ST MICHAEL & ALL ANGELS CHURCH (Anglican) Mildred Ave. / Durban Rd. Watford

Transcription

1 October 2009 S W O ST MICHAEL & ALL ANGELS CHURCH (Anglican) Mildred Ave. / Durban Rd. Watford R DL E P PARISH MAGAZINE Price 60p WEST WATFORD FREE CHURCH (Baptist) Church by the Zebra Crossing Tolpits Lane, Watford 1

2 A Pastoral Letter... There are no strangers, only friends you haven't met yet Dear All, Being a priest has always been for me a people thing, from the very first stirrings of God's call to the ministry twenty-five years ago. Since then, I have met many people, and had the privilege of being alongside them on their spiritual journey. In each parish, I have tried to be a friend in God, a companion on the journey of life, and I have found that I have received as much, in fact more than I have given, of people's friendship, love, Christian wisdom and insight. As I have begun each new phase of my ministry, it is this that I have looked forward to, meeting new people, learning about them, their hopes and fears, their joys and sorrows, and sharing their fellowship in God's family. I hope that in due course, as we meet, I shall be able to call each one of you a friend, and that you will see me also as a friend. It will take me a little while to get round everyone, though, so please be patient! Christians are often called believers, but the practise of the faith, what we actually do, involves four main areas, worshipping, praying, increasing our knowledge, and practical action. Each of these areas involves God, ourselves, and other people. I love good liturgy, the beauty of Church music, and inspiring worship, and we must always remember that its purpose is to bring people closer to God, as givers of worship and receivers of grace. Prayer is vital, and we can pray on our own or with others, but we always pray as part of a family. Even when we are on our own, we pray as part of the Christian family. Increasing our knowledge, most centrally of the Bible and what we learn in it of our Lord Jesus Christ, but also in other ways, is something we can do together, perhaps in a Bible Study Group or Lent Group, or on our own. Even if we read or study on our own we need to read and study as part of a family, with the aids and helps available. The practical things we do, for the Church, and for people around us, are very often given form and direction by our membership of the wider body and community. I hope that over the months and years ahead, we shall become friends and companions, working and journeying together in our worship, prayer, study and action, as we are inspired, accompanied, led and invited, by God our Father through our Lord Jesus Christ. Yours in Christ Fr Geoff 2

3 Funerals 25 th August 2009 JEAN HEATH BROWN was a lady who liked order in her life and she was a great organiser. She was also artistic and had won a scholarship to the Watford Technical College. She worked hard at what ever she undertook and this included being a caring wife and mother. She was married to George for 52 years before his death and cared for him when he was ill. She is sadly missed by her son Mark and her daughter Caroline, by her grandchildren and great grandchildren. We send them all our sincere sympathy. Violet Dear friends, Mosaic Chamber Choir It gives me great pleasure to announce that my choir, Mosaic Chamber Choir, are coming to Watford! We are singing a programme of French music at St Michael and All Angels Church, Saturday, October 17 at 7.30 pm This will be Mosaic s first appearance in Watford, so I hope that many of you will take the opportunity to support me and to hear this exceptional choir. Check out our website on for more details about the choir. For more information about the concert, please see the attached flyer or contact me directly. I look forward to seeing you at St Michael s on October 17! Kind regards, Kristine Jenkins 3

4 ST MICHAEL S MOTHERS UNION DIARY Thursday 22nd October 10am Corporate Communion and meeting afterwards for coffee in the vestry. Pat Gandy Dear Friends, Mothers Union Quiz My thanks to all the thirty-three people who took part in the Quiz. As you know, the money will go towards Mothers Union charities. I have now been told that the figure of Christ in Majesty in the Lady Chapel was made by a former member of St Michael s, Mike Togwell. But we do not know who Maud and Arthur Steele were. Can anyone help? I have to admit that in asking for the number of Stations which had a cross in them, I had not counted the three small crosses on the hill in Station 14. But most entrants counted the 12 large crosses, and so this is what I marked. I was very intrigued by the many and varied suggestions about the people on Station 14, but all could have been correct, and were so marked. I do hope you enjoyed taking part. If you wish to see all the answers, they will be pinned in a plastic cover on a notice board near the back of the Church. Violet 4

