From the Rector

Society has certainly changed in so many ways – not necessarily for the better, but changed it has. The reality of life is what we are called to embrace whether we love it or despise it. Jesus modelled a courageous, life-giving engagement with the horrors and pleasures of life, and we are called to attempt to emulate him – through the specific gifts given to us. And so things brings us, as I promised last month, to the process of Kairos and our attempts to learn from those around us about their needs and to attempt to meet some of them for which we are uniquely skilled to meet.

In these pages I will explain how we are tackling the Kairos process and ask the simple question; what is Kairos. Some of you have waded through the material and know something of it. Others have been on the study and reflection course and are aware of the challenges facing us; specifically to reform ourselves efficiently and follow the Gospel teachings to respond to the particular needs of our contemporary community.

I hope these pages make the process clearer to you. We are fortunate to have a number of able and willing people who have formed a P.C.C. committee called the Property Development Group who are getting to grips with the Kairos process. As you read these pages I hope you shall speak to them and share your views with them.

May God bless you this summer – embrace it fully in its colour and reality (even if it rains most of the time!)                                                                                                                                                             Fr. David

Last month I wrote about community spirit, citing the wonderful behaviour of people during the Second World War and the present day community of Granville Close, Havant. We are all human and it would be wrong of me to suggest that everyone during the War behaved in an exemplary fashion. There were exceptions, as evidenced by the following.

Aircrew during the War had the shortest life expectancy of any of the combatants. After surviving the battle for France, Peter Parrott on patrol over the coastline of the Pas de Calais engaged a German Heinkel bomber. The radiator of Peter's Hurricane was damaged by a burst of fire from the Heinkel and his cockpit was soon full of water vapour from a hole in his glycol tank. He could only see one instrument - the temperature gauge that was dangerously high. He turned for home, wondering how far he would get before the coolant ran out and the engine seized. It happened just as he crossed the coastline near Deal. He glided down from four thousand feet, looking for a suitable field in which to land. He spotted a field with an upward slope and landed, expecting to bounce along the turf. Instead, he came to a sudden halt but in the process killed two sheep, which were grazing.

Soon casual walkers arrived on the scene, together with an irate farmer and his wife in a pony and trap who demanded to know of the shaken pilot who was going to pay for his dead sheep. With great presence of mind, Peter said "The Air Ministry!" Many were giving their lives but the farmer was not prepared to pay with two sheep, nevermind his life! A policeman arrived on the scene and took the pilot to a neighbouring farmhouse so he could telephone his base. When they arrived, Peter found it was the same farmer and his wife. No rationing for them because they were having high tea, tucking into a large ham but Peter was not offered so much as a cup of tea by this appalling couple. He telephoned his base, RAF Manston, and a car was sent for him, with a guard for the Hurricane.

I hope the late Hugh Elliott had a better reception on D-Day 1944. He was flying a Typhoon fighter aircraft, armed with rockets to shoot up tanks and pillboxes during the landings. On his third sortie of the day, his aircraft was badly damaged over Normandy but he managed to limp back across the Channel before crash landing in a field near Selsey. I am sure that if Peter or Hugh had landed near a farmer we all know, they would have been welcomed. Two little girls, Louise and Ruth, would have been asking questions, as the pilot tucked into a welcoming meal. The couple are very popular with all of us at St Faith's. He has done much for this church, including organising a tour of his farm to raise money for the Restoration Appeal, and his wife is the child protection officer for St Faith's, as well as being a member of the PCC. They are, of course, Colin and Fiona Hedley.                                                                Roger Bryant

As a momento for their ordination the parishioners of St. Faith’s presented Fr. Charles Keay with 3 volumes of "Sacra Pagina" (Gospel of John, Acts of the Apostles and Romans) and Fr. David Williams with volumes X & XI of a twelve volume series called the "New Interpreters Bible" (between them they cover the Acts of the Apostles and the Pauline letters).

On the second Sunday of each month coffee will be served in the Church Hall after the service, but on every other week refreshments are served in Church.

