SIGNPOSTfaith in the local community

A magazine from Saint Nicolas’ Church Easter 2019

The gifts of Easter

St Nicolas’ is a parish in the Anglican diocese of Guildford

Connecting with God through Christ, our mission is to be prayerful, centred in the Eucharist and connecting with:

√ Fellow Christians and each other √ Contemporary society√ The needs of our environment √ The local community

Sunday Worship 8: 15 am Eucharist 10 am SUNG EUCHARIST with CHILDREN’S CHURCH Third Sunday of each month: FAMILY SERVICE – a shorter & less formal Eucharist for all ages 6pm Evensong check website/weekly leafletWeekday Eucharist If there is no congregation there will be a half hour Adoration before the Blessed Sacrament Monday 6.30 pm Tuesday House Mass (evening) Wednesday 8 am Thursday 1 pm Friday 11 am Times of quiet for stillness Monday 7pm: Julian Meeting/Mindfulness Group Tuesday 12:30-1pm: Christian Meditation Group Baptisms and weddingsTo arrange a baptism contact Father Andrew To plan a wedding contact our Parish Clerk

Contact us: Rector: Andrew Norman 0783 702 1726 or email: ahnorman14@gmail.comChurchwardens: Linda Barnes. 01483 577462 Darrol Radley 01483 831702Parish Administrators: Cath Anderson & Jana Phillips 01483 564526The parish office is usually open Tuesday afternoons, Wednesday mornings & all day Friday Email: parishoffice@saintnics.com Parish Clerk: Linda Barnes. Please contact via the Parish Office

Got a story or want to advertise? Email parishoffice@saintnics.com

Lots more information at www.saintnics.com Follow us on Facebook: @saintnicolasguildford

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Dear friendsPrevious Rectors of St Nicolas’ have died, but when my time comes perhaps I will just ‘pass’? For this is the word we increasingly tend to use these days. Is it a circumlocution, an avoidance?

There’s a poignant line in the film ‘X + Y’ when Jo Yang expresses her sorrow to the lead character, who has autism, having just heard that his father is dead. “Why are you sorry?” he asks earnestly. “Don’t apologise. It wasn’t your fault.”

Using the right words can help at such times. The most unbelieving of people will feel able to say how sorry they are that someone has “passed over” or “passed away”. Even though there might not be any underlying belief in life after death it still feels kind and hopeful. But I notice that I never use that phrase when conducting a funeral – because then it feels so important to acknowledge the reality of what has happened. Important in the Christian perspective is that only through facing the mystery of death may we discover the hope of resurrection.

There’s a lovely story in St Bede’s ‘History’ about King Edwin of Northumbria. When he was considering converting to Christianity in 627, he took council with his men, and one of them told him: “O king, it seems to me that this present life of man on earth, in comparison to that time which is unknown to us, is as if you were sitting at table in the winter with your ealdormen and thegns, and a fire was kindled and the hall warmed, while it rained and snowed and stormed outside. A sparrow came in, and swiftly flew through the hall; it came in at one door, and went out at the other. Now during the time when he is inside, he is not touched by the winter’s storms; but that is the twinkling of an eye and the briefest of moments, and at once he comes again from winter into winter. In such a way the life of man appears for a brief moment; what comes before, and what will follow after, we do not know. Therefore if this Christianity offers anything more certain or more fitting, it is right that we follow it.”

So I think I’m going to stay with our Christian words: ‘death’ – and thereby – ‘life’.

Happy Easter!

Living with the MysticsLiving the Contemplative Life:

What gets in the way

Drawing on the work of Trappist monk and founder of the Centering Prayer movement Thomas Keating OCSO, and that of Rev Dr Cynthia Bourgeault wisdom teacher and hermit; we shall consider whether there is more than meets the eye in the obstacles we encounter in our contemplative prayer practice.

