St Mary’s Woodford Parish Magazine Volume 9 Issue 3
www.stmaryswoodford.org.uk
Keeping out the rain at the Hall
Autumn 2018
Welcome
A number of our morning services recently have reflected on different aspects of God’s creation. This has been a response to a worldwide ecumenical initiative to add to the church year a ‘creation season’, extending from 1st September (known to some as Earth Day) to 4th October (the day of Francis of Assisi). Some say that although our creeds remind us of God’s role as creator of everything, the church worldwide has not spent enough time reflecting on this in our worship and teaching. Remembering this has three consequences... 1) We rejoice in the grandeur, beauty and complexity of all that God has made! 2) As God’s creatures we owe everything to him, including our humble obedience. Our lives are his - for he made us! 3) We value everything else that God has made, respecting it as his gift to us, and holding it in trust for future generations to enjoy. 4) We trust that our maker is ultimately in control of everything within the created order - and that ultimately God will bring good out of evil, and joy out of pain. As one of our hymns says, ‘Let all things their creator bless!’
Revd Canon Ian Tarrant, email: rector@stmaryswoodford.org.uk Cover: The Pankhurst Hall’s new roof. Thanks again to all who have contributed to this project, through their donations, or through fund-raising events. 2
Parish Register Baptisms 19th August - Amelia Horwood 16th September - Alfie Minty
Funeral 17th July - Frederick Beaken
Amelia with her parents Laura and Michael
AlďŹ e with his parents Dan and Rachel, and sister Freya
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Life at St Mary’s
Harvest Fes val service at Churchfields Nursing Home
St Mary’s Welcome Pack At this year’s AGM we were informed of an intention to produce a welcome pack. This has now happened and the packs can be found in amongst the notices opposite the parish office. As Ian Tarrant says in his article on page 10 about Sharing our Faith, many of us are reluctant to talk about personal things like our faith. That strikes a chord. I suspect that most of us, thinking of the different Christian roles mentioned in Ephesians 4:11, would not describe ourselves as evangelists. Be that as it may, as with all things, if many take small steps rather than leave it to a few, it is surprising what can be achieved. You may not have given one of these packs to someone yet but do take a look. Peter Wall 4
His gifts were that some should be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors, and teachers, for the equipment of the saints, for the work of the ministry for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God. Paul’s letter to the Ephesians: 4:11
Welcome to Sheba Thank you for making me feel so welcome at St Mary’s. I’ve really enjoyed my first few months working here in the office; since it’s my first part time job, I’ve really enjoyed my Mondays off too! I was born in Ealing, my mum and dad came to London from Calcutta – my mum to work as a secretary and my dad to complete an engineering degree. My sister and I were born here but we went back to Calcutta after a few years as I think my parents were missing their old lifestyles, the food, their parents, and the culture of West Bengal. Careers, life, and circumstances saw us back in London after another few years and we settled in Harrow where my mum still lives. Both my sister and I went to Christ’s Hospital Girls’ School for our secondary education and it was there that I really started to feel the draw of Christianity. In a boarding school, you attend a lot of church right through those formative teenage years -without a single available excuse. My mum’s Zoroastrian and my dad’s Hindu, so it took a while for me to work out where my own personal religious ethos should come from and it was only as an adult that I was baptised and wholly felt that the Christian journey was right for me. Workwise, I’m an administrator through and through. I started at the Prudential in Chancery Lane and went onto various American investment banks until I settled for Salomon Brothers working as a project
manager. I worked in several cities and many projects before child number three took me to the brink of chaos; I had to stop and rethink. The rethink took seven years of child rearing and learning new skills. I took a Fine Art degree, volunteered at Redbridge Homestart, spent time on PCC and deanery synod, and worked at the Geary Centre helping adults learn maths. Once the children were up and running I managed to get one of those elusive term time only jobs working as an administrator in a school and really enjoyed the purposefulness of a public sector career. Then earlier this year I found myself sitting in church thinking about the forthcoming academic year with a sense of unease that I just couldn’t shake off. I turned over the pew sheet, and there was the ad from St Mary’s! I handed in my notice on the Monday and started working on my application – I just knew it was the right thing to do and my next step. Sheba Lockley 5
Life at St Mary’s Home made cake fueled St Mary’s redecora on In the 1970s, maybe 1978, the interior of St Mary’s started to look a bit dog-eared and the PCC considered a redecoration. The cost was going to be around £8,000. Patrick who with Mark Lovejoy had formed a working partnership to do decorating, gardening, DIY, etc. within the parish known as ‘Bodgit and Leggit’. They were a very valued service known for their industry, integrity and sheer hard work. Patrick was rightly incensed at this outrageous price and volunteered to do the job for the cost of the paint. I was in full agreement, however I could see trouble brewing from a divided PCC so we hatched a plan. He would organise the painting while I would back the PCC into a corner. I offered a full repaint for the cost of the paint and equipment hire. If the PCC accepted we would brook no further interference. Patrick knew exactly what was required and no 6
