From the Rector

Packing for holidays raises the matter of ‘essentials’. Even when towing a small caravan there are restrictions on the amount of kit you can haul. Other life events trigger thoughts about what really matters in life. Everything from the death of a loved one to riots on the streets stops us in our tracks and offers us the chance to reconsider our priorities – for ourselves and for the communities to which we belong.

The diocesan conference at the backend of this month, entitled ‘Touching Heaven, Touching Earth’ will feature a keynote address from Graeme Coddrington who earns a crust as a Future Trends Analyst. Another contributor to the conference will be Diedrich Santer who produces programmes for television. What will these men be telling the clergy of Portsmouth Diocese? Their job titles suggest they’ll be inviting us to ask ourselves questions about what is essential for the church in its ministry to citizens of today and tomorrow?

Scarce and therefore increasingly precious resources discipline our thinking about our core purpose. So when God gives us opportunities by blessing us with new disciples who bring new gifts we have to reflect carefully about how we nourish, nurture and then deploy those people.

So as we begin preparing for 2012 by assessing the resources we might have at our disposal we shall be looking to see exactly what is essential to every part of our church life. If new ventures are reckoned vital to our life in Christ then resources will be invested in those and, if necessary, at the expense of other activity. We must take to heart the teaching of Jesus who says “Every branch that bears fruit he prunes to make it bear more fruit”. But the expert pruner has learned exactly where to cut in order that yield will be maximised. The change in style and purpose of this magazine is an example of such a change in priorities. Other such husbandry will be needed to ensure we are providing a range of worship that can reach out to everyone in our community or that our church buildings can serve greater numbers from across the borough to name but two of the many spheres of our church life which need to be developed and transformed.

If you are thinking of coming back to church on September 25^th for our Harvest Festival Service at 5pm you’ll see that we shall be taking up this pruning idea that puts the emphasis on thinking about the health of the future plant as well as the harvest gained from the old one.

So whether it is in choosing what foodstuffs we really need to buy through to what is crucial for the maintenance of  the significant human relations we enjoy we are constantly asking ourselves the question: ‘What is really essential?’ For the local Anglican Christian community, ensuring that it uses both its legacy and its future in the service of the kingdom must be its most essential concern.

Peter Jones

Who’s Joking?

Sandra Haggan knows that God has a sense of humour – and not just because she helps to run a joke shop.

In her mind, the fact that she leads services and preaches regularly at St Faith’s, Havant, seems fairly hilarious. She certainly didn’t see God guiding her in that direction. The 55-year-old has spent her entire working life at U-Need-Us, the legendary joke and novelty shop in Portsmouth. The family business was started in 1923 by her grandfather, William George Searle.

When she was first introduced to the shop as a small girl, Sandra was captivated by the party hats and magic tricks. And she still enjoys spending her daytimes surrounded by novelty costumes and coloured wigs, whoopee cushions and balloons. Now she runs the shop with her brother, Steve Searle, and is often joined at the counter by nephews and nieces – the fourth generation of the family to be involved.

“I still get excited about going to work, and about new items of stock that come into the shop,” she said. “I do believe that God has a sense of humour, and some of the situations we find ourselves in seem to bear that out. We all feel better after a good laugh, and even a smile can make a stranger feel better.”

U Need Us was originally at 68-72 Upper Arundel Street, selling many of the same jokes and tricks that are still popular today. The family also ran a printing business upstairs, and printed its own catalogue of novelty items that was sent around the world. To start with, staff also made fancy dress costumes.

During the Second World War, William Searle added hyphens to the name of the shop to prevent customers from thinking the firm was run by foreigners.

And in the 1960s, the re-routing of Arundel Street meant the shop moved further towards Commercial Road. Many of the original doors and items of furniture moved with them, preserving the shop’s traditional feel.

Sandra started working there aged just 15. After a break from work to bring up her children, Shaun and Tanya, she returned in 1987 and is now shop supervisor, handling orders from suppliers and dealing with regular customers. Her brother Steve, who is the shop’s manager and partner, has worked there since 1984.

“The basic lines we do are much the same,” she said. “There are a lot of traditional novelty items, and we still sell things like whoopee cushions.