5 update update - - On September 13 th, we had our first service after the summer holidays. It was good to see several families who had found their way back to us. This was the last service that featured Peter Adams and Michael Jenkins as regular members of the band; they are both off to university, Michael to study psychology at Lancaster, and Peter to study music at Bristol. They have been associated with St Michael s since they were in the crèche together. They have also gone through Sunday School and many years of choir membership together, as well as faithfully making up the entire clarinet section of the band since the services started 10 years ago what an achievement! As a thank you and to wish them luck for the future, the band played arrangements by both these music A-level students and they were presented with a card and gift tokens for local music shop, Hooters. Michael has already used his vouchers towards the purchase of an acoustic guitar! Hopefully, we have not seen the last of them, though; I m hoping they will join us for the Christmas services. Looking ahead, the October will be led by the Youth group and Fr. Geoff will be in attendance. Please come along and support our youth for this service; they are having special planning meetings for this and we re hoping to feature some upbeat tunes for the band to get to grips with. Kristine Jenkins FINAL COPY DATE FOR NOVEMBER SWORD:- Midday on Sunday 25th October 2009 Please submit copy before this date if possible - hard copy, floppy disc or to DENNIS.H.BEACH@sky.com 5

6 STABLE WANTED CHRISTMAS 2009 A lone, destitute African woman is expecting to be delivered of her firstborn in Christmas Week. Her tiny, rented room in central Watford is too small for a baby's cot; the Watford and Three Rivers Refugee Project, which has befriended her, is asking for a householder to offer a 'spare-room' with access to cooking and washing facilities, shortterm, pending the Hertfordshire County Council social services honouring its acknowledged responsibilities under the Children Act. The WTRRP already has in store a donated cot with mattress and linen, a pram; and a cache of 'newborn' nappies, and is collecting other gear. A car-driving volunteer is also needed (with escort) to take the woman into the maternity ward at onset of labour and collect the mother-and-baby when discharge is ordered. This is a call for practical help starting in Advent in an almost biblical nativity scenario... 'Ding-dong Merrily on High!' The WTRRP would happily meet reasonable expenses. Enquiries soonest and in strict confidence, please to: Lawrie Coe, Hon' Sec' WTRRP, on: 01923: WEEK OF PRAYER FOR WORLD PEACE 11th 18th October 2009 Just a reminder that Week of Prayer for World Peace this year is from 11 th to 18 th October. Leaflets from this interfaith peace group are available and the annual gathering will be at St Pancras Old Church in London on 11 th October at 3pm. Directions and a map are to be found on the leaflet. For many years Dr Roger Grainger collected prayers for the Peace Prayer leaflet, and now he has incorporated many of them into a lovely book, entitled Peace Prayers. I have a few copies for sale so if you would like one please ask me. Sarah Dunning 6

7 ST MICHAEL S QUIZ NIGHT : 2009 Hello! It s us again. As you will appreciate, the Quiz will take place on Saturday 3 October 2009 beginning overall at 7.00 pm for a prompt 7.30 start. We should like to thank Dennis and Pat Beach for designing and including their own page in August s Sword and which forms the basis of separate flyers, copies of which are flying round. This they did on behalf of the Publicity Committee, for whose interest we are grateful. A further reason for writing again is that we are going to seize the opportunity to conduct a raffle during the same event. We ourselves will donate prizes as part of the process. If the spirit moves any Sword reader, we should be grateful for additional raffle prizes. Norma Twitchin has kindly taken on once again her role as Queen of Raffles. We hope that the effect of the foregoing will not be a desire to give Norma or ourselves a wide berth. Thank you again for your kind attention. See you all at the quiz (hopefully). Demand for tickets is picking after a slow start, but we should certainly like more people there than have so far indicated. We ask this in spite of the presence of a split participle in this paragraph. Iola and Robert Bilson CONFIRMATION One of the first things that Fr Geoff will be doing when he starts as our Vicar is to prepare a group of people (all ages welcome) for Confirmation. Anyone who is interested is welcome to join the group and hear about the commitment for Confirmation. The Service of Confirmation is scheduled to be in February in this church and will be conducted by the Bishop of Hertford but you do not commit to that until nearer the time. If you would like to join this group please see Fr Geoff as soon as possoble. Paul Chandler and Sylvia Moring 7