For more information please call Ray or Vicky Lamb on 01252 705064

or contact St Nicolas’ Parish Office (parishoffice@saintnics.com) 01483 564 526

Speaker: Jill BenetJill is the London Co-ordinator for Contemplative Outreach that teaches Centering Prayer. She has studied in-depth the conceptual background and has attended several retreats led by its founder, Fr Thomas Keating, as well as retreats led by Cynthia Bourgeault and Richard Rohr. She has trained in the US and UK and leads groups, introductory days, quiet days and retreats. Jill is a co-founder of the Silence in the City series of talks on the contemplative life.

Saturday 13th April 201910:30am - 3:30 pm

St Nicolas’ Community Centre, Guildford * Open to all * No charge - suggested donation £10 * Bring your own lunch - tea & coffee provided from 10am

Fr Thomas Keating died last year at the age of 95 at St Joseph’s Abbey in Spencer, Mass., where he had once been abbot. He played a major role in popularizing centering prayer, a method of silent prayer that allows one to rest in the presence of God. “Silence is God’s first language. Everything else is a poor translation.”Rev Dr Cynthia Bourgeault is a modern-day mystic, Episcopal priest, writer and internationally known retreat leader. She divides her time between solitude at her seaside hermitage in Maine and a demanding schedule travelling globally to teach and spread the recovery of the Christian contemplative and Wisdom paths.

Family, friends and neighbours, every-one I speak to seems to be saying that they simply cannot bear listening to the news now. Personally, I find myself more and more switching from Radio Four to a music channel. I love music and find it a great solace, a sound world into which retreat is possible.

Endless speculation and discussion of “you know what” unmentionable subject, is becoming wearing, no matter what we think about Brexit. Of course, the whole problem may have been settled by the time you read this article, but somehow, I doubt it, and if it is, please bear with me.

Times like these are stressful for all of us, and our sympathies go out to those most directly affected, such as those trying to deal with business uncertainty.

These are also times of opportunity. On a national level, the present is an opportunity for us to grow in our self understanding as a nation, and to become more inclusive. We can all make a contribution to this growth, through our own attitudes and our prayers for those involved in national life. On a personal level, this national uncertainty, may make us ask ourselves what it is that we find most valuable. Retreating into our own comfort zone, with the help of music, or the company of friends or a time of quiet on our own, may well give us the capacity to reflect on what is most important. Of course, Church services, and times of meditative prayer, are there to help us, enabling us to reflect with others.

For me, Christian Faith is the context in which all things are to be viewed and re-

garded. It is faith which points us to eternal and unchanging values, and which helps us to judge what is of ultimate importance. The story of Easter, one of betrayal of friend-ship, self seeking officialdom, of corrupt leadership and the triumph of love, faith and fidelity over these things, gives us the message of Easter, which is that the good and love always triumph, however long it takes. The resurrection of Jesus brings us hope. This is not only a hope for eternity. It is also a hope that eternal values of goodness and love are to be sought, found and nurtured in the context of the here and now.

Easter is a time for checking that we know what is important to us, and that what is important to us are Easter values. It is also a time to note that we share those values with others. Of course, we make mistakes, and of course none of us is as good as we should be. But that is the point about Easter, because it gives us the promise that there is nothing, not even death itself, which cannot be transformed and redeemed, by God’s love.

The Reverend David Hobden is a retired priest.

Changing times, eternal values: the enduring hopes of EasterThe Reverend David Hobden reflects on a modern-day Easter.

‘I-Thou’ is one of the books suggested for us to read as trainee-counsellors. It is a classic text by Martin Buber first published in 1923. He was an existentialist, which means he understood how we can helpfully get into the experience of our existence in terms of the choices we make. For within the givens of life we are free and responsible agents. So how we do experience our lives is according to how we choose to respond in the flow of life. It is such a classic that I should have read it as a theology student many moons ago. Maybe now is the right time for me to read it though? Certainly it’s reconnecting me to my appreciation of this form of philosophy, and a deeper valuing of the thinkers I relate to, especially Don Cupitt, and now back to John Macquarie, realising that they are not poles apart. And of course, now it’s nurturing me in an existential approach to counselling.

Buber used the example of a tree.‘It’ can be seen as just an object, exterior to the self seeing it, occupying space and time, with its own nature and constitution. It can, however, Buber says, that “if I have both will and grace, in considering the tree I become bound up in relation to it. The tree is now no longer ‘It .” A full, holistic, personal response can be made, even to a tree.