“We don’t do fancy dress hire any more, but we sell fancy dress, wigs and hats. We sell a lot of jigsaw puzzles and board games that others don’t stock at the moment. And we sold a lot of flags and bunting for the Royal Wedding.”

Sandra lived initially in Hambledon, and used to visit her grandparents’ home every Sunday morning. But she rarely went to the shop until she started working there. In 1968 the family moved to Havant and Sandra was confirmed at St Faith’s Church in 1971. She started going to church regularly with her mother, brother and sister, and found herself helping with the Sunday School.

She got married and moved to Portsmouth from 1974-84, where she occasionally attended St Mary’s Church in Fratton. But when the family moved back to Havant, she went straight back to St Faith’s Church.

“It was quite comforting that very little had changed in those 10 years,” she said. “I think they were still using the same orders of service, and it helped that I knew what was going on. Things began to change when and there was an interregnum and then David Gibbons became rector. Everything opened up for me and I began to see things differently. I went on the bishop’s foundation course, and became quite excited about things. There were a couple of ‘light bulb moments’ when I realised things about the gospel that I hadn’t realised before.”

Sandra was churchwarden at St Faith’s for five years from 2003-08. Then David Gibbons encouraged her to think about training as a Reader, which would mean she was leading services and preaching regularly. She started her three-year training programme in 2007.

“It was very challenging,” she said. “I did ask David ‘Am I going to be any good at this?’ at various times. I could do the reading, but found writing the essays quite hard and had a couple of all-night sessions. But I had a very supportive tutor group around me and we’re all good friends. I did enjoy it and I did feel that if God wanted me to do it, he’d help me.”

Sandra was licensed by Bishop Christopher last September – the new bishop’s first service after his installation. She now preaches, leads Evensong and family services, does some pastoral visiting and takes Communion to the housebound.

“I did inter the ashes of someone who had been a member of the congregation for a long time last January, which was a real privilege,” she said. “But it’s not so easy to lead funerals when you have a full-time job.”

Sandra’s faith does affect her work, where she has conversations about Christianity, avoids unethical business practices and tries to ensure customer satisfaction. “We’ve been dealing with some of our suppliers since the 1930s, so there is a relationship that builds up with suppliers and customers. Some customers like to stop and chat and I like to think we have the time to do that, whereas that isn’t the case in most shops. And there are some items we choose not to stock, so I think we have a different feel as an independent, traditional shop.

“We have supplied the Readers’ conference with blue glow-sticks, and sold parishes props and costumes for pantomimes and sermons. And we supplied some biodegradable balloons for the bishop’s installation service. So we often see clergy in the shop, which somehow seems entirely appropriate!”

First published in Pompey Chimes, so thanks!

Summer Fun

At last after talking about having a camp for the last two years and then with six months serious planning the weekend finally arrived. Thanks to a team of Dads the tents were set at a secluded campsite in East Wittering before 20 of the ‘youth club team’ arrived in anticipation as to what was in store.

Once everyone settled into their chosen tents the leaders split everyone into four teams and over the weekend they had to earn points. Points were awarded for being helpful, polite to others as well as for the team games and kit/tent inspections. I have to say at this point, the boys excelled and were eager to help and keep their tent tidy. They also did their very best in the games.

Despite the frequent rain showers we all kept going, determined not to let it get us down!

St Anne’s church had their summer fair on the Saturday which not surprisingly was held inside. When we left there the weather started to improve so we made our way to the beach, after a short spell of retail therapy (although small East Wittering had some very interesting shops!).Needless to say we were unable to swim as planned but watched some spectacular waves crashing in. By the evening the sun shone and we enjoyed a BBQ. Then it was on to the highlight of the weekend….. The bush tucker trial. Each team nominated a person to a task which included tasting, smelling, listening and feeling. Those that had to taste things did very well and one of the things they had to do was bite into a cod liver oil capsule! In the feeling task the group’s faces were a picture of disbelief, horror and disgust when they found that they had put their hand into a bag of maggots!!!

On the Sunday while the team of Dads returned to take the tents down we walked back to St Anne’s and met their youth group members. We then joined everyone for the Eucharist and amused many parishioners with the array of colourful wellies. They then invited us to stay for a BBQ lunch before we headed back to camp for the prize giving and home time. Everyone was awarded something and the reasons for the award will give you some idea of some of the things that went on.

