www.keresleychurches.org.uk

Our Community

February 2015

50p

8 Essential Qualities of healthy growing churches

O ver the first few weeks of this year we are looking at

8 essential qualities of healthy churches. Each week we are exploring one of these themes in our services at St Thomas’.

These qualities are a way of life, not a programme or model. Individuals, groups and whole churches are encouraged to work towards ensuring that all of these 8 qualities permeate through their whole life and ministry . They are:

Empowering leadership Gift-based ministry Passionate Spirituality

Functional Structures (8th February)

Inspiring Worship (15th February)

Holistic small groups (22nd February)

Need-oriented outreach (1st March)

Loving relationships (8th March)

Invitations will be sent to selected church members to complete a questionnaire after the services on Sunday 1st March. Feedback will be shared at a bring and share lunch on Sunday 22nd March.

Parish Calendar 2

Local News 3

We will remember them. The fallen of WW2,. Part 2

4-5

St Thomas’ past 6

Amid the winds and the waves of life

6

Parish Register 7

Children and Young people

7

Mouse page 8

How do you define love?

8

Inside this issue:

Happy moments, praise God.

Difficult moments, seek God.

Quiet moments, worship God.

Painful moments, trust God.

Every moment, thank God.

- Anon

An evening of entertainment

and pancakes

6 - 8 pm—Sat 28th February

St Thomas’ Church Hall, Wickham Close

Tickets priced £2 & £1 (concessions)

available from Margaret Potter and Hazel Bailey.

If you have a talent you could share, either on your own or with a group,

then please sign up on the sheet in the Galilee Room

F e b r u a r y 2 0 1 5 P a g e 2

10.30am St Thomas All age worship. 8EQ theme: Need-oriented outreach

10.30am KVCC Morning Worship. Steve Medley

Sunday 15th February 2-4pm at Keresley Village Community Church

Theme: Love rules—Mary and Martha Looking ahead . . .

Saturday 14th March

9.30-11am KVCC Messy Breakfast Them: Mothers

Sunday 15th March

Mothering Sunday

P a g e 2

Services at St Thomas’ and Keresley Village Community Church

Refreshment for all

Tuesday afternoons, 1.30-2.30pm in the Galilee Room.

Fortnightly

If you need transport or would like to request prayers, please contact Margaret Bosworth on 7633 7932

leaving a message if necessary with your name and telephone number and she will

ring you back.

Sunday Morning Activities at St. Thomas’ Church at 10.30am for Children and Young People (during term time) 1st Sunday

Family Service in Church 2nd, 4th and 5th Sundays

3-11s, Sunday School in Galilee Room, 11+, Pathfinders in the Church Hall. All join the service at the Peace

3rd Sunday All ages start in Church

House group meetings -

Tuesday evenings. Details from the parish office or see Clare Fletcher.

Wednesday evenings, 2nd Wednesday of the month at Jo Goodwin’s house.

February Sunday 1st

9am St Thomas Holy Communion. Mark Norris

10.30am St Thomas All-age worship

10.30am KVCC Holy Communion. Steve Medley

Sunday 8th

9am st Thomas Holy Communion. Mark Norris

10.30am St Thomas Family Communion. Mark Norris. 8EQ theme: Functional Structures

10.30m KVCC Morning Worship. Alison Gee

Sunday 15th

9am St Thomas Holy Communion. Mark Norris

10.30am St Thomas Family Worship, 8EQ theme: Inspiring Worship

10.30am KVCC Holy Communion. Mark Norris

2pmp KVCC Messy Church.

Wednesday 18th

7.30pm St Thomas Ash Wednesday service

Sunday 22nd

9am St Thomas Holy Communion. Mark Norris

10.30am St Thomas Family Communion. 8EQ theme:Holistic Small Groups

10.30am KVCC Morning Worship Steve Medley and Mary Coles

March Sunday 1st

9am St Thomas Holy Communion. Mark Norris

O u r C o m m u n i t y P a g e 3

Coventry’s Half Marathon will be taking place on Sunday 1st March 2015. Parking on Tamworth Road will not be possible as one side of the road will be used for the race.

