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Magazine for the Parish of Witney, Lent/Easter 2013, including interview with local GP, article on St Luke and art, St Mary's Appeal and the removal of pews from St Mary's, and the Apocrypha.
Citation preview
Lent and Easter 2013
Parish magazine for St Mary’s,Holy Trinity, St John’s Curbridge,
and St John’s Hailey
W itney Way
For a brochure, please call01993 702525
www.hartfordcare.co.uk
Newland House50 Newland, Witney, Oxfordshire, OX283JG
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We offer permanent, respite and day care.
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2
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Witney Way: Magazine for theParish of Witney
Editor Ruth Sheppard Printed by LDI, New Yatt
All views expressed in this magazine arepersonal and do not necessarily reflect thoseof the editor or the Parish of Witney. The ap-pearance of an advertisement in this magazinedoes not imply endorsement of the advertiseror its products and services by the Parish ofWitney, nor does it constitute a recommenda-tion. The Parish of Witney does not accept li-ability for any loss, injury or damage arisingout of goods or services sold through any ad-vertisement in this newsletter. Any discountoffered to readers by any advertisement isdone so entirely at the discretion of the adver-tiser.
Businesses wishing to advertise in this mag-azine should contact Ruth Sheppard, [email protected], 866127. The acceptance of an advert for inclusion is at the
discretion of the editorial team.
Cross and Glory
As we begin our journey to the Cross this Lent which leads us
to the Glory of Easter, we do so at a time of new beginnings
for the Anglican Communion and for our province of
Canterbury. After a period of costly, and sometimes
controversial, ministry, Rowan Williams has returned to
academia in Cambridge.
In a recent article, Rowan Williams wrote of the early Church:
It’s clear that the ‘assembly’ that constitutes itself aroundthe Risen Jesus when the good news is proclaimed is distinguished not only by what it ‘confesses’, what it statesas true and authoritative, but by the character of its relations – ‘life in the Spirit’, marked by mutual patience,generosity and interdependence (e.g. Galations 5: 22ff).
In reminding us that it isn’t just what we say we believe, but
the character of our relations with others that is important, we
are held to account for this balance in each of our lives as we
seek to build up our assemblies around the Risen
Christ.
As we reflect together on the journey to the
cross and what this means for us in our lives, I
think it is helpful not just to think what do I
believe, but also, how then does this change my
life with others?
The message of the Cross is far from easy, as I
was recently reminded of in discussions with those
newly confirmed within our parish. But in the
Cross humanity encounters a love not of this
world, as the Cross reveals ‘the uniqueness of a
new love’ which draws us to itself at the heart of
our faith and involves us in ‘life in the Spirit’.
This ‘life in the Spirit’ is the new life that
those who encounter the message of the Cross
and the Glory it brings about come to experience
for themselves. This ‘life in the Spirit’ is a new,
radical thing because it comes through discover-
ing the uniqueness of God’s love at work among
and within us.
3
Ivory sculpture of the
Crucifixion, 10th–11th
century.
Front cover:
Sara and Andrew
Gallagher, Sam McIntyre,
Bishop Colin, Matt
Barker, Neil Kumar
(baptism candidate),
Nick Thompson (Neil’s
sponsor), with Elpie
Lewis (churchwarden).
Rowan Williams goes on in the article to suggest that each
church community has to pay attention to three questions about
discipleship:
1. How does the community enable its members to growin prayer?2. Can the community point to something in its collectivelife which contributes to the wider society which wouldnot be there without this Christian presence?3. How far does the community encourage and enable itsmembers to teach and learn from one another?
As we make the journey to the Cross together this year, and as
we prepare to celebrate the Glory which this reveals to each one
of us, maybe we can consider these questions. And perhaps this
can help us think about both what we confess we believe as an
assembly of the Risen Christ, and also what are the character of
our relations, our ‘life in the Spirit’ with those around us?
May you have a happy and blessed journey to the Cross this
Lent – and a joy-filled Easter as we celebrate the Glory of our
faith.
Toby Wright
4
5
An orderly accountSince many have undertaken to set down an orderly account ofthe events that have been fulfilled among us, just as they werehanded on to us by those who from the beginning were eyewit-nesses and servants of the word, I too decided, after investigat-ing everything carefully from the very first, to write an orderlyaccount for you, most excellent Theophilus, so that you mayknow the truth concerning the things about which you have
been instructed. Luke 1: 1–4
The gospel for this year is Luke. The two volumes of Luke’s
work – Luke and Acts – cover a huge span of time and space,
from Adam onwards. Luke tells the story of Jesus from
conception to resurrection, and goes on to tell the story of the
early disciples as they travel from Jerusalem to the world.
In Luke’s writings, faith is seen as a journey. Christians are
people who ‘belong to the Way’. Many of the individual stories
are of people making a journey: to Jericho, Damascus, Gaza,
Emmaus, Jerusalem. At the centre of these journeys is Jerusalem.
The whole story of the Gospel is a long journey to Jerusalem,
while in Acts everything goes out from Jerusalem, in a series of
stories of how the good news reaches the world.
For Luke, as for Paul, forgiveness is given to those who
simply receive Jesus, and it is a mark of God’s grace. This
forgiveness finds its expression in freedom – in acts of caring
and compassion, setting people free. Throughout Luke’s Gospel
there is a concern for radical social justice for the poor and for
people pushed to the edge of their society, for instance in the
stories of the great banquet (Luke 14). Justice for the poor is the
mark of the coming of the Kingdom.
Luke writes his books as stories of fulfilment. There is a
purpose, and it must be fulfilled. Things ‘must’ happen because
they are falling into place in the pattern. The pattern is the
purpose of God, from the beginning of time to the end. When
Jesus reads from Isaiah in the synagogue (Luke 4), he says ‘now
this scripture is fulfilled in your presence’. The force that creates
this pattern, the purpose that shapes this history is the Holy
Spirit. Luke writes about it as a power of dfference and energy
and change. The Spirit, unpredictable to us, is the power of God
that brings everything together into God’s purposes.
St Luke hard at work: to
find out why, turn to page
11. (Niklas Manuel
Deutsch, 1515)
For ideas for reading
Luke with a focus, or for
further reading about
Luke’s Gospel, pick up a
leaflet in church.
This issue includes
articles on art, medicine
and healing, in celebra-
tion of Luke. To find out
why you’ll have to keep
reading...
6
7
To comfort always
St Luke is the patron saint of physicians, so this issue’s interview is
with local GP Dr Robin Carr. Dr Carr was a GP in Somerset for
over twenty years until he moved to Hailey three years ago. He now
works at a GP practice in Witney. He is involved in guiding
respiratory care for the county, and is on the QDTG, one of the
committees in the Oxfordshire Clinical Commissioning Group.
What led you to become a GP?
I was about thirteen when I was absolutely sure I wanted to do
medicine. I suspect like many doctors I had not the faintest idea
what being a doctor really was, so I based my decision on people
I knew – I knew a lovely person and thought I’d like to be like
that – in my case it was my grandfather, who was an ENT sur-
geon in Birmingham.
There are lots of reasons for going into medicine, and as many
different kinds of doctoring as there are doctors. I trained at St
Bartholomew’s, and then I was fortunate enough to join the army,
where I went through a whole host of subjects, all of which were
very interesting, that gave me a complete love of everything, but
not to the exclusion of anything. I remember thinking that I would
like to have the decision-making abilities of a surgeon, but have
the holistic vision of a physician – there is no such job. The only
way one can really be a generalist now is as a general practitioner,
a GP. I became a GP in 1988, in Yeovil, Somerset.
How has being in general practice changed since 1988?
My role as a GP has changed hugely over the last 25 years (as it
has for all GPs), partly out of the needs of the country, and
partly the designs of our politicians.
When I first arrived as a GP in 1988, I would do a morning
surgery; then walk over to the community hospital where I
looked after a ward of 30 people, and attend to their needs; then
would do house calls; then back to the surgery for evening sur-
gery. I would finish there about 7pm, check on the hospital again,
and then go home. When the community hospital closed I went
into respiratory (chest) medicine in the district general hospital,
and did respiratory outpatients clinic once a week as well as my
general practice; that would be impossible to do today.
