A Decade of Church Unity, 1983

An interesting look back at 1983 and a move towards greater unity between churches.. John Taylor, Bishop of Winchester, 1975-1985, and was very enthusiastic, so much so that, as mentioned below, there was a joint confirmation - Anglican / Methodist - in 1984. I have also been able to trace a joint Anglican / Methodist / United Reformed confirmation service held at Communicare in 1976.

Sadly his successor as Bishop of Winchester, Colin James, did not share his enthusiasm, and there were no more joint confirmations. Over time, the congregation diminished in size - services were originally held in the hall at Communicare, and the chapel became rather neglected. Now it serves as a venue for the members of the New Life Christian congregation.

The reduction in scale of the Roman Catholic priesthood in Jersey, so that the priest for Sacred Heart is now based at the Presbytery in St Helier, has also mean less ecumenical contact on that front.

There was one more warden at Communicare after John Le Page, but after he left, it was decided that a manager for the facilities was needed rather than a Warden. 

The ecumenical dream faded, although Methodist ministers still took part in the Easter Day communion at the Fisherman's Chapel until David Coote left, whereupon that ceased too. Fortunately that has been revived by the new Methodist Minister, Rev. Jenny Pathmarajah. Maybe ecumenism is waking up again!

A Decade of Church Unity 

How St Brelade’s Ecumenical Experiment has stood the test
Cathy Le Feuvre, 1983 

AS the ecumenical experiment in St Brelade enters its "tenth year, the enthusiasm which initiated it has not waned with the years.

What began as ‘a vision in the mind and heart of a foresighted Methodist minister, the Rev. Gerald Stoddern, has developed into a successful ecumenical ministry.

Mr Stoddern arrived in Jersey in 1968 with a brief to build a’ Methodist chapel at Les Quennevais to replace the demolished Tabor Chapel. But he advocated much more than the construction of just another church, for he envisaged a Community centre to serve the people, and in that way to evangelise to them.

It was to this end that joint sponsoring body representing the Jersey Anglican and Methodist churches was set up in the late 1960s a union which was officially inaugurated at a joint service of Holy Communion on January 12. 1973.

Three congregations, one Methodist and two Anglican, were in this way joined for the purpose of ecumenical co-operation.

They also covenanted to build new premises at Les Quennevais, based on a sharing agreement under the terms of the Sharing of Church Buildings Act (Jersey) 1973, from which grew the present day Communicare centre.




The St Brelade experiment is one among hundreds of similar ventures presently in operation in the United Kingdom.

But St Brelade is fortunate in having the Communicare centre as a unifying element. Its presence means that unity goes beyond joint services around Christmas, Easter and occasionally through the year.

Vigils, communion services, joint Sunday school and social events allow for the encouragement of unity, but without the loss of independence.

The Rector of St Brelade, the Rev. Michael Halliwell, believes that the growth of unity has allowed a breakdown of the bitterness that the past has witnessed. As people become more acquainted with the worship of others, he says, so fellow feeling within the Christian community will grow.

Regular weekly meetings of the team ministry, which includes the ministers of St Brelade, St Aubin-on-the-Hill, and the Methodist partner, the church at St Aubin, has resulted in a close liaison between the churches and Communicare, whose Warden, Capt. John Le Page, of the Church Army, is also a committee staff member.

But this unity does not mean a loss of the individual church identity. Indeed, the Rev. Terry Hampton, from St Aubin-on-the-Hill, thinks that the churches must remain separate.

Honesty; and ‘a "sharing of gifts around" is, he believes, vital to the ecumenical experiment. Multiplication of services was a danger in any such venture, and that was why the co-operation maintained in St Brelade was so important. '

When the Rev. Colin Hough moved from his ministry in Guernsey in 1979 to succeed Mr Stoddern, he found the experiment well established.

He holds the view that unity must come from the grass roots and that the St Brelade experience has something to offer the movement towards unity, despite the fact that top-level covenanting proposals between the Anglican and Methodist churches broke down last year.

And the strengthening of the work and witness of Methodism in St Brelade since the experiment began belies the argument that unity leads to a relaxing of the effect of the individual churches.

In the recent past, the move towards unity has been supplemented by the involvement of the Roman Catholic congregations of the Church of the Sacred Heart, St Aubin and St Bernadette's, Les Quennevais.

The initiative and enthusiasm of the parish priest, the Rev. Fr. Antoin Hanley, has resulted in an involvement of the Roman Catholic community on an ecumenical sub-committee, and the sharing of some services and social events.

Fr. Hanley feels that his congregations both have something to offer the experiment and may learn from it as well.

Recent talks between the Pope and the Archbishop of Canterbury have given the stamp of approval to an incorporation of Catholic congregations into the St Brelade experiment, and a change in attitudes and a greater awareness of unity is growing, albeit slowly.

A recent Epiphany service at St Aubin-on-the-Hill, when a collection was taken for the work of the Little Sisters of the Poor, is a practical indication of the unifying element within the parish.

Fr. Hanley believes that prayer is the only way to unity, and that tenets and doctrines are secondary. Unity of the churches may be reality, he thinks, if prayer is emphasised.

Facilities at Communicare are used frequently by the Roman Catholic congregations, and this is just one of the many roles which the centre fulfils.

Mr Stoddern envisaged a place where, like a village green, people could meet, exchange ideas and be integrated into the community. In use seven days a week, activities at Communicate include clinics, play groups, senior citizen and youth clubs and educational classes.

A voluntary team of about 150 people from all walks of life provide the integration and produce a discourse that is undoubtedly unique.

Communicare also represents a unique marriage of the States, church and parish. With a full time youth worker operating from Communicare and community nurses, working at the clinic, the Education and Public Health departments are providing invaluable services in co-operation with the Church.

For the past six years. Capt. Le Page has acted as administrator, mediator and holder of the balance at Communicare, acting often to liaison between the Church, States and parish. The latter of which helped with the initial capital outlay and still involves itself in the work at Communicate.

The chapel at Communicare, although under the pastoral care of Mr Hough, is to all intents and purposes ecumenical.

Its unique Anglican-Methodist character has not made the other congregations suffer. “We are not out to create a new denomination," Mr Halliwell stresses, and plans for a joint confirmation service in 1984 will see come to fruition many of the hopes of the team ministry.

The St Brelade experiment has to some extent proved that unity can work, and all the partners in that parish would like to see more unity among the churches in other parishes.

As St Brelade has benefitted so much from the existence of Communicare, Capt. Le Page believes that all parishes would benefit from a recreational centre of some kind.

Mr Halliwell believes that this sort of unity is the only kind that will take the Christian church into the next century.

"I would like to see the same principles applied in other local situations, because I believe that‘ the Church only has a future where Christians work together," he says.

And if the last ten years are anything to go by, the next few decade will see in St Brelade. He hopes a greater feeling of unity, and a further extension of the principles of Christian brotherly love.

The Pipes of Peace

A small slice of history from the Pilot of 1963, written one year after the Cuban Missile Crisis. Even up to the end of the 1980s, until the Soviet Union fell apart, I remember growing up under the shadow of the atomic bomb. Dr Who's 1963 adventure, "The Daleks" has a world recovering from the effects of atomic war. John Wyndham's "The Chrysalids" has the fragments of a world surviving in the wake of nuclear war. And 1964 would see "Dr Strangelove", a movie all about the end of the world.

HOW MUCH DO WE REALLY WANT PEACE?

