From the Registers – February

19^th Baptism of Jamie David Davage

26^th Baptism of Charlie Aaron Richard Mansbridge

 About the Parish

In the August 2004 edition of "Faith Matters" I wrote about the exploits of a Battle of Britain pilot named Peter Parrott.  This was the story recounted.  After surviving the battle for France, Peter Parrott on patrol over the coast line 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 which 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, never mind 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.

Out of the blue (now that's an appropriate phrase), Father David received the following in January from Peter's son Tim.  "I occasionally check the internet for reference to my father and noted that he was mentioned in your Faith Matters of 2004.  I think he would have been very surprised and delighted to find himself referred to.  Unfortunately he died in late August 2003.  I would have to advise you that his attendance at church was rare, mainly once a year at Westminster Abbey for the Battle of Britain Remembrance Service, however he had a strong Christian ethic in his actions.  He did help many other fellow RAF colleagues to get their due disablement pensions and found respite care for two less fortunate aircrew, as they came to the end of their lives.  He also received money for signing prints and photographs which he always sent on to RAF charities.  Best regards.  Tim Parrott."

When we gather at the War Memorial for our Remembrance Day service in November and think of the courage and sacrifice of so many, we now have another name to remember in Peter Parrott.  We owe so much to the likes of Peter and our own Battle of Britain pilot, the late Hugh Elliott, together with all the other servicemen and civilians who gave so much in the defence of this country.  A few months ago the Government finally decided in the face of a national campaign to award an Arctic Medal to the Royal Navy men who during the Second World War took convoys through to Russia in appalling conditions, when men leaving sinking ships would survive just seconds in the freezing seas.  A former churchwarden of this church would have received an Arctic Medal had he not died a few years ago, so together with Peter and Hugh, please also remember Commander Arthur Jones.                                                                                                                                          Roger Bryant

Dear Colin,

It is accepted that custom and ritual can change with the passing of time, but in changes made solely, or even partly, in order to conform with some contemporary trend, much or part of what was of cherished significance and value can be diminished or lost.

I much prefer the altar/pews arrangement as it was before the recent change.  My overall feeling is a sense of loss; difficult to explain exactly, or perhaps even approximately, but loss it is.  Loss in the sense of occasion, loss in the gravitas and uniqueness of the Eucharist.

Perhaps I am not alone in my view – perhaps the PCC will think again.

Yours sincerely,                                                                                                                          John Bradey

(From conversations I have had with parishioners, John is not alone in his views.  Many of those I have spoken to have been attending church for years and feel that having a nave altar will not enhance the views of the newcomer or uninitiated.  Indeed, the present arrangements have changed the orderly way of receiving the sacraments at the high altar to one that gives the impression of being totally disorganised around the nave altar.)

Dear Editor,

With reference to the trial of the nave altar, my preference is to revert to the status quo of the high altar.  If a decision is made to stay with the nave altar I would prefer to see the following changes:

1.        The nave altar to be placed on some kind of platform level with the chancel so that the celebrant is more clearly visible from the rear, particularly when the congregation are standing.

2.        Candles to be lit in the high altar as at present it appears barren.

3.        The Eucharist to be taken for distribution to the main altar in solemn procession.  The present distribution around the nave altar is shambolic and crowded.

In addition has thought been given for where the Mayor and Mace will be situated at ceremonies when necessary?  Also when funerals are scheduled where will the coffin be placed?

Yours,                                                                                                                                         Colin Warlow

Dear Father David,

With all due respect I have to say, as a plain speaking Yorkshirewoman, that the Altar in its present position is wrong.  I was shocked by my own reaction when I saw it.  I have attended churches where this has been done in medieval churches but the altar was just put in front of the chancel steps.  It was soon found that it did not work.  In those days I was less aware of the symbolism of a medieval cruciform church.  In hundreds of years, even in single cell churches the Altar was at the east end facing Jerusalem, as you rightly say.  If through the centuries the hierarchy had thought the centre of the church was the right place they would have put it there long ago.  It is not “theatre in the round” (what happened to that experiment I wonder?).  Nor are those in the nave “second class citizens”.  They are the body and heart of it.