‘I remember thinking
that I would like to
have the decision-
making abilities of a
surgeon, but have
the holistic vision
of a physician’
Now I get in at 7.30am to do administration, a 3-hour surgery
in the morning, then more administration; then work until 6.30
attending two nursing homes which I currently look after for the
surgery. It is now impossible to finish the amount of work for
which you are responsible, no matter how long you stay.
What has caused this?
A famous GP, John Fry, used to produce books of statistics
about why people visited the doctor. He divided a normal GP
population into three – those you never see, those who came in
occasionally, and those you couldn’t get out of the surgery. That’s
how it was possible to have 5,000 on your list 30 years ago, but
now, instead of never seeing one-third of the list, you will now
see everyone on your list – and about six times a year – that’s
about 10,800 appointments per year for a GP with an average
size list. This is because general practice has gone from being
purely reactive to being both reactive and proactive, so for ex-
ample we might get all of a certain portion of the list to be
checked for possible illnesses, such as the overweight elderly who
might have diabetes or smokers who might have chronic ob-
structive pulmonary disease (COPD). A greater understanding
of heath needs and illness is a good thing, but it generates a great
deal of work and health-related anxiety. General practice has
tried to meet this demand, and to a general degree it has been
very successful, but at a cost, not financial, more of time and
continuity of care.
If you ask someone on the street, they would say the National
Health Service is free, but it isn’t, it never was, and there are al-
ways more people who need treatment than the NHS can afford
to treat. Politicians have been less than honest about what the
NHS is for, meaning that people think it is there for all of us, all
the time, for whatever we want, whenever we want, for free. But
increasingly there are medicines, treatments and procedures that
are not available on the NHS, in order that the things that are
absolutely necessary can be afforded. The time has certainly
come to be honest about what the NHS can do, and what it
cannot; NHS care then needs to be provided efficiently and
nationwide – not one thing in one county and another next door.
Our country does not have enough money to provide for every-
thing, but it can provide for a core of services really well.
‘If you ask someone
on the street, they
would say the
National Health
Service is free, but it
isn’t, it never was,
and there are always
more people who
need treatment
than the NHS can
afford to treat.’
8
GPs in the current organization have not only a personal
responsibility for a patient, but also a corporate responsibility to
the NHS budget – if I overspend on drugs, then there are people
who can’t have their hip and cataract operations. This
responsibility to prioritize treatment is falling to GPs because
we’re in a good position to make these decisions. This means we
now have to balance one person’s treatment, against another,
which is a very difficult choice. So our role in primary care is
changing from one of patient’s advocate and gateway to other
services, to having this corporate responsibility to a finite
resource.
After twenty years in the system, what do you think needs to
change?
There are countless areas that could change, and this is
sometimes the problem! We should be relentless in our efforts
to make the service better. There are hundreds if not thousands
of people within the NHS trying to improve their own bit and
this individual approach to improvement has to be the way to
go.
We made a difference to COPD patients in Somerset; I’m
hoping that my enthusiasm will rub off on COPD care in
Oxfordshire. The most cost-effective way of dealing with
illnesses is often manage them early on, before patients are
seriously ill; for example treating blood pressure to avoid a
heart attack, or treating diabetes to avoid blindness or kidney
failure. The most cost-effective way of dealing with COPD is
flu jabs, followed by smoking cessation, pulmonary
rehabilitation, and then inhalers. Not rocket science. But many
people don’t have a flu jab as they believe it gives them flu (it
can’t, as the virus is dead); many people continue to smoke
despite the evidence that it harms you; many people will not
go to pulmonary rehabilitation, is this because we have not
convinced them of the benefits, or why we feel so keenly that
they would benefit for attending?
The idea is to invest early; by empowering our patients,
teaching them how they need to look after themselves, and when
to come back. The challenge is to do this while also looking after
those who have developed the complications and end organ
damage.
9
‘We should be
relentless in our efforts
to make the service
better. There are
hundreds if not
thousands of people
within the NHS trying
to improve their
own bit’
‘medicine is a
privilege that we
have been granted to
pursue and we treat
the trust placed in us
with tremendous
respect’
What is the most rewarding part of being a GP?
Seeing people. No two days are the same, the constant challenge
of finding diagnoses is fulfilling, and getting to the bottom of
something and making someone better is glorious. Managing an
asthmatic child so they don’t wake up throughout the night and
have energy for school; or helping children who aren’t developing
because of a chronic disease. Finding out that it was a blood
pressure tablet that was causing an elderly person to fall when
they stood up and being able to stop their falls, that’s what makes
us tick. You go into medicine because you like people.
What guides you in your approach to patient care?
As someone who looks after the elderly and frail there is a mantra
that I repeat to myself which has its origins with Hippocrates:
First do no harm – ‘whenever a doctor cannot do good, hemust be kept from doing harm’
It is so tempting to want to do something, to do more tests, to
try another medication, to refer to yet another specialist. ‘The
road to ruin is paved with good intention’ … I believe. There is
a phrase that is often coined by wise old doctors ‘masterly
inactivity’ which is a way of waiting, whilst self-limiting things
get better, ‘healing is a matter of time and sometimes of
opportunity’. So not to be worried or surprised when your GP
says ‘not sure ... let’s just wait a little and see what happens’ it is
one of our most prized tests, to wait.
But I think the one phrase that dominates my practice more
than anything else is
‘To cure sometimes, to treat often, but to comfort always’.
It is also Hippocrates but it is the watchword for the palliative
care profession. People come in distress, in discomfort, and need
to know that we will always make every effort to alleviate their
suffering, and it will be not for want of trying if their symptoms
remain. It is what drives us, and for me, whether I am in a strate-
gic, or managing role or ‘just being a GP’.
In equal amounts the most demanding and most rewarding
of jobs; medicine is a privilege that we have been granted to
pursue and we treat the trust placed in us with tremendous
respect.
10
Follower of Quinten
Massys, early
16th century.
11
An All-Honourable Image
Why is it possible to picture a sixteenth-century artist’s
workshop in detail?
Because of St Luke – there are paintings of him at work on por-
traits of the Virgin Mary surrounded by an artist’s paraphernalia.
Where are these paintings found?
Artists commissioned paintings of St Luke for their guild chapels
because he is one of their patron saints and the chapels were
dedicated to him.
Why is Luke a patron saint of artists? And why is he
painting Mary?
Now it’s time to say, ‘Ask your mother/father/teacher’, as it gets
more complicated. A simple answer would be that medieval
artists belonged to the same guild as doctors and apothecaries,
since they all used pestles and mortars, either to make pigments
or to make potions. Luke is known as ‘The Beloved Physician’,
so there is a connection, but it does not explain the subject of
his supposed painting.
However there is a tradition in the Greek Orthodox church
going back nearly two thousand years, that the origin of all icons
of St Mary is a set of three depictions of her by Luke. Two of
these showed her with Jesus, and one was just of her.
The liturgy for one of the Orthodox celebrations of St Mary
has the words:
Painting your all-honourable image, the divine Luke,
author of the Gospel of Christ, inspired by the divine
voice, represented the creator of all things in your
arms.
This clearly means a visual image, not a word picture.
An icon is not a portrait, but there are stories that Mary
blessed Luke’s images and also that Luke received information
included in his gospel directly from her. That Luke met Mary is
an appealing idea but even if the legend and the idea that he drew
her are too far-fetched, his relevance to medieval and renaissance
art is undeniable.
Would I find my favourite subject for an old master without
Luke?
No. I search out paintings of the Annunciation and only Luke
has that story. Think of any picture of the nativity or early life
of Jesus and, unless the magi are involved, its source will be the
gospel of St Luke. Other stories unique to Luke have been
illustrated memorably. One notable example is Rembrandt's
emotional and insightful Return of the Prodigal Son. No wonder
he is important to artists – they have relied on his account of
the birth of Jesus to create so many of the paintings we enjoy.
For that he earns his position as their patron saint.
Bridget Walton
The Church’s ministry of
Wholeness and Healing
In his own ministry, Jesus gave high priority to healing the sick.
The same concern has always found expression in the ministry
of the Church through the Eucharist, the prayers for the sick,
and the personal love and care offered to sufferers by individual
Christians. This ministry has continued over the centuries at Wit-
ney Team churches, as in other churches.
