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A FREE magazine published
by the Langley Churches
for the people of Langley
May 2019
St Francis Church
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Editorial & Article Submission Anna Thomas-Betts 01753
822013 [email protected]
Announcements, Advertisements Richard Shircore 07943 404388
richard.shircore @btinternet.com
Layout & Advert Design Roo Kanis-Buck
[email protected]
Copy Deadline 15th of the previous month
Website www.langleymarish.com/around-langley
Front Cover illustrations Michael Day - 01753 512519
Printing by Print Direct Solutions, Langley
GENERAL Editorial Page 3 Langley Neighbourhood Forum Page 4
Community Coffee Shop Page 4 Beating the Bounds Page 5 Lighthouse
Langley Page 6 Day of Prayer for the Police Page 6 Body Image:
Mental Health Week Page 7 And, Ampersand et c. Page 9
FAITH MATTERS Regular Weekly Services Page 10 Regular Church
Activities Page 11 Eastertide Page 12 ‘Dare to Break Bread’ Page 13
Revelation Page 15 Langley Churches invite you ... Page 16
Church Directory Page 19
Contents
Magic of Green Drive
Why run everywhere, I asked myself
And slowly walked down Green Drive;
Paused and watched a squirrel scamper up a tree
A man tending his allotment, his dog patiently
waiting at his side.
I sat down a few minutes later on the sawn-up tree
trunk
And felt warm sun on my back.
I closed my eyes and listened to the sweet song of
the blackbird
And let peace flow gently into my heart.
Sheila Love
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So much beauty and so much pain…
John Clare’s poem on the beautiful month of May, starts:
Come queen of months in company, Wi all thy merry minstrelsy
The restless cuckoo absent long And twittering swallows chimney
song
And hedge row crickets notes that run
From every bank that fronts the sun
And swathy bees about the grass That stops wi every bloom they
pass
And every minute every hour Keep teazing weeds that wear a
flower …
As we wake up to a beautiful Easter Sunday morning, there comes
the news
of the horrible massacre of hundreds of people in Sri Lanka,
Christians
worshipping at church on one of the holiest days of the year, as
well as those
enjoying their holiday in those tourist hotels. As I write this,
we still don’t
know who was responsible for this. Such a tragedy and so
pointless.
This was just a month after the lone gunman killed dozens of
people in the
Christchurch shootings in New Zealand. He will be brought to
justice, but
that is scant consolation for those who were bereaved.
We can be thankful that there was no loss of life in the
horrendous fire at
Notre Dame Cathedral and apparently no evil hand behind that
tragedy. It
was moving to see the Easter services being held in open-air,
outside the
Cathedral. A reminder that, while the Cathedral is a monument of
national
heritage, the Church is really the people: wherever people
gather together to
worship, there is church in that place.
For us it is election time again, not just for our councils, but
also, it would
seem, to the EU parliament, whatever good that may do us and the
EU. How
many of us wish that it was just all over, however it all works
out! .
John Clare’s poem on May ends:
And at thy births unworshipd hours,
Fills her green lap wi swarms of flowers
To crown thee still as thou hast been,
of spring and summer months the queen.
Anna Thomas-Betts
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Langley Neighbourhood Forum
The Langley Neighbourhood Forum will
meet next on 25th June. This will be the
AGM, where officers and committee
members will be elected for the
following year. The theme of the
meeting is likely to be the exploration of
how to provide facilities and activities
for young people, sadly lacking in
Langley at present. For details see
www.langleyforum.org.
Langley Community Coffee Shop Our Easter event was a happy
occasion
with too much of the naughty food
(Easter cakes and hot cross buns!) as
well as a lucky draw for four Easter Egg
prizes. Again, Byron Kennedy provided
our fun quiz and it was a time to
catch up with events
and to remember
our friends,
Sheila Love*
and Gwen
Hutchinson
who have
sadly passed
away recently.
Sheila and Gwen
were always so happy
to attend our meetings which provided
them with company, gave them an
interest and provided them with a kindly
word, as did the Blind Club and Refresh.
So, we hope there is always love and
kindness in our lives. I always keep my
mother’s little book of ‘Reflections of
Friendship’ open by the table in the front
-room; the reflection I have chosen for
May is:
‘Kindness in words creates confidence.