Buber has made me think about how I am as a person. I love order. I’m the sort of annoying person who will straighten a picture if it is 1mm out. So I have always loved worship performed ‘properly’. I really relate (usually positively) to church. ‘It’ is the system I help to maintain. I’m sure ‘It’ is good and that we need it. But the danger is

to let it loom too large and keep us from the ‘Thou’. For in our spiritual awareness Thou is not just the other person but the mystery of God – though whom we meet, I would say, so often in our encounters with each other.

Another wonderful discovery in my counselling training has been Donald Winnicott. As a psychoanalyst he worked a lot with children and his insights included that of the importance of play for all of us. He saw play as the way we develop an authentic selfhood, allowing us to feel real, spontaneous, fully alive, and able to engage deeply in what we’re doing. He then went on from childhood experience to what he called “the abstractions of politics and economics and philosophy and culture...this ‘third area’, that of cultural experience which is a derivative of play”.

Is religion a form of play?Father Andrew draws inspiration from his counselling training to reflect on the importance of play in life – and religion.

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What I wonder is whether religion too is not a form of play. Not unreal, and not unimportant, for playing with ‘It’ enables us to meet the ‘Thou’. The catholic faith itself may be for us a deep and wonderful form of recreation. But we do need to remember that although ‘It’ is of incalculable value in helping us to live, and to live fully, religion is not itself life – which is to be opening to ‘Thou’. And we must be watchful to prevent

religion becoming a substitute for life. This doesn’t mean that we can’t be playful with religion. In fact I feel it is absolutely essential, or it will drive you barmy! So may we all play our parts in church life in the way that feels right, and this Easter may ‘It’ awaken us too to the ‘Thou’ of full living – just as it did for Mary Magdalene that early morning: “Mary!”

Andrew Norman

DIARY DATESFOR APRILSaturday 13th Living with the Mystics Thursday 18th, 8pmThe Liturgy of Maundy ThursdayFriday 19th, 1.30pmThe Liturgy of Good FridaySaturday 20th, 8.30pmThe Easter LiturgySunday 21st, 10amEaster Sunday Saturday 27th , 11amCoffee Concert, with music performed by David Greenwood & Gillian Lloyd. St. Nic’s Community Centre

TUESDAY CLUB

April 2nd:Eastertime Craft

April 9th/16th:School Holiday, no meeting

April 23rd:“Favourite Shakespeare” Individual contributions

April 30th:Quiz - two teams

Easter 2019 at St. Nicolas’ Church: key services

THE LITURGY OF MAUNDY THURSDAY 8pm

Mass of the Lord’s Supper

with Reception of the Oils & Washing of Feet, then the Stripping of the Sanctuary & Watch through the night

Good Friday begins with ecumenical worship 9:30 am at St Mary’s then gathering 10:30 am at the bottom of North Street for the Walk of Witness.

Children then gather at St Nicolas’ for activities & hot cross buns midday until 1pm.

THE LITURGY OF GOOD FRIDAY 1:30 pm Liturgy of the Word, Proclamation of the Cross, Prayers of Intercession and Holy

Communion This is our key service of the day – a starkly simple, but very moving liturgy in

which we focus on the Cross and the love which shines through it.

THE EASTER LITURGY Holy Saturday at 8:30pm

The Service of Light outdoors – into church for the Vigil in darkness with readings – then bursting gloriously into the First Mass of the Resurrection

- and continuing in the morning 10am Sung Eucharist with Baptism & Renewal of Baptismal Vows

All members of St Nicolas’ are asked to be present evening & morning.

For it is our most important gathering of the whole year, celebrating the very centre of our Christian faith, Holy Communion is to be received at both.

6pm Solemn Vespers & Benediction

We are so grateful for the ongoing support for YMCA Guildford from the congregation and leaders of St Nicolas church over many years. Thank you!

