From the Rector

The convulsions of 2010 have left all of us bruised.  As the New Year looms the question in everyone’s mind is: where can I find some kind of assurance?  Millions dream of an escape from the realities of economically testing times via a win on the National Lottery.  Others look to the stars to see where their fortune lies.  The age old prophecy of Isaiah warns those who stand fast in their enchantments and many sorceries and who shall be ‘wearied with your many consultations; let those who study the heavens stand up and save you, those who gaze at the stars and at each new moon predict what shall befall you’.  At Epiphany we would do well to remember how the wise men, erstwhile astrologers, subjected their human quest for the deepest truths to a visit to the one whom Christians believe brought ultimate truth when he came and dwelt among us.

In hard times it is generally recognised that it is our womenfolk who prove the most resourceful.  This pedigree goes much further back than the contemporary epithet ‘multitasking’.  I’ve no doubt that the biblical figures like Sarah and Hannah were multi-skilled – they’d have to be to put up with the antics of husbands like Abraham and Elkanah.  But we remember them primarily for the sadness and despair occasioned by their barrenness.  They both yearned for offspring which would give them a stake in the future and the possibility of honour and prosperity.  Similarly Elizabeth and Mary had no reason to believe that they would have children when they did.  But in each case the births which they all experienced were regarded as a gift from God.

From humiliating resignation in some cases or innocent surprise in others sprang the surprise which was to become God’s way of bringing salvation to humankind.

These Christmas, Epiphany and Candlemas revelations bring home to us at the beginning of the new calendar year what is the real foundation of our lives.  The four women we’ve mentioned weren’t just assured about what the future would bring; they became the instruments that God was to use in the carrying out of his divine purpose.

So as we ponder at St. Faith’s how on earth we are going to stay afloat financially and become distracted with anxiety about the ‘wherewithal’ we might look to the testimonies of the Bible’s women who, looking ignominy in the face, found that they were to be, to a greater or lesser extent, a vital part of the solution.

Christians have always been inspired by these truths.  In 1988-9 I spent Advent to Ash Wednesday working in the squatter camps attached to the townships that make up Soweto.  In recognition of the ‘barrenness’ of life imposed on the black majority by the apartheid system each black child was permitted only one Christmas present.  This self-imposed discipline was an act of faith which expressed the belief that God could be relied on to give the one most important gift that everyone needed – the coming of freedom.  That faith demonstrated by countless numbers of Christians bore immense fruit two years later with the release of Nelson Mandela and the birth of the ‘rainbow nation’.

When times are hard and barrenness seems unavoidable the exercise of faith yields especial fruits.  Let us wrest our assurance from this, and from this alone.

Peter Jones

From the Editor

The Parish Development Committee (PDC) is in the process of finalising the Vision Statement which in draft form reads “By 2020 we will have become the heart and soul of Havant by using our buildings every day to provide a variety of worship and activities for the community which will offer sanctuary alongside celebration.  By sharing the gospel in ways which deepen our understanding and commends Christian faith to people of all ages in order to grow our faith community and provide opportunities of service for more and more.  By building our relationships with individuals and institutions in order to strengthen their ability in building up our common life in the face of the challenges of the day”.

In the 2008 edition I wrote in my editorial that “we should see the start of the renovation of Church House and Coach House and get approval for the church extension.  These will be financed by the selling of Christchurch Centre and the Bungalow.  So 2008 will be an interesting year for the Property Development Group (PDG) and the PCC.” 

Well 2008 was an interesting year, but the optimism did not foresee the economic turbulence and the intransigence of the planners – although the Church House and Coach House renovation was approved - and it all came to nothing despite all the hard work and the time put in by the PDG members.  Therefore, I am sure we all wish the PDC every success in their vision over the next 9 years.

Sadly, another long standing member of the congregation, John Smythe, passed away last month.  For many years, John, was the sole member in the choir and was one of our distributors of “Faith Matters”.

A very happy New Year to all our readers, advertisers and distributors of “Faith Matters”.

Colin Carter

Points to Ponder

Let’s put the seniors in jail and the criminals in a nursing home.

