July & August 2013

Connect

A magazine from

St Nicolas’ church

for the

local

community

Inscription on one of the new bells reads....

‘In memory of Lucy Beatrice Hazelden née Mortley 1876-1965:

a pioneer lady bell-ringer and long-serving ringer at this church.’

Our new

bells have

arrived!

See inside p. 5

for details of

the special

service of

celebration.

St Nicolas’ is a parish in the Anglican diocese of Guildford

Responding to the love of God for the whole world, our mission is to connect with:

Sunday Worship 8:30 am Eucharist 10 am PARISH MASS – our main service with Children’s Church 6 pm Evensong

Weekday Eucharist Monday 10 am Christian Meditation Group: Tuesday 7:30 pm Tuesday 12:30 pm Wednesday 7:45 am Thursday 7 pm Thursday 1:10 pm Julian Meeting: Friday 11 am Sunday 5 pm Saturday 7:45 am

Baptisms, weddings and funerals To arrange a baptism contact Father Andrew. To plan a wedding contact the Parish Clerk.

Contact us: www.stnicolas-guildford.org.uk Rector: Andrew Norman 01483 504895 / 0783 702 1726 andrew@andrew norman.orangehome.co.uk Curate: Barnaby Perkins 01483 453163 / 07801891960 barnaby.perkins@cantab.net Churchwardens: Marian Coom 01483 564069 & Catherine Ferguson 01483 306189 Parish Administrator: Cath Anderson 01483 564526. The parish office is usually open in term time Tuesday afternoons, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday mornings. Email: parishoffice@stnicolas-guildford.fsnet.co.uk Parish Clerk: Fred Hutley 01483 836780 Magazine Editor: Catherine Ferguson (material for Magazine by 17th of the month please)

2

fellow Christians and each other society the environment our local community

Dear friends Life is messy. Stuff happens which spoils our plans. I now find that my summer will end with a spell in hospital at the beginning of September as my wonky hip is replaced and then a month or so of convalescence. Yet sometimes when everything seems against the desired grain we discover another form of the good. Church life is messy too. Changes in society and people getting otherwise preoccupied may leave some features of religion high and dry. But then new avenues open up. You just never know. Messy Church is the name of our new joint project with the United Reformed Church led by Emma who is our shared Children & Families Worker – and this mess is really good! Messy Church was invented in 1994 by a vicar’s wife, Lucy Moore, in Portsmouth. The people of St Wilfred’s, Cowplain dreamed of being church in a way that would connect with whole families. They listened to the needs of the local community and they built Messy Church with the modest resources of their own church. In Messy Church there are activities, we celebrate, we eat, and everyone is involved. The challenge for us at St Nicolas’ is both to support the work in our daily prayer and actively to enter into it as what we are doing, as Lucy explains: “Once people have seen Messy Church in action, they realise that it’s not just a children’s club, but somewhere where they can be themselves and listen to other people on their Christian journey.” She continues, “It can take time for people to realise that it’s for families, not just children. It’s also good when Messy Church is seen as a separate congregation in its own right, not something that channels people into the Sunday congregation.” Mess is simply the raw material of creativity. I thought my diary for the autumn had been messed up. But now I can properly mull over the wisdom of Daniel O’Leary in preparation for the first Living With the Mystics day – another new venture (see page 6) – which I hope to be able to lead myself. Explore his website (www.djoleary.com) while you relax during these summer weeks and I’ll tell you more about that in the next magazine.

JULY & AUGUST 2013

3

St Mary’s House, Ephesus, 2012

4

Surrey Parish Records

launched online

The family history website

Ancestry.co.uk has just announced the

online launch of Surrey Parish Records

1538-1987. The records, the originals

of which are in the Surrey History Centre

at Woking (including our own from St

Nicolas’) detail baptisms, marriages and

burials in Anglican parish registers.

This project will allow members of Surrey

libraries to search the records for their

Surrey ancestors free of charge in any

local library in the county and subscribers to Ancestry.co.uk across the world will

also be able to view them at home.

Visitors to Surrey History Centre have the advantage of free use of Ancestry.co.uk

and in addition will be able to consult all the other original records held by the Cen-

tre to find out more about their ancestors and the communities in which they lived.

