Parish Magazine

50p July 2016

Ordinary people. Extraordinary God.

3

From the

Rector

In our house group recently we have been looking at the rule of St Benedict, who was, if you haven’t read about him, a really sensible, compassionate man, who lived in the 5th century and whose influence on the Christian world in general, and monastic orders in particular was extensive. He began the Order of St Benedict, independent monastic communities which lived according to his rule. The rule itself is quite long, but what is striking is the emphasis on scripture within it; it is threaded through every aspect of community life and it is read – heard and read aloud several times a day. And actually I would recommend that you read scripture out loud – because then you listen to every sentence more carefully. In the Benedictine monasteries scripture was considered, is considered, to hold a message spoken that day to that disciple. St Tikhon of Zadonsk, a Russian Orthodox Bishop and spiritual writer states ‘Whenever you read the gospel, Christ himself is speaking to you. And while you read you are praying and talking with him.’

So there are times when a sentence of scripture really jumps out at you. Recently the gospel of the day was Mark 12.28–34:

One of the scribes came up to Jesus and put a question to him, ‘Which is the first of all the commandments?’ Jesus replied, ‘This is the first: Listen, Israel, the Lord our God is the one Lord, and you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: You must love your neighbour as yourself. There is no commandment greater than these.’

What struck me forcibly was the restatement of that first commandment. We tend to focus a lot on the second so that

4

sometimes that we do not feel the full impact of the first. What does it mean to love God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your strength? To love God absolutely?

Most of us, I think, would say we aspire to love God in that way but are aware that we don’t. There are pockets of reserve, occasions when God definitely isn’t at the forefront of our lives, instances of rebellion, sin and failure. It’s all rather difficult, isn’t it, especially in busy modern lives. Other things press in, other people don’t understand our desire to go to church, to come into God’s house and worship him in adoration. It’s very difficult to say Church, God, worship needs to have a higher priority. But we are bound to try, because it is only in the process of focussing on God that we make room for God to be all-in-all. Only then, only when we are filled with God, can we go out and take him to others because the second commandment flows from the first and is a result of it. So – it is worth trying to juggle busy lives in order to give God the attention he deserves, it is worth struggling to make time to be aware of God’s presence, because as Jesus himself reminds us – there is no commandment greater than these…

Teresa

FRIENDSHIP LUNCH

Our next Friendship Lunch will be on

Saturday 2nd July at 12.30pm at the church.

It’s summer, so it will be a Barbecue!

Please sign up on the list at the back of the church. And maybe you know

someone who would like to come.

5

DIARY FOR JULY Saturday 2nd 8.30am Men’s Breakfast 12.30pm Fellowship lunch SUNDAY 3rd: S. Thomas 8.00am Holy Communion (BCP) 9.45am All Age Eucharist 6.30pm Evensong and sermon Tuesday 5th 10.30am Holy Communion at Wren House 2.30pm Holy Communion at the Old Rectory 2.30pm Lexden Ladies meet Wednesday 6th 10.00am The Eucharist with prayers for healing followed by Open Church 10.45am Holy Communion at Woodlands 11.30am Holy Communion at Cheviot Thursday 7th 8.00am The Eucharist Saturday 9th 11am – 2.30pm St Leonard’s Summer Fete SUNDAY 10th: Trinity VII 8.00am Holy Communion (BCP) 9.45am Parish Eucharist and Junior Church 6.30pm Evensong and sermon Monday 11th 7.45pm ‘Jubilee’ house group at the Rectory Tuesday 12th

2.30pm Mothers’ Union meets 7.30pm ‘Medley’ house group at 20 Wordsworth Road (515245)

6

Wednesday 13th 10.00am The Eucharist with prayers for healing followed by Open Church 7.45pm ‘Explorers’ house group at 118 St Johns Rd (579944) Thursday 14th 8.00am The Eucharist 10.30am Children’s Society coffee morning and box opening. 2.30pm ‘Constable’ house group meets – for venue see weekly notices. SUNDAY 17th: Trinity VIII 8.00am Holy Communion (BCP) 9.45am Parish Eucharist with Junior Church 6.30pm Evensong and sermon Monday 18th 11.00am Holy Communion at Hill House Wednesday 20th 10.00am The Eucharist with prayers for healing followed by Open Church Thursday 21st 8.00am The Eucharist SUNDAY 24th: Trinity IX 8.00am Holy Communion (BCP) 9.45am Parish Eucharist with Junior Church 6.30pm Joint Evensong at St Andrew, Abberton Wednesday 27th 10.00am The Eucharist with prayers for healing followed by Open Church Thursday 28th 8.00am The Eucharist SUNDAY 31st: Trinity X 8.00am The Eucharist (Common Worship) 9.45am Parish Eucharist with Junior Church 6.30pm Joint Evensong at St Albright’s, Stanway