further input from the PCC was allowed. Even for the die hards in the PCC this was too good an offer to miss. The job was completed in half the week allocated, nobody fell off the scaffolding and a significant group of volunteers joined our project with great enthusiasm including one lady of 70+ who I restricted to an operating ceiling of 10 feet, this same woman brought a large slab of home made cake daily to feed the crew. Furthermore we made a profit of over £1,000 by dint of converting an empty paint tin into a begging bowl ‘contributions to expenses please.’ The ‘esprit de corps’ generated within the parish by this exercise was immense. Some years later when St Mary’s was a bit short of cash a member of the PCC suggested repainting the church as a fund raiser. We repeated the exercise some years later, no one demurred, it was more difficult organising the many volunteers than the painting. Nobody was that keen on the ceiling level except our organist Roger Bluff, who positively enjoyed the challenge. I spent a number of hours high level painting in Roger’s company. Before you ask, no, I’m not taking on any more projects, I have definitely retired! Chris Whitfield
Three Faiths Forum Scriptural comfort for the bereaved
The September meeting of the East London Three Faiths Forum was about comforting the bereaved. In contrast to the usual 3FF meetings, we used an approach called Scriptural Reasoning, which has become a popular means of inter-faith dialogue over the last twenty years. The aim is to engage ordinary members of faith communities with one another and with their sacred scriptures. Working in groups of about nine people, ideally with equal numbers from the faiths involved, time is spent reading and discussing texts from the different faiths. This gives people a chance to say what their scriptures hold for them, and helps everyone to understand what is important for them. It is usual for the texts to be printed both in English, and in the original languages; Muslims in particular find this important. On this occasion, with the theme
being, ‘comforting the bereaved’, the Christian texts offered were Psalm 23, John 14:1-7 and Revelation 20:1-7. The Jewish texts came from the prayer book used during the Jewish seven days of mourning: Psalm 103, and a beautiful prayer. From the Quran the Muslims shared chapter 2, verses 153-158, and chapter 3 verses 169-171. Discussion flowed well; and one participant was heard to say, ‘I could do this for hours!’ Ian Tarrant
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Mission
Every Life Has A Purpose
ELHAP is an adventure playground in a two acre woodland space not far from our parish, providing adventure play to children of all ages. Adventure play is the freedom to have fun, be wild and get messy. They have a wonderful time, doing things that they don’t normally get to do in their own homes or gardens. These children and young people are special, though. They each have some kind of disability. Sometimes children with disabilities are treated with caution and not allowed to have adventures
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like other children - but here they can experience risk and excitement. ELHAP also works with young people and adults to help them develop their skills, explore their options for the future, and get connected to their local community. Non-disabled siblings of disabled children can attend holiday play schemes and Saturday Clubs throughout the year at no cost. ELHAP currently charitably funds this project because it is committed to supporting the whole family - too often siblings are overlooked by providers. ELHAP is one of the charities which St Mary’s supports on an annual basis. This year, on 22nd July, one of the staff, Ella Burton, came and spoke at our 10am service and explained how ELHAP works, and the wide range of people who benefit. For more information see their website: www.elhap.org.uk
Project Malachi a pop-up hostel for Ilford
Project Malachi is a vision for a new ‘pop-up hostel’ in Ilford, East London. Led by The Salvation Army in Ilford and supported by a sponsoring committee of senior local faith leaders, Project Malachi is a radical new approach to entrenched rough sleeping, creating a new kind of homelessness hostel which is the first of its kind to target rough sleepers who have No Recourse to Public Funds (NRPF) in this way. The Salvation Army’s existing homelessness and social enterprise work in Ilford is integral to the life of the church community. London Borough of Redbridge has agreed to make 1a Chadwick Road available to The Salvation Army on a 5-year lease, providing the opportunity to use the space to create a social enterprise workshop and accommodation units. This will count as ‘meanwhile use’ prior to the Ilford
A similar development in Ealing
town centre regeneration. The Chadwick Road plan is tailored specifically to the needs in Ilford, but is also replicable in other parts of the country who also have a high number of NRPF rough sleepers. This project would generate an income from Housing Benefit or Temporary Accommodation budgets. The preferred new building will be a temporary structure created from converted shipping containers creating accommodation and workshop facilities allowing residents to make informed decisions about their future, whether this is: · Getting into employment enabling self-sufficiency · Reconnecting to country of origin · Gaining leave to remain / naturalisation, and becoming eligible for support in mainstream service. Significantly, the site on Chadwick Road is also the first place that The Salvation Army ever met when it came to Ilford in 1886 in a room rented above Gilderson’s funeral directors at 1a Chadwick Road. For further information http://popuphostelilfordsalvationarmy.nationbuilder.com 9
Our calling
Sharing our faith Why?
Why should we be thinking about sharing our Christian faith with others? Four reasons... 1) We should obey the command of Jesus that his disciples go and make disciples of all nations, teaching them everything that he taught the first disciples. 2) If we find any joy or comfort in our faith, it is natural to want to share it with others - just as we share other good news in our lives. 3) We know we live a world of broken relationships, which needs healing, and so needs to hear the good news of love, hope and joy. 4) A less noble, but very practical motive is the long-term good of our local Christian community: we need more people to be involved in what we do at St Mary’s, so that it can thrive in the future.
Believing the faith
For some people, believing is the starting point - they hear or read the story and promise of Jesus, and take it as truth spoken for them. They do not only believe with their mind, they also trust in their heart that God’s love can transform their lives.
