St Mary Magdalene Langridge

Transcription

1 St Mary Magdalene Langridge Langridge Parish Newsletter December 2016 to February Letter from Revd Prebendary Nigel Rawlinson Greetings. And a very happy Christmas We are now well into the vacancy following Patrick s departure. Thank you for all your help in preparing the parish profile. Huge thanks too to Claire Jones and Tony Davies, our church wardens. We have seen Patrick and Olivia occasionally, and life is already looking ahead. The age and history of St Mary Magdalene, Langridge is one of the foundation stones of our benefice. A place of worship since before 1200, we see the same, unchanging hillside opposite, and so often have realised the presence of God, whether in a service, during retreats, and even in the-ad hoc meetings held in the church. Passing walkers call in, and are blessed. In any vacancy, the first challenge for the congregation left behind is to discover that God is still around. We have experienced some great services in the last few months, and are gaining confidence in the reality of this presence. We enjoyed a lovely service last Sunday (Christ the King) with soup and cheese following. Thank you Friends of Langridge. During his recent visit to Bath, the Archbishop grounded all his comments, and answers to challenging questions, with the phrase we believe that God raised Jesus from the dead, and so then. His point is that we should not fear in any circumstance. All will be well. We must trust. And Jesus, Son of God, was born a baby. Of course he was. To a mother, with a father, and living in a family. That is what we remember now. Heaven touches earth at Christmas. That is miraculous. Let s pause and think about it! Have a blessed new year. And let us all work to encourage others to come and see the beauty of our church, and realise the presence of God here. Revd Prebendary Nigel Rawlinson Associate Minister, All Saints Weston, with Langridge and North Stoke the week of Christ the King

2 FRIENDS OF LANGRIDGE On the 6 th October the Village Hall was filled to capacity for the splendid talk on The Battle of Lansdown given by John Wroughton, a Bath historian who lectures on local history and has written many books. He gave us a vivid insight into the build up before as well as during the battle itself, and also a detailed account of some of the key personalities themselves. Many of us are familiar with the site and he brought this historic occasion to life for our local audience. John Wroughton giving his lecture Our next occasion, 12 January at 7.30pm, will be another talk by Howard Burton to continue his history on Charmy Down - The History of a Second World War Airfield. To be held in the Lansdown & Langridge village Hall. Tickets are The Valley Carol Singing will start at Top Cottage this year on Monday 19 th December at 6.30pm, with a warming drink provided by Laurie, and will finish with nibbles & drinks at Court Farm, hosted by Marie. Many of you will have met the Wheeler-Mezei family from Langridge, James, Virag and their lovely son Luke, at our 2 nd Saturday Mornings. Virag has written a book about their son and it is possible to obtain a copy from this address: The Friends are delighted to learn that Laura Somodi has taken on the role of Treasurer and wish her well. VH PAST EVENTS - QUIET DAY Saturday 29 October with Claire Jones and Liz Bavin The Quiet Day was a really interesting opportunity to think about the meaning of belonging to a church both locally and as a great body of believers spanning nations and centuries. About 10 of us met together to explore the theme with various resources to promote reflection. I chose to do a sensory walk to begin with where the concentration on unused senses uncovered the richness of our environment. The leaves fell from the tree and I began to explore whether the leaves still belonged to the tree despite being "disconnected". I think they do and it seems a good metaphor for our relationship to God. "Nothing can separate us from the love of God Paul says in Romans. Belonging implies a sense of ownership on the one hand and the benefit comes from submission to the bond imposed. The more we submit and celebrate the ownership the more we sense our belonging whether that's to a family, a club or to God. We had an hour to explore this by ourselves and then met for lunch in the barn in the Barn at Court Farm before having another hour with reflective readings and using art materials. A day with time to think. Claire Jones

3 PAST SERVICES In September we celebrated our annual Harvest Festival and it was wonderful to see all ages within our congregation. The Revd Neville Pearce took the service and afterwards we had refreshments and the Auction of the Produce was nobly undertaken by Harry Umpleby and Keith Rippin. We were very grateful to all those who decorated the church so beautifully and for your harvest gifts. Harvest Fruits On the 13 November we gathered for our Service of Remembrance which was taken by Canon Roger Clifton. He gave us an eloquent and very moving address remembering the sombre years of the Battle of Ypres in the First War. FUTURE SERVICES We hope you will be able to join us for our Christmas Services. On 11 th December our Carol Service will be at 3pm. On 11 th December we shall enjoy Christingle at 11am, and our Christmas Day Service on the 25 th will be taken by Canon Roger Salisbury at 9.30am. Do bring your friends and family to celebrate Christmas. We plan to decorate the church before the Carol Service and shall be meeting on Friday 9 th December at 10am. We would welcome anyone who would like to help or provide flowers or greenery. Our new Treasurer It is a pleasure to welcome the new Treasurer for Langridge Church, Laura Somodi. Laura lives on Langridge Lane with her husband and two-year old son Joseph. Laura is, unlike her predecessor, a professional Finance Manager (she is also many years younger than him!). She has already taken over as Treasurer and you will find her contact details in the Newsletter. You will have a chance to meet her at the church AGM (if not before). She has our best wishes. We would like to take this opportunity of thanking Tony Davies for his professional expertise in his role of treasurer over the last few years and wish him well in his new role with Claire as churchwardens. We are also grateful for the proceeds from his cycling proficiency - and trust he may find the energy to continue with both activities. LW

