MagazineMagazineMagazine November 2014

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St Peter’s Church, Hale

Two are better than one, because they have a good return for

their work: if one falls down, their friend can help them up.

But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them.

Ecclesiastes 4:10

Growing Together

From the Registers October 2014

Those who have been married Evelyne Kavuma and Isaac Sany

Those who have been baptised Florence Edwards Benjamin Guttridge Liam Tivey Billy Thackray

Enquiries for Baptism, Confirmation or Wedding services: please contact the Parish Office.

Don’t forget!

This is your magazine and we welcome all feedback, suggestions and ideas, so please get in touch. If you would like to contribute an article, interview, photos or reflection contact the Parish Office in St Peter’s House or call on 0161 928 3374 or email: magazine@stpetershale.org.uk

St Peter’s Productions present ‘Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs’

St Peter’s Productions is excited to announce that we will be performing the pantomime Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs on 16 and 17 January 2015.

Following the success of the last pantomime, we are keen to emphasise that this is to be an all-age production, with roles available both on stage and offstage for anyone who wishes to be involved.

Auditions were held in October but if you are interested in taking part there may still be opportunities. Please let us know if you want to join in – the more the merrier!

For those of you who may wish to be involved offstage (back stage or front of house) sign-up sheets are at the back of church. These list the areas in which we are keen for people to be involved, no matter how much or little time you may have to give.

If you would like any further information please feel free to contact me, Kathryn Walsh, either by email or phone: Email: Kathryn.walsh2@btinternet.com Mobile: 07824 618 871 The production team and I look forward to working with you!

Reorganisation of church notice boards

You will have seen that we have had a reorganisation of the notice boards in church and St Peter’s House. This is to try and make it easier for you to find the information you need. We now have boards that are clearly labelled with specific posters e.g. church services, what’s coming up, community notices etc.

Please drop off any notices you would like to be displayed at the Parish Office, any weekday morning. We can then ensure they are suitable for display e.g. size, content and go on the right board. Please note that notices will only be displayed for a maximum of 4 weeks prior to the date of the event.

We hope the changes make communicating all our information more effective.

Rotas can now be found in the file on the display case in church.

Jayne & Sarah in The Parish Office.

All Souls Service of Remembrance and Thanksgiving Choral Evensong BCP

Sunday 2 November 2014 6:30pm If you wish the name of a loved one to be read out please contact the clergy or parish office. Clergy will be available after the service for prayer or conversation. Refreshments after the service will be provided by the CWF

Worship with us in November (In church unless otherwise specified)

Sunday 2 November 8.30am Holy Communion (BCP)* 10am All Age Holy Communion 6.30pm All Soulstide Choral Evensong

Sunday 9 November 8.30am Holy Communion (BCP)* 10am Matins (BCP)* with Sunday School 11.30am Toddler Service 6.30pm Evensong (BCP)*

Sunday 16 November 8.30am Holy Communion (BCP)* 10am All Age Morning Prayer 6.30pm Holy Communion with prayer for healing

Sunday 23 November 8.30am Holy Communion (BCP)* 10am Holy Communion with Sunday School 6.30pm Taize

Sunday 30 November Advent Sunday 8.30am Holy Communion (BCP)* 10am Holy Communion with Sunday School 6.30pm Advent Carol Service

Advent Day of Prayer Monday 1 December 7am-10pm 7am + Service of Light 8.30am + Morning Prayer 12noon + Midday Prayer 4pm + Family Prayers 6.30pm + Evening Prayer 9.30pm + Compline

Weekday Services 9.30am Morning Prayer on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday

10am Holy Communion (BCP*) Wednesday in St Peter’s House Chapel followed by morning coffee