Belonging to the body
But for others, the starting point is belonging; whether that is being part of a Christian family which takes belief seriously, or belonging to a church which has made them 10
welcome. The preaching, teaching and worship gradually bring these people to the state of believing.
Becoming like Jesus
As individuals learn more about Jesus, as they worship, and as they live in the Christian community, they allow the Holy Spirit to make changes in the way they live. Their answers and actions become more like those of the sinless human being, Jesus Christ.
Bringing others in
Some are gifted in sharing the good news of God’s love - we call these people evangelists. They are proactive in reaching out to others. However, we are all expected to give an account of the Christian hope within us when others ask - we are all called to be witnesses. Both evangelists and witnesses invite others to be involved in the Christian community, and so contribute to the growth of the church.
Conversa on
Many of us are reluctant to talk about personal things like our faith. Or perhaps we have been told that religion and politics should never feature in polite conversation. And yet when something really good happens in our lives, like a promotion or the
birth of a baby, we are quick to share that good news. Many of us need to learn to become more fluent in talking about our faith, or telling the story of our own involvement in the life of the church. This doesn’t mean memorising a 500-word advertising pitch. It’s about being able to tell your own story and saying what God/Jesus/church means to you. The next two headings might help you know what to include.
Comfort
In every such story there is likely to be an element of comfort, because God brings joy, love and hope into our lives. The oppressed are set free, and the broken are made whole. How has God comforted you? Can you tell others?
convert people - it is God’s. And then we rejoice, with the angels in heaven. There are three discernable stages in the conversion of an individual...
Decision
...is when somebody makes up their mind about who Jesus is, and decides to put their trust in him.
Declara on
...is about telling the world of their decision. Formally we do this in a service of baptism or confirmation. Informally it might happen in any conversation with friends; or by wearing a cross, or by displaying a Christian symbol in the workplace, the home or the car.
Devo on
...is the working out of a Christian’s faith in their lives. Make every part of an individual’s life subject to the authority of Christ. Conversion is like a school getting a new headteacher - it takes a while for the influence of the new head to be felt in every department.
Challenge
Alongside the comfort, however, there is often challenge. In the Bible we see Jesus calling people to change, to give up the old and take on the new, to carry a cross and to follow him. How has God challenged you? Can you tell others?
Conversion
We tell our stories and we let the Holy Spirit do the work. It is not our task to
It’s down to us
To date, each generation of Christians has passed on the good news to the next - not only within families, but in all kinds of contexts outside the home. Worldwide the church continues to grow because in every land Christians are sharing the love of God by their works and by their words. With God’s help, we can do it too. Ian Tarrant (summarising a series of sermons earlier this year) 11
Local events ‘50 up’ for Na onal Trust Woodford & District Centre Woodford and District National Trust Centre has celebrated its 50th anniversary this year and would be pleased to welcome new members and visitors to their meetings and outings which began again in September. The local Centre provides an ideal opportunity for people to listen to interesting talks held at two local venues. Over the fifty years the Centre has raised over £200,000 for many NT projects. This year this has included tables and chairs bought Wickham Fen for Flatford Mill. The Winter talks are held either at All Saints Church Hall, Woodford Green (venue A) at 2.30pm or the Memorial Hall, South Woodford (venue M) at 10.30 am. · Wednesday, 12th. September (A) 2.30pm - ‘Dig for Victory’ by Russell Bowes is about the time when gardeners grew vegetables instead of flowers and the Land Girls put food on our tables.
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· Tuesday, 16th October (M)
·
10.30am - ‘Gunpowder on the Lea’ by Richard Thomas tells us the how sailing barges carried gunpowder and other military explosives down the Lea Valley from the Waltham Abbey Gunpowder Mills to the Thames and the Government magazines at Purfleet. Wednesday, 14th. November (A) 2.30pm - ‘Behind the Scenes of the Battle of Britain’ by David Keen who, further to a previously well received talk, shares his detailed knowledge.
· Monday, 10th. December (M)
10.30am - ‘The Angel and the Cad (The last owners of Wanstead House)’ by Geraldine Roberts; Geraldine tells the remarkable story of William and Catherine Long Wellesley who were the last owners of Wanstead House, the magnificent Palladian Mansion known as the English Versailles. All enquiries to dickspeller@talktalk.net or call 07774 164407.
Mission
Real Chris anity Measure your progress by your experience of the love of God and its exercise before men. In contrast, servile, base, and mercenary is the notion of Christian practice among the bulk of nominal Christians. They give no more than they dare not withhold. They abstain from nothing but what they dare not practice. When you state to them the doubtful quality of any action, and the consequent obligation to refrain from it, they reply to you, ‘they cannot find it in the bond’ (ie explicitly required). In short, they know Christianity ONLY AS A SYSTEM OF RESTRAINTS. It is robbed of every liberal and generous principle. It is rendered almost unfit for the social relationships of life, and only suited to the gloomy walls of a cloister, in which they would confine it. But true Christians consider themselves as not satisfying some rigorous creditor, but as discharging a debt of gratitude. Accordingly, theirs is not the stinted return of a constrained obedience, but the large and liberal measure of voluntary service.
We are collecting non-perishable food for the Redbridge Foodbank. The collection box is now in the church foyer every Sunday.