Amy – The tea towel ninja – having tried to deny she had a t-towel.

Eleanor – For persevering without her best friend who couldn’t make it

Claudia – The wave jumper

Sophie – For never complaining, even when her sleeping bag got wet.

Louise – For being focused and keeping her team together

Eva – The happiest camper. She always had a smile despite the weather

Emily – Well organised. She had to know what and when things were happening

William – The best water carrier

Sam – For having the funniest breakfast topic

Katherine – For being the luckiest tombola winner

Beth – For her hyperactivity

Amelia – The top human pyramid

Lydia – Unluckiest mobile phone user (caught with mobile phone which was banned from camp)

Immy – The quiz master.

Ella – The bravest blindfolded eater

Harriet – most helpful sibling

Ruth – Best reaction to the maggots!

Archie – Frequent shopper (particularly to the campsite shop)

Thomas – For eating the most sausages (7 in one day!)

Josie – Slow and steady camper as would never get flustered or rushed

Chloe – last but not least (She was able to join us for the Sunday)

Since the camp I have asked a few what they enjoyed and few comments were: ‘I talked to some of the others who I never had the chance to before’ ‘I really enjoyed the Summer Fair’ ‘The boys made me laugh a lot especially Archie’ ‘I loved being able to eat sweets at our late night feast’ ‘I loved it all’.

Lastly I would like to thank everyone who helped with putting up and taking down tents and to all those who stayed to help over the weekend it was a great success. So much so that we are certainly going to doing something similar next year!! (Did I really say that?).

Thank you Fiona & the team so much for arranging the summer camp. It was really fun and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Can we do the same next year? Pleaaaase.

Reading more

Here at St Faith’s we are lucky that as well as our two priests, Peter Jones the Rector and our new Curate Pat Mann, we have three Readers. Well, actually 2½, since Mike Fluck is still in his training phase. Readers, often called Lay Readers, are licensed to take many parts of church services, as well as many other aspects of Parish work. This requires extensive training over several years, and Sandra Haggan recently completed this long course (while continuing to do apparently every unfilled job in the Parish) and was licensed a few months ago.

But our senior Reader is Trevor Hopkinson. He is obviously not a young man, and newcomers to St Faith’s might think he has been our Reader for many years. But in fact, he has not been very long in this part of the world, having come to Hayling only 13 years ago. His sermons often contain sidelong references to fascinating episodes in his earlier life, so I asked him for a fuller history.

He was first licensed over sixty years ago, and showed me his licence from the Archbishop of York, dated 1950.  He was attached to Beverley Minster, then still in Yorkshire, since he was teaching at a school in Beverley. But his life goes back much further than that.

The first surprise is that he was born in Newcastle. I commented that he was very far from a typical Geordie, which prompted him to start talking of hinnies and stotty cake. He has always been interested in railways, so it seems appropriate that he tells me he was born nine months after the railway ‘grouping’ in 1923, when Britain’s many railways were consolidated into the four main companies that continued until nationalisation in 1947. That means he will be celebrating his 88th birthday this month. There were two elder sisters in the family, and he was still at school in 1939 when the war broke out.

When he left school, he worked in a local firm until he was 19½. His original call-up was when he was 18, but there were plans to form REME (the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers) in 1943, and he was seen as an ideal recruit for this skilled regiment. So he was deferred for some time. With the apparent illogicality of the army, he was sent to a Scottish Regiment, the Gordon Highlanders in Aberdeen, for basic training, followed by 8 months in Scarborough with the Royal Artillery. Then via Whitby and Cromer, where the various trade specialists were assembled, by Christmas 1943 he finally got to Catterick to be trained on telephone superposing machines – a very early high-tech device to increase the number of calls carried on a single phone line. (This strikes a chord with me: not only did I deal with telephones during my National Service, but I was in the same barracks, Vimy Lines, for my basic training.) Even at the increased pace of training during the war, that took nine months, and then after another brief stay in Norfolk to collect a draft together, in September 1944 he went off to Liverpool to embark for an unknown destination.