Bridge Street and Guildford Foyer As you may know for several years YMCA Guildford has been housing a large group of vulnerable young people, who would otherwise be homeless, alongside students and young professionals in our large 112 bed hostel on Bridge Street, not far from St Nicolas’s church! Last year the support to these vulnerable young people -which was largely funded by Surrey County Council -was significantly cut. This has forced us to rethink and develop a sustainable model going forward to enable us to continue to offer housing and support some of Guildford’s most marginalised young people. As part of this we made the difficult decision to move all our vulnerable homeless young people YMCA Guildford Foyer, a new 34 bed housing project (which opened in Autumn 2017) located on Wharf Road by the cricket ground.

Since making this decision YMCA DownsLink Group, of which YMCA Guildford is a part, has worked with trustees and local education providers to develop the YMCA building on Bridge Street as our own trading activity. We are now using the Bridge Street building to provide accommodation just for students and young professionals. We will use the surplus from this to ensure we are always able to support Guildford and Surrey’s

vulnerable homeless young people without a reliance on funding from the local council.

There will be around 20,000 students in the town over the coming years and it is very well documented how challenging student life is, with a rise in mental health challenges specifically. We are offering a holistic support package to students to allow them to belong, contribute and thrive in the town and at the same time fund our work with marginalised young homeless people living at YMCA Guildford Foyer.

Chaplaincy In another development we are currently

seeking funding to expand our chaplaincy to support the young people we house in Guildford, both students and those who are homeless through setting up chaplaincies at Bridge Street and Guildford Foyer.

Lots going on at the YMCAPaul Napthine, Head of Operations, brings us up to date with the latest developments at Guildford’s YMCA.

Guildford YMCA Sleep Easy 2019.

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Kathryn’s House 43-49 Farnham Road, Guildford, Surrey, GU2 4JN Tel: 01483 560070 Fax: 01483 560054 Email: info@kathrynshouse.co.uk

Kathryn’s House Care Home provides person-centred residential care in a safe and homely environment. The home caters for older people, including those living with early and intermediate stages of dementia. It is situated within easy walking distance of Guildford town centre with excellent bus and rail links. The home has en-suite bedrooms with Guildford town views and a decked garden area at the rear.

When successful with our fundraising we will employ a part-time chaplain to set up the chaplaincies with volunteers from local churches and faith groups. We have volunteer-led chaplaincies in 5 other YMCA DownsLink group projects and had over 1000 attendances over a 9-month period last year. Chaplaincy is primarily a ministry of presence – of being available to the young people – of listening and providing a safe space where young people feel accepted and valued as they are. Chaplaincy gives young people the opportunity to talk freely, and sometimes to explore life’s deeper challenges, often over preparing and sharing a meal. We will keep you posted with this.

SleepEasy 2019On 22nd March we had our annual

Sleepeasy event in the Castle grounds in Guildford where volunteers slept rough for

the night to raise sponsorship which goes to our Life Change fund and from there directly to young people in need. You can still donate. Please go our website www.ymcadlg.org and click on the SleepEasy tab.

Thank you again St Nicolas for your support, past and present.

Paul Napthine, Head of Operations YMCA Guildford, paul.napthine@ymcadlg.org

MERROW SAVOURIES “catering for your occasion”

Delicious home-cooked food

and great service

Christenings ~ Birthdays Anniversaries ~ Cocktail Parties

Barn Dances ~ Funeral Receptions

Simply telephone Sue on Guildford (01483) 850186

www.merrowsavouries.co.uk

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ST NICOLAS’ WEDNESDAY WALKS Everyone welcome

24th April

A WALK ACROSS PEWLEY DOWN past Pewley Fort and the Semaphore Tower, down into Guildford past the

Castle, then for lunch at the oldest and most haunted pub in Guildford!

Meet at St Nicolas’ at 10 am for a lift to the walk starting point in Warren Road

Lunch at The King’s Head, Quarry Street at 1 pm

Please let Marian know if you would like a lift to Warren Road

and if you will be having lunch (01483 564069)

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Reflections at EasterI no longer ask, “What do I want to let go of, and what do I want to hang on to?” Instead I ask, “What do I want to let go of, and what do I want to give myself to?” Father Richard Rohr

A lighter and much brighter early morning greets me as I prepare for daily meditation, even though today dark rain clouds are be-ing blown vigorously across the wakening sky. Sherman, the house tortoise, remains slumbering beneath the heat lamp within the forest of house plants. Definitely not to be disturbed!

