SNIPPETS, SOUNDBITES AND STORIES

Anita Buyers

This year, The Bible Reading Fellowship celebrated its centenary. It had a very humble beginning, when, in 1922 the Revd Leslie Mannering, vicar of St Matthews Brixton, wanted his parishioners to develop their spiritual lives, over and above “being entangled in the machinery of “.... weekly organisational matters . To this end, he began writing a piece in the Parish Magazine comprising a Bible reading, a comment and a prayer. It was known in its early days as The Fellowship of St Matthew. He wrote that his hope was that it would be “a mighty spiritual force in the parish”. What he didn’t realise is just what a mighty force it would become, in the deanery, the diocese of Southwark, the country and the world! Ironically Revd Mannering moved to a new parish and, being a very humble man, little was known of him afterwards. Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother was herself a member of the Fellowship stating in 1947 how the daily readings had helped her through the war years. She became its patron for 50 years and by this time it had a circulation of over half a million readers. It has gone from strength to strength with different editions (New Daylight and Guidelines still having the largest subscribers), larger print, online readership, and different target groups ranging from Messy Church to Anna Chaplaincy (from the young to the elderly) and is now spread worldwide. Some of the contributors have become like old friends and favourite writers.

At St Mark and St Cuthbert, we have had a very healthy readership. I ‘inherited’ the distribution task (or privilege!) about 40 years ago, when we had about two dozen subscribers, with discussion groups allowing us to offer our own interpretations and opinions. Over the last few years, the readership has declined to a level where it was no longer viable to order en bloc (closure of SPCK and other local Christian book shops where we placed our order being largely the reason). Fortunately readings are still available on-line to those who have the facility, or ordered individually for postal delivery, so it is still alive and kicking in the modern world...Thank God!

And now a seasonal story.

This year has seen a proliferation of rather large spiders and some beautiful webs (apologies to those with arachnophobia). The late William Barclay, writer and theologian, revived the legend that when the Holy Family fled to Egypt, pursued by Herod’s soldiers, they took refuge in a cave.

By the time the soldiers approached the cave, the spiders had been very busy, and their leader exclaimed that the cave must be empty as it was covered in spiders webs. They went on their way, so that eventually Joseph, Mary and their precious baby could continue safely to Egypt. And this is why we use tinsel to decorate our Christmas trees!

Activities at St Peter’s Church Hall

Weekly Social Activities & Uniformed Organisations

Monday • Twinkle Tots • 9.30 am to 11.30 am

• U3A Art • 1.30 pm to 3.30 pm

• Brownies

• Guides

Tuesday • Pilates (Judith Briggs)

6.00 pm to 7.15 pm

7.30 pm to 8.45 pm

9.30 am to 10.50 am

• Yoga (Pat Uttridge) • 3.00 pm to 4.30 pm

• Yoga (Jill Glozier) • 7.30 pm to 8.45 pm

Wednesday • Art & Craft Club (Carol White)

• Line Dancing - Beginner (Ethel Ramsey)

9.30 am to 12 noon

1.00 pm to 2.00 pm

• Line Dancing - Improver (Ethel Ramsey) • 2.30 pm to 3.30 pm

• T’ai Chi (Martin Thorogood) • 5.15 pm to 6.15 pm

• Yoga (Carrie Kirston)

Thursday

6.30 pm to 8.00 pm

• Yoga • 6.30 am to 7.30 am

• 50+ Exercise to music (Ethel Ramsey)

• Cubs

• Scouts

Friday • Exercise (Caroline Maidment)

• Craft Quilting

5.45 pm to 7.15 pm

7.15 pm to 9.00 pm

10.00 am to 11.00 am

1.00 pm to 4.00 pm

• Beavers • 5.00 pm to 6.30 pm

Saturday • Irish Dance (Stokes & Collins Dance)

Helpers needed

9.30 am to 1.00 pm

Activities at St Mark & St Cuthbert’s

Church Hall

Monday • Your Voice Counts Cooking

• Karate

Tuesday • Bertie’s Toddler Group

• ‘Crafternoon’

• Brownies

Wednesday • Friends Together (1st and 3rd Wed every month in church)

• Rainbows

Thursday • Bertie’s Toddler Group

• Ballet & Tap

Friday • Line Dancing

Sunday • Coffee

HARTON GARAGE for all your new and used cars

(plus all your servicing and MOTs)

183 Sunderland Road, South Shields

Tel: 0191 427 7070

Fax: 0191 427 9272

• 9 am to 3 pm

• 6 pm to 7 pm

• 9.15 am to 11.15 am

(not held in August)

• 2.00 pm to 3.30 pm

• 5.30 pm to 7.00 pm

• 1.30 pm to 4.00 pm

• 5.30 pm to 6.30 pm

• 12.45 pm to 2.45 pm

• 4 00 pm to 7.00 pm

• 7.30 pm to 9.30 pm

• after 10.30 am Parish Eucharist

J M & W DARLING LTD Chemist

88 Dean Road, South Shields Tel: 0191 454 3841

1 Stanhope Parade, South Shields, Tel: 0191 455 4551

Rev Kate Boardman MA FHEA. revkateboardman@gmail.com

CHURCH PERSONNEL ST MARK & ST CUTHBERT’S

PCC Members Ms Liza Dorothy; Mrs Diane Lee; Ms Sarah Lysaght; Miss Jean Smith; Mrs Eileen Wraith

Melvin Paterson; Ms Amanda Lenney; Mr James Scott; Dr Mark Sinclair; Mrs Linda Smithson Deanery Synod Members Mrs Angela Clark; Mrs Jean Roberts; Mrs Joanne Tunnadine

HARTON CHURCHES TOGETHER REPRESENTATIVES St Mark & St Cuthbert contact Margaret Kirkwood 0191 456 007 Harton St Peter contact Margaret Haley 0191 454 3376