The ship was the Canadian Pacific Duchess of Bedford, which even in wartime seemed more luxurious than army camp. But not for nothing was she known as ‘the drunken Duchess’; they had a stormy passage wallowing across the Bay of Biscay. The ship took them to Alexandria, and from there he took a train to Haifa. That gave him time for a first visit to the sites of the Holy Land: Nazareth, where the only building that looked ancient was the old synagogue. Finally, he reached his destination, Beirut, where he joined 107 Line Maintenance Section attached to the Beirut Military Telephone Exchange – which was dug into a hillside as protection from bombing.

He stayed in the Middle East for about 2½ years, moving around from time to time, and collecting a wealth of experience for use in future sermons. He even spent a week billeted in the great Saracen Citadel of Aleppo. By the end of his service, he was an Instructor in the School of Signals at El Ma’adi (a suburb of Cairo), before being shipped home and demobbed in June 1947.

By then it had long been clear to him that he wanted to teach, and the government gave a lot of support to train ex-servicemen. He went to a college in York, and then to his first post. He was rather attracted to a school in Redcar, but unfortunately they insisted he should teach PE, when his interest was RE, a very different subject. So he settled on St Mary’s Boys’ Primary school in Beverley (a church school) to teach History, English and, of course, RE. This was before the introduction of Secondary Modern schools, so his pupils were aged up to 14. But as Trevor puts it, “I wanted to teach children in the week and adults on Sundays.” And this led him to his licence as a Reader at Beverley Minster.

However, it is a peculiarity of the Reader’s post that the licence is for one particular Diocese. So when Trevor moved into the Diocese of Carlisle, he was able to get another licence, but back in Yorkshire after a move to Knaresborough, there were no vacancies in the local church. And this led to him stopping his Reader work for many years.

He took early retirement from teaching, found time to study for a Doctorate, and eventually moved to Hayling in 1998, where a friend had shown him the retirement flats which he liked so much he bought one at once. He came to St Faith’s “almost by accident”. The style of services in the Hayling churches was very different from his tradition, so he tried Havant, and found we were what he liked. Then in 2002, the then Rector David Gibbons discovered his past as a Reader, and encouraged him to get a new licence. This didn’t go entirely smoothly, since there was such a long gap in his service, but he was granted a licence for St Faith’s only. After six years he was made a “Reader with Permission to Officiate”, and we at St Faith’s have benefited from his wisdom, as well as his stories of experience in the Holy Land. There are also his Study Group afternoons, which give most valuable insight into specific books of the Bible. And even though we are ourselves enjoying learning, we can still envy those generations of schoolchildren who were given a good start in life by him.

Thank you, Trevor, and Happy Birthday.

Alan Hakim

Letters to the Editor

Church Shop

The Church shop has raised £9769.41 so far this year. This has taken a great effort from a small group of helpers. We really could do with more help, so please think about giving a few hours each week. We are very grateful for all your donations and hope they will continue to come. The shop is open again from September.

Tea in the Garden

On behalf of the Prime of Lifers I would like to thank all the people who supported the ‘Tea in the Garden’ afternoon. It was a lovely sunny afternoon and everyone was able to sit in the garden and relax and eat plenty of cake.  We are able to send a cheque to Naomi House for £100.00 from the proceeds.

The next event on the Prime of Lifers calendar is skittles at the Barley Mow on the 30th September.  The tickets will soon be on sale.

Best Regards

Jackie Martin

Nave Altar Experiment

Dear Editor,

Could someone please tell me where in the Book of Common Prayer, Cranmer indicates that the altar should be in the "body" of the church? I have read it through; all the "thou shalt nots" with fines varying from imprisonment for 6 months, 400 marks, 12 pence, etc., etc., but the only thing I found was the Order for Morning and Evening Service; "daily to be said and used throughout the year" and it goes on to say "And the Chancels shall remain as they have in times past".

Yours sincerely,

Sheila Legg

Dear Editor,

The rubrics (rules) which order how the Holy Communion (Book of Common Prayer) is to be celebrated appear at the very beginning of the Order prior to the first recital of 'Our Father' they read as follows: The table, at the Communion-time having a fair white linen cloth upon it, where Morning and Evening Prayer are appointed to be said. And the Priest standing at the North side of the table shall say the Lord's Prayer, with the Collect (for Purity) following, the people kneeling.

