what’s happe happening 1111 1 11 ning april...

Volume 8, Issue 4 1111 1 11

April 2017

What’s HAPPENING

@ happening

d

From the Garden of Remembrance, Christ Church Constantia.

EASTER EDITION

Christ has died...

Christ is risen...

Christ will come again

When I survey the wondrous cross on which the Prince of Glory died; my richest gain I count but loss, and pour contempt on all my pride. (Continued on page 2)

2 | P a g e W H A T ’ S H A P P E N I N G

EASTER AND HOLY WEEK

Monday 10 April 7pm

Stations of the Cross

Tuesday 11 April 7pm

Stabat Mater

presented by Christopher Ainslie

(tickets at R120 on sale at the door)

Wednesday 12 April 7pm

Easter cantata by the

Christ Church Choir

– from the Manger to the Cross

Thursday 13 April 7pm

Maundy Thursday service

Good Friday 14 April 10am

Family service

Good Friday 14 April Noon

Three-hour devotion

Easter Sunday 16 April

Services at 5.30am, 7.30am, 9.15am,

11am (Family service), 6.30pm

(Continued from Page 1)

Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast,

save in the death of Christ, my God;

all the vain things that charm me most,

I sacrifice them to his blood.

See, from his head, his hands, his feet,

sorrow and love flow mingled down.

Did e’er such love and sorrow meet,

or thorns compose so rich a crown.

Were the whole realm of nature mine,

that were an offering far too small;

love so amazing, so divine,

demands my soul, my life, my all.

(Text: Isaac Watts)

From the wardens Incredible response to IY blaze

It is not often that the wardens’ report

commences with an appeal. However, in the

circumstances, we are sure you will agree

that it is fully justified. Following the

devastating fire at Imizamo Yethu which left

many homeless, the Christ Church

Constantia family, with many others, rallied

together collecting clothing, non-perishable

food and household items.

The overwhelming response in coming to

the aid of fellow human beings has been

incredible. Laden vehicles made countless

trips to St Peter’s in Hout Bay where the

goods were distributed to those affected.

If, for whatever reason, you have missed the

various announcements and feel you can

make a difference, it is not too late to


contribute. At this stage non-perishable food

items are urgently required and these may be

dropped off at the church office.

To those who have contributed donations or

loaded and delivered goods to Hout Bay, our

heart-felt thanks; it will go a long way to

assist the destitute.

See ‘God’s work so evident’ – page 10

Our annual vestry meeting is now something

of the past and we bid farewell to Donald

Todd, Jill Buchanan, Verlen “Ginger” Seipp

and Tebogo Naledi.

Don, after many years on the parish council

and serving as a warden, has decided to hand

over to Grant McWilliams and, while Don

will continue duty as a lay minister and serve

on the fellowship committee, his role as a

warden will be missed.

Don, you can look back with pride at some

of the projects undertaken during your

tenure as warden.

Jill will continue with her involvement in

Outreach as well as keeping the stewards on

their toes with the stewards roster and

endeavouring to standardise procedures.

A grandchild in the UK and another on the

way pull at the Buchanans’ heart strings with

an urge to visit as often as possible.

To the Buchanan family, we pray all goes

well with the birth of your second UK

grandchild.

Verlen and Ruth intend stepping up their

travels and we trust that while the two of

you are active in one way or another you

won’t disappear for too long.

Tebogo, while extremely involved in the

youth, has, as a result of his new job, to

commute to Johannesburg regularly.

This in itself is stressful; our best wishes in

your “newish” position.

Thank you to all of you for your

contribution over the past year, thereby

ensuring that the affairs of Christ Church

continue to run smoothly and professionally.

We welcome Tracey Appollis and Ruby

Klazen as council members and pray that

you will find the next 12 months fruitful.

Saskia’s dual role

With Saskia taking on the position as

alternate warden she will, for the remainder

of the year, have a dual role as she continues

as treasurer. However, we would like to find

a suitable replacement as treasurer and,

should you feel that you are able and willing

to take over this important part of our

ministry, please contact Saskia or Terry.