8 The Children s Society I would like to thank everyone who supported the Society Coffee Morning on Saturday, 26 September, in any way and helped to raise the sum of for the Society s work. Your support is very much appreciated. Norma Twitchin 8

9 ST MICHAEL S CHRISTMAS FAIR Yes, it will be soon be here and it is definitely the time to be thinking of what you can do for the Fair and starting to get ready. The Fair is on Saturday, 14 November 2009 from to 2.30 pm Please keep the date free, tell your friends and neighbours, and think of what you can do for the fair. AFOOT AND AWHEEL St Michael s and the Sponsored Bike n Hike 12 September It was ideal weather (I am told, I was away on holiday) helping this event to have gone off particularly well this year judging from the Record Sheet of visitors which showed 25 names, well up on recent years. St Michael s had at least three walkers and one cyclist ranging widely from Rickmansworth to Abbots Langley, Leavesden to Aldenham and beyond so well done you know who you are. Talking to Bhaswal from St Andrew s, the local organiser, there was a lot of activity and a lot of enjoyment of the day across the Watford deanery area, so a good indicator that the target of 100,000 for the two counties of Beds and Herts will be exceeded again. Some useful housekeeping in the church was carried out by the volunteers who kept the church open to welcome visitors - cleaning, brass polishing and hymnbook repairs and this contribution to the success of the event can also be sponsored. The green form is still available on the table by the west door. A final urging to help get the money in by seeking out the participants you have sponsored, and if you havn t sponsored anyone yet you can do so after the event and NOW! I will report on the outcome from our church later in the Autumn, the final grand total raised by the Beds & Herts is usually clear by January. Phil Gough 9

10 DIARY OF EVENTS FOR OCTOBER OCTOBER 1st Thu Fairhaven during morning Kids Club pm Choir Practice pm 3rd Sat Bob & Iola s Quiz Night 7.00 for 7.30 pm 4th SUN HARVEST THANKSGIVING Holy Communion (Pres: Fr George) 8.00 am SUNG EUCHARIST (Pres & Preacher: Fr Geoff) 9.30 am (Crèche & Sunday School) United Evening Service at Trinity Methodist 6.30 pm 7th Wed Bible Study (John 8) Choir Vestry 8.00 pm 8th Thu St Anthony s during morning Kids Club pm Choir Practice pm 10th Sat Parish Walk leaving Church at 10 am 11th SUN EIGHTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY Start of Week of Prayer for World Peace Holy Communion (Fr Geoff) SUNG EUCHARIST (Pres & Preacher: Fr Geoff) (Crèche & Sunday School)) Service (taken by the Youth Group) Service at River Court Evening Prayer (Officiant: Graham Mordue) 12th Mon (Bishop of St Albans to visit Watford Deanery) 13th Tue Laurance Haines School Harvest in morning Prayer Group (Choir Vestry) (Multi-Cultural Community Centre AGM) Rehearsal in Church for Mosaic pm 14th Wed Bring-and-Share Lunch Service at Home Manor (Violet) 15th Thu Mothers Union attend 10 am Service of Holy Communion followed by meeting Kids Club pm Choir Practice pm 8.00 am 9.30 am am 3.00 pm 6.30 pm 2.30 pm 7.30 pm pm 3.00 pm am 17th Sat MOSAIC CONCERT IN CHURCH 7.30 pm 18th Sun ST LUKE Holy Communion (Fr Geoff) 8.00 am SUNG EUCHARIST (Pres: Fr Geoff; Preacher: Martin Heath) (Crèche & Sunday School)) 9.30 am 10