Among the ways in which the Church exercises this ministry
is through the laying on of hands. This is done by a priest or
others who believe themselves to be called to this particular min-
istry. They are not ‘healers’. They represent the whole Body of
Christ (his Church) surrounding you with love and prayer at that
moment. Any of us may receive, for ourselves or on behalf of
others, when we believe there is need of the healing power of
the Spirit of God.
This ministry is in no sense offered as an alternative to med-
ical care. All healing comes from God, whether brought about
by the skill and care of doctors and nurses, through prayer,
through sacraments, or through healing words or a healing touch.
It is a ministry which reflects Jesus’ concern and promise for
the whole person – body, mind and spirit. Recovery from disease
is one aspect of this; another is the possibility of being enabled
by God to accept illness or disability. Beyond our quest for indi-
12
13
vidual healing there is a need for healing in human society,
scarred as it is by war, injustice and oppression.
The Church’s ministry of healing is therefore also one of rec-
onciliation and forgiveness. A confession of sins – of our lack
of wholeness – is made immediately before the laying on of
hands. Our penitence, and God’s forgiveness, are the necessary
condition for recovering wholeness of body, mind and spirit and
for healing the broken relationships between ourselves and God,
and between one another.
To forward this ministry in Witney Parish we are meeting
monthly for a Wholeness and Healing Service in Holy Trinity
church. Sitting round a simple altar in a circle, we begin with
prayers, then after a reading from the Bible we share our
thoughts about the passage. Following a brief silence we go
round the circle offering each person in turn a chance to express
any concern they would wish to offer to God, be it worldwide,
national, church-based or family or person-based, but there is no
obligation to speak. This is followed by intercession, then we
share privately in pairs things for which we give thanks. Finally
we receive the laying on of hands on behalf of others and our-
selves as we sit in our circle before the blessing.
About twenty of us gather each month and most of us have
also become members of the Guild of St Raphael, a Church of
England group founded in 1915, which seeks to promote the
ministry of Wholeness and Healing. If you would like to know
more, have a word with Tim Partridge on 864926.
Tim Partridge
Rogier van der Weyden, St
Luke drawing the Virgin.
Holy Trinity Church, Woodgreen
The Hole in the Floor Appeal, 2013
The Rector and Churchwardens
request the pleasure of your company
at the Appeal Launch
Friday 12 April, 7pm, Holy Trinity Church
The Patrons will be present.
RSVP by Wednesday 3 April to the Parish Office
14
9.30am–5.00pm Saturday, 18 May 2013
www.witneyfoodfestival.co.uk
On 18 May 2013 we are holding the first Witney Festival of Food
and Drink, in St Mary’s Church, an ancient and spectacular
venue which over the centuries must have hosted many splendid,
historic, community events.
The aim of the Witney Festival of Food and Drink is to
celebrate and showcase local producers – from farmers to
butchers, bakers, brewers and cooks, to promote the abundance
of high-quality food and drink produced in our area, and to
support local growers and producers in very challenging times.
The Festival will feature approximately 30 local producers,
showing a great variety of produce. There will also be displays,
talks and demonstrations on the theme of enjoying local food
and supporting our outstanding local economy.
As you will know, Witney is a growing market town with a
burgeoning population, free parking and a confident high street,
which seems to be bucking the national trend. Through the
festival we hope to emphasise the importance of supporting our
local producers, together with understanding both where our
food comes from, and the necessity for sustainable farming.
If you know of any local producers/farmers/businesses who
might like to be a part of this new venture, in whatever way,
please contact us on 01993 703070 or via our website.
This is a great event for the parish, and we are very grateful
to everyone who is giving so generously of their time to get the
show on the road. Please talk about the festival amongst your
friends and neighbours, and promote it wherever you can.
You can follow our plans on www.witney_food_festival.co.uk
or on Twitter @WitneyFoodandDrinkF, or our Facebook page,
Witney Festival of Food & Drink.
Food Matters:connecting faith and food
‘Give us this day our daily bread.’ Food is at the heart of the
Lord’s Prayer – a sign of how much it matters to us all. But where
is the spiritual significance in the way we grow food today – or
in the way we buy food, share it and eat it? How can we connect
with the complexities surrounding food globally and locally in a
changing world – and still celebrate food as gift?
Food Matters is a new project from the Diocese of Oxford
to help churches do just that, with resources and events offering
opportunities to reflect, pray, share stories and take action for a
fairer food system for all.
There will be resources for each season; with the first set en-
couraging us to recall our connection with the earth, and the joys
and responsibilities of being stewards of God. Bishop John’s in-
troduction explains:
There are so many aspects to our thinking on food. Why, in a
world where there is enough food to feed everyone, do 870 mil-
lion people still go hungry? As Christians we are bound to be
appalled at the inequality of food distribution and
uncomfortable that so many are hungry while so
many others are clearly overfed and eating un-
healthy diets. What can we do to change this?
Then there’s our relationship with the earth.
From Genesis on we’ve been trying to get this
right. Working out how we can feed growing
numbers of people, while not exploiting the
earth, diverting it from its own processes, is
another question for Christian engagement.
And it’s also important to remember that en-
joying food together and offering hospitality is
one of the distinctive features of living as God’s
people. How can we do more of that?
Visit the website for articles, resources,
prayers, information about events and more:
www.foodmatters.org.uk
‘I have come to the conclusion that
food is theology ... when I buy food that
is fairly traded I say that I believe in a God
who has made all people in his image and
who cares how they are treated and asks
us to do the same. If I buy food that comes
from environmentally unsustainable
agrosystems then I am saying that I do not
believe that this world is created by and
for Jesus, even if I may say that with my
lips. If I look after the animals in my care
and/or buy meat from animals that have
similarly been well looked after then I am
declaring that I believe in a God whose in-
terest encompasses the whole creation.’
Reflection by Ruth Valerio, theologian
and activist
15
16
Witney Beer Festival
The second Witney Beer Festival will take
place on Saturday 4 May, starting at 12
noon. Last year’s event was a big success
with over £3,000 raised for local good
causes.
This year’s festival will again be held
at St Mary’s. It is being organised by
Witney Round Table, with proceeds
being spilt between the St Mary’s
Preservation Trust and local charities in
and around Witney.
For more information visit
www.witneybeerfestival.com
Where will you buy yours?
Congregations, schools and individuals are supporting the Real
Easter Egg 2013 campaign and helping change a life. Of the 80
million chocolate eggs expected to be sold in the UK, the Real
Easter Egg is the first and only Fairtrade egg to explain the
meaning of Easter on and in the box.
Now in its third year, the Real Easter Egg 2013 has a free ac-
tivity pack in the box which includes the Easter story, activity
poster, free i-video download and a sticker set. The resurrection
text from Mark can also be found inside the lid along with the
greeting ‘Happy Easter!’
With each sale of The Real Easter Egg a donation is made
to Traidcraft Exchange to support some of the poorest farmers
in the world. More than £40,000 has been donated so far. A Fair-
trade Premium is also paid to farmers allowing them to invest in
their community buying everything from school books and solar
panels, to providing fresh water supplies.
For information on where you can buy a Real Easter Egg visit
www.realeasteregg.co.uk
17
Amelia Louise Thomas and Jessica Amy Jenkins were baptisedat St Mary’s on 6 January.
Rose Faith Woodward was baptised at Holy Trinity on 13 January.
Rhys Leighton Wallis was baptised at Hailey on 20 January.
George Vincent Hamilton was baptised at Curbridge on 27 January.
Arielle Thelma Gallagher and Hannah Alice Trundley were baptised at St Mary’s on 3 February
Charlie Beau Dennis was baptised at Holy Trinity on 10 February.
Roseanna Elizabeth Galloway was baptised at Holy Trinity on24 February.
Hunter Riley Blake, Chace Able Blake and Wyatt Kai Blakewere baptised at Curbridge on 10 February.
