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Parish News We got it! Page 5 STOP PRESSBenefice of Bradford on Avon Holy Trinity, Westwood and Wingfield February 2016 In this issue VernonBurchell waves goodbye to the organ Interviews with Alison Craddock and Jill Wright Syria and Sudan updates

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Parish News We got it! Page 5

STOP PRESS…

Benefice of Bradford on Avon Holy Trinity, Westwood and Wingfield

February 2016

In this issue… Vernon’ Burchell waves goodbye

to the organ Interviews with Alison Craddock

and Jill Wright Syria and Sudan updates

2

DIRECTORY FOR HOLY TRINITY

Rector The Revd Joanna Abecassis, 18A Woolley St, BoA BA15 1AF [email protected] Tel: 864444 Associate Priest The Revd Dr Ali Green, 36 Budbury Close, BoA BA15 1QG [email protected] Tel: 0785 547 0069 Churchwardens Trevor Ford25 Downavon, BA15 1JH Tel: 862240

Judith Holland23 Avonfield Avenue, BA15 1JD Tel: 866215 Benefice Administrator Sally Palmer-Walton [email protected] Admin Assistant Aylene Clack [email protected] Assistant Wardens David Milne, Brian Netley, Val Payne, John Woods Retired Clergy Canon Richard Askew, The Ven John Burgess, Canon David Driscoll, The Revd Alun Glyn-Jones, Canon Peter Hardman, The Revd Jim Hill, The Rt Revd Bill Ind, The Ven Ian Stanes, The Revd Karl Wiggins. Director of Music Vacant Times of Services Holy Trinity at Christ Church (Check Bulletins and notices or Church website) Sundays 8am Eucharist (Traditional language) 10.30am Holy Communion (coffee afterwards) 6pm Evensong, Compline, etc Weekday Eucharist 10.30am Wednesdays 12 noon Fridays (Traditional language) with lunch out afterwards Daily (not Sundays or Tuesdays) Morning and Evening Prayer at 8.30am and 5.30pm (please enter via the south door opposite by the Mount Pleasant Centre). Times of Meetings mainly music 10.30am, Tuesdays, BoA Youth and Community Centre Choir Practice 6.30pm, Christ Church, Tuesdays Team Trinity Not meeting in 2016 Mothers’ Union 7.30pm 3rd Thursday, Cedar Court, Berryfield Road, BoA. Saxon Club 2–4pm Every Tuesday except August, United Church Hall Bell Practice 7.30–9pm 2nd and 4th Mondays Benefice website www.htboa.org Weekly Bulletin Notices to Sally Palmer-Walton not later than Wednesday for the following Sunday.

From January 2016 please see the bulletin or visit www.htboa.org for more details on service times and locations.

3

HOLY TRINITY DIARY FOR FEBRUARY 2016

WEEKLY GROUPS Monday 7.30pm (fortnightly) ‘Faith Explored’ (for venue ring Erin Shields-Pett on 684460) Tuesday 10.30am mainly music (a group for young children school term only), Bradford on Avon Youth and Community Centre

FROM THE REGISTERS

Funerals

Alan Bellin Chasemore Gates 4 December (Cholderton Woodland Burial) John David Emerson 4 January (Christ Church) Peter William Hobbs 25 January (Christ Church)

4 Thursday 8pm Contemplative Hour St Mary Tory

7 SUNDAY THE NEXT SUNDAY BEFORE LENT

8am Holy Communion Christ Church

10.30am Holy Communion Christ Church

6pm Compline Christ Church

10 Ash Wednesday

7.30pm Holy Communion with hymns and the Imposition of Ashes

Christ Church

11 Thursday 10.30am Lent Course The Vicarage

14 SUNDAY THE FIRST SUNDAY OF LENT

8am Holy Communion Christ Church

9.30am Holy Communion Wingfield

11.15am Holy Communion Westwood

21 SUNDAY THE SECOND SUNDAY OF LENT

8am Holy Communion Christ Church 10.30am Holy Communion Christ Church 6pm Evensong (BCP) Westwood 22 Monday 7pm Licensing of Ven. Sue Groom as

Archdeacon of Wilts St John, Devizes

25 Thursday 10.30am Lent Course The Vicarage

28 SUNDAY THE THIRD SUNDAY OF LENT

8am Holy Communion Christ Church 10.30am Holy Communion Christ Church 6pm Evensong Christ Church

4

“All shall be well, and all shall be well and all

manner of thing shall be well”

T he well-known words of the 14th century mystic, Mother Julian of Norwich: and for some reason they have been ringing in my ears of

late. They are extraordinarily profound, and extraordinarily reas-

suring. So I have found myself discussing these words with all sorts of peo-ple in all sorts of situations – from the sick and the dying, to those of us

facing infuriating practical difficulties. They give us HOPE – something to

hold onto… and that hope is always there: ‘All shall be well, and all shall be well and all manner of thing shall be well’.

There has been a positive torrent of water under the bridge since the publication of the last ‘Parish News’! But December began brilliantly

with our best ever Christmas Tree Festival, which was such an amazing

forerunner of all our Holy Trinity Regeneration plans for the future and hugely enjoyed by at least 2,330 visitors (it’s gone up each year!) – many

of whom appreciated the opportunity to sponsor and dedicate a

limestone floor tile.

So we were then all set and ready for the countdown to Christmas, where

the two years of intense re-ordering planning by our professional Design Team would come to a head with the grant of the faculty (already delayed

by 6 weeks), and so the signing of contracts with the organ-builders and

(following tender and interview) with the building contractors. Christmas Day had long been scheduled for our last service, with Bishop Edward

booked for 20 December to see us on our way. And then January would be

taken up with the dismantling of the organ and the clearing of the church. However, it was not to be…

Having already received an objection in mid-November from the Preserva-tion Trust Planning Committee, the Chancellor received three more on the

very last day of the Notice period. Then a week later (just before Christ-

mas) the architects received a letter from the Victorian Society, objecting – even though they had taken a year to reply. So began a month-long

complex (and costly) array of meetings, correspondence and re-arranging

of contracts and plans. And we obtained (just in time) an Interim Faculty

5

for the organ so that work, at least, was able to go ahead as planned on 4 January. So Mother Julian’s words have been very apt: ‘All shall be well’.

Meanwhile, Bishop Ed’s visit was inspirational and our move as ‘a body’ to Christ Church has gone extraordinarily well! We have been made extreme-

ly welcome, I am now quite at home, and have even learned how to pro-

gramme the heating! What is more, folk are realising that worshipping as 1 of 130 is a good and uplifting experience. I was talking to Tom Pelham on

the phone the other day – who sends his greetings! He has been taking a

course on Paul’s theology of ‘the body’. And it made me realise that, whereas we are in fine fettle as the ‘HT body’ at Christ Church (and at

Westwood and Wingfield for the main morning service on the 2nd and 5th

Sundays), we are missing the odd toe, the odd ear, the odd knee – which does lead to a sense of loss of the wholeness of the body. We miss you

toes, ear and knees! But we are still living in hope that work can begin on 1

February as planned. When it does… we can then start the really exciting business of planning for our return – for our future mission and ministry.

