HOPE HERALDNews, views & comment from

St James Church, HopeNovember/December 2019

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Happenings at St. James

ST JAMES (HOPE) CHURCH

Advent & Christmas Services December 1st 10.00am

December 8th 10.00am Holy CommunionDecember 15th 10.00am Holy Communion

December 22nd 10.00am

Christmas Eve 6.30pmChristmas Day 10.00am

FOR MORE DETAILS SEE WEEKLY PEWS NEWS OR ASK CHURCHWARDENS

Wishing a blessed Christmas to

All our Readers

And particularly regular contributors

From the

Editorial Team

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Letter fromThe VicarNov/Dec 2019

THE OLDER I get themore my life seems to beflying by, it only seemsyesterday we were cele-brating Easter and nowChristmas is almost hereagain. While for me and Iam sure many others it isa very busy time, it is alsoa very joyful time, as weget ready to celebrate thebirth of our saviour JesusChrist. It is perhaps easyin all the business, buyingfood and drink, choosingpresents, decorating thehouse etc, to lose sight ofwhat it is we are celebrat-ing and the enormous sig-nificance of it. When Jesus was bornsomething amazing hap-pened, the creator of ourworld, our entire universeand everything in it, hadcome into the world as ahelpless baby boy. I’msure his birth felt wonder-ful to Mary and Joseph asthe birth of our children isfor any of us, but I doubtany of those who came tosee Jesus around his birthhad any idea just howhuge and world changing

an event had happened.Even the shepherdswould come after the visitfrom the heavenly host orthe wise men who hadfollowed the star trustingit to lead them to a greatking, had any idea justwho it was they would becoming to see, just howamazing and spectacularan event they were to bewitnesses of. When we think aboutthe enormity of our world,the diversity within it, itcan make us feel verysmall, when we then real-ise that our world is like aspeck of sand on thebeach when compared toour galaxy and then theentire universe, it canmake us feel completelyinsignificant. Yet the onewho made all this, withall its wonder, complexi-ty and beauty, came intoour world as a little baby,to live as a human being,so that he might tell usmore about himself andhow we can get the bestfrom our lives and ulti-mately to show us how

special each one of us isto Him and how much weare loved by Him, it takesyour breath away and re-minds us in the most pow-erful way that none of usis insignificant, that weall matter and are pre-cious to God. Whenever I think onthat it blows my mind andbrings a great smile to myface. So as you preparefor Christmas, with allthe business and stressthat can sometimes bring,I hope you will take a fewmoments to rememberwhat an incredible eventwe are celebrating, Godbecoming one of us toshow us how much weare loved, and that it willbring a smile to your faceto as you are remindedhow wonderful and spe-cial you are to Him. God bless and have avery wonderful and mer-ry Christmas

Gareth

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Christmas over the Christian worldFOR NEARLY fourweeks leading up toChristmas Christians rec-ognise a period called Ad-vent.  It means ‘coming’.It is a time of spiritualpreparation.  ‘Coming’refers to Jesus’ first com-ing as a baby, but it alsolooks forward to a daywhen Jesus is expected toreturn in triumph at his

‘second coming’ to estab-lish perfect justice and anew order of peace.

Originally Christiansmarked Advent as a timewhen they refrained fromexcessive eating and drink-ing.  Then Christmas Dayreintroduced them to thejoys of feasting.  Christ-mas celebrations lastedfor twelve days, with giftsexchanged as a climax atEpiphany (6 January). Today, however, Ad-vent is more likely to beassociated with accelerat-ing festivity, with the daysfollowing Christmas some-thing of an anti-climaxuntil ‘twelfth night’, onwhich decorations are re-moved.  Many Christiansworldwide are trying torevive the spirit of Adventby setting aside time topray and address globalpoverty.

