From the Rector - Less is More

For every Christian person the word of God is precious.  I was amply reminded of that recently at my service of Collation and Induction as Rector when I had to publicly assent to the declaration that Holy Scripture contains all that is necessary for salvation.  At the same service one of the churchwardens made a firm intention on behalf of the congregations that ‘for our part, we must be faithful in reading, hearing and proclaiming God’s word’.  It couldn’t be plainer that without the nourishment that comes from regular reading of scripture our growth can only remain stunted.  Bearing testimony to this principle are the numerous Bible reading schemes that abound across our churches designed to present scripture in digestible and understandable portions.

This idea forms the basis of the ancient practice of the praying of the Daily Office which I wrote about last month.

The churches’ scholars, teachers and theologians take great care in selecting and arranging what readings from the Old and New Testaments are presented for reading and preaching about on Sundays at principal services.  The diet we receive is designed to ensure we hear and understand what is of crucial importance in God’s revelation intended for our salvation.  It requires regular attendance on Sundays – or at least continued attention to the lessons set by habitual reading to appreciate over the three year cycle the fullness of the Good News.

So why is it that apparently flying in the face of the spirit of all this there is an intention next month to reduce the readings we actually have read in church from the current three down to two?

Whilst three readings, Old testament, New Testament (usually from an epistle) and a Gospel are set to succeed a psalm there is provision in the rules to use only one reading before the proclamation of the holy gospel.  Indeed our lectionary indicates which of the two readings other than the gospel reading should be used in preference – according to the season.  This provision is made because it is generally agreed that for the proper marking, learning and digesting of the scriptures, especially in the context of worship, God’s word needs space to breath so that it can be pondered and reflected on.  Thank heavens that sermons are not the only interpretive tool available to us: Silence can be golden – if we give it a chance to work its magic.  So we shall begin in September with this pattern at the Parish Eucharist and ensure that following the first lesson there will be a time to pause and allow God to speak his present word to his revelatory word so that we can encounter the living Word – Christ himself.  Less can mean more.

This practice, combined with the invitation on each week’s bulletin to prepare for the following Sunday by reading all three lessons in advance of the following Sunday should mean that we shall not be deprived of any of the set scriptures for the day.  My hope is that more reflection on God’s word during worship will enhance our appetite for reading scriptures daily as a central part of that Act of Commitment made by so many back on 1^st June so that as the words of the service said: ‘Our lives should be framed according to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, that we may make his life known to all.’

Peter Jones

From the Editor

Well done to Sylvia Willey our Organist & Choir Director on a very successful Choral Evensong with our own choir and the choir from St. John the Baptist, Westbourne that took place after the Strawberry Tea on 28 June held in the Churchyard on a sunny afternoon.

St. Faith’s was privileged to host the Snohomish (meaning “Sleeping Water”) County Children’s Choir from Washington State, USA on Friday 10 July as part of their 10-day tour to the UK, visiting London, Stratford-upon-Avon, Salisbury, Havant, Winchester and Bath.  The 21-girl choir (the one boy was unable to sing as his voice had broken!) in their red full length dresses, with their Musical Director, Shelley Logan, gave an excellent performance.  The girls were very friendly and chatted to the audience during the interval.  Details of the choir can be found at their website: www.snohomishchildrenschoir.com.  Our thanks go to Sandra Haggan for organising a superb evening, to her helpers and to parishioners who accommodated the members of the choir.

A collection for Bishop Kenneth’s farewell present will be made at the 9.30am service on Sunday 9 August.

Colin Carter

Suez Crisis

In his excellent articles about his Nile Cruise with Frances, Alan Hakim suggested that I took you back to 1956 and the Suez Crisis.  That was also the year of the Hungarian counter-revolution uprising against the Soviets, the Melbourne Olympics and the first transatlantic telephone service. Chancellor “you never had it so good!” Harold Macmillan introduced Premium Bonds, causing him to be criticized by the Archbishop of Canterbury for destroying the moral fibre of the nation.  On the entertainment scene, a Scot named Lonnie Donegan introduced Skiffle, Elvis Presley emerged from the Sun Studios Memphis and Guy Mitchell was “Singing the Blues”.  In the cinema, we “were getting to know you” in the shape of the “King and I” and Grace Kelly starred in “High Society” and then joined it in her marriage to Prince Rainier of Monaco.  But for Joy and me 1956 was a memorable year because of the birth of our first daughter Laura.