This article has been written by Mr. D. W. Chamberlain, a former Principal of the Jersey “Good Samaritans”. Mr. Chamberlain recently left Jersey to take up residence in Sussex. He has contributed this article exclusively for The Pilot.

4-minute warning

The peace of the world has been balanced on a thin knife-edge for so long that we tend to forget that we are at all times now rather less than four minutes away from a ghastly nuclear shambles which few could survive. It is not really a matter of forgetting, of course, but simply that is it impossible to maintain an attitude of terror and horror indefinitely; it is more a question of acceptance than anything else.

Peace is personal

But to accept this as a present truth is a very different thing to accepting it as a permanent feature of our lives. Within each of us there is the desire for a long and lasting peace that will not be forever subject to the whim of those in search of power.

The question remains as to how far we are prepared to go towards achieving this state, how much personal effort we are willing to put into it. It is only when we have established peace at our own individual level, in our homes, among our friends and acquaintances, in factories, offices, clubs and on all levels of personal relationships—that we will be able to experience the joy of world peace.

However well intentioned, the leaders of the nations of the world are unable of themselves to foster a sincere international spirit of goodwill and harmony. They are driven on by the collective desires, emotions, and ambitions of their peoples, and not until there is an attitude of peace within the private lives of the peoples of the world, can there ever be any real hope of achieving peace between nations. This deep desire for peace has to grow from the bottom upwards and cannot be enforced arbitrarily from the top, from Government level.

So let us work our hardest for peace on the individual level, within the nation—and international peace will develop naturally out of this.

Peace in the family

Within our homes and families we are so often at loggerheads with one another, and here it is that the first step must be taken. The conflicts more often than not are trivial, but the fact that there are conflicts at all demonstrate the absence of peace. To dispense with these disturbances means ceasing to insist that our own opinion must necessarily be the correct one, giving thought to the possibility that other views could be equally justified, and having the honesty to recognize the justice of a sound argument. All disputes must by their very nature be a conflict between two or more persons, and if all parties could only begin to accept that they might possibly be wrong, then a compromise solution acceptable to all can usually be found.

Between parents and children the element of discipline must be present, naturally, but this helps to emphasize that peace is not tranquility at any price, but rather tranquility with order.

Peace at work

Work plays a very large part in all our lives, and here too it is necessary for each one of us to strive for peace. There is really no conflict at all between what should -be the four major aims of any progressive business: lower prices, higher wages, bigger dividends, better quality. An efficient business should be capable of achieving all these targets, and if it does, then the whole united team of Management, Labour, Shareholders, and Purchasers, will all be well-satisfied. The present frictions in our working lives - and particularly in industry - will only die down when we take the trouble to understand that it really is possible to achieve these ideals, but only if we all work together as a team, with sympathy and consideration for each other’s legitimate desires and ambitions, and less insistence on our own personal wishes.

All the great religions of the world teach respect for the dignity and feelings of our fellowmen, all of us being bound together in a common unity with God; there may be differences in the way this truth is taught and practiced, but there is no virtue in trying to assess which method is superior to another. Our neighbour has as much right to his style of worship or lack of worship as we have.

It’s up to you

In our private and personal lives, in our working lives, in our spiritual lives, there must first of all be peace, before international peace even begins to be possible. No matter how hard statesmen strive on an international level, no matter how well-intentioned world organizations may be, there just cannot be any true and lasting peace in the world until we are in harmony and sympathy with our immediate neighbours.

It’s entirely up to us; it all depends on how much we really do want peace and how far we are prepared to go for it. It’s no good pretending it‘s easy to achieve, but there never was nor will be a more worth-while project. May God grant to each one of us the understanding of these things, and the courage and determination to change our attitude towards one another.

The New Hospital: A Different View

This isn't mine, but it was posted on Facebook in the Politics Jersey group. To protect privacy (although it can be added by them in a comment which I will approve), I am not giving the persons name, but I think it worth sharing:

Letter to States Members

When asked where I would like to see our new hospital built, I once uttered the words 'anywhere but Gloucester Street', I am now eating those words.

Whilst I personally have no agenda or particular preference over the location of the site, there are several factors that make the selection extremely important.- and all islanders need to sit up and take note, as it affects us all, particularly in light of the finances of the island following the Covid 19 pandemic (which is not yet over) and the effects of which will continue for some time. The site must be able to:

a. House the hospital we need without any compromise to our health service

b. Support future growth for the next 60 years or so (60 years ago the General Hospital was just the granite block.

c. Deliver the hospital within the timescale (any longer incurs additional cost).

d. Built in the fastest time and at the best possible price

Reading the 35-page report on the site selection process, it is clear that the 'Citizens panel' had very little input and one has to wonder how they were guided through the process. The final Shortlisting panel were all civil servants who apparently totally ignored the Citizens panel criteria; none are from Jersey; and our POG and COM ratified their choices. How can they justify this? Nowhere in the report did the citizens panel express a preference for location by parish, in fact their main 5 drivers were that the site should:

1. Be big enough to accommodate all the required clinical and support services including staff and service access activities.

2. Provide the ability for expansion

3. Be able to deliver the hospital project in the project timeline

4. Have a highway network, locally and strategically which has the capacity to access and serve the hospital

5. Be capable of being well served by public transport

Of the first criteria, People's Park and St Andrew's Park are both listed as 'maybe'. This is not good enough. There would be significant compromises to our health offering if either of these sites were selected. St Andrew's Park also has a Neolithic Dolmen in the middle of it and a church on its eastern side, quite apart from being the only green space in a significantly built up area.

Even more strange is that whoever prepared this table listed St Saviour's Hospital as only 'maybe' big enough when it was the second largest site in the whole process. (As an example, People's Park is listed as 22,784 m² (according to Gleeds actually smaller, at 22,570 m²) , whilst St Saviour's hospital including Clinique Pinel and Rosewood is a whopping 74, 983 m² according to the 2013 Atkins report, not the 51,939 m² listed on the latest report. This clearly needs to be challenged. Who is deliberately altering these numbers? Equally to the point, who is not checking them?

Only three of the shortlisted sites are able to deliver the project within the timescale, yet none of them are on the shortlist. They are:

a. St Saviour's Hospital

b. Warwick Farm

c. The fields at Le Boulivot.

The first two are already in public ownership.

The question about public transport is really irrelevant, as it is easy to run a minibus service to and from the hospital as they do in Southampton. I am sure that with the army of charity workers and minibuses, HSC keeps telling us about, we could probably even provide this as a free service to anyone with an appointment letter.

From the original 82 sites, at least 6 were discounted as not big enough for any option, but were all larger than People's Park.

Warwick Farm was the front runner in the 2013 report the States commissioned from WS Atkins - experts in this field and, as a practically empty site would surely deliver the cheapest and fastest option and needs to be considered. This site is 54,123m² in size according to Atkins, not the 52,041 m² being quoted now. The latest table states that this site could not be well served by public transport but, ironically, states that the fields opposite Rondel's Farm shop, which is practically next door and on the same road, can be. It would therefore appear that our UK recruited civil servants have no knowledge of our island and are working to an agenda.

The guidance planning notes mention the need for an environmental impact assessment on the sites, but makes no mention of a health impact assessment, which should also be produced. Clean, fresh air and sufficient green space are both essential requisites for a hospital. There would certainly be none of that if either of the parks, or the playing fields were selected. Hospitals next to busy roads do not enjoy a noise free environment either.