Christmas Day is cele-brated as the anniversaryof Jesus’ birth, althoughthe actual date is notknown.  Most Christianscelebrate it on 25th De-cember.  However, theOrthodox Church (the an-cient churches in EasternEurope and parts of Asia)follows a different calen-dar and celebrates on 7thJanuary.  Christians makea point of taking commun-ion on Christmas Day.Many make it the firstthing they do as the clockstrikes midnight. On 6th January theChristmas festival contin-ues with a celebration ofEpiphany, which means

‘the appearance’.  Chris-tians remember the visitof wise men (magi) to Je-sus, bringing gifts of gold,frankincense and myrrh.The Christmas tradition ofexchanging gifts original-ly honoured these men,who were the first non-Jews (Gentiles) to wor-ship Jesus.  It forms a re-minder that in Jesus Godwas giving Himself forthe benefit of the entireworld. Orthodox Christiansuse this day to recall thebaptism of Jesus as agrown man.  The signifi-

cance of Jesus being bap-tised was that Heidentified Himself withhuman beings in all theirneed.  They mark the dayby praying for God’sblessing on rivers, wellsand water sources. Christmas has neverbeen just an escapist festi-val for Christians.  Thosewho treat it seriously rec-ognise that not all theworld is able to face thedays with frivolity or joy.The day after Christmas,Boxing Day, was histori-cally marked as the feastof St Stephen.  He was thefirst man to be put todeath rather than give uphis belief that Jesus wasGod.  And two days latera day remembering theMassacre of the Innocentsrecalls Herod’s attempt todestroy Jesus by killing allmale babies in Bethlehem.Although not so widelymarked as Christmas Day,it gives Christians the op-portunity to pray for chil-dren in today’s world whosuffer as a result of theactions of adults.

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From the ChurchwardensHELLO EVERYONE. Following on from thelast edition of the HopeHerald. The autumn Fayrewas a huge success, con-sidering the atrociousweather. We raised a totalof £518 towards churchfunds, which was a won-derful achievement. Butit’s not just about the mon-ey. It’s also about touch-ing base with ourcommunity and we certain-ly did that. As well asmany of our congregationturning up to help, lookingafter stalls, there were par-ents from the brownies,members of the archerygroup and numerous fami-ly members, all willinghelpers. Suffice to say,everyone played their part.As one of our organiserssaid “it felt like we wereall part of a team” thanksto everyone involved.Look out for a repeat some-time next year. The separating of thewater supply between theChurch, hall and vicaragesaga continues, but we feelthe end is now in sight.The new supply to theChurch and church hall isin place. A new bright redwall mounted letter boxhas been mounted adjacentto the vestry door and ourpost person is using it. Sono excuse for United Utili-

ties not to issue separatebills for the two accounts.Let’s hope the remedialground work will be com-pleted soon! The vicarage itself isdefinitely being sold Nodate has yet been given.We suspect, the gardenswill be tidied up first andthe stolen fence panels re-placed. On October 6th weheld our Harvest Festivalservice with a total of£153 and numerous fooddonations.

On Sunday 3rd of No-vember, we had a visitfrom a senior member ofthe City Mission team giv-ing us an overview of whatthe Narrowgate team doesto help the homeless getback onto their feet again.During the service themoney and food from ourharvest celebration weregiven to the charity. Wehave received a letter ofthanks from them.On Sunday October 20th,our monthly Family serv-ice was made special withtwo of the younger mem-bers of our congregationtaking their first commun-ion. An early step in theirspiritual journey. We wishthem all the joys and privi-leges of being part of aChristian family.

Being Part of a jointbenefice with St Johns, weheld an annual joint memo-rial service on Sunday27th October at St Johns.We always find this serv-ice as one of the most mov-ing occasions, withindividual candles lit andnames read out in com-memoration of those nolonger with us. Continuingin the same vein, on No-vember the 10th we com-memorated the dead fromtwo world wars andprayed for all those in-volved in other conflicts.Another moving servicewhere all the names on ourmemorial plaque wereread out and two minutessilence observed. After last times up-date on our friend Jackie,it gives us great pleasureto announce; Jackie gotmarried a couple of weeksago in a very quiet ceremo-ny up in Kendal. We wishher all the very best for thefuture. May we Churchward-ens be the first to wish youa very happy Christmasand New Year God Bless

Trevorand Fred

WHEN I was a choir boymany years ago, writesDavid Winter, ‘Good KingWenceslas’ was a very pop-ular carol. A man sang theKing’s lines, a boy sangthe Page’s, and the choirfilled in the narrative. Itwas not of course techni-cally a Christmas carol butone for which most peopleknow as ‘Boxing Day’ –the ‘Feast of Stephen’ thefirst Christian martyr.

