Church of All Saints in the Vendée To know and to share Jesus Christ

Transcription

1 Church of All Saints in the Vendée To know and to share Jesus Christ CONTACTS: Priest: Reverend Caroline Sackley Church Wardens: Barbara Kenyon: Phone no: , Joan Stewart: Phone no: , Readers: Robin Kenyon: Phone no: , John Matthews: Phone no: , Website: A very happy Christmas to all our readers! And a very special welcome to Caroline! Preface This month we welcome the Reverend Caroline Sackley and her husband, Bob, to our beautiful part of France. She will be our new Priest-in-charge once all the official confirmations are in place. We are delighted that she is able to be with us for the Season of Advent and Christmas. Caroline and Bob, welcome! We hope you will enjoy all this area has to offer as much as we do. Dear Friends, December 2013 I would like to take this opportunity to introduce myself to you all as I arrive in the Vendée. I am delighted and feel very privileged to be appointed to come to you as your Priest in Charge and look forward to meeting you all and joining you in serving God in this lovely part of France. I am married to Bob and this year we celebrated our 41st wedding anniversary. We have 3 children, James, Jo and Beccy. They are all in the UK at the moment, although James has spent several years living and working in F rance and intends to return. I have a nursing background, and spent some years working as a Community Psychiatric Nurse in various parts of the country. I trained for Ordination as a "mature" (very!) student at Sarum College in Salisbury. It was a part time course as I was working full time, by then I was a manager of a sheltered housing complex in Surrey. I did my Curacy in the Diocese of Lincoln and then moved to the Diocese of Portsmouth to work in a parish and help the deanery look at mission. Bob had dreamed for many years of retiring to our property in France and being able to do some more work on the site but not having to rush and we moved to Department 53 last August. It has been lovely to have some time together and to relax and enjoy doing some of the crafts that I love. We have two very spoilt dogs who have trained us to be just as they want and they will love having the beaches fairly nearby for playing on. We have yet to find a home here so will be in temporary accommodation which will make contacting me difficult but I will try to get that sorted out as soon as possible. Page One

2 My first service will be on Advent Sunday, the beginning of the new church year which somehow feels very symbolic for new beginnings for us all. We are in this together as we endeavour to understand God's purpose for us and grow together in fellowship with Him and each other. I believe firmly that we all have gifts and talents to bring into that fellowship, to help each other and others. Sometimes these gifts need discovering or uncovering and I'm sure that this long interregnum has found some! On this note I would like to thank, on your behalf and on behalf of the Diocese, all the people who have done so much during this time. I am sure that I don't know all of them yet or what they have done, but I would like to particularly thank Barbara and Joan the Church Wardens for all the responsibilities they have carried and the work involved. As we look to the future, the only thing we can be sure of is that God will be with us through thick and thin, and so we set out on this new adventure of our life in Christ. God Bless, Caroline DECEMBER into JANUARY CHURCH SERVICES WITH BIBLE READINGS All Services start at 11am except where indicated 1/12/2013 HC Advent Sunday LCP 1 st Lesson: Isaiah 2: 1-5 Epistle: Romans 13: Gospel: St Matthew 24: /12/2013 HC Advent 2 PDS 1st Lesson: Isaiah 11: 1-10 Epistle: Romans 15: 4-13 Gospel: St Matthew 3: /12/2013 MW Advent 3 Lessons and Carols LCA 22/12/2013 MW Advent 4 Lessons and Carols PDS 24/12/ am HC Christmas Eve LCA 4pm HC Christmas Eve PDS 1 st Lesson: 2 Samuel 7: Epistle: Acts 13: Gospel: St Luke 1: /12/2013 No Service 5/1/2014 HC Second Sunday of Christmas LCP 1 st Lesson: Jeremiah 31: 7-14 Epistle: Ephesians 1: 3-14 Gospel: St John 1: 1-18 LCA = La Chapelle Achard; PDS = Puy de Serre; LCP = La Chapelle Palluau, TSG = Tallud Sainte Gemme MW=Morning Worship; HC(CW)=Holy Communion (Common Worship); BCP=Book of Common Prayer Please join us for Tea, Coffee & Biscuits after our services, followed by a Bring & Share Lunch Everyone is welcome to join us - even if you have not brought anything There is always enough to go round! (Unfortunately, when there is a service on the fifth Sunday in the month, the hall is not available). Page Two