William Wilberforce
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Peacemakers
East London & Essex Liberal Synagogue and St Mary's Parish Church Woodford invite you to hear the stories of two peace activists: one Israeli and one Palestinian. Jews, Christians and people of all faiths and none, are invited to this free interfaith event, in partnership with Solutions Not Sides.
Date: Monday 12th November Time: 7:00pm - Doors open and refreshments served 7:30pm - Event begins Book via the Eventbrite ticketing website: PeaceWoodford.eventbrite.co.uk If you don’t have internet access, ask a friend or the church office to help.
The glory of life The glory of life, Is to love, not to be loved, To serve, not to be served, To be a strong hand in the dark To another in the time of need, To be a cup of strength to any soul In a crisis of weakness. This is to know the glory of life. Archbishop Michael Ramsey 14
Quiz Who or what are we? All the answers are part of the Chris an story and they all begin with ‘Z’. 1 I am the father of the apostle James. My name is Z_________. 2 I am the missing word from the hymn ‘Take my gifts’ by Shirley Erena Nurray and William Moore. ‘Take the fruit that I have gathered From the tree your Spirit sowed, Harvest of your own compassion, Juice that made the wine of God; Spiced with humour, laced with laughter – Flavour of the Jesus life, Tang of risk and new adventure, Taste and z_____ beyond belief.’ 3 Two of us were in Noah’s Ark. 4 I was High Priest during the reigns of David and of Solomon. 5 I am a vegetable. I am suitable for parish lunches but not for the food bank box as I may go off before I have been delivered. 6 I am an Italian saint, the patron saint of maids and domestic servants. I am often appealed to for help in finding lost keys. 7 I am the son of Jeroboam. I reigned over Israel in Samaria for six months. My name is Z____________. 8 I was the theologian who lead the Protestant Reformation in Switzerland. 9 We were a sect of Jews which originated with Judas the Gaudaite. 10 I am a stringed instrument. The Z_______ Carol begins ‘Girls and Boys, leave your toys, make no noise, kneel at his crib and worship him.’ 11 I am often used as a synonym for Jerusalem. 12 I am the name given by Pharaoh to Joseph. 13 I am the Grossmünster, the Romanesque style protestant cathedral in the Swiss city of Z________. Answers: page 29 15
A special occasion Celebra ng birthdays If all goes to plan, this year I shall come of age and receive a state pension at long last (albeit a few months later). I say ‘at long last’ because I shall have waited a full five years longer than many of my friends. After over 45 years of paying into this agreement it will be a just cause for celebration. Whether I carry on working I have yet to decide, but like Scarlett O’Hara, I will think about that tomorrow. ‘A mere stripling!’ I hear you say in unison. But when a relative recently remarked, ‘But you’re just a baby!’ I felt genuinely hurt and somewhat diminished by that comment. You can imagine someone reaching the ripe old age of 100, only to have their balloon burst by someone approaching 102. I believe that every birthday is worth celebrating in the spirit that we were all children once and can still remember when it was only two months and four days till our seventh birthday. How proud we felt to have seven candles on our cake at last. Having worked with children for all my career I remember so many boys and girls with beaming faces handing round sweets (probably not allowed now) while we all sang Happy Birthday in unison, or presenting me with a couple of sticks of luminous pink rock to smash with a hammer borrowed from the school caretaker so everyone could share the sticky shards that still clung to my desk hours later. And then there was the boy who turned up at my classroom door early one morning dressed in his best suit and 16
bow tie lugging a heavy suitcase of party fare, his mother assuming that I would divvy up the spoils and run a party single-handed after school! I can see his six-year-old face full of expectation now, and I decided to give up my lunch hour to the task on the understanding that I wouldn’t be doing this again in a hurry! We look back and remember how adult we felt at seventeen, studying not only English but French literature as well, holding down a Saturday job and passing our driving test: all sweet rites of passage to be savoured with the passage of time. I remember my father’s 60th birthday, his last, and his sense of achievement at having got there, sitting in the garden on a sunny day savouring the moment. For him there would be no retirement, no pension, no chance really, as his cancer returned. So whether you are 37, 51 or 83 insignificant ages compared to some don’t let anyone rain on your parade and stop you celebrating another year with all its ups and downs that is uniquely yours. ‘Do not deprive me of my age. I have earned it,’ wrote May Sarton. And many happy returns to us all. Penny Freeston
Then and now Eucharist in Rome c150 AD On the day called Sunday an assembly is held in one place and the records of the Apostles or the writings of the Prophets are read for as long as time allows. Then the president exhorts us to imitate these good things. Then we all stand together and send up prayers. When we have finished praying bread and wine and water are brought up and the president sends up prayers and thanksgivings to the best of his ability. And the people assent saying, ‘Amen’ and the elements, over which thanks have been given, are distributed and everyone partakes... and they are sent through the deacons to those who are not present. Adapted from ‘The First Apology’ of Justin Martyr. The president need not have been a priest. Sunday was not yet a public holiday; only the Jews had a Sabbath. Christian worship had to be worked into a working life, as it increasingly does in our own 24/7 times. Thus those not present were not necessarily only the sick. What is included in our Eucharist today but of which Justin Martyr makes no mention? Rowena Rudkin.