Let me now take you back to 26 July 1956, when the Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser nationalized the Anglo-French Suez Canal Company plunging the Middle East into crisis.  This move threatened our oil supplies from the Persian Gulf and trade with the Far East.  Prime Minister Anthony Eden, mindful of the dangers of appeasement, decided that Nasser was another Hitler, perhaps overlooking the fact that the Suez Canal was in Egypt and not Poland!  France had a score to settle with Egypt for their support of terrorists in French Algeria and Israel was in a virtual state of war with Egypt and her Arab neighbours.  Our Foreign Secretary, Selwyn Lloyd, met with his French and Israeli counterparts in Sevres, France to agree a joint invasion.  Israel would attack Egypt across the Sinai Peninsular and we and the French would invade to capture the Suez Canal on the pretence of protecting it from damage in the war that had broken out.

On 29 October, Israel invaded Egypt and the British and French promptly issued an ultimatum for both sides to withdraw 10 miles from the Canal within 12 hours.  This was rejected by Egypt and on 31 October British aircraft bombed Egyptian airfields, virtually destroying their air force.  On 4 November British and French troops were landing near the Canal from a Task Force dispatched from Cyprus.  World opinion was firmly against us and President Eisenhower saw to it that America sponsored two resolutions at the United Nations General Assembly, calling on a ceasefire and a withdrawal of foreign troops from Egypt.  We were virtually bankrupt as a nation and needed financial aid from America.  Under pressure from Eisenhower, we agreed to a ceasefire on 6 November and a United Nations Emergency Force (UNEF) was formed to supervise the evacuation.  Our request to join the UNEF was refused by the UN.  Our humiliation was complete.  Astonishingly, Eden said that our invasion had been a complete success because it had enabled a United Nations force to be put into Egypt.  The Welsh politician, Aneurin Bevan, responded to this in a speech before an anti-war rally in Trafalgar Square - “The burglar’s been caught and he is saying he only did it to train the police.”  Anthony Eden resigned in January 1957.

Roger Bryant

Pilgrimage to Walsingham 2009 – Part 2

After breakfast we had Stations of the Cross joining up with churches from Felixstowe, Sevenoaks and one from the West Country.  Each group had its own minister as we had Father Paul.  As you could hear what was being said by other groups you really had to concentrate.  It was a very spiritual experience.  We visited a replica of the sepulchre where Jesus was laid with a big stone outside which gave a very good idea of what it was like.  At 10.30am all of us went by coach to the Slipper Chapel, the RC Shrine, two miles away where we said our prayers quietly and Val whispered what a beautiful church it was.  We then walked back to Walsingham along a disused railway track lined with wild flowers and Innes had a wonderful time.  As we approached Walsingham we heard the bells of St Mary’s, the Anglican Church, ringing.  After lunch we were free to do what we liked.  Some toured Walsingham village, others took a light railway to a nearby seaside town and I spent some money in local shops buying keepsakes of our visit.

After tea we were told to be in the Shrine Church early as it would be packed with all the visiting churches and Val managed to find us seats near the front.  It was quite an organisation for everyone to go up and receive communion.  Afterwards we processed, carrying candles, round the Shrine Church and Holy House singing the hymn which tells the story of Walsingham with Our Lady being carried ahead of us.  Val was beside me and had to keep whispering “Judy, keep Innes back, he is trying to overtake the procession”.  We then went back into the Chapel and sat quietly while they showed the sacrament.