BCP* = Book of Common Prayer

It’s all about people. Isn’t everything that matters, in the end, about people? Our faith is about people. As summed up in John’s Gospel, we hold fast to the truths that: “God so loved the world not in principle or in abstract but each individual person created that He gave his only Son God became a person, a real flesh and blood person, because of that great love for people that whoever believes in Him the promise to every single person, everywhere, at any time may not perish but have everlasting life.” our individual ‘personhood’ so valued that God offers to love us for eternity. It’s all about people - and so the living out of our faith is people centred too. It is important to learn, to understand, to think and discover, to find the hope, courage, joy that enables us to embark on and continue our journey through life with Jesus. But those things are made real in our relationships with people. In this month’s magazine we read all about people and their stories. Stories that will make us smile, make us think, help us to remember. We celebrate and commemorate real people who journey with us today or who have inspired us in

the past. It is good to be thankful for the people who bless us – so we celebrate one another. It is good to ensure that our ideas and beliefs don’t ever become detached from real people – so we commemorate at Allsoulstide and on Remembrance Sunday the lives and contributions of those who have shaped and influenced us. This month I have a wonderful opportunity to encounter the lives of people in circumstances far removed from that which we experience day by day. I am travelling with 8 other women clergy from across the country, with Christian Aid, to Kerala in South West India for 12 days. We will be living alongside local women and their families in their communities. We are not going to give but to receive; to watch and listen and learn and reflect. Those of us who are going are considered to have some influence on our communities and in our church, but I anticipate that we will overwhelmed by being part of the lives of the women we visit, even for a short time, and the way they, without status or authority influence the lives of those around them. I am away from 3rd – 14th November. Please pray for me, and our visit. And I look forward to sharing something of the people I met on my return. Yours, as ever, in Christ,

Libby

The The The Vicar writesVicar writesVicar writes.........

Revd Libby LaneRevd Libby LaneRevd Libby Lane

Contact us

Vicar: Revd Libby Lane 0161 928 4182 vicar@stpetershale.org.uk

Curates: Revd Georgina Watmore

Revd Paul Deakin curate@stpetershale.org.uk

Parish Office: Mon - Fri 9.30am-12.30pm 0161 928 3374 office@stpetershale.org.uk Church Magazine: magazine@stpetershale.org.uk

Celebrating people @ St Peter’s Focus on:

The Ritchies in Shropshire : Where on earth has the time gone? Where on earth did the months go? A blur of new school routines, Google and sat-nav. It’s how we live now – on Google and sat-nav – because we don’t know where anything is. At times the move has been very hard. But has it been worth it? Unhesitatingly, yes. The children are thriving in the school we have found. We can breakfast as a family most mornings. This afternoon we are “popping” to Mom’s with an easy return-same-day drive. Most importantly, we have maintained wonderful friendships and links with Hale, which is an easy 80-minute drive away. Hence, several of you will have seen me around, visiting friends or doing the teas. Someone told us that 94 per cent of Shropshire is rural. It feels like it. The sense of space, the rolling hills, the views – everywhere there are breathtaking views. Our drive to school begins with a magnificent vista of north Shropshire, stretching for miles. It keeps you in mind of His great creation and our very small part in it. We have travelled many miles, too, trying to find a happy church for us. I didn’t know it could be quite so challenging to find the right “flavour” of church experience. Fortunately, the house we have bought (another renovation project) is a Victorian vicarage, and St Mary the Virgin is the church next door. It’s a small congregation, though – we make up the numbers to about 30, including eight (young) children – and I would like our children to have more of a developmental environment for their faith. So we will keep on exploring. Replacing St Peter’s was, of course, always going to be an enormous challenge. It is a special place with a balance of social and faith activities, and spiritually generous. The compound effect of years of effort has created a power in its mission that is difficult to find in other churches. It’s a good reason to continue with the afternoon teas – it gives me great pleasure to wallow selfishly in the glow of that mission. Long may it last.

With kind hellos from Ian, Virginia, Curtis, Tabitha and Laya-Jayne xx

Remembering St Peter’s Centenary Service in June 1992

“I remember it well. A large marque on the lawn with seats for overflow. Sound and pictures relayed to it. First hymn started outside and walked through marque. Big choir with many visitors coming back to join us.”

