TRINITY
The magazine of Holy Trinity Parish Church, Sutton Coldfield May / June 2018— 2018—60p
Describing the Trinity page 17 Right, by Russian artist Andrei Rublev and below, a very early mosaic depiction (432CE) of the story of the appearance of the three angels
Remembering Chris Cherry, whose tribute is on pages 18 & 19
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From the Editors ...
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Trinity
Contents:-
In this ‘bumper’ issue we look back on what was an inspirational and joyous Easter. On pages 8 & 9 you can learn more about the Lenten Group Study Day and, if you turn to the back page cover, you can see some heart-warming pictures from our recent Easter egg hunt. We also look forward on pages 22 & 23 with an update on some exciting Heritage activities. A key theme in this edition is The Trinity - our Church's particular festival. Read more on both page 6 and page 17. Finally, it is with great sadness that we mark the passing of Chris Cherry whose funeral took place on 29th March. Turn to pages 18 and 19 to read Stella Thebridge’s tribute.
Johanna
John Routh writes
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Through a glass darkly
6
Youth matters
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Group study day
8-9
Highlights from the PCC meeting
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Parish profile
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Describing the Trinity
17
Remembering Chris Cherry
18-19
The man who bought Stonehenge 20 Heritage update From the registers Financial corner
22-23 25 26-27
100 years young
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Friends update
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Bible verse
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Editorial team Stella 329 2101 s_thebridge@yahoo.com Louise 240 6366 louisejharden@hotmail.com Johanna 07788910059 Johanna.paul@hotmail.co.uk
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John Routh writes Mission and charity. As part of our mission, our efforts to spread the good news of God’s grace, Holy Trinity supports good works done by charities.
There are some charities that we support year in, year out.
Christian Aid works to improve the lot of people across the world, focused on those who live in poverty, and working with groups based in those places. They seek to bring economic independence and sustainability, to help marginalised people have their voices heard by those in power. Christian Aid will be in our thoughts in May when Christian Aid Week takes place. The focus of the Week will be building sustainable infrastructure in Haiti as it struggles to recover from the hurricanes of recent years. We pray for the success of all who will take part in the annual door-to-door collection, and for the generosity of those they call upon . The Children’s Society works with young people here in Britain, seeking to ensure the well-being of all children. They look to keep children and young people safe from abuse and to protect them from impact of poverty. As a church we particularly support the Children’s Society at Advent with a focus on the Christingle Service. But they are also a round-the-year presence in the thoughts of those of us who keep collecting boxes at home – one reason I never have change in my pockets!
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As well as these nationally known charities we support more local causes. The gifts given at the Toy Service are taken to Birmingham Community Children’s Centre. The food brought to church every week by members of the congregation goes to the food bank run by Sutton Coldfield Baptist Church. But these ‘regulars’ aren’t the only charities we support. Every year we choose another charity to be the specific focus of our fundraising – from social events to a share of the collection at weddings. And part of the reason for writing this is to tell you about the charity we’ve chosen this year – or rather the two charities we’ve chosen:
Mission Aviation Fellowship works across the world. They serve people in the most difficult to reach places on earth. Working with partner agencies they fly medical aid, development and relief help and mission support to remote areas which would not otherwise receive help.
Acorns Children’s Hospice works in the West Midlands. They provide care and support for children – and their families – with life limiting or life threatening conditions .
I understand that the economy is not in a great state – we’ve all seen the queue of household names who have gone into administration in recent months, the empty store fronts in Sutton Coldfield town centre. But these are all good charities doing fine work to help people in great need – and they cannot do it without financial support. I hope that all of us here at Holy Trinity will make supporting these charities a part of our personal commitment to the church’s mission.