‘All shall be well, and all shall be well and all manner of thing shall be well’.

With my love and prayers and every blessing for the exciting year ahead

Parish News is available in Christ Church, Westwood and Wingfield Churches, and at The Hub.

Stop Press… Stop Press…Stop Press… We’ve got it! We have the re-ordering faculty and work starts on 1 February. And we have even won a DAC Award for such a professional application!

I am pleased to report that we have paid our Parish Share for 2015 in full. Thank you all!

6

S ometimes the situation in Kadugli Diocese can seem too

much. As a deanery we reach out to

Nuba communities not just in Sudan but South Sudan in Juba as refugees

and Yida in the UN camp. We reach

out through the Kadugli Diocese Liaison Office to communities in

Uganda and Kenya. We are in touch

with communities sheltering in Egypt and surviving in the Islamic

state of Sudan. Needs are many and

communication is tough so please do continue to pray for our brothers

and sisters.

But I wanted to let you know that despite the challenge we are

having an impact and that in 2015

our presence was felt in fellowship. In the North of Kadugli Diocese we

helped the newly appointed Bishop

Hassan with education and so four-teen young people had their school

fees paid for a year. Teachers and

non teaching assistants were paid at three primary schools enabling

them to teach children who badly

need education. Students at Korkel Theological

Institute will have food, stationery

and text books because of your kindness. This enables Kadugli

Diocese to produce more pastors

and trained lay assistants to minis-ter to their expanding church. The

Kadugli Diocese Mother’s Union in

Juba has kept working, due to your

kindness, ministering to the Nuba

refugees in Juba. The diocesan liai-son office in Juba that coordinates

the actions of Kadugli Diocese was

kept open and operational by your kindness, ensuring that Rev

Mahamoud the diocesan secretary

could communicate with people seeking to help.

This really paid off when the

Medical Link in Salisbury offered two huge medical kits for use in

the Nuba Mountains and Rev

Mahamoud needed to provide valid medical certificates to be

allowed the donation. He was able

to e-mail them and now valuable medical assistance can be taken

North to those who need it most.

We also have had an impact with advocacy. I mentioned the Medical

Link’s great donation, but who’s

idea was it? Once again this year the Tabaldi Newsletter flies the flag

for Kadugli Diocese in English and

Arabic thanks to support from Bradford Deanery and we have

even helped with a crowd sourcing

fundraising campaign through the Kadugli Diocese official charity –

Episcopal Hope for the People.

So, we are small but we are mighty and thanks to you we have

achieved much. 2016 will no doubt

bring more challenges but early

YEAR’S MIND - BRADFORD DEANERY SUDAN LINK

7

MEET BISHOP HASSAN

B ishop Hassan, the newly con-secrated assistant bishop of

Kadugli Diocese, Sudan, will be

coming to Bradford Deanery this month to meet the people of our

deanery and deepen links between

Salisbury and Kadugli Dioceses. Arriving on Monday, 8 February,

he hopes to be able to get around

as many churches in our deanery as possible. He is already booked

to lead Collective Wor-

ship at St Laurence and

to speak at The Saxon Club, and will be joined

by Bishop Abdu from

the Thursday. The Rural Dean, Andrew Evans, is coordinating this

week of activities. Please contact

him on 01225 782289, or email [email protected]

for more information.

next year we will have the pleasure

of an Episcopal visit from Bishop

Hassan the new assistant bishop of Kadugli. He will be staying in our

deanery for a week from February

8th. Bishop Hassan will be very interested to be introduced to

Christianity in the UK, keen to

learn from you and keen to share with you the Christian traditions

that he has grown up with. Do

take the opportunity to meet him and get to know him a little while

he is here.

Whatever 2016 brings be assured

that the link of fellowship that we share with our brothers and sisters

of Kadugli Diocese is strong,

meaningful and working well with your support. Please read our

deanery newsletters when they

come out and pray for the needs of the people of Kadugli Diocese,

particularly in security, education

and development. Thank you for a year of great support, I hope that

you have a good new year.

Dave Lewis

ANNE’S JAMS

T he Jam Factory has now raised over £1,000 which has been donated to

the Friends of Holy Trinity. Very many thanks indeed to all those who have contributed jars and

fruit, and those who have bought the finished product. Marmalade is in

hand, and if anyone can help with preparing fruit I would be very grateful. Ann Keating has very kindly allowed me to sell it at Christ Church.

Anne Willis

8

CHRISTMAS CARD THANKS

A big thank you to over 50 members of the congregation who helped

with the distribution of 3500 parish Christmas cards in 2015. Once again, a card was delivered to every home in the parish plus packs to local

hotels and guesthouses, the Library and Tourist Information Centre. We hope

you agree that it is a very worthwhile form of outreach (and exercise) and responsible for many of the ‘new faces’ apparent at our Christmas Tree

Festival, Christingle and other services over the Christmas period.

Thank you to Joanna for her informative church restoration news and to Trevor and Mary for helping to bundle the cards into the appropriate

numbers for each road and then to allocate to those who deliver to these

households. Thanks again to everyone, your help and continued support at short notice is much appreciated. If there is anyone who would like to

be added to the list of distributors, please let us know on 01225 864412.

Marlene and Tony Haffenden

A t the recent Ringers’ AGM

Westwood ringers were pre-

sented two awards. Last summer we were joint win-

ners of the local Rounds Competi-

tion with Steeple Ashton. We have let Steeple Ashton ringers keep

that prize for six months because

we also won the prize for ‘The Most Improved Tower’.

This is partly because we

came fourth in the Spring 2015 Striking Competition,

but also because the Ringers

have worked really hard im-proving their ringing.

And it shows.

So thank you very much indeed Anne, Barry, David, Francis, Di,

Graham, Jane, Killy, Mike, Noah,

Roger, Sarah, Sheila and Sue.

You’re great! (And we must not for-

get all those who come and help us and our newest recruit, Eli, who is

making good progress, but is ra-

ther too fond of spiders for the tower captain’s comfort).

Anne Willlis

WESTWOOD RINGERS WIN!

Names (L-R): Back: David, Graham Middle: Francis, Jane, Eli, Sue, Di Front: Sheila, Mike, Anne (missing Barry, Killy & Noah)

Ph

oto

© K

ilo

ran

Ho

wa

rd

9

T he 2015 Christmas Tree Festival broke all records.

2,230 people visited the Church and

over £4,000 was raised. But that was not all. The Church

was alive in a way we long for it to

be all the time. Families flocked in; there was a wonderful atmos-

phere; people of all ages enjoyed

themselves. What can we learn

from all this for our

‘new’ church? 1. The church was

full of light, warm

and cheerful. 2. Everyone was

relaxed because they felt they could enjoy themselves without

having to conform or be criticised –

people were eating sweets, drink-ing cans of coke or having the re-

freshments provided sitting with

friends. It was the sort of event everyone enjoys.