From a warden’s perspective the old saying

of “all quiet on the western front” has

applied recently.

Over the past two years we have been

involved in alterations to the administrative

block and cottages. But there is never a dull

moment at Christ Church and with ageing

buildings, prompt maintenance remains a

priority, thereby eliminating unnecessary

costs in the longer term.

We are fortunate that John James and our

verger James Grootboom keep a beady eye

out for matters requiring attention.

Mike and Grant


Personality of the Month

Cheers! Paddy on her balcony in typical

sundowner pose.

Paddy walks on the

bright side of life..............

Think red wine and green fingers and

colourful Paddy McPherson may well come

to mind. The popular, jovial, long-serving

supporter of Christ Church has sometimes

had it rough but her vibrant personality and

positive attitude have pulled her through.

She has been a PA, a paralegal, a fashion

sales co-ordinator, a bit of a globe-trotter,

and – here’s a surprise – she is a published

author!

But Paddy is perhaps best known for being

the enthusiastic leader of wine appreciation

groups for many years. It started with wine

introduction lessons when Paddy was PA to

Sam Berk who owned the Drop Inn Group.

This was sold and she worked for Berk

Enterprises until she was 75.

“I don’t know how they put up with me,”

she says but every year she still gets two

bottles of wine for Christmas.

After retirement she led the wine-tasting

visits for U3A (the University of the Third

Age), and these days does the same for

Christ Church. She has loved every minute it

of it. “It has taught me so much. I have met

so many lovely, interesting people ... oh,

golly!”

Paddy is also a survivor. As she sits in a

comfortable armchair in her Riverside Place

apartment, her “SPCA special” Annie at her

feet, she recounts her close call with death as

a child.

During WW2 she and her sister often

sheltered under a heavy old oak table as

German bombs whistled down on their

English village.

Her parents wanted them out of danger,

booking the two girls on an evacuation ship

bound for Canada. Thankfully they had a

last-minute change of mind and cancelled

their tickets. A U-boat torpedo sank the

vessel in mid-Atlantic and all the children

perished.

Paddy’s father, an RAF officer, served in

Singapore but when the Japanese conquered

the island he escaped to Java where he was

captured and spent three-and-a-half years in

terrible conditions.

In the camp he befriended a man they all

called “Max”. “Max” was actually the Sultan

of Pontianak in Borneo, but 17 of his

forebears had been beheaded by the


Japanese, so he was incognito. They

remained friends and after the war met up in

London and Paddy’s father and mother also

visited him in The Hague and were shown

all over the royal palace as he was aide-de-

camp to Queen Juliana.

Her father visited him in Pontianak on a

mission to buy their hard woods but the

Korean War put a stop to that.

Her father also helped Tretchikoff to get

out of Java after his internment and the

artist stayed at their home in England for a

few months.

The family came to South Africa in 1947 and

lived in Redhouse near Port Elizabeth. In

those days there were few options for

working girls so Paddy went to commercial

college. She worked for a leather indent firm

for eight years. She married and had a

family.

“I started work again when my youngest was

10 out of necessity and became a fashion

sales co-ordinator at Valley Textiles before I

returned to England.

“Before starting work in London, I took my

two sons to Canada to spend Christmas with

my sister.

“In London I .discovered a new ‘with-it’

agency owned by a Canadian woman who

stabled her horse in the Buckingham Palace

mews!

“She found me interesting temping jobs and

one was at Alcoa, the American Aluminum

Co., and I started up their Knightsbridge

office. .They then took me on permanently,

and after a year became the PA to the MD

Great Britain.

“When the dollar rate fell the Yanks

returned to the States and the English

unions took over the office. I did not want

to work for them.”

Paddy saw an advertisement in the “Lady”

magazine for a job “working with hotels” in

Bermuda. She applied as she had done a lot

of work with hotels for Alcoa, but they

replied ‘sorry, you don’t have the right hotel

experience’.”