John 5
Through a Glass Darkly: The Working of the Holy Spirit The Church at this time of the year spends a lot of time thinking about the Holy Spirit. That is what Pentecost is all about. The concept of the Holy Spirit is part of the doctrine of the Trinity which we also celebrate at this time and which is our Church's particular festival. The idea of the Spirit is one which is really hard to grasp. We can relate somewhat to God the Father, the Creator and if we read the Gospels we can come to understand the personality of Jesus. We sometimes talk as though Jesus himself is still with us, but he himself said that unless he went back to his Father the Holy Spirit could not come, so those 'God-experiences' which we all have from time to time must be the work of the Spirit. When we see Jesus in each other or feel the hand of Jesus guide us it is the work of the Spirit. The Holy Spirit permeates our lives whether we acknowledge this fact or not. He strengthens and supports us through good times and bad. When we look back over our lives we can often detect his influence in the course we have taken, in the decisions we have made and most telling in the way our mistakes have at times been neutralised and turned to good in spite of ourselves. I am sure that it is the Holy Spirit that prompts us to pray for any good thing and when we ask for the will and the strength to do something and it is granted that is the Holy Spirit at work. When we are able to use that will and strength the Holy Spirit is working through us so, in a sense, our prayer is answered twice. Could this be what Elisha meant when he asked for a double portion of the Spirit?
Jean Schneider Page
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Youth Matters As you know, sometimes I do like to watch shows such as Big Brother as I find the social interaction fascinating to observe. One of the things which I have noticed in this show and others like it is how often people blame others for how they are feeling. Frequently heard is the complaint ‘you make me feel angry’ or ‘you made me cry,’ etc. Actually a lot of people say things like that every day, but is it true? One of the lessons I was taught when I was a nun is that no one can make you feel anything. They can try alright but our feelings and response are ours and no one can take that responsibility from us. People can try very hard to make you feel a particular way and they may wear you down to the point it is inevitable you feel a certain feeling. But I still believe that fundamentally no one can make you feel anything. So if two of us are watching a horror movie and one of us is frightened and the other is not, then it is not the film which has frightened us, it is our individual responses. If I get irritated by how someone behaves and a colleague does not then that is MY response and not the person. If you laugh at something and I don’t find the same thing funny then the ‘something’ is not making us feel something. If I am offended by a remark and you are not, then how I can say the remark has made me offended? We are all unique human beings and we have all had different upbringings and developed in different ways and we all have foibles and fragilities and different opinions on matters. Different things float our boat or sink our boat so we all react differently to stimuli. But it is OUR reaction and we have to own it. Blaming others is especially common at youth club but it does not go unchallenged by leaders. Nor should it within ourselves.
Susie Walker 7
Group Study Day Our Lenten Study Day which was attended by over fifty people from the three group churches, Holy Trinity, St Chad’s and St Peter’s took place on Saturday March 10 at Holy Trinity; it was very ably led by the Rector John on the subject of Redemption. The study consisted of three sessions; each with an introductory talk and a final summing up, interspersed by small group discussion of questions posed, feedback from the groups, a short meditation and thoughtfully related prayer. First Session At the beginning of the first session, John asked ‘Redemption. What is it?’ Having talked about the original meaning of the word, ‘the action of regaining or gaining possession of something in exchange for payment, or clearing a debt,’ John arrived at the definition which has meaning for us as Christians ‘redemption is the action of saving or being saved from sin, error or evil’. From here, John led on to thoughts concerning salvation which in Christian terms he evaluated as not ‘just the receipt of a gift, but the receipt of a gift from God which is filled with God’s own self. All of creation is claimed and loved by God. Salvation is about dealing with the fallen-ness of creation and restoring the created order.’ Second Session In the second session John talked about sacrifice which he sees in religious terms as communication with God, or as St Paul states, in the book of Romans, sacrifice is the dedication of our lives to the service of God. If we were to list what is wrong with our human life we would decide on sin, suffering and death giving root to our sense of alienation from God. Jesus identified with and healed the sick, the suffering and the sinful who were aware of their alienation. He shares in our life with its sin and suffering and so the response to the problem of suffering is to believe that ‘God is present revealing the nature of divine power to be mercy, pity and Page love’.