The Oak Live thy Life, Young and old, Like yon oak, Bright in spring, Living gold; Summer-rich Then; and then Autumn changed, Soberer-hued Gold again. All his leaves Fall’n at length, Look, he stands, Trunk and bough, Naked Strength. Alfred, Lord Tennyson
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Remembrance
Concert to mark the 100th anniversary of the Armis ce of World War One As a choir member at St. Mary’s, we often sing English music that was created during or shortly after World War One. I find that I can often guess that a particular piece of music, through its mode or style, dates from that time. Perhaps this is because World War I had a dramatic effect on English society and that this is reflected, even if perhaps unintentionally, in the emotional content of the music. I think the same can be said of Edward Elgar’s Piano Quintet; a piece written in 1918 that I and a few friends are planning to present at St. Mary’s on 10th November as part of a larger concert entitled ‘English Music and World War I’. During the war, Elgar was keeping a ‘stiff upper lip’ and doing his bit writing patriotic music for various occasions. Nonetheless, we
can see in his surviving letters that he was appalled by the carnage and mood of jingoism he found everywhere. By 1918 Elgar was experiencing a bitter-sweet period in his life. His wife Alice was becoming frail and many friends had died during the war. Thus, Elgar’s quintet is a product of its time, a reaction to the recent trench warfare and a generation killed on the battlefields of Europe. It was a very different kind of music than what he had produced before: more intimate, and in parts more subdued. A mood of dark intensity, sounding like plainchant, appears in the Elgar at ‘Brinkwells’, the co age in Sussex where he Quintet’s opening. composed the piano quintet Elgar himself called it
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‘ghostly stuff’, and one can plainly hear resonances of conflict continuing throughout the rest of the movement. George Bernard Shaw, who was a personal friend of Elgar and a highly perceptive music critic as well as the famous playwright, said ‘The quintet knocked me over at once,’ he observed. ‘This is the finest thing of its kind since {Beethoven’s] Coriolan [Overture]-there is the same quality -- the same vein’. Critics such as Perry Young have claimed that ‘in some ways’ this is ‘Elgar's single greatest movement.’ The second movement can be interpreted as a response – what critic Diana McVeagh called ‘a profound romantic stillness’ – to the sombre character of the first. It is a warm, intimate piece that confronts the darkness of the times, but which overcomes them to express a feeling of serenity and even acceptance.
Then, having moved from the sombre character of the first movement through the intimate confrontation of the darkness in the second, we find in the final movement another response to the darkness of the first and the serenity of the second movements: a joyous affirmation of life. Indeed, the joy of its ending represents what Elgar himself said was a kind of ‘apotheosis’: a culmination or climax of this journey. Overall, the Quintet is very much about Elgar’s personal thoughts and feelings. The grandeur of his earlier works is no more; gone too is the old triumphalism. Instead we find a more intimate, private voice: a distilled vision of a highly creative and uniquely English artist. November 2018 is the hundredth anniversary of the Armistice and can be a time to reflect on war, and perhaps about despair and affirmation. I hope you can join us on the evening of November 10th at St Mary’s to hear this wonderful Quintet, as well as several other pieces of music associated with World War I: Rebecca Clarke’s highly dramatic Piano Trio, and the profound songs setting words of A.E. Housman by George Butterworth (who was killed in World War I) and of the war poet and composer Ivor Gurney. John Bradley
Elgar at the piano 19
Book reviews The Machine Stops by EM Forster Penguin ISBN 978-0-141-19598-8
What is the most famous work of science fiction written just over a hundred years ago? Many people would say The War of the Worlds by HG Wells. How about a slightly different question; which piece of science fiction also written just over a hundred years ago is the most accurate? A contender surely has to be The Machine Stops by E.M. Forster. Forster’s short story, first published in 1909, tells of a world in which people avoid interacting face to face with each other but communicate by means of an all knowing and all controlling electronic machine. People live in isolation in their own underground rooms which are technologically very advanced with all their needs given to them. The past is not respected. At best it is regarded with patronising amusement: ‘those funny old days, when men went (out) for a change of air instead of changing the air in their rooms!’ People have devoted themselves to the goal of gaining knowledge through the Machine. Direct experience and original ideas are to be avoided. The 20
Machine so refines things that the results are thought to be far better. Those who reject the ideals of ‘The Machine’ are at risk. The main character, Vashti, is ‘too busy’ to see her son Kuno. This is partly because Vashti is preoccupied with her great idea, the music of Queensland(!) and partly because Kuno is a bit of a rebel. Vashti does not so much seem concerned for her son Kuno himself but rather that his criticism of the Machine is a threat to the Machine driven values by which she lives. The story ends with the Machine going horribly wrong and everyone failing to cope. So Forster’s novella predicts the Internet age and a good deal else too. How close to the bone it is I’ll leave up to you. Forster seems to be exploring what is to be human. I wish he had taken his ideas a bit further. What exactly is Vashti’s self-absorbed spiritually that she is seeking? There is no Christian element to the book. A possible conclusion is that there is no true meaning without Christianity though such a conclusion would presumably not be what atheistic Forster intended. It’s not often that I read a book and wish that there were a bit more. That’s my endorsement of this thought provoking book. Peter Wall
Unapologe c
Francis Spufford Faber & Faber, 2013 ISBN 978-0571225224 ‘Unapologetic is a book for believers who are fed up with being patronised, and for non-believers curious about how faith can possibly work in the 21st Century’ - this is a fair summary from the back cover. Spufford teaches on the MA in Creative and Life Writing at Goldsmiths College, London, and has written several books himself. In this one he responds to contemporary advocates of atheism by giving his personal take on the essence of Christianity, namely, God’s unmerited grace dealing with the Human Propensity to Mess things Up (or as he puts it, the HPtFtU) Each chapter is something of a rant, reminding me of Unyoung uncoloured unpoor by Colin Morris. It is a refreshing read. I particularly enjoyed the chapter re-telling the story of Jesus in the light of the HPtFtU. An earlier chapter tackles the