The cruciform plan of the church is no coincidence.  You must be aware that in a medieval church it is the cross facing the people.  The altar is Christ’s Head, and the font His Feet, the transepts His Arms on the cross so babies and newcomers to the faith entered the church at His Feet, where the font is.  As their faith and knowledge grew they moved to the centre of the church and when confirmed they were able to move to His Head in the sanctuary and receive the Holy Sacraments.

I felt, and feel, so strongly that an ancient monument had in some way been desecrated, that a valuable antique had/has had its centre torn out and a cheap substitute put in its place, that the souls resting the churchyard were turning in their graves, that I no longer wanted to belong to such an insensitive church where Christ’s Head has been cut off and the choir left looking at the clergy’s backs.

I hope you will reconsider what has been done and restore St. Faith’s to the church it has always been for many generations in Havant.  As Psalm 46 says “Be still and know that I am God”. 

Sheilah Legg
 

 (Please note that I have only received the four letters above regarding the Altar Trial.  I have not received any letters from parishioners who would like the trial to become permanent.)

Dear Colin,

Regarding the publication of “Properties: Income and Costs” in “Faith Matters”; as the Editor pointed out (FM Feb), this was done last year in response to parishioners’ wishes as expressed in replies to a questionnaire – surely there is no valid reason why it should not be done every year.  The Standing Committee consider that such information is “commercially sensitive” – I doubt very much that publication of it in “Faith Matters” would cause any great upheaval in the property market or adverse effect on St. Faith’s finances.

Yours sincerely,                                                                                                                          John Bradey

Dear Editor,

I disagree with the Standing Committee statement as regards “Cost of Properties and Income Received” (“Faith Matters” February 2006).  I agree that the annual accounts are necessary and require approval by the auditors for the annual general meeting, but I see no reason for any secrecy during the rest of the year and any sensitive material could be lumped together as rents received without giving a breakdown of individual properties.  One realises that an unofficial statement is no replacement for the annual accounts but surely parishioners are entitled to know where their money is going the rest of the year.  To some people the annual accounts are difficult to decipher.

Yours aye,                                                                                                                                 Colin Warlow

Dear Colin,

I regret the decision of the Standing Committee on 9 January 2006 to not repeat the information you produced in “Faith Matters” - February 2005 for income and expenses of our properties during 2004.

Although the Standing Committee is correct to protect commercially sensitive information about individual property rents, I see no harm in indicating the total figure for rental income.  Indeed we are most fortunate as a parish that previous parishioners have generously donated property that now provides us with income.  We would be in dire straits without that income.

I am sure that the PCC and the Standing Committee are keeping a close watch on expenses on our behalf, but nevertheless for example, have the heating bills increased in 2005?  Have we made a profit on the Church Hall in 2005? – in 2004 it cost us £5,012 against an income of £4,423.  Is it really necessary to have a telephone in Church (costing £158 in 2004), in these days of mobile phones?

I feel all the parishioners should have access to this type of information without burdening our treasurer Sue Casey with ad hoc requests.

Sincerely,                                                                                                                                        Paul Utting

(Please note that a number of parishioners have expressed the same sentiments as those in the above letters.  No parishioner has informed me that they agree with the Standing Committee’s statement.  As a result perhaps the Standing Committee will re-consider its statement at the next meeting.)

Electoral Roll

The revision of the Electoral Roll will take place between the 26^th March 2006 and the 9^th April 2006.  Persons wishing their names to be included on the Roll may obtain an Application Form from the undersigned.  Please note the completed Forms must be returned to me by the 9^th April 2006 to enable the name and address to be added to the Revised Roll.  Names already on the Roll do not need to be renewed.                                                                       Audrey Currie, Electoral Roll Officer