I reflect that my New Year resolutions promised with such robustness, in the af-termath of the festive season, have passed by with gale force ferocity. I have already eaten foods banned, exercised little and spent far too much on the frivolities of life. Lent though, heralds a new beginning, a time to reflect and Fr. Richards words sound loudly in my thoughts. ‘What do I want to let go of, and what do I want to give myself to?’ A challenging question I suspect for most of us.

In employment, this is somewhat easier than in my personal, spiritual life. My job enables me, through annual appraisal, to re-view the past year, set objectives for the one ahead, giving me permission to keep, pass on or let go of those wanted, completed or no longer needed items.

In my life though? What can I let go of here? What do I want to let go of? What imprisons me? Perhaps it’s not so much the ‘work’ of everyday life, the cleaning, shop-ping etc. that needs letting go of, (though there are some tasks I would easily drop), but the thoughts, and feelings of the past

that crowd the mind with guilt, regret, re-criminations, the missed opportunity, if only, the whys of things done and not done! To let go of these, not obliterate or hide, they never can be, but placed aside, laid down.

So then I ask ‘what do I want to give my-self to? The ironing? Definitely no! I long ago decided not to purchase any item of clothing which required it! To my children? Grandchildren? As lovely and loved as they are, I know this would be construed as an in-terference! Reading, gardening, hobbies? To lengthen my daily meditation, my prayer of the heart? To good works? Playing an active role in the church, community, volunteer-ing? Yes, to contribute to society in whatever way we can is really important and is it not in the giving that we receive?

All are significant, or is it to simply say, give myself to life, to life which is ever changing, full of challenges, beauty, disap-pointments; give myself to compassion for others, the poor in health, wealth and spirit? To lay at the foot of the cross all that I am and am not? And with leap of Faith trust in God and know ‘and now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love’.

Suzette.

Suzette Jones brings us more morning mediation with a mindful tortoise.

Christian Aid Week this year will take place between 12 and 18 May. Once again, thousands of volunteers will deliver and collect envelopes to and from households around the country. It was first held in 1957 and is Britain’s longest running fundraising week. It continues to form a major part of Christian Aid’s funding, raising upwards of £10 million annually.

Christian Aid works with 700 local organisations across 50 developing countries. Working with local partners, it makes a significant positive difference to the lives of people in the poorest communities.

Sierra Leone is the world’s most dangerous place to become a mum. Every day 10 women die from giving birth. In Sawula district, the community struggle with a clinic which has no electricity and only two delivery beds. Jebbeh is heavily pregnant but as her baby grows, it’s not joy that fills her heart, but fear. When Jebbeh’s sister Fatmata went in to labour, there were so few ambulances that Fatmata had no choice but to walk for three hours under the baking sun, to the nearest hospital. The journey was long and with every step Fatmata struggled to keep walking. Jebbeh told us: ‘My sister was crying out with hunger. She died on the side of the road. She never gave birth.’

This Christian Aid Week, together, we can make childbirth safe for mums and babies. Through our gifts and prayers, we can help give the world’s poorest mums a chance to live.

At St. Nicolas’, due to the efforts of our collectors and the help of the Cubs and Beavers, who delivered the envelopes, 2018 produced another excellent result. We raised £1370 with over £400 worth of Gift Aid.

Collecting is not for everybody but those who do it are highly motivated and usually enjoy the experience. Some of our collectors have visited the same street for many years, are familiar with many they visit and look forward to renewing acquaintance. It is this personal element that is CAW’s great strength.

Even more important, perhaps, is the opportunity to put the problem before people that a face to face encounter provides. All our collectors have stories about the discussions they have had on the doorstep. Sometimes these discussions result in donations,

Christian Aid Week: Give, Act PrayDavid Greenwood profiles next month’s Christain Aid Week and invites Guidford to ‘do its bit’ once again.