After the service we had a wonderful party.  We were allowed to use the Green Room and everyone was asked to bring something to eat.  We had competitions and games and I didn't do very well.  Sandra offered to take Innes out and we continued with the party.  Suddenly there was a banging at the window and there was Sandra with Innes who couldn't get back in because it was gone 11o'clock.  We had visions of trying to get Sandra in through the window.  So we discovered that you could get out but not back in so someone went to the door in the big archway and let them in.  By then we were getting really rather jolly – we had had lots of bottles of wine and lots of laughter and had been requested to quieten down as people upstairs wanted to go to sleep.  At 12 o'clock we decided to go to bed but St Joseph's was locked as well so I couldn't get back to bed so we had to phone security and the man came and let me back into St Joseph's.  Father Paul was also there because of his wheelchair, but he didn't stay up for the party.  We were wonderfully supported by Father Michael from St George's , Father Timon, who I think is a curate at St George's and Father Paul.

On Sunday morning at 9.30 in the Barn Chapel our four churches had a service and we thought of you all doing the same at St Faith's.  After that we went into the cafeteria for cups of tea, coffee and cake and I think I ate more over the weekend than I normally do.  I met the conductor of the choir of Worcester Cathedral who conducts the Three Choirs Festival and he told me of a guide dog owning a priest that he knows.  I told him that there was an article in the guide dog magazine about the instructor who taught a guide dog to guide someone wearing robes.  Then we went and had a sherry in the Orangery and Sunday lunch with Bishop Lindsay.  I was able to talk to him about when I visited his church with Phyllis in North Dulwich.  He is a very charismatic and human person.

After lunch we all gathered our luggage and put it on the coach and then went into the Shrine Church again.  We were early but only just managed to get seats and we had the sprinkling of water from the well.  It was a very moving service taken by Bishop Lindsay.  A group of us went outside and had the water sprinkled on our hands and a cross on our foreheads.  We went back into the Church and sang some of the hymns that I know.  Then we had the anointing with oil.  Val said that our four churches had usually done this on our own but this time we had it all done together.  Then we had tea and cake and said our very emotional goodbyes to the Holy House.

This is my opportunity to thank Val Rose and Sandra for taking care of Innes and me.  Sandra for clearing up, after Innes and both of them for seeing that we were in the right place at the right time.  I am so grateful to the two ladies.

Judy Glenister (Transcribed by Rosemary Thomas )

Chicago Experience – Part 3

(The final part of Jeremy, Claire, Harriet and Eleanor’s Chicago experience)

Day 10 – 12 April, 2009  

I cannot believe we’re two thirds of the way through our time here in Illinois.  It only seems like 2 minutes ago when we touched down at Chicago O’Hare with our wonderful adventure stretching out in front of us like the airport runway.  Still, there are four full days to treasure before we must face the inevitability of time having passed.

Today it’s an early start for Elise.  Off to school by 7am and this morning Susan has gone to the gym.  A brisk breakfast and then the rest of us jump in the car and shuttle Sophia off to Countryside Elementary.  We wish her a happy day and then David whisks us off to Barrington Station.  The Toole family are spending the day in Chicago city…and it looks like it’s going to be a wet one! 

We alight at Ogilvy Transportation Centre to be greeted by pouring rain and an icy wind.  Outside the station we huddle under a bus stop and work out which bus we need to catch.  In the nick of time I realise we need to be at the stop on the other side of the road.  We dive into the teeth of the wind and make it to the stop in the nick of time.  The bus is warm and we ease back into our seats.  We weave through the skyscrapers of this mighty city and very quickly arrive at our destination – the Chicago Field Museum of Natural History Exhibits.

The museum is immense and we realise there will be much to explore.  We will be here for most of the day…and this is fine as outside it is less than inviting.  Kicking off with coffee, hot chocolate and cakes we move through the museum.  It’s an insightful experience and, although we try hard to see everything, we fail miserably.

We need to be on the train back to Barrington by around 4:45pm so we step outside the museum at about 3:45pm and take in what is a truly exceptional view of the Chicago skyline.  We take many pictures before we head for the bus that will take us back to Ogilvy.