Kindness in thinking creates
profoundness. Kindness in giving
creates love.’ Lao Tsu
On 14th May Robin and Juliet Grayson
will give a talk with slides on their recent
trip to Kenya.
The armchair exercises continue to be
popular and we try to provide these
exercises each week now, except on
days we have our talk. The exercises are
good for arm and leg movement and can
be practised at home; they last about
twenty minutes. However,
the sessions are
variable as we
have to rely on
a trainer
turning up.
Please
come along
if you can
spare an hour
and a half or so on
News from Around Langley
http://www.langleyforum.org/
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Tuesday mornings from 10-11.30 am,
either to make new friends or to
volunteer. We are located in the Langley
Library in Trelawney Avenue opposite
Holy Family Catholic Church.
Sheila Papali
*Father Kevin O’Driscoll writes :
“Sheila Love was a lovely parishioner here
at Holy Family and she lived just beside
the church. Sheila was a very
accomplished lady and, among other
things, wrote some very charming poetry
which had a local flavour to it.”
Her poem on the Magic of Green Drive is
reproduced on page 2.
Local Elections, 2nd May The candidate list for Wards of
interest to
Langley residents are as follows:
Colnbrook with Poyle Gurdeep Singh GREWAL Labour
Dexter Jerome SMITH Conservative
Langley Kedermister
Harpreet Kaur CHEEMA Labour
Josephine Mary HANNEY Liberal
Democrats
Sharon O’REILLY Independent
Meena SHARMA Conservative
Langley St. Mary’s
Zaffar Iqbal AJAIB Labour and Co-
Operative
Christine BAMIGBOLA Conservative
Julian Edward EDMUNDS Green
Upton
Jina BASRA Labour
Olivia Elizabeth DIXON Green
Gurcharan Singh MANKU Conservative
Rod PARKES Liberal
Democrats
Wexham Lea
Harjinder Singh GAHIR Labour
Shafait HUSSAIN Independent
Jasvinder SINGH Conservative
Ken WRIGHT Independent
Around Langley urges all readers who are
eligible to exercise their democratic right
and vote in these local elections.
‘Beating the Bounds’ A Langley Community Walk on Bank
Holiday Monday, 6th May
This Bank Holiday Monday the
congregation of St Mary's Church would
like to invite Langley residents to join
them on another boundary walk, this
time around the south-east section of the
Parish: along the Canal, Maplin Park, over
the Motorway junction and back along
Ditton Park. We will start with prayers at
the church at 10.30am, and return to St
Mary's at about 1.00pm. We will ‘beat the
bounds’ at various points along the route
and pray for our community as we go. A
bread and soup lunch will be on offer at
the Vicarage afterwards.
The length of the walk is about 5 to 6
miles and walkers are welcome to join us
for all or part of it. Contact Revd Robin
Grayson on 01753 542068 or at
[email protected] if you would
like to know more.
mailto:[email protected]
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Langley Lighthouse August 5th- 9th 2019 at The Langley
Academy
The plans for the first Lighthouse Langley
are coming along nicely. We have been to
Langley Academy to get a better idea of
how things will run. Revd Robin Grayson
and I have been to some of the local
secondary schools looking for teenagers
to fill our ‘Lamplighter’ roles. We are
making good progress but still need more
teenagers and adults to volunteer for help
with the different age groups. We have a
fantastic team of Age Group Leaders to
help lead and guide volunteers.
Each Lighthouse (a group of between 10-
15 children of the same age) is run by a
Lighthouse Keeper (LHK) with one, or
more, younger helpers called
Lamplighters (LL). Lamplighters are at
the heart of Lighthouse.
As a Lamplighter your job is to care for
the children in your Lighthouse
throughout the week. Lamplighters assist
the children by going with them to the
various activities, helping and joining in
with the various activities, eating with the
children at lunch, helping them to enjoy
themselves, and being generally attentive
to their welfare.