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Third Session In session three, John spoke about the centuries’ old disagreement, around salvation and redemption. Do we achieve salvation through faith alone or is it through good works? The truth is that neither faith nor works is what makes everything tick. The key factor in salvation has nothing to do with us … it comes from God and our response is through faith to offer our lives to God, as a positive sacrifice. We seek to know God’s will and thus act in the world, on God’s behalf, with warm outreach to others. Parting Words In summing up, John stated that ‘at the centre of Christian faith is the belief that God is love; that love is revealed to us in Jesus.’ From this belief, follow a range of views in answer to the question’ Is salvation restricted to those who are explicitly followers of Christ?’ There are those who believe every person without exception has been redeemed by Christ. There are those who see a universe of faiths, each of value, with God at the centre; those who respect other faiths but see Christ as bearing a unique and central role in salvation history and those who explicitly believe in the centrality of the cross and resurrection as necessary for redemption and salvation. Ending on this thoughtful note, we took part in a short service led by the Revd. Paul Duckers and went home with much to think and pray about. We are indeed thankful to John for the obvious effort, research and thought he had put into preparing for the day. We all enjoyed the opportunity of studying, discussing and eating lunch together, a light buffet meal set up by Shelagh Gelling to whom we are very grateful. From donations given, extra to the cost of the day, we were able to send the pleasing sum of £132 to Tearfund, for their Lenten appeal; we thank everyone who contributed so generously.
Nina Hollow 9
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Margaret’s Memories from the March PCC Meeting The accounts for the year ended December 2017 were accepted. There was a £14,000 deficit on the Main operating funds combined – rather less than we had feared when budgeting. On finances in the current year things are going reasonably, but it’s too early in the year to draw any conclusions. We heard a more detailed report from the Church and Trinity Centre management committee setting out their response to the church’s 10 year vision. Reports were received from all the other committees, working groups and inter-church committees. We received an update on the changes in data protection coming into effect in May, and set up a group to prepare for it. The old organ had been successfully removed and the new organ now in full use and working well. A small celebration for the congregation to mark the end of the re-ordering project has been planned for May 13th following the morning service. Work on the new website and the recruiting of stewards for opening the church was making progress. (Since the meeting the new
website has been launched and the opening of the church during the week has commenced.) John reported that the Diocese of Birmingham has been looking into the numbers and distribution of stipendiary clergy throughout the diocese and the method it uses to calculate a parish’s contribution to common fund. Changes will be coming soon. Work on the new notice-boards is nearing completion. We have ordered two new ones for existing sites. We will be taking part in the national heritage open day on 15th September. Plans for various services and social events were noted. Details can be found elsewhere in this publication, on the website, on Facebook or in the weekly notices. The next PCC meeting was held immediately after the APCM on 15th April. Margaret Le Brocq, PCC Secretary, April 2018
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Parish Profile - Welcoming the Perry Family When did your journey with the church and HTC in particular begin? As a family, growing up within a church has always been important to us. Richard spent his early years at Holy Trinity Catholic Church and Louise at St John’s, Walmley. It was only when in 2008 we decided to get married that we made the decision to find a new church where we could both worship together. Finding Holy Trinity seemed the best fit and it gave us the opportunity to worship with Louise’s Nan, Irene Stevenson before she sadly passed away last year. What has been your favourite memory at HTC ? We have many fond memories but the two that would stand out the most would have to be our wedding day in September 2009, walking into our beautiful church with all our family and friends to greet us was really special. More recently, seeing our church flooded with angels this Christmas and welcoming a record number of people into our Nativity service was pretty amazing too! What do you enjoy most about HTC? Having the crèche has been wonderful, being able to worship whilst our children can play safely makes us very different to many other churches. The church has such a welcoming approach to young people and we’ve really enjoyed seeing our children grow with the church over the last seven years. Getting children involved in our services too has really helped our children grow in confidence. The children love attending Sparklers (structured activity sessions for young people) and if they’re happy we’re happy too! What’s your favourite time of year in the church calendar? It’s got to be Christmas! I have to say our church looks wonderful all year round thanks to Mary and her team of flower arrangers. Yet, there is something so special about Christmas, perhaps it’s the church decorations, the Christmas trees or the maybe the buzz of excited children running around. Christmas is such a special time of year for many of us and being within our church makes it even more special.
If you would like to get more involved in what we do for young people in church please contact Tanya or Louise who would welcome any support you can provide.