A free launch event for the digitised Surrey Parish Record 1538-1987 collection

will be held on Sat 6th July (10.30am-3.30) at Surrey History Centre, Goldsworth

Rd., Woking with experts on hand for advice and presentations. To book places

for the presentations call 01483 518737. Read more about this: Guildford Diocese website: http://www.cofeguildford.org.uk/news/story/857/#

Ancestry website: www.ancestry.co.uk (free at SHC but otherwise by subscription fee)

Surrey History Centre website: http://www.surreycc.gov.uk/recreation-heritage-and-culture/

archives-and-history/surrey-history-centre

St Nicolas’ parish register bears the scars

of being housed in a damp church. This

entry (above) for April 1583 shows the

baptism of ‘Francis, sonne of Mr John

Wollye’. John Wolley (d. 1596) was the

second husband of Elizabeth More (d.

1600), daughter of Sir William More of

Loseley who is buried in splendour in the

Loseley chapel. Wolley, knighted 1592,

was Latin Secretary to Elizabeth 1. Francis

died in 1619, having provided £4000 for a

magnificent tomb for himself and his

parents in St Paul’s Cathedral.

‘By our stumbling

the world is perfected.’ Sri Aurobindo

Indian mystic

5

Top 10 facts The Church of England

Conducts over 1000 marriages a week

Conducts over 2500 baptisms & thanksgivings a week

85% of the British population visits a church each year

25% of all primary schools are C of E; and 1 in 16 secondary schools, many in deprived areas

C of E schools educate one million students.

Over 1.6 million people a month attend a C of E service.

35% of the population attend a C of E service at Christmas.

Congregations give £49m a year to other charities.

Churchgoers contribute 23.2m hours each month outside their local church to voluntary work in their local community.

Provides activities outside church worship in the local community for 470,000 young people under 16.

Bell Celebration 30th June

There will be a Celebration of the Bells newly returned to the tower at a special Evensong on Sunday 30th June at 5pm followed by celebratory refreshments when you can meet the bellringers. Read more about the return of the bells on page 12. Do come on the 30th June and celebrate with us. All are most welcome.

Almost 6 million people

were reached by the Church

of England’s Easter 2013

twitter campaign. Official

figures from Twitter showed

5.8m users from 8527 tweets

sent over the Easter period

using the hash tag

#everythingchanges. Since we

seek to share the joy of the

risen Jesus, that’s good news.

Good news in a #nutshell

6

TUESDAY GROUP in the

parish centre

July

2nd Picnic time! sandwich making

9th Discussion "What to do on a wet summer's day" 16th Board games

23rd "Summer themes" - individual contributions

30th No meeting - school holidays

We resume September 10th

LIVING WITH THE MYSTICS

Saturday 21st September 10:30am – 3:30pm

in the parish centre

A contemplative day focussing on Daniel O’Leary & his theme of Sacramental Imagination

Opening with meditation, after which we will hear a presentation followed by a period of reflection, lunch then general discussion be-fore we close with a final meditation session in the afternoon

We aim to focus on a different mystic each quarter, encouraging those interested to read and ‘live with’ this mystic in the run up to the next quarterly day of reflection.

If interested, see the website www.djoleary.com for details of his CDs, books etc..

The Monthly Good Causes for July and August

July: Mission to Seafarers

Piracy, shipwreck, abandonment & separation from loved ones are just a few of the problems seafarers face. This charity works in over 260 ports caring for seafarers of all ranks, nationalities and beliefs. It provides help and support to the 1.3m men & women who face danger every day to keep our global economy afloat. In an emergency the MtS is often the only help on offer. Our chaplains & volunteers offer practical and financial support, advocacy services, family liaison or simply a space to talk in a time of crisis.

August: Leprosy Mission An international Christian organisation which diagnoses, treats and offers specialist care, including reconstructive surgery, to leprosy patients. They also offer housing, fresh water & sanitation and education. Leprosy is a disease of poverty, often with huge stigma attached to it which sees entire families robbed of job opportunities, education and marriage prospects. Stigma prevents sufferers seeking prompt treatment for this entirely curable disease. The charity works in 30 countries offering services regardless of religion or ethnicity .

7

Spirituality Explored

The Eucharist as an effective sign of

grace for the whole People of God

By Ian Stackhouse, Pastoral Leader

at Guildford Baptist Church and an

inspirational author and speaker Wed 3 July

8pm St Nicolas’ Parish Centre,

Bury Street

Mindfulness Mindfulness simply means paying

attention to our experience in the

present moment. It can help us to

feel awake, to make more of our

lives and boost our well-being.