Baptisms
Anglican Cursillo in the Diocese of Oxford
Anglican Cursillo is a movement of the Church providing a method by which Christians
are empowered to grow through prayer, study and action and enabled to share God’s
love with everyone. Oxford Cursillo is running the following events at Douai Abbey:
Friday 12 April 10:00am–3:30pm Deepening Discipleship and Growing Leaders inthe Church – a short day for clergy: ‘How can I grow and deepen discipleship withinmy church and what part could Cursillo play in this?’
Saturday 13 April 10:00am–3:30pm Spiritual Growth and Practical Discipleship –a short day for Christians, lay and ordained: ‘How can I be a more effective part ofChrist’s body and what help is Cursillo offering?’
These sessions are not only open to those who have made their cursillo, but also
for those who have not experienced a Cursillo weekend so that they can find out more
about how it can benefit churches in the Diocese.
If you would be interested in knowing more, contact the Lay Director, Peter Wat-
sham: [email protected]; or Sarah Ebanja, Cursillo rep for the Parish.
Our new Archbishop
Bishop Justin Welby will be enthroned as Archbishop of
Canterbury in Canterbury Cathedral on 21 March. Upon his
nomination last year he said ‘To be nominated … is exciting
because we are at one of those rare points where the tide of
events is turning, and the church nationally, including the
Church of England has great opportunities to match its very
great but often hidden strengths. I feel a massive sense of
privilege at being one of those responsible for the leadership
of the church in a time of spiritual hunger, when our network
of parishes and churches and schools and above all people
means that we are facing the toughest issues in the toughest
place.”
The appointment is significant not only for the diocese of
Canterbury (where he will be the diocesan bishop, though
much of the day-to-day oversight of the diocese is carried out
on his behalf by the Bishop of Dover), but also for the wider
‘Province’ of Canterbury – the 29
dioceses in the South of England, and
the Diocese of Europe, which all fall
under his general oversight. In addition,
it is to the bishop of the See of
Canterbury, with which Anglicans have
historically been in communion, that
Anglicans worldwide give a primacy of
honour and respect among the college of
bishops in the Anglican Communion – as
‘first among equals’ (primus inter pares). In
that role, as a focus and means of unity
within the Communion, the Archbishop
convenes and works with the Lambeth
Conference and Primates’ Meeting, and
presides in the Anglican Consultative
Council.
Bishop Justin was educated at Eton
College and Trinity College, Cambridge,
where he studied history and law. For 11
years – five in Paris and six in London –
he worked in the oil industry, becoming
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group treasurer of a large British exploration and production
company, working on projects focused in West Africa and
North Sea. During this period he became a lay leader at Holy
Trinity, Brompton in London, having been a council member
at St Michael’s Church in Paris.
A major influence both on Justin and his wife Caroline was
their experience of personal tragedy. In 1983 their seven-month
old daughter died in a car crash in France. Six years later in
1989, after sensing a call from God, Bishop Justin stood down
from industry to train for ordination. He took a theology
degree at St John’s College, Durham, in which he focused on
ethics – particularly in business. Ordained in 1992, he spent 15
years in Coventry Diocese before becoming Dean of Liverpool
in 2007 and was appointed Bishop of Durham in the summer
of 2011. For 20 years, his ministry has blended deep devotion
to his parish communities with Church work around the world,
especially in areas of conflict. An expert on the politics and
history of Kenya and Nigeria, he has lectured on reconciliation
at the US State Department. In the summer of 2012, he joined
the Parliamentary Commission on Banking Standards. He is
married to Caroline, who studied Classics at Cambridge, where
they met. They have two sons and three daughters.
Following his nomination, Bishop Justin’s election as
Archbishop of Canterbury was undertaken in January by the
Dean and Canons of Canterbury Cathedral, and confirmed at
a ceremony at St Paul’s Cathedral on 4 February, which was
presided over by the Archbishop of York, with the assistance
of the Bishops of London, Winchester, Salisbury, Worcester,
Rochester, Lincoln, Leicester and Norwich. Before his
enthronment in March, he will undertake other formal stages
before he begins his public ministry, particularly his act of
‘Homage’ to the Queen. Meanwhile, the new Archbishop will
be familiarizing himself with the tasks he will be called upon
to perform over the coming years, meeting those he will be
working with most closely, and preparing himself for all that
lies ahead.
For more information about the new Archbishop, visit
www.archbishopofcanterbury.org
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St Mary the Virgin, Church Green, Witney OX28 4AW
Holy Trinity, Woodgreen, Witney OX28 1DN
St John the Baptist, Curbridge OX29 7NW
St John the Evangelist, Middletown, Hailey OX29 9UD
Team Rector Revd Toby Wright [email protected]
Team Vicar Revd Dr Elizabeth Thomson 834875Associate Priest Revd Sally Wright 704441
Team Evangelist Captain Jeff Hill 358226
Churchwardens Elspeth Lewis 703070James Mills 07917566374
Deputy Churchwardens
Curbridge Val Pole and Jean ChitteyHailey Clare MussonHoly Trinity Jill Carter and Keith JamesonSt Mary’s Stu Vaughan and Charles Smith
Parish Office Michelle Bailey Wells 779492& Gift Aid 9am–12.30pm Monday–Friday
St Mary’s, Church [email protected]
Baptism Enquiries Esther Partridge 864926Wedding EnquiriesRevd Dr Elizabeth Thomson 834875
Witney Way editor Ruth Sheppard [email protected] date for next issue: 30 April
Home and Hospital VisitsTo arrange Communion for anyone who is unwell, please
contact 708582 (Hailey), or 771750 (Holy Trinity). For
Curbridge, St Mary’s or general enquiries, contact the Parish
Office, or one of the clergy.
www.witneyparish.org.uk
Parish contact information
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These are the normal service times; please see website and the
weekly notice sheet for any changes or special events.
Sunday Services
Weekday Services
St Mary’s 8.00am Holy Communion
(Followed by breakfast on 4th Sunday)
10.45am Sung Eucharist
(With Junior Church)
Holy Trinity 10.45am Sung Eucharist
(Including Sunday School)
St John’s, 9.15am Holy Communion
Hailey (Occasionally Matins)
6.00pm Evensong
(First Sunday of the month)
St John’s, 9.15am Holy Communion
Curbridge
Monday–Saturday
St Mary’s 9.00am Morning Prayer
Monday–Saturday
St Mary’s 5.30pm Evening Prayer
Tuesday
Holy Trinity 10.30am Holy Communion
Wednesday
St Mary’s 11am Holy Communion
Thursday
St John’s, 10.00am Holy Communion
Hailey
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Services for
Holy Week and Easter
The preacher at most of our services in Holy Week is Bishop
Tom Butler, who retired in 2010 as Bishop of Southwark. He
writes:
Several protesters in the tented camp outside St Paul’s
Cathedral and the City of London a little over a year ago
were holding placards with the deceptively simple ques-
tion ‘What Would Jesus Do?’
Our theme for Holy Week builds on that question. We
will be asking ourselves, ‘Who was Jesus, and what did he
do?’ I expect our journey through Holy Week to be part
pilgrimage and part detective story. I look forward to
spending Holy Week with you.
Grace and Peace,
+Tom
Palm Sunday, 24 March
Remembering the arrival of Jesus in Jerusalem, when he rode
into the city on a donkey and the crowd waved palm branches
to hail him as a king.
9.15 am Holy Communion Curbridge
9.15 am Holy Communion Hailey
10.45 am Sung Eucharist Holy Trinity
10.45 am Sung Eucharist St Mary’s
Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday
Quiet evening eucharists for the first days of Holy Week, each
with a short talk about the themes of the week.
Monday 25 March, 7.30 pm Holy Trinity
Tuesday 26 March, 7.30 pm Curbridge
Wednesday 27 March, 7.30 pm St Mary’s
Tuesday 26 March, 11.00 am,
Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford: Chrism Eucharist
(transferred from Thursday because of the visit of the Queen.)
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Maundy Thursday, 28 March
Remembering the last supper of Jesus with his disciples, and
how he washed their feet. With a parish supper beforehand –
come and eat with us; everyone is welcome.
6.30 pm Parish supper Hailey
7.30 pm Eucharist of the Last Supper Hailey
Good Friday, 29 March
Remembering the trial and crucifixion of Jesus in three
different services through the day.