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Describing The Trinity In our church, dedicated to the Holy Trinity, Trinity Sunday itself can provide a moment of collective apprehension from the clergy that they might be the one to have to deliver the sermon on the subject of the Trinity, often to an all-age congregation. How best to describe this rather difficult concept of ‘three in one and one in three’? On a recent holiday in Rome we saw a picture of a very early mosaic depiction (432CE) of the story from Genesis of the appearance of three angels to Abraham by the oaks of Mamre. This is often seen as a prefiguring of the Trinity. This image (on our inside magazine cover) is a detail. The remaining activity of Genesis 18 is pictured in the top portion of the mosaic, when Abraham has a long conversation with God regarding the future of Sodom. The picture is from Santa Maria Maggiore church (Great St Mary’s!) There is a well-known icon of the same meeting, dating from the 15th century, by the Russian artist Andrei Rublev (also shown on our inside magazine cover). The story from Genesis 18 is of Abraham, sitting at the door of his tent in the heat of the day by the Oak of Mamre and seeing three men standing in front of him, who in the next chapter are revealed as angels. 'When he saw them, Abraham ran from the tent door to meet them and bowed himself to the earth.' Abraham ordered a servant-boy to prepare a calf, and set curds, milk and the calf before them, waiting on them, under a tree, as they ate. One of the angels told Abraham that Sarah would soon give birth to a son. The entry in Wikipedia says:
“Rublev abandoned most of the traditional plot elements which were typically included in the paintings of the Abraham and Sarah's Hospitality story. He did not paint Abraham, Sarah, the scene of calf's slaughter, nor did he give any details on the meal. The angels were depicted as talking, not eating. "The gestures of angels, smooth and restrained, demonstrate the sublime nature of their conversation". The silent communion of the three angels is the centre of the composition.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trinity_(Andrei_Rublev) Trinity Sunday falls on May 27th this year. (Pentecost is 50 days after Easter and Trinity Sunday is the week after that.)
Stella Thebridge
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Remembering Chris Cherry (9th Aug 1947 – 10th March 2018)
Although Chris had been increasingly unwell for some time (and had outlived by two and a half years a prognosis in 2015 of 6 weeks to live), his death still struck us as untimely, and it is not surprising that the church of St James the Great, Longdon (where he and Pam had lived almost next door since 2008) was packed for a service of thanksgiving on Maundy Thursday, 29th March. To no one’s surprise, Chris had meticulously planned the hymns and readings for the service as well as the singing of “How great thou art” by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and a group he admired called “The Vocal Majority”. This recording which opened the worship, was a tribute to his years singing in a barber shop group. Perhaps to many more people’s surprise was the unnamed “Closing music” which catapulted us from a moving blessing by the Revd Jan Waterfield into “The laughing policeman”. Only Chris could get away with that. His sense of humour was alluded to in the tributes which were given by his school friend Robert Orme, barber shop fellow-singer Henry Foster, and our own Revd Paul Duckers who spoke about Chris’s time at Holy Trinity where the whole family worshipped from the mid 1980s. Chris was brought up in Wimbledon and, from the age of 13 in 1960, attended Denstone College, a boarding school in Uttoxeter, Staffordshire. His friend Robert Orme described it as a shock to Chris, but he grew to like Page the school and excelled at rugby and swimming.