Sessions free & open to all.

St Nicolas Church Hall

Thursdays 7-9pm suzette.jones@cofeguildford.org.uk

01483 790335

Climate change.....and St Swithun

Climate change is nothing new to historians. The 17th century saw a prolonged period of cooler weather with an almost complete absence of sunspots 1645-1715 and no aurora borealis. Measurements of radioactive isotope of carbon (C14) show notable aberrations 1650-1720. All these indicate solar energy (ie. heat) was reduced. Summer 1663 was ‘wet for 2 or 3 months together beyond belief ‘ according to Pepys. Across the world from Japan to England and from sub-Saharan Africa to Russia, harvest failures, droughts, rebellions and revolutions ensued. Our Civil War and Interregnum 1642-1660 was part of this world-wide phenomenon. It might have been fun to skate on the frozen Thames, but trying to keep warm and grow your crops was another matter in what has been called ‘The Little Ice Age’. The first half of the 14th century was another Little Ice Age with Europe experiencing cold, wet, miserable summers. The torrential downpour on St Swithun’s day in 1315 is well recorded. Across Europe people suffered prolonged periods of harvest failure and appalling starvation rates 1304 –1370. Malnourished animals and humans succumb easily to disease, and that is just what happened: a murrain of 1312-4 wiped out cattle stocks, whilst the Black Death of 1348 took a ready hold on weakened populations. Was the 1315 deluge the origin of the legend of St Swithun: that if it rains on St Swithun’s Day (15 July) it will rain for 40 days? Swithun was bishop of Winchester c852 to his death c861 and he was buried, at his request, outside the cathedral. In 971 it was decided to re-inter his body inside and one theory traces the origin of the legend to a heavy shower which is meant to have occurred on the day of that event, interpreted as Swithun showing displeasure at his moving indoors. Written documents, however, suggest that the legend was invented only in the 17th century . So where did this legend come from? We just don’t know. What we do know, thanks to satellite images, is that it is a valid comment on July weather patterns because the position of the jet stream over the UK in July affects the summer’s weather until late August. When this lies to the north of the UK ,warm Mediterranean weather prevails; when it lies to the south we get cool, wet weather. Pray for good weather, then, on the 15th July! CMFF

Church Calendar for July 2013 Mon 1 Henry, John, and Henry Venn the younger, Priests, Evangelical

Divines, 1797, 1813 and 1873

Tue 2 7pm Guild of St Raphael.

PCC Standing Committee after 7.30 Eucharist

Wed 3 THOMAS the Apostle 8pm Spirituality Explored. see p. 7

Thu 4

Fri 5

Sat 6 Thomas More, Scholar, and John Fisher, Bishop of Rochester,

Reformation Martyrs, 1535

2pm Summer Fayre and MESSY CHURCH at

the church and parish centre

Sun 7 SIXTH AFTER TRINITY No Evensong. Fr Andrew preaching at the

cathedral 6:30pm

Mon 8

Tue 9

We 10 7:45pm PCC meeting

Thu 11 Benedict of Nursia, Abbot of Monte Cassino, Father of Western

Monasticism, c.550

7pm ‘Mindfulness’ in the Parish Centre see p. 7.

Fri 12

Sat 13 1pm Wedding of Joanna Hort and Ben Pont

2pm St Nicolas’ School Summer Social at the

County School

Sun14 SEVENTH AFTER TRINITY

Mo 15 Swithun, Bishop of Winchester, c.862; Bonaventure, Friar, Bishop,

Teacher of the Faith, 1274

Tue 16 Osmund, Bishop of Salisbury, 1099 3pm Summer Service at Hillier House

7:30pm Induction of Michael Norris as Rector

of St Saviour’s

We 17 7pm final Alpha Course session at Rectory

Thu 18 Elizabeth Ferard, first Deaconess of the Church of England,

Founder of the Community of St Andrew, 1883

Fri 19 Gregory, Bishop of Nyssa, and his sister Macrina, Deaconess,

Teachers of the Faith, c.394 and c.379

Sat 20 Margaret of Antioch, Martyr, 4th century; Bartolomé de las Casas,

Apostle to the Indies, 1566

Sun 21 EIGHTH AFTER TRINITY 10am John Milan (newly trained Occasional

Preacher) to preach at Parish Mass

Mo 22 MARY MAGDALENE

Tu 23 Bridget of Sweden, Abbess of Vadstena, 1373

We 24 Last day of the school term at St Nicolas’ Infant School 9:30am Our School Leavers Service at URC