With the death of Saladin and Richard, the Moslem and Christian worlds had lost their two great champions.  In 1202, with the blessing of Pope Innocent III, a large army of Crusaders sailed from Venice in a huge armada of Venetian ships.   As part of the agreement for the use of the ships, the Crusaders captured the Hungarian city of Zara, which they sacked and pillaged.  After a long winter break, they set out in 1203 for Constantinople with the intention of deposing the current Emperor Alexius, who in turn had deposed and thrown into a dungeon his own brother.  However, with the Crusaders camped outside the city walls, the citizens decided to revolt against Alexius, who was strangled by the mob.  The Crusaders were not going to allow the revolt to interfere with their plans.  They proceeded to storm the city.  There then occurred atrocities on a scale never seen before even in those violent times.  Some 20,000 Crusaders, fuelled by drink, went on a drunken rampage of raping, pillaging, killing and looting.  They sacked and destroyed the great churches, priceless and irreplaceable works of art were destroyed, residences and public buildings were torched, women including nuns were violated and abused; nothing and no one were spared.  Pope Innocent offered his congratulations for the great victory!  However, he was horrified when he subsequently heard of the sack of the city and apologised publicly for the crimes committed but by then the damage had been done.  The Byzantines now had a hatred of the West which was to continue through the centuries.

Minor skirmishes occurred until an extraordinary sequence of events set off another wave of religious fervour to ignite Christendom.  A 12 year old shepherd boy named Stephen from Cloyes in France took a group of children to King Philip Augustus who was holding court in the Abbey of Sait-Denis.  Stephen said that he had a letter from Christ ordering him to preach a crusade!  From the Abbey he went around the country preaching that our Lord had said that unless we became as little children we would not enter the Kingdom of Heaven, so therefore Jerusalem would only be captured by an army of children!   Astonishingly, contemporary records say that Stephen converged on Marseilles with 30,000 children to embark to the Holy Land.  This figure is thought to be grossly exaggerated but even the more likely total of 10,000 is still astonishing.   The children had to beg for food and some died on the journey to Marseilles but arriving in the seaport they found that seven ships had been provided by merchants to take them to the Holy Land.  For 18 years, nothing was heard of them but in 1230, a priest arrived in France with a harrowing account of the arrival of the children in the East.  They had been rounded up and either killed or sold into slavery.  Around the same time, a German boy named Nicholas, fired by the example of Stephen, gathered up a similar number of children and took them on a hazardous journey through Switzerland to Rome.  Almost two-thirds of the children died from the privations of the journey and the remainder were received by the Pope, who with great kindness gently persuaded them to return home.   Sadly only a pitiful few finally made it back to their families.

However we are getting ahead of ourselves.  In 1216, Pope Innocent died suddenly but his successor Pope Honorius took over his plans to launch another Crusade; this time led by King Andrew of Hungary and Duke Leopold VI of Austria.  They landed in the Holy Land in 1217 with a small army and achieved virtual nothing in a campaign almost without engagement with the enemy.   About the only success was the capture by King Andrew of an earthenware jar believed to have been used by Jesus at the wedding feast in Cana in Galilee when the miracle of the turning of water into wine occurred.  In 1218, a large Crusader army of Dutch and Germans arrived led by one John of Brienne, King of Jerusalem, and they were joined by a large French army and Leopold of Austria with a strong force.  Their mission was to capture Egypt, which was now the Moslem super power in the region.  They set off from Acre on Ascension Day to capture the Egyptian seaport of Damietta which was protected by a massive chain across the Nile and a castle dominated by a strongly fortified tower.  With great ingenuity, the attackers produced a floating castle of two galleys lashed together and protected by copper sheets.  The attackers prevailed and the citadel was captured.  The way was clear to advance and capture Damietta but the Crusaders, fatally decided to wait until reinforcements arrived.  The weeks went by and the opportunity was lost.  Bickering broke out between the leaders and the Crusaders were decimated by dysentery.  Moral was low but the Crusaders were able to beat off and inflict heavy casualties on a Moslem army seeking to drive them out of Egypt.  A stalemate lasted some 18 months until in 1221, following flooding; the Crusaders agreed a peace with the Moslems and returned to Acre with nothing to show for their campaign.  Next month we conclude our narrative with the Sixth and final Crusade led by King Louis IX of France.                                                                              Roger Bryant

Women’s World Day of Prayer

The service this year is at St. Joseph’s at 2pm on Friday 3^rd March;  everyone , including men folk, is welcome.  The service is followed by tea when Fair Trade goods will be on sale.