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Robert reminded us of a feat which was also used in an ice-breaker quiz at one of Holy Trinity’s parties: to “find someone who had swum across The Wash”. That was indeed Chris! When the family lived in Leicestershire, Chris began his support of Leicester Tigers Rugby Club, and his team shirt was displayed at the service alongside his familiar red beret. While at school, Chris met Pam who attended a neighbouring school, and they married in 1970. With their daughters, Belinda and Fiona, they moved with Chris’s work to Sutton and started to attend Holy Trinity. A picture of the family in those years can be seen to the left. The whole family were greatly involved in church life. Chris was on the PCC, central both to a church Stewardship campaign and a partner programme with Holy Trinity Birchfield, and he also became very involved with the establishment of the Trinity Centre in the 1990s and early marketing plans. The whole family helped at fund-raising and social events, and one of the images of Chris and Pam (inside front cover) is from a quoits evening in 1992 at Church House - the forerunner to the Trinity Centre. The ‘cowboy’ image of Chris (inside front cover) was used in the invitations to his 60th birthday party at the Trinity Centre! Belinda recalls that Chris attended the Thursday morning communion service and coffee afterwards at Holy Trinity, and with what looks to me like an inherited sense of humour, suggests that a lot of the regulars from that time “might now be busy having coffee and catching up now Dad is there with them all!” Also from around 2003, when curate Bev Robertson managed the mass production of ‘life size’ puppets for the crib service, Belinda recalls “Dad and I drove the donkey one particular year.” Chris developed rheumatoid arthritis, and as the condition made it more difficult for him, he adapted his line of work, and from the late 1980s set up with Pam a wine-selling business. He became less mobile and the move to Longdon enabled them to enjoy a more rural outlook in a very comfortable and accessible bungalow, a stone’s throw from the church on one side and the village on the other. Latterly he suffered from pulmonary fibrosis and this was the condition he fought not only courageously but with acceptance of his increasing limitations and a determination to live life as fully as he could and to allow those around him to do so too. The strong faith and sense of humour also both prevailed. We are all diminished by his death and we send our heartfelt love to Pam, Belinda and Jonathan, Fiona, Ross, Estlin and Blythe. (ST)
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The man who bought Stonehenge
Considering its status as a World Heritage Site, it seems strange to think that Stonehenge was once in private ownership. 2018 marks the one hundredth anniversary of Stonehenge being gifted to the nation by Sir Cecil Chubb. Not many at Holy Trinity know, but Cecil was the paternal uncle of my father in law, David Chubb, who was a regular worshipper at Holy Trinity until his death in 2005. The Chubb family hail from a small village called Shrewton, about 4 miles to the West of Stonehenge, and Cecil (and David's father Frederick) were the sons of the village saddler and harness maker. Cecil won a scholarship to the local grammar school, Bishop Wordsworth's and from there secured a place at Christ's College Cambridge, where he secured a double first in Natural sciences and Law. He was called to the bar and set up a successful legal practice. In 1902 Cecil married Mary Finch, and when her uncle died in 1910, she inherited the Fisherton House Asylum psychiatric hospital near Salisbury. Cecil gave up law and moved back to Salisbury to run the asylum, which was one of the largest in the country. He made a great success of the asylum and introduced innovative treatments to make the patients’ lives easier and return them to their families. He was also an astute investor and his careful financial management made him a rich man, enabling him to buy Stonehenge almost on a whim. Stonehenge had been owned by the Antrobus family since the early 1800s but after the heir to the baronetcy was killed in action in the opening months of the First World War and Sir Edmund died shortly after, the whole Antrobus estate, including Stonehenge, was divided up into lots and put up for auction. The description in the 1915 auction catalogue is decidedly lacklustre, reading: ‘Lot 15: Stonehenge with about 30 acres, 2 rods, 37 perches of adjoining downland.’ Despite this, according to reports in the local Salisbury Journal, the Palace Theatre on 21 September 1915 was “filled with an interested audience, intending purchasers and spectators”. Page
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Interest increased when lot 15 was announced. Bidding started at £5,000 and increased by £100 increments until finally it was purchased by Cecil for £6,600 (about £650,000 in modern terms). Cecil remarked to a local reporter that he had not intended to acquire the ancient stones “but while I was in the room, I thought a Salisbury man ought to buy it, and that is how it was done.” Asked if he had any plans for the stones, Cecil replied that he had not yet had time to think about it but wanted to assure the public that every means of “protecting Stonehenge… would be taken.” Family legend has it that Cecil had gone to the auction to buy some chairs but having lived near Stonehenge for much of his life, decided to make the purchase to save it from a foreign buyer. Apparently, his wife Mary was less than pleased at his new purchase! In 1918, knowing that there had been government interest in the stone circle, Cecil contacted what was then the Office of Works and offered to give the site to the nation as a gift, writing:
“Stonehenge is perhaps the best known and the most interesting of our national monuments and has always appealed strongly to the British imagination. To me, who was born close to it and during my boyhood and youth visited it at all hours of the day and night, under every conceivable condition of weather – in driving tempests of hail, rain and snow, fierce thunderstorms, glorious moonlight and beautiful sunshine, it always has had an inexpressible charm. I became the owner of it with a deep sense of pleasure…[but] it has…been pressed upon me that the nation would like to have it for its own.” One of the provisos to his bequest was that Salisbury residents (and the Chubb family!) should continue to have free access to it and that the entry charge should never be more than a shilling. At my wedding to Chris here at Holy Trinity in 2005, the curate joked during the service that I was only marrying him for the free entry! To mark his generosity, Cecil received a baronetcy: in 1919, Cecil took the title Sir Cecil Chubb, Baronet of Stonehenge in the County of Wiltshire. Apparently his local nickname was 'Viscount Stonehenge'! During the late 1980s David was honoured to be asked to unveil a plaque commemorating Sir Cecil's birth on the house in Shrewton where he was born. He rarely mentioned his link to this most famous of monuments but would happily tell the story of how his uncle came to acquire it when asked.