“Robin Coulthard was organist and choirmaster and on the morning of the service the Vicarage was awakened very early to the sound of him practicing!! As we left the service all we could see were lots of people standing on the roadside as the sound of singing had travelled the length of the village. A lovely sight I remembered so well.”

“Our son James (now 33) is the boy David Ashworth has his arm around in 'Vicar & Helpers'. Sunday sweets from the newsagent in Hale were the reward for weekly silence and good behaviour - in fairness rarely missed!”

“I had only just become a sidesman, for a possible term of 2-3 years I think !and it seemed incredible that I was now going to have a role in our centenary celebrations I was proud to help on such a wonderful and happy occasion.”

“Wonderfully joyous occasion with celebratory, joyous music. Every time I hear Parry's ‘I Was Glad’ I'm transported back to that service.”

”The choir was joined by so very many former choristers that Irene and I undertook the mammoth task of sourcing similar robes to ours from local churches willing to lend theirs, then making sure they were all safely returned!”

”Progressing through the marquee on singing the first hymn at the beginning of the service I was overcome with emotion at the realisation of how much our little daughter church had grown and the benefits over the years bought to so many by belonging to "Our"

church.”

”When everything was concluded I remember walking with David

Ashworth to the pub at the bottom of the village (now apartments) for a well earned drink!”

Celebrating people @ St Peter’s

St Peter’s people have had varied and interesting lives. These quotes are from some of them.

Can you guess who said what? I've shaken hands with Bishop Desmond Tutu

I met the Princess of Wales at a Buckingham Palace Garden party

I was a magazine cover girl

I was a waitress at the wedding reception for Charles and Diana

I met the Queen, she shook my hand and asked where I worked

I had a beer with the Sex Pistols, before they were famous

I spent three years in Holloway!

I have had dinner with Brian Cox

Rowan Williams, former Archbishop of Canterbury, made me a cup of tea

I can trace my mother's roots to a Scottish king, but you don't have to curtsey when you meet me!

I directed Songs of Praise

I have a craving for ice cream!

I was interviewed by the police after finding two watches on Deansgate - they had been imported illegally, but not by me

I have a whole cupboard dedicated to chocolate

I was named after the man who lived next door

I once flew Ansons

I produced the play Volpone

I took off three times in a plane without ever landing

I was at the Official opening of Manchester Central Library by King George V and Queen Mary in 1934 and I still have the Union Flag that I waved.

I have danced on the stage of the Opera House at Covent Garden.

Question - how do you transform this empty space into a room fit for a celebration?

After months of planning, St Peter’s Parish Party took place on Saturday 11th October 2014. Following a kind donation with instructions to ‘hold a party’ the Parish Office team set to work. With the expert eye from a creative friend we visited St Peter’s Assembly Rooms and knew that in order to create the right setting for a party with a difference we needed to create the feeling of ‘bringing the ceiling down and the tables up’!

Our creative friend came up with the wonderful idea of making over 200 pompoms from tissue paper in contrasting colours. The rest of the theme quickly grew around the pompoms and the next call was

to our talented Flower Guild Team. Rosemary offered us the candelabras from her son’s wedding and created stunning arrangements to go in the middle with hydrangeas from her garden in Wales.

Next was the food. As we wanted to create the ‘Wow’ factor we needed a chef who could be creative with traditional recipes. As we also wanted to support local businesses we met with Lewis Clare from Red House Farm in Dunham and together came up with an imaginative, tasty, menu, which was all locally sourced, to delight everyone on the night. The highlight was the ‘ice cream stations’, returning to our childhood with a sweetie bag and delicious home-made sauces to top the wonderful Dunham Massey ice cream specially made for us that afternoon.