Shortly afterwards she applied for a job with

the Deputy Speaker of the House of

Commons and went for the interview to a

beautiful 17th century home and farm. The

job also offered a cottage on the property.

She got on well with the high-flying

politician but then the wife joined them and

when Paddy asked if she could have a dog if

successful, the wife replied “only if it’s a

whippet”. Paddy did not

get the job.

Paddy continued with her

dream of Bermuda and

when a letter arrived at

Alcoa requesting a job

from an unknown

Bermudian,she quickly wrote and did the

same to his boss. Eventually she arrived in

Bermuda and worked as a temp but just

before she left she received a letter from the

Deputy Speaker in which he advised “Mrs.

Thatcher’s secretary has let me down. Would

you come and work for me?” Too late.

She did some temp work for Michael

Murphy, international tax lawyer for

American International Group (AIG) and

one evening he approached her on the

homeward ferry and offered her a


permanent job “at an exceptional salary”.

However, next evening on the same ferry he

apologised to her. “I gave you the wrong

figure.” However, she took the job.

“He was a tax genius, a lovely tall, mad

American Irishman. Oh, the stories I could

tell about Murphy, as we called him. He and

his assistant, Norma, taught me to become a

paralegal. Between the two of us we handled

over 100 companies, all the minutes, board

meetings, etc. It was a great job.”

When the grandchildren started arriving

Paddy gave up her lovely island home to

return to Cape Town.

Globetrotter? “In Bermuda you get back

your UIF payments when you turn 65,” says

Paddy. “So I got mine back and in l997 and

I bought a round-the-world air ticket to visit

my old friends.

“I traced

the two

New

Zealand

airmen who

treated our home as theirs during WW2, and

I stayed with them. Then on to San

Francisco, Seattle, Vancouver island,

Bermuda and London before finishing up

with my sister who had moved to Portugal.”

Author? When she visited her school friend

on Vancouver Island, her friend handed

back all the letters Paddy had written of her

early life in South Africa and had kept them

for 35 years.

Paddy included them all in a book entitled

“Dear Jen, letters from a young Rooinek”

and got it published in London.

How well did it sell? Paddy admits she is no

Wilbur Smith and unfortunately the

publisher went bankrupt shortly after

publication.

Paddy first attended Christ Church

Constantia in 1988. She says that she and

Maureen Kilcullen have sat in the same pew

for all these years. Robin Rattle used to sit

in the pew in front and Paddy recalls that the

then rector, Keith Griffiths “picked terrible

hymns” and she and Robin would habitually

grimace at each other.

Paddy is a long-serving steward (of the

7.30am variety) and loves the Anglican

Prayer Book service. Over the years she has

organised Art-in-the-Church, open gardens

and the “Simply Delicious” cookbook to

raise church funds.

With Moses Jaftha she is co-convener of the

plant stall at the annual Spring Market in the

church grounds. She already has plants in

pots on her small balcony, and plans to plant

more.

Paddy settled in Harfield before moving to

Lakeside in 1991. She has two sons, five

grandchildren and a great-grandson. One

son is a lawyer and lives in Llandudno, and

the other has a franchise business “Mr

Oven” and lives in Simon’s Town.

She moved to Riverside Place, a CPOA

complex in Diep River only in July last year

but clearly she has already made an impact.

When What’s Happening arrived at the

security boom and asked to see “Mrs.

McPherson”, the guard’s face lit up. “Ah,

you’re coming to see Paddy,” he said. But

then Paddy’s charisma brings out the bright

side in all of us.... David Hill


Sharing the sacrament at the monthly Healing

Service in the chapel are (from left): Pam

O’Brien, Jennifer Stewart, Mkhuseli Lujabe,

Eileen Cruise, Jesse Lund and Grant

McWilliams.

A little-known service

to treasure..................................