A report published without notice on the States website on 20th July 2020, titled 'Kit of Parts', shows the size of the hospital footprint required as being 23,243m²and an adjacent site of 17,723m² making a total of 40,966 m², not allowing for any space between the buildings. How does this fit onto People's Park, at 22,570 m², or St Andrew's Park at 36,708 m²? Even though the secondary building would fit onto one of the sites at the Millbrook option, the main building would not.

Even assuming that some of this could be incorporated into a basement, as mentioned in the 'Kit of Parts', where then does car parking go? There is a mention that car parking could be up to 15 minutes away. Does this mean they would utilise Patriotic Street car park if the People's Park option was selected?

Remote car parking was rejected in the Future Hospital scheme, as you cannot expect sick and disabled people to make that journey, especially in cold, slippery and inclement weather, not to mention young mothers with prams and toddlers. This 'Kit of Parts', also does not show a hydrotherapy pool anywhere and we were promised that all the services we currently have would be provided in the new hospital. The promised radiotherapy centre is also missing.

The outline of the People's Park is also interesting as it includes the cliff area behind the grassy patch. Does this mean that this would have to be dug out? Clearly that is not a job for a hand pick. How can they therefore state that there would be no disruption to surrounding properties during construction? It would be massive, especially if they were digging out a basement as well.

The site selection report states that it was produced in accordance with the Jersey Care Model. How can this be? We are still awaiting the PWC report on stress testing and costing the Jersey Care Model which HCS are treating as a 'secret' document. There has been none of the “further consultation” promised by the Director General of HCS, Ms Caroline Landon, in her presentations in the autumn of 2019, nor has it been taken, budgeted and approved by the States Assembly. Yet, this model will apparently establish the detailed design of the new hospital and its campus. Meanwhile, The Chief Minister's report "New Hospital Project: Next Steps" (R.54/2019) published on 3rd May 2019 sets out the approach he required, stating that it would:

a. Establish the agreed relevant clinical requirement of the new hospital

b. Use the outcome of the relevant clinical requirement to scope the size and shape of the new hospital to inform the consideration of potential locations

c. Involve a thorough process of island and stakeholder communication and engagement, alongside technical assessments of deliverability.

d. Identify a shortlist of sites for further consideration to allow a preferred site to be identified

This has not happened either, rather like the “further public consultation”.

The site selection process should have been in accordance with the Treasury Green Book Guidance. If so, the five selected sites should be:

a. Fields at Le Boulivot

b. St Saviour's Hospital

c. Warwick Farm

d. Overdale

e. Fields at Five Oaks

All of these sites would also have plenty of room for expansion and for the provision of staff accommodation.

On a separate note, I have spent some time this afternoon looking at the ‘Public Realm and Movement Strategy for St Helier’.

As more than 60% of the population live outside St Helier, how does it make any sense at all to bring those people into the capital for hospital appointments when the clear objectives of this strategy are to reduce traffic flow in town? The majority of people using the hospital are elderly and they mostly live in the outlying parishes. All of the above sites can be reached from the north, east and west without driving through town and patients living in town could easily jump on the hopper bus.

Traffic Lights: Why Jersey’s System is better than the UK.

Traffic Lights: Why Jersey’s System is better than the UK.

Although it has experienced teething problems, Jersey’s system of travel protection is fairly robust. First of all, everyone is tested. That is extremely important. Compare with the UK, where people are not required to self-quarantine when arrive from “Safe Countries”. As the JEP notes:

When passengers disembark the plane or the boat, they are shown to a queue for testing. This applies to ferry passengers travelling in their vehicles as well. Even those choosing to isolate for 14 days, rather than have a test, are not allowed to leave the Airport or Harbour until they have provided the authorities with their details, as well as information about where they will isolating to enable spot checks to be carried out. ‘They are not allowed through the doors until somebody has confirmed they have already registered and given their information,’ said Mr Tony Moretta. 

It is largely down to Tony Moretta’s groundwork with his team that we have had an excellent system at such short notice. And it has been improved by the traffic light system, and John Young’s excellent proposition which was approved and which necessitates self-isolation if we can’t test enough people on the day of arrival (and against Patrick Armstrong’s STAC advice that we should not test everyone!).

The latest news in the UK was that they might using a test so that “negative passengers arriving from higher risk countries to enter the UK without the need to quarantine” The system is not yet in place, but if it does “passengers arriving at Heathrow Airport will soon be able to get a Coronavirus test with results in just 24 hours - but will set you back £140.” (The Sun)

In the meantime, critics say the lack of tests threatens the health of the nation and makes a mockery of the lockdown conditions opposed on the rest of the country.

But that’s for countries deemed in need of quarantine. Other travellers, such as those from Spain, until recently have been able to enter the UK without testing or quarantine!

Jersey’s Traffic Light system is as follows:

• For destinations categorised as green, inbound passengers must take a test on arrival into Jersey but will not be required to self isolate. Countries in this category include UK and Ireland, Germany and Spain.
• For destinations categorised as amber, inbound passengers must take a test on arrival into Jersey and self isolate until day five, when they will have to take another test. If this returns a negative result, they will be able to leave self-isolation
• For destinations categorised as red, inbound passengers must take a test on arrival into Jersey and self isolate for 14 days. This category includes the USA, South Africa, Sweden and Brazil.

So everyone is tested regardless, but any amber or red need some self-isolation, either for around 6 or 7 days (Amber) or 14 days (Red). Unlike the UK, a test will still mean mandatory 14 day quarantine as well from the Red countries, as there is a risk the test might show negative – it is not 100% accurate. That’s also why the Amber countries have two tests, set apart, but a smaller gap.

Now when that was announced, Spain was green, but has now been moved to Amber. In the UK, Spain has been moved from no self-isolation (or test) to mandatory 14 day quarantine because of the rise of numbers in Spain. A country is safe (no quarantine) or not safe (14 days quarantine), and no testing in either case! 

In Jersey, the more measured approach means we can apply better discrimination between countries like Spain and America.

As ITV reports:

Spain has been recategorised as 'amber' under Jersey's travel guidance. It means anyone travelling from the country into the island must take a Coronavirus test on their return followed by another on the fifth day after arrival. Passengers must self isolate until they get their results. 

The British government’s decision to pull Spain from the list of safe countries and require returning holidaymakers to self-isolate for a fortnight will come as a heavy blow to Spain’s lucrative and vital tourist sector, and considerable upset to those thinking of travelling there, or caught over there. Jersey is still a change but more discriminatory.

But we can also be better when there are direct flights to areas where there are less spikes and Covid cases are much lower:

The Canary Islands and Balearic Islands remain categorised as green. 

Finally, a negative test for any status: Green, Amber or Red is not the end of the story:

A negative test is not the end of the process for people arriving in Jersey. Every day for 14 days after they have arrived people will be sent a text message to which they must reply with one of two options. If they do not have any Covid019 symptoms, they must reply with the word ‘WELL’.

If they, or anyone else in their household develops symptoms, they must reply ‘COVID’, and a member of the Contact Tracing Team, which is currently made up of 55 people, will get in touch with them to discuss the next steps. If someone does not respond to the text messages a member of the CTT will call them. If they do not get a response, honorary police officers will visit the address they have given to check on them. If contact still cannot be made, the matter will be passed to the States police for possible enforcement action. 

Failure to self-isolate when required to do so is a criminal offence and punishable by a fine of up to £1,000.

Addenda 1:

STAC memo of advice for June 2020 by Patrick Armstrong:
 It is likely that as visitor numbers increase a point will be reached where it will not be practical or possible due to volumes to test all visitors. At that point an approach that involves testing sample numbers of visitors rather than all visitors would be the approach.