Lighthouse Keepers are the overseers of
a ‘Lighthouse’ of 10-15 children
throughout the week. Lighthouse
Keepers support and manage LLs
(assistant leaders) in your Lighthouse
group, care for the children in your
Lighthouse throughout the week, going
with them to the various activities,
helping and joining in with the activities,
eating with them, helping them to enjoy
themselves, and being attentive to their
general welfare,
To register a child starting from May 1st:
https://lighthousecentral.org/get-
involved
For further information please contact
Revd Sue Lepp on 07930 520562 or at
[email protected]
The Rev. Sue Lepp
National Day of Prayer for the Police People of all faiths are
invited to note that
Thursday 30th May has been designated
as a special day when we pray for our
police force.
The Rev. Sue Lepp who became a
Volunteer Chaplain for Thames Valley
Police in Slough a few months ago writes:
https://lighthousecentral.org/get-involvedhttps://lighthousecentral.org/get-involvedmailto:[email protected]
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This has been a very interesting and
challenging role to take on. My main
involvement is visiting the Windsor Road
Station on Thursdays where I try to
attend the daily briefing with the
oncoming ERT (Emergency Response
Team). I am available to talk with officers
and staff about anything and everything.
There is a very social component to my
time but I am aware of how pressured the
police service is. The main role of a police
chaplain is to be a ‘listening friend’ who
knows and observes something of what
happens in the local area. I have met
incredibly professional and caring officers
and staff who are trying their best in
difficult situations, political climate and
facing real financial strains on this
valuable service.
One of the things that Christians can do is
to pray for our police service. At St
Francis Church on London Road we
decided over a year ago that whenever
we heard a siren go by we would stop
what we are doing and pray for that crew
(whether police, fire or ambulance) and
the people they were on their way to
attend. So I would encourage anyone to
say a prayer when you see an emergency
service vehicle going past.
An initiative started by the Christian
Police Association is to designate
Thursday 30th May as a National Day of
Prayer for the Police. People of faith
everywhere are invited to pray for
Police Officers and the wider police family;
Their safety whilst on duty;
Helping to keep communities safe;
Innovative, compassionate and courageous solutions to policing
issues,
Help in making difficult resourcing decisions.
I hope that you will join in to prayerfully
support those who work tirelessly to keep
us and our families safe.
Body Image: theme of the Mental Health Week, 13th-19th May
When you look in the mirror, are you
happy with what looks back at you? Or
do you wish your image looked
different—more like that of a celebrity,
maybe? Or fairer, or less wrinkled? Many
of us do, even if it is subliminally.
One in four girls in this country aged 14
self-harm in some way, the most
common symptom being to cut
themselves and hide the damage. One in
ten children aged 5-16 now suffer from a
diagnosable mental health disorder. The
numbers are rising much higher for those
in care or those in prison; young LGBTI
people have higher rates of poor mental
health, self-harm and suicide than their
non LGBTI counterparts. The pressure to
conform is immense.
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It is with those statistics in mind that the
Mental Health Foundation chose Body
Image as the theme for this year’s mental
health week.
In his blog, Mark Rowland, the CEO of
Mental Health Foundation (search for
Mental Health Awareness Week on your
browser) explains why this is the chosen
theme. Our body image is important to
everyone of us, irrespective of age,
culture and ethnicity. We know we are
wondrously created, and can marvel at
how we function, and yet we are
fortunate if we are completely satisfied
with our bodies as they are, all the time.
Part of the reason why we are not
‘comfortable in our skin’ is that we are
bombarded with images of what our
bodies should look like. So we are
constantly judging ourselves against
some ideal and falling short. The impact
of such images is obviously much greater
on young people, for whom approval by
their peers is hugely important and a
source of stress, even when they are not
subjected to active bullying, in social
media, or real life.
Although women suffer from negative
body images most, it is not only they who
feel the pressure to attain ‘ideal’ bodies.
Richard Madden, the star of Bodyguard,
is one of the male celebrities who have
spoken out about the unrealistic
demands made on them to achieve some
‘ideal’ body shape (through rigorous diet
and exercise). We all know about the
corsets female stars have to wear to
shape their bodies. It seems that male
stars also sometimes have to wear
clothes in which they can barely breathe.
It is widely recognised that contentment
with our bodies has a profound influence
on our mental health. So during the
Mental Health Awareness Week the
organisers hope that that there will be
conversations about the influence that
family, society and culture can have on us
and how we can be kinder to our bodies
and thus be released from debilitating
self-doubt.