Thu 25 JAMES the Apostle

Fri 26 Anne and Joachim, Parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Sat 27 Brooke Foss Westcott, Bishop of Durham, Teacher of the Faith, 1901 3pm Wedding of Susann Krugel and Gavin Power

Sun 28 NINTH AFTER TRINITY 10am Parish Mass with Baptism

Mo 29 Mary, Martha and Lazarus, Companions of Our Lord

Tue 30 7pm Guild of St Raphael

We 31 Ignatius of Loyola, Founder of the Society of Jesus, 1556

8

9

Thu 1

Fri 2

Sat 3

Sun 4 TENTH AFTER TRINITY

Mon 5 Oswald, King of Northumbria, Martyr, 642

Tue 6 THE TRANSFIGURATION OF OUR LORD 10:15am Eucharist at Hillier House

Wed 7 John Mason Neale, Priest, Hymn Writer, 1866

Thu 8 Dominic, Priest, Founder of the Order of Preachers,1221 7pm ‘Mindfulness’ in the Parish Centre, see p. 7

Fri 9 Mary Sumner, Founder of the Mothers’ Union,1921

Sat 10 Laurence, Deacon at Rome, Martyr, 258

Sun 11 ELEVENTH AFTER TRINITY 10am Parish Mass & Baptism

Mon 12

Tue13 Jeremy Taylor, Bishop of Down and Connor, Teacher of the Faith, 1667; Florence Nightingale, Nurse, Social Reformer,

1910; Octavia Hill, Social Reformer, 1912

We 14 Maximilian Kolbe, Friar, Martyr, 1941

Thu 15 THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY

Fri 16

Sat 17

Sun 18 TWELFTH AFTER TRINITY

Mon 19

Tue 20 Bernard of Clairvaux, Abbot, Teacher of the Faith, 1153; William and Catherine Booth, founders of the Salvation

Army, 1912, 1890

We 21

Thu 22

Fri 23

Sat 24 BARTHOLOMEW the Apostle

Sun 25 THIRTEENTH AFTER TRINITY

Mon 26 Summer Bank Holiday No services in church

Tue 27 Monica, mother of Augustine of Hippo, 387 7pm Guild of St Raphael

We 28 Augustine, Bishop of Hippo, Teacher of the Faith, 430

Thu 29 The Beheading of John the Baptist

Fri 30 John Bunyan, Spiritual Writer,1688

Sat 31 Aidan, Bishop of Lindisfarne, missionary, 651 Church DIY and cleaning morning followed by lunch for the workers.

Church Calendar for August 2013

10

The next Messy Church will take place on

Saturday 6th July at an earlier time of 2pm -4pm as it will be a part of our Summer Fayre at the Parish Centre – there will be a bouncy castle, craft and games, puppet show and a picnic. Messy Church activities are free and open to all ages. Messy Church will then return in September and run monthly on the first Saturday of every month.

Summer Holiday Club 19th -23rd August 9.30m -12:00

Starship Discovery ~ a space adventure of Bible stories, crafts,

games, puppets, drama, songs, quizzes, refreshments and so much more. The activities are gauged for 5-11 year olds but younger children and siblings can attend if they are accompanied by a parent or carer. Children over 12 are welcome to come along and be helpers during the week and also get to join in the activities, they also need to be registered. Please contact Emma to book places on 0751 9572932 or childrenandfamiliesworker@gmail.com

11

Hello!

Here are some Children and Families updates… Messy Church has continued to grow over the last few months. In May we had a fantastic time in the Rectory garden with music, food, flying kites, art and craft and thankfully some sunshine! Big thanks to St Nicolas 9th Guildford who did the BBQ for us and to Gillian Lloyd and the musicians from groups at URC who played for us.

Children & Families Worker

In June Messy Church was held at Guildford URC where we had a great time together, with lots of activities and a lovely dinner.

...and we had a cream tea.

12

At the end of May the bells returned to St Nicolas’ from Taylor’s Foundry at Loughborough. The full peal of new bells, laid out on the church floor with their new inscriptions, formed a rare and splendid sight. Members of Yvonne Eloie’s family came from Kent and Essex to joined hangers, ringers, members of the congregation & Father Barnaby in a brief but moving ceremony during which the bells were anointed, each with two crosses, before being hoisted up into the tower.