It has been suggested to me by Colin Carter, the editor of "Faith Matters", to put pen to paper on stepping down as Churchwarden at St. Faith’s after 18 years. Unlike Roger Bryant whose flair and articles in the magazine are well known, my only contributions have been the odd notice.

 was plenty of repartee and inter-service jocularity. I recall once telling Hugh that the Boy Scouts (founded in the early 1900’s) had more tradition than the Royal Air Force (founded end of World War I). He thought for a moment and then with a big grin said, "Oh! Lord, you’re right" and good humorously conceded, although he did at one time tell me that if the RAF was the Cinderella of the Armed Forces, then at least it had two ugly sisters – touché. Hugh and I, both being members of Rowlands Castle Golf Club, used to also play golf together on a weekly basis until Hugh had to give up the game. Hugh stood down as Churchwarden in 1995 after 17 years in post.

During all of this period and up to 2000, the Rector of Havant was Canon Derek Brown, who had been the incumbent since 1969. He had also served in the Royal Air Force when younger and had also been a Chaplain in the Royal Naval Reserve. Many people have cause to thank Canon Brown for his help and sympathy in their times of trouble and bereavement, much of which was never publicised. He was and is a well-known figure in Havant, normally accompanied by his black dog. Canon Brown retired in October 2000 to live in the bungalow attached to Christchurch Medical Centre in Denvilles.

Now came the interregnum. The pastoral care of St. Faith’s devolved upon the Rural Dean, Father Robin Coutts of St. John’s Purbrook. A rota of available and retired clergy was made to cover various services, with particular accent on Sundays, Thursdays and Saturdays. The period also covered Christmas, Easter and Civic Sunday, which were all catered for, through the availability of various retired priests, particularly Father Ray Chapman, who was an assistant to the Rural Dean. The PCC decided that the parish representatives to chose the next incumbent would be the Churchwardens (although this does not have to be the case). It was also decided that we would wait and see whether the Bishop had anyone recommended to fill the vacancy before advertising it. It is now history that Father David Gibbons was the episcopal choice, although both he and the parish representatives could have refused the selection. During the interregnum, the Churchwardens and PCC were responsible for the day-to-day running of the parish and I learnt how to arrange baptisms, weddings and funerals. The Bishop of Portsmouth inducted Father David as Rector of Havant on 11 July 2001, in the presence of our parishioners and many guests.

Many changes have occurred since the arrival of Father David as the interregnum is a period of basically maintaining essential services and the status quo. Two deacons were appointed in 2003, Father Charles Keay and Father David Williams, and they were both ordained priests in the Cathedral on 29 June 2004. Mrs Audrey Currie retired as PCC Secretary in April 2003 (after 25 years-devoted service) and was replaced as PCC Secretary by Roger Bryant who stood down as Churchwarden. Mrs Sandra Haggan was elected to serve as Churchwarden in April 2003 and became St. Faith’s first lady to serve in that post. How Sandra manages to fulfil all the things she does for St. Faith’s is a matter of wonder and admiration to all of us. In April 2004, I decided not to stand for election as Churchwarden thinking that it was time for a breather after 18 years.

Finally, on Sunday 6 June came the marvellous presentation to me of a certificate commemorating 18 years as Churchwarden, a print of St. Faith’s and a lovely silver necked wine decanter. To all of you many thanks and these things will be treasured by me always. In the future let us all hope and pray to go forward together, minimising our differences and maximising our strengths and goodwill. To Jan Stuart, Sandra and all the PCC and congregation of St. Faith’s all the best for the times to come.