3 12 th December, Thursday, 11am: Ladies Circle at Mouilleron en Pareds. For more details, please contact Joan Stewart on Ladies, please note this change of date and time! 13 th December, Friday, 7pm: Bilingual Carol Service at Puy de Serre. Followed by mulled wine and mince pies. Don t forget that Diary Updates are available on our Website: We have received Invitations from the Anglican churches in neighbouring departments where there will be special Christmas Services on: 15th December, Sunday, 5pm Ranton (86) - La Chapelle Notre Dame Mulled wine and refreshments afterwards ( 18th December, Wednesday, 7pm Parthenay (86) Église de St Laurent (See Page Nine for more details) 25th December, Wednesday, 10am Ranton (86) Christmas Day Said Communion Names on our Prayer List. Through the coming days, please remember especially in your prayers: Geoffrey Colman: Geoffrey is very frail and in real need of prayer, as is Janet who is bearing the brunt of caring for him. The good news is that they have family moving to France soon (about 1½ hours away.) Peter Hutchinson: Peter had a fall on 12th November and broke his femur. He is in the Polyclinic at Fontenay, (room 127). His leg has been pinned and he seems to be recovering well. He will almost certainly go from hospital to a convalescent home, but we don't yet know where yet nor for how long. Arnold Burrows: Living on his own, but in hospital at the moment, Arnold is finding life a struggle, particularly since his fall earlier this Geoff Kent: Geoff seems to be doing well and his pacemaker is working well. Ribs take a long time to mend! Des Vine: Convalescence is progressing well and the lung specialist and surgeon at Poitiers hospital are both happy and do not need to see him again. Des is having regular precautionary chemo'. But says he is feeling well. Please also remember the family in Canada of an ASV member: Emily, who is extremely poorly with a pancreatic problem, possibly cancer but unable to treat or operate due to kidney problems and her husband Robert, somewhat older than her, who is also very unwell. Our Prayer Co-ordinator is David Pearson. Please let him have details of any folk you become aware of who need our prayers david.sally@orange.fr Thank you all for your continuing prayers You may sometimes hear of members or friends of our congregations who are not wanting to go on our Prayer List, but who are ill or in need. In these cases, please let David Pearson, our Pastoral Organiser, know. Tel: Page Three

4 Notes from our Church Wardens Well, everything was ready the church was booked, the hall was booked, the food was ordered, the singers were preparing and the guests were all invited We were ready to welcome our new Priest-in charge with a special Service of Institution and Licensing, led by the Archdeacon of France. Only five days to go - when the bad news arrived that the UK authorities had not yet returned some essential papers and so everything had to be put on hold as the final permissions could not be completed. We are sure we speak for all of us when we say we are very disappointed. Caroline, too However, the good news is that Caroline will be with us anyway, as the Bishop will give her a PTO [Permission to Officiate]. Her first Service will be on Sunday, 1 st December at La Chapelle Palluau at 11am. Let`s make this a special Service for us all and endeavour to be there in celebration of our new Priest. And the Service of Institution and Licensing? Well, it will take place in the New Year and we are ready! We should like to say a big Thank you to Polly and everyone involved with the preparation and running of the brilliant Ceilidh and Christmas Draw. Once again, Polly has shown she has the Midas touch! We are very grateful. Although we do not like to single out individual contributions, it would be true to say that the Ceilidh would not have happened without Richard and Marian and Jenny and Graham so our particular thanks to them, too. And thank you to all of you for selling our Christmas Draw tickets and participating in all of our events. It has been a good year We would like to wish all of you, a very merry and joyful Christmas, wherever you may be at home here or with family and friends elsewhere. Happy Christmas everyone! All best wishes Barbara Kenyon and Joan Stewart ASV Website News Last Sunday's sermon is now published on our website! Go to: click on "Notices" then scroll down to "Sermons you may have missed". So, if you are unwell or away from home, it's another way to keep in touch! Jacqui Stainton-James - (website co-ordinator) Page Four