problem of pain - how can a good God have made a world in which such bad things happen to innocent people? He looks at several different answers to this question - and finds that they all lack comfort. Comfort is found only in a God who cares and shares in our pain. ‘Given the cruel world, it is the love song that we need, to help us bear what we must, and if we can, to go on loving.’ While it could have been shorter, especially the first chapter, and the language clearer, I would commend it to anyone looking for an adventure in Christian reading. Ian Tarrant 21
Travel
Church on a lake in Cambodia
Last year while cruising up the Ton Le Sap river towards the famous Ankor Wat temples in Cambodia we sailed past whole villages of houses individually floating on oil cans among the top of the trees. Every year the flow of the Mekong causes a vast lake to form for half the year and then all the water drains away leaving fertile soil for rice and vegetables. The houses on higher ground are built on ten metre stilts. But there are no roads across the mud. The only way for children to get to school or go to church is by boat. Little boats scurried around carrying rice, firewood, cooking oil, sweet potatoes, fish, straw mats and everything a farming community needed. After the era of Indian inspired Hindu faith the area was overtaken by Buddhism and the construction of vast Temples. Christianity arrived later 22
with the Portuguese merchants. After years of savage strife during the 1970s the whole community is now intent on unifying the different factions, encouraging tolerance and optimistically building a happy strong young nation. This Church is certainly making its presence known. Lee Noble
Timewatch
The Khmer Rouge entered Cambodia’s capital city Phnom Penh on April 17, 1975. The new atheistic regime declared the country would go back to ‘Year Zero’. Many places of worship were destroyed. The first building to be destroyed was the cathedral. The empty land where the cathedral once stood became the location of a multi-faith Christmas celebration in 1979, the year the Khmer Rouge’s regime was overthrown.
History War horses remembered As the centenary of the Great War draws to a close I am remembering a story of a horse that once lived at our house and went to war. I know no other details except that two elderly brothers who once lived here at that time told me the story twenty-five years ago. We still have a stable attached to the house, built in 1879, complete with a horse’s stall, Victorian cobbles, stable door and hay loft. Like many old properties in Woodford it housed a pony and trap, but the onset of war in 1914 brought that era to a close. The horse was requisitioned and sent to war. One of the brothers built a corrugatediron garage for his racing car in the 1920s on the other side of the house and the stable became defunct. According to the National Army Museum, when war broke out in 1914, the Army had only 25,000 horses at its disposal. By the end of the conflict, it had purchased over 460,000 horses and mules from across Britain and Ireland, not only vital for cavalry roles, but also needed for moving supplies, equipment, guns and ammunition, and for transporting the wounded to hospital.
In the first few weeks of the conflict the Army requisitioned around 120,000 horses from the civilian population. Owners who could not prove that their horses were needed for essential transport and agricultural needs had to surrender them. Over 600,000 horses and mules were bought and shipped from the United States but 3,300 were lost, mainly from disease, shipwreck and injury caused by rolling vessels. Around 2,700 of these horses died when submarines and other warships sank their vessels. Many horses also suffered from ‘shipping fever’, a form of pneumonia. However, equine medical care during the First World War was superior to any previous conflicts. Between 1914 and 1918, the Army lost around 15 per cent of its horses annually. In comparison, 80 per cent were lost each year during the Crimean War (1854 - 56). Penny Freeston
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Inter-faith
Invita on to an I ar Decades ago I was in Egypt during Ramadan. It was very hot near the Valley of the Kings and after crossing the Nile at 4 am, and cycling round the small villages and ancient tombs, we joined other European travellers gathered in the shade of a teahouse till it got cooler. Then we took a fishing boat to the middle of the Nile to watch the sunset. I watched the silent boatman silently observe the noisy horseplay indulged in by many in our group, and wondered what he was thinking. As the sun went below he took out a jar of water and rinsed his mouth, and then quietly invited us to share from his jar of dates. Without words he communicated a profound sense of the wonder and holiness of the world around us, and his place in it. This came back to me last night when people from the Interfaith Community were invited to an Iftar breaking the fast - at the South Woodford Islamic Social Centre As I arrived a stream of young men were leaving - had I mistaken the time? But I was immediately directed to what turned out to be the Women’s area and through a curtain and loudspeaker could hear the continued high pitched chanting of prayers. A table was set and the women there made me, and several other visitors, welcome, ignored the prayers, and chatted and pressed food on us. I asked if they were yet able to eat, but the moment hadn’t come, so I said I’d wait till we could all share. The concentration on 24
food was palpable. Food continued to be pressed, I was almost made to feel rude for continuing to refuse. I tried to listen through the chat to the continuous cadences of the prayer from the loudspeakers. After about three quarters of an hour, the moment came when we all broke fast with a date - or 3 - it has to be an odd number. Suddenly the women went to the other part of the Women’s area, stood in rows and took part in the chanted prayers coming from the other side, bowing at intervals to the ground. These prayers were different, broken by significant pauses, and I could make out some repeated phrases. Afterwards I asked about these prayers and it was explained that they happen after breaking fast so the stomach can digest. The repeated phrases are the beginning of the Koran praising God and asserting that they are his ‘slave’. I was surprised at the unselfconscious use of this word and queried it. My informant thought about it, and confirmed it, as if she had only just thought of its meaning, but was unbothered. Of course, it was chanted in Egyptian Arabic.