In addition, these musings would not be complete without thanking Sheila for her support, encouragement and patience over all these years.                                                                      Colin Warlow

With great anticipation, four of us set off to see "The Life of Christ", an open air play in three acts. After all the gorgeous hot sunny days, this one was ghastly, wet and windy. No worries, with Sandra driving (thank goodness), Pam, Sheila and myself were raring to go, we hadn’t visited Wintershall before and didn’t know where it was (it is an estate near Guildford). We arrived safe and sound, a bit late, an accident en-route slowed the traffic to a standstill, so we nipped up a side road (lane) and after stopping at a Pub to ask the way, we arrived, parked the car and set off to find Act 1. We had a chair each and our umbrellas and raincoats. I think we were all expecting something special, but this was really wonderful. The setting was superb, the cast excellent and the story, of course, so real, we all felt we were there with our Lord from the beginning to end. It rained and blew, but I for one hardly noticed. The sound was good, huge loudspeakers tied to the trees. So everyone could hear what was going on. We saw the camels, real ones with the Magi, a donkey for Mary and doves and goats where needed. The cast of children was excellent, how they managed in the cold and wet, most of them barefoot, I cannot imagine. The scene where the Roman soldiers rode their horses amongst them killing them was very real. Then off we moved to another part of the park to watch Act 2. "The Ministry of Jesus", super. A break for lunch, glad to hop into Sandra’s car and warm up. Off again for Act 3. "The Passion and Ascension of Christ", it’s hard to describe the feelings we had, seeing Christ hanging on the cross, there was many a tear, I can tell you. The act ended with the last vision of Christ at the Sea of Galilee, a boat on the lake with the fishermen, his disciples catching real fish, a perfect end to a perfect day. So much more I could write, you should all go and see this play.

We left Wintershall after a hot drink and feeling renewed in our faith. We had arranged to meet a couple of new friends from St. Albans at a pub for dinner, so the evening was good too. Arrived home very tired, poor Sandra must have been whacked out, there we were told "rain", no we’ve had hardly any. Oh well, that’s life. Thank you Sandra for being our driver and Pam and Sheila for being good companions.

There was a Flower Festival in Thanksgiving for the Restoration of St. Thomas à Becket Church in Warblington 25-28 June. The theme was ‘A Cloud of Witnesses’. The witnesses represented showed their love of God and for their fellow men and women in many different ways, down the centuries, and that witness is still visible today in the daily lives and work of many thousands throughout the world. Ann Buckley and Beryl Carter provided St. Faith’s contribution, which was a pedestal arrangement for St. Stephen, the first Christian martyr, witnessing to the price of faith. The name Stephen means, "crown" and he was the first disciple of Jesus to receive the martyr's crown. His feast day is 26^th December. He is Patron of Stonemasons and his Emblem is Stones & Palm.

The Town Fair will be held between 10am-3.30pm in aid of the Restoration Appeal. The fair has a green theme and we will be promoting Fair Trade goods. Buying these products such as tea, coffee, sugar, bananas, nuts, biscuits and roses makes a real difference to the incomes of the workers in the developing nations. Raffle prizes, cakes, bottles for the bottle stall, goods for the handicraft stall, books, videos, CDs and tapes are all needed.

We need volunteers for a leaflet drop one week before the Fair.

Helpers are also needed to set up on Friday evening to help on the stalls and also to clear away at 3.30pm. Please contact Ann Buckley on 023 9245 2289 or Sandra Haggan.

The bell tower will be open for visits and Mike Cowan will be available to give tours round the church. Part of the Havant Remembered Exhibition will be on display and there will be many new games for children this year. Havant Borough Council has agreed to close West Street to traffic and this gives us the opportunity to have some new stalls and also displays of dancing.

The Mayor will open the Fair at 10am and there will be a fancy dress competition at 2pm.

                                                                                                                                                               Ann Buckley

The story of this miracle only appears in one Gospel - that of St John. Jesus had returned to Cana of Galilee, scene of his first miracle when he turned water into wine. A nobleman approached Him, asking our Lord to come to Capernaum and cure his son who was grievously ill. Jesus said to the nobleman, "Except ye see signs and wonders, ye will not believe." The nobleman again asked Jesus to come, 'ere his son die’. Jesus said, "Go thy way, thy son liveth." The nobleman on his journey home was met by his servants who told him that the boy had been well since the seventh hour - the time that Jesus had said the boy liveth.