But you don’t hearGood King Wenceslasthese days. It fell foul ofpolitical correctness. Theking was wealthy and verykindly, helped a poor man,but the last verse was theproblem. It called on

‘Christian men, wealth andrank possessing’. To helpthe poor and be blessed indoing it. All very patronis-ing, class-conscious, and

chauvinistic. So, it has sim-ply disappeared.

I think that’s a pity,and I also think it’s a seri-ous misunderstanding ofthe carol. It relates to thegood deeds of a tenth cen-tury Duke of Bohemia,Wenceslas I, and concernsa king and his page, and apoor man freezing and po-tentially starving whom hesaw from his window.

The king didn’t, as hemight well have done, sim-ply order some minion totake the man some food orfuel. He decided to do ithimself assisted by hisyoung page. Together

they braved the bitter windand snow in order to take

pine logs and food to thishumble dwelling. That isnot patronising but trueChristian grace.

The words to the carolwere written in 1853 byJohn Mason Neale but themelody is much older –it’s a 13th-century tunecalled ‘Tempus adest flori-dum’ in praise of thespring.

Yes, the last versedoes express a Victorianview of characters butthat’s when it was written. No one should con-demn the carol and its mes-sage. Who would shrinkfrom following its exam-ple? I’m afraid texting atoken ten quid to a charitydoes not quite qualify.

Love requires action,if we don’t see that thenwe have missed the point.That is the message of thislovely carol which waswritten for the Feast of StStephen, better known asBoxing Day. And it cele-brates the long tradition ofcharitable giving on theSecond Day of Christmas.

Good King WenceslasAcross:1 sampan, 4 mended, 8 linseed, 10 pride, 11 curtain, 12 razor, 13 soft hearted,18 aisle, 19 improve, 22 court, 23 napping, 24 trendy, 25 cringe.Down:1 select, 2 manor, 3 arena, 4 emperor, 6 drizzle, 7 dreary, 9 dandelion, 14 obscure, 15 treated, 16 mascot, 17 beagle, 20 piper, 21 onion.

Crossword Answers

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WELL-KNOWN popularsongs, some of them rockyand raucous, come at usover and over againthroughout the Advent andChristmas seasons. Howamazing that up there withthe most recent of themyou can still find IrvingBerlin’s ‘White Christ-mas’, the words of whichyoung people seem toknow as well as the songsof their own generation.What can its appeal be tothose brought up on thelikes of Wizzard, Slade,Bruce Springsteen and Ma-riah Carey? i can onlythink that it has somethingto do with the nostalgia wehave for things as we imag-ine them to have been inthe past. it comes overalmost all of us at this timeof year. Christmas has ussifting through our memo-ries, renewing our friend-ships and recovering ourrelationships – sometimeswith members of our ownfamilies, especially thosewe see only occasionally.i should be the last personto mention this, since mostof my contributions to thispublication have beenreaching back into thingswhich happened a longtime ago; but in case youfeel I live only for the past,let me tell you that my aimalways is to take hold of

what i have found mostvaluable previously, tocontinue using it, and tocarry it forward with meinto whatever of the futurestill remains for me to ex-perience. I am very much, I con-fess, a Christmas orientat-ed person, having beenborn within two weeks ofit. Two weeks beforeChristmas this year I reachthe 70th anniversary of myconfirmation. The first paid work I everdid in my life happened inthe run up to Christmas.At my secondary school,boys of 16 and over wereallowed to have off the lasttwo weeks of the autumnterm each year in order tohelp the local post officedeliver its load of cardsand Christmas parcels. Idaresay something similarhappened all over the coun-try. I have very vividmemories of dashing tothe local railway station tomeet the mail train, heav-ing the heavy sacks intovans and taking them backto the head office to betipped out on large sortingtables. From the tablesthey were put through asystem of pigeon holes toget them into appropriateand manageable areas.We didn’t have postcodesthen; it was all done by