It is clear that the Cranmer's preference was for a free standing 'table' in the 'Body of The Church' as distinct from an altar. The north-sided position of the celebrant emphasised that the priest presided amongst those who gathered around the Lord's Table as opposed to a celebrant who officiated alone and at a distance from the people. The further inference we can take from the rubric is that the Holy Communion was not to be divorced from the daily recital of Morning and Evening Prayer and the rubric's words or 'in the Chancel', where Morning and Evening Prayer are appointed to be said could be taken to suggest that the chancel step upon which the clergy stalls for the saying of the Divine Office are set, is also his preferred place for the Holy Table even when it is in the chancel.

Peter Jones

Rector

A-Z of churches

Confused by the jargon used in church? Want to know what some of the words your vicar uses actually mean? This month sees the start of our new feature, first seen in the Diocese newspaper, Pompey Chimes in 2003. It aims to take the mystery out of church life.

A is for…

ADVENT: the month of December before Christmas. Originally from the Latin “adventus” meaning “coming”. Confusingly we anticipate both Jesus’ first and second coming at this time. Also a month to contemplate Christmas shopping which traditionally happens frantically in the last few hours of Advent on Christmas Eve.

AISLE: the space between the pews. People sit near it if they want to make a quick getaway after or (during) the service.

AMEN:  A Hebrew word meaning “verily”. Traditionally you say it to indicate you agree with the prayer just prayed.

ANGLICAN: Another word for Church of England. Can be used disparagingly, as in typical Anglican fudge”.

ANTHEM: Scriptural words set to sacred vocal music. Usually sung by the choir, or recited by the congregation (not at the same time).

ARCHDEACONS: The three workhorses of the diocese, second in command to the bishop. Each has responsibility for a particular area of the diocese. In Portsmouth this is, Portsdown; the Meon and the Isle of Wight.

ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY: The head honcho. The main man. The boss. Oh except for God.

ASH WEDNESDAY: The first day of Lent, this is the six-and-a-half weeks before Easter Sunday. Accompanied by determined promises to give up chocolate for Lent (though that’s not to do with Christianity). The name comes from the burning of last year’s Palm Sunday crosses and using the ash to make cross shaped signs on the foreheads of the congregation to mark a period of fasting and prayerfulness.

ATHEIST: A person who believes absolutely and completely that there is no God.

AUTHORISED VERSION: Translation of the Bible completed in the 17^th century and also known as the King James version. The one with all the ‘thees’, ‘thous’, and ‘speakeths’. Some say it is a beautiful, inspiring translation. Others say they haven’t a clue what it’s on about.

History of Choristers - Part 3 -Late C12 – early C14th

When William the Conqueror came to England, he brought with him some Benedictine monks, because he intended to re-establish the Benedictine monasteries and cathedrals.   However, the secular cathedrals now had their own Canons who were not answerable to monastic vows and were therefore better able to serve the communities in which they lived.   Choir boys still sang in these secular Cathedrals.   They were considered indispensable, because their voices were thought to resemble the pure, heavenly sound of the angels!  

Families who wished their sons to have a sound education, competed for places in the cathedrals’ song schools.   Potential young boy singers were expected to know their alphabet, recite the Pater Noster (Lord’s Prayer) and have a basic reading ability.   Before the thirteenth century there were few books, and sometimes the alphabet and a selection of words were written on whitewashed walls.   An example of this can be seen in the vestry of St Michael’s Church in Somerset.   Yet how many choir boys actually existed at this time?   Records from the late twelfth century show Exeter and Salisbury Cathedrals as having fourteen choristers, Lincoln twelve and Chichester ten (later, twelve).   York had twelve, Lichfield, like St Paul’s, had eight, Wells six (plus three older boys) and Hereford five.   It was these relatively few Cathedral choirs who maintained a choral tradition throughout the Middle Ages.