Lang considers that our Lord's first reply to the nobleman suggested that He felt a lack of response to his words by the crowd; they were only swayed by his actions. The nobleman, it would seem, had come to our Lord as a last resort. Our Lord was prone to test out men before He answered their needs. Lang sees this as a strange reserve; the seeking of evidence of a true faith before acting. Lang writes, "We may be sure that if ever a prayer was sincere and from the heart it was that prayer of the nobleman, that Jesus would come down and heal his son. Yet at first there was no answer at all."

Clearly the persistence of the nobleman and his simple confidence in our Lord's powers, convinced Jesus. The man must have had anxious hours of travel until he met his servants with their wonderful news. Lang draws a parallel with our lives, where we seek help with our troubles in prayer and then travel on in life, not sure whether our prayers have been answered.

Lang writes, "(in our religious experience) we gave up our carelessness and offered our lives to God; and we have been troubled with perplexing doubts which never troubled us before. We told Him that our one desire was to be better men; and He seemed to answer us by letting us see as we had never seen before how bad we were."

Lang draws from this miracle a rule for life, which he expresses in the following words, "The root of the matter is to take Jesus at His word. And then - to go our way. We have taken our stand; we know where we are about the problems of life; we believe the word that Jesus has spoken to us. Then we are, with all simplicity and directness, to shape our daily steps accordingly. We are to take everything that comes - of opportunity, of trial, of sorrow, of happiness - as covered by that first and fundamental truth; and to go our way in trust. This is the whole art of Christian living. Let us try to practise it." Amen.                                                                                                                                                                Roger Bryant

Our purpose is as follows:

• To oversee the ‘Kairos Research Phase’ within our parish and apply the findings, and to
• Plan for the improved utilisation of the Church and its properties.

In a nutshell – obey Jesus’ command to love our neighbour as ourselves. To do this we are asking our neighbour what does s/he most need and then look at ourselves and see what we are in a position to respond to. Of course our specific gifts are spiritual but we have other resources.

The process takes place across a ‘Cluster’ of parishes (we are clustered with Emsworth and Hayling Island). So on 13^th July reps and clergy from the cluster met to kick the process off. David Gibbons will co-convene the group, whose remit it is to oversee the research phase of Kairos. The cluster group has two main tasks:

• To conduct an internal Audit of our parishes, which in turn includes audits of:
  • Buildings and Finances
  • Spirituality
  • People and Ministry
• To conduct a Community audit which includes examining the community’s needs by interviewing members of the following professions:
  • Health
  • Education
  • The Law
  • Council
  • Councillors
  • Local Authority/Social Services

Once these consultations have taken place we can put the findings together and share it with the other community ‘players’. These findings will then inform the plans we need to make in order to carry out the missionary work of Jesus and so develop our properties accordingly.

So far we have been concentrating on the audit of properties and finances. Victoria Smith, Martin Poliszczuk and Simon Creasy have produced a questionnaire and they will process the findings, although there has been a poor take up. Simon will complete the buildings and finances audit by 31^st July and return it to Nigel Chilcott of the Cluster group.

To complete the internal audit we shall also audit the spirituality of the parish by looking at the range of service, the Sunday Club and choir and the pastoral work of the parish.

Further to this we then ask the community how it assesses its needs by interviewing key community leaders. We began this phase on 18^th June with an evening event in St Francis, Leigh Park introduced by David Willetts, MP. It was a highly effective introduction to the process of the community audit and minutes of the evening have been circulated to all in attendance. The meeting made it clear that there is certainly good will for the church and appreciation of its efforts to support the community, but delegates wondered how far those efforts represented the church’s mission or attempts at survival. David Willetts challenged us to be bold and radical in redefining our identity in the community. So the next part of the process is for the cluster group to arrange a series of interviews with community leaders.