hand; and it worked. Nowit’s done by machines. We usually did twoletter rounds per day – oneam, one pm – and a parcelround in between. Yousoon got to know wherethe unfriendly dogs wereand how to deal with them.You also had to cope withold ladies who were ex-pecting mail from relativesoverseas and couldn’t un-derstand why it hadn’tcome. Tea breaks be-tween rounds back at thecanteen meant that wecould mix with the old lagsand hear all their stories.I think they enjoyed beingable to pull rank on us asmuch as we enjoyed rub-bing shoulders with themand feeling we were doingsomething for the coun-try! It doesn’t happen any-more, of course, for anumber of reasons. Thereare people who can’t getregular jobs who rely oncasual work in order tosurvive. Today’s schoolsdon’t need to be asked forhelp. It’s also clear thatthe volume of Christmasmail is nowhere near ashuge as it was sixty oddyears ago. Greetingscards, be they for Christ-mas, birthdays or for anyother occasion, are rela-tively expensive, and if

LATE EXTRA: On the cards

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you need to post far moreof them than you coulddeliver by hand, the cost ofthe postage will be enor-mous. Small wonder peo-ple feel disinclined tomake time to write cards orsend written messages bypost when five minuteswork on a computer cansolve all your problems.Social media websiteswhich allow you to keep intouch with relatives andfriends at the touch of abutton or two constantlycarry messages like, ‘it’sso-and-so’s birthday today.Let him know you’re think-ing of him.’ Something similarhappens at Christmas, butI have to say that for mee-mails are no substitutefor the dozens of Christ-mas cards I get – touchable,readable evidence that

somebody somewhere isthinking about me as I amthinking of them. When you think aboutit, Christmas has alwaysbeen about messages,good wishes and goodnews. Angels serve godin many ways, not least ashis messengers betweenheaven and earth. Theangel Gabriel was sent toNazareth with a messagefor Mary. Angels filledthe sky over the hills ofBethlehem with importantnews for the shepherdsthere that something hadhappened in the town be-low. One of the readingsheard in church on Christ-mas morning and again lat-er in the season says that

‘the word was made flesh’.The baby born unexpected-ly in the shelter under thehouse where the animals

were kept was himself aliving, breathing messagefrom god. Every baby is a state-ment (a) about the past:that two persons havecome together for its mak-ing, and (b) about thepresent and the future: thatresponsible care is re-quired, so that this new lifeis nourished and securedand brought to its potential.Christmas asks you to ac-cept the message that isJesus and to respond to itfor the rest of your life.

‘In the hustle and hurry ofChristmas, it’s importantto stop and remember thespecial blessings we have.Knowing you is one of thebest.’

DGBLife and times at Little GemsOVER the last year LittleGems has continued tomeet on the first Sundayof each month, with thenumbers ranging from 5 –8. On the odd occasionone family has broughttheir friends who werevisiting from Wales andthis has boosted our num-bers to 13. In December we fo-cused on Christingle de-picting Jesus as the light

of the world, guiding us todo the right thing and gothe right way. In Januarywe focused on the holyfamily escaping to Egyptand becoming refugees inthat country until thedeath of Herod. We com-pared their plight with themodern refugees of todayescaping from places likeSyria. February saw uscelebrating Candlemas,the presentation of Christ

in the Temple. March sawus thinking of Lent, Jesusgoing into the wildernessfor 40 days and 40 nightsand not having any food.That led us on to thinkabout what we would giveup for Lent. As this timeof year is about preparingfor the crucifixion ofChrist and sowing theseeds for what is to comethe children planted somecress seeds hoping that