5 CAROL SERVICE in English and French Friday December 13 th at 7pm Église Ste Marthe, Puy de Serre Followed by mulled wine and mince pies in the Salle If you are able to help in any way singing, decorating the Church and/or the Salle, making mince pies or savouries or serving the `vin chaud`, please contact Polly on A Thousand Gifts, a Thousand Blessings! Don`t forget your gifts on the 2 nd Sunday of each month. Bill and Carole will collect them and pass them on to the charity in Coulonges. Dear Friends, Bill has sent us an update: RESTOS DU COEUR RESTAURANTS OF THE HEART 1000 Gifts,1000 Blessings...We have stopped counting after the October donations from Puy de Serre, Ranton and Parthenay. We have exceeded 1000 gifts and from the Harvest Supper and Harvest Festival collections, Restos du Coeur have been able to buy a large mobile cool box for collecting the fresh foodstuffs given weekly by Super U. Previously it all had to be collected in small domestic freezer bags. We are also negotiating with Super U for the purchase of 50 oven ready chickens, one for each needy family for Christmas. We hope that the remaining money will be spent on small Christmas gifts for the children, of whom there are boys and 25 girls aged from 1 to 15. The customers of the bar at Chapelle Thireuil sold garden plants with the price for each plant being 1 tin of food. Pause Restaurant in L'Absie is holding a Tombola during their Christmas Fair with the proceeds to go to Restos du Coeur. We have just had an from friends in England who are coming to house and dog sit while we are away, to say that Veronica has been making angels and other things to bring for Restos and is there anything else that th ey can bring. Restos du Coeur will be holding a Christmas party for the children on the 18th December and people are donating good quality toys that their children have grown out of. It is almost as if a bomb has exploded. People want to be involved. Praise the Lord! This act of Faith has released the Holy Spirit and all we have to do is act in Faith. This is a wonderful door that is opening. Carole and I have to go to England for a family celebration on the 22nd November until 2nd December so the last collection date for Christmas will be at Puy de Serre on the 8th December. Thank you friends for your generosity, your prayers and fellowship. Have a truly wonderful Christmas and never slow down praising the Lord. Bill Stocking Page Five

6 Letter from The Editor "O come, o come, Emmanuel!" Season's Greetings, Everyone! What a special time of year it is. This edition of Grapevine heralds the season of Advent, the start of the new year in the Christian calendar. And for us the start of a new period in the life of our Church. On the 1st December, we welcome Caroline, our new priest. Although, she may not yet be Instituted and Licensed, she is here nonetheless to lead us into the next exciting phase in the life of our Church. And we have that special Service of Institution and Licensing to look forward to in the New Year! Advent is a time of preparation and expectation, a busy time, yet also time for quiet reflection. We are preparing to celebrate the arrival of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, as a vulnerable human baby. Yet we are also mindful that this child became the man who sacrificed Himself for us, so that we might enjoy everlasting life. So, it is rightly a time of celebration and present giving, of being with family and friends. Wherever you are and whoever you are with, have a very happy Christmas! `Hark, the glad sound! the Saviour comes, The Saviour promised long; Let every heart prepare a throne, And every voice a song.' Joan Stewart Page Six