3. All sorts of groups had contrib-

uted or knew people whose efforts were on display. It was

not just for church peo-

ple. The whole com-munity was involved.

4. The trees were

beautifully decorated with lots of clever

ideas, and the after-

noon musical perfor-mances, which were

so successful, augured

well for future use of the building.

There was a strong sense that

this was a right way of using a church which is at the heart of the

town. A surprising number of peo-

ple sat quietly and were at peace in the midst of it all, it remained a

place of prayer & worship through-

out, not just on the Sunday. Let us aim to make Holy Trinity

full of light always when we return.

So many people support us when we do it.

Hugh Wright

FULL OF LIGHT & LIFE

10

A t our December meeting we remembered Jean Wright, a past member who had recently died. We welcomed Emma Lydon and Aylene Clack

who joined Ian and David for our Christmas music interspersed with readings

of Christmas legends by Jonquil, Chris H, Beryl, David and Ian. The music was mostly well known carols and arrangements of Christmas

songs to which everyone sang along. The quartet sounded very profes-

sional (despite, I’m told, illness and lack of practice)! Janet, Trevor and Jim served mulled wine and mince pies to end a very happy evening. New Year

lunch was at Cumberwell Park and at our AGM a new enrolling member,

Jill Wright, and committee, were elected. Our February meeting will be at 7.30 p.m. on the 18th at Cedar Court when Phil Harding will speak about

Food Aid. All are welcome.

Sylvia Stanes

A HUGE thank you

to all our donors - as of 14 January, our

fund raising efforts total

: ‘Big Community Connection’

Donations: £32,900

Organ Fund: £1,900 Friends of Holy Trinity: £23,000

(incl £880 for the organ)

Successful Grant Applications (more applications in the pipe-

line): £109,200

The total (‘bells and whistles’) es-

timated cost is now £2.009m (+

VAT) and so, on that basis, and with the PCC contributing to the

bulk of the costs, notably from the

sale of the Metsys ‘Christ Blessing’ Old Master, we “only” have anoth-

er £225,000 to raise (11 per cent of

the total)! But the PCC have split this into

three categories:

Essential (already funded), Desirable (to be

targeted next)

Deferrable works. Do please support our fundrais-

ing efforts – not least as all the

church furniture is still in the ‘Desirable’ category! - such as the

St George’s Day Lunch on 23 April.

Thank you! John Cox

BCC FUNDRAISING—STOP PRESS...

Erratum: In the Dec/Jan issue of PN, line 20 on page 30 should read Volkswagen. The editors sincerely apologise for this error.

11

Reordering Project:

Holy Trinity

Church,

Bradford on Avon

Progress Report for

February 2016

A lthough you may not have heard

from us for a while everyone on the Steering Group and in the Design

Team has been working away to enable the

contractor to start as our programme on the 1st February 2016. Sadly we had a number of

objections in response to the Faculty Notice at the very last opportunity,

which has resulted in Chedburn Dudley and Revd Abecassis burning the midnight oil to answer them. All is now in the hands of the Chancellor.

The good news is that we did receive an Interim Faculty to refurbish the

organ, and on 4th January Harrison & Harrison arrived and began the process of dismantling and removing the organ to Durham. This has been

completed, the organ is in safe storage in Durham and we now have a

clear view of the boarded window. After much deliberation, tendering and interviews we can confirm that

the main restoration contractor will be Ellis & Co from Shepton Mallet

(some of you saw their work at Blagdon), and the archaeologists will be Wessex

Archaeology from their Bristol office. We

are doing all the preparatory paperwork we can in the hope that by the time you read

this we will have a signed Faculty and be

starting on site!

12

instrument. Of the 1203 pipes the

smaller ones were boxed up and

labelled. Larger components were packed into long custom built

crates and a chipboard case was

constructed around the console for protection.

O n Monday 4th January four

organ builders from Harrison

& Harrison of Durham, began dismantling our Henry Willis organ

built in 1926.

This instrument, recognised as of historic importance is, along

with that in Liverpool Cathedral,

representative of the 1920s period of this distinguished firm. The H &

H team worked twelve hour days

including the weekend. Extreme care was exercised

as each part of the organ was

removed. The same team will be rebuilding the organ when it

returns in the summer of 2017.

On Thursday 7th January a forty ton articulated lorry was loaded

up to make the first trip back to

Durham. It returned on Tuesday 12th to take the remainder of the

REMOVAL OF HOLY TRINITY ORGAN

Above: The bare bones of the organ still in situ as the pipes are removed as part of the Holy Trinity reordering project Left: Organ pipes were stacked carefully in the pews prior to being packed up and loaded onto the waiting lorry

13

When all the pipes, wind chests,

swell shutters and oak panelling

was spread around the church it was hard to believe that it all

occupied a footprint of roughly

12ft square. In Durham the organ will be rebuilt in the slight-

ly enlarged case to

accommodate the extra pipework which it is hoped

we can add. The new

action will be assembled and incorporated and all

the wind reservoirs will be

releathered. It will then be dismantled again

for the return to Holy

Trinity. The reinstallation will take about eight weeks, with a

further two weeks to voice all the

pipes to the church building. Vernon Burchell

Above top: The Harrison &Harrison team worked twelve hour days to get the organ safely ready for transport Above: The swell pipework exposed

GRAND PLANT SALE

O n Saturday, 30 April in the Masonic Hall, I will be holding a plant sale in aid of the Big Community Connection. My inten-

tion is to offer all those tender annual vegetables that we love to

have in our summer gardens and greenhouses: squashes, tomatoes, peppers etc. Also hard vegetable plants including runner and broad beans.

I would be very grateful for greenhouse space. I have a lot of seeds, and I

am happy to sow and hatch them, but space will be needed to bring them along. So if you can accommodate a tray or three of young plants, I would

be very grateful indeed. And if you have any contributions, that would be

great. I would prefer not to offer flower plants or indoor plants, but if you have some please let me know. Many thanks.

Anne Willis

14

You can contact the editorial team on: [email protected] MARCH issue copy deadline Thursday, 11 February 2016

A t our last session in Church on 15 December, the children sat so quietly listening to our Associate Priest, Revd Dr Ali

Green, telling them the story of Christmas. They did exactly as

they were asked to do - what little angels! We sang 'Little Donkey' several times during the story and ended with

'Away in a Manger'. It was so enjoyable! All families went home with a

Christmas book and a lucky dip which contained a decoration for hanging on their Christmas tree.

Our first meeting at our new premises on 12 January, was for helpers

only. We all sat around a table there planning the logistics and arrange-ments to enable us to welcome our families the following Tuesday. The

caretaker was very helpful in finding room to store our equipment. Next

stop was the Church to sort out which equipment we needed and then transport all of it to its new home. This necessary change of venue is quite

a challenge in running a cosy and

comfortable Mainly Music in the Frome Road Youth and Community

Centre. All possible due to a great

team of volunteers!

