The Sunday Archive: The Pilot, August 1997 - Part 11
St Lawrence with St Matthew
From
DAVID EDWARDS
Almoner at St Matthews
ST LAWRENCE
THE Restoration Project at St Lawrence is now under way in earnest, following the successful passage of our proposals through the Ecclesiastical Court and the Parish Assembly. The Appeal brochures, expertly produced by David Edwards, have gone out with the rate mailing, and our inaugural appeal event has already taken place, by way of a summer party at Domaine Des Vaux. Our thanks to Marcus and Anne Binney for their hospitality and to Anne and the Events Team who worked so hard to make it a memorable and happy event.
The architect for the St Lawrence Church Appeal is Michael Drury, of St Ann's Gate Architects in Salisbury. Mr Drury is architect for Salisbury and Westminster Cathedrals. Amongst his recent commissions has been the completion of the enlargement of Portsmouth Cathedral, a work begun by Sir Charles Nicholson in 1927 when what was originally a mediaeval parish church of the new Diocese of Portsmouth was given cathedral status. Work was stopped in 1939 by the outbreak of war. Michael Drury's commission included work on the fabric of the building. This experience, coupled with that of extensive conservation and repair work in a number of parish churches, admirably qualifies him for the work in hand at St Lawrence.
Our project broadly involves the internal removal of the hard cement render on the walls and ceilings, which is impervious and traps the damp that inevitably penetrates the exterior wall surfaces. The walls need to "breathe" in order to remain as dry as possible in a building as old as St Lawrence Church. Replastering and lime washing in a suitably light colour will follow. Included in this part of the work will be the removal of the hard pointing, and its replacement with a more sympathetic material.
The lighting and sound amplification systems will be enhanced and a Treasury installed. A certain amount of liturgical reordering will take place, including the resiting of the vestry to a more suitable position.
There is a certain amount of inevitable exterior and interior repair work to be done, details of which can be found in Mr Drury's report compiled in April this year.
The first phase of the work will be in the south transept. We will then move to the north aisle, the north transept and the Hamptonne Chapel. Work in the nave and chancel will complete the third programme. Re-ordering will continue throughout the programme as a certain amount of experimentation will be necessary before agreeing a final plan. A fourth phase will follow which would be the replacement of the hard exterior pointing with a lime based mortar of the type that would have been used in the original construction of the church.
The oldest part of the Parish Church possibly dates from the 11th or early part of the 12th century. The first recorded Rector of St Lawrence was installed in 1299, but it is possible that St Lawrence has been a site for Christian worship since the 6th century AD.
The church stands as a witness to many centuries of the gospel in St Lawrence, as well as being a treasure store of a history that affects us all. Much of this history is now recorded in an Archaeological Survey Report by Dr Warwick Rodwell which is available from the appeal secretary on request.
Today the church touches many of our lives through the so called "rites of passage": baptisms, marriages and funerals. Christmas and Easter for many would not be complete without a visit to church. The building is also a physical landmark of our parish, without which things might not feel quite the same.
It is inevitable that such a building will require major attention every so often in its history, and it falls to us to meet this challenge now, not only for our benefit, but for the generations to come.
We want to do more than simply restore the building. There is an increasing search for spiritual answers to the dilemmas that we face in the modern world, and at St Lawrence we want to play our part in encouraging that search. We hope that the restored and re-decorated building will increasingly become a resource for all to discover more of God through prayer and worship.
The total cost of the restoration programme is estimated at £285,000. At the Ecclesiastical Assembly on 28th April, we committed our-selves to the first two phases at a cost of £150,000. We are very grateful to the Parish, who have voted £100,000 towards the project. We invite you to join us in the challenge of raising the remaining £185,000 to complete the project.
If you would like to contribute, please send your donation to the Appeal Treasurer, Duncan Baxter
The secretary of the Appeal is Anne Bougourd.
ST MATTHEW
SINCE January our midweek activity has developed reassuringly, and we look forward to continuing in the autumn. Combined with St Lawrence, we have been encouraged by the emergence of five homegoups, each of which finds its roots in two Alpha courses that were run in 1996.
The groups will continue in the autumn, but they will be meeting three times a month instead of just two. This means a reduction in the mid-week celebrations, which are planned for every second and fifth Tuesday in the month. We hope to have some guest speakers for these occasions.
We are also planning to run two concurrent Alpha courses between September and December, one in the afternoon and one in the evening. In addition we hope to run a "pre-Alpha course" in the vicarage.
When we read Acts chapter 2 verses 42-47, we see that the quality of the Church's life goes hand in hand with its growth. An openness to God and to each other is greatly enhanced through meeting together in small groups in our homes. As this openness develops, we become more open to the world around us, and its needs. In turn, the Spirit of Christ in us becomes a lantern to those in darkness. It is not impossible for the Lord to add to our number daily if we as believers, follow his pattern for our life together.