Seniors.  This way the seniors would have access to showers, hobbies and walks.  They’d receive unlimited free prescriptions, dental and medical treatment, wheel chairs, etc., and they’d receive money instead of paying it out.  They would have constant video monitoring, so they could be helped instantly, if they fell, or needed assistance.  Bedding would be washed twice a week, and all clothing would be ironed and returned to them.  A guard would check on them every 20 minutes and bring their meals and snacks to their cell.  They would have family visits in a suite built for that purpose.  They would have access to a library, weight room, spiritual counselling, pool and education.  Simple clothing, shoes, slippers, PJ’s and legal aid would be free, on request.  Private, secure rooms for all, with an exercise outdoor yard, with gardens.  Each senior could have a PC, a TV, radio and daily phone calls.  There would be a board of directors to hear complaints, and the guards would have a code of conduct that would be strictly adhered to.

“Criminals”.  The “criminals” would get cold food, be left all alone and unsupervised.  Lights off at 8pm, and showers once a week.  Live in a tiny room and pay £900 per month and have no hope of ever getting out.

That’s Awl Rite

Eye have a spelling chequer

It came with my pea sea

It plainly marques for my revue

Mistakes I cannot sea.

I’ve run this poem threw it

I’m sure your pleas too no

It’s letter perfect in its weigh

My chequer tolled me sew.

Mary Lindell - “One Against the Wind”

When we lived in Winchester in the early 1960s, we had friends and neighbours named Bruce and Marliss Lindell.  He had been a major in the army during the Second World War and had met Marliss, who was German, after the war.  She had endured the bombing of Hamburg, as we had the bombing of Portsmouth, so we had a lot in common.  She and Joy became close friends and would go together on regular shopping sprees to Southampton.  One Sunday, the couple came to us with a newspaper which carried an account of the heroism of Bruce’s sister Mary in France during the war when she ran an underground movement to smuggle shot down RAF aircrew and escaping prisoners of war across the Spanish border.  Spain, although a Fascist country, was neutral and, once there, escapees made their way to the British Consul who got them to Gibraltar and home.  I should say at this point that Bruce did not like his sister.  He once said to me, “She was not just difficult with the Gestapo, she was difficult with everyone!”

Mary served as a nurse in the First World War; first with the British and then with the French Red Cross.  Unusually, she won decorations for gallantry from both the French (Croix de Guerre) and the Russians.  After the war, she married a French nobleman and became the Comtesse de Milleville.  When the Germans invaded Northern France, Mary was living in Paris and organized the escape of many Jewish and other vulnerable people across the border into unoccupied France.  This part of France became known as Vichy France after the hated collaborator of that name.  Had she known how ruthlessly the French police rounded up Jews and Allied soldiers and airmen and handed them over to the Gestapo, she would not have sent them to Vichy France.  Eventually, Mary was caught, interrogated and tortured by the Gestapo.  She made a remarkable escape from France to England, where she was recruited by the then MI9 and sent back to France in 1942 to set up, with her two sons Maurice and Oky, an escape route for downed RAF aircrew.  She was given the codename “Marie-Claire” and the escape route became the “Marie-Claire Line”

Recently, Joy bought me a book “The Cockleshell Raid: Bordeaux 1942” and, to our surprise, inside was a photograph of Mary.  Of the 10 Royal Marines who made the raid by sea and river to Bordeaux in two-man canoes (nicknamed “cockles”), two were lost at sea on their approach to the French coast from the submarine which carried the raiders.  The raid was an outstanding success with five German ships badly damaged.  In making their escape, four of the Marines were taken prisoner and murdered by the Germans after interrogation.  The only two survivors were Major H G “Blondie” Hasler, who designed the cockles and planned the raid and Corporal Bill Sparks who partnered him in their cockle.  After a 100 mile trek, they came to the Hotel de France in Ruffec, the start of the “Marie-Claire Line”.  When they arrived, Mary was in hospital after being knocked down in a road accident but son Maurice got them on their way to Spain and home.  “Blondie” Hasler was subsequently decorated with the Distinguished Service Order (DSO) and Bill Sparks with the Distinguished Service Medal (DSM). 

Towards the end of 1943, Mary was severely wounded, captured and deported to Ravensbruck concentration camp.  By some miracle she stayed alive in the camp’s primitive hospital until she was liberated by the Allied armies in 1945.  Maurice was captured, severely beaten during interrogation but survived the war.  Oky was not so fortunate.  He was also captured, severely beaten, sent to a concentration camp and never heard of again.  After the war, Mary worked in London representing former concentration camp inmates in their compensation claims for the injuries they had sustained from their brutal treatment.  Mary died in 1986 and five years after her death, a film starring Judy Davis as Mary was made of her exploits in the war.  It had a very appropriate title - “One Against the Wind”.