John Young's proposition (passed in July 2020):

All persons should receive a PCR test on entry to our borders and in the event of the capacity of our testing facility being exceeded by the number of persons arriving at any one-time, untested persons should be held in isolation until tested.”

Addenda 2:

Following recent further rises in COVID-19 activity, anyone arriving in Jersey that has been in Mainland Spain in the last 14 days will have to follow extra testing and self-isolation measures, from 12.01 tonight. Jersey’s Safer Travel policy categorises countries into three groups (green, amber and red). Mainland Spain, which was green, is now classed as amber. All passengers that have travelled from mainland Spain in the last 14 days are required to be tested on arrival and five days after arrival, and to self-isolate until both tests are confirmed negative. The Canary Islands and Balearic Islands continue to be classed as green, as COVID activity is lower there. Dr Muscat and public health officials will keep this situation under daily review and further updates will be made as required.

References
https://jerseyeveningpost.com/news/2020/07/23/testing-times-at-the-airport-and-harbour/

The World On Fire

The World On Fire

Fire burns, raging in the night
A touch of death, a touch of blight
Burning across the valley and hill
Unceasing, never ending still
But this flame burns unseen,
Only leaving death where it has been
First a small market, but spreading out
The smallest whisper to loudest shout
It took the city, the province, the country
And took wings, far as eye could see
Set sail across the seven seas to land
Reaching out with blazing hand
Another land, another place, more dead
This spectre at the feast, portent dread
Pandora’s box, opened, it was set free
And now it is communities that flee
The horse of the invisible, riding forth
To East and West, to South and North
With fear and trembling in its wake
Relentless, onwards, without break
And when night falls, moonlight shines
A shadow cast of dark designs.

Outing to La Corbière, 1963

A small slice of history from 1963. I never knew of the aviary at the Corbiere Hotel!

Outing to La Corbière
By Catherine Giles
The Pilot, July 1963

ONE sunny afternoon in July the St. Helier’s branch of the Mothers’ Union set out, some fifty strong for a coach tour of the Island. As we chugged along the coast road, up hill and down dale, the happy buzz coming from inside the coaches almost drowned the roar of the labouring engines. Indeed so joyous was the Babel of sound that I am sure half of the passengers scarcely noticed the scenery through which they were passing!

At Gorey we paused to squander sixpence or so on an ice cream or a cup of tea. Thus refreshed, we then resumed our journey to the North coast. Our drivers steered us through the narrow lanes with impeccable skill, and if the coaches did not greatly resemble the proverbial camel, at least the openings through which they had to be eased or squeezed seemed, often, not much larger than the eye of a needle.

At about four o’clock, we disembarked for more ice cream, this time at Gréve de Lecq, where the shore was rain-washed and sparkling after a recent shower. Shortly afterwards we visited the workshop where the Bailiff’s chair was recently carved. This chair was given in memory of the late Bailiff. Mr. C. S. Harrison. It now stands in the Town Church, and it was used by Her Majesty the Queen Mother when she visited the Island in May. In the workshop we saw many fascinating objects in the making, and a number of the finished articles were on display in the little shop nearby.

The La Corbière Hotel, where we were to have tea, is quite unique in one respect. The ground floor is one vast aviary. The restaurant is dotted with tables and chairs, as is usual, but round the walls at pictures rail height are deep ledges, and these are equipped with perches and brightly-painted bird-houses. Darting about from ledge to ledge with a flash of many-coloured wings, are minute tropical birds - black and yellow, purple and green, orange and turquoise. In sharp contrast to their tiny twittering voices, every now and then a handsome crimson and green macaw, sitting on a perch in one corner, states his opinion of the world in loud, harsh monosyllables.

Half regretfully, we turned our backs on this tropical scene and went upstairs to the room where we were to have tea. But this place was no less pleasing, for the huge plate-glass windows, edged with boxes of fuchsias in a variety of colours, commanded a perfect view of the lighthouse, silhouetted against the grandeur of sea and sky.

After a very tasty meal, well served, we repaired to the tarmac outside. Here some light hearted athletics took place. The first event was the egg and-spoon race. Nearly everyone took part in this, and those who did not gave the competitors plenty of encouragement and advice from the side-lines. This kind of event is not always to the swift, as anyone will be ready to admit, if they have tried chasing an egg about the tarmac with a kitchen spoon.

The next event was a competition which involved throwing bean-bags into a series of holes. Mrs. Mundy and Mrs. Baudains tied with a top score of 39: but the highlight of the afternoon’s entertainment was provided by one competitor who, hurling her bean-bag with more strength than accuracy, managed to hit the Enrolling Member squarely on the head! (This article is sure proof that the victim survived.)

Our last port of call was St. Ouen’s Church, where the Rector kindly made us welcome, and we all took part in a short service of thanksgiving and re-dedication.

And so home to St. Helier, the busy tongues stilled at last.

Altogether, it was a day of very happy memories.

Catherine Giles.

Tourism Testing and Transparency

Robust Testing at Harbours: Clarity Needed

I came across this rather worrying note yesterday:

“According to some, there was no testing at the Albert Quay yesterday and arrivals were directed either to Elizabeth Terminal or to the airport testing facility. Whether that in either case there was a bussing arrangement or transport was by public bus - or simply allowed to wander off on trust, seems to be unclear.”

Now we are frequently assured about robust travel testing by Deputy Richard Renouf, which is especially important when there are French day trippers coming over to the Island, and I have no way of knowing the truth or not of this statement. It is, after all, hearsay. I am well aware of the unsubstantiated rumours which spread on social media and through out the community. 

But the fertile soil for such rumours is lack of clarity. Given enough transparency and detail, rum ours will die. So what we need are clear details of how passengers from ferries are checked, and some clarity on the following questions: 

With passenger arrivals is a cross-check made between arrivals tested and arrivals on the ferry company's passenger lists to ensure no one slips through the net?

Do passengers have to leave their arrivals port and go elsewhere to be tested? If so, how do they reach the test site - under their own steam or via special conveyance? If by themselves, what precautions are taken to ensure they do go for testing, and also go in a timely manner?

What is the protocol for contract tracing for day trip passengers if their test results come though after they have returned to France?

The latter is significant because there are over 900 test results pending, so the number of cases testing positive for the weekend will not really become apparent for a day or so.

Do we want to trust the experts when they put lives at risk?

Noticing the increase in numbers of cases being tested and awaiting results over the weekend and looking back at the documents for a previous States debate, the STAC Executive Memo of Advice, signed off by Patrick Armstrong on 15th June 2020 is particularly alarming:

“The number of people able to enter the island will depend on the ability to perform testing. The policy of testing on day 0, 4 and 7 continues to be discussed. Currently the day 0 swab can take between 48 hours and 4 days to return a result and on island testing capacity is limited. There are also anticipated limitations within the supply chain of testing equipment in larger volumes.

“To support arrivals testing, pre departure testing should be further explored. There may also be a need to be selective in the port of departure to prioritise testing. Not just by country but region within that country. The capacity of testing also needs to continue to cover activities such as pre-treatment screening, symptomatic cases. contact tracing and the healthcare worker screening schedules. This along with a need to return to larger volumes of travellers will require any testing and tracing processes put in place to be flexible in scalability. It is likely that as visitor numbers increase a point will be reached where it will not be practical or possible due to volumes to test all visitors. At that point an approach that involves testing sample numbers of visitors rather than all visitors would be the approach.”

