring the deeper questions raised in Advent, so we will make light of Easter, of the joy of resurrection, if we don’t face up to the pain and hurt we often cause others by the way we live, or the choices we make. We might say, “No pancake, then no party!” Lent is there to give us the time to think these things through, to recognise what remains so often hidden, and get ourselves more fully aligned to God’s purposes for us, and for God’s world. If pancake eating is about clearing the rubbish from the larder of our lives, then all pancake and no Carnival may make Jack a dull boy! But be sure that all Carnival and no pancake, and we’ll never really grasp the magnitude of God’s overwhelming love for us, and the transformations he longs to bring about both inside us, and through us out there in the wider world. So enjoy the fun of pancakes thoughtfully for what they are… then dive into the waters of Lent bravely, so you can emerge into the brighter light and full joy of Easter! Rev Edgar Ruddock

Photo by Sydney Troxell https://www.pexels.com/search/pancakes/ 22

PARISH OF HYTHE CRIB SERVICES

All who attended our Crib Services were invited to follow Dotty the Donkey’s Christmas Trail, which told the story of the first Christmas with activities to do along the way. We followed this with the story ‘Festive Fred finds the Greatest Gift’.

PARISH OF HYTHE CRIB SERVICES

In the story, Fred loves Christmas so much that he changes his name to be a little more festive. We journey with Fred who nods off in his bedroom and wakes up in the middle of the very first Christmas! Everyone one who wanted to be in the Nativity Scene was invited to join in as the story continued.

PARISH OF HYTHE CRIB SERVICES

Many thanks and congratulations to Jake who had the starring role as Festive Fred, Rev Lee who played the Shepherd boy, an angel and Joseph; and Serena who played both Fred’s mum and Mary. Chris McMahon

PARISH OF HYTHE CRIB SERVICES

TRAVELS WITH A CAMERA—LANCASTER PRIORY

Photos by PrestonPix 31

COMMEMORATING THE FIRST ANGLICAN WOMAN PRIEST

A service to celebrate the 80th anniversary of the ordination of Florence Li Tim-Oi was held at St Martin-in-the-Fields, Trafalgar Square, London, on Thursday 25 January. The Revd Dr Florence Li Tim-Oi was ordained on 25 January 1944. She was ordained Deacon on Ascension Day in 1941 after hearing the call to ministry 10 years earlier at the ordination of a deaconess in Hong Kong Cathedral. Florence was given charge of the Anglican congregation in the Portuguese colony of Macau where, at the time, refugees were fleeing to from China.

Priests were unable to travel from Japanese occupied territories and therefore could not preside over the Eucharist for her. Florence was, therefore, licensed to do this as a deacon and eventually ordained priest by Bishop R.O Hall of Hong Kong. https://www.anglicannews.org/news/2024/01/celebrating-the-80th-anniversary-of-the-first-anglican-womanpriest.aspx 32

ADVANCE NOTICE: WORLD DAY OF PRAYER

This year's World Day of Prayer is to be held on Friday 1st March at St Michael’s Roman Catholic Church at 2pm. This year's service has been prepared by the women of Palestine. More information about the World Day of Prayer can be found at: https://www.wwdp.org.uk/2024-theme-and-countrypalestine/ Jenny Bithell

HELP PLEASE!

SUMMER 2024 HOLIDAY CLUB—HELP