A list of road closures which may affect access to the church are listed on the race website www.coventryhalf.com/userfiles/files/COV15Residentcomms-2.pdf

Church of England

Weekly Podcast

Y ou can hear a round up of

news from the Church of

England in a new weekly

podcast. It’s available on the

front page of the Church of

England website, www.churchofengland.org

or you can now subscribe to it

on the ‘podcast’ section of

iTunes. Search for ‘Church of

England podcast’ in the iTunes

store and opt to subscribe.

C offee, tea, sugar and cocoa are the focus of this year's

national campaign running from 23 February till 8 March.

One way to support fair trade in Coventry is to call into the Cathedral Gift Shop and meet the fair traders there who run a gift shop and cafe. You can stock up and make your daily cuppa count towards a fairer world, get inspired when you see the huge range of fair trade items or maybe consider volunteering. They are open from 10am till 4pm, Monday till Saturday.

There are a number of crossing points, the most relevant being:

B Kingsbury Road to/from Grayswood Ave closed 9am to 10.05am

C Cedars Ave or Courtland Ave into Scots Lane or Banks Road (exit only) closed 9.45am to 12 noon.

D Coundon Wedge Drive to/from Pickford Way closed 9am to 10.30am

E Browns Lane to/from The Windmill Hill close 9.10am to 10.25am

F Brownshill Green Road closed 9.45am to 11.45am

Coventry Half Marathon

Thank you to all who continue to donate food. This month we particularly need: Pasta sauces

Tinned fish

Tinned meat

Sugar 1kg and 500g

Mashed potatoes

Tinned sweetcorn

Tinned Carrots

Tinned steamed

puddings

F e b r u a r y 2 0 1 5 P a g e 4

L ast year I wrote a piece about the fallen from the Second

World War commemorated on the Roll of Honour and in the churchyard. This concluding article picks up with the next fatality in 1943.

Able Seaman Robert Thomas JONES was killed in March 1943 when the merchantman on which he was serving as a gunner, the Clarissa Radcliffe, was sunk by U-663 in the North Atlantic. He was 24. Later the same month Lance Corporal Sydney BLACKER died aged 32, a prisoner of war imprisoned in Poland. Two days later Sergeant Ernest Frederick WOODRUFF of Edward Road was killed when his aircraft crashed. He is buried in the churchyard. Lance Corporal Hubert Leslie GEE was killed later in April in Tunisia.

Another local RAF Volunteer Reserve member was lost in June when his Lockheed Hudson light bomber crashed into a hillside in Iceland. He was Jack COLES, his wife Dorothy and parents Albert and Marie were all local. Then in July, Private Reginald PEEL of the Home Guard was killed locally. Two months later Engineman Horace GOODE of HMS Carina was killed; he is buried at London Road Cemetery.

The next fatality was another naval man, Able Seaman Walter WYKES, lost with his ship HMS Hurworth when she hit a mine in the Mediterranean. Corporal George WITHERINGTON of the RAF was killed later in October. We have not been able to find out the circumstances, however as he is buried in the churchyard, it suggests that he met his death somewhere in the UK. Less than two weeks later another RAF member was killed when his Short Stirling bomber was shot down, probably on a mission to Germany. He was Leslie GRIFFITHS and he was 21. The last fatality of 1943 was Signalman Geoffrey HAWKEN, who was killed with 26 others when his ship, HMS Birmingham, was torpedoed by U407 in the Mediterranean.

Sapper Stanley PICKERING died of wounds in February 1944, a prisoner of war in Italy, aged 20.

Then in May, Sergeant Flight Engineer Norman VINCENT of 425 Squadron RCAF was killed when his Halifax bomber was lost over France. Quite how a 23 year old airman from Coundon ended up in a French Canadian squadron is unknown.

The 6th June 1944 saw D-Day and the invasion of North West Europe. It also saw the loss of two more men we commemorate. Corporal Raymond LANGDON of the Parachute Regiment was 23 and the son of Raymond and Elizabeth Landon, and married to Joan. Also killed that day was Private Cecil Edward HOPKINS of the Kings Shropshire Light Infantry who landed on Queen Beach. Just over a week later Telegraphist Fred BASSET was killed when his ship, HMS Blackwood, was torpedoed by U-764 whilst protecting shipping in the supply line to the Normandy landings.