This was repeated in the STAC memo of advice for 23 June 2020 by Patrick Armstrong:

“Moving forward it is likely that numbers of travellers will outstrip the islands capacity to test all arrivals and testing strategy is likely to move to one of testing travellers from higher risk countries or higher risk areas within countries particularly within the context of the UK.”

“Should an increase in cases occur, the tolerance will be based on capacity of the healthcare system and its demand to meet other island health needs including exceptions such as winter pressure. The actions to be taken to react to any case surge will need to be agreed and this could take the form of reducing traveller numbers and/or re-introducing protective measures on island.”

And it cheerfully concludes

“If cases surge then more restrictive measures may have to be reintroduced however with early intelligence and successful containment these would hopefully be less restrictive than full lockdown. Clear communications to ensure public confidence is maintained will be important.”

The Government is always saying it is “following the medical advice”, but to follow advice that - if numbers of visitors outstrips testing capacity, we don’t test everyone –would be a recipe for disaster and it does make me wonder if we need an independent review of the government’s medical advice, given the above STAC submission. How much reliance can we place on this expertise when it is so plainly wrong? 

And what does Patrick Armstrong say? Does he still agree with the STAC advice of those memos which has his name at the top? As he is clearly one of the experts, can we know if he still maintains that position? And if not, why not?

Fortunately, thanks to John Young’s recent proposition, the measure now introduced in last weeks States sitting is that:

“All persons should receive a PCR test on entry to our borders and in the event of the capacity of our testing facility being exceeded by the number of persons arriving at any one-time, untested persons should be held in isolation until tested.”

Art Magic

Art Magic

I sail the seven seas of time, 

The currents move as silent mime, 

And while I have my art, I sail on, 

The wind spellbound, the setting sun 

My destiny, where all eternity 

Transfigures into flowing sea, 

That breaks in waves upon the beach 

The magic mine, within my reach 

I let it go, and that I see

 Is how the Maker lets it be.

(Inspired by Ursula Le Guin's "Earthsea" sequence of books.)

07/10/2003

Memories are Made of Ads - Part 2

The chemists at Red Houses are now chains - Lloyds or Boots. But in the old days you had the smaller chemists, run by families, and in 1965 there would have also been Bryants Chemist at Red Houses. At some point the name changed too from Chemist to Pharmacy.

In New Zealand, Australia and the UK the term Chemist used to refer to pharmacies and pharmacists. Now we typically distinguish between a chemist (person who has studied chemistry), a pharmacist (a health professional) and the place where pharmacists work (often a pharmacy).

The change actually came earlier. The 1933 Pharmacy and Poisons Act led to Pharmaceutical Society membership becoming compulsory for chemists and druggists. From this point on, registering with the Society and being a member of the Society meant the same thing. However, following another Pharmacy Act in 1953, all pharmacists became known as ‘pharmaceutical chemists’ and the term chemist and druggist fell out of use.

But it has taken a long time for the shop names to change, and people of my generation still speak of "going to the chemist" even though even Boots Chemists is now Boots Pharmacy.

The old fashioned chemist also sold chemicals - potassium permanganate, iodine - even sulphur. I used to get all sorts of goodies for my home chemistry set from Stones the Chemist (near West Centre in town).Making preparations from scratch is not something done anymore, so the name change reflects that.

Incidentally, India only had mandatory changes of name by law in 2019!

"The words 'chemists and druggists' appearing on the signboards of medical shops will soon have to be replaced with the word 'pharmacy' following an order by the government’s top advisory body on drugs."



Amazingly Les Touristes Limited is still around, but now at 4-6 Central Market.



This has long gone, developed into flats. It existed at the top of Mont Sohier Hill, and I know that because my girlfriend at the time, Marilyn, worked there in the early 1980s, and I sometimes picked her up from there or dropped her off. I went back to the flats many years later as I'd offered several hours basic internet training for "silver surfers" in a charity auction at St Brelade's Church, and they were very nice flats indeed. I remember when we were seeing each other because Doctor Who had just had its 20th Anniversary Special (and I was a fan), and Culture Club with Boy George was hitting the top charts (and she was a fan). Perhaps not surprisingly it didn't last.



My mother rented this out at the time - it was a franchise run by a French man named Henri Chartier, who produced a fine book on Jersey postcards, and also left Jersey, owing rent, and leaving the shop bereft of all removable fittings, including lightbulbs. He also left behind a cat, which was rather a cruel thing to do, and it was adopted by my Aunt Betty.



Le Bruns the baker! Those were the days when Jersey had its own large bakery, and we never really had any time when the shops were bare. Cheaper imports often at reduced prices as loss leaders in supermarkets led to a sad decision to close the outlets and the bakery. They had brand rename first to "Island Bakery" and did a deal for a while where the Jersey Zoo got a percentage from each loaf sold.

The Twin Dilemma

The new show trials

"I will do everything which may serve the Party." (Rusashov, Darkness at Noon by Arthur Koestler)

Halle Berry discussed potentially playing a transgender man and then dropped out of the role following a backlash of criticism. Her statement reads like something after Chinese or Stalinist “re-education” programmes:

“As a cisgender woman, I now understand that I should not have considered this role, and that the transgender community should undeniably have the opportunity to tell their own stories. I am grateful for the guidance and critical conversations over the past few days and I will continue to listen, educate and learn from this mistake”

That sounds horribly like a show trial confession, like those that played out in Soviet Russia.

Krestinsky: “In the face of world public opinion, I had not the strength to admit the truth that I had been conducting a Trotskyite struggle all along. I request the Court to register my statement that I fully and completely admit that I am guilty of all the gravest charges brought against me personally, and that I admit my complete responsibility for the treason and treachery I have committed.”

Acting the part or being the part?

Clearly John Hurt should not have played the Elephant Man, Benedict Cumberbatch should not have played the role of Alan Turing, Eddie Redmayne should not have played the part of Stephen Hawkings, Dustin Hoffman should not have played Raymond in Rain Man and Julie Hesmondhalgh should not have played Hayley Cropper.

What’s wrong with all these roles? The actors playing the parts are not disabled or gay themselves.

Woke Fascism

There is a world of difference between acting and being, and the inability of an increasingly vocal and extremist part of the community does not seem to understand this at all.

“Today's authoritarians share many things, especially their contempt for the truth, for freedom of expression, and for equality before the law, without which there can be no democracy. They congratulate each other on their purported efficiency in “telling it like it is,” and in “getting things done.” They seek to censor and to “guide” public opinion.”

Magnus Fiskesjö was commenting on the return of China’s show trials, but those words have a chilling resonance to the world we find ourselves in today where anyone who steps out of line with a different opinion, as J.K. Rowling did, suddenly finds not engagement, argument, discussion, but a determination to cow and silence them.

Dictionary: Acting - behave so as to appear to be; pretend to be

It reminds me of when those actors who played villainous characters in Coronation Street would sometimes find themselves pilloried and shouted at when out shopping. We expect viewers of a soap opera to sometimes confuse the world of the soap with reality, as that’s been the case since its inception – part of the appeal is that it simulates reality.

But it surprises me that supposedly intelligent human beings cannot understand the difference between acting and being.

I can understand why there are issues behind “blacking up”, when in older dramas, white actors would play the role of other ethnic types, as there is a clear link to the Minstrel shows and racism. And ethnicity is something visible that marks out an actor’s ancestry, but other traits are invisible and cannot be seen.

But what link is there to homophobia if Benedict Cumberbatch plays a gay man Alan Turing? Or Colin Firth plays a fictional gay man in “Mama Mia”? Or should transgender actors or gay actors only play those roles in movies? Should the best actor for the role be used or just one who happens to fit the woke tick boxes?