Children’s Easter activities in the morning at Hailey
10–11.45am Stations of the Cross for children, Hailey
10.30 am, Hailey, Gospel Train: Easter activity servicefor children, with crafts and hot cross buns
Walk of Witness (and hot cross buns), Market Square.Time to be confirmed.
12.00 noon, Hailey, The Cross: a quiet service tellingthe story of the Crucifixion, with an address
2.00 pm, St Mary’s: The liturgy of the Passion, withHoly Communion
7.30 pm, Holy Trinity, Shadows of the Cross (Tenebrae): a quiet service of words and music for Good Friday evening
Easter Eve, 30 March
Keeping the vigil of Easter Eve, lighting the new fire, and
celebrating the resurrection with the first eucharist of Easter.
Easter Trail for children from 10.00am, party/presen-
tations at 3.00 pm, St Marys
8.00 pm Easter Vigil St Mary’s
Easter Day, 31 March
The clocks go forward this morning!
Wake up to Easter at a service of music, praise, and celebration
of God’s love. May contain chocolate!
9.15 am Holy Communion Curbridge
9.15 am Holy Communion Hailey
10.45 am Sung Eucharist Holy Trinity
10.45 am Sung Eucharist St Mary’s
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Upcoming events and services
Lent Soup Lunch
12 noon, 20 March, St Mary’s. Follows on from the 11am Eucharist. All welcome.
Wholeness and Healing Serivce
7pm, 21 March, Holy Trinity
Launch for the Holy Trinity Hole in the Floor Appeal
7pm, Friday 12 April, Holy Trinity, (see p.13)
Parish Quiet Day
St Mary’s Convent, Freeland, 29 April. Contact Parish Officefor details.
Witney Beer Festival
2 May, St Mary’s (see p.16)
Witney Festival of Food and Drink
18 May, St Mary’s (see p.14)
Week of Accompanied Prayer
2–8 June (see p.35)
Regular groups and events
Messy Church
4–6pm, Sunday 28 April and 23 June, St Mary’s. Fun craft activites and games for children and their parents with a Christian theme, ending with a hot tea.
Women’s Group
Particularly aimed at women in their 20s–40s: Sunday 17March, Compline and Cake at St Mary’s; 28 April, Pudding(with guest speaker); 9 June, Summer walk followed by Pimms.Contact Stephanie Keates, [email protected].
Acorns Toddler Group
9.45–11.45am and 1–2.45pm Thursdays, Holy Trinity (term time)A welcoming toddler group for 0–5 year olds and their carers.
Art Group
9.30am–12 noon, Monday, Winchester Room, St. Mary’s
What’s going on in the Parish?
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X Group
Get-togethers for teens of the parish. 10 & 24 March. For more information contact Jeff Hill on 358226.
Xsite
Praise party for 8–11 year olds. 6–8pm, 23 March at St. Mary’s,Church Green; 18 May at St Mary’s, Cogges; 6 July St Mary’s,Church Green.
Holy Trinity House/Fellowship Groups
Groups meet fortnightly on Monday and Tuesday evening. For information on the Monday group contact Malcolm Ryland-Jones and for the Tuesday group contact Alan Gentry.
Book Circle
Third Tuesday of the month, 2.30pm, Winchester Room, St Mary’s. Open to all. Contact Freda Nicholls on 772564.
Mothers’ Union
Second Wednesday of the month, 2pm, Winchester Room, St Mary’s. Corporate Communion is held on the third Wednesday of the month at 11am at St Mary’s.
Hailey Village Lunch
Third Wednesday of the month, Hailey Village Hall.
Hot Pot lunches
For seniors. Fourth Wednesday of the month.
Parish Wives Group
Fourth Wednesday of the month, 7.45pm, Winchester Room,St Mary’s.
Contemplative Prayer Group
Every Wednesday, 4.30–5.00pm, St Mary’s.
Parish Surgery
5–5.30pm, Thursdays, St Mary’s. An opportunity to have aword with the parish clergy. Both Toby and Elizabeth will nor-mally be there.
Acoustic Room
Third Thursday of the month, 7.30pm, Winchester Room, StMary’s. £3 on the door, free for performers. For further informa-tion contact Colin or Jean Greenway on 705026.
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Faith with Spice
An opportunity for the men from the churches to get together,7.45pm on 28 April, 9 June, 14 July at Shaan, Corn Street. Contact Jeff Hill for further details.
Choir Practice: Holy Trinity
Wednesdays, 7.30pm. Contact Paul Francis 01235 848215.
Choir Practice: St Mary’s
Sundays, 9.45am. Contact Francis Rumsey.
St Mary’s Junior Choir
All keen young singers welcome, contact Sally Rumsey, 779331.
Bell ringing at St Mary’s
Ringing on Sunday, 9.45–10.45am. Practice night Tuesday,7.30–9pm. Contact Wendy Wastie 07773 391886.
Neighbourhood Return
Do a good turn for your Neighbour. That’s the aim of the new
Neighbourhood Return scheme, which aims to act quickly to
find people with memory problems, such as dementia, who have
got lost. In England and Wales disorientation and ‘getting lost’
happens to some 40,000 people for the first time each year. It
increases the likelihood of care home admission fourfold. This
in turn increases the stress on sufferers and carers, and can
impact heavily on personal and public finances. We want to
extend care and independent, but supported living in the
community to these vulnerable people.
Neighbourhood Return builds on the community messaging
systems of Neighbourhood & Home Watch it uses secure
registration, messaging and mapping systems and its searches are
risk assessed and managed by a specialist Local Authority call
centre.
Can you help us? We are looking for volunteers to join
searches in their immediate area, who have a mobile phone which
is regularly charged and has credit on it, and who can use text
messaging.
We know everyone isn’t available all the time, so the scheme
aims to sign up as many volunteers across Oxfordshire as
possible. Even if you work, or if you have limited time available
Make sure your events
and ongoing activities are
listed here, email
or ring 866127.
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please still consider volunteering. If you aren’t available or in the
area when we alert you that someone has gone missing, just text
back ‘no’.
If you are free to help, our care centre will send you a
description of the person and let you know where to search.
When you reach the destination, you let them know and they will
provide further instructions on where to look next. A safe
searching guide helps to give you guidance about searching and
how to gently approach the person who is lost, should you find
them. Searches are conducted for up to two-and-a-half hours by
volunteers, who can join or leave the search at any point during
this time, if the person isn’t found by then the search is then
handed over to the police.
You can sign up to the scheme at www.ourturn.org.uk or by
phoning 0116 229 3118. This isn’t a huge commitment. You will
rarely or may never be called to help, but by registering, not only
will you help carers to feel supported by their local community,
but should someone in your local area go missing you could help
save a life.
If you are a carer of someone with memory problems, you
can register them using the contacts above. It’s absolutely free.
Once your loved one is registered, we will send you a fridge
magnet with the helpline number on, so you can easily find it,
should you ever need it. If you pre-register someone with
memory problems, we can get volunteers mobilised in 3 to 5
minutes. You can still use the scheme in an emergency without
pre-registration, it just takes 15 to 20 minutes to get all the details
we need to start the search. The call centre keeps in touch with
both the carer and Thames Valley Police at regular intervals to
let them know how the search is progressing.
The scheme is being run across Oxfordshire, and went ‘live’
in November 2012. The concept of the scheme was conceived
by consultant psychiatrist Dr Rupert Macshane, from Oxford
Health NHS Foundation Trust. Two years in the planning, it was
decided to link up with the national Neighbourhood and Home
Watch Network, who use a community messaging system which
has now been enhanced to provide the searching functions. The
scheme is funded by the National Lottery Silver Dreams Fund,
and is a Neighbourhood Watch Project.
www.ourturn.org.uk
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Us – every person,
every community, a full life
In November USPG changed its name to United Society, to be
known as Us. The name USPG – United Society for the Propa-
gation of the Gospel – was derived from the founding of the
organisation in 1701, when it was known as the Society for the
Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts (SPG), at that time
the work was directed towards Church of England expatriates
who had settled in North America. Over the years the work
spread to working with churches in many other countries and
continents. In 1965 SPG joined with the Universities’ Mission
to Central Africa (UMCA) to form USPG.