Dressing up: Anna (above) and Dorothy (right) love the mm dressing up box

Answers ACROSS: 1, Prosperity. 7, Raisins. 8, Admit. 10, View. 11, Confetti. 13, Distil. 15, Groyne. 17, Navigate. 18, Whit. 21, Enoch. 22, Trodden. 23, Prophetess. DOWN: 1, Pride. 2, Ovid. 3, Pastor. 4, Reaffirm. 5, Timothy. 6, Providence. 9, Tridentine. 12, Kingship. 14, Saviour. 16, Statue. 19, Hades. 20, Rome.

15

T aking on leadership of the Mothers

Union at Holy Trinity is another step in

my Christian journey. A zealous vicar’s wife enrolled me into membership just before

I had my first baby! I was supported by my

involvement through the years of bringing up 3 sons and working with my husband, Hugh,

on the periphery of his demanding career.

Throughout I managed to do some part-time teaching of chemistry in secondary schools

and colleges.

It was when we moved to Birmingham and in particular Selly Oak that I became involved

with the Mission Colleges there and with

World Mission in the diocese. This led to many contacts with students coming from all parts

of the globe. I helped set up the demonstra-

tion during the G8 in 1998 that became Drop The Debt and Jubilee 2000 campaigns that influenced leaders to cancel unpayable debt owned by the

poorest countries. Just recently the targets have been updated after its

measurable success. Through central committee work with MU in Mary Sumner House,

Westminster for 6 years, I was introduced to the remarkable work that it

does worldwide. It is the largest organisation in the Anglican Church and has representative status in the United Nations. It gives women

empowerment in the church and is a vehicle for prayer, education and

support of needy members of society both here and abroad. This gave me the immense privilege of visiting groups in remote parts of Africa, in

Northern Mozambique, Nigeria, Zambia and Natal.

In Holy Trinity we have an active group of 29 members. They are in-volved within the parish in prayer and many practical ways of supporting

family life. You may remember that last year they raised £600 at Harvest

time for bicycles to enable workers to reach people in isolated centres. This trickledown method delivers courses in health education, literacy and

financial management. I pray that our group will continue from strength

to strength after Ian and Sylvia’s powerful time as leaders.

Meet Jill Wright

16

A New Reformation for the Church

T he Reformation began the

day Martin Luther nailed his

95 theses on a church door in Wittenberg. Preparations will

soon be getting underway for the

500th year celebrations of the Reformation, in 2017. How about

the Church now? Does it need

reforming for the future? I personally haven't thought up

95 theses to nail on a church. But

in this series I consider how the Ho-ly Spirit could be challenging the

Church to reform. I refer mostly to

the Church of England which I know best, but there are parallels

in other churches where similar

questions might be asked.

Church Attendance

Since 1945 there has been a marked numerical decline

generally in churchgoing, apart

perhaps from Pentecostal and

House churches. In the Church of

England, cathedrals and large

minster churches like Bath Abbey are maintaining numbers of

visitors and worshippers, as are

many churches in large cities where churchgoers come from

ethnic minorities. However, in

so many places there are very few people under the age of 50

attending church on a Sunday.

Many mainstream churches have developed new forms of worship,

such as Fresh Expressions and

Messy Church. There are also introductory courses like Alpha.

Some experiments have proved

successful, but regular church at-tendance has continued to decline.

Numerical growth isn't the only

goal; there are other important aspects of Church life and ministry.

The great wartime Archbishop of

Canterbury, William Temple said, 'The Church is the only society that

exists for the benefit of those who

are not its members.' Neverthe-less, there are growing numbers

of people in Britain who no longer

adhere to the Christian faith as it has been traditionally presented.

And many see the Church as

archaic and out-of-touch, no longer having any relevance in

modern society.

David Driscoll

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

How should we respond to the decline in numbers and influence of the Church?

How might the Church become more relevant to people’s lives today?

How might younger people be welcomed into the Church?

17

‘The glory of God is a human being fully alive, and the life of a human being

is the vision of God’ – St Irenaeus

Called to Mission

Thank you, David for spurring me on to pen a few brief thoughts on church

growth - one of my passions. It is a hugely complex issue: after all, it re-lates to an engagement between God and us human beings - and neither

of us is exactly simple or predictable…

So any consideration of church life – let alone growth – always has to start with God. We are called to mission: but it is God’s mission. It is God

who sends us – and equips us through his Holy Spirit with everything that

we need. It is his church, not ours. And so, with this starting-point, how can we, as Christian people filled with God’s grace, possibly take anything

but a glass half-full approach?

Renewal

But… as we all know, living out a life

of faith can be very challenging. Just as living in today’s world can be

very challenging. So we have to

pray, to listen, to reflect, to study, to engage with all around us; and then heed the wonderful words of that

Epiphany Collect: ‘in Christ you make all things new: transform the poverty

of our nature by the riches of your grace, and in the renewal of our lives make known your heavenly glory’. We need always to have the courage to

be looking for those ‘new’ things, for that ‘renewal of our lives’, for that

‘transformation’ - a much more exciting, a much more spiritual word than ‘growth’. That is what God so longs for in us, and mission begins at home,

but it will be ‘a marathon’, never ‘a sprint’.

Bishop Nick calls us to ‘Renew Hope’ through prayer, service, and then growth. And it is what we are doing! Praying, serving, listening and, per-

haps above all, ‘loving into life’. And whatever we do, for we serve the King

of Kings, we give of our very best and strive for the very highest standards. For me, our four newly confirmed – and transformed, fully alive - adult

church members of 2015 say it all.

Joanna

Grace and Transformation

Mission… will be a

marathon, never a sprint

18

Pr

ayer

Pa

ths

Song of Simeon

S imeon frequented the courts of the Temple in Jerusalem, convinced that before he died he would witness the coming of the Anointed

One, the long-expected Messiah. One day he noticed a young couple

with a baby, and his heart leapt: his dream, he felt sure, had come true. He took the child in his arms, blessed God, and said the words which we

know as the "Song of Simeon" or the Nunc Dimittis (the first words of the

prayer in Latin):

"Lord, now You are letting Your servant depart in peace,

According to Your word, For my eyes have seen your salvation

Which You have prepared before the face of all peoples,

A light to bring revelation to the Gentiles, And the glory of Your people Israel.”

Candlemas Since the 4th century this canticle has been used in Vespers, Evensong and

Compline. It’s particularly resonant at Candlemas (Feb 2nd ), when we re-

member the Presentation of Christ in the Temple.I like to say the Song of Simeon last thing at night. It is a wonderful, peaceful affirmation of the In-

carnation, the Light that has entered the world, as Simeon recognised in

that little child. His joyful words are a confession of faith for all who see the work of the Spirit in those around the child Jesus.

Good News Simeon stands for all of us who await the good news each day and seek its

consolation, who know we live in God’s presence and are continually

blessed by God. Through Simeon’s faithful patience, and his response to the Holy Spirit, his song of beauty and hope has passed through every

generation of disciples of Christ, the light and hope of our world today.