11 DIARY OF EVENTS FOR OCTOBER (cont) Baptism Baptism Evening Prayer (Off: Fay Storey) pm 2.30 pm 6.30 pm 19th Mon Worship Committee (Choir Vestry) 8.00 pm 21st Wed PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL 7.45 for 7.55 pm 22nd Thu Kids Club pm Choir Practice pm 25th Sun BIBLE SUNDAY British Summer Time ends put clocks back Holy Communion (Fr George) SUNG EUCHARIST (Pres & Preacher: Fr George) (Crèche & Sunday School) Followed by a Bring-&-Buy sale Baptism for Lily-Mai Schmid Evening Prayer (Off: Fr George) 8.00 am 9.30 am 2.00 pm 6.30 pm 26th Mon Half Term week 27th Tue (MCCC Committee meeting in Choir Vestry 7.30 pm 28th Wed (Choir Vestry in use for U3A noon) Pause (23 Whippendell Road) 29th Thu Choir Practice pm NOVEMBER (Advance notice) 7.30 pm 1st Sun All Saints/Memorial Service Holy Communion (Chantry List to be read) MEMORIAL SERVICE (Pres & Preacher: Fr Geoff) United Evening Service at St Michael s 8.00 am 9.30 am 6.30 pm 14th Sat CHRISTMAS FAIR (CHURCH & HALL) pm A service of Holy Communion is held every Thursday at am. Both this and the 8 am on Sunday are Order One in Traditional Language. Morning Prayer is said daily in the Lady Chapel (Monday to Friday) at 9.00 am. The Toddlers Group meets in Church every Monday from am. Tea, Coffee & Squash are served in Church every Wednesday from until noon. On the first Wednesday of the month this is followed by a bring-and-share lunch at pm. 11

12 9.30 am SUNG EUCHARIST DUTY LIST (October) Sunday 11th October Deacons Intercessor Lesson Readers Sidespeople Crèche Sunday School M Simon, V Alvarez S Moring P Gough, S Dunning V Blacklock, H Moring, D Beach L Kinch, N Roche G Heath, N Brighton Sunday 18th October Deacons Intercessor Lesson Readers Sidespeople Crèche Sunday School Sunday 25th October Deacons Intercessor Lesson Readers Sidespeople Crèche Sunday School J Wareham, V Allen-Smith N Hart M Matthews, S Moring P Hart, N Hart, J Alexander A Makin, A Mc Donald J Talbot, S Dunning V Allen-Smith, A Eccleshall S Dunning P Jenkins, A Eccleshall A Coley, P Coley, I Bilson L Kinch, A Makin K Jenkins, J Chandler Sunday 1st November Deacons Intercessor Lesson Readers Sidespeople Crèche Sunday School V Allen-Smith, V Alvarez A Eccleshall tba V Wardman, P Allen-Smith, J Ochola N Roche and daughters G Heath, J Talbot 12

13 THE COMPANY OF HEAVEN You are probably reading this between the Feast of Michaelmas (29 September) and All Saints Day (1 November). These are two of the great festivals included by Cranmer when he was compiling the Book of Common Prayer around 450 years ago; to distinguish them, details of these great festivals were often printed in red (we still have the expression red-letter day ). The full title of the festival is St. Michael and All Angels, which is the dedication of our church, and we have just celebrated it as our patronal festival on Sunday 27 September. Michael is one of the two archangels named in the New Testament (the other is Gabriel, who announced the forthcoming birth of Jesus to Mary), and is referred to in various places in the Bible. He is generally described as leading the armies of the angels of God in war against the Devil and his rebel angels. We tend to think of the angels as if they were a special kind of saint and of the archangels as a special kind of angel. That is not how they appear in the Bible. St. Paul writes of heavenly beings created by God; they are usually described as the Company of Heaven (as in our Sung Eucharist) or the Heavenly Host. It is traditionally said that the Company of Heaven comprises three hierarchies with three choirs in each, in the following order, beginning with the highest: Seraphim, Cherubim and Thrones: Dominations, Virtues and Powers; and Principalities, Archangels and Angels. This scheme was drawn up about A.D. 500 by Dionysius the Pseudo-Areopagite, a mystical theologian who lived in Syria. Christian thinkers have therefore described God s creation as a physical universe, which we ourselves are born into, and a heavenly universe, which is outside time and space. Modern understanding of the physical universe is consistent with our tentative understanding of the immaterial, invisible, eternal and infinite universe which is Heaven, regarded by St. Paul as a mystery. Both are inhabited by God s living creatures. Our Earth is inhabited by God s human creatures, who combine spiritual natures, limited lives and physical bodies. God commands us to choose between living in accordance with His will or rebelling against him. Similarly the company of Heaven is commanded to choose for or against God, and one of the things it does is to help us in understanding God s will and doing it. These entirely spiritual beings of God s heavenly creation may rebel against God, as we do. So the Book of Revelation, using imagery derived from the Book of Daniel, speaks of war in Heaven. It envisages that many of the heavenly company are in rebellion against God. They are the Devil and the rest of the rebel angels, who reject their places in the Company of Heaven. Their objective is to tempt God s human creatures ourselves to be rebels likewise. God s angelic army, of which Michael is the heavenly commander, guards Heaven and Earth against the assaults of the Devil and the rebel angels unless our choice of evil deprives us of that defence. 13