Although many religions recognise the
link between body and mind (and soul),
in Western philosophy, there is a
tradition of seeing body and mind as
separate entities, which is now known
not to be helpful when considering the
holistic health of human beings. During
the Awareness Week, the Mental Health
Foundation intend to “release
findings that will bring together the
latest research on body image with one
of the largest surveys ever completed” to
give a picture of how people of all ages,
and across the UK, feel about their
bodies. It will also set out the increased
risk of mental health problems that
accompany poor body image”. Look
out for it!
Anna Thomas-Betts
The wise are instructed by reason,
average minds by experience,
the stupid by necessity and
the brute by instinct.”
Marcus Tullius Cicero
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And, Ampersand, etc. and so on ...
Marcus Tullius Cicero was a Roman statesman in the 1st Century
BC.
He was also a practising lawyer and a philosopher, who was
well
known for his brilliant oratory powers. He was a contemporary
of
Julius Caesar, at times a friend but an archenemy later on,
when
Cicero was trying to uphold the principles of democracy and
maintain
Rome as a republic and Julius Caesar had other ideas, and
ambitions of becoming the
Emperor of Rome. His amazing life as a Senator and Consul is the
subject of a trilogy
by Robert Harris. The insights Harris provides into the
political intrigues and power
struggles Romans went through, and the challenges faced by
politicians for survival -
both politically and literally—are breath-taking.
Cicero was meticulous about record keeping which was one reason
he managed to live
to the age of 63, through all the turmoil of the destruction of
the Republic. Every
speech and diplomatic mission he made was recorded so that they
could be produced
as evidence on his behalf should it prove necessary, as indeed
it did from time to time.
For this he depended almost entirely on the services of Tiro,
his slave. Tiro was in fact
far more than a slave: he was a confidante, and almost a friend,
on whom Cicero
depended increasingly for everything. Tiro was eventually made a
free man, but
Cicero’s dependence on him was such that he clung on to him as a
slave almost until
his death was imminent. Nevertheless, Tiro stayed loyal to
Cicero all his life.
Tiro was the first man to record a speech in the senate
verbatim. To keep an accurate
record of conversations and public speeches, Tiro employed
clerks and developed a
shorthand system that was still in use in the Church in the
sixth century. Of course
paper as we know was not in use then, papyrus scrolls being
their medium for writing.
Some symbols of Tiro’s shorthand still survive. We can easily
see how
‘and’, et in Latin, might have become the commonly used
ampersand
symbol &. Some other common abbreviations inherited
from Tiro, and still in usage as ‘shorthand’, are NB (nota
bene meaning ‘note well’); e.g. (exempli gratia, meaning
‘for
example’); and i.e. (id est, meaning ‘that is’, and not to
be
confused with e.g.!) Etc, which we now use as shorthand
for ‘and so on’ stands for et cetera, strictly speaking should
be et c.
Of course with text messaging comes another generation of
shorthand symbols,
which some of the older generation struggle with – remember
David Cameron using
LOL to mean ‘lots of love’, not realising it stood for ‘laugh
out loud’?
Anna Thomas-Betts
&
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Regular Weekly Service Times St Mary’s (St Mary’s Road)
Sunday 8.00am Holy Communion (Book of Common Prayer)
Third Sunday (19th) 9.30am Family Worship
Sunday 11.00am Family Communion (and Sunday Club for
children)
Sunday 6.30pm Evening Prayer (Usually a said service)
Holy Family (Roman Catholic) (Trelawney Avenue)
Sunday 9.30am 11.15am & 6.30pm Mass
Mon, Tues, Wed 9.30am Mass or Service of the Word and
Communion
Thursday NO SERVICE
Friday 9.30am Mass or Service of the Word and Communion
Saturday 5.30pm Mass
Langley Free Church (Baptist) (Trelawney Avenue)
Sunday 10.30am Morning Worship and Sunday School (All Age
Worship on first Sunday)
2nd Sunday 10.30am Holy Communion
St Francis of Assisi (London Road)
Sunday 9.30am Holy Communion
Fourth Sunday 11.00am All age Service
Christ the Worker (Parlaunt Road)
1st and 3rd Sundays 11.00am Morning Worship
2nd, 4th & 5th Sunday 9.30am Holy Communion
Anglican Morning Prayer 8.45am: Mondays and Fridays at St
Mary’s;
Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays at St Francis; Wednesdays at
Christ the Worker.