And what about accent and nationality? Is it right that Renée Zellweger can play the part of someone English? Isn't that taking away the part from a multitude of English actors? The permutations on this kind of theme are endless, but we probably haven't seen so much of it because the modern world is obsessed with notions of gender as if that was the singular defining human characteristic when choosing an actor..

The Twin Dilemma: Who plays the part?

There’s a Doctor Who story which regularly gets to the bottom of the list of stories called “The Twin Dilemma”. In it are two characters who are supposed to be twins called “Romulus and Remus”. The director decided that rather than case two actors who looked similar enough, or possibly a boy or girl (where the difference would not be so noticeable), he would cast real life twins. The problem comes in that they can’t act. They tick the box for being twins, but as supposed boy geniuses, they come across as wooden.

As one reviewer noted:

“The twins are terrible, can’t act a lick and act like cocky twats to boot. Again, who thought have two mathematical genius kids in a recurring role was a good idea? Especially as the odds of finding one good child actor was low, let alone a twin pair of them!”

But doesn't that take away from twin actors who could play the part, even if they were terrible?

This is an extreme case, and of course there a lots of good actors out there of every gender under the sun, but the question when selecting for a part is first and foremost: who is the best actor for that role?

A Reductio ad absurdum?

Writing in “The Guardian”, Ryan Gilbey notes that:

“It would be unwise to outlaw the function played in performances by interpretation, imagination and skill; it’s called acting for a reason, after all.”

And there’s a flip side to this. If only gay people can play gay parts, if only transgender people can play transgender parts, then they – by their own logic – should not be playing heterosexual parts. It becomes a kind of reductio ad absurdum.

This can happen by accident. As actor Chris New comments:

“I’m known as being an out gay actor,” he says. “But I’m not – or, at least, I’m not just that. I’m an actor, yes, and in my private life I have mainly found that men attract me. I don’t see that, or any other singular aspect of my identity, as defining me or as something that I wish to trade on. In my work, I am increasingly allowed to engage in my culture only when that engagement centres on being gay. Being out has done nothing but restrict my career. In the current cultural climate I am invited to participate only on the basis of my supposed oppression. Nothing more is required of me. I live in a cultural ghetto.”

Actor Dan Krikler notes:

“It seems ridiculous to only play parts within your own experience. That would go against everything anyone’s ever learned about acting.”

Gay actor Ben Whishaw doesn’t believe a performer’s sexuality should limit what characters they play.

“I really believe that actors can embody and portray anything, and we shouldn’t be defined only by what we are."

Are you now, or have you ever been a communist? (Senator McMcarthy)

There’s also a question of privacy. Matt Damon has commented that: “Whether you’re straight or gay, people shouldn’t know anything about your sexuality.”

Now I don’t think people shouldn’t not speak publicly about their sexuality, if they want to – but they should not be forced to do so or have assumptions made purely because of wanting to play a part.

What we don’t want are questions like: “Are you now, or have you ever been gay?” or "“Are you now, or have you ever been transgender?”and require an actor to give an answer before they take on any role. Because, as the question above shows, we have been here before.

For further reading

https://thehoganreviews.files.wordpress.com/2018/09/dw-the-twin-dilemma-2.jpg

https://apjjf.org/2017/13/Fiskesjo.html

https://www.edge.org/event/the-science-of-gender-and-science-pinker-vs-spelke-a-debate

https://newrepublic.com/article/68044/sex-ed

A Tale of Two Cities

A Tale of Two Cities

Melbourne: a deserted playground, empty swing
Lockdown resumes, only few people on the streets
And now fear has come flying in on bat-like wing
The virus spreading silently, and without defeats

Leicester: the barriers come down once more
The invisible enemy hidden in plain sight
Beating heart stopped, closed Cathedral door
Lengthening shadows portend the coming night

As of old, plague came, marking some for death
Shining technology cannot defeat an ancient foe
Symptoms of fever, cough, and shortened breath
Dark streets not shining where the sick now go

It was the worst of times, and we prayed at the last
That one day, the best of times, the virus would be past

Memories are Made of Ads - Part 1

Today I thought i'd take a meander though some adverts from a 1965 Jersey Pilot magazine. The first advert is for "The Watersplash" which unlike many venues here still endures, although the dancing and floor shows are long gone.

Malcolm Vaughan (22 March 1929 – 9 February 2010)[1] was a Welsh traditional pop music singer and actor. Known for his distinctive tenor voice, he had a number of chart hits in the United Kingdom during the 1950s.

Kenneth Earle was born on February 1, 1930 in Liverpool, England as Charles Kenneth Earle Richards. He was an actor and talent agent, known for The Magnificent Seven Deadly Sins (1971), Cooper (1975) and The Tommy Cooper Hour (1973). He died on July 1, 2017 in London, England.

I managed to find a nice photo of one of the supporting acts - The Archdale Sisters.

I was never one for the night club scene then or now, so I can't actually remember anything about the Watersplash - I've only been there for the food, which is reasonably priced and very tasty.

Tripadvisor has this to note:

"Swansons hotel and many more all made way for flats and offices. 30 years ago was a golden era for Jersey, I arrived on this Island in 1982 and the changes over the last 20 years have changed the Island for the worse in my opinion. But in saying that its still a beautiful Island with lovely coastal walks and the beaches are superb, a little less crowded these days and a little more expensive in Jersey."

Another one long gone.

A minor figure on the British rock scene of the 1960s, Buddy Britten managed to have a fascinating career for a guy who never scored a hit record: he crossed paths with stars, worked with cult heroes, recorded a handful of memorable singles, and even fashioned a new identity for himself as the decade wore on, taking the tame Buddy Britten to cash in on Buddy Holly. Britten's backing band the Regents -- bassist Pete Mist and drummer Barney Peacock -- also wore Holly-style specs on-stage.

I remember "The Pav" well from being taken there as a young child. I think it was a kids party because I remember lots of screaming kids.

The Old Pavilion, the "Pav", was later refurbished and rebranded as "The Inn on the Park", but in those days, a place for parties, and it was even visited by Rolf Harris, in the days when he was considered good entertainer and a nice man.

While most travel agents have gone, this still hangs on at Red Houses. Does anyone use travel agents much nowadays?


 

This was the place for Saturday treats!


We used to go for egg and chips when our parents wanted to give us a treat. And after the meal itself was the sumptuous desert - a giant knickerbocker glory, which used to take the best part of 15 minutes to eat. I've never come across any as good as those. Later it was revamped to try and survive in a more upmarket environment, but then closed; now the site is just beach side houses, granite faced, and attractive, but not the same.

It featured in Bergerac - "Late for a Funeral" - Jim investigates the murder of a diver that is tied to the discovery of a downed Nazi pilot and his plane off the Jersey shore.

The Safe Travel Policy: A Certain Slackness

A Travel Shambles

The news that a ship full of around 40 individuals arrived in Jersey around 7pm, but were not tested until the following day is disquieting, and I am glad that Tony Moretta took time to apologise for the mess. It had been assumed, apparently, that the Clipper was bringing in people under the essential employee scheme. That one person was camping rather shows the unlikelihood of that.

An announcement seems to have been made at the end of the journey, probably at a time when most concentration was on getting into cars and ready to disembark. And it certainly appeared nowhere on the travel guidance on the government website where forms have to be completed before travel. In other words, passengers, expecting from the online forms and guidance to be tested, were told at the eleventh hour, when they could not contact anyone in the know, that they'd need to self-isolate and go to the airport.