After the Prayers, Imam Mahmoud Attiya Ibrahim made a long speech listing the 5 pillars of Islam and the many fastings Muslims undertake throughout the year. He stated that fasting helps Muslims understand the situation of people who are hungry. Ramadan is particularly a time when Muslims make donations. Rabbi David Hulbert then spoke. He regretted he had not been told earlier that he would be asked to speak. He covered much the same ground for Judaism, also managed to convey a sense of the history of the Jewish people and how many fasts link symbolically to historic events both celebratory and cataclysmic. I didn’t catch the surname of the speaker for the Christians, but Peter had presumably also had the request sprung on him. He tried to show that there are other things besides fasting to represent our relationship to God, but, in the context, this approach requires time to think through. I commented to the women around me that it was a pity to make fasting into a competition, and this was instantly dismissed. I was able to chat with several women. One was a lawyer who when I told her what I had done, told me she also did work for Haven House, and we were able to explore a little common ground on the impact of profound disability on siblings. Another was a student pharmacist who already worked as an assistant in a pharmacy, where she could have a job on graduation, but was interested in getting closer to patients. A third was a Polish woman whose husband is
South Woodford mosque
Jewish and had started exploring his faith. There were many other interesting conversations. I asked when the men would come through to the social area to eat, and was surprised to hear that they didn’t, they ate separately in the prayer room itself. I was disappointed, as I had expected to chat, and wanted to meet ‘Peter’. One woman just said that separate eating ‘wasn’t in the Koran’, and I left it at that, although I wanted to know why, as a religious community that claims to be very modern, the fact that they ate separately was so unremarkable to them. Later I found that some women had gone to the main side. So, after the prayers I turned to the food, of which much had already gone, but I tasted a most delicious rice pudding, and checked the recipe. It was in many ways different to an Iftar on the Nile, but in one fundamental one, I felt the continuity of our boatman’s sense of his place in the universe. Judy Noble 25
Family Focus
Hard-working Israelite slaves longing for freedom!
The burning bush where Moses received his mission orders from God
This year’s summer Holiday Club was about Moses - a man with a mission.
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A snake to remind us of the snakes in the Moses story.
Bible Word Search: Countries of the Bible R Q L W J S B B R I W Z S S E
Q M H T O Y A O A V N M S T A
M A C E D O N I A B H D H Z S
G D D D O I A I S A Y I I U S
A C D P M I I H A R O L O A Y
M B N A R C T J A P E T O D R
H Q I A K C S G I M P P X N I
Q S M F Y K I A P Y R R X O A
A A O P D S L X G A L A T I A
S P R R G A I E J N Y M G W U
K U I H S I H S R A T E H O E
S F O N B K P O J A H L A Q T
T U P A I A H C A N H I D C T
L V L S K Y K G O A R T U N G
S C R E T E L B X C H A J U J
Instructions: Find and circle the words from the list. Words may be forward, backward, vertical, or diagonal within the puzzle. ASSYRIA CANAAN BABYLON PERSIA TOGARMAH TARSHISH ROSH ACHAIA MACEDONIA PUT ASIA MINOR INDIA GALATIA PHILISTIA SAMARIA CYPRUS CRETE ETHIOPIA MELITA EGYPT The modern equivalents are: Assyria (Iraq); Canaan (Israel); Babylon (Iraq); Persia (Iran); Togarmah (Germany); Tarshish (Spain); Rosh (Russia); Achaia (Greece); Macedonia (Greece); Put (Libya); Asia Minor (Turkey); India (India: Esther 8:9); Galatia (Central Turkey); Philistia (Gaza Strip); Samaria (Golan Heights); Cyprus (Cyprus); Crete (Crete); Ethiopia (Ethiopia); Melita (Malta: Acts 28:1); Egypt (Egypt); Judah (Israel). © Memory-Improvement-Tips.com Copyright granted.
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Odds and ends Beware of telephone cold callers seeking personal informa on
There are regular reports about third parties ringing up residents pretending to be legitimate entities such as banks, police, financial ombudsman or media providers. They are intent on committing a fraud by obtaining your bank details or getting you to transfer your funds. It is imperative that bank details are never provided to cold callers who telephone you. This is the web link to a website called Take Five To Stop Fraud: https://takefive-stopfraud.org.uk/ advice/ The website offers practical advice and also has a few short video modules. Module 3 shows you how easy it could be to obtain your bank account details. Module 1 talks about email scams and Module 2 about number spoofing. Mark Gloc Trading Standards Officer Neighbourhood Watch mark.gloc@redbridge.gov.uk 28
Knowing the congrega on ‘-- and the portions will be ENORMOUS’ announced Linda Wiskin with a bit of a twinkle in her eye, about the parish lunch whilst giving the notices at the 10am service on 9th September. I raised my eyebrows and wondered who in the congregation would find this a selling point.