At Barrington we are collected by D Gibbons Taxi Services and whisked back to 335 Ridge Road.  Dinner that evening is a feast of burgers and hot dogs.  Very welcome following our bad weather day in the windy city.  Tomorrow all eight of us will be there.  We hear that the weather should be better.  Good news.  It will be a super experience for all of us to spend time in a city where Al Capone once plied his gangster trade, and eventually went down for…tax evasion!     

Day 11 – Tuesday 14 April, 2009

It isn’t even 7am and we’re all up and having a quick breakfast before packing some bags and leaving the house at 8:20am.  We head for Barrington station.  Today is the beginning of a 2-day experience for us all in the midst of the Chicago skyscrapers.

At precisely 9:18am the train pulls into the station and we board quickly.  We grab ourselves some seats and sit back and relax.  Pretty soon the guard clips our tickets.  (I don’t know why, but every time they do this I can’t help but think of Tom Hanks clipping tickets in ‘The Polar Express’).  At 10:15am we arrive at Ogilvy Transportation Centre.

We all take a trip to the Shedd Aquarium on the Museum Campus.  Here we spend a very full day checking out a lot of fish (no surprises there then!), witnessing a dog training session (in an aquarium?), and enjoying a cinematic experience in what is referred to as 4D.  Essentially this consists of watching various film clips wearing 3D glasses however with the added dimension of actual feelings.  I can’t describe just how freaky this is.  There is one point where we see rats running along a tunnel towards us, at which point we then feel something flicking and tickling us around the lower legs and ankles.  Quite honestly the whole auditorium is in a frenzy!  If this isn’t the future of film and cinema then I don’t know what is.

Very late afternoon and we arrive at our base – the Fairfield Marriott in Chicago City.  We all check in, check out our rooms, freshen up and head out for a meal at the California Pizza Kitchen.  Fantastic pizzas, great service…and the added entertainment of a group of gospel singers practising around a table just behind us.

Stuffed with pizza and garlic bread, and a couple of beers, wines and cokes later (depending on which member of our party you are), we stroll out into Chicago by night, pay a late evening visit to Starbucks and head back to the hotel.  We are asleep by 11pm.  It’s been a long and enjoyable day and we have another one ahead of us tomorrow.

Day 12 – Wednesday 15 April, 2009

8:15am.  We are all up and in the breakfast room for a hearty selection of Marriott breakfast goodies.  We chat, plan and eat and are ready and checked out of the hotel by 10am.

We find a bus stop and board a bus that will take us to Lincoln Park Zoo.  I must say at this point that I am constantly impressed by Susan’s ability to know exactly how to get around Chicago.  She knows all the bus routes, roads and areas of the city and this makes it much easier to get around what might otherwise prove to be a little confusing.

We seem to zip through a fantastic day at the zoo.  Entry is free and this is a very organised and clean zoo where the animals appear as content as possible given the man made and unnatural habitat in which they find themselves.  We take many photos and enjoy a relaxed, fast food lunch (does that make sense?).  The girls have some tasty pizza, whilst others have hot dogs.  I have an Italian Submarine that’s heavy on the heat and spice!

Mid-afternoon we leave the zoo and head for the shops.  The ladies take a trip to American Girl, while I find a CD shop.  Half an hour later we all meet in Hershey’s and take some time to sample and purchase a little chocolate.

Although it would be great to spend much longer in this wonderful city, we do have to get back to Barrington so at about 5pm we board a return train.  On arrival at the station we are met by Ned and Jo.  Susan, Claire and the girls head straight back to the house in one car, while David and I go back to Ned and Jo’s to collect the other car…and enjoy a beer and a chat in the process!

That evening we enjoy an evening meal of spaghetti.  We take a little time to chill before grabbing an early night.  Thoughts are tinged with a little sadness right now, as tomorrow is our last full day.  We have nothing in particular planned, however we will make the most of a day that will signpost the end of a very special trip.

Day 13 – Thursday 16 April, 2009

Elise and Sophia are off to school again this morning, having enjoyed the previous two days off.  David and Susan are up and about with them to make sure they have everything they need, and David has a 7:30am meeting at church.