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they would have grown byEaster, they did. For Easter we startedoff with an egg hunt andthen covered the story ofPalm Sunday, Jesus ridingthrough Jerusalem on adonkey. In May welooked at the story ofSaint John the Apostle, aloyal friend to Jesus. Wetalked about our friendsand what makes a loyalfriend. We then started tocover some key events inthe life of Moses, startingwith Moses in the bulrush-es. We wove a basket outof strips of paper and float-ed it on water. This wasfollowed by the Israelitesescape from Egypt acrossthe Red Sea. In July wediscovered how Jesus in-vited some of his disciplesto follow him and howthat same invitation is ex-tended to us today. Au-gust saw us covering thestory of the ‘good Samari-tan’ and how we couldrelate it to the present day.How would you react ifyou saw someone injuredat the side of the road?Would you help or wouldyou walk by on the otherside??? To en-

sure our children couldhelp we covered some ba-sic aspects of first aid;they thoroughly enjoyedtrying to bandage cuts andapply a sling. After LittleGems in August we alljoined together on thefront lawn for a picnic, allthe children and parentscontributed and participat-ed. A good time was hadby all. In September thetheme was ‘Holy Com-munion’ This was becauseat the beginning of theyear Clare started to workthrough a programmecalled ‘Welcome to theLord’s Table’ by Marga-ret Withers with 2 of theolder children. On comple-tion of the course, whichconsists of 10 Units, thechildren are able to takecommunion. I am delight-ed to say that the childrencompleted the course andtook their first commun-ion in September. In October the chil-dren learnt about creation,the younger ones coveringthe story about how theworld was created in sev-en days whilst the olderchildren focused on the

creation and the bible. Fi-nally in November wewent back to Stories ofEveryday Saints andlearnt about Saint Eliza-beth of Hungary who al-ways went out of her wayto help the poor. Although we have alovely small group wewould love more childrento join us. So if you areaged between 3 and 12years please come alongto church on the first Sun-day of the month at10.0am, we would love tosee you and we promiseyou fun and friendship. We split the group upand try to offer the olderchildren the chance to ex-plore their faith throughdiscussion and debate bywatching a film or video.We also offer the olderchildren the opportunityto work through the pro-gramme which enablesthem to take Communionfor the first time.

SylviaMcGreal

1A yellow reflective vest, 2. a cat, 3. in Edinburgh by mistake, 4. comedian. 5.VictorHugo, 6. Love of ferns, 7. Eiffel Tower, 8. Penny Mordaunt, 9. Canada, 10. Britishsoldiers in the Battle of Ballaclava, 11. Coffee, 12. Lots of butterflies, 13. Beards, 14.Seagulls, 15. HRH Prince Charles, 16. Greenland., 17.Butterflies, 18. Beef.

Answers to the News Quiz of 2019

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Junior Pages

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TALKING to one of thechurch wardens, I casual-ly mentioned the subjectof fasting in the EthiopianOrthodox Church. I toldhim that at least one hun-dred and eighty days ayear were declared to be

“fasting “days. (I guess thatif I had said the other onehundred and eighty fivedays a year were feastdays, it wouldn’t have metwith the same gasp ofshock and horror!). For along time I never reallyunderstood what fastingwas all about, until oneEthiopian friend ex-plained to me why it wasso important for him, so Idecided to share some ofwhat he told me with you . Fasting is an old tradi-tion in all the major worldreligions, and Christianityis no exception. Jesus fast-ed in the wilderness. ThePharisees complained thatJesus’ disciples didn’t fastlike the disciples of Johnthe Baptist. Jesus evenmentions about the needfor prayer and fasting, butwarns us not to make itinto a reason for self-con-gratulation or for showingoff to others. The Protes-tant reformers saw fastingas an act where peopletrying to “buy “their way

into heaven. So is fastinggloomy and irrelevant?What exactly is fasting,and why do it at all? Fasting is a way tocreate “space” and peace.Many of us are very “busy”and hardly have time forourselves, our family andother people, let alone forGod. Fasting is a time ofquiet and reflection, whenwe can deliberately setaside time for prayer, read-ing and meditation. It is atime of quiet when we canthink about our world andour place in it, and alsothink about how we canlive better and less self-centred lives. Part of theessence of fasting Isspending time being quiet.The good news is that youdon’t have to buy a ticketfor a Buddhist monasteryin Tibet to have this expe-rience, because by fastingregularly, you can createthat space at home, orwherever you can “bestill”. Fasting is often de-scribed as “abstainingfrom food”, though that isonly a part of what fastingis all about. Most of usknow about the MuslimFast of Ramadan, whenMuslims will not eat ordrink between dawn and

dusk. Fasting for Ortho-dox Christians most oftenmeans eating no animalproducts – going vegan.(It is now quite trendyeven in secular circles tohave “Vegan January” or