Simeon’s faith allowed him to see God’s living presence in a tiny, vulnera-ble child, born to a poor and itinerant family, needing refuge in a strange

land during unstable and violent times. May we see the light of Christ in

those today who are without the stability of home or homeland, and may we be the light of Christ as we show love and compassion towards them.

Ali Green

19

W hile Holy Trinity Church

is undergoing its transformation, we’re

making sure that there are ample

opportunities to pray for the ongoing project, to stay in touch

with one another, to learn together

and to develop our vision for the future when the church building

reopens for the whole community.

Lent Course

On Thursday mornings during

Lent, Joanna will be leading a Bible-based course entitled ‘Migration

and Movement – with stories from

the world church’ The meetings will be in the Vicarage and run from

10.30am until 12 noon on these

dates: 11 & 25 February, and 3, 10 & 17 March. You can see more infor-

mation online: www.weareus.

org.uk/resources/migration. Joanna says, “If anyone would be

interested in taking part in a

second group on another day, then please do let me know.”

Contemplative Hour @ St Mary Tory

A regular slot on the Holy Trinity

timetable for several years now is the first Thursday in the month.

Silence and stillness in St Mary

Tory between 8and 9 gives a chance to withdraw from busy-

Remember Thursdays ness, take time to calm the spirit, connect with the divine and listen.

Wordless worship and presence.

A regular small group of people as-semble and you would be very wel-

come to join.

Gathering Prayers

Morning and Evening Prayer con-

tinues as usual during weekdays (except Tuesday) in Christ Church

Lady Chapel, at 8.30am & 5.30pm.

Access is via the south door. But starting in Lent, we’re allot-

ting the Thursday evening prayer

slot as a special time of gathering, reflection and prayer for the whole

reordering project, and for our vi-

sion for the building and its future as a welcoming space for the con-

gregation and for visitors. We will

use a shortened form of Compline and leave time for quiet reflection,

and also for sharing thoughts.

The first of these special Com-plines will be on Thursday, 11 Feb,

the day after Ash Wednesday. We

hope that these gatherings will continue through the whole reor-

dering period and that a number of

people will take turns in leading. Quite coincidentally, all these

events happen to be on a Thursday

– so it’s a good way to remember: Thursday is the day to pray!

Ali Green

20

In Her Own Words...

A lison Craddock tells PN

about her life and her role as Mayor...

“Born and brought up in Salis-

bury, I have always lived in Wilt-shire. I came to Bradford on Avon

in 1976, after I finished my degree

at Bath Academy of Art. My hus-band and I fell in love with this

lovely town, as so many people do,

and I had my first son at the maternity hospital.

Back then, mums had

ten lovely days of being pampered and cared

for, given nice meals,

plenty of rest, and brought cups of tea dur-

ing night time feeding

sessions. How things have changed! My two

boys both went to

Christchurch School and St. Laurence, then Uni-

versity, and I worked as

Head of Art at Laving-ton School, near Devizes, until I re-

tired three years ago.

We were Methodists, but I al-ways felt drawn to Salisbury Cathe-

dral – the spire was a real feature

of our lives, as it was always the first sign you could see that you

were nearly home after travelling.

Either the spire itself would come into view, or the red light at the

top, visible from miles away at

night. It was in the cathedral that,

dragged reluctantly to a recital at the age of 15, I first fell in love with

classical music as the sound of the

Halleluiah Chorus echoed magnifi-cently around that wonderful

space. I feel that Salisbury Cathe-

dral remains my spiritual home and I call in whenever I can to soak up

the peace and tran-

quillity that I find there.

I joined the Town

Council about twelve years ago, and have

always enjoyed being

part of an organisation that is doing its best to

work hard for Bradford

on Avon. It was quite difficult to combine it

with a full time job, as

many meetings take place during the work-

ing day. Since I retired,

I have been able to divide my time between council work and at last

having the time for my own art

work. I paint in oils, and also enjoy life drawing and portraits.

Being on the council is really like

having a part-time job, so I have never felt at a loose end since fin-

ishing full-time work. I was very

pleased to be asked to be Mayor,

21

which I started last May. I regard it as a privilege to be able to take

part in discussions about how to

try to help the town in many areas. This year, we have started to really

focus on tourism, as we under-

stand that this is playing an in-creasingly vital role in the town’s

prosperity. Brad-

ford on Avon has so much to offer

both residents

and visitors, and we hope that we

can persuade

more people to come and enjoy

our very beautiful

town, and to boost our econo-

my by shopping

here and sampling the delights of our restaurants,

pubs and coffee houses!

Bradford is also incredibly inter-esting historically. From Roman,

Medieval and Georgian times right

up to the present day, there are so many fascinating stories to discov-

er. The Preservation Trust do a

wonderful job in protecting our heritage here. It was my great priv-

ilege this year as Mayor to lay the

Town Council wreath at the war memorial on Remembrance Day.

This meant a great deal to me. My

father died last year, aged 97. He was a Royal Marine bandsman who

played first trumpet, and he con-

tinued being much in demand as a player of the First Post and Reveille

well into his 90s. Taking part in

the Remembrance Day ceremony reminds me of everything that

his generation did

for us all. It was a vibrant ceremony

again this year, and

it was wonderful to see so many young

people taking part. I

would recommend council work to

anyone who enjoys

being part of Bradford on Avon’s

community life.

I was very excited to see the plans for the re-

ordering of Holy Trinity, our beauti-

ful Gothic church. By bringing eve-rything much more up-to-date and

available for many uses, the church

will again be right at the heart of our community. The plans show

sympathy and understanding for

keeping all the historic features in-tact, but making the space much

more user-friendly and welcoming.

I really look forward to seeing what will be achieved at Holy Trinity.”

Alison Craddock

22

A place to rest one’s head, to feel secure and to welcome

and care for family and

friends is a basic human need. Yet around the world, both

developing and advanced nations

are struggling to meet that need in supplying decent, affordable homes.

And millions of families, through

natural disaster, war, poverty or persecution, are

without a place

to live at all. This year

Parish News is

focusing on the crisis in housing,

both here and across the world.

So let’s start with some facts and figures.

Global City Dwellers By current trends, the number of

urban families living in substand-

ard housing worldwide could reach 440 million by 2025. Providing

adequate shelter for billions of

people, especially those moving into already-crowded cities, is

among today’s most pressing

global challenges. By 2030, about 3 billion people

(40% of the world’s population) will

need proper housing and access to basic services such as roads, water

and sanitation systems. That

means nearly 100,000 housing units being

built every day

from now until then. But

currently

there’s a huge housing back-

log that has led to more and more

people resorting to slum settle-ments. In some cities, up to 80% of

the population live in slums. 55 mil-

lion new slum dwellers have been added to the global population

since 2000. Sub-Saharan Africa has

a slum population of nearly 200 million, South and East Asia about

190 million each.

Jesus said to the disciple,

‘Here is your mother.’ And

from that hour the disciple

took her into his own home.