At the beginning of July, Lance Sergeant Charles TREVIS was killed in Italy whilst serving with the Coldstream Guards aged 22. In August Lance Corporal Fred SILLITOE was killed in Normandy. He was 25 and married to Stella Sillitoe. A few days later Flight Sergeant Bill INSLEY of Rookery Lane was returning from a mission to supply the SOE in France when his Albarmarle aircraft crashed near Brise Norton following an aborted landing. He is buried in the churchyard and a memorial to him and the four other aircrew who died with him that night was erected at the crash site in 2007.

Private Arthur TRANTER was killed in September serving with the Kings Shropshire Light Infantry in the breakout from Northern France into Belgium.

We shall remember them – The Fallen of Keresley parish

in WWII – part 2

O u r C o m m u n i t y P a g e 5 O u r C om m u n i t y P a g e 5

The following month saw the death of Warrant Officer Gordon MAXWELL of the Royal Armoured Corps in Coventry. He was 54 and from Sadler Road. We have not been able to find details of how he died, but he is buried in the churchyard.

In November 1944 Flying Officer Alfred ENSER, aged 29, was killed when the Avro York transport aircraft he was in flew off course into a mountain in Southern France. Just one of innumerable wartime flying accidents, this tragic event became headline news as the plane was carrying Air Chief Marshall Sir Trafford Leigh-Mallory, who had been a senior commander in the Battle of Britain, to his new command in India. He was to be the highest ranked British officer killed in the war. All ten casualties from the aircraft, including Leigh-Mallory and his wife, are buried in the Allemont cemetery on the side of the mountain.

Fusilier Geoffrey WADSWORTH was our last casualty in 1944, killed in Holland in November serving with the Royal Welch Fusiliers. He was 20. Six days into 1945, 19 year old Aircraftsman Peter CAIN of the RAF was killed when his Wellington aircraft crashed in Pembry, Suffolk, probably on a training flight. His grandparents, Albert and Ada Hixon were from Keresley, but he was from London and was cremated in Golders Green. Later that month, Lance Bombardier Benjamin EDWARDS was killed in Holland, aged 31. Guardsman Earnest READ of Greens Road died of wounds in Coventry in March, aged 34.

April 1945 brought the worst time for those remembered in the parish. On the 14th, Fusilier Christopher ROGERS of the Royal Irish Fusiliers was killed in Italy. The following day Private Albert ROSE of the Warwickshire Regiment died in Germany, aged 19. The next day saw the death of Corporal Arthur William LENTON of the Royal Tank Regiment in Italy and two days later Trooper Kenneth HUGHES of the Royal Armoured Corps also lost his life in Italy. Four lives lost in five days.

Steward Albert BUTRESS of Thompsons Road who served on HMS Lyme Regis died on 27th December 1945, well after the end of the war and is buried in the churchyard. Two others, C. BLAKEMAN and E.C. CLARKE are also commemorated on the roll of honour outside the church but it has not been possible to identify these individuals.

One final point of difference between the two world wars is the way that they are covered by the

Parish Magazines of the periods. Those from 1914 to 18 make constant reference to the war, with a list of all those serving; parish activities in support of “the boys at the front” and specific prayers. In contrast, those from 1939 to 1945 make no reference to the war, despite the higher casualties affecting the parish, not to mention the local impact of the blitz. This is probably a deliberate act of censorship, but is nonetheless slightly surprising, considering the level of information available in the press.

As ever, we would be glad to hear from anyone with further information that helps us to remember the fallen as people rather than just a list of engraved names. Pete Hudson

The base of this gravestone for Guardsman Earnest Read has the following inscription: Also in memory of his brothers-in-law Tom, Billy and John Lenton killed on active service.

F e b r u a r y 2 0 1 5 P a g e 6 P a g e 6

Amid the winds and the waves of life

February 1915 and although much of the magazine reflects the support for the war effort, these two articles give an insight into the continuing life of the parish.