Tenneh and baby Ansumana receive care from nurse Judith at the community clinic. Photo Christian Aid/Tom Pilston

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sometimes not, but that is in a way irrelevant. It is the encounter that matters, the witness to poverty and injustice.

And when someone does give, they sometimes exhibit startling generosity. There is good in the world. A few hours collecting during Christian Aid Week confirms that.

But you can participate in CAW in other ways. You can Give, you can Act and, especially, you can Pray for the continuing success of one of the most successful fundraising efforts in history.

All mums should live. Help turn this aspiration into reality.

David Greenwood

Jebbeh Konneh is heavily pregnant. Her sister recently died in childbirth and Jebbeh fears she may be next.Photo Christian Aid/Tom Pilston

All in a good cause at St. Nic’sEach year, the St. Nic’s PCC choose charities to support as our Monthly Good Cause, asking for suggestions from church members and looking at the many requests received by post. The month’s good cause is supported through donations given in the wallbox in church and a collection held after the 10am service on a chosen Sunday.So far in 2019 we have supported Traidcraft and Surrey Drug & Alcohol Care. Throughout Lent we are supporting the Bishop of Guildford’s Lent Challenge, helped by money raised through the Lent lunches.

In April we will be supporting the Community Security Trust, a charity established to ensure the safety and security of the UK Jewish community.

Other charities to be supported during 2019 are Mission to Seafarers and The Church Army, who we support every year and the following local and national charities: Emmaus Counselling Service in Guildford; 4Ocean, removing rubbish from oceans and coastlines; Conquest Art, inspiring disabled people or those with long term health issues through art; Cystic Fibrosis Trust; Lend with Care, lending to entrepreneurs in developing countries; and Number Five, Guildford’s night shelter for the homeless in York Road.

Keep an eye out for our display each month in church and details of each month’s Good Cause in Weymarker.

Cath Anderson

Cath Anderson explains St. Nic’s Monthly Good Cause programme and how we can all contribute to it.

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Nearly all of us experience feelings of loneliness at some time in our lives but for some it can be a genuine challenge and even pose major health issues. According to research conducted by the Co-op and British Red Cross, it’s an issue that affects nine million people across the UK on a regular basis. Studies suggest those experiencing loneliness are more likely to suffer from long term health problems such as dementia, heart disease and depression. And the health impact of loneliness has been found to be comparable to smoking 15 cigarettes a day.

Local Guildford charity, Voluntary Action South West Surrey, is poised to support local residents who may be at risk of loneliness with a new service called Community Point. Run from their office on Guildford’s Castle Street, they provide a drop-in centre for anyone who needs help in linking with their local community. But Community Point is more than just a signposting service, and for those that feel anxious or uncomfortable approaching groups or organisations directly, the charity will assign you a ‘Community Connector’ to help you find your way. “So many

people are affected by loneliness across all age groups” says Chief Officer, Carol Dunnett. And we can offer a practical and attainable solution for anyone who wants support. Our volunteers are trained to listen, to find ways to help clients and most importantly they can give them time, which so few organisations have these days, to find what works for them.”

The charity is already well known in the area for matching groups with individuals looking to volunteer.

Community Point is free to use for local residents. Visit www.voluntaryactionsws.org.uk. for more details.

Guildford tackles loneliness

Fancy a special lunch at St. Nic’s?On Friday the 26th April, St. Nic’s will be hosting an extra special Friday Lunch as it will be 3 years since we began Friday lunches in April 2016!

During these 3 years we have raised almost £3,000 (actually £2,851.16!) for USPG! To ‘celebrate’ this occasion we’ve invited the Director of Mission Engagement at USPG – the Revd Canon Richard Bartlett – to join us for lunch. Please come along to the Community Centre at 11.30am to hear Canon Richard give a brief talk about the work that

USPG does and how our fund raising supports their mission.