Roger Bryant

Pastoral Centre

The AGM for the Pastoral Centre at the Methodist Church Hall in Petersfield Road was held on 12 November and was attended by Angela Bartholomew, Joyce Harvey and myself.

The Pastoral Centre opens for the sale of tea, coffee and light refreshments, Monday to Friday from 9.30am to 12-noon.  It is run by the local churches.  Ladies from our church run it every third Wednesday.  If anyone would like to join our team please see me, or pop in for a cuppa.

Proceeds from the mornings in the year were donated to Children with Leukaemia, FORT, Angel Radio, Street Pastors, Rosemary Foundation, Alzheimer’s Society, Waterlooville Life Group and Rocky.

Beryl Carter

Epitaph – Thomas Gooding (c.400 years ago)

All you that do this place pass bye

Remember death for you must dye

As you are now, even so was I

And as I am so shall you be

Thomas Gooding here do staye

Wayting for God’s judgement daye.

Norwich Cathedral

How long has our Church Magazine been Going?  Does Anybody Know?

While religious magazines have proliferated for centuries, it was not until January 1859 that there seems to be any clear evidence of a local church getting in on the act.  Then the lively young vicar of St. Michael’s, Derby, the Rev J Erskine Clarke, had a brilliant idea - why not a magazine aimed at a parish?  “Parish Magazine” was born, with Erksine Clarke as editor.

This wasn’t yet a fully local production.  But it was an important first step. ‘Parish Magazine’ offered parishes a monthly ‘kernel’ of 16 pages to clad in a ‘shell’ of their own material.  There might be only four local pages, but it was distributed under the local church’s name.

The idea caught on.  60 churches joined that first year alone, and were thereby encouraged to start publishing even just a few pages of their own each month.  In its heyday, the “Parish Magazine” insert was to be found in some 200 parish churches in England.  And it spawned competitors, two of which ‘inserts’ survive today: “Home Words and The Sign”.

Peter Croft tells much of this story in “The Parish Magazine Inset” (Parish and People, 1993).  Erskine Clarke was a remarkable man.  As well as his parish ministry, he wrote – prolifically.  As well as a number of books, he launched several other periodicals, including the children’s weekly “Chatterbox” and a religious newspaper “Church Bells”.

“Parish Magazine” was written not for the committed church member, but for the parishioners who didn’t attend regular worship.  It was evangelistic, but most of all it promoted the values of temperance and family life.  The first article in the first issue, “Evenings at Home”, evokes in five pages the attractions of the domestic fireside over the public tavern.  Today, our church magazine looks quite different to “Parish Life” – for one thing, parish life has changed in the last 152 years!  But even so, our magazine might not be here today if it had not been for Erskine Clarke and his “Parish Magazine”, way back in 1869.

Do any of our readers know when our own magazine first began?  What is the earliest copy we can find?  And does anyone know of a church magazine that began before 1859?

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, said in January 2009: “A good parish magazine is a wonderful resource that places the local church at the heart of the community it serves.  We owe our gratitude to all those who labour lovingly to produce this regular shop-window for their church or parish.  As a team or solo, with a generous budget or an alarmingly fraying shoestring, this is a ministry we need to recognise and to support.”

Christmas Tree Festival

St. John’s Church in Rowlands Castle put on a Christmas Tree Festival 2-5 December.  Their concept was to hold a fun event and something that would look spectacular – this was certainly achieved and the church was outstanding.  The 29 trees were prepared by community groups, local schools, businesses and families from within the parish and village of Rowlands Castle, demonstrating the enormous value of Church and Community co-operating and working together on a combined project. 

There were trees from St. Faith’s Church showing some of the activities of the different groups within our fellowship; Havant Walsingham Fellowship, representing the coming together of people in pilgrimage to visit the Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham; and “Prime of Lifers” – the group of ladies from St. Alban, St. Clare, St. Faith, St. Francis and St. John – which was a “Celebration Tree”.

All proceeds raised at the festival were donated to Naomi House Children’s Hospice at Sutton Scotney, near Winchester.