Music was provided by ‘Funky Feet Entertainment’ and there were some ‘funky feet’ dancing. The DJ commented that he had provided music for many church events but ours was the best and he could not believe how much people got up and joined in.

Thank you to everyone who supported the evening, we hope you had a good time. Thank you for the donations you made on the night which will all go towards the £10 Challenge and an update will follow on the grand total raised from this Project soon. Thank you to the helpers who helped transform the rooms into their glory. Thank you to those who kindly arranged the grown up party bags and to ‘I Want Plants’ in Ashley who kindly lent us the palm trees.

It was worth all the hard work and pompom fluffing, to see so many surprised and happy faces. Thank you for all the kind feedback we have received. Let us know in the Parish Office if you would like another ‘do’ .

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Saint Elizabeth, Ashley Book Fair 1st Saturday 12noon - 4pm The fair is going so well, and raising much needed funds to help St Elizabeth’s.

So please donate your good quality used books, including children’s books, either on the morning of the sale at St Elizabeth’s in Ashley or by dropping them into the store room at St Peter’s House, Ashley Road, Hale. Contact Revd Georgina Watmore 07926 654 707

Hello! from Kate Hass

I have just taken up the role of PCC Secretary which has been vacant for a while. I have been attending St Peter’s since 1980 when I moved to Hale from Sale. I am a server – easy to spot because I am the only woman currently in that position. I have been doing this for some years, certainly before Libby came, and really enjoy it. We are always looking for more people to join the group – our young people grow up and leave home all too quickly. I am also a sidesperson, mostly but not always at 8.30 services, and a deputy churchwarden. Some of you also know me as Katharine Mellor. This is the name under which I have practised as a solicitor for nearly 40 years. I mention this because when Libby asked me to consider becoming PCC secretary I realised that since I get paid professionally for preparing minutes of meetings for clients I should use the skills that I seem to have for St Peter’s as part of my service to the church. I was flattered that Libby thought I also had other qualities for which she was looking in the role. These included reliability and an ability to keep confidences – again the requirements of the ‘day job’ fit well, to say nothing of trying to get to grips with various parts of church law which will be necessary when it comes to the APCM. What she didn’t tell me about was the IT skills I would need! In my professional life I’ve always had someone to sort things out for me, which makes you lazy. Church has been part of my life since my parents came back to church in their early thirties. My father was a churchwarden. My mother headed the

social committee, did flowers and embroidery – not skills that she managed to hand on to me! I enjoyed Sunday school and Guides. I am the eldest in a family of six girls, none of whom live in the area. My mother recently moved back to Altrincham and is now in Handsworth Residential Home where she is very happy. If you see me with a very old lady then that is her. I have no children so if you see me with a member of the next generation then that is one of my nephews and nieces. All six of us siblings have some church involvement with a variety of denominations and one of us is now a Methodist minister. I read Classics and Ancient History at St Andrews, graduating in 1971. After that I sat down to decide what I would do to earn a living, regarding what I had studied as training for the mind rather than having any direct use! I married Lawrence 39 years ago. He is Jewish by birth and agnostic in faith. He asks me to say prayers for him when there is anything which particularly troubles him and I hope that one day he will say his own. I have now prepared my first set of minutes and hopefully got my computer configured so that I can communicate with all PCC members as a group. I hope I’m ready fully to perform the new role and look forward to getting more involved with the life of St Peter’s.

Kate

GAD Autumn Term 2014

21st Century Mums (GAD) 1st Tues of month Nov and Dec 2014 8pm at a group member’s home We enjoy exploring a whole range of subjects relevant to mums and to women in general. We use a range of inspiring books, music and biblical references to fuel our discussions as well as tea, cake and good company. Contacts Angela Ginger 07709 213719 angela@nginger.co.uk and Jo Green 07770 777790 jo@jogreen.net

Tea and Testament (GAD) daytime group 4&18 Nov and 16 Dec 2pm at a group member’s home, tea at 2.45pm Exploring the lives of some New Testament characters. Contact Revd Georgina Watmore 07926 654 707 curate@stpetershale.org.uk