(John 19:27)

House and Home

Below: Mumbai slum housing

23

HOMELESS

I n England, more than 81,000 households were homeless during 2013/14

The biggest single recorded reason for homelessness (26%) is now the loss of an assured short-hold tenancy - the type of tenancy most commonly held by private renters.In England between April and June 2015, 13,850 households were homeless - a 5% rise on the same quarter of 2014. In June 2015 there were nearly 70,000 house-holds in temporary accommoda-tion - 12% higher than at the same date in 2014.

Source: Department for Communities & Local Government

The Crisis in Britain

In Britain there are too few homes,

usually costing too much, often in the wrong places, and often of

poor quality. By 2008, the number

of new homes being started had fallen to its lowest peacetime level

since 1924. It’s a crisis that is help-

ing to damage people’s employ-ment prospects, cause stress to

families and slow the economy.

An average house in London costs about £500,000; in Bradford-

On-Avon, the overall average

house price is just over £300,000; but in the north-west and north-

east of England it’s £150,000.

So in more well-off areas, young, employed and even well-paid

people have little prospect of

buying a decent home. In other regions, houses are so cheap that

it’s not worth investing in their

maintenance. So those who can, leave, whilst those who stay have

little hope of employment. In such

a place you can have a home but no job; in high-value areas you can

have a job, but nowhere to live.

If urban dwellers on low and mid-dle incomes are pushed out of the

big city, then the city will lose

those who make, maintain and repair things, who care for the

vulnerable, who clean and cook for

the better off, who childmind and

teach. With too few affordable

homes being built where they

are needed most, thousands of families currently have to live in

substandard conditions. And

thousands of families are officially classed as homeless.

Over the coming issues this year,

we plan to highlight some of the challenges, and also some possible

solutions, to the housing crisis

facing us at home and around the world. Like to have your say?

Then please contact us at Parish

News, [email protected]

24

H ere are three recently-published memoirs that

you might enjoy reading...

Journey of a Lifetime –

Richard Askew

Written by one of our Benefice's retired clergy, this autobiography

takes us from London's blitz to

1950s boarding school austerities; from National Service in Egypt

(enlivened by a smuggling run!) to

an unexpected career. The defining experience of the

author's life - coming to faith - led

to 50 years in the Anglican minis-try, student chaplaincy in the

1960s, a spell in Surrey's Volvo and

vodka belt, and ravels to Sudan and Ethiopia. The sublime seclu-

sion of Salisbury Close was fol-

lowed by city-centre Bath, and fi-nally a rural Wiltshire parish. All

this makes up a layer cake that

may appeal to many palates. For-mer Archbishop George Carey

writes, "Reading this book was for

me a real delight and I commend it wholeheartedly".

The book costs £10, plus £1.80

post and packing if posted. It can be delivered to Bradford residents.

After covering costs, £2 from

each book goes equally to Juba School, South Sudan, and Bath's

"Footprint "project.

Boys in the Trees: A Memoir – Carly Simon

A household name from the 1970s,

Carly Simon has had a career over four decades, with many hit songs,

including 'You're So Vain'.

Boys in the Trees is her memoir of coming of age in glamorous

Manhattan and taking the path of

art, music and love in the golden age of folk and rock. This is her re-

flection of a life led in the spotlight,

and of the pains and joys of love and art.

Maggie Smith: A Biography – Michael Coveney

With the end of Downton Abbey

and the formidable Dowager Countess of Grantham on the telly,

a new biography looks back on the

life of Dame Maggie Smith, one of Britain's best-loved actors.

Working with the likes of Richard

Burton, Laurence Olivier and Ingmar Bergman, her career is a

Who's Who of British theatre in the

twentieth century. The author also covers her success in Hollywood,

gaining her first Oscar for The

Prime of Miss Jean Brodie. This biography, drawing on

personal archives and conversa-

tions with immediate family and friends, gives a close-up of the

enigmatic Maggie Smith.

Books: New Memoirs

25

Through All the Changing Scenes of Life

W hen I stay with the family over Christmas I always enjoy an early

cup of tea, sitting quietly in the dining room overlooking the gar-

den. When I first visited, there was an old garden shed in the far corner. It had seen better days but it was useful for storing garden tools.

Within a few years, the shed had gone and in its place was a dear double

-fronted Wendy House with a smart little fence in front. I remembered a special trip we made to a soft furnishing shop to buy material for window

curtains. We had tea there of an afternoon, all very civilised if rather

cramped. One year, a slide for the children appeared across the end of the garden, and a swing hung from the cherry tree. The lawn was covered in

daisies. The days of happy play seemed endless.

I was sad to hear the Wendy House had been sold; no one used it, and it had become a repository for unwanted toys. However, the corner was not

empty for long. On a summer visit I was surprised to see a blue plastic Eg-

gloo chicken coop with two chickens, one white and one brown. The slide had gone, but the swing was still there. The family became concerned that

the chickens could not be left to enjoy the freedom of the whole garden

when people were not about, and the coop was considered too small for a lengthy confinement. Plans were being made for a large structure of wire

netting with a full-sized door and a plastic roof to greatly extend the area.

And so it appeared when next I visited. The garden lawn developed a path-way from house to coop, and the chickens were still let out to peck in the

garden. They were a source of amusement and were dearly loved.

This Christmas as I looked into the garden I saw, in the far corner, a new-ly gravelled area with a wooden garden seat. The swing had gone, and an

immaculate lawn covered the path. The garden had been quite reordered.

Muriel Freeborn

And now… Giving up for Lent At the end of the vicar’s pre-Lent sermon he suggested that the congregation should worship in an unheated church for the whole of Lent. As they made their way into the chill Sunday air the vicar asked one lady what she had decided to give up for Lent. “Church,” she replied firmly.

26

A Personal View: Surviving Syria

T abitha Ross tells of her experience in Syria and

in Lebanon.

I’ve listened to Syrian refugees’ stories. And now I’m

telling you the truth.

Forced to Flee

A video posted on facebook

showed thousands of human be-ings streaming through a field in

Slovenia. Com-

ments underneath included phrases

like ‘invading army’

‘scum’ and in one case ‘not refugees,

economic migrants’.

I spent a year in Syria in 2007 and I have

spent the last 18

months in Syria’s ti-ny neighbour Leba-

non, where there are

still as many as 1.5 million refugees. One in four peo-

ple here is a refugee. Much of what

I do for a living is about meeting Syrians living here, and listening to

their stories.

Chemical attacks

I have sat in so many dark dank

rooms here, drinking Arabic coffee generously made by people who

do not know how they are going to

buy the next meal. Rose Sham told me of the loss of her brother and

husband. She knew many children

who were killed in one of the chemical attacks: ‘parents put their

children to bed that night and they

never woke up again’. I sat with 15-year-old Nour while her grand-

mother and great-grandmother

cried silently, mourning the loss of Nour’s 18-year-old brother, her un-

cle, her aunt and two

cousins. Tears sprang to the eyes of a sparkling

bright girl called Heba as

she told me that she’d missed a year of school

due to lack of places. In

a sweltering tent, I saw the bitterness on the

face of Jneid Houssein as

he explained that he has to send his children to

work to feed the family

because ‘farmers prefer to hire kids because they can do

anything they want to them.’