Beryl Carter

High Flight

Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of earth

And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;

Sunward I’ve climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth

Of sun-split clouds – and done a hundred things

You have not dreamed of – wheeled and soared and swung

High in the sunlit silence.  Hov’ring there

I’ve chased the shouting wind, along, and flung

My eager craft through footless halls of air.

Up, up the long delirious, burning blue,

I’ve topped the windswept heights with easy grace

Where never lark or even eagle flew

And while with silent lifting mind I’ve trod

The high untrespassed sanctity of space,

Put out my hand and touched

The Face of God.

This is a copy of a poem written by a Canadian pilot given to me by Ken Bracher.  Ken did not know the pilot personally but the original was given to him by an English pilot who had flown with him.

“Buy One, Get One Free!”

On 3 January 1973, the then Rector of Havant, Canon Derek Brown, received a letter from the London agents of a supermarket chain asking to purchase St Faith’s Church, with the intention of knocking it down in order to  replace it with a supermarket store.  In addition to paying for the site, they would build us a new church on the Petersfield Road.  Here is Father Brown’s response.

“I am very happy to tell you that the Church and site are prospering and we have no intention whatsoever of selling it.  It is, as you will undoubtedly realize, the oldest established company of Christians in Havant and we are, in fact, thinking of building additional premises on the new housing area in the town because business is so good.  You will undoubtedly realize with the up-surge of materialism people are now realizing that “money cannot buy everything” and this includes the Parish Church of St Faith, Havant.

Your clients might well be interested in  acquiring the site opposite the Dolphin and Anchor Hotel in Chichester on which stands the Chichester Cathedral though I am very doubtful whether the Cathedral Authorities are at present considering the possibility of parting with their property.

My greetings to your clients and tell them that the Church is open all day and every day for worship and we shall be pleased to see them.”

The new premises were Christ Church Centre which was soon to be built.

Roger Bryant

Audrey Currie Meets The Navy

More than 80 years ago, Horsea Island was the home of Audrey Currie, one of our senior parishioners.  Her father, Lieutenant Walter Silk was in charge of the island with its mile-long torpedo testing lake.  Audrey was three when the family moved to Horsea and in an interview with “The News” she said that “the lake was in constant use for torpedo practice and I can remember watching the firing and the divers with their huge helmets entering the lake and bring them to the surface.  At the bottom of our garden was a landing stage where we had a rowing boat and when my two older sisters came home we had picnics on the lake”.  Audrey remembers spending a lot of time in the guardroom where sailors helped her onto a big box so they could teach her to play shove ha’penny.  She added: “I had a sister who was six years older than me who went to school in Fareham.  There was a pier by the guardroom and each morning she walked along this and at the end was a sailor in a rowing boat who rowed her across to Portchester.  She then walked up Castle Street to catch a bus to Fareham”.  Shopping expeditions were also novel.  Audrey said: “My mum would phone HMS Vernon and a picket boat would pick us up from the pier and we were ferried to Vernon so we could do our shopping in Portsmouth.”

Horsea Island is now the home of the Royal Navy divers and Lt Cdr Mick Beale and CPO John Ravenhall visited Audrey to accept a donation from her for a bronze sculpture at Gunwharf Quay’s celebrating the work of navy divers and mine warfare experts over many decades.

Ever Thought About Samaritans?

How much do you know about Samaritans?

The Samaritans organisation is one of the longest-established and most respected in our local community, and its services are needed more now than ever before.

The local Portsmouth and East Hampshire branch is asking for help to ensure that it can continue to provide its essential 24-hour service for people who are feeling suicidal or depressed, or who need emotional support.

Samaritans are seeking people who can assist in any of the following ways:

• Train as a Listening Volunteer to support callers 

Samaritans listening volunteers come from all sorts of backgrounds and, because full training is given, need no specific experience.  The obligation is to undertake one 3 or 4-hour day-time duty per week, plus one 6-hour night-time duty per month.  Duties may be undertaken at times to suit the volunteer.  Volunteers are trained to support callers not only on the telephone, but also face-to-face and by e-mail (no computer knowledge required!)

• Make a donation or help with fund-raising for Samaritans 

Samaritans are dependent upon voluntary contributions, and the Portsmouth and East Hampshire branch needs to raise over £100 a day just to cover its costs.  They need people who can spare a little time to join their team street and house-to-house collectors, or who can place a collecting tin in their workplace.  They are also asking people to think of them when they next update their wills.