An Anglican Prayer Book states in a preface

entitled “Healing in Christ”:

“Our Lord Jesus Christ proclaimed the

coming of the kingdom of God not only by

preaching but also by healing the sick. He

brought healing in all its fullness: physical

cures, the healing brought by forgiveness of

sin, restoration of broken relationships,

assurance of salvation, acceptance of the

sinner by God. His miracles are evidence of

God’s desire that his people should be

completely whole: healthy in body, mind and

spirit, holy in life.”

The Healing Service held on the first

Monday of each month at 7pm in the chapel

is one of the little-known treasures of Christ

Church Constantia.

The service sees a group of parishioners, led

by a member of the clergy, gather to support

and pray for those in need of healing.

It opens with warm greetings, then a report

by Pam Sanger, the lay minister whose

particular responsibility is the visiting of the

sick. This is followed by requests for prayer

by anyone who has attended for this

purpose.

The Eucharist specifically includes the

names of those listed on the weekly pew

leaflet which are read out and anyone

present needing special prayer may receive

anointing with oil (James 5:14).

Invariably the Gospel reading of the day

highlights Christ’s healing ministry and

reinforces our faith in his continued

powerful presence in our lives.

We would encourage attendance whether as

a petitioner or a supporter of those in need.

Donald Stewart and Jessie Lund

Taking The Word to old-age homes in the

southern suburbs are (from left): Ernest Deane,

Marvel Billett, the Rev. Mkhuseli Lujabe, the

Ven. Terry Lester and Pam Sanger. (The Rev

Donald Stewart was not available for the photo.)

Bringing comfort to our

extended family..................

If they can’t come to church, we take the

church to them! Every week Christ Church

Constantia reaches out to those who often

can’t make it to one of our church services.


The clergy, lay ministers and helpers visit six

old-age homes in the southern suburbs

bringing the comfort of a monthly eucharist

to elderly and frail residents. The places

served by the church are: Anchusa, Cle du

Cap, Constantia Place, Princess Christian

Home, Rathfelder and Trianon.

The clergy – Terry Lester, Mkhuseli Lujabe

and Donald Stewart - take turns in leading

the services and giving sermons. Lay

ministers Pam Sanger (Constantia Place, Cle

du Cap), Ernest Deane (Rathfelder) and

Marvel Billett (Anchusa, Princess Christian

Home) assist.

Marvel has had a special book printed which

simplifies the eucharist service, making it

easier for those who struggle to follow the

readings and prayers. Staff at the various

homes often join the services.

Copies of What’s Happening are also to be

distributed at the homes to keep residents

abreast of activities, events and personalities

at Christ Church.

This compassionate work offers an

important connection with those who feel

remote from the church and brings great

comfort to the elderly, infirm, and often

lonely parishioners who are our extended

family.

Our task must be to free ourselves... by

widening our circle of compassion to

embrace all living creatures and the

whole of nature and its beauty – Albert

Einstein.

What’s Happening

postbox

I wish you all

many blessings..........................

From Jo Burke:

Dear Terry, Mkhuseli, Phyllis, Colleen, Jean,

Pam, Marvel, Donald, Annastacia, Louis,

Gail, Penny, James, Bishop Christopher,

David and everyone, including all those

whose names I have missed but who have

been so welcoming, to me.

Jo Burke...”you

made me gasp

with envy”.

Greetings

from cold,

wet and

blustery

England! My

time with you

was far too

short: just shy of two weeks. I came on

a“placement”, a necessary part of my

training for ordination. I hope to be

ordained deacon on 2 July. God willing.

I justified my visit to sunny South Africa by

telling myself – and the principal of my

training course - that it would help me in

ministry to have experienced the discomfort

of being an outsider in a church abroad. But

you all foiled this plan.

I felt comfortable and welcome the second

I met Terry, and felt increasingly at home as

he introduced me to Donald and Bishop

Christopher, as Gail came and introduced


herself and as I found your 9.15 service so

familiar.

The friendly company of other Christians,

and our near identical liturgy and music, all

helped me settle quickly. (I did love “Amen

Siyakudumisa”, which I had never met as

liturgy before.)