4 Greetings from Patrick and Olivia A few weeks ago I was able to call on Patrick and Olivia Whitworth, comfortably settled in their new home in Berkshire, to give them the gifts bought from donations at their Langridge leaving lunch in July. Patrick wrote to me the following day: Dear St Mary Magdalene Langridge, I can t tell you how touched and delighted we are with the beautiful Bath Aqua Blue wine glasses. I have always admired them and to have some to appreciate and enjoy is a wonderful way to remember everyone at Langridge and recall you with friendship and love over many years. It was so kind, thoughtful and generous of you. We will remember you all every time we use them. Not too frequently!! Thank you too for the lovely seeds another happy memory of Donald s amazing farm and seed business which is so unique. Come and visit and enjoy tea and a glass of wine in rural bliss, with our thanks, Love Patrick & Olivia. Tony Davies This message was left by a visitor to the church: Dear Wardens and Congregation of St Mary Magdalene, Langridge I want to thank you so much for the open door of your church. At a time in my life when I was feeling great loss and experiencing great change, when all that had been certain in my life had fallen away, I came to your church. A friend had said that Langridge Church was open during the day and that I might find it beneficial to spend some time there. So I came, and came again and again. In the quiet serenity of this church and its surroundings I met with my Heavenly Father and found comfort, peace and strength. When I was in need, your church was a sanctuary and a blessed place of restoration. I leave Bath, my home for 44 years, and start a new season of my life in Devon with greater confidence and the security of knowing my God is with me, working his purposes out for my life. I will never forget what I found here and am most grateful to you. I pray that you and others (who open the door to your church) will be blessed as I was. Thank you.

5 LETTER FROM BISHOP PETER Wonder and worship Have you ever wondered how many stars there are? We know there are lots and we know we can t count them. It is clearly not a straightforward question. So what do we know? We believe the universe is some 14 billion light years old. We think it is expanding, but we don t know if it is infinitely large or not. And the fact that space-time seems to be curved makes it even more complicated. But if the Milky Way has some 100 million stars in it and if there are in the order of 100 trillion galaxies, we are looking at something like 1 followed by 24 noughts as a answer. That is a lot of stars! And throughout all of human history people have wondered not only how many stars there are but also who made them. The Bible gives us an answer to this and reveals God as the Creator of all things. The prophet Isaiah wrote this: Lift up your eyes and look to the heavens: Who created all these? He brings out the starry host one by one, and calls them each by name. Because of his great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing. (Isaiah 40: 26) Stars are beautiful, mysterious, awe-inspiring. They cause us to wonder and marvel. Who has not stopped at some point and just gazed at the night sky? It is said that the US President Franklin D Roosevelt used to take his guest out after dinner to look at the night sky. They would stare at the stars and then he would say: Now that we feel small enough, let us discuss our business. At the first Christmas it was a star that led the wise men to the baby Jesus. When they saw the child with his mother Mary, they bowed down and worshipped him. Christmas reminds us that Jesus is God s Son, our Saviour and our Lord. In the midst of all else that is happening may we make sure that we take time to wonder and to worship. Gifts to Missions and Charities Langridge Church has for years, like many churches, striven to donate 10% of the church s income each year to missions and charities (the traditional mediaeval tithe ). We believe that it is right to play our part in helping to alleviate suffering at home and abroad, and so in 2016 we have decided to make donations of 150 to the following: Bath Foodbank; Church of England Children s Society; the Diocese of St Helena; Dorothy House; Julian House; Mercy Ships; Mission Aviation Fellowship; Royal British Legion; Sight Savers; Somerset Churches Trust; Water Aid. TD

6 LANGRIDGE SERVICES December 2016 February 2017 Date Time Type of Service Preacher December Holy Communion BCP Sister Peggy Boynes December 11 3pm Carol Service Revd Canon Roger Clifton December Christingle All Saints Team December CHRISTMAS DAY Revd Canon Roger Salisbury 2017 January 1st 9.30 HC CW Revd N Pearce January MP BCP Mr C Maggs January Family Service All Saints Team January HC CW Revd Antony Claridge January 29 4pm Evensong All Saints Team February HC BCP Revd Bindon Plowman February MP BCP Sister Peggy Boynes February Family Service All Saints Team February HC CW Revd Antony Claridge If you have contributions for the next Newsletter (March to June 2017) please contact Liz White regarding Church matters, and Judy Rippin for the Friends news. We would like to hear about all items of interest comments, memories, events or special occasions by 20 March USEFUL TELEPHONE NUMBERS Acting Minister Revd Nigel Rawlinson Church Wardens Tony Davies Claire Jones Treasurer Laura Somodi Langridge Friends Judy Rippin Newsletter editor Liz White You can follow current news over the next three months on our website: or let us have your address if you would like to receive the e-newsletter.