The new Community Centre is a great venue to maybe meet a friend for lunch and the delicious home home cooked meals cost only £3.50 for a main course and £1.50 for a dessert. ALL profits go to the work of USPG. We look forward to using the outdoor patio space for lunches as the weather warms up. Meanwhile, please DO come along on the 26th April at 11.30am!

Marian Coom

I expect that many of you reading this article will know that the original St Nicolas Parish Hall was situated in Millmead terrace, and that it was sold to finance the building of the ‘then’ new parish centre. Fewer, I suspect, will have had a personal experience of the building, attending as I did St. Nicolas cubs, scouts and Sunday school back in the 1950’s. Even fewer I guess will know that St Nicolas Parish Hall was also home to the Guildford Repertory Company.

The Guildford Repertory Company was founded in 1932 by Claud Powell, Principal and Managing Director of the County School of Music and Mrs. Dorothy Owen, the Co-director of the school. (The County School of Music formed part of the Parish Hall Building) I recently came across a rare copy of

‘CURTAIN CALLS’, a commemorative brochure published in 1939 for the company’s 8th season. It contains details of every production between the autumn of 1932 to July 1939. It was compiled and published by Mr. Frank Biddle, a local printer and company stage manager. In his foreword Claud Powell Hon. R.A.M., Hon. R.C.M. writes “My aim in founding the company was to supply a regular source of dramatic entertainment, despite the lack of a proper building, for the theatre loving people of the neighborhood”, and “86 plays have been produced to date, including Light Operas and excluding revivals, and the number of productions each season far exceeded that of any other amateur company in the country”. He also says that each production played to an average audience of 1,500 people.

86 productions in eight years (almost one a month) is an impressive record for an amateur

dramatic company and with an average audience of 1500 per show suggests a very high and consistent standard of production. This was achieved with an active core of 125 company members together with 300 to 400 Associate members each season. I have singled out 4 members of the cast

who are worthy of a special mention; Michael Redgrave (later to become Sir Michael) – 5 productions (Oct 1933 – July 1934); Geoffrey Bateman (Former St. Nicolas Planned Giving officer) – 24 productions (Oct 1933 – Mar 1939); Archie Graham-Brown (one-time Mayor of Guildford and founding chairman of the Yvonne Arnaud theatre) – 2 productions (Feb 1936 & Nov 1936); Jack Weatherill (Guildford Tailor, MP and ex speaker of the house of commons) – 2 productions (March & June 1939).The Guildford Repertory Company

disbanded in 1941, as the Parish Hall was no longer available during the war. My thanks to Jonathan Graham-Brown for

bringing this fascinating publication to my attention.Peter Oldroyd

St. Nic’s church hall - and a curtain callPeter Oldroyd enters stage left to reveal a surprising discovery.

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People at St. Nic’s and the URC will have grown familiar over the years with the singing of David Greenwood and the keyboard playing of Gillian Lloyd. Some have said nice things and, at the time of going to press neither David nor Gillian have been asked, forcibly or otherwise, to desist. So – encouraged by the absence of adverse comment, they have decided to join forces.

They would like to invite you to join them at St.Nic’s Community Centre for a relaxed Saturday morning concert on 27 April at 11am. Coffee and cake will be on offer and you will hear some of the best of English songs, some familiar, some less so, from the last 300 years or so, from Henry Purcell’s “Music for a While” through Butterworth’s “Shropshire Lad” to two superb songs from the brilliant pen of Noël Coward.

Admission is free but we hope you will wish to make a donation ahead of Christian Aid Week, which takes place 12 to 18 May.

Some beautiful songs, some good coffee. And Cake. What’s not to like? We hope to see you.

A sequence of songs by Purcell, Arne, Butterworth, Vaughan Williams, Ireland, Finzi, Britten and Noël Coward. Performed by David Greenwood and Gillian Lloyd

Saturday 27 April at 11am. St. Nicolas’ Community Centre, Bury Street, Guildford. Admission Free. Donations invited for Christian Aid Week 2019.

Let us garlands bring...!David Greenwood invites you to an evening of coffee, cake and good music (though he would say that – he’s singing...!)

Fancy some spare time paid work? Simple copy typing and photo processing.