Stories of violence

I’ve heard dozens of these stories,

all with one element in common: these people did not want to leave

their country. They have been

forced to by violence. A quarter of a million Syrians have been killed in

the last four and a half years, and

Ph

oto

©T

abit

ha

Ro

ss

27

half the country have been forced from their homes. Under such

circumstances, who wouldn’t leave

in search of a better life for their loved ones?

Dying for Hope of a Future In Lebanon, a poor country, a brutal

reality awaits them: shocking

poverty, few opportunities, lack of access to education or healthcare.

The only improvement is that here

they are not being bombed. But they have no future here, there is

nothing to build. So people risk their

lives to cross the Mediterranean on rotting boats. The risk of dying at

sea is worth the hope of building a

new life. Two of my friends have done it.

Their mother, also a friend of

mine, an older Syrian woman who lost a son in the war, asked me

why European countries are not

resettling more refugees officially, thus forcing them to take this risk.

David Cameron has said that Britain

will resettle 20,000 Syrian refugees over five years. This is a pathetic

1.6% of the number of refugees in

tiny Lebanon alone, and less than 0.5% of the total number of Syrian

refugees. The number of refugees

that countries such as Lebanon, Iraq, Turkey and Jordan are hosting

is completely untenable, and no

amount of aid can provide refugees and host communities

there with the economic and social

opportunities needed to lead a decent and dignified life.

Not all the comments under that

video were xenophobic and brutal. One in particular stays with me:

‘Last time we saw images like

these it was the second world war. Then we said it must never

happen again’.

What you can do:

join The Syria Campaign to

advocate for political action https://thesyriacampaign.org

support The Refugee Council

to help refugees arriving in the UK www.refugee coun-

cil.org.uk

give to Syrian volunteer search and rescue teams The White

Helmets and join their call for

an end to the bombs. www.whitehelmets.org

When bombs fall, The White Helmets (The Syrian Civil Defence)

rush in to search for life in the

rubble - fully aware that more bombs may fall on the same site.

These volunteers have saved over

40,000 lives - a number that is growing daily.

Tabitha Ross

28

Letters from the Sea 1900

A Young Man’s Journey

Performed by Sybil Mitchell, Peter Hardman, John Salvat and Megan Jones, this promises to be a unique and unusual evening.

Friday 11 March

7.30pm

Upper Masonic Hall, Church Street

Tickets £7.50, available from Ex Libris or contact

Megan on 01225 862670.All proceeds to Holy Trinity’s Big Community Connection

Unpublished letters describing a voyage under sail from Liverpool to China, read and illustrated with poetry and music.

29

Support for Sight Loss

F or people suffering from sight

loss, a very useful contact is Wiltshire Sight (a trade

name for Wiltshire Blind Associa-

tion) which is based at St Lucy’s Sight Centre, Browfort Road,

Devizes SN10 2QT (tel: 01380

723682, 10am – 2pm). Staff members are very willing to

visit you. The centre itself is open

every day 9am – 5pm, Monday – Friday. It has a

resource centre with

the latest assistance technology

products, also

workshops, provid-ing people with friendship and

skills for adjusting to living with

sight loss. They have a Talking Book library and newspaper availa-

bility plus a Touch and See Book

Club. There are additional meet-ings, usually monthly, including a

craft and social group at Devizes

and ‘drop-in’ times at Amesbury, Salisbury, Devizes and Warminster.

Until last November there was a

monthly coffee morning, arranged by Wiltshire Sight, at Cedar Court

in Berryfield Road, on the second

Tuesday of the month. Unfortu-nately, due to dropping numbers, it

was cancelled. However, it is hoped

that if enough people were inter-ested in joining together for a chat

and sometimes a talk or demon-

stration, a sing-song or party meal, then Wiltshire Sight may be able to

resurrect the coffee mornings. It is

good to be able to talk to others who are in the same predicament.

Although Cedar Court is on the lo-

cal town bus route, perhaps a more central venue could be found if this

were more convenient. However,

I’m sure that LINK drivers would be able to assist those

who need a lift, or

who are not keen on using buses.

The Royal National

Institute for the Blind has thousands of Talking

Books on disc to listen to and they

can also provide newspapers & magazines for a membership sub-

scription. Also they produce a cata-

logue of helpful products, such as kitchen gadgets, lights, watches &

clocks, that can all be purchased.

The Wiltshire Times can be listened to on memory stick. The

machine for this can be obtained

from Trowbridge Talking News, tel: 01225 762336. There is a similar ar-

rangement for the Bath Chronicle.

I do hope this information is use-ful. As the Reverend Mother in the

“Sound of Music” says, “When one

door closes another one opens”. Jonquil Burgess

30

Wiltshire Butterflies: December

M ost people don’t associ-ate butterflies with this

time of year and yet

those who take a particular interest in observing them are sometimes

fortunate and the weather, of

course, is the key. November was the third

warmest but also the dullest on

record, only three suitable days for butterfly activity. December was

the warmest on record but the

second wettest in more than 100 years, with seven suitable butterfly

days. Not surprisingly therefore,

on the sunny days butterflies were in action.

In November two Brimstones

were reported; ten Red Admirals (55 in 2014); a single Small Tor-

toiseshell on 18th from near Castle

Combe; and the last Peacock of the year on 16th at Alderbury.

In December four Brimstones,

the last on 9th from near Royal

Wootton Bassett; five Red Admi-rals, the last on 31st at Amesbury,

equalling the 2006 latest county

record; and four Small Tortoise-shells, with the last at Calne on

27th. The most amazing and

unexpected event was of single Painted Ladies on 29th December,

one in the New Forest and one in a

Whiteparish garden. The presumed last one had been reported on 2nd

October. This immigrant species

cannot survive the winter here but with the unseasonally warm

weather and no frosts to kill them,

they probably were the result of a very late third generation. Howev-

er, with warm southerly winds for

much of December, they could have arrived from the near conti-

nent. Both were in fresh condition.

The 2015 Annual Butterfly Report for Wiltshire will be

available in March and anyone

interested in having a copy or wishing to join Butterfly Conserva-

tion should contact me.

Mike Fuller Wiltshire Butterfly Recorder

4th January 2016

Left: A Painted Lady, a most unexpected sighting in December

31

32

Saint for the Season: George Herbert

G eorge Herbert, who is com-memorated on 27 February,

is very much a local saint

due to the fact that he spent the last few years of his life as Rector of

Bemerton near Salisbury. He also

has links with the Welsh Marches being born in Montgomery in Powys.

For a short time he actually repre-

sented the town as their MP. George was born in 1593 into an

artistic and wealthy family. He was

tutored at home before entering Westminster School, probably

in 1604. He went on to a brilliant

academic career, becoming a fel-low of Trinity College Cambridge.

Apparently destined for a life at

court, his life suddenly changed direction when he felt the call

to ordination.

He was made a deacon in 1626 and 4 years later he was appointed

Rector

of Be-merton.