However in recent years it had become clear that a new name
was needed to connect with the modern world and after much
debate the new name was chosen. It is a reminder that God’s
love is for all of us, Jesus is called Emmanuel (Matthew 1:23)
which means ‘God with us’.
Although Us is rooted in the Anglican tradition and works in
partnership with local Anglican churches all over the world, it
also works ecumenically and with other faith communities for
the benefit of all people, regardless of their culture, gender, age
or sexuality.
We are a global family. We are different people, with different
backgrounds, so there is room in the Us community for different
points of view. We are all part of ‘us’, we are all made in God’s
creative image; there is room for us all.
A new name but, hopefully, the same support from the
parish: Us continues to be our parish charity, and Lent boxes will
be available in all our churches to pick up and fill with your loose
change. Don’t forget that if you are a tax payer you can gift aid
your donation to increase its value at no extra cost to yourself,
just fill in your name and address and tick the gift aid box, I can
fill in the amount when it is counted. Please support Us if you
can and return the boxes after Easter.
Lorna Whitehouse
Parish rep.
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St Mary’s Appeal
From a sermon given at St Mary’s by Bishop Bill Down, 24 February 2013.
The process of restoration and renewal at St. Mary’s began in
earnest in November 2007, when the PCC decided to go ahead
with a comprehensive programme of repairs and refurbishment.
They didn’t really have much choice! The roof was leaking badly;
the floor was in poor condition; the heating system was – and
remains – woefully inadequate. The need for action was urgent.
The PCC set up a small committee to take the project forward,
which began its work in January 2008. First, we identified the work
that needed to be done. The top priority was to repair and renew
the roof, and thus make the building weatherproof. Costings were
obtained. The necessary permission was sought and in July 2008
a faculty to proceed was granted. We knew that we were going to
need at least £250,000 for the repairs and renewal of the roof. A
new floor, the installation of underfloor heating, and the replace-
ment of the pews with chairs would all cost at least £750,000.
Other repairs, the upgrading of the church’s domestic facilities,
the provision of proper office accommodation, and appropriate
amenities for the choir would also be very costly. We were going
to need to raise at least £1.5 million – a challenging prospect.
Our situation in 2008 could be compared with the challenge fac-
ing Abraham. Abraham had a deep sense of the presence of God
in his life. He had a strong faith. And he was a man of action. When
God prompted him to gather together his possessions, and to set
out for a place that God would show him in due course, Abraham
obeyed. With his wife Sarah and his nephew Lot, he said goodbye
to his relations, and headed out into the unknown. They encoun-
tered difficulties and dangers, but they went on in faith.
Then God appeared to him in a vision. ‘Don’t be afraid, Abra-
ham,’ He said: ‘your reward will be very great.’ Abraham replied
that any reward would be short-lived, since he and his wife Sarah
were old, and had been unable to have children. The family would
die with them. God drew him outside the tent: ‘Look up at the
sky,’ He said, ‘and count the stars if you can. So many will your
descendants be.’ It was scarcely believable to a man and his wife
who had tried for so long, and without success, to have children.
But Abraham believed God’s promise – and God noted his
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reaction with approval. Sarah duly conceived and their son Isaac
was born. In spite of all the setbacks and disappointments
Abraham went on in faith, and his faith was richly rewarded.
So it was with us. The Appeal Committee at St Mary’s realised
the full extent of the challenge we were facing. Nevertheless, we
knew that we had to go ahead – God was calling us to a mighty
effort, and we trusted Him to guide and bless our efforts. We
committed ourselves to Him, and got on with the job!
When the faculty to repair the roof was granted in July 2008,
we began the task of raising the necessary cash. Within days a trust
fund made a grant of £50,000 – it was exactly the sign from God
that we needed. Over the next 2½ years trust funds
contributed a total of £165,000, and English Heritage gave us
£62,000. Members of the congregations contributed generously.
We determined that we would not go into debt, and we renewed
the roof in stages. But on the last stage of the repairs it was
discovered that a large area of concealed stonework was in a
dangerous condition, and needed immediate attention. The cost
was an extra £50,000. We had no alternative but to borrow the
money from the diocese, which we since now repaid in full. A total
of £360,000 had been raised. The first challenge had been met.
As this morning’s reading from the Epistle to the Philippians
reminded us, we are ‘citizens of heaven.’ As God’s people,
citizens of heaven, we have a mission – a mission to make God
known to the people of Witney. The Appeal Committee had reg-
ularly discussed how the restoration and renewal of St Mary’s
would enhance and enrich our ministry to the people of Witney.
From the very beginning we set out how we envisaged St Mary’s
serving the community: as an ancient and beautiful centre for
civic events; a living landmark enshrining the history of Witney;
a splendid resource for voluntary organisations and groups; an
ideal venue for schools, events, and occasions; a flexible space
for musical and dramatic performances; a place for quiet reflec-
tion and prayer; a wonderful location for the significant events
of family like, such as baptisms, weddings, and funerals; as an
attraction for visitors with uplifting atmosphere and beauty.
Our church, our people, our worship, and the amenities we offer,
should be attractive and purposeful. St Mary’s has huge potential
for ministry, and we knew that an imaginative re-ordering of the in-
terior was necessary if we are to fulfil that vision. So in 2011, with
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our Rector established and making a real impact on the parish and
the community, we embarked on the second stage of our project.
This involved installing underfloor heating and the replacement
of the whole floor area – a process which will cost at least
£750,000. It will take time to raise this sum, so it was decided to
make immediate repairs to the worst patches of the floor, and to
replace most of the pews with chairs. From the outset of the Ap-
peal we knew that the pews had to go. [See below for the pew
saga.] With permission finally granted to replace most of the pews
with chairs, the Appeal Committee resumed its work. We reviewed
every aspect of our work, and plans are being formulated to raise
the necessary funds. We are excited by the prospect of restoring
and renewing the interior of our church, so that our mission and
ministry to the community can blossom.
The challenge is exciting. To succeed, we shall need the
wholehearted support of the whole congregation and the parish.
It will be a long road. Doubtless there will be setbacks. But, by
the grace of God, we shall succeed – because we have to! Our
constant prayer will be the great prayer of Sir Francis Drake –
O Lord God, when You give to Your servants to en-deavour any great matter, grant us also to know that itis not the beginning, but the continuing of the same tothe end, until it is thoroughly finished, that yields thetrue glory; through Him, who for the finishing of yourwork, laid down His life, our Redeemer Jesus Christ.
Amen
Pews: ‘To be or not to be’
St Mary’s Church was dedicated in 1243. Over the next 250 years it
was enlarged and the structure more or less remained the same until
Victorian times. The main focus of worship was centred on the
chancel, although there were altars in the transepts. The chancel
would have had some form of seating whereas the rest of the
church would be an open space with seating round the walls for the
old and infirm (hence the expression ‘going to the wall!’). The
church, generally being the only public building, would have been
used for many purposes besides worship, including markets and fairs.
By 1860, buildings had been built for other civic purposes so
the church was mainly used for church services. So some rather
Finally! The new
chairs at St Mary’s.
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ugly box pews had been installed, which were described by one
person as ‘looking like a series of pig stys’.
By 1866 the church was in a rather bad state so it was decided
to do a very extensive restoration masterminded by George
Street, a prominent church architect. During this restoration the
old box pews were removed and new pews were installed in the
nave and both transepts, enough to seat 1,000 people.
So here we are, nearly 150 years later, having another major
restoration. Having completed the external renovation of the
roof area, we were in a position to start the internal renewal. The
first item was to change the remaining pews from the 1866
restoration to light stackable chairs so – like in medieval times –
we could have a flexible area for many uses. We thought this
would not present a problem. How wrong we were! To embark
on any restoration, a faculty has to be granted. Before this can
happen, approval has to be given by the Diocesan Advisory
Committee, English Heritage, the Society for the protection of
Ancient Buildings and The Victorian Society.