The Possible World (GAD) 12 and 26 Nov, 10 Dec 7.30-9pm at a group member’s home Stand alone structured sessions with practical ways to join in Jesus’ mission. Contact Keith Neal 0161 980 3343 keith.neal372@btinternet.com

Advent Reflections (GAD) 1, 8, 15, 22 Dec 8-9pm First week in church, thereafter in St Peter’s House Chapel An hour of quiet, prayer and guided meditation based on themes from our Advent book, ‘Walking backwards to Christmas’. Contact the clergy The book will be available on the bookstall through November. It is not necessary to have read the book to come to the Reflections, nor required that you come to the Reflections if you purchase the book. There will be a Book group in January to discuss Advent Book.

From St Peter’s Church War Memorial

Basil Hamilton Woods

Basil was the first fatality from WW1 whose name is inscribed and recorded on the St Peter's memorial at the back of the church.

He was born in Chorlton cum Hardy- 18 August 1891. Educated at Wadham House, Hale, Repton School & Oriel College Oxford. His parents were William & Norah Woods who lived at Ravenstone Hale.

Basil was a second lieutenant in the 2nd East Lancashire Field Company (Territorial), Royal Engineers. He had been a Sergeant in the Officers Training Corps at Oriel College, Oxford. He first joined the Reserve of Officers in May 1912, but resigned in April 1914 to take a commission in the East Lancashire Territorial Engineers.

He was killed while on active service on the Suez Canal 17 December 1914. He was drowned together with six NCO’s and men in the aftermath of an explosion on a launch which his company was using in connection with their work on the defences of the Canal. He was only 23 and was buried with full military honours in the Suez Cemetery.

General Douglas made special reference to the accident in orders, and in connection with the casualties the following telegram was sent by the Commander of the Canal Defence: “All ranks of the Indian Expeditionary Force desire to express their sincere sympathy and regret at the lamentable accident which has resulted in the death of Lieutenant Woods and six NCO’s and men. They were doing excellent work, and their skill and soldierly conduct were highly appreciated.”

In his reply General Douglas said: “ All ranks appreciate kind sympathy of Indian Expeditionary Force. Lieutenant Woods, the NCO’s & men who have lost their lives serving their country were much respected and we all value the knowledge that their good work and soldierly conduct have been appreciated by you and your troops.”

For information on the events being held in Trafford to commemorate the centenary of the First World War. Visit http://www.trafford.gov.uk

Commemoration and Remembrance St Peter’s Service of Remembrance Sunday 9 November 10am, with Act of Remembrance at 11am.

This is a BCP service of Choral Matins, with Sunday School .

A Prayer of Commemoration in the 100th Anniversary year of the outbreak of WW1 Remember, Lord, those whose stories were unspoken and untold. Jesus, remember them when you come into your kingdom. Remember, Lord, those whose minds were darkened and disturbed by memories of war. Jesus, remember them when you come into your kingdom Remember, Lord, those who suffered in silence, and those whose bodies were disfigured by injury and pain. Jesus, remember them when you come into your kingdom. Father of all, remember your holy promise, and look with love on all your people, living and departed. Especially we ask that you would hold for ever those who suffered and died in the first World War.

We pray for those who returned scarred by warfare, those who waited anxiously at home, and those who returned wounded, and disillusioned; those who mourned, and those communities that were diminished and suffered loss.

Remember too those who acted with kindly compassion, those who bravely risked their own lives for their comrades, and those who in the aftermath of war, worked tirelessly for a more peaceful world.

And as you remember them, remember us, O Lord; grant us peace in our time and a longing for the day when people of every language, race, and nation will be brought into the unity of Christ’s kingdom.

This we ask in the name of the same Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. Hale Civic Service of Remembrance is at 3pm at Hale Cenotaph, with procession departing Hale Library at 2.45pm.