Judging by conversations afterwards about this, rather a lot of people! There’s quantity as well as quality at the parish lunches. Keep twinkling away, Linda! And keep cooking, Lesley! Peter Wall
Local trending
Why do most people using the footbridge at South Woodford station walk on the right hand side despite there being ‘keep left’ signs? Would this behaviour change if the signs said ‘keep right’?
people at the Great Saint Bernard Pass on the Italian-Swiss border and the Little Saint Saints, we are told, are holy people Bernard Pass on who believe in Jesus Christ and live the Italian-French border. These their lives according to His teaching. There are some creatures who spent creatures were very large. Their usual their lives doing saintly work rescuing weight was between 65 and 120kg and their height was generally between 70 and 90cm. Their coats could be smooth or rough. They were Saint Bernard dogs. The earliest written records about them were written by monks at the hospice at the Great Saint Bernard Pass in 1707. The Saint Bernard dogs are no longer used for mountain rescue work.
When is a Saint not a Saint?
Cheryl Corney
Quiz Answers 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13
Zebedee zest zebras Zadok zucchini (Saint) Zita Zachariah Zwingli Zealots zither Zion Zaphnath-Paaneah ZĂźrich
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Celebrating the sleek and stylish add an upper storey and create a full social centre for all manner of activities. The planners’ answer On 30th June a racing boat was was still no so that stalemate was launched on the River Wear in reached. A final application was made Durham. The boat belongs to to which the answer this time was an St Chad’s College, a constituent even more resounding negative college of Durham University, but the because the World Heritage authority story behind the launch is the point of had extended the World Heritage site this report. The boat was purchased by from the magnificent cathedral and Philip Swallow, a history student at castle area to the whole city, thereby St Chad’s from 1946 to 1949 immediately after the Second World War, but was not purchased directly. While Philip was at St Chad’s, on account of his slight stature, he was one of the college’s coxes and relished his ability to steer through Durham’s four bridges over the river without irreparable damage to the boat he was steering - despite one of the bridges having an evil bend in one of his arches. Time moved on but Philip always kept in touch with his college and with its rowing prowess, so that as the years went by he became sad to see the ensuring that from thenceforth no boathouse on the river bank fall into a planning application for anything state of dilapidation, endangering the would ever be granted. prowess referred to. What to do about What could the college do with the situation? Sixty years had gone by Philip’s donation? Discussion and since Philip’s coxing period and by consultation ensued until the current then his personal finances had Principal, who incidentally had improved in comparison to his college managed to repair the boathouse to a days so that his decision to assist was very sound standard, proposed possible. He gave the college a purchasing a brand new racing boat. generous donation to rebuild the Philip was delighted as was his whole boathouse. family when they all attended a regatta No one however had reckoned with during which the new boat was the near impossibility of securing launched in competition. Its name? The planning permission for anything on Swallow of course. Durham’s river bank. The college architect produced a brilliant plan to Jesus Goyogana
The Launch
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For reflection Chris an Fellowship God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. 1 Corinthians 1:9 A Christian fellowship lives and exists by the intercession of its members for faith, to pray with and for one another, one another, or it collapses. to learn from one another and teach Dietrich Bonhoeffer one another, and to set one another examples to follow, challenges to take Make it a rule, and pray to God to up, and urgent tasks to perform. This help you to keep it, never, if possible, is all part of what is known loosely as to lie down at night without being able fellowship. to say: ‘I have made one human being N.T. Wright, Simply Christian: Why Christianity Makes Sense at least a little wiser, or a little happier, or at least a little better Fellowship is a place of grace, where this day.’ Charles Kingsley mistakes aren’t rubbed in but rubbed out. Fellowship happens when mercy There is unusual power in united wins over justice. Rick Warren prayer. God has planned for His people to join together in prayer, not only for Christian fellowship, spiritual If, then, I were asked for the most important advice I could give, I nurture, and growth, but also for should simply say: in the name of accomplishing His divine purposes God, stop a moment, cease your work, and reaching His chosen goals. Wesley L Duewel look around you. Leo Tolstoy, Essays, Letters and Miscellanies Fellowship is the job that’s never started and takes longest to finish. J.R.R. Tolkien: The Lord of the Rings If we say we have fellowship with Him (God) while we walk in The church exists primarily for two darkness, we lie and do not live closely correlated purposes: to according to the truth; but if we walk worship God and to work for his in the light, as he is in the light we kingdom in the world ... The church have fellowship with one another, and also exists for a third purpose, which the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us serves the other two: to encourage one from all sin. The first letter of John 1: 6 another, to build one another up in 31
A big thank you to everyone submitting contributions and photographs to this edition
Please keep them coming, as without them we wouldn’t have a parish magazine. Articles, prayers, book reviews, favourite music, recipes, gardening tips etc. We would love some children’s drawings as well: the choice is yours! Email directly using a subject heading to: magazine@stmaryswoodford.org.uk or pass to Penny Freeston who will type up your handwritten copy. Our next copy date is 22nd October 2018 Magazine team: Penny Freeston, Cheryl Corney, Ian Tarrant, Sam McCarthy, Peter Wall. 32