“Teetotal January” forthose who overindulge atChristmas). We are privi-leged to live in a societywhere we can have whatwe want, whenever wewant it (if we have themoney), but by fasting,we are not only helpingthe planet by consumingless meat, but also our-selves, by eating healthierdiets, (as modern sciencetells us), but it’s also away to be able to live sim-ply. So, good news for theplanet! Of course, like thechild who has saved up allyear to buy that new toyfor Christmas, people whofast, really look forwardto the “feasting”, becauseit makes those days evenmore special! Fasting is especiallyaimed at the wealthy (whocan afford meat everyday). It is becoming everclearer how greed is notonly responsible for thepoverty of others, but alsois destroying our planet atan alarming rate. Fastingis saying “no” to greed

To fast or not to fast?That is the question

and self-indulgence. Sofasting is an act of solidari-ty with those who are lessfortunate than ourselves.That is why fasting is of-ten accompanied with ex-tra giving and sharingwith others. As I write,BBC is promoting its Chil-dren in Need Appeal. Therequests from “good caus-es” can seem overwhelm-ing at times. So fasting isalso a good time to reflectnot only on “charity” buton what we can do tochange the structureswhich cause injustice, andharm to others. . It in-structs us to “live simply,so that others can simplylive”.

Fasting is often asso-ciated with a traumatichistoric upheaval – likethe Exodus for the Jews,or the Hejira for the Mus-lims. I remember mymother, who lived throughthe rationing of WorldWar II, always saying, tous , “eat up your food, wewould have given our eyeteeth to have had that dur-ing the war”. Victims ofwar, and refugees oftenhave to face long periodsof shortages, and fastingbrings us into solidaritywith those who, throughother people’s greed forpower and possessions,have been forced into dep-rivation. ”. I don’t have tobe forced to eat my greens

any longer, but I shoulddaily appreciate where myfood comes from, and bethankful for it .Fasting canalso help us focus onworking for peace. Advent, before Christ-mas, like Lent before East-er, has been set aside bythe Church as a fastingperiod. A time to prepareourselves and review ourlives, looking forward tothe great Feast of Christ-mas. Whether fasting ornot, a blessed Advent tous all.

Bob Hedley

Mythical Beasts: Xolotl

Xolotl was the brother ofQuetzalcoatl (the Azetc

god ofCreation).It wasXolotl’s duty toguide the deadto the Aztecunderworld,known as Micta-lan, and to dragthe Sun throughit. He was oftenpictured withthe head of anugly dog andwith feet thatwere the wrong

way round

In one story, Xolotl iscredited with repopulatingthe planet. He travelled tothe dark depts. Of theEarth and uncovered astrange bone while dig-ging. He brought the bonehome to the rest of thegods. They doused it withsome of their blood andwatched with bated breathas the bone slowly trans-formed into a human boyand girl, giving rise to thehuman race.

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FATHER CHRISTMASseems to be as old as Eu-rope. Once he was Woden,lashing his reindeerthrough the darkness ofnorthern midwinter.  Thenhe encountered theChurch, and She trans-formed him into a saint,the much-loved Nicholas,Bishop of Myra (in south-west Turkey) in the fourthcentury.  St Nicholas be-came the patron saint ofchildren, and was given6th December as his day. Since the 6th centurySt Nicholas has been ven-erated in both East andWest, though virtuallynothing is known of hislife.  Some believe hemay have been one of thefathers at the Council ofNicea (325), imprisonedduring the Emperor Dio-cletian’s persecution. According to legend,Nicholas was an extreme-ly generous man.  He re-vived three schoolboysmurdered by an innkeeperin a tub of pickles.  Herescued three young wom-en from prostitution bygiving their poverty-strick-en father three bags of

gold. (Hence the use ofthree gold balls as thepawnbroker’s signs.) Over the centuriesmany people ‘on thefringe’, including children,sailors, unmarried girls,pawnbrokers and money-lenders have claimed himas their patron. Perhaps it was on ac-count of St. Nicholas’ gen-erosity that in recentcenturies children beganto write little notes some-time before 6th December,to tell him about the toysthey specially wanted.These notes were then lefton the windowsill at night