This morning brings a little reality with it for me and for my family.  Spirits are a tad low as recognition dawns that this is our final full day and the trip is drawing to its close.  Sensibly we do some preliminary packing and eat some breakfast along the way.

We haven’t planned anything today; however Susan, Claire, Harriet, Eleanor and I decide to take a trip to Costco.  This is a shop you will find in the UK; however in the US it makes for a different experience as pretty much every aisle contains a sampling station to the point where you could actually eat your lunch during a visit!  In the UK you might get a couple of sampling stations if you’re lucky; however in the US it’s a different story.  And this is not all.  Once you’re through the checkout it’s time to have a supplementary lunch in the form of a $1.50 slice of pizza or polish sausage hot dog.  Great pizza and, take it from me, very big hot dogs to which you can then add your own self-service onions, ketchup, mustard and relish.  Let’s hear it for the ‘eat healthy’ campaign!  Oh, and it also comes with a giant soda plus free refill.

After Costco we move on to Woodford Mall for a final day shopping experience, before returning home where we join David, Elise and Sophia for an evening meal and an opportunity to toast a wonderful time together.

Day 14 – Friday 17 April, 2009

This morning we have the ‘holiday’s over’ blues.  We finish packing and take the chance to get some final photos.

Our plane leaves Chicago O’Hare at 5pm US time.  David, Susan, Elise and Sophia all accompany us to the airport where we say goodbye for now.  It’s been a wonderful visit filled with many events to remember, and we are so grateful to our friends for everything they have done.

Airports are terrible places when you are faced with the return trip.  There is very little to do at Chicago O’Hare other than sit around and wait to board.  Thankfully there are no delays and we find our seats on the plane, making ourselves comfortable and ready for the 9 hour flight to come.

When we arrive at Heathrow it’s 8am UK time on Saturday 18 April 2009.  Our Chicago experience is over.

Correspondence Column

Now we were back on the busy part of the river.  We frequently passed several tour ships coming up in convoy, and when we arrived at our first temple, Kom Ombo, there were three other ships docking at the same time.  This is a double temple, and quite ‘new’, with half of it dedicated to Sobek, the crocodile god.  So although there are the usual wall carvings of pairs of gods, or the king making an offering to a god, in this case one of them is a man from the feet up to the neck, and then has a crocodile head.  After a short visit we set off again, and just had to sit in the sun and watch the world go by, always an interesting view on the Nile.

After dark, we reached Edfu, which has the biggest temple of all south of Luxor.  It looked as ancient as the others, but again was Ptolemaic.  It was enchanting by floodlight.  We had a lucky break here: the main group had visited it on the way south at midday.  They told us it was then seething with people, and approached past aggressive souvenir-sellers.  We had to share the temple with only about 50 people, and the sellers had shut up shop.  We had been told it was fancy dress night on the boat, and Frances and I dressed up in our gallabiyas and Arab headdresses (as worn by Frances on her Jordan ride) only to find we were the only ones.  The other group had had a fancy dress night before we joined them.  And then after dinner, we had an exam!  I have never before been on a holiday that ended with a test.  There were questions about all the things we had been told by our guides, and we came second even though there were questions about sites that the other group had seen, and we were visiting next day.  The prize was a large box of Egyptian chocolates, which were passed round at our remaining meals.

Our last day of sailing took us through the lock at Esna and up to Luxor.  There are so many tour ships now that we had to moor several miles downstream from the town centre, and even then we were in a group of four side by side, and had to go through another ship (which had the decorators in) to get ashore.  So it was back into a minibus to visit Karnak, the biggest and most famous temple of all – and the most crowded.  In fact it got fuller as closing time approached, which was a surprise.  It turns out that coaches come up from the Red Sea resorts aiming to arrive after the heat of the day.  The temple was expanded over a very long period, but its most impressive features are from Ramses II (though it does incorporate a temple of Ramses III too).