"Testing will be offered on arrival at Jersey International Airport and St Helier Harbour Elizabeth Terminal though you may be directed to attend alternative testing centres if necessary."

That's what is said - and to pretend otherwise is duplicitous in the extreme. How many people read that and think they will be told as they disembark that an alternative testing centre is necessary? And where does it say - the following day? Results come from the UK so there is already a delay.. Do we really want an extra delay in testing holiday makers who may test positive?

Remember - as Kirsten Morel pointed out - that the harbours had not been part of a previous testing programme, so there was no tried and tested experience to fall back on, and indeed, the facilities were being constructed during the recent States debate.

The camper apparently, after having explained he had no transport, had also been told to get to the airport testing facility by bus - this certainly needs explanation. What is clear is that the team who should have given advice were not present, so the advice probably was just of a general nature by any officials present at disembarkation.

Incidentally, the website is vague on how passengers get to their destination, and what advice they are given - and pointing to general documents on the website about the safe exit framework just is not good enough. What advice are they given if travelling by bus, or by taxi? If they test positive, does the taxi driver need to self-isolate?

Test, test, test... Or Quarantine

I see that most tests are conducted off-island which certainly accounts for the delay. But those passengers next to the positive case - 12 of them - now have to self-isolate for 14 days. So why can't they be tested at day 7, and cut the quarantine short. Can it be that quarantine costs nothing, but testing costs the government more, so it is a cheaper option rather than a better one?

And speaking of cost: after an initial free period, Iceland now charges passengers for tests. Is Jersey going to do the same? How much do tests cost per passenger? These are the questions which we could do with answers to, but probably won't find easily.

The Dangers of Limited Times of Testing

One thing which did emerge was that Tony Moretta said the facility could not be 24/7, and hence was not open when the later ferry arrived. But ships often have delays in sailing, and aircraft have been known to arrive close to midnight, so it raises the question of how this limited testing range is supposed to work. Of course, if delays occur, some harbours or airport staff have to stay on for the arrivals, and we clearly need better from the test and trace team. Either they return when called back, and are - like doctors - "on call" for a late arrival - or they stay on. But a time limited testing facility just won't work.

Short-Sighted Responses

Another thing which emerged was the potential decision by the government to restrict the Clipper purely to freight services. That is another example of being short-sighted. A conventional ferry like that has proven to be a lifeline for some passengers when the weather is inclement and the fast ferry cannot travel - a search of the news stories reveals countless times when that sails, but the fast ferries cannot, and it can also supplement travel when there is a backlog. I do wish there was a little more thought before such knee-jerk reactions.

Winning The Lottery.... but not every week!

The medical officer of health is quite right compare two cases at the start of travel with winning the lottery. There is bound to be a random element to the number of cases, but she has also backed herself into a corner. Clearly, if the number of cases testing positive keeps occurring every week or so, we do have to ask what the chances are of so many wins at the lottery. Even three sixes in a row might be random chance, but if we tossed the die for 20 times, and got 15 sixes, we would expect the die was weighted in some way. Likewise, an excess of cases above the random expectations would lead us to suggest the modelling was flawed.

At present, one can only wait and see, but even so, the response seems to excuse the figures because she doesn't say we will need to look at the overall figures and re-assess risk accordingly. She just presents this as an explanation. It's not something that BBC Radio's "More or Less" would approve of.

A Degree of Slackness

There's a degree of slackness emerging from the news reports of safe travel arrangements, and it is clear that there are a number of wrinkles to be ironed out - including very late text messages of test results, apparently because of IT glitches. As of yesterday, one passenger was still waiting for results.

At least we know that any positive results are checked and relayed quickly, so the contact team will directly contact any individuals concerned. It is only results processed through the IT system for every individual that have been delayed by these software problems.

One can forgive this at this early stage, but by the end of this week, mistakes should have been rectified, lessons learned, and I would expect to see a more professional policy and procedure without these clear weaknesses in the system. So far we have been lucky, but we cannot rely on luck to get us past faults within the system.

Awakenings

Awakenings

“Awakening, basically, is a reversal of this: the patient ceases to feel the presence of illness and the absence of the world, and comes to feel the absence of his illness and the full presence of the world.”
― Oliver Sacks, Awakenings 

Perhaps you have seen the movie “Awakenings” (1990), or the book by Jonathan Sacks? Sacks described his work with hospitalized patients seemingly frozen in stasis for decades, caused by some kind of viral infection, unable to communicate with the outside world. He discovered that the experimental drug L-DOPA, used which seemed to bring them back to life. Suddenly they could come alive and communicate with the world again.

There’s a similar kind of “Awakening” which has been caused by the Coronavirus pandemic and those on the margins of the Church. Those who are disabled, housebound, unable to be physically present, have now been able to engage again with the Church congregation with Zoom services, participating in a way they had given up as lost for good.

Frances Ryan noted that:

“While the coronavirus pandemic has led to unprecedented restrictions for billions of people, for many with disabilities, the lockdown has paradoxically opened up the world. As society embraces “virtual” living, disabled people – who for years have missed out due to poor access – are suddenly finding themselves able to take part in work, culture, or socialising from their own home.”

Listening to “All Things Considered”, the BBC Radio Wales religious affairs programme, I was struck by the testimony of writer and theologian Tanya Marlow, who has been housebound for 10 years with severe M.E., and who has only been able to manage going outside every two weeks in a wheelchair. She said this:

“Imagine that society is this great, walled city which disabled and chronically ill people are shut out of. We’ve had to make our own temporary lodgings outside. Now, the people who’ve said, repeatedly, ‘No we can’t bring our services into your tent’ have now flooded our tent.”

The website Becca is Learning (https://beccaislearning.com/) describes what it can be like to be limited by disability:

“When I got ill in 2013 my world completely shrunk. It contracted down to my small bedroom and life in the brief moments of consciousness where the brain fog and pain receded enough for me to come up for air: have a small conversation, take a shower, watch an episode of something.”

And she had this to say thinking on “Beauty for Brokenness”

“Another beauty I see in amongst it all, available to those who are wise enough and able slow down enough to hear it whisper in our anxious ears, are the composed and courageous prophetic voices of those who have already been battling imposed incarceration long before it became a mainstream experience: the elderly, the poor, the ill, the imprisoned, the grief-stricken. I think of Tanya Marlow’s beautiful tweet where she celebrated being able to worship at church together with her family this Easter. These people who in ‘normal life’ are outside on the margins, but as it turns out, might have been stockpiling grace and wisdom for our communities for times such as these, and yet are even more vulnerable in light of the pandemic.”

Tanya Marlow described what it was like to be excluded from communal worship.

“Although my church loved me well, because of my disability I had become excluded from communal worship. As the years went by, I wondered if God had rejected me, too. I had to learn to survive in a spiritual desert. The Temple is not the only model of church. Even when we feel like we’ve been expelled from the people of God, we are not alone, we are not forsaken. God always shows up in the exile and desert – and we find God’s people with us, too.”

“What of the ‘temple’ churches who serve healthy families but unintentionally exclude elderly, troubled or disabled people? They are still church, but perhaps we need to remember they are not all of church, nor enough church.”

“My disability has taught me that, at the most basic level, church is as messy and simple as the New Testament scattered church who met in homes, had a meal, and told stories of Jesus. We can gather, host, and encourage one another in a variety of ways. And this is good news.”

In “Awakenings”, the effect of the treatment was only temporary, and gradually, the patients became rigid, stiff, and back in a state of paralysis, locked back and isolated within themselves.