All was going well with approval to remove the pews from the
first three bodies but the Victorian Society objected. They visited
the church and a lot of discussions took place but they would not
give in. This meant a consistory court would have to take place
with arguments being presented on both sides before the chancel-
lor of the diocese. The church presented a strong case that we are
a living church and wanted a flexible area to use the church for a
variety of styles of worship, wedding and baptism feasts, church
events and many other civic events such as concerts, exhibitions,
school prize-givings etc. Other reasons for the change included
the fact that we have no church halls in the parish and a lack of
public facilities in the town, and to bring in some much-needed
income. The Victorian argument was merely historical – they felt
the pews should be preserved. Expecting to lose they pulled out
24 hours before the consistory court was due to take place, leaving
us with a bill of £7,500.
Although this was a big setback and has wasted a lot of time
and money, we are being very positive as we can proceed to plan
the rest of the restoration and renewal of the inside of St Mary’s.
We agreed to keep 10 short pews as examples, of the remainder
all except two have now been sold, and the new Howe chairs are
now in place. Francis Newenham
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Mr and Mrs Newenham walked into St Mary’s one Sunday in
October 1986 and have been a central part of its life ever since.
Francis eventually became a Parish Warden, helping us through
several interregnums with sound advice, which he has willingly
passed on to new rectors, parish wardens and district wardens;
his knowledge has been invaluable.
Both have been involved in the actual town of Witney, with
Rotary, The Elms Day centre, and recently Francis has been
Mace bearer for the Town Mayor. Hilary’s pastoral care has been
immense and she regularly delivers home communion; she is also
a regular MU member. Both of them are on the rota for serving.
Francis is Clerk of Works for St Mary’s and on the Appeal
committee, overseeing the restoration of the roof – literally –
with his head for heights and as agile as a mountain goat; he is
passing on this baton to two members of the DCC.
Francis and Hilary’s home has always been open for meetings
and visitors and for years to come we will remember delicious
fund-raising meals and strawberry teas in their immaculate
garden. We pass them on with all our good wishes to their new
home in Nottinghamshire, where their children and
grandchildren will no doubt take delight in reclaiming them.
Francis and Hilary are leaving: what
will the parish do without them?
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Week of Accompanied Prayer
The Week of Accompanied Prayer (2–8 June 2013) encourages
a space for listening and responding to God. It can be an
encouragement to take time for oneself amidst everyday life. It
also offers the opportunity to be listened to by a Companion.
How the week works:
• There is an Opening Session for all on Sunday 2 June.
• Each Participant commits to at least half an hour of reflection
in silence and solitude each day. The focus of this is
Scripture-based and will be arrived at in a shared way with
the Companion.
• Each day the Participant meets one-to-one with the Compan-
ion for up to forty minutes. The Companion listens lovingly
and without judgement. Their role is not to give advice or
counsel but to discern with the person where there is creative
energy in the prayer and where further focus may be invited.
Venue – the same each day in different churches in town.
• There is a Closing Session for all on Saturday 8 June.
• An integral part of the Week is the TEA ROOM! This is a
place where all those taking part can meet informally during
the week.
• The Companions are drawn from all denominations. They
are all experienced in spiritual direction and retreat work.
Their formation is founded on attending deeply to God in
their own life and prayer as well as various training
programmes.
Cost and Application
The suggested donation is £70 (this is what the week costs) but
with a sliding scale to a minimum of £40. We would not wish
finance to prevent participation and hope that anyone who
desires to take part and can’t afford this will speak to their priest,
minister or meeting leader. A deposit of £20 is required.There are two sessions for participants before the Week.
Theme – ‘Exploring Personal Prayer’ (venues to be confirmed)Monday 22 April 2013 7.30–9.30 pmMonday 29 April 2013 7.30–9.30 pmFor further information please speak to the Rector.
36
Why is this reading not in the Bible?
As soon as you start thinking about the history of the Bible, you
have to start thinking about book technology. Not technology
as we usually think of it now, all touchscreens and wi-fi, but the
old technology of print and, before that, ink and paper. And
even, before paper, parchment and papyrus.
The Bible as we have it now is a collection of books that have
been selected and reproduced over thousands of years. Now,
when I look it up, I usually use the computer or even my phone;
I might take a printed copy off the shelf when I want to check
the footnotes. But for most of the history of the Bible, the
books included in it have been handwritten. People have copied
it out, mostly by hand. Even when it’s printed, a human being
has been part of the copying process, setting up the type.
Human beings are not computers or cameras, and when we
copy anything, mistakes creep in. Or the opposite happens, the
copyist sees what seems to be a mistake in the older version, and
corrects it – sometimes adding a mistake that wasn’t there before.
Or the copyist might add a few words that weren’t in the older
version, to explain something; and then, when the next version
is produced, those few words become part of the text and get
copied themselves.
This is why people who study the history of books, including
the Bible, are interested in editions and manuscripts. They want
to look at the way a text changes from one version to another,
so that they can trace these mistakes and additions, and try to
get back to the most accurate version of the original work. For
something like a poem by John Keats, we can look at the poet’s
original handwritten manuscript. However, sometimes the hand-
written manuscript isn’t the final version. The poet W. H. Auden
once wrote a poem about Iceland with the line ‘and the poets
have names for the sea’. It came back from the printers for him
to check, and the printers had done their best to read his hand-
writing – which was terrible – and printed ‘the ports have names
for the sea’. Auden thought that was better poetry, so that’s the
line in the final version.
For the books in the Bible, we don’t have original manu-
scripts, so we don’t have to deal with that sort of situation. But
we can look at the oldest manuscripts that there are, and compare
37
them so as to try to find the most accurate version. This is a
process that has been going on much more since the great wave
of new translations of the Bible began in Europe during the Ref-
ormation. The people translating into languages like English and
German didn’t just want to translate the Latin versions they had
(the Latin itself was a translation), but to go back to the original
languages, Greek and Hebrew. Then, in later centuries, as more
and older manuscripts were found by travellers and archaeolo-
gists, they could be compared as well. This is one of the reasons
that new translations of the Bible keep being made. It isn’t just
to modernise the English, it’s also to include new discoveries that
might come from very ancient versions.
The history of the Bible is a long history of translation, and
this goes right back to before the New Testament. After Alexan-
der the Great, and largely because of him, Greek became a lan-
guage spoken right across the eastern Mediterranean world and
Asia Minor. So there was a need for a Greek version of the He-
brew scriptures (what we now usually call the Old Testament),
for people who were Jewish, but now spoke Greek as their first
language. The Greek version was produced in Alexandria, in
Egypt, by a team of translators, in the third century BC. The
story is that there were seventy translators, so it was called the
Septuagint or Seventy. The Septuagint was widely used by the
time of Jesus, and it’s the version of Scripture that St Paul usually
quotes.
This is where the Apocrypha comes in. There are several
books and parts of books in the Greek version of the Old Tes-
tament, the Septuagint, that aren’t in the Hebrew version. No re-
ally early manuscripts of the Hebrew version survived – the
earliest are from the 10th century AD, a thousand years after the
time of Jesus. On the other hand, it is the original language, and
it would have been carefully copied. It’s not suggested that the
Septuagint translators simply made these books and sections up,
but they haven’t been included in the Hebrew manuscripts as
those survive, which does suggest that later on they weren’t seen
as part of the core tradition.
So translators have to decide what to do about the Apoc-
ryphal books, the ones that are only in the Septuagint and not in
the Hebrew. From the Reformation, the Catholic tradition has
been to include them, and the Protestant tradition has been to
38
Cogges Manor Farm
2013 season
I don’t know about you, but our family is busy
counting down the days until Cogges re-opens
for the season...
Just in case you don’t know about the
changes, this year there will be more animals –
Shetland pony, Cotswold sheep, Oxford Sandy
and Black pigs, Pygmy goats, Indian Runner
ducks, geese and chickens; a new adventure play
area; new trails and walks; and a soft play barn.
All this in addition to the existing pleasures of
the walled garden, manor house, café, and our
favourite last summer, the sandpit!
It’s open Tuesday to Sunday and bank
holidays 11am–5pm, with the manor house
open at weekends, and family events throughout
the season. See you there! RS
miss them out. (The translators who produced the Authorised
Version in 1611 translated the Apocryphal books, but included
them in a separate section between the Old and New Testa-
ments.) A middle way is to read them, but not to base any major
ideas about God on what they say, since they don’t seem to be
part of the core tradition – which could be said of other parts
of the Bible as well, in both Old and New Testaments and in
both Christian and Jewish tradition.
