Priory News, October 2005

From the Vicar

It was at school where I was first told that those who believe in Jesus will live forever, and although it seemed too good to be true, so did a lot of other things when I was six years old and that item of good news has never left me. But just what does it mean? I had already known people who had died, and have since known many more - most of whom believed in Jesus. Did they not believe firmly and truly enough? Or does living forever have some meaning beyond what a young child might see in it?

I have led many an occupied coffin into church while reciting the assurance that whoever believes in Christ as the Way, the Truth and the Life will never die, words which would hold no comfort at all to the bereaved if they had their obvious first meaning, for plainly their loved one has in fact died.

For me, the hymn "Now is eternal life" sums it up. St Paul assures us that when anyone is "In Christ" there is a new creation: it is at our baptism, our Christ-ening, that we enter eternal life, and it begins now, in this world, and goes on through the apparent barrier of physical death into Life in the presence of God forever. I would not want this physical life with its pain and sorrow, arthritis and Alzheimer's, to go for ever, but Life in Christ, with a glorious body like his, risen and ascended, now that is another matter altogether! That Life is what we celebrate at All Saints, and as well as the Sung Eucharist at 10 am, anyone who has lost a loved one and wishes to contemplate their continuing Life in Christ is invited to the service "Remembering Our Loved Ones" at 3pm. Seek first God's Kingdom, and you will discover Eternal Life!

Readings for October

2nd October, 19th Sunday after Trinity, Harvest Thanksgiving:

• Morning: Isaiah 5: 1--7; Philippians 3: 4b-14; Matthew 21: 33-end
• Evening: Deuteronomy 8: 7-18; 2 Corinthians 9: 6-15

9th October, 20th Sunday after Trinity:

• Morning: Isaiah 25: 1-9; Philippians 4: 1-9; Matthew 22:1-14
• Evening: Proverbs 3: 1-18; Mark 10: 17-31

16th October, 21st Sunday after Trinity:

• Morning: Isaiah 45: 1-7; 1 Thessalonians 1; Matthew 22:15-22

23rd October, Last Sunday after Trinity:

• Morning: Leviticus 19: 1-2, 15-18; 1 Thessalonians 2: 1-8; Matthew 22: 34-end

30th October, All Saints Sunday:

• Morning: Revelation: 7: 9-end; 1 John 3: 1-3; Mattheww 5: 1-12
• Afternoon: Isaiah 65: 17-end; Hebrews 11: 32 - 12: 2

House Groups

• Bible Study: Fridays at 10am at the Vicarage

• Priory Prayer Group: 6th and 20th October at 19 Ascendale

• Prayer & Study Group: Every Wednesday, 7.30 pm at 45 Crowson Way Everyone welcome

N o t i c e s

Harvest Thanksgiving will be celebrated on Sunday 2nd October and there will be appropriate traditional readings, hymns and music at Choral Evensong at 6 pm. Gifts in thanksgiving for all that God has given us will be accepted in advance for decorating the church, or at the 10 am Sung Eucharist (especially from children), and fresh produce will be auctioned after the Harvest Lunch. All are welcome to the auction whether or not you have attended the lunch. Proceeds will be used for the benefit of the poor.

All Saints will be celebrated this year on Sunday 30th October and in addition to the morning Sung Eucharist there will be the annual memorial service at 3 pm at which we remember the departed and celebrate the gift of eternal life in the risen Christ. A requiem Eucharist follows on Wednesday 2nd November at 9.30 am at which our departed loved ones can be remembered by name: a list for names will be available in church shortly.

Getting to the Heart of the Deepings:

a free cup of coffee and lots of information about local groups

Saturday morning 8th October - that's when Deeping St James United Charities are putting on a free coffee morning at the Priory Church Hall, Church Street, when representatives from many local groups and charities will be present so that residents will really able to put a face to a name in a sort of freshers' week extravaganza!!

Do come and bring a friend - it's on between 10 and noon - and not to be missed - Carol Precey's heart shaped biscuits!!

The Leprosy Mission

Annual Supporters' Day

We have supported The Leprosy Mission for many years and are invited you to The Leprosy Mission's 2005 Supporters' Meeting, which is being held at the Southwell Minster Centre (by kind permission of the Dean) on Saturday 22nd October, 2pm-5pm.