7

Common Worship? What’s that? You may have spotted that occasionally the 8am on Sunday is shown as ‘Common Worship’ rather than BCP (Book of Common Prayer) – and I was recently asked what it meant. BCP, as I’m sure you know, is the official service book of the Church of England, compiled by Thomas Cranmer and others, first issued in 1549 and largely unchanged since the revision of 1662; the green books we use are the 1928 version. This is the service that we use on most Sunday mornings at 8am. However, in response to requests that we have a more modern liturgy occasionally, on the fifth Sunday of the month (of which there are usually 4 a year) we use the Common Worship liturgy. So what is that? It is the modern version of the Eucharist which we use at the 9.45 service on Sunday and the mid-week Eucharists. If you’re not sure what that means – pick up one of the service booklets and have a browse!

Teresa

THE PARISH CHURCH OF

LEXDEN, ST. LEONARD’S

The Eucharist

9

A big "thank you" to Jenny and Tony Cross for holding the coffee morning at their home on 21st May. It was a splendid occasion, well attended by church members and friends. Thanks also to Liz, who made cakes etc. and other family members, who helped. The weather was kind and we were able to be in their lovely garden where a big attraction was the plant stall - such a wonderful array of planted up pots and hanging baskets and many other plants that Jenny had grown from seed and nurtured till the day. An amazing total of £506 plus Gift Aid was raised towards church funds and related charities. Jenny and Tony obviously have "green fingers" and we are conscious of all the hard work put in.

Our next coffee morning will be on Saturday, 23rd July from 10.30 - 12 noon at 2 Garden Drive, off Straight Road, by kind invitation of our Curate, David, and Peter, and I hope many of you will come and support this. There will be a Raffle and Bring and Buy stall and maybe a chance to meet "Freddie" their black Labrador!

There is very limited parking and it is suggested that cars are parked in CLAIRMONT Road which is 3rd on right if coming from junction of London Road/Lexden Road from traffic lights, Garden Drive being 2nd on right from traffic lights. Jean Hallett

Tel. 547837 or 07843 172625

DIARY ENTRIES IN THE MAGAZINE

Lynne Saint does not compile the magazine diary. If you have an event you would like included in the diary, please give the details to Teresa before the copy date.

11

My Skydive! On the 11th of June I completed my skydive for the charity beat. I can honestly say it was the best experience of my life and I will most definitely be doing it again!

Words cannot express how overwhelmed Mum and I have been by the support and love I have received from everyone at St. Leonard’s. I feel so lucky to be surrounded by people who have been so exceptionally kind and so willing to support me; you have all brought so much light back into my life and I can’t put into words what that means. This is the best possible way I could have remembered Ayden and to make something positive out of something so difficult.

With your help I’ve raised nearly £2000 which will make such an incredible difference to the lives of people and families affected by an eating disorder, and so from the bottom of my heart thank you!

Rachel

19

Test your knowledge!

1. What was St Paul’s home town? _ _ _ _ _ _

2. Where did three angels appear to Abraham as men? _ _ _ _ _

3. Who was the father of St John the Baptist? _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

4. Who was chosen by the 11 apostles to replace Judas Iscariot? _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ /_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

5. Who correctly interpreted the dreams of Pharaoh’s baker and butler? _ _ _ _ _ _

Answers on page 42

Youth Worker

Our new youth worker will be Borbala Benko (known as Bori), who is Hungarian, from a small town near Budapest. She is 19 and has served in her local church's Christian summer children's camps (Child Evangelism Fellowship), she has been on summer missions training (twice), helped run 5-day clubs (more than 10 times) and Scripture Union children's camps. She is a very committed Christian; she loves to meet new people, and is fond of foreign cultures. She introduces herself on page 21. Her first Sunday with us will be the 28th August. Please help to make her feel at home, invite her to lunch, take her on days out etc. TW

