The Sunday Archive: The Pilot, September 1994 – Part 4

The Pilot, September 1994 – Part 4

Parish News

ST MARTIN
From
LAWRENCE TURNER Rector

THE deadline for these notes is Battle of Flowers Day and so they will be finished slightly early and then posted off! This will allow me, as for the past six years, to join in flowering the Parish Float and hoping we have got it right again this year. To me the Battle of Flowers seems to spell the end of the summer and the start of the gradual slide into autumn. Autumn always then leads on to thoughts of the harvest and, naturally, to the Harvest Festival season when we give thanks for God's goodness to us and to all people throughout the year and throughout the world.

Not many people realise that there is no real provision in the Prayer Book for Harvest Thanksgiving. Remarkably, it was only in the last century that such celebrations began to remind us of the many physical blessings bestowed upon us by Almighty God each and every day, season by season, year by year. The food we eat, the clothes we wear, the means of keeping warm, the multitude of machines we use in our everyday lives and so many other blessings. I have much sympathy with the idea of not just bringing fruit and vegetables into church for harvest but also machines and a bag of coal as well! Individually we should remember every day but, as a body of Christian people, individual churches set aside one Sunday each year in September or October to remember as a body those blessings not only as individuals but also as a group. In the West we have little need to bother about seasonal fruits as many people do elsewhere in the world since we are privileged to enjoy the fruitfulness of all the earth at all times thanks to modern methods and worldwide transport.

Therefore, I do hope that you will take note of the services detailed below and join with us in our corporate Thanksgiving for the Harvest we all enjoy in so much abundance throughout the year.

HARVEST THANKSGIVINGS. On Sunday 11th September, St Martin's Methodist Chapel will be holding their Harvest Thanksgiving ser-vices. As usual, we are invited to the United Evening Service at 6.30 pm at the Chapel that day. There will be no Evensong in the Parish Church that evening and I hope that many of you will come along to the Chapel and worship there.

Our own Harvest Thanksgiving services will be on Sunday 25th September. Please see the "Services Box" alongside for details. At the United Evensong our Methodist brethren will be joining us as they do each year.

HARVEST LUNCH. Once again we shall be having Harvest Lunches at 12.30 pm, i.e. after the Family Communion, in the Public Hall. For the last three years these have been a great success and have proved a very enjoyable way of raising money to pay our Quota. Tickets will be on sale soon after you read this so please keep an eye out for the announcements.

HOLY DAYS. We shall observe two feast days, both towards the end of the month. On Wednesday the 21st, we remember and give thanks for the life and witness of the Apostle, St Matthew. The other feast, that of Michaelmas, is on Thursday the 29th this year. The Feast of St Michael and All Angels is very dear to my heart as you know, as an old said at every Communion "Therefore with angels and archangels and with all the company of heaven." There will be a celebration of Holy Communion at 7.30 pm in the Lady Chapel on both those days, as well as the usual 10.30 am Wednesday Communion for St Matthew!

SUNDAY SCHOOL. The summer recess of the Sunday School ends on second Sunday of this month, September 11th. May I remind everyone that the Sunday School meets every Sunday at 10.30 am in the Public Hall and lasts roughly an hour. This means that parents can bring children to Sunday School and attend the 10.30 am church service if they so wish since both start and finish at roughly the same time.

MOTHERS' UNION. We shall meet on Wednesday 14th September at 2.30 pm at Christine de la Haye's and Dr John Taylor, well known to us all, will be asking the question, "Do you have the time?"

FLOWER LADIES. On Thursday 8th September at 8 pm, anyone who is at all interested in helping is invited to meet in church to plan the decoration of the church for our Harvest Thanksgiving. Remember, you don't have to be an expert; enthusiasm and willingness count for a great deal!



ST ANDREWS
From
DESMOND SPRINGHAM Vicar

THANKS. First, a sincere "thank you" to all St Andrew's Church family, and to the clergy and members of other churches, who supported me by your prayers and expressions of best wishes for a speedy recovery. Whilst my time in hospital was short — two days for angioplasty, followed by a few days of taking it easy — yet it makes one realise how important the backing of family, friends, and the Christian family is. It's as though the Lord uses all this human goodwill and the prayer backing to create the right sort of atmosphere or climate to surround the person in need. I have now learned from first-hand experience how important this is. Never think that your attitude, your expressions of goodwill, your prayers don't really count. They are all important. Let's remember this for anyone we know who is in need.

IN MEMORIAM. In July, we dedicated two stained glass windows, in memory of Carol de Gruchy, Mr Phil Jean, and Mr Phil Perchard. It was a very moving service as we remembered the lives of these three dear people, all of whom had been closely linked to St Andrew's. The windows actually came from St James Church, and we are very grateful that they were made available to us. They have been adapted and now fit in very well in St Andrew's Church.