I am looking for someone with the necessary skills and interest to turn my Aunt’s handwritten 44-page diary of her 1989 trip to Australia and New Zealand into a manuscript form. And to include a selection of the photos she took on the trip.

Would pay appropriate per hour rate together with any costs involved and additional bonus on completion. Please contact by email in first instance – cooperjb@btopenworld.com

St Nicolas Church welcomes all babies and toddlers with a parent, guardians to come play, sing and explore. Café

Play is a relaxed and inclusive atmosphere with a nice cup of coffee or tea and a yummy treats for adults and

healthy snacks and squash for little ones.

Come and join us and be part of the Café Play Community, every Wednesday from 10:00 – 11:30am in our new community centre, next to St Nicolas Church,

Bury St.

Café Play is open to babies and toddlers (up to pre-school age) and refreshments are served throughout with no set

charge for a session, but donations are welcome.

For further information, e-mail childrenfamsworker@gmail.com

Café Play Baby & Toddler Group

St Nicolas Community Centre 10:00 - 11:30am, Every Wednesday

www.saintnics.com 19

St Nicolas Church welcomes all babies and toddlers with a parent, guardians to come play, sing and explore. Café

Play is a relaxed and inclusive atmosphere with a nice cup of coffee or tea and a yummy treats for adults and

healthy snacks and squash for little ones.

Come and join us and be part of the Café Play Community, every Wednesday from 10:00 – 11:30am in our new community centre, next to St Nicolas Church,

Bury St.

Café Play is open to babies and toddlers (up to pre-school age) and refreshments are served throughout with no set

charge for a session, but donations are welcome.

For further information, e-mail childrenfamsworker@gmail.com

Café Play Baby & Toddler Group

St Nicolas Community Centre 10:00 - 11:30am, Every Wednesday

The tradition of decorating Easter eggs prevails across Europe. In the Czech Republic, Poland and nearby regions they come in many forms; for Egg hunts and picnics they are hard-boiled with colouring: onion skins for brown, sometimes with tied-on plant leaves for added pattern or food colouring for a variety of colour. They are then greased to shine brightly in festive baskets.

More intricately decorated eggs are “blown” by drilling the thinnest of holes in the pointed ends of the egg and blowing the contents into a bowl, to be used in cakes. These eggshells are decorated by painting, waxing and scratching out, with colour and pattern according to region. The tiny holes are threaded with coloured ribbons and the eggs hung on willow twigs as a festive arrangement.

I remember an annual Easter egg hunt in my grandmother’s garden, but in the countryside, more quaint customs still prevail. Preceded by abstaining from food, or at least meat, young men pursue young women with be-ribbonned platted willow

sticks and whip them until they receive a gift of decorated eggs. This is not a national day of abuse, the ribbons slow the whip action to a symbolic one. However, in Poland the lads also like to drench the girls with buckets of cold water for good measure, apparently very traumatic for the unsuspecting. European rules on Safeguarding and Health & Safety clearly haven’t caught up, so Polish women now retaliate and Easter or “Wet” Monday has become a giant water-fight between the sexes. Visitors beware. Jana Phillips

Easter EuropeansJana Phillips cracks open the topic of foreign customs with easter eggs.

Decorated egg-shells with ribbons on Willow twigs

Eggs boiled with colouring, for eating, by Jitka Mačurová.

Guildford URC & St Nicolas is proud to announce that Summer Holiday is back! We’re calling all desert explorers to be part ‘Joseph

and his Amazing Adventure'.  

Get ready to jump, climb, run and discover the hidden treasures and pyramids of ancient Egypt.

 The holiday club follows the Amazing Adventure of Joseph with

teaching, crafts, game, songs and much more!   

Come and be part of this amazing adventure from Monday 12-16th August 2019 at Guildford URC from 9:30-12:00noon.

 Booking forms are available on-line via Guildford URC & St Nicolas

website from 1st May or e-mail childrenfamsworker@gmail.com

The holiday club cost £10 per a child for the whole week. We look forward to welcoming you to this year’s holiday club.

CALLING ALL EXPLORERS

Joseph and his Amazing Adventure