14 Of course, today we may choose to regard this account of Creation as a metaphor (surely a powerful one) for the internal psychological conflicts that every human being experiences. Those who suffer little from these conflicts, or those who suffer greatly but remain faithful to God, may reasonably be described as Saints which brings us to the second of the two Festivals mentioned. The word saint has several shades of meaning. Essentially, a Saint is a human being who has chosen to serve God. Thus when St. Paul writes of contributing to the needs of the saints, he means needy members of the Christian community, not only those of special holiness. But many churches, especially in the remoter parts of England, are dedicated to Saints about whom absolutely nothing is known, who however were presumably recognised locally in their own days as being specially close to God. Even now, it is not unusual for such persons holiness to be recognised, and we say of them that they are Saints. So that is a second meaning. Thirdly, various church bodies have procedures for publicly expressing confidence that God recognises a particular person as a Saint in the second sense. In Europe, including England, we are conscious of the Roman Catholic system. At the Reformation, the Church of England continued to recognise the sainthood of many whom Rome had canonised. Since then, we have not recognised any new saints of our own, but by a typical compromise our calendar now includes many (some non-anglican) whose holiness is thought to have merited it. Finally, as Jesus on the Cross told the penitent thief, God is perpetually adding the faithful departed, that is, those of his human creatures - the Saints who have chosen his way, to the nine orders of the Company of Heaven. In the General Resurrection at the end of time, the City of God will include both the spiritual orders and those who, following Jesus Himself, have both physical and spiritual nature. They and we join in everlasting praise of God. So powerful is this apprehension of God s love for the living and the dead that the Feast of All Saints has passed into our language and is often referred to even by those who hardly understand its meaning: Hallow E en for the night before the Festival, All Hallows as the dedication of a well known central London church, or All Saints Tide. In honouring the Saints we join with the innumerable company of those protected by the Archangel Michael and all the Angels. Graham Mordue. 14

15 PASTOR: GARTH WOODHEAD JOINT SERVICES for October: October 4th - West Watford Free Church (Baptist) at 6.30pm October 18th - Trinity Methodist Church, with Holy Communion 6.30pm From the Herts Baptist Forum s Prayer Link: Not to hand. From the Baptist Union Prayer Guide: HARVEST Is this it Lord? Is this all there is? Just this one world to live in, grow up in, grow old in? 15

16 Well, if this is the only word we ve got - we d better look after it, Better make sure it is still there for the future. May our concern for this world echo your Enormous generosity. May we scatter love and care prodigally and in an Uncalculating way give ourselves to save this fragile planet And its people. In Christ s name. October Connexion - A support network for men and women married to UK Baptist ministers and missionaries October Baptist World alliance - Every October the BWA observes hunger month highlight ing poverty and causes of hunger. October Harehills Lane Baptist Church, Leeds. The congregation comprises 43 nationalities with equal diversity of tradition and experience. October Eastern Baptist Association (EBA) whose vision is to see the Kingdom of God come in the east of England. From The Baptist Missionary Society s Prayer Guide October 4th - 10th. Thailand and Burma. Political pressures are rising and tourism is affected. Pray for the people and their daily lives as these are affected. Pray also for the Christians and their leaders. October 11th - 17th. Israel and Palestine. For God s chosen land Pray without ceasing. October 18th - 24th. Volunteers. Please pray for them in all areas of their gift and call, both going out or returning home. October 25th - 31st. Italy. There has been corruption in both politics and business and last year Italy fell into it s 4th recession in less than 10 years. Please pray for the believers as they try to live out the gospel. 16