CHALLENGE. Said the sergeant major to the trainee drill instructor as his squad was disappearing off the parade ground: "Say something, even if it is only 'good-bye' !" Well, for last month's PILOT, I felt had nothing to "say" -- I was stumped.

Have you ever tried to put yourself in the shoes of the preacher? He always needs some-thing to say — a message. I understand, that at one service during the revival in Rwanda, one preacher did stand up and say that the Lord had not given him any message, and with that he sat down. As a result, some people were convinced of the genuineness of the Faith and were converted!

In fact, of course, there is plenty to say: we have the written Word of God, and the task of the preacher is to pass on that message. A few weeks ago I found that there was too much to say, and I did not even get to the second reading for that day. Had I done so, provided people had still been "with me," we would have found it particularly challenging.

"Take no anxious thought for tomorrow" —that was part of the reading: "what you shall eat, what you shall put on"; "Your heavenly Father knows . . ." These are Jesus' own words — the One in whom we believe. What does he mean? In the light of the present situation in Rwanda, how do they apply? Can we believe them? There has certainly been no wonderful heavenly answer to the needs of those starving people. Does that mean that the words are not reliable? Should we just ignore them or get rid of this particular passage?

Perhaps the answer is "closer to home," rather simpler: the answer is in our hands. Our heavenly Father knows the needs of these people, and so do we, his well-provided-for children. And many have already been responding to their needs; there is room for greater response. This may be the answer in this particular case.

When God "says something," we can ignore it, gloss over it; but if we start to think about it, then be ready for a challenge.

HOLY BAPTISM. 19th June, Stephen David Robin Tyler; 10th July, Paige Lydia Horgan, Jordan Elliot Paul James; 31st, Chloe Elizabeth Rayson; Siobhan Olivia Hartnoll.

HOLY MATRIMONY. 4th June, Allan McLean to Helen Attenborough; 11th, Craig Berry to Rebecca Horn; 30th, Ruth Manley to Andrew Makinson; 2nd July, Ian L'Amy to Melanie Robson; 30th, Service of Blessing and Thanksgiving for the Marriage of John Long to Anne Taunton; 6th August, Andrew Rodgers to Pamela Whitworth; Andrew Smith to Jillian Fawns.

FUNERALS. 22nd July, Dorothy Gallienne, aged 80; 28th, Annie Shepherd, aged 88.



ST LAWRENCE AND ST MATTHEW
From NEVILLE BEAMER

Rector and Vicar

AT the beginning of last month, we were all saddened by the death of Sidney Lee. We extend our sympathy to his sister Ruby and also to his many close friends. Here is an appreciation given by Alan Gillham:

Sidney Ernest Lee was born in London in 1915. When war broke out he joined the Royal Artillery. Prior .to going to the Egyptian Desert, where he spent most of the war years, he married Muriel and they were a devoted couple until Muriel's death forty years later.

Immediately after the Liberation Sidney did a brief tour of duty in Jersey, and when his military service ended, he took up the position of General Manager at Voisin & Co in King Street, serving the company for thirty-seven years. Together with Tim Voisin, he was instrumental in making Voisins a leading Island retailer and applied this successful business formula to their new store in St Malo, which opened in 1969.

His leisure activity revolved around the world of amateur dramatics, and he and Muriel played a full and active part for many years in the Green Room Club.

Shortly after moving to St Lawrence, they became active members of St Matthew's Church, Millbrook, where Sidney served for many years as Churchwarden, and was then appointed Reader. He had a great love for missionary work and represented the Intercontinental Church Society (Intercon). He was responsible for raising large sums for this work amongst English-speaking people abroad. As Reader, Sidney loved his Lord, and led and preached with much conviction and sincerity at services in Anglican churches throughout the Island. But he was, perhaps, best known for his ministry to visitors at the St Matthew's Summer Songs of Praise services, where people would often comment that the evening had been the highlight of their stay in Jersey.

Sidney Lee was quiet, gracious and humble, with a wonderful sense of humour. It was a joy for many of us to be present at St Matthew's for a very special thanksgiving service for his life, and a great privilege to have known such a lovely Christian man with so great a faith.

AT ST MATTHEW'S on Sunday 18th September at the Family Worship service we will be pleased to welcome the Rt Rev John Perry, Bishop of Southampton. The following Sunday (25th September) is Harvest Thanksgiving, with the morning service at 10.30 am, and at 7 pm Harvest Praise, when we will have with us our former Vicar, Laurie Binder.

AT ST LAWRENCE we will be holding our services of Harvest Thanksgiving on Sunday 2nd October, with a special Harvest Thanks-giving service at 10 am when we will welcome the Very Rev John Seaford, Dean of Jersey. At 6 pm there will be a Harvest Songs of Praise, when it will be good to welcome back our former Rector, Laurie Binder.