Parish Barbecue Sunday, 26th May St Mary’s Vicarage, 12.45 pm,
Tickets from 01753 54206
Joint Anglican Ascension Day Service, Thursday, 30th May
8 pm at Christ the Worker Church
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Regular Church Activities
Kedermister Pew & Library
‘The Jewel of Slough’ (Simon Jenkins in England’s Thousand Best
Churches)
St Mary's Church, St Mary's Road, Langley, Slough SL3 7EL
Open Days in 2019: 5th May, 2nd June, 7th July, 4th August, 1st
September
2.30 to 5pm
To inquire about visits: 07931 251083,
Langleymarish.com/stmary/kedermister-library/
St Mary’s Sunday 11.00am Sunday Club and Crèche in St Mary’s
Centre
Monday 9.30am Jellibeans - Parents and Toddlers Group
Wednesday 2.00pm Toddlers’ Service
3rd Monday 2.00pm Mothers’ Union
House Groups Sunday and Monday Evenings & Tuesday
afternoons
Holy Family Catholic Church Alternate Thursdays 2.00pm Union of
Catholic Mothers
Langley Free Church (Baptist) Monday 12 noon Monday Lunch
Club
Wednesday 9.00am Toddler Group
Wednesday 2.00pm Oasis – fellowship time with various
speakers
Thursday 10.30am Bible Study (House Group)
Thursday 3.15pm J Team – ages 4 - 11
Thursday 7.30pm Bible Study at LFC
3rd Saturday 12 noon Craft Afternoon
St Francis of Assisi Friday 9.45am Mums and Tots (Waiting list:
call 01753 548646)
3rd Thursday 1.30pm “Refresh” for a chat, talk, cakes and
songs
Christ the Worker Tuesdays (May 7th & 21st ) 2.00pm Needles
& a Yarn
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Faith Matters
Eastertide From Easter Sunday right up to Pentecost
Sunday the Church Calendar marks the
festive season of Easter called Eastertide,
the word ‘tide’ simply meaning time or
season. For fifty days Christians live in the
joyous afterglow of the amazing event of
Jesus’ victory over death. From its earliest
beginnings, the Church tried to find a
word for the Resurrection of Jesus that
best expresses this unique event in world
history. In the Graeco-Roman world
where Jewish settlements existed well
before the time of Jesus it was easy to use
the Greek word Pascha, from the Jewish
word Pesach meaning Passover. This
commemorates even now the Angel of
death sparing Hebrew families, ‘passing
over’ them when the first-born sons of
Egyptians were struck down dead,
allowing them to escape from the
Pharaoh. It conveyed the meaning that
the resurrection of Jesus was the true
Pesach or Passover.
The Jewish people were quite familiar
with this word. The word “pascha”
became a standard word in the New
Testament and derivatives of it exist in all
the Romance languages as well as in
countries as far as and including Russia.
For reasons not entirely clear, the
German tribes and their distant cousins
the Anglo Saxons did not adopt the word
Pascha, common in the Graeco-Roman
world. They called the resurrection event
(and feast) Easter from the word “ Eastre”
which was the name of an Anglo-Saxon
goddess associated with Spring.
Moving on from the word used to
describe the festive season of Easter to
the fact of the Resurrection itself and the
various appearances of Jesus up to
Pentecost described in the Gospels, takes
us to the heart of our Christian faith. We
are faced with three scenarios: first the
buried Jesus coming to life, secondly the
accounts of the people to whom Jesus
appeared and thirdly the recording of
these apparitions in the gospel accounts.
The first scenario is perhaps the most
surreal. No matter how hard we try to
imagine how it all happened, we still
remain out of our depth. It is only the gift
of Faith in the resurrection that
engenders in us joy and hope. As far as
we are aware nobody saw Jesus actually
coming to life. We are just told by Luke
that when Peter entered the tomb he saw
“the binding cloths but nothing else” (Lk
24:12) and according to John, Peter saw
“the linen cloths on the ground and also
the cloth that was over his head; this was
not with the linen cloths but rolled up in a
place by itself” (Jn 20:6-8).