The pandemic has opened a door which was shut, excluding those on the margins, who can now enter the worshiping community again, and can participate in virtual services in a way they never could before. As churches start the slow process of re-opening, will it be a reversion to business as usual, with the door shut again, closing off those on the margins, leaving them outside? Or will lessons have been learnt about how the horizons of a church can expand to encompass both?

See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut.
I know that you have little strength,
Yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name

Opening the Door

Opening the Door

Just a crack, and the light comes in:

The door opens, sunlight on the skin,

And outside, breath the fresh air at last;

Remember freedom, in the near past,

In reasonable safety, go for a walk,

Or meet friends, and sing or talk;

But there are no songs in this land:

I walk down by the beach, on sand,

And hear the waves break on the shore,

The gull cries overhead, and I saw

Through the looking glass, the same

At a glance, but where a virus came

And stole our voices, took them away:

The fable of the Little Mermaid is today;

And we cannot sing in this new world,

Where death came his banner unfurled,

And rode across our fields and tracks,

Cutting down, just like a sharpened axe,

As many fell ill and died, and we part:

The silent lamentation of broken heart,

Until the door opens, but all is strange:

Transubstantiated by a malign change,

Where the visitor could carry unknown

The virus; and there is no safety zone;

A brave new world, a darker time:

Midnight: and the bells now chime;

A dark time, by the moon’s pale light;

Across the houses, the virus is a blight;

These are our dark ages, come to stay:

And all is sorrow, lament to pray,

And wait until the long exile ends,

And a world of sorrow slowly mends.

Sir Philippe Carteret

Another entry from Balleine's Biographical Dictionary of Jersey:

CARTERET. SIR PHILIPPE (1642-—-72) Lieutenant R.N.

Eldest son of Sir George Carteret (q.v.) and Elizabeth De Carteret. Born in Jersey, and Baptized in Mont Orgueil 5 Nov. 1642. Sir Philippe De Carteret (q.v.) ‘being his godfather.

At the Restoration he entered the Navy, and in 1660 was Lieutenant of the Dover, and then of the Plymouth. In 1661 he was Lieutenant of the Foresight and in 1665 of the Royal Oak. In that year he married. The story of his courtship is one of the best known passages in Pepys’ Diary. Pepys was intimate with the household of the Earl of Sandwich, and as a child the Earl's daughter, Jemimah, a quiet, shy, delicate girl, regarded him as a kind of benevolent uncle, who used to take her to see the lions in the Tower.

Pepys was Clerk of the Acts of the Navy under Sir George Carteret, Treasurer of the Navy. In 1665 Jemimah was nineteen, and Pepys describes how he played the part of match-maker. On 3 Feb. he visited Lady Sandwich: - “She discoursed largely to me of a match, if it could he thought fit by my Lord, for my Lady Jemimah with Sir G. Carteret’s eldest son. I doubt he hath yet no settled estate in land: that I will inform myself, and give her my opinion". On 25 June Lord Sandwich after a Tangier committee took Pepys aside ‘: He did tell me how much concerned he was to dispose of his children, and would have my advice and help. He propounded to match my Lady Jemimah to Sir G. Carterets eldest son, which I approved of, and did undertake the speaking with him about it as from myself".

On the following day he wrote: -- “To Sir G Carteret, and in the best manner I could I moved the Business. He received it with great content and thanks to me, and promised he would do what he possibly could for his son to render him fit for my Lord's daughter". Next day the Diary says: “I again visited Sir G. Carteret, and received his (and now his lady's) full consent to my proposal. My Lord Sandwich did direct me to return to Sir George, and give him thanks for his acceptance of the offer, and that he would next day he willing to discourse with him about the Business". “My Lord, I perceive intends to give £15,000 with her, and expects about £800 jointure”. On 2 July he wrote: “Sir George did send me word that the business is fully agreed on, and is mightily liked by the King and the Duke of York”. On the 4th Sandwich entered in his Diary:- "This morning Sir George Carteret and I signed and sealed agreements for the marriage between his eldest son and my eldest daughter”.

Meanwhile the young people had never yet met. On 9 July Pepys wrote: “I took occasion to have much discourse with Mr. Ph. Carteret, and find him a very modest man, and I think verily of mighty good nature and pretty understanding”. On the 14th we read:-— “Mr. Carteret is to go to visit her tomorrow. My proposal of waiting on him (‘he being to go alone to persons all strangers to him) was well accepted. So I go with him”.

The entries now become amusing:- “15 July. Mr Carteret and I to the ferry at Greenwich. Lord what silly discourse we had as to Love matters, he being the most awkward man I ever met in my life as to that business”. They arrived at dark. “To supper, and after supper to tail: again, he taking no notice of the lady. So they led him to his chamber, where I stayed a little to know how he liked the lady, which he told me he did mightily, hut, Lord, in the dullest insipid manner ever lover did". Next day was Sunday, and he wrote:-—-“Having trimmed myself down to Mr. Carteret. I taught him what to do, to take the lady always by the hand to lead her, and that he should make these and these compliments”.

After church they came home by coach, “Mr. Carteret not having had the confidence to take his lady once by the hand, which I told him of when we come home”. On Monday the visit ended. "Before we went. I took my Lady Jem apart, and would know how she liked this gentleman. She blushed, and answered that she could readily obey what her father and mother had done”.

They had no long engagement. On the 31st they were married in Deptford Church. Pepys was late for the wedding, being held up at the Isle of Dogs, but he met the bride and bridegroom returning from the church. That evening “I got into the bridegroom's chamber, while he undressed, till he was called to the bride's chamber, and into bed they went. I kissed the bride in bed and so the curtains drawn with the greatest gravity". '

On 13 April :1667 Philippe was knighted by the King at Whitehall; and in May the two families combined to buy from Sir Samuel Luke a line house at Hawnes in Bedfordshire, part of which had been designed by lnigo Jones, to be the young couple’s home. It cost £25,000, and from it Philippe's son George took: later the title Baron Carteret of Hawnes.

Philippe now apparently had no naval duties, and settled down to a country life, and became “very busy and industrious” in county affairs (Sandwich MSS.). He ‘had many hobbies, such as painting,  drawing and watch-making and he became a Fellow of the Royal Society.

Hawnes however proved rather beyond their means and Lady Sandwich grew worried, because Jemimah was running into debt and borrowing money (Carte M33.)

In 1672 the Third Dutch War broke out, and Carteret was recalled to the fleet. His father-in-law, who was Admiral, took him on to his Flag-ship, the Royal James (100 guns). On 28 May the English and Dutch fleets met in Solebay. In that battle Carteret's ship fought one of the most famous sea-fights in history. She was grappled by the “Groot Hollandia” for an hour and a half, during which she repelled in hand to hand fighting attempt after attempt to hoard her. “Cuff it out to the last man”, was Sandwich’s order, though six hunched of his men had fallen. But while this was going on, her gunners on the further side had sunk four enemy ships. Then a party of English soldiers sprang on to the Dutchman's deck, swarmed up its masts, and cut the ropes that were holding the ships together. The Royal James broke loose, but under cover of smoke from enemy broadsides, a Dutch fire ship got alongside and grappled ‘her again. In a moment she was on fire from stem to stem, and Carteret and his father-in-law died together. (A detailed account of the Battle is given in Harris’ Life of Edward Montagu.)

He left three sons. George (born 1667), who was created Baronet in 1681. Philip (born 1669), who became a Captain in the Royal Marines and Edward (born 1671), who was made Postmaster- General. [Authorities quoted above]