7 We have received the following letter from Bishop Geoffrey, who has just retired. We shall put out a basket for donations during Advent. Please give generously BISHOP'S ADVENT APPEAL 2013 As one of his last duties as Bishop of the Diocese, Bishop Geoffrey wrote to commend the Bishop s Advent Appeal to us all. This comes with the endorsement of Bishop David and the Archdeacons and Senior Staff of the Diocese. PROJECT: TO WORK WITH SAN MATEO MISSION AND SCHOOL, LIMA, IN BUILDING NEW CLASSROOMS AND A MISSION CHURCH SHANTY TOWN FROM SCHOOL AREA FOR CHURCH AND CLASSROOMS STREET FIESTA San Mateo is a mission and school in the north east of Lima, on the edge of a shanty town. EDUCATION AND CARE San Mateo School provides education, nutrition and medical care for children from nearby shanty towns in north east Lima (Peru). The school has approximately 250 pupils and seeks to offer them education with excellence. Most of the children come from poor areas round about. Besides formal subjects, it cares about the all round development of the children, and offers art, music, dancing, physical education, sport not available in state schools and the life of the school is centred in Christian faith and values in a family atmosphere. The patio in the middle of the classrooms has plants and trees, and its beauty reminds the children of the need to care for the creation, and the beauty of Peru, one of the most beautiful and varied countries of the world. School begins at 8am and finishes at 5pm. These long hours are important for families and enable mothers, many of whom are single, to find work without worrying about their children, knowing they are safe at school and cared for. (State schools run for only half the day and consequently many children are either home alone or on the streets.) NUTRITION AND MEDICAL NEEDS Because of poverty, many of the children arrive at school without breakfast, so one of our support projects is to provide them with both breakfast and lunch. T his has had the added bonus of creating a family atmosphere as children and teachers sit down to eat together. A good diet is part of the health that we believe is vital for good learning; and besides this, each child r eceives regular check-ups from the diocesan doctor and medical team. MISSION The school is part of St Matthew s Mission and the priest, Padre Ruben, runs the mission church and offers pastoral care to the school, its children and families, and the school has a regular weekly Eucharist; and the life of the mission is like that of any normal parish. The mission and school began in the year 2000 and work together to fulfil the Church s life, mission and ministry to the peop le of this poor urban area. Education is one of the chief areas of mission of the Diocese of Peru and enables to Church to serve and reach out to the local population. Page Seven

8 THE PROJECT CHURCH AND CLASSROOMS The mission has a piece of land adjacent to the school and aims to build a mission church which will also be used as a chapel for the school and two new classrooms. The classrooms will face onto the central school patio, and the chapel onto a public square. The mission and school have started raising funds for the buildings but need the boost of help from their Christian partners. We ask for your help with this project, to join with the mission and school in providing this urgent extension to its wor k. The classrooms will cost approximately US$15,000 and the chapel US$30,000. The long term gain for the school is that it will enable the school to have more pupils and move towards greater financial sustainability at present it breaks even BREAKFAST LUNCH LUNCH(2) LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Carole Stocking has an interesting family story, following up on last month`s Remembrance day article Dear Joan, You may be interested to a follow-up on the article about the RAF bomber crews. My mother's cousin Billy Dixon was, at that time, a pilot officer age 21, flying Wellington bombers. On the night of April 4/ he and others assaulted the Scharnhorst and the Gneisenau battle cruisers in Brest harbour. Billy's aircraft was damaged by heavy flac but he dived to 1000 ft and released his 500lb bombs, continued to dive to 50ft across the harbour. Although the ships were not destroyed, they were put out of action for many months. Billy was awarded the DFC for his leading part in the raid and Winston Churchill called Billy's station commander and told him "See this man puts up his DFC ribbon this day". Billy went on to become squadron leaded leading attacks on Berlin, the Rhur and other heavily defended targets being awarded the DSO in He had many exploits and hairy moments and in 1952 flew into the atomic cloud to collect samples of Britain's first nuclear device. Eventually becoming Director of Aircraft Projects at the Ministry of Defence, AFC in 1958, CBE in 1972 and from 1968 to 1973 was ADC to the Queen. he died in 1999 age 79. Group Captain William Dixon (left) in 1941 Carole Page Eight

9 We have also received some photographs from Curtis and Dee Parkyn, taken at the Service of Remembrance at the Halifax bomber crash site and the cemetery at Angles Despite continual rain, we all found this little Act of Remembrance very moving. Thank you Doug and Jack. And thank you Stuart for the haunting accompaniment to `Abide with Me`. There are more photos in the Gallery on our website: Traditional(bi-lingual) Service of Nine Lessons and Carols in English & French Wednesday, 18th December 2013 at 7.00pm Saint Laurent Church, Place Saint Laurent, PARTHENAY (79) Mince pies and mulled wine will be available after the service- in the Salle Hilaire. More information from John Matthews ( ) or Chaplaincy Office ( ). Please send your contributions and letters for the January issue to: The Grapevine Editor at: before 7 th December. [Please note this earlier deadline] Requests to be included on the ing list should be addressed to Jacqui Stainton-James at: sjfamily66@hotmail.com Page Nine