The second scenario is the account of the
various apparitions, five on the Sunday of
the resurrection, four over the next forty
days or so and three around the time of
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Jesus ascending into heaven. We may
also include Stephen’s words as he was
being stoned to death: ”I can see heaven
thrown open, and the Son of Man
standing at the right hand of God” (Acts
7:56-57), and also Saul’s hearing Jesus say
to him on the road to Damascus “ Saul,
Saul why are you persecuting me?” (Acts
9:4).
The third scenario is the recording in the
gospels of these apparitions. The Gospels
differ in minor details: e.g. was there one
or two angels in the tomb, or to whom
did Jesus appear first? But the central
truths – that Jesus rose from the dead
and appeared to many people is clearly
taught in all the four gospels.
We should not be surprised about this:
the gospels are not log books or history
books. The gospel writers were not
attempting to write about all the events
treasured in the memory of their faith
communities, what they wrote having
only one purpose, to announce to all
people the Good News. As John puts it,
the gospels are written “so that you may
believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of
God and that believing this you may have
life” (Jn 20:31).
The movement from doubt to belief,
exemplified in the conversion of the
apostle Thomas (Jn 20:28), is finely
described by Dr Mark Vernon, a one-time
Church of England vicar who retrained as
a psychotherapist. He writes that
Christianity is not a straightforward
system of belief but “a revolution of
perception, a dizzying cliff edge with a
horizon of infinite promise…” that fills the
believer with joy. This joy is rooted in the
hope of eternal life. It is based on what
Jesus has done for us. This is beautifully
expressed in a 13th century hymn sung
throughout the Easter season in many
churches, the Regina Coeli (Queen of
Heaven), and set to music by Mozart
among others. The Easter Antiphon
expresses the message beautifully: “ The
Lord fills the earth with his love, alleluia.”
Alfred Agius
‘Dare to Break Bread’ (by Geoffrey Howard)
St Francis Book Club continues to meet
quarterly on a Sunday afternoon and
would be happy for new members to join
us. We read a wide selection of Christian
books: biography, fiction and theology.
Our recent choices have been, Marilynne
Robinson’s ‘Gilead’ and Nabeel Quershi’s
‘Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus’ and Rowan
Williams’ ‘Being Disciples’.
Our current book is one of my new
favourites, ‘Dare to Break Bread,
Eucharist in the Desert and City’ by
Geoffrey Howard. As Christians, we all
receive Communion to remind us of
Jesus’ instructions at the Last Supper just
before he died. The emphasis on the
Mass/Eucharist/Communion (whichever
term you are comfortable with) can be
different depending on the theology or
style of worship service we attend. As an
example, some Christians receive
Communion daily and see it as central to
their worship, other Christians may only
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receive Communion a few times a year.
Each Communion service has a particular
shape and flow to it that prepares the
congregation to come to the altar to
receive the bread and wine that represent
the body and blood of Jesus. Sometimes
this can become routine and we stop
listening or thinking about the words and
prayers that are being offered.
In Dare to Break Bread, Geoffrey Howard
has broken down the Communion Service
into 17 component elements: from [our]
expectations at the gathering through
confession, ministry of the word,
intercession and so on, until we get to
sharing and receiving, and the final
blessing and dismissal. Each part is a
compendium of reflections on events
from his life: as a parish priest in Salford
and his work in Africa and his travels to
the Sahara Desert.
What is special and different in this book
when compared to other books about
Communion is that it is not theology as
we would expect it. The reflections are
very personal. For example, the chapter
on Expectations (when we begin the
service) is illustrated with several
anecdotes, one of which is about an
alcoholic who keeps turning up at his
vicarage asking for food and help in
finding accommodation. He is evicted
time and again from the accommodation
Howard finds him (with some difficulty!),
but he always asks for, and expects, help.
What can better portray our need as we
gather for the Service, ever hoping for
God’s forgiveness and grace?
I highly recommend this book to anyone
who receives Communion, however often
or infrequent. It certainly made me think
again about what I am doing, saying or
praying in a Communion Service.