23

Fr Bill Howes On 27th May the Parish Church of St Peter ad Vincula in Coggeshall was filled with friends and family saying goodbye to Father Bill Howes at a Requiem Eucharist and celebration of his life. The service, which Bill had planned, was conducted jointly by Revd Chris Davey, vicar of St Peter’s, Revd Canon Philip Banks, the previous vicar, to whom Bill had been Assistant Priest for many years, and Revd Canon Stephen Carter, who had been Bill’s training incumbent in Lexden. Ordained in 2000, Bill served as curate at St Leonards Lexden until 2004, when he returned to his home church in Coggeshall as Assistant Priest. During his years serving at Lexden, Bill must have lost count of the number of times he drove along the stretch of A120 between Coggeshall and Colchester. Despite health issues which meant he was often in pain, he never complained but was characterised by his warm smile, his softly spoken manner – and his mischievous sense of humour. He would frequently have the serving team emerging from the vestry stifling giggles at something he had said just before the start of the service. Bill was a wise and holy man who cared about people and always had time to listen and to pray. He learned sign language in order to minister to people with hearing impairment, and he also played the drums – a popular skill at all-age services! He was a devoted husband, father and grandfather and his wife Carol frequently attended services with him. Bill continued to serve the Church and the people he loved right up to the end of his life. He was truly a good and faithful servant and will be greatly missed by all of us who knew him, loved him and were blessed by his ministry. May he rest in peace and rise in glory. VM

25

The Queen’s 90th Birthday Tea

Around 70 of us gathered together on a rainy day for afternoon tea in honour of HM The Queen’s 90th Birthday.

Thank you to everyone who came and made it such a happy occasion and special thanks to everyone who helped by donating cakes, making sandwiches and washing up afterwards.

Esther Heptonstall

27

Hola from Spain The weekend of the 10th - 12th June we were fortunate to be in San Fulgencio for the first Andaluzan Fiesta, a 3-day event starting on Friday evening with the grand opening and welcome, which was given in Spanish, English, German, Italian and French, indicating the wide range of Europeans living in the area; it's aim was to raise funds for local charities and Cruz Roja (the Spanish equivalent to our Red Cross). There was a wonderful carnival atmosphere and a large area laid out with artisan craft stalls, bars, funfair, stage, local radio and mobile disco. The entertainment consisted of traditional Flamenco dancing followed by a display and a master class in Argentinian dancing which we did have a go at - any excuse for a jig!

On Saturday we enjoyed more of the same but with a different group of Flamenco dancers; more modern and very ‘slick’ they were too, but most enjoyable was the Andalucian horse display: these are the ones which ‘dance,’ beautiful creatures, and it takes a great deal of training and time by their riders. On Sunday we celebrated with an outdoor Rociera (Flamenco) Mass which was the normal Catholic Eucharist Mass but the Choir ladies were all dressed in colourful (continued on p29…)

29

(...continued from p27) traditional flamenco dresses and accompanied by men who played the guitar and drums. Although we didn't understand the sermon the singing and music were very uplifting.

Following the Mass there was a classic car exhibition, scheduled for 10am but that's a Spanish 10, so it started at 11am! There was a collection of 2 dozen or more old cars by the time we decided we were too hot and headed for home, so missing a Sevillanas Masterclass and the free Paella, cooked in a giant pan, which was to be the grand finale. Chris and Graham Tyler

My husband was a keen wine maker and I have a lot of equipment which needs a good home—rather than the recycling plant. Of course they are free.

Please get in touch. Sheila Cook 579287

33

After the Church Fete at St. Leonard's the mouse community held their own little Fete as they did every year. During the humans’ event the mice were safely hidden out of sight (out of the way of large human feet tramping around!) They were however watching the events and were able collect lots of bits of food, mainly dropped by children: soft bread, pieces of hamburger, sausage, cheese (one of their most favourite foods) and many crumbs of delicious cakes. The Mums were thrilled with all of this lovely food and got together in the hall and produced a large and tasty buffet for after the event.

Billy, Betty and their cousins collected lots of scraps of straw, ribbon, coloured paper, pens and pencils, then all of the mice set about creating their own Fete; there wasn't any money involved of course because mice don't "do" money but they organised games for the youngsters. One of the most popular was a treasure hunt and the youngsters scurried about following the

arrows that Grandpa had made from straw. They didn't have prizes, just to get from beginning to end in the right order was enough although Jed's youngest insisted that he was the quickest and first to finish! All of them were given a tiny piece of sweet for doing so well, there weren't any arguments about who had what; they were just grateful to eat it. When all young mice were tired out and it was getting dark they all gathered in the hall to enjoy the lovely buffet which the Mums had put together, with, of course, the usual selection of drinks which the Dads had made and which they all loved. All in all, the mice thought their Fete had been a success. CT