The Choral Evensong at the Cathedral on Sunday 5 February was dedicated to the editors of Parish Magazines in the diocese.  The Preacher was the Dean – David Brindley, who also gave the prizes.  The competition was for the most improved, not the best, magazine over the two years from December 2003 and December 2005.  The decision was purely subjective.  The winners were:

1^st and a cheque for £200 – “Village News” which covers three villages in the Isle of Wight – Calbourne, Newtown and Shalfleet.  It is an A5 production with a colour front cover, and is circulated, free of charge, to 1,200 homes in the villages.  It is a joint effort between all three churches and the civic parish council. It replaced a church-only magazine.

2^nd and a cheque for £100 – “Trinity Times” (Holy Trinity, Gosport).  It is an A5 production and is circulated free to 1,200 households in the parish and 160 shops in the town centre.  It was launched in May 2004.

3^rd and a cheque for £50 – “Faithworks” (St. Faith’s, Lee-on Solent).  This is an A4 production with 4 pages only.  It is produced periodically for all 3,000 homes in the area, and is anecdotally very effective.

Four other parish magazines were on the short list.  They were:

“Connections” which covers Niton and Whitwell in the Isle of Wight.  This is an A5 magazine that joined forces with other local churches for an ecumenical edition circulated to 1,000 homes.

“Curdridge Parish Magazine”.  This is an A5 magazine focused on the village of Curdridge with a colour cover.

“Vision” which is the United Anglican and Methodist Church in Hart Plain.  The magazine was edited by the Vicar and its re-design was part of a communications strategy package for the parish.

“Wickham Parish Magazine”.  It is an A4 production with a circulation of 1,750.  Its improvements were initiated by a questionnaire circulated as part of the parish’s Kairos project.

During the period 4 January – 3 February the shop banked £1,672.72.  Well done to Sheila Warlow and all her helpers.  The shop will open again on 13 March.  All offers of help are welcome.  Please contact Sheila on 023 9247 5447.

In light of what has been in the media in recent weeks with regard to Child Protection issues I was asked to submit this article to inform parishioners what measures are taken to ensure the children in our parish are protected.  The Church recognises the measures needed to protect children from abuse and provides policies and procedures for each parish to follow.

St Faiths has a thriving Sunday Club, Youth Group and Junior Choir so to keep them developing we need to safeguard the welfare of these children.

As the parish Child Protection Representative I ensure that procedures are followed so that leaders and helpers within these groups are safe to work with children.  This is achieved by having those that work or wish to work with children filling in declaration forms, obtaining references and having CRB (Criminal Record Bureau) checks done.  Then documentation has to be checked by myself before sending it to the Diocese who then sends the relevant form to the CRB.  Once checked the Diocese and the person are informed.  If there is a concern then the Diocese takes the necessary steps and the Incumbent is informed and procedures followed.  So far we have never had a problem or concern.  It is also the job of the Representative to advise on issues of Health and Safety.

The Diocese also provides workshops on Child Protection Awareness which Leaders and helpers of groups involving children are encouraged to go on.  Quite a few of Sunday Club and Youth Group leaders/helpers have been to them and have come back feeling it has been worth while.

I believe that Portsmouth Diocese works hard to provide the policies procedures and recommended good practice for us to follow to help protect our children as much as possible.  Also these procedures are there to protect the leaders and helpers who give their time generously enabling our youth to grow in their Christian faith and be involved in church life.

If anyone has any queries please feel free to discuss them with me.

Fiona Hedley  (Child Protection Representative)

The Cutters will be starting their new rowing season on Sunday 19 March at 1315 with the traditional Blessing of the Boats ceremony conducted by the Revd David Gibbons on the foreshore by the Royal Oak, Langstone.  All parishioners are welcome to take part in this customary opening event of the rowers

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