Our next meeting is Sunday, June 23rd at
2.30pm and we meet in the home of
David & Joy Raynor–25 Lynwood Avenue.
If you would like a copy of the book and
to join us please contact me on 07930
520562 or [email protected]. .
Dare to Break Bread is available from
Pendlebury Press via Amazon.
The Rev. Sue Lepp
Revelation The Sundays after Easter this year have
passages from Revelation set in our
lectionary as a reading. It is probably one
of the hardest books to understand, as
well as being the last book in the Bible.
Indeed, it is said that it was also the last
book to be chosen for inclusion in the
Bible, and that the stalwarts of
Protestantism, Calvin and Luther, barely
considered it as scripture at all!
Two Greek words that are commonly
associated with the book of Revelation,
apocalypse and eschatology are confusing
in themselves: apocalypse literally means
uncovering and eschatology refers to (the
study of) the last (or final) things. As
apocalypse in current usage means
calamity or catastrophe, and is associated
in people’s minds as the ‘end’, the
mailto:[email protected]
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confusion between
the two words is
further confounded.
The author of
Revelation, John,
who is writing about
his vision on the
Greek island of
Patmos, also uses
both themes in the
book. Familiarity
with the Old
Testament
prophets, as well as
an appreciation of
the social and
political context of
the early Church in the Roman Empire, is
important in understanding much of the
language and imagery found in
Revelation
That the Jews found life under Rome
oppressive and longed for the Messiah to
release them from that tyranny we know
of course from the Gospels. But in the
decades after Jesus’ resurrection, life had
got unbearable for Christians (and Jews)
because everyone was expected to take
part in Emperor worship, and annually
make a declaration that ‘Caesar is Lord’
at an altar to Caesar. The Church was
persecuted cruelly in its early days
because Christians could not make this
declaration.
The immediate parallel with Daniel and
friends in exile in Babylon, refusing to
pray to the idol set up by the king, is
obvious. So we shouldn’t
be surprised to find John
using the language of the
prophets of the Exile – a
day of utter terror; wars
and hatred; cosmic
disaster when the moon
would turn to blood and
the sky will go dark – to
describe the scene
around him. The Beast
he talks about is the
Roman Empire,
unleashed on the earth
by Satan.
After narrating the
context of his vision, John
goes on to urge the seven churches in
Asia Minor to set their house in order in
time for the imminent arrival of the
Beast. Then, for several chapters, the
vision is about heaven and the battle in
heaven between good and evil: the devil is
defeated there and is sent to earth.
Eventually the Beast is defeated and
dispatched to a lake of fire.
We probably relate most easily to the last
few chapters of Revelation, with its vision
of a ’new heaven and a new earth’. And
the words, ‘God himself will be with them
and shall wipe away every tear’, have
brought comfort to many a grieving soul,
mourning a loved one. We can be
grateful that the one abiding message in
this apocalyptic book is that God will be
with us in the midst of all our troubles.
Anna Thomas-Betts
Revelation Ch.12, The Beasts, by Dürer
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Page 16
The Rev. John Pickett
John Pickett, who was the pastor at
Langley Free Church from 1952 to 1960,
died on 13th March 2019 aged 90 and a
Thanksgiving service for his life was held
at his church in Westgate on 9th April.
John’s ministry at Langley coincided with
the building of the large LCC Estate in
Trelawney Avenue. The Free Church was
then in the High street and John was
leading the church at that time when the
church hall was built in Trelawney Avenue
as part of the Estate’s development. John
is mentioned in the book that the Rev.
Jeremy Hurst wrote to commemorate the
50th Anniversary of the Estate.
John was a warm hearted, welcoming
minister of the gospel, who made a point
of visiting each new family as they moved
into the Estate and helped develop a
thriving children’s ministry from the
church hall. The first of his and Bridget’s
five children, Martin was born while they
were at Langley.
John left Langley to join the Sudan Interior Mission (SIM) and
served for many years in Jos, Nigeria before becoming the SIM Home
Director. He was also responsible for a more recent Langley Free
church pastor, Simon King, and his wife Liz and family coming to
Langley after they were forced to leave Eritrea.
Tony Randall
At Langley Free Church
Oasis Fellowship group meets on Wednesdays (1.30 for 2.00pm).