DAVID EDWARDS
Almoner at St Matthews
ST LAWRENCE
THE Restoration Project at St Lawrence is now under way in earnest, following the successful passage of our proposals through the Ecclesiastical Court and the Parish Assembly. The Appeal brochures, expertly produced by David Edwards, have gone out with the rate mailing, and our inaugural appeal event has already taken place, by way of a summer party at Domaine Des Vaux. Our thanks to Marcus and Anne Binney for their hospitality and to Anne and the Events Team who worked so hard to make it a memorable and happy event.
The architect for the St Lawrence Church Appeal is Michael Drury, of St Ann's Gate Architects in Salisbury. Mr Drury is architect for Salisbury and Westminster Cathedrals. Amongst his recent commissions has been the completion of the enlargement of Portsmouth Cathedral, a work begun by Sir Charles Nicholson in 1927 when what was originally a mediaeval parish church of the new Diocese of Portsmouth was given cathedral status. Work was stopped in 1939 by the outbreak of war. Michael Drury's commission included work on the fabric of the building. This experience, coupled with that of extensive conservation and repair work in a number of parish churches, admirably qualifies him for the work in hand at St Lawrence.
Our project broadly involves the internal removal of the hard cement render on the walls and ceilings, which is impervious and traps the damp that inevitably penetrates the exterior wall surfaces. The walls need to "breathe" in order to remain as dry as possible in a building as old as St Lawrence Church. Replastering and lime washing in a suitably light colour will follow. Included in this part of the work will be the removal of the hard pointing, and its replacement with a more sympathetic material.
The lighting and sound amplification systems will be enhanced and a Treasury installed. A certain amount of liturgical reordering will take place, including the resiting of the vestry to a more suitable position.
There is a certain amount of inevitable exterior and interior repair work to be done, details of which can be found in Mr Drury's report compiled in April this year.
The first phase of the work will be in the south transept. We will then move to the north aisle, the north transept and the Hamptonne Chapel. Work in the nave and chancel will complete the third programme. Re-ordering will continue throughout the programme as a certain amount of experimentation will be necessary before agreeing a final plan. A fourth phase will follow which would be the replacement of the hard exterior pointing with a lime based mortar of the type that would have been used in the original construction of the church.
The oldest part of the Parish Church possibly dates from the 11th or early part of the 12th century. The first recorded Rector of St Lawrence was installed in 1299, but it is possible that St Lawrence has been a site for Christian worship since the 6th century AD.
The church stands as a witness to many centuries of the gospel in St Lawrence, as well as being a treasure store of a history that affects us all. Much of this history is now recorded in an Archaeological Survey Report by Dr Warwick Rodwell which is available from the appeal secretary on request.
Today the church touches many of our lives through the so called "rites of passage": baptisms, marriages and funerals. Christmas and Easter for many would not be complete without a visit to church. The building is also a physical landmark of our parish, without which things might not feel quite the same.
It is inevitable that such a building will require major attention every so often in its history, and it falls to us to meet this challenge now, not only for our benefit, but for the generations to come.
We want to do more than simply restore the building. There is an increasing search for spiritual answers to the dilemmas that we face in the modern world, and at St Lawrence we want to play our part in encouraging that search. We hope that the restored and re-decorated building will increasingly become a resource for all to discover more of God through prayer and worship.
The total cost of the restoration programme is estimated at £285,000. At the Ecclesiastical Assembly on 28th April, we committed our-selves to the first two phases at a cost of £150,000. We are very grateful to the Parish, who have voted £100,000 towards the project. We invite you to join us in the challenge of raising the remaining £185,000 to complete the project.
If you would like to contribute, please send your donation to the Appeal Treasurer, Duncan Baxter
The secretary of the Appeal is Anne Bougourd.
ST MATTHEW
SINCE January our midweek activity has developed reassuringly, and we look forward to continuing in the autumn. Combined with St Lawrence, we have been encouraged by the emergence of five homegoups, each of which finds its roots in two Alpha courses that were run in 1996.
The groups will continue in the autumn, but they will be meeting three times a month instead of just two. This means a reduction in the mid-week celebrations, which are planned for every second and fifth Tuesday in the month. We hope to have some guest speakers for these occasions.
We are also planning to run two concurrent Alpha courses between September and December, one in the afternoon and one in the evening. In addition we hope to run a "pre-Alpha course" in the vicarage.
When we read Acts chapter 2 verses 42-47, we see that the quality of the Church's life goes hand in hand with its growth. An openness to God and to each other is greatly enhanced through meeting together in small groups in our homes. As this openness develops, we become more open to the world around us, and its needs. In turn, the Spirit of Christ in us becomes a lantern to those in darkness. It is not impossible for the Lord to add to our number daily if we as believers, follow his pattern for our life together.
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