The programme will include:
~ A short conducted tour of the Minster;
~ Reports by TLM's National Director, Warren Lancaster, and the Vice Chairman of the Council, Mrs Beryl Dennis;
~ Guest speaker is Ashok Massey, TLM's Zonal Fundraising Manager based in Uttaranchal, India;
~ Afternoon Tea provided by Southall Minster Refectory (at a small charge);
~ The opportunity to purchase TLM Trading goods from the stall specially set up for the occasion.

At 5:45, after the completion of the Meeting, there is a special Choral Evensong in the Minster, at which choristers of the Royal Society of College of Music will receive their awards from the Bishop (or his nominee) and will provide the music for the service. This promises to he a very special choral service. You are kindly invited to attend if you wish.

Southwell is a charming, small town and has been called "jewel in Nottinghamshire". It is rich in historical and architectural interest so to visit the town and attend the Supporters' Meeting would make a great day out.

We need to reply on postal slip no later than Friday, 7 October as places are limited, so if you are interested, please let the Vicar know immediately.

Christianity – A Faith or a Fashion Show
- a response

Dear Sir,

I was interested to read the 'Thoughts of Paul Atkinson' on how we should dress for Church. I quite happily went along with his ideas until paragraph 7, which brought me up with a jolt when he suggested that the mini skirt was a suitable form of dress. He then goes on to say that his prayers and presumably those of the mini skirt wearer will be received with delight because their souls are being forgiven for sin, This is all very well, but has he spared a thought for the poor bloke in the pew behind that scantily clad angel and the enormous sin engendered by the catastrophic hijacking of his attention from the Divine to the apparition in front of him?

As Mr. Atkinson's thoughts were initiated by words of St. Paul may I commend him to what St. Paul said in his first letter to Timothy: he urges the fairer sex to adorn themselves in 'modest apparel'.

These words are for all time and not to be dispensed with to accommodate contemporary trendy fashion.

As I don't know how big Mr. Atkinson is,

I would rather remain,

News From The Tower

In August, 10 of the ringers had a very enjoyable outing to the Whitechapel Bell Foundry in London. This was followed by an excellent lunch in The Dickens Inn at St Katharine's dock. After lunch one party explored the Tower Bridge exhibition, whilst the others visited HMS Belfast.

We have had several visiting bands of ringers during the month of August, which included a team from the West Country and another team from the Peterborough branch of bell ringers.

The ringers rang a quarter peal on the 23 August to celebrate the Silver Wedding anniversary of Mark and Alison Warrick,

(Thank you very much. Greatly Appreciated.Mark and Alison

News from Explorers, Climbers and Scramblers

We all had a splendid Summer Holiday but Explorers, Climbers and Scramblers are pleased to be back on a Sunday morning meeting their friends, having fun and geting to know more about God and his plans for us.

Our September module, 'Who's the King of the Sea?, involved looking at several Bible Stories about the sea or the creatures who live there. We learnt about the mighty power of God during the calming of the storm and the parting of the Red Sea as well as the time when Peter was sent on an unusual fishing trip when he caught a fish with a coin in its mouth. The title is also the second line of the song 'Who's the king of the Jungle?'and the children worked together brilliantly on part two of the mural in the Children's Corner which Jan Fisk designed.

Explorers (7 - 11), Climbers (5 - 7) and Scramblers (under 5) meet every Sunday morning (except during the Summer holiday period) at 9.50am in the Church Hall. They join older worshippers in Church for their blessing, final hymn and refreshments. New members are always welcome. Please contact Andrea (Climbers and Scramblers) on 344926 or Alison (Explorers) on 345890 for more details.

DEEPINGS CHURCHES TOGETHER

WORKING MORE CLOSELY TOGETHER FOR GOD'S KINGDOM

At a very special united service on Sunday 16th October at 6pm at the Methodist Church, Church Street, Deeping St James, representatives of the Deepings Churches will sign on behalf of their congregations the constitution of Deepings Churches Together, now agreed by the councils of all five churches. The Rev John Tomlinson, Lincolnshire's Ecumenical Co-ordinator for Mission, has been invited to preach at this service, the first time he has visited the churches in the Deepings, ad we look forward to welcoming him. The CrossFire youth band will lead some of the music.