– or else on a ledge in thechimney. But St Nicholas Daychanced to lie in the mag-netic field of a much morepotent festival…. and af-ter a time his activitieswere moved towards

Christmas.  Then in Bavar-ia the children still lefttheir notes on the window-sill, but they addressedthem to Liebes Christkind

– Krishkinkle as they knewhim – and the saint’s partin the matter was simplyto deliver the letters inheaven. The most popular re-sult of the cult of St Ni-cholas has been theinstitution of Santa Claus.He is based on Nicholas’patronage of children andthe custom in the LowCountries of givingpresents on his feast. San-ta Claus has reached hiszenith in America, wherethe Dutch Protestants ofNew Amsterdam (NewYork) united to it Nordicfolklore legends of a magi-cian who both punishednaughty children and re-warded good ones withpresents

St Nicholas – patron saint ofchildren

At Christmas friends come and go, but relativestend to accumulate.

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IF YOU missed my ar-ticle in the last edition Imust apologise, I did sendit in, but for some reasonthe digital postman failedto deliver it and I assume itis now wandering the elec-tronic highways of the so-lar system like somecelestial comet. Our last show, ‘Thrill-er of the Year’, wasdeemed a success by allaccounts, according to thecomments we have re-ceived. One member of theaudience said, “It certainlywent with a bang!” Wetry to please. Our nextoffering is the ChristmasShow – November 30th,which will be an eveningof ‘Tales and Stories witha Christmas Theme’, fol-lowed by a two coursemeal, a fun quiz and a raf-fle, with seasonal prizes. As this is our 50th Sea-son we have decided toproduce Tee shirts/Sweatshirts and bags, decoratedwith our logo, to commem-orate the occasion. Thesewill be on sale at theshows or by contacting meon the addresses below.

Priestley Players, start-ed at the MethodistChurch on Worsley Road,Swinton, in 1970. Wewere sponsored by theChurch and British Oxy-gen Company, Worsley..Our first production,

“Haul for the Shore” wasfinally staged on 18/19/20March 1971. In those dayswe could only do oneshow a year due to restric-tions on use of theHall/stage by the church,but as time went on weprogressed to four andeventually five. Many arethe times when we put outthe ‘house full’ signs as wereached our capacity of150! Ah! Those were thedays. In 1994/95 we celebrat-ed our 25th Jubilee with aspecial dinner attended byover 70 guests. We com-missioned sweat shirts andsold Fuchsia plants –‘Sil-ver Jubilee’, to raise funds.

.

In 2000, our 31st Sea-son, we were invited totake part in the BT spon-sored play “Sand Castles”written by Bob Larby ofTV fame with the ‘TheGood Life’. On the weekwe performed the play wejoined several hundred oth-er amateur dramatic socie-ties in attaining a worldrecord for performing thesame play on the samenight. (To be continued). Let us hope the nextfew years are as successful.Do come along to ourshows this special seasonand join in the celebrations,even better, why not comeand join us! There are lotsyou can do, both backstageand front of house - youcan even ‘tread the boards’,if you wish! We are afriendly society and willmake you very welcome.And as we keep on saying,

“Amateur dramatics isfun……Honest”!

.See you at the shows

Roger(PRO Priestley Players)(0161) 794 8266

Priesley Players A.D.S.

Athletes get athlete’s foot, so do astronauts getMissile toe?

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1.What is a Gillet jaune?2,The famous fashion designer Karl La-gerfield died this year leaving his £150million fortune to Choupette. Who orwhat is Choupette?3.In March an aeroplane left LondonCity airport flight with number BA3271to Düsseldorf. Where did it land?4.Volodymyr Oleksandrovych Zelenskywon the Ukrainian Presidential electionin April. What was his job before theelection?5.There was a serious fire at Notre Damein April. Who wrote a book in 1831about the cathedral and to draw attentionto the restoration it then needed?6.What is Pteridomania? The Victorianshad it.7.Blackpool Tower celebrated its 125thanniversary in May 2019. What land-mark inspired it?8.Which former member of the cabinetwas named after a battleship9.Which country has coins nicknamedloonie and toonie?10.Politicians talked about red lines.What was the thin red line?