I broke the tenth commandment no more

than once a minute: my home church is a

12th century building with a roof much eaten

by death watch beetle, in a small rural village.

Your well-kept gardens, buildings, facilities

and even running water left me gasping with

envy.

Terry and Mkhuseli educated me too, which

was the real benefit of my visit. I was an

impossibly naive student, but they patiently

took me visiting both in Constantia and in

townships and then back again.

The emotional effect was like that of being

plunged repeatedly from a cold to a hot

bath. They bore with my questions and

musings, and have sent me home much less

ignorant, but with many more questions and

a strong love of South Africa and its warm

and varied people.

My deepest, grateful thanks to you all. I wish

you many blessings - and I wish you the rain

for which you long.

With much love....

Bishop for the birds……………………... From Hugh Fichardt:

What do you think of Bishop Christopher changing his initials to … G G (guineafowl Gregorowski )?

Puzzled by the bell ringing........

From Arthur Clarke:

I think you do a great job with What's

Happening.

I’m just a little bit

puzzled by the bell

ringing at the Eucharist -

usually two rings. I spent

about 11 years at St

Michael and All Angels

which was high church. There we used to

have three rings at the consecration (if I

remember correctly) and another single ring

somewhat earlier on the words in the Book

of Common Prayer “...until His coming

again”.

I have to say I rather miss the genuflections

and sacred rubrics etc ... but to keep matters

simple: why ring bells at all during the

service? What’s the derivation?

Editor’s comment: Many thanks, Arthur. I

think we are all a little confused about the

bell-ringing. I’m a steward and I believe the

instruction is to ring it three times at the

consecration which I try to do (to coincide

with hand-bell ringing in the sanctuary).

Unfortunately, either because we are

unskilled or it’s a difficult contraption to

manage, we tend to fudge it.

The exception is James the verger who has

the knack. Mind you, he sometimes “cheats”

by popping out through the doors and

pulling on the rope on the outside of the bell

tower.

Anything ring a bell for you? Send your letters to the

What’s Happening postbox at [email protected]

mailto:[email protected]


Making ‘water justice’ waves.....

From Mariette Daubenton:

To the Christ Church Constantia

Green Team

Dear Friends, Look what you started!

Do you know how we have always spoken

about small actions that we do are like

ripples in a pond and we never know where

or what is going to stop them?

The information session in Philippi on

February 18 was just one such action – take

a look at how far the waters have rippled.

In his address “Water Justice – What can

churches do?” in an international broadcast,

the Archbishop of the Anglican

Communion of Southern Africa, the Most

Reverend Thabo Makgoba, acknowledged

your contribution to the fight to protect the

Philippi Horticutural Area and underlying

aquifer. This to inspire worshipping

communities in the States, Canada, Panama,

Australia to follow your lead.

Thank you!

God’s work so evident................

From Jill Buchanan:

The Outreach team at Christ Church would

like to thank all for the amazing response to

the appeal after the fire in Hout Bay.

The parish office was inundated with bags

and boxes of clothes, household goods and

urgently needed non-perishables. These were

transported to St Peter’s church in Hout

Bay, who were able to offer support to their

devastated congregants.

On one of my many trips to Hout Bay,

God’s work was so evident as I handed over

a bag of baby nappies. A young mother had

just been telling the minister there that she

was wanting nappies – and they arrived.

Thanks to our electronic noticeboard we

were able to appeal not only to our

churchgoers but passing motorists who also

dropped off donations. Food and toiletries

can still be dropped off at church but,

thanks to your generosity, St Peter’s no

longer requires clothing.

Our shop now on Facebook......

From Rosemary Summers:

I have started a Facebook page for our

church shop, advertising some of its

delightful treasures and things. It would be

great if some of our members could like and

share

this

page.

I have

invited

family

and

friends

to like

the

Bob Summers in the shop. It is open on Wednesday and Saturday mornings.

page and my son Craig and his wife Sheila

are sharing it among their friends to help

support us. It is titled “Charity Shop

Community Outreach”.