However, by the thirteenth century, things became more difficult for these young singers.   No longer having the protection of the monks, and neglected by those who were supposed to educate and care for them, they were often made to do the work of servants, going hungry and having to ask for food like the beggars of the day.   Then, in 1319, the Bishop of Salisbury drew up a set of statutes that provided a house for their choir boys in Cathedral Close.   This document records that a resident Canon was put in charge of the boys and taught them liturgy, grammar - and morals!   It is in this same document that the word “chorister” occurs, a word that continues to be used today.  

Wells Cathedral followed Salisbury’s example.   At Wells, twelve boys slept in four large beds.   An older boy slept at the head end, and two smaller boys at the other end – all six legs meeting in the middle!   On Sundays, the boys wore silk copes that matched the liturgical colour of the day.   Both men and boys sang the required plainsong melodies and hymns in unison.   The boys had to remain standing for nearly the whole service!   From the thirteenth century, Latin textbooks and little primers that contained the prayers and Hours of the Virgin were produced, but they were very expensive.   Choristers still had to sing from memory and choir stalls had no bookstands.   For about two centuries, from 1150 – 1350, boy singers could only be heard singing in the choirs of secular Cathedrals.  

The illustration is of King David and his harp which can be seen in Wells Cathedral

Then, just as things were becoming more settled, the Plague arrived and yet another transformation took place in choral music that directly affected the choristers.

Sylvia Willey

Volunteer Certificate Presentations 2011

We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.  Winston Churchill

The Havant Volunteer Centre held this event on 3 August 2011 to celebrate and acknowledge the time and energy given by volunteers in our local area.  All nominated volunteers and their guests were invited to the celebration which took place at Langstone Technology Park.  The event was supported and sponsored by Havant Borough Council, and Councillor Ken Smith, Mayor of Havant, presented the certificates to nominated volunteers at the ceremony.

To be nominated for an award, organisations have to be members of the Havant Council of Community Service, reside in Havant and have been a volunteer with the organisation for a minimum of five years.  At the award ceremony there were 93 nominations from 37 organisations.

Beryl Carter was nominated by Ruth Eastwick from the Pastoral Centre where Beryl arranges the rota for St. Faith’s Church, and has been supporting the Centre for many years.  Beryl felt that she was not only accepting the award for herself, but also for all the other ladies on the team, past and present.

The Pastoral Centre at the Havant Methodist Church Hall near the Medical Centre provides refreshments every morning, Monday to Friday, 9.30am-12 noon.

If anyone would like to join the team where two people from St. Faith’s are required every third Wednesday, then please see Beryl.  Other churches provide the personnel for the other mornings.  The money raised during the year is given to local charities in the area who are nominated at the AGM.

At the ceremony, Michael Powell, who is part of the server team at St. Faith’s, was nominated by Beacon Furniture for an award and also received a certificate from the Mayor.           

Should you wish to help in any way, then please call in at the Havant Volunteer Centre at The Pastoral Centre on the Petersfield Road in Havant, PO9 2HU, telephone 023 9248 1845 or e-mail: volunteering@havantccs.org.uk.

Marion Simmons RIP

All of us in St Faith’s were saddened to hear of the passing of Marion. She was a remarkable lady who did so much for so many people. She freely gave of her talents to this church and the parish; She was a keen gardener and would bring her potted plants to many events. She was a wonderful cake maker, producing little cakes topped with jam and icing sugar, gingerbread men, oatie biscuits and the like. These featured greatly in the church Coffee Mornings.

Marion was also an excellent knitter who contributed her knitted items to many fund raising events. She was also a strong supporter of the Bench Theatre, helping with props and costumes. Throughout it all, she had the support of her loyal husband, Roger, carrying pots, flowers, cakes and anything else which was necessary.

Marion was a loyal and regular member of the congregation of St Faith’s. Every Sunday morning she would sit with Judy and her guide dog, always attentive to their needs. She was a true and practising Christian who will be greatly missed at St Faith’s.

Marion and Roger were a loving and devoted couple. They would tell friends how they met on London Bridge. Many years ago, the bridge was pulled down and literally transported to America, brick by brick, where it was rebuilt as a tourist attraction. On one of their trips to the States, they visited the Bridge and stood again at the spot they had met. Our thoughts and prayers at this very sad time are with Roger, daughter Jo and sons Christopher and James.

Roger Bryant