As the process continues I will continue to keep you informed of its process. If you have questions please ask me or have your question entered into ‘Faith Matters’ for a public response.

The Churchwardens should be interested to know of any disability you may have or know of in others. We intend to make a plan to improve our facilities for the Church and other properties based on the findings of our audit.

The legislation coming in this year challenges all public buildings’ owners to improve their facilities so that all disabled people can enjoy easy access to all the amenities. Clearly then we shall have to improve ours! Jan and Sandra will review the audit undertaken earlier this year and bring their findings back to the group to form a plan of action.                                                                                                                 Fr. David

Every Monday, after the Eucharist, there are prayers for healing said in this Church. We pray generally for the parish and for individuals for whom we have been asked to pray. Feel free to join us or give us the names of people you are concerned for. As of the 24^th July we shall also have healing prayers on the 4^th Saturday of each month following the morning Eucharist.

The six Vision to Mission groups have reported back their progress in Phase I. They have, in some cases, actually completed the function, and in others have set out recommendations for their implementation. (FM = ‘Faith Matters’)

Last month, Beryl and I went to Plymouth for the funeral of one of her cousins. I have driven the south coast route many times, but this was the first time for a few years. There have been some improvements to the roads – a by-pass at Puddletown and at Exeter airport - but it is basically the same as it has been for many years – a fast dual carriage way/motorway stretch for the first third and the last third of the journey, and a slow single carriage way stretch for the middle third. We started the journeys there and back early in the morning, stopping for breakfast on the way, and it was really lovely to see how beautiful the countryside looked first thing on a sunny summer’s morning. The funeral was held at St. Matthias Church, which was consecrated in October 1887. St. Matthias was built on land that was the garden and grounds of North Hill House, and financed by a Mrs Anne Watts, in memory of her late husband. It is a typical, but good example of the Victorian Gothic Revival, imitating the Perpendicular style current four hundred years earlier. Later, in 1912, a bowling green was taken over to build the church hall adjacent to the church site. During World War II, St. Matthias avoided damage - it is often claimed that this was because its tower made a convenient landmark for enemy bombers.

I bought some beautifully illustrated reproduction postcards on holiday this year with some captions, which will appeal to ladies.                                                                                                                     Joy Bryant

In the evening, a large congregation was in St Faith's Church for "Votive Mass of the Holy Spirit" - the First Mass of Father Charles Keay. Charles mother, Marcia, and his stepdad Roddy, Annie and her parents sat proudly in the front pews. Friends from Charles's days at the Church of the Holy Spirit in Fawcett Road were present, notably our own Val Rose, with daughter Tina, and a delightful man, Albert Young, who was a youthful 84-year-old. Although in the Royal Navy throughout the Second World War, Albert was also a server at St Bartholomew's Church when Peter Appleby and I were attending school in the church halls. The Mass was very moving and Father Michael Lewis, Vicar of Holy Spirit, preached a humorous sermon in keeping with this happy occasion. In the words of the Order of Service, "In the ordination to the priesthood almighty God, through his grace and power, bestows on the priest many gifts, amongst them the ability to bless in his name." The whole congregation responded to an invitation to come to the Altar rail to receive a personal blessing from Father Charles. A fitting end to a wonderful day. The following Sunday morning, 4 July, saw another large congregation present for the First Mass of Father David Williams. His charming daughter, Suzanne, sat proudly in the front pew, fresh from university where she gained a First in Medicine, and heading a group of Father David's friends from St Mary's, Hayling Island. Before the service started, Father David strode confidently out to make the introductions and, after a prayerful silence, the procession entered with the choir resplendent in new robes. Suzanne fittingly read the lesson. The Vicar of St Mary's, The Reverend Father Paul Ginever, gave an amusing sermon, pointing out the "dangers" of the Peace, using a tape of a funny ditty on the subject, and telling of the eccentric behaviour of one incumbent who burnt down his own church! The service ended and we reflected on our good fortune in having Father Charles and Father David at St Faith's Church.                                                                                                                                                    RHB