Remember those in the cold......

Blanket & Jersey Sunday is May 7 this year.

Please get busy knitting and buying - and get

ready to help with this major contribution to

keeping the needy warm in winter.

Your Outreach Team will collect jerseys and

cash for blankets and these will be

distributed to hundreds of people. You can

collect plastic bags for jerseys from servers

and place them in the baskets or deliver in

office hours. Note that food donations can

continue to be placed in the baskets.

Collections will take place on Sundays April

23, 30 and May 7; sorting and distribution

on Monday May 8, starting at 9am in the

hall. (Clothes sorting team please note this

date is also for the May sorting).

Please make your donations to this fund

through cash/envelopes (donation boxes) or

through bank transfer to: Standard Bank,

Constantia branch (025309); account :name:

Christ Church Constantia; account no.

071699120; reference: “blankets”.

Any questions, contact the parish office

(021-794 5051). Thank you for your support.

- The Outreach Team.

DIARY (other than Easter services)

Sunday 9 April

Admission of parish councillors

No healing service on Monday May 1

Wednesday 3 May Seniors’ Tea

Sunday 7 May 3pm Concert

Cellist Peter Martens plays at Christ Church on Sunday May 7.

Top cellist plays Bach................

Eminent South African cellist Peter Martens

performs at the next monthly concert at

Christ Church Constantia on Sunday May 7.

He will play two of Bach’s Suites for

unaccompanied cello (numbers 1 and 6), and

after interval, two of Beethoven’s popular

sonatas with piano, Op 17 and 69, with

Portuguese master pianist, Luis Magalhães.

The two artists won the 2011 Classical

Music South African Music Award for their

recording of the complete Beethoven

sonatas. Joanne Talbot of the Strad wrote:

“Martens delivers brilliantly incisive and

spirited accounts of all these works”.

Martens was a principal in the New Arts

Philharmonic and Cape Philharmonic before

moving to the University of Stellenbosch

where he is director of the Stellenbosch

International Chamber Music Festival and

artistic administrator, Department of Music.

Luis Magalhaes has been described as

“possessing a wonderfully full sound”

(American Record Guide) and a “polished,


refined technique” (Allmusic.com). He is an

artist of global standing, having performed

all over Europe, in Brazil, China and Japan.

The concert starts at 3pm. Tickets at R100

can be booked by contacting Anne

Burrough on 021 701 0861 or 082 218 0100

or by writing to [email protected] and

paid for (cash or snapscan) at the door (no

later than 2.45pm please). Seating restricted

to 375, so may sell out before the day.

Dedicated Giving letters error... From Sheila Thompson:

Unfortunately, due to a clerical error, the

annual Dedicated Giving letters have

detailed your contribution for 2015 instead

of 2016. If you would like clarification of

your 2016 contribution please phone me on

021 762 3805, or email

[email protected] and I will

supply you with the correct details.

Uncollected letters have been withdrawn and

those who failed to collect their letters can

also contact me if they wish.

Sincere apologies for this error and any

inconvenience caused.

Sarah Fenton with cuddly toys bound for the

little ones of Imizamo Yethu.

Appeal for soft toys for toddlers

of Imizamo Yethu......................

An appeal has gone out for teddies and soft

toys to give comfort to the infants of

Imizamo Yethu whose families lost

everything in the devastating shack fire.

Sarah Fenton, who sings in the choir, is

collecting the toys for delivery to the Centre

for Life in Imizamo Yethu.

Her son Jack (11), a server at Christ Church,

has given up his teddy for the cause. “The

teddy meant a lot to him so it was a tough

decision,” said Sarah, “but Jack really wanted

to help.”

You can contact Sarah on 076 781 6201 if

you have cuddly soft toys to donate, or take

them to the church office.

Christ Church Constantia Telephone 021 794 5051 [email protected]

www.christchurchconstantia.co.za




http://www.christchurchconstantia.co.za/

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