11.What would you use a French press tomake?12.In July we were told to look out for a

“Painted Lady Summer”. What is that?13.What were male members of the RAFallowed to grow this year that that theyhave never previously been allowed?14.What were seasiders were advised tostare at to stop them stealing chips andbothering them?15.Which person has the following titlesin other languages? (All one person)Leading Star; The Son of the Big Boss;The Sun Looks at Him in a Good Way;The Helper of the Cows (literally hewhom the cows love so much they callfor him when they are in times of dis-tress)16.Which territory did Donald Trumpsay he was interested in buying for theUS?17.What are a small copper and an Essexskipper?18.What did Goldsmiths, University ofLondon, ban the sale of to try to fightglobal warming?ANSWERS ON PAGE 8

The News Quiz for 2019HOW well did you read the News this year?  Try thisquiz and find out…

Sometimes, upon a Christmas dayI wonder if there’s any wayThat Christmas might be quite a treatFor those who have a few more feet!

I really love my Christmas socksThat fill, each year, my Christmas boxO Santa, festive stocking filler,I wish I were a caterpillar!

Heartfelt Plea..

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Puzzle PageSUDOKU

WORDSEARCHDifficulty level: Easy. Difficulty level: Medium

Christmas is nearly here! More than two thousand years ago the Jews were longing forthe coming of their Messiah. Jesus came. He was and is the Son of God, and whoeverbelieves in Him will have the best gift of all - eternal life.HERE ARE THE WORDS TO FIND: Messiah, Broken, Heart. Freedom, Darkness.

Favour. Prisoners, Comfort, Mourn, Bestow, , Crown, Beauty, Ashes, Son, God , Jesus,Seen, Father, Whoever, longing, thousand.

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Crossword No 28

A few clues may be a bit crypticAnswers on page 5

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THE COMMUNITY HALLRegular activities using the facilities

MONDAYNHS Fellowship 12.00 - 15.00 (monthly - 2nd Monday) (Contact: Lynn Frier 01617890231)TUESDAYYoga group 19.30 - 20.30 (Contact: Vicky Greer: 07717717186)WEDNESDAYRainbows & Brownies 17.30 - 19.00 (weekly in term time) (Contact: Sylvia McGreal 01617980057)THURSDAYArchery 13.00 - 15.00 and 19.00 - 21.00 (Contact: Dominic Vaughan 01612116563 or 07934080596)FRIDAYArchery 19.30 - 22.00 (Contact as above)

SUNDAYLittle Gems Sunday School 10.00 - 11.00 am (monthly 1st Sunday) (Contact: Sylvia McGreal 01617980057)VARIOUSPriestley Players Amateur Dramatic Society - request info. (Contact: Roger Partington 01617948266)

BOOKINGSBooking requests, whether for regular or occasional events should beaddressed to Mrs Sheila Jones who can be contacted on 01617892863or 07845492109.

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STAFF

SERVICES:

Baptisms, Weddings, Funerals etc. by arrangement with Rev. Thomas who may becontacted by telephone, or in person at Church on Wednesdays from 10-30am

Vicar of St. James & St. John

Churchwardens:Mr. T Palmer,55 East Lancashire Road,Swinton,Manchester,M27 5LYTelephone: 0161 794 2702

Sunday 10.00am Parish Communion

Wednesday 9.30am Holy Communion

Hall Bookings: For bookings and enquiries about the Parish Hall ringMrs. Sheila Jones on 0161 789 2863 or 07845492109

E-mail for all church issues: Stjames.hope@gmail.com

Website: www.saintjameshope.co.uk

Mr Fred Lloyd213 Lancaster RoadPendletonSalfordM6 8WATelephone: 0161 789 3476

Rev. Gareth Thomas91 Broomhall Road,Pendlebury,M27 8XRTelephone: 0161 925 0059