Louise Chubb
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Project update Two major milestones in our project are achieved this month. We have just started our regular opening of the church and we are looking forward to our imminent website launch! Films will be shown to the congregation in June at the Parade service on the 10th which will have a heritage focus. The films are:
This is the land : (Roman Sutton to the Plague!) Bishop Vesey: (the story of the creation of the warden and society)
Who’s for progress? : (the coming of the railway to Sutton)
A printed trail leaflet will link to the films on the website via QR codes. We will also have iPads in church on which to show films and web resources to visitors. There is also a set of audio files of people’s interviews recorded with the artists at our Open Days in 2017, and an audio about the Scout jamboree of 1957 in Sutton Park, collated from people’s memories and recorded by our current Scouts. A resource pack around the PHSE curriculum arising from the Mary Ashford case has been prepared for secondary level pupils and will be piloted this term. Louise Jackson has taken some photos for historical record and to capture church life but will be doing more in the coming months, now the tower work is substantially completed.
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Church opening Some 22 stewards have been recruited so far and our regular open sessions, started on Wed 11th April. Lunchtime opening on Weds and Thurs (noon-2pm) and 10-12 opening on the second Sat of each month, should continue for most of 2018. The more stewards we can recruit the more we will be able to open up, so do think about whether this is something you might be able to help with, and ask for an application form if you are interested. There is now a brief “Welcome” leaflet in the church entrance for all visitors and in due course a signboard where we can show the timetable for the week (opening / closed times!) visible from the outside. Heritage Open Day 2018 This will be on Sat 15th Sept 10.30-4pm, and we really want this to be big this year. KEEP THE DATE FREE! Offers of help will be gratefully received. Knit and Natter and other congregation members will be sewing to help increase our fledgling collection of dressing up costumes for all ages … Project email: heritage@htsc.org.uk Website: https://www.htsc.org.uk/our-heritage/heritage-project/
Stella Thebridge
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FROM THE REGISTERS ... Baptisms 18th March - Isabella Whibley and Theodore Ham 15th April - Barnaby George Bramhall Rice
We welcome these children into new life with God, as part of our church family Marriages 31st March - Paul Whitehouse & Katie Jane Pick
We wish this couple every blessing in their future gether
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Funerals 2nd March - George Stanley Palmer 6th March - Joan Lloyd 13th March - Roger Raymond Albert Griffiths 6th April - Stanley Snow 10th April - Muriel Goldsby 11th April - Valerie Mary Grant McMurray
We remember all who have died and ask for God’s comfort to sustain all who are bereaved 25
Financial Corner
A series of short articles by Mike Somers Are we heading for a cashless society? Remember cheques? Those curious paper things that used to be put in birthday cards! The amount that they were worth had to be written on them in full, in words as well as figures. And woe betide you if these did not match up! Remember too that feeling of excitement when you went to the bank to cash one in! There was a time I owned and used a chequebook and a paying-in book but I am not now sure if I still do? A distant memory now for most people? I expect that it will be the same in the not too distant future for cash! Since the advent of contactless payment cards about 10 years ago the usage of coins and notes, along with cheques, has been steadily falling. Since 2015 the number of such cashless payments has exceeded the use of paper currency and this trend is still continuing. More than half of retail payments are now cashless! And has the world come to an end? No! But what about the impact on vulnerable persons and some elderly? There are more UK businesses now only accepting cashless payments and in this we are following the lead of countries such as Sweden, Belgium, Holland, France and Canada who are moving towards being cashless societies. For millennials, who are used to contactless card payments, cash has become archaic! Apparently two thirds of 21-35’s are happy to buy things without any human interaction. But what about the rest of us? We struggle to keep up! I personally am a full convert to online banking these days, but a friend said to me recently that he felt a lot happier to have lots of notes in his wallet! Page
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There is an underlying problem as a truly cashless society is said to undermine the traditional values of thrift and financial prudence, in the same way that credit cards have meant that it is far too easy to get it now and pay for it later! When you have to actually hand over the actual cash for an item them you seem to value it more and also feel the “psychological pain� of parting with your own money! Perhaps the way to reduce our spending is to move back to making more payments with hard cash? Shall we put it to the test?