Parish visit to Loseley House

On the 5th May we went on a fascinating parish visit to Loseley House. Our most excellent guide was the incomparable Gill Williams (right).

(left) The service of

anointing

the bells.

(right) A

shiny new bell is

slowly

winched up into

the bell-

chamber

(above) Karen Mortley,

Yvonne’s r

elative, admires

the peal.

The Bells return .......

Bell celebration

evensong 30th June

See p. 5 for details

13

Our pupils visited a synagogue.

St Nicolas’ Church of England

Infant School

14

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15

In December 2012 India opened its first art biennale in the ancient spice port of Fort Kochi in Kerala. The Kochi Biennale ran for 3 months and this enormous photographic art work (ink on canvas 52x144 inches) by Indian artist Vivek Vilasani dominated the first exhibition room in Aspinwall House, the premier location in the town. It was the very first image I saw at the Kochi Biennale and I found it immediately arresting, compelling and disturbing. I stood before it for a long time, returning time and again and it has continued to haunt me since. The image is based on a very familiar work, Leonarda da Vinci’s Last Supper, which groups the apostles around the central figure of Christ. But this is a Last Supper with a difference; here the figures are all young women wearing burqas or chadors. The jolt from the Leonardo comfort-zone is profound. The image turns the Last Supper on its head. These are not familiar male apostles: they are women and Christ is a woman. They are not Christian or even Jewish women, but Muslims. The burqas reveal only the women’s hands and eyes; these alone have to convey any expression of love, shock, tension or treachery. The observer is compelled to pay close attention to them in this already disturbing and discomforting image. But does the image really turn the Last Supper upside down? The apart-ness of the Christ-figure, eyes filled with sorrow and, perhaps, hinting at sacrifice, with hands blessing bread, show someone full indeed of sorrows and acquainted with grief. These Gaza women depict the despised and rejected of the world. As Palestinians they are rejected by the Jews; their burqas imposed by male-dominant traditions in many parts of the world indicate inferior status; and they are despised in the Christian west when they wear them there. The image points the finger at the world’s religions: how often are women excluded? Christ depicted as a woman is an uncomfortable reminder that the leadership of women is rejected by many Christian churches, including our own. The image continues to disturb further. On the table is bread, leavened and unleavened. And pomegranates. Since the early Middle Ages the iconography of the pomegranate in both Christian and Muslim cultures has indicated feminine attributes of love and fertility. From the 14th century onwards it symbolised the Resurrection of Christ; for that reason Botticelli placed one in the hands of the infant Christ in his paint-ing The Madonna of the Pomegranate (1487). But pomegranates have come to have another meaning: the French word for pomegranate is grenade, same as the bomb, because the shape of the early grenades was like the fruit. Our word Grenadiers comes from the same source. So here on the table at the Last Supper in Gaza we have a most disquieting image indeed of love, fertility and violence. Interestingly, the Church has not shied away from exhibiting this piece; it was dis-played at the cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in Spain in 2009. ‘The church’s decision to exhibit the work was gutsier than my decision to make the artwork,’ admits Vilasini. And Vilasani’s own faith? What do you think?

Catherine Ferguson

Last Supper in Gaza........... (see opposite page)

16

BOOKS OF THE BIBLE?

Read the following paragraph and see if you can find the names of 16 books of the Bible

hidden in the text:

The Bible is read the world over by vast numbers of people. Reykjavik, Honolulu,

Kerala; you name it, the Bible is read by all seeking the truth of God. So it shouldn’t

be too hard a job for you to find the hidden books here and mark them with a pen; it

might even be a most enjoyable diversion. Yes, there are some easy ones, but I admit it

usually takes a few minutes and there will be loud lamentations when the final one

eludes you, even after looking so hard. Be patient, however, and wait for the revelation;

you are just looking for facts after all. My mother-in-law, Ruth, says she brews a cup of

tea so she can concentrate better; in fact, she judges tea and the chance to bite into a

chocolate biscuit, absolutely essential to concentration. Give it a try. Enjoy yourself. See

how well you can compete. Remember, however, it’s only a game!

PARISH MIShaps

Notice in the kitchen of a Church Hall: ‘Ladies, when you have emptied the teapots, please stand upside down in the sink. No hot bottoms must be placed on the work surfaces.’

This summer Father Andrew will be visiting families in......

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