17 Mums having a chat at Cafe West 17

18 Visitors from St Michael s view the goodies on offer Smokey Macgregor There was a Scottish painter named Smokey Macgregor who was very interested in making a penny where he could, so he often thinned down his paint to make it go a wee bit further. As it happened he got away with this for some time, but eventually the Baptist Church decided to do a big restoration on the outside of one of their biggest buildings.. Smokey put in a bid, and, because his price was so low, he got the job. So he set about erecting the scaffolding and setting up the planks. He bought the paint and, yes I am sorry to say, thinned it down with turpentine... Well, Smokey was up on the scaffolding, painting away, the job was nearly completed, when suddenly there was a horrendous clap of thunder, the sky opened, and the rain poured down washing the thinned paint from all over the church and knocking Smokey clear off the scaffold to land on the lawn among the grave stones, surrounded by telltale 18

19 puddles of the thinned and useless paint. Smokey was no fool. He knew this was a judgment from the Almighty, so he got down on his knees and he cried: Oh God, Oh God, forgive me; what should I do? And from the thunder a mighty voice spoke: Repaint, repaint and thin no more To think on: Every time we sell someone short, whether in thought, word or action, even if they don t see it we know and so does God. THE BIBLE SAYS Luke 12:2 For there is nothing covered that will not be revealed, nor hidden that will not be known TALE PIECE (Thank you Alan) Three widowed ladies always met at their local supermarket on Tuesdays to do their shopping and afterwards they went to the cafeteria. The conversation on one occasion got round to where they would like their ashes scattered. The first said she wanted them to be scattered around the boundary of the cricket club where her husband had played. The second said that it should happen along a walk that she and her husband had enjoyed so much. The third remained silent. Well then, what about you Daphne? Where s your choice? After a long silence Daphne replied Here in the car park, then at Least my daughter will be near me once a month October Birthdays: 3rd John Aluma (JNR) 8th Helen Walton 14th Elizabeth Payne 15th Lissie Woodhead 22nd Beryl Daniels 31st Audrey Snow Lesley Paterson 19

20 St Michael & All Angels Church Tel:- (01923) Web site: Vicar * Revd Geoffrey Calvert St Michael s Vicarage, 5 Mildred Avenue Hon. Asst. Curate * Revd George Ochola BTh 157 Vicarage Road Readers * Mrs V Allen-Smith 40 Park Avenue * Dr M Heath 72 Harwoods Road Churchwardens Mr P Chandler 115 Kensington Avenue Mrs S Moring 6 Cassiobury Park Avenue Joint PCC Secretary Mrs P Beach 18 The Gardens Mrs V Matthews 134 Mildred Avenue PCC Treasurer Mrs C J Deeley 5 Greenbury Close, Chorleywood Hall Secretary Mr P Jenkins 86 Mildred Avenue Sacristan Mr J Wareham 26 Belgrave Avenue Organist & Choirmaster Mr A Benoy Flat 1, Prince Michael of Kents Lodge, Stratford Road SWORD Magazine Mr D Beach 18 The Gardens Gift Aid Secretary Mr R Ward 67 The Chase Electoral Roll Secretary Mr H Moring 6 Cassiobury Park Avenue The Children s Soc. Secretary Mrs N Twitchin 78 Princes Avenue Brownie Guides Mrs S Mulligan Creche Mrs A Makin 37 St James Road Sunday School Mrs K Jenkins 86 Mildred Avenue Kids Club & Youth Group Mrs J Talbot 35 Kings Avenue Young Children & Grown-Ups Lesley Kinch Flat 21, Ashridge House, Chenies Way Mothers Union Mrs P Gandy 15 Lynbury Court Wednesday Coffee Morning Mrs J Dickinson 23 Whippendell Road Social Committee Mrs P Hart 127 Parkside Drive The names of members of the Parochial Church Council and their membership of the various committees will be found on the Church Notice Board. * Members of the Pastoral Team. For the Month s Diary of events and details of all Church Services please turn to the centre pages of this magazine. West Watford Free Church (Baptist) Pastor Mr Garth Woodhead 184 Hagden Lane Church Secretary Mr A Cockram 139 Briar Road, Kingswood