Then a brief visit to a papyrus painting shop, where they gave us a cool drink (but we have a papyrus already) and then the Luxor temple.  The modern town has grown up over it, during the many centuries it was buried in the sand; in fact there is one part that can’t be uncovered because a mosque was built on top of it.  Although the temple is one of the older ones, it does include sections of wall carvings with the name of Alexander the Great, about a thousand years later.  This was again crowded, but we had a bonus to come: after dinner back on the ship, we had a candlelight reception in the temple arranged by Jules Verne for all their tour groups.  The loudspeakers played the Grand March from Aida, and we could wander around without jostling.  This could be a very good climax to the holiday, but there was plenty still to come in our last 18 hours.  First, a cabaret on the ship: a ‘whirling dervish’ and a very poor belly dancer; then next morning another outing.

So often on the last day of a holiday, there is no time to do anything worthwhile.  But we didn’t have to go to the airport until after lunch, so off we went to the West Bank, to the Valley of the Kings.  We visited three of the tombs, and were also able to see into the excavations of the latest discovery, the first since Tutankhamen was found in 1922.  His tomb can only be visited with a long queue and an expensive supplement.  We had both been before, so we skipped that.

Finally, we drove to the other side of the mountain to the temple of Queen Hatshepsut, the only woman Pharaoh, who reigned from 1503-1482BC.  This is one of the most impressive of all, and quite unlike all those we had seen during the week.  It is built into the side of a mountain, in three terraces like a wedding cake, and has mural paintings depicting her journey to the land of Punt (probably modern Somalia).  And after that high point, back past the Colossi of Memnon (actually Amenhophis III 1400BC) for a last meal on the ship and off to the airport.  And back at Gatwick, we found the snow had melted, there had been a downpour all day, and I had a hair-raising drive home in the dark and the rain through lakes on the M23 and Chichester Bypass.  Egyptian weather is preferable!

 Alan Hakim

Ride or Stride Around the Churches

Have an adventure!  Meet new people!  See new places!  Most important of all, support our church and other historic churches in the diocese in this sponsorship event.

The Round the Churches Ride and Stride this year is to be held on Saturday 12 September.  Already there is one member of our congregation who is thinking about riding her horse from church to church!  You don’t have to have a horse though.  You can walk or cycle; you can hitch a ride on a train or bus.  You can explore other areas and even go into other dioceses such as Chichester or Winchester – the choice is yours – and half of the sponsorship money you collect will go straight to St Faith’s.  Last year the Historic Churches Trust who organise this event gave grants to 17 churches in the diocese, the amount totalling £44,000.  Should St Faith’s have a need we would certainly be given consideration so we could get all our money back – or more!

So, please support this event.  Our church will be open all day and last year the riders and striders really appreciated the welcome which was given to them.  If you would prefer, then join the ‘meeters and greeters’ or offer to give a few cakes to sustain the hungry participants.

Do please contact me for further information.  I look forward to hearing from you!

Hilary Deadman

Lent Lunches – every Friday in Lent 2009 at St. Faith’s

Lent lunches are now well-established in our church and are attracting more and more people.  They averaged 12 people weekly.  Some people were tempted in from ‘off the street’ too.  We had smaller tables (like the coffee morning set-up) which proved more flexible than the longer trestle tables of previous years.  Vicki and Helena took charge in equal measure – thank you Vicki, I couldn’t have done it without your help.  As far as I could tell, all the different flavours were well accepted, and Helena tried a new one (well, new to her!) – Green pea and mint.  See recipe below.  All the soups were vegetarian, if not vegan.

The lunch consisted of soup, roll and cheese (for £2.50) including a second helping of soup; soya cheese was also on offer - many people liked it too and it was the first time some had tasted it.

A big thank you to all those who came and contributed to its success – we made £107.87 for the Church Restoration & Redevelopment Fund.  Remember that everyone is always most welcome – if you haven’t yet been, please consider it for next year.  It is a great opportunity to catch up with your friends, meet new people and share in the reflective nature of this very important season of the church’s year.

Helena Youle

Green Pea & Mint Soup