37

Lexden War Memorial Cross

First World War Death June 1916 There is just a single death recorded on the War Memorial for the five months of April to August 1916 and that is for a soldier whose home was on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean – Private Vernon Keith Merchant of 58th Battalion

Canadian infantry (Central Ontario Regiment), who died on Tuesday 6th June 1916 at the very young age of 16. Vernon is buried in the Railway Dugouts Burial Ground which lies 2 km outside Ypres on the Lille road. Vernon was the son of William and Annie Maria Merchant of North Devon, Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada and his name also appears on the Fredericton War Memorial but unfortunately neither Peter Potter, on whose researches I am relying for much of the information in this article, nor I have been able to establish his link with Lexden. However, he must have had a family connection with our parish to be added to our memorial. Whilst I was researching this soldier I was struck by his young age, bearing in mind that when he joined the Canadian Army he was probably just over 15 before training, crossing the Atlantic and reaching the front in Belgium. As far as I can determine the Canadian and British armies both theoretically applied a minimum age of 18 for soldiers to join during the First World War but I understand that these rules were often flouted or just ignored by recruiting officers keen to achieve their quotas. When I accessed Private Merchant’s records on the Canadian Virtual War Memorial online, the page also carried the second verse of John McCrae’s famous poem “In Flanders Field” – We are the Dead. Short days ago We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow, Loved and were loved, and now we lie In Flanders fields. Tom Scrimgeour

39

IN QUIRES and PLACES WHERE THEY SING

here followeth the anthem.

So reads the rubric at the end of Morning Prayer and Evening Prayer in the 1662 Book of Common Prayer and what a joy it is for worshippers at St. Leonard’s to be blessed with a choir anthem at the Parish Eucharist – and sometimes at Evensong as well.

Like other men of my sort of age in C of E churches, I was privileged to have been able to sing in church choirs in the days of my youth – an experience which helped many of us not only into a deep love of church music but also into a deeper Christian faith and sense of belonging to the Church. The late Mark Cole is a shining example of someone who came to a committed Christian faith through the experience of singing in a church choir as a youngster and teenager.

I deliberately said ‘like other men‘ because this privilege was generally denied to girls and women until about the late 1960s when mixed choirs started to become the norm, as they had been until the mid 19th century. When I became the rector of Sandon in 1976 the church choir was already mixed and comprised adults and youngsters. So all 3 of our children were able to enjoy the experience of singing in a church choir. Since then all the churches I have served have had mixed choirs, gender-wise and age-wise. St. Leonard’s is the first church in my ministry to have a purely adult church choir for its regular weekly worship.

Until about a year ago we had our Junior choir (SL Club) and a choir for older youngsters, Beyond Blue. With the end of these groups, it seemed to me we lost a valuable means of outreach and opportunity for young people to contribute to our worship.

One door closes and another opens – it is good we now have the Gospel choir which brings adults and youngsters together to make music to the Lord. But I look forward to the day when St. Leonard’s has a choir for weekly worship comprising adults and youngsters, so that children and young people can have the same opportunity that I and my children had in ‘quires and places where they sing ‘. Hugh Beavan

44

45

ST THOMAS Feast day: 3rd July

A Galilean Jew, Thomas was one of the twelve apostles. Although he is known as 'Doubting Thomas' he showed consistent courage and commitment during Jesus' ministry. He was certainly never backward in coming forward.

On the occasion when Lazarus had died and Jesus wanted to return to Judea, the other disciples urged against this, as Jesus was by then a wanted man. Thomas, however, said: "Let us go also, that we may die with him." [John 11:16]. Later, when Jesus told the disciples: "I go to prepare a place for you", it was Thomas who spoke up and asked what he meant, prompting the words: "I am the Way, and the Truth, and the Life." [John 14:6]

Thomas is always remembered, however, for his inability to accept the Resurrection until he had seen Jesus for himself. (How many of us would have felt the same, on hearing such incredible news?)

After receiving the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, Thomas embarked on extensive missionary work, and is believed to have been killed by a spear at Mylapore in India. He is usually depicted in art with the spear of his martyrdom, and this is how he appears in a window in St. Leonard's.

St. Thomas is the patron saint of architects, having been said in legend to have built a palace for an Indian king. A set square is shown above him in our window. Because of his early 'spiritual blindness' he was in the past invoked for sufferers of physical blindness. VM