Readings from the Apocrypha crop up from time to time in
the Revised Common Lectionary, which most mainstream Chris-
tian churches use. They can cause problems, because they aren’t
in some Bibles, so readers sometimes can’t easily find a copy and
people wonder where this reading came from. But we still include
them, because it enriches our range of reading and listening.
On a practical point, if you want to find the Apocrypha and
you don’t have a Bible that includes it, try the website bible.ore-
mus.org or ask one of the ministry team for a printed version.
39
Quarantine
According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the word ‘quarantine’
was first recorded in 1609, stating a length of 40 days, during
which a dowager was allowed to stay in her deceased husband’s
house. In 1663 it was being used to describe the period during
which persons or ships should be isolated for fear of contami-
nation. However during 1639, quarantine just meant a period of
40 days. The word comes from the seventeenth-century Venetian
Italian quarantena.
However in the fourteenth century, when the Black Death
wiped out an estimated 30% of Europe’s population, a 1377 doc-
ument in the Archives of Dubrovnik states that before entering
the city, newcomers had to spend 30 days (a trentine) in isolation,
later on this was extended to 40 days and was called quarantine,
200 or so years before the English used the word.
Moses and the Children of Israel had a sort of quarantine, that
of 40 years wandering around the desert of the Sinai peninsula.
We have just been celebrating the quarantine of the Forty
Days of Christmastide, which began on Christmas Day and
ended with Compline or Vespers at Candlemas (2 February).
Now like me, you probably couldn’t wait for Twelfth Night and
Epiphany (Theophany), so that you could dismantle your deco-
rations, and get back to normal. But we are wrong. Traditionally
the celebration of Christmastide lasted forty days. Candlemas is
also the Feast of the Purification of The Blessed Virgin Mary,
the Presentation of Jesus (Christ) at the Temple, The Meeting
of the Lord, and the day when priests used to bless the stock of
candles for the coming year.
Now we have entered another quarantine, that of Lent
(quadragesima); commemorating the forty days which Jesus spent
in the desert, being tempted by the devil. It is measured from Ash
Wednesday to Easter Day – or Easter Thursday, (Maundy Thurs-
day), according to your own particular persuasion) ... omitting
Sundays, or not, the 40 days is actually anything between 38 and
44 days. Following Easter, we shall enter another quarantine, that
of the 40 days between Christ’s Resurrection and his Ascension.
The Eastern Orthodox Church has a quarantine peculiar to
itself; Advent is known as The Nativity Fast and lasts for the 40
days leading up to Christmas Day.
40
So why 40 days? Why not 30 or 50 or 42? According to cur-
rent learning, the life-span during Biblical times was probably
the same as it is now. However the life-expectancy, for all the ob-
vious reasons of lack of medical understanding and sanitation,
was probably around 30; if we exclude infant mortality from the
equation, then it is likely to be nearer 40. I’m sure it’s all allegor-
ical, just a big number suggesting importance or estimation, or
perhaps representing a generation.
The number 40 appears in The Bible between 50 and 60 times,
depending how you count the references. It is a big number for
measurement, for example, the Lord would spare Sodom if 40
righteous could be found (Genesis 18: 29); the Lord gives Moses
instructions on how to build the tabernacle of the temple ‘and
thou shalt make 40 sockets of silver’ (Exodus 26: 19); Hazael
meets Elisha with 40 camels’ burden of gifts (2 Kings 8: 9); Paul
says, ‘Of the Jews, five times received 40 stripes save one.’ (2
Corinithians 11: 24). It is also a big number for length of time,
for example, the rains and the floods ‘were upon the earth 40 days
and 40 nights.’ (Genesis 7: 4, 12, 17); Isaac was 40 years old when
he took Rebekah to wife.’ (Genesis 25: 20); Moses sent many to
spy on the land of Canaan, ‘And they returned from searching
the land after 40 days.’ (Numbers 13: 25); The Lord ‘made them
wander in the wilderness 40 years’ (Numbers 32: 13); ‘David
reigned 40 years’ (2 Samuel 5: 4); ‘The time Solomon reigned was
40 years.’ (1 Kings 11:42); ‘Jesus was led by the spirit into the
wilderness ... being 40 days tempted by the devil.’ (Luke 4: 2).
Incidentally, Quarantine is the title of a 1998 historical novel
by Jim Grace, set in the Judean desert at the time of Jesus.
May I wish you a Very Fulfilling Quarantine.
Howard Brayton
Secondhand Cycles For Sale
To suit 3 years to adult
£20–£40
Fully serviced
All proceeds to Hailey Church and School
Contact Alan Bailey 01993 704271
41
Curbridge Church News
It was great to have the church full for Harvest Festival and the Carol Service. The church
was also full for the funeral of Gladys Dobson, a very faithful worshipper for all her life
and a tremendous worker for the Church too.
Work has continued in the churchyard on the trees and we thank the Parish Council
for their grant towards this work. We have also worked hard to restore and renovate the
organ. Brian Carlick, the organ builder, quoted for the work but thanks to the enthusiasm
and hard work of John Pole, who acted as his assistant and did a lot of work, the final
cost was a third of the original quote.
Finally the walls and ceiling of the church have been redecorated and look splendid.
Again we thank John Pole, who as Clerk of Works organised the work, and it was great
to know that Julian Mathias who lives in Curbridge and worships with us did most of the
painting as he works for D. W. Woodcock, the firm we used. Julian and his wife Tamara
also helped to put things back in time for Gladys Dobson’s funeral on the Friday and then
protect the church again so the work could be finished on the Monday. Also a big thank
you to everyone who responded to our appeal last year.
But we cannot rest on our laurels
as our five-year inspection of the
electrics has revealed that much of the
wiring needs replacing which is likely
to cost over £2,000.
The Friends of Curbridge Church
have some bone china mugs for sale
with a picture of the church. They
cost £6.50 each. If anyone would like
to be a Friend do contact me on
864926.
Tim Partridge
Parentport
Parentport was set up after the Bailey
Review (Letting Children be Children), in
order for anyone (not just parents) to
report anything inappropriate that
they see or hear in the media. This can
be any advertising, film, TV and radio
programme.
Sponsoring the Witney Way
Over the last two years the new-format Witney Way has taken on a new life and is now
very popular with our regular congregation as well as being an effective way in which we
can communicate with the rest of Witney.
We are now printing and distributing 1,000 copies of each issue in and around Witney.
The cost of printing the magazine will, as ever, be offset by advertising, but we would like
to invite you to help sponsor the larger distribution of our parish magazine as a tool of
mission.
A sponsorship of £6 a year would pay for the printing costs of your own magazine
and allow us to continue to provide free copies to visitors in our churches and people in
the wider community. If you can gift aid your sponsorship then that will help even more.
If you know anyone who would like to receive the magazine by post, four issues
throughout the year can be posted to any address in the UK for £12.
To sponsor the magazine, please complete the form below and hand to: Shirley
Jamieson (Holy Trinity); Bridget Walton (St Mary’s); Elpie Lewis (Hailey); Val Pole
(Curbridge) or the Parish Office.
Name
Address
Post code
I would like to support the cost of producing the Witney Way magazine and enclose a con-
tribution of £____
I would like this to be gift aided. I confirm I will pay in this tax year an amount of
Income Tax and/or Capital Gains Tax at least equal to the amount that all charities
and Community Amateur Sports clubs to which I give, will reclaim for this year
(25p for each £1 given). I understand that other taxes such as Council Tax and VAT
do not qualify.
I do/do not wish to have my name included in the list of sponsors. (please delete)
I would like to have the Witney Way posted to
Address____________________________________________________
Post code_______________
and enclose £12.
Cheques should be made payable to Witney PCC.
43
The Ministry Team
The Chapter
Toby Wright
Team Rector
Elizabeth Thomson
Team Vicar
Sally Wright
Associate Priest
Jeff Hill
Team Evangelist
Rosemary Peirce
Licensed Lay Minister
David Exham
Licensed Lay Minister
Joanna Collicutt
Assistant Priest
Stephen Hearn
Assistant Priest
Martin Sheldon
Assistant Priest