S hortly before dawn Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake... ‘Lord, if it’s you,’ Peter replied, ‘tell me

to come to you on the water.’ ‘Come,’ he said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came towards Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, ‘Lord, save me!’ Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. ‘You of little faith,’ he said, ‘why did you doubt?’

Matthew 14:25-31

If you could have any superpower, what would it be? Unfortunately, this story isn’t evidence that Jesus is in the habit of handing out superpowers. So, what can we learn from this account? Like most of our modern superhero stories, this incident is less about the superpower on display and more about what the

characters learn about themselves and others.

Most significantly of all, the first thing Peter sees is Jesus doing what God alone can do. In Scripture, power over

the wind and waves is always attributed to God. Jesus’ feat of walking on water is more than just a clever trick. It’s further evidence of his authority – an authority which enables Peter himself to walk on water. Even more remarkably, we can trust that the power of Christ residing in us through his Spirit will

enable us to walk through life’s storms without fear.

The second thing Peter learns is that he can’t do it himself. He began to walk towards Jesus, “but when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, ‘Lord, save me!’” Peter was aware of the wind and the waves in his peripheral vision when he climbed out of the boat. But when he stopped focusing on Jesus and allowed his vision to be filled

with the storm, he began to sink.

Few of us will ever find ourselves in a boat surrounded by a storm, but we regularly weather metaphorical storms. The storms around us might be powered by financial difficulty, impossible deadlines

O u r C o m m u n i t y P a g e 7 O u r C om m u n i t y P a g e 7

Baptisms

7th December Mary-Ann Steane

11th January Tommy-Junior James Byers

Thanksgiving

25th January Daisey Mae Wraight

Weddings

6th December Charlotte Cripps and Luke Villiers

Burials

6th January Kathleen May Vice aged 88 of Bablake House, Birmingham Road. Interred in Keresley Churchyard.

10th January Edwin Douglas Robertson aged 85 of Keresley Wood. Interred at Lentons Lane Cemetery

Cremations

15th January Nellie Berry aged 94 of Halford Lodge

20th January Nira Hill aged 87 of Bennetts Road South

29th January Lyndon Parry aged 72 of Parkfield Road

Ashes Interred

21st January Alice Maud Birch aged 90 of Stennels Close

Uniformed Groups Meet in the Church Hall :

9th Rainbows, Mondays, 6-7pm 13th Brownies, Mondays, 6.00 - 7.30pm 9th Brownies, Wednesdays, 6.00 - 7.30pm 9th Guides, Thursdays, 6.30 - 8.30pm

Meet in the Scout Hut: 41st Cubs, Mondays, 6.45 - 8.30pm 41st Scouts, Tuesdays, 7.00 - 9.00pm 41st Beavers, Fridays, 6.00 - 7.30pm (for 6-8 year olds )

Youth Essence Thursdays 7.30pm to 9pm in the Galilee Room, School year 9 upwards

Regular Activities in the Church Hall NB the Church Hall is not usually available for late night Discos

Pre-school Playgroup: Mondays to Fridays, 9am - 11.30am and 12.30pm – 3pm

Brownies, Guides, Cubs and Scouts meet on weekday evenings. See above for details.

First Steps . . . with Jesus For babies and pre-school children with their parents and

carers, weekly in term time

Mondays 1.30-2.30pm Meets in the Galilee Room,

Wednesdays 1.30-2.45pm. Meets at Keresley Village Community

Children and Young People Parish Register

Trailblazers Children's Club Mondays 5-6pm at Keresley Village Community Church

TWEENs Thursdays from 6pm to 7.15pm. For years 7-9. High energy entertaining!

at work, family strife, unstable health, relationship breakdown. But when we find ourselves in a storm, what do we do? Do we allow the wind and waves to fill our vision and overwhelm us, or do we keep focusing on Jesus? Do we trust that, if we begin to

sink, he will reach out and catch us?

The one we look to is the Lord, who not only directs the winds and waves but also death and life, the only one who can save us – and carry us through

the storms of today.

Gemma Curran works with The London Institute for Contemporary Christianity.

(Continued from page 6) Amid the winds and waves