Salisbury

was within

walking

distance, and Herbert's love of music was fed by his frequent visits

across the water meadows to even-

song at the cathedral, and after-wards to making music with the

cathedral musicians. Besides being

a very conscientious parish priest, Herbert was also busy directing the

rebuilding of the church and rectory

at Bemerton. But he didn't enjoy good health. Sadly, after a very

short ministry he died from what is

thought to have been tuberculosis in 1633.

George Herbert is best remem-

bered as one of our greatest reli-gious poets, still regarded as one of

the most popular, skillful and im-

portant British devotional lyricists. Several of his poems are now popu-

lar hymns, among them, 'Let all

the world in every corner sing' and 'King of glory, King of peace'.

There is a statue of George Her-

bert at the west front of Salisbury Cathedral, dedicated in September

2003. There is also a George Her-

bert memorial window at the East end of the North Quire Aisle,

illustrating his poem 'Love-Joy'.

Remembered for his life of quiet devotion and his personal

moral character, he is com-

memorated in the Anglican Communion on 27 February.

David Driscoll

33

For Prayer in February

The world’s refugees The Bradford Group Ministry The HT building works The Children’s Centre

The Parish Church of St Mary the Virgin, Westwood

Churchwardens: Jonathan Azis

[email protected]

David Chalmers [email protected]

PCC Secretary

c/o Revd Joanna Abecassis

The Parish Church of St Mary, Wingfield

Churchwardens:

David Robinson

david.robinson@paultons street.com

Sue Phillips

[email protected] PCC Secretary

Sue Phillips

[email protected]

34

Quick Crossword The Bible version is the NIV

Clues across 1 Success or wealth (Deuteronomy 28:11) (10) 7 Forbidden fruit for Nazirites (Numbers 6:3) (7) 8 Concede (Job 27:5) (5) 10 Look at (Psalm 48:13) (4) 11 Much in evidence after weddings (8) 13 Condense (Job 36:27) (6) 15 Breakwater (6) 17 Give a tan (anag.) (8) 18 More usually now called Pentecost, — Sunday (4) 21 After living for 365 years, it was said of him that ‘he walked with God’ (Genesis 5:23–24) (5) 22 Trampled (Judges 9:27) (7) 23 For example, Miriam, Deborah (Exodus 15:20; Judges 4:4) (10)

Source: Crosswords reproduced by kind permission of BRF and John Capon, originally published in Three Down, Nine Across, by John Capon

Solutions on page 14

3 So rapt (anag.) (6) 4 Declare again (2 Corinthians 2:8) (8) 5 Paul’s ‘fellow worker’, to whom he sent two epistles (Romans 16:21) (7) 6 God’s foreseeing care and protection (Job 10:12) (10) 9 Traditional form of Roman Catholic Mass (10) 12 ‘The Lord... has given the — of Israel to David and his descendants for ever’ (2 Chronicles 13:5) (8) 14 ‘My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my — ’ (Luke 1:46–47) (7) 16 The central element in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream, identified and interpreted by Daniel (Daniel 2:31) (6) 19 ‘On this rock I will build my church, and the gates of — will not overcome it’ (Matthew 16:18) (5) 20 City where Paul was under house arrest for two years (Acts 28:16) (4)

Clues down 1 Arrogance (Proverbs 8:13) (5) 2 Roman poet from first century BC (4)

35

PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL Officers

The Revd Joanna Abecassis, Chair

The Rev Dr Ali Green (Associate Priest)

Trevor Ford (Churchwarden), Vice Chair

Judith Holland (Churchwarden)

Members

Chris Hodge, PCC Secretary

* Deanery Synod representatives

The Standing Committee

Chair, Churchwardens, Associate Priest and Treasurer

Churchwardens Emeriti

Jeremy Lavis, Mike Fuller, Anne Carter, Tony Haffenden, Joan Finch.

The Pastoral Care Team

Joanna, Anne Carter, Alison Cook, Joan Finch, Marlene Haffenden, Tony Haffenden,

Chris Hodge, Evelyn Humphrey, Heather Knight, Sue Lavis, Val Payne, David Raw-

stron, Hazel Rawstron, Geneviève Roberts and Sylvia Stanes.

The Friends of Holy Trinity Church

Chairman: John Cox, Secretaries: Mike and Jenny Fuller, Treasurer:

Committee: Anne Carter, Michael Cottle, Chris Hodge, Jeremy Lavis,

Raymond Winrow, Ex officio: Revd Joanna Abecassis, Judith Holland, Trevor Ford

Bradford Group Ministry

This is a longstanding body which now comprises the two benefices of North

Bradford on Avon and Villages and our own. We look forward to establishing a

much closer bond and to this end joint meetings and services have recently been

held, and the Group clergy meet regularly.

Alison Cook

Ron Dell

Joan Finch

Steve Fountain

Marlene Haffenden

Jeremy Lavis* (Treasurer†)

Bette Riddle

Geneviève Roberts

Anne Willis*

Jill Wright

36

OTHER OFFICERS AND ORGANIZERS PCC Secretary Chris Hodge 869357 email: [email protected] PCC Treasurer Jeremy Lavis 863600 Benefice Administrator Sally Palmer-Walton [email protected] Benefice Admin Assistant Aylene Clack [email protected] Bellringers Sarah Quintin 869469 Bookstall Brass Cleaning Chris Hodge 869357 Coffee on Sunday Janet Brown and 862188 Malcolm Walsh 862702 Church Stewards David Milne 864341 Director of Music Electoral Roll Officer Alan Knight 860991 Flowers Jonquil Burgess 868905 Food Bank Heather and Alan Knight 860991 Guides & Brownies Sarah Bennett [email protected] mainly music Marlene Haffenden 864412 [email protected] Mothers’ Union Ian & Sylvia Stanes 309036 MU Prayer Circle Chris Hodge 869357 Re-ordering Fundraiser Steve Fountain [email protected] Servers Mary Ford 862240 Saxon Club David Driscoll 865314 Saxon Church and St Mary Tory Trustees: Chairman Anna Tanfield (all bookings) 863819 Secretary Anne Carter 862146 Treasurer Jeremy Lavis 863600 Sidespersons Judith Holland 866215 Stewardship Secretary Pam Harman [email protected] Street Market: Community Stalls John Cox 864270 Church Stalls Mervyn Harris 863440 Communications Deborah Robinson 866552 Team Trinity June Harrison 863745

Parish Representatives on other organisations: Bradford Group Council: The Churchwardens Children’s Society: Anne Carter Christian Aid: Jonquil Burgess Deanery Synod: Jeremy Lavis and Anne Willis BoA Churches Together: David Rawstron St Laurence School: The Revd Joanna Abecassis and Lindsay Driscoll (Foundation Governors)

Printed at the Parish Office, 18A Woolley Street, Bradford on Avon. Parish News also appears (in colour) on the Holy Trinity web site: www.htboa.org. Previous issues of the magazine can also be found in the magazine archive on the church web site.