The adoption of this constitution enables Churches Together to run its own bank account and thereby to take a full part in God's work in our community without having to ask each church for money before it can begin. We have been doing more and more together and it has been difficult to plan our common mission without having an official leadership and without a proper budget: Churches Together has never been able to own anything or to have a view on anything, but taking this step together will give our five churches a common voice in the community and help us to act together for the good of all the people of the Deepings. It is truly an occasion for celebration.

Under the new constitution each church's clergy will represent it, along with three lay people. For the time being our Parochial Church Council has appointed Richard Gamman, Carole Atkinson and Cled Bennett as our three representatives, with the intention that in future it will be at the Annual Parochial Church Meeting that the church members will nominate and elect representatives.

Do come along on 16th October and join our Christian brothers and sisters in celebrating how far we have come together and pledging to work together in future to Build God's Kingdom in the Deepings.

OPERATION CHURCH HALL

This Remembrance Day, 13th November, as well as remembering those who have given their lives for the freedom of the world we shall be celebrating sixty years since the end of World War II, and as part of these celebrations there will be a display of period and reproduction items of WWII vintage at the Church Hall for the afternoon. We also hope to provide (reproduction!) vintage teas. More details will be published in the next Priory News, but for now we are looking for two groups of volunteers, please.

First, if you have anything to display which you think may be of interest, please contact Geoff Armstrong (380797) or the Vicar; also, if you can volunteer to serve refreshments, especially teas after the Remembrance Service, please likewise contact Geoff or Mark. Those serving teas are asked to dress in appropriate period costume if possible, please (ladies, don't forget to draw your seams on with eyebrow pencil!).

Does anyone have any sandbags, please?

Have you got a few hours a month to donate?

When we have no problems with our sight, we rarely take a moment to consider what life is like for those people who have no, or very little, sight. Eye diseases such as macular degeneration, glaucoma, diabetic retinopathy and cataracts are the cause of severe visual impairment that can have a major impact on everyday life. If this happened to you, or a family member, whom could you go to for advice? Kesteven Blind Society is a local registered charity that aims to provide reassurance, information and support in any way that will enable a visually impaired person to continue to lead an independent life.

However, we could not continue to offer the range of services that we do without the invaluable support of our volunteer team. Volunteers are vital to many aspects of the Society's work: befriending visually impaired people in their homes; supporting eye clinic staff at local hospitals; help at social clubs run for visually impaired people; fundraising support. A volunteer can get involved in one or more of these activities, and the time they give can be as little as a couple of hours a month. Basic visual impairment awareness training is offered to all volunteers, and mileage and parking expenses are paid for volunteer visiting and eye clinic support.

So, if you would like to develop your skills, or learn new ones; enhance your CV, or if you just feel that you have time to spare and want to give something back to your community, please consider volunteering for Kesteven Blind Society.

You can contact me, Terry Horner, to find out more about volunteering or the services offered by the Society on 01476 592775.

COOKING WITH MARGARET

Devonshire Apple Pudding

• 1 lb Cooking apples
• 2oz Sugar
• 1tsp Lemon juice
• 4oz Soft white breadcrumbs

Topping

• 4oz Sugar
• 3oz Butter
• 3oz Ground Almonds
• 1 Egg

Peel, core and slice the apples. Stew with very little water, lemon juice and sugar. When quite soft, beat well and stir in the breadcrumbs. Pour the mixture into a buttered fireproof dish.

Topping.

Cream the butter and sugar. Stir in the beaten egg and then the ground almonds. Spread over the apple mixture. Bake in a moderate oven for 45 minutes. Serve hot or cold with cream.

Registers for August 2005

HOLY BAPTISM: We welcome to the Lord's Family:

• 14th: Ryan Daniel Jenkinson, 44 Crowson Way
• and Samuel Nicholas Jenkinson, 44 Crowson Way
• 26th: Andrew Martin Wilde & Christopher Dean Wilde
• 28th: Meg Patricia Mulligan, 9 Feneley Close

MARRIAGE: We congratulate:

• 5th: Paul David John Taylor and Rachel Verity Packham
• 6th: Christian Michael Walker and Kelly Anne Hawkins

FUNERALS: We commend to God's keeping:

• 18th August at Peterborough Crematorium: Ivy Bertha Martin (91)