100 years young! Two members of our congregation reach their 100th birthdays this month - Lucy Rawlins and Joan Smith. The Centenarians are unable to get to church but receive home communion sent out from our services. We congratulate them both and thank them for their fellowship with us at Holy Trinity over many years.
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IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO
ADVERTISE IN THIS SPACE Please contact: Holy Trinity Parish Office The Trinity Centre Church Hill, Off Mill Street, Sutton Coldfield B72 1TF Tel: 0121 321 1144 Fax: 0121 321 1199 Email: admin@htsc.org.uk
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Friends Update We were delighted to welcome the prestigious British Police Symphony Orchestra to Holy Trinity on Saturday 17 March for a superb evening of music. Drawing its members from across the UK, the orchestra battled unseasonable snow and travelled many miles to join us. Players are all either serving or retired police officers, police staff or other members of the extended police family. The orchestra is now approaching its 30th anniversary and has become one of the best national orchestras in the UK, raising considerable sums for charities and good causes. The orchestra employs a professional Music Director, Richard Jenkinson, who provided us with information on the music in between each of the pieces. Thankfully the snow did not deter the audience, with a packed church and 160 tickets sold. We were treated to a varied programme including Hansel & Gretel Overture, Finlandia and the William Tell Overture. A particular highlight was the theme from the BBC TV series Sherlock, the conductor explained that special permission had to be granted for the orchestra to be able to play this. Soloist Claire Prewer also accompanied a number of pieces. As well as being a wonderfully entertaining evening, the night was a great success financially, with just under £900 raised to help maintain our historic building. We are grateful to our sponsor Dignity Plc, who supported this event. As you can imagine, the logistics of fitting a 62 piece orchestra into the church represented quite a challenge and therefore special thanks must also go to Nick Revell and to everyone who helped set up the church and organise the evening. We look forward to welcoming you at a future friends event (see below), or why not become a Friend? Please see our website for more details www.htsc.org.uk. Coming Up
Birmingham Savoyards - The Gilbert and Sullivan Story Saturday 12 May 2018 7:30pm
“No Petticoats Here” with Louise Jordan and Sutton Coldfield Girls School choir - 16 June 2018 7:30pm
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Trinity Arrangements for 2018 The cost per issue is 60p, and an annual subscription £3.50. If you are a casual reader who would like to subscribe regularly or advertise, or if you have any other queries relating to the magazine, please contact the Trinity Centre in the first instance on 321 1144 or admin@htsc.org.uk
Publication schedule Cover date Jul/Aug 2018
Copy deadline 27th May
Publication date 24th June
Sep/Oct 2018 Nov/Dec 2018
5th August 7th October
19th August 28th October
Jan/Feb 2019
25th November
16th December
Please submit material for the next issue by the deadline above to: Stella Thebridge email: s_thebridge@yahoo.com Written text: Please leave in the “Magazine” pigeon-hole in church OR in the Trinity Centre office. Contributions on any topic or photographs are always welcome. A page contains about 400 words.
Bible verse for this issue That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him. Ephesians 1:17 Page
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The British Police Symphony Orchestra concert. Read all about it on page 29
Pictured left, The Perry Family, this edition’s Parish Profile. See page 12
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Highlights from the ‘Egg-citing’ Easter Egg Hunt in Church