The programme for May is: 1st Sarah Wilding 8th Tony Randall 15th
Tea, Sharing and Gift Time 22nd London City Mission 29th Meal Out
Contact: Ann Portsmouth, 01753 585845
or 07788 812 500
CRAFT Afternoon This month the Craft afternoon will be on
Saturday, 18th May.
The Monday Lunch Club meets every Monday except for 6th and 27th
of
May which are Bank Holidays. Purchase
lunch for £2 or bring your own.
At 196 Langley Road A plant sale for Save the Children on
Saturday 25th May (see poster opposite) .
Come and help celebrate the Centenary
of Save the Children. Tea and cakes in
the garden. Contact Liz Jones on 07930
310201 if you can't come on the day.
Empty 9cm flower pots always welcome!
At Christ the Worker Church Needles & a Yarn The meetings of
this group in May are on
Tuesdays, 7th and 21st, 2pm. Contact
Maureen Bush: 01753 543465
Langley Churches Invite you to join them ...
-
Page 17
FOOTCARE BY
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are Aching for… Cut & file Nails. Callous,
Corns & Verruca Treatments
Fungal Infections,
Ingrowing & Thick Toenails
Assessment of the Diabetic foot
A visiting service -
House, Nursing Home & Hospital Visits
(within 10 miles of Langley)
TEL 07718 335504
DISCOUNTS FOR OVER-60s
We come to you!
https://www.savethechildren.org.uk/https://www.savethechildren.org.uk/
-
Page 18
Dee S Clark B.Sc(Hons) MChs Dip.pod.med.
Member of The Society of
Chiropodist and Podiatrist
CHIROPODIST / PODIATRIST
HCPC CH17351
SURGERY AND VISITING PRACTICE (By appointment, including
evenings
and Saturdays)
Verrucae, Nail Surgery
Newburn Grange Wood
Wexham SL3 6LP
Tel: 01753 552725 www.sloughchiropodyandpodiatry.co.uk
Would you like to sponsor or support Around Langley?
If so, you may like to give £5 a year towards the costs
of the magazine. To do so please make a donation
at any of the sponsoring churches.
Around Langley needs contributions from people in
Langley on issues affecting its residents, or of general
interest.
If you can help, please contact Anna Thomas-Betts:
[email protected] or 01753 822 013.
Rossini in Langley
Petite Messe
Solennelle
&
Britten’s
Matinèe Musicales (after Rossini)
Slough Philharmonic Society Choir & Orchestra
Saturday 11th May at 7.30pm
St Bernard’s School,
1 Langley Road, Langley
-
Page 19
St Mary’s Church www.langleymarish.com/stmary
Open Tuesdays from 7.00 – 7.45pm for enquiries about baptisms,
weddings, etc.
Rev. Robin Grayson 01753 542068 [email protected]
Curate: Rev. Sue Lepp 07930 520562 [email protected]
Hall Lettings: Mr Graham Jones 07802 784024
[email protected]
St Francis Church www.langleymarish.com/stfrancis
Hall Hire: Mrs Joy Raynor 01753 676011 [email protected]
Licensed Lay Minister: Mr Bill Birmingham 01753 548646
[email protected]
Christ the Worker Church www.langleymarish.com/c-t-w/
Rev. Shola Aoko 01753 547025 [email protected]
Hall Lettings: Mr Graham Jones 07802 784024
[email protected]
Parish Administrator: Mrs Dalletta Reed 01753 541042
[email protected]
Holy Family Catholic Church www.holyfamily.co.uk
Parish Priest: Canon Kevin O’Driscoll
Deacon: Rev. Graham Jones
Hall Hire: Mrs Maria Boland
All above contactable at 01753 543770
[email protected]
Parish Worker: Mr Kieran McKeown 01753 543770
[email protected]
Langley Free Church www.langleyfreechurch.org.uk
Pastor Rev. John Bernard 01753 473219
[email protected]
Hall Hire: 01753 540771 [email protected]
Parish Directory
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]://www.holyfamily.co.ukmailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]
-
Page 20
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Executor Service
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Trusts, including estate administration,
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242 High Street, Langley SL3 8LL
Tel: 01753 545322