• Assist with publicity or raising awareness

Samaritans need to raise awareness in the local community about the 24-hour availability and support which they provide.  They would like to be able to increase the number of callers using their service in the hope of supporting even more people experiencing distress or suicidal feelings.  This requires wide distribution of posters, leaflets and other publicity.  Samaritans will also provide speakers to other organisations or meetings of community groups.

If you feel that you can help Samaritans achieve their objectives in any of these ways, please contact them now:

Phone: 023 9269 1313

Mother’s Union - Angel Radio Talk

This is a copy of the address Sheila King, Diocesan President of the Mother’s Union gave for the Angel Radio recording of the Bedhampton Mother’s Union meeting in November 2010 supplied by Sheilah Legg.

The Mother’s Union (MU) is the women’s group of the Church of England started by Mary Sumner in Old Alresford here in Hampshire in 1876.

Recently, the Archbishop of Canterbury paid us a wonderful tribute when he described the MU as “the most active group in any Christian denomination”. 

We work in 81 countries and have 4 million members.  We work closely with the needs of our local parishes.  We have many projects worldwide.  In this country we have 1,000 volunteers working in 90 prisons in the UK. 

We run Parenting Programmes.  A very successful holiday annually for families who would not otherwise have a holiday.  We take 50 people with a team of MU helpers to an activities centre where great fun is had by all.  We take them to the beach for a day and you would be surprised how many children have not even seen the sea bearing in mind they live in Hampshire.  This holiday costs the MU £14,000 all given by our members.

We make gowns for stillborn babies, little coats, hats, wraps and quilts.  We provide helpers for the crèche at Kingston prison and IOW prisons.  Helpers for the Roberts Child contact Centre in Portsmouth.  Provide toilet bags for the A&E Department at QA Hospital and Women’s Refuges.  Helpers for the children’s work in Portsmouth Cathedral.  Our latest is to attend Wedding Fayres to promote Church Weddings, where couples can win a wedding cake and have a very helpful pack with ideas for weddings.

We do some wonderful work worldwide.  We recently celebrated 10 years of our Literacy Project in Malawi, Burundi and the Sudan, where mostly ladies walk for hours to learn to read and write (with a stick in the sand).  We have taught 55,000 so far and the wonderful thing is they say “we can now go shopping and check we have the right change” (something we take for granted).

We run a Relief Fund from our head office in London where money is sent immediately to places facing disaster - we can do this because we have MU workers in these countries, so the money goes straight to them and not into the wrong hands.  Money has recently been sent to Nigeria to buy mosquito nets as so many people suffer from malaria, and for HIV/Aids sufferers - currently 2.6 million people are living with the disease.

A grant sent to Tanzania helped a family with 8 children after a severe drought destroyed all their crops. They suffered from hunger and could only find roots to eat, this made them very ill; in hospital, the husbands abandoned them.  The mother said the MU saved their lives, the money bought water, maize, beans, cassava and medicines.

We also send money for projects in many countries to help grow crops, keeping goats and cows and juice making machines – and of course, money for education.  All monies are donated by our members.

In August we held a meeting in Bedhampton when we welcomed Canon Andrew White, the Vicar of Baghdad, and some young people from his parish.  Andrew spoke very movingly about his work in the most dangerous place in the world, and the young people sang to us – 200 people attended.  MU Portsmouth is linked with Baghdad and we collect MU badges for them and recently presented them with a banner made by one of our members.  While Andrew was speaking his phone rang and Nahwal the leader asked to speak to me – a wonderful and moving experience.  I assured her we would continue to pray for them and she was thrilled.

MU members in Baghdad feed 4,000 people daily, provide help for disabled children, and support orphans despite the horrendous conditions they live in.  We held a retiring collection for them and raised £685.  Andrew said he would use the money to restore the MU sewing room in St. George, badly damaged by the bombing.

The MU has just launched a campaign called “Bye Bye Childhood.  We are so concerned at the increasing levels of marketing aimed at children - brands deliberately encouraging a culture of “pester power”.  We believe exploiting children for profit is wrong and have contacted our MPs.

Finally, we may be famous as tea makers but how often have you sat down with someone very troubled and enjoyed a cup of tea with them and listened to their problems?

God bless you all.

Sheila King Diocesan President of MU