St. Martin’s Monthly
December 2010
50p
The shepherds said one to another,
“Let us now go even unto Bethlehem,
and see this thing which is come to pass,
which the Lord hath made known unto us.”
And they came with haste,
and found Mary, and Joseph;
and the Babe lying in a manger.
Luke 2: 15-16
St Martin’s Church, Hale Gardens, Acton W3 9SQ
(Registered charity no. 1132976)
Web: http://www.stmartinswestacton.org
Email: [email protected]
Vicar
The Revd Dr Nicholas Henderson
020 8992 2333
The Revd Justin Dodd
020 8579 4246
The Revd Bruce Barnett-Cowan
020 8896 3065
Associate Vicar
SS Minister
Parishes Secretary (9am – 1pm weekdays)
Parishes Office, 25 Birch Grove, W3 9SP
020 8992 2333 (Fax: 020 8932 1951)
Reader
Reader Emeritus
Dr Margaret Jones (020 8997 1418)
Mrs Lynne Armstrong (020 8992 8341)
Churchwardens
Lisa Ambridge (020 8992 3029)
John Trussler (020 8992 4549)
Director of Music
Sunday School
Youth Group
Magazine Editor
Kenneth Bartram (c/o Parishes Office)
Jackie Nicholls (020 8575 0236)
Jackie Nicholls (020 8575 0236)
Clive Davis ([email protected])
8am Holy Communion
Usual Sunday Services
10am Parish Communion
6.30pm Evensong
A non-Eucharistic Family Service is held on most first Sundays of the month.
Our Sunday School meets in the Church Hall at 10am except when there is a
Family Service.
Every 2nd Sunday of the month: 2.30pm Holy Communion in Japanese
Every Tuesday: 8am Holy Communion
Every Wednesday: 10.30am Holy Communion at All Saints and followed by
coffee at the Lantern Taverna
See the Diary section later in the magazine for other service details.
The Vicar is available for consultation and enquiries by appointment.
Please ring the Parishes Office.
Bearers of God
Before saying anything else, let me express gratitude to you all from
Alyson and myself. You have welcomed us most warmly into the
parish. Your work on the St. Martin’s Cottage has been quite amazing.
It has been repaired and painted; new double glazed windows have
been installed and new carpet where needed. It has been furnished and
equipped to a remarkable degree. We are very comfortable in it. Not
only are we thankful for this but it is also a wise investment for the
future of ministry in this place. My successors will be able to walk
through the door and settle with little more than a suitcase and some
personal books.
When I have given to a particular project I like to see the results, when
that is practicable. We will invite you, over a period of time, to visit and
see what a wonderful job you have done.
During Advent one of the themes that we ponder is the Annunciation
when the angel brought God’s invitation to Mary to become the mother
of his Son. There are a few reflections about this event that I would like
to share with you.
Some years ago the Faith and Order Commission of the World Council
of Churches held a major international conference in Santiago de
Compostella in Galicia in Spain. Alyson was a delegate and as I had
always had a desire to see Santiago I hitched along (as is my wont
from time to time). While I enjoyed myself greatly exploring the
historic old buildings of that amazing city, and spoke with pilgrims who
were pouring through the gates of the city (it was a Jubilee year),
Alyson was deep in theological work with her colleagues. Her particular
section was looking at the Nicene Creed and one day during a break
she said to me, “This is most peculiar. In the English it says ‘was
conceived by the Holy Ghost of the Virgin Mary’ but that is not what the
original Greek text says at all. Literally it says “was conceived by the
Holy Ghost and the Virgin Mary’. The Greek word is ‘kai’ which means
‘and’. How could this be?” I thought about this for a while and
suggested a solution.
My first degree was in Medieval Studies at the University of Toronto.
Amongst other things I had the rather onerous task of looking over
Medieval Latin manuscripts and comparing different versions of the
same text. Occasionally there would show up scribal errors in
transcription. The way the Latin word “et” (and) the Latin word “ex” (of
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or from) are written in old manuscripts is sufficiently similar that it
would be very easy to mistake the one for the other. I suggested that
this was probably what had happened at some point early on. Alyson
suggested that we pose the question to some of the scholars present,
who all agreed with my hypothesis. This is why the World Council of
Churches’ version of the Nicene Creed says “ and was incarnate by the
Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary”. The Church of England’s Common
Worship modern language Nicene Creed reflects the accurate version in
this particular.
All this may seem like so much theological hair splitting but it was of
important significance to the Nicene Fathers and indeed even to the
writer of the Gospel of Luke.
The ancient world was rife with stories of children born to human
women after an encounter with some god or other. I am not, myself,
aware of any such stories in the Classical, Middle Eastern, or Teutonic
worlds that did NOT involve force or guile or some combination of the
two. I’ve asked scholars of those disciplines far more involved that
myself if they could identify any and they have all always said no. The
writer of Luke is at pains to show that Mary freely consents to bear
God’s child. There is no force or trickery involved. She is invited into a
partnership with God in bringing the incarnate Word into the world,
which she freely accepts. She is thus accorded, by a Council of the
undivided Church held at Ephesus in 431 AD, the title Theotokos
(Bearer of God).
This is important for us in a few respects. It is an image for us about
the way God wants to interact with all of us in a more general way. He
invites us into partnership with him. There is no trickery or force but a
free invitation that can be freely accepted. When we do respond to
God’s invitation we are able, in a spiritual sense, to become bearers of
God. In other words we can make Christ real for those around us. We
are all called co-operate with God in bringing Christ into the lives of
others. Mary’s courage and trust is an example for all of us to follow as
we try to follow her Son.
Bruce
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The first Tuesday each month is the
Vicar’s Tea Party, held at the Vicarage, 3pm – 5pm.
Tuesday, 7th December will be a special
Christmas Tea Party!!!!
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You are all invited to the
VICAR’S NEW YEAR’S PARTY
Friday, 31st December
In the Church Hall, Hale Gardens
8.30pm until the New Year arrives
Tickets: £10 from Parishes Office
Dancing to the Derek Madel Band
Bar, raffle and canapés 5
Consulting the congregation – what you said.
Sunday, 7th November saw the congregation of the Family Service
talking about the paper printed in last month’s St Martin’s Monthly
called Consulting the Congregation. Below is a precise of the
plenary from the Family Service.
In answer to Why we belong to St Martin the following was said:
The church is local to the people
The friendliness of the church
The music and the community life
Worship, prayer, outreach and finance are all important. Silence was
also seen as important for people to meditate and pray. St Martin’s was
welcoming, very accepting of people and non-judgemental.
The opportunity this service offered for discussion and throwing out
ideas was appreciated. One group considered other ways of fundraising and suggested four Fairs/Bazaars during the year. Other ideas
were regular cake sales and sale of old clothes. Is it time for another
Stewardship campaign?
How do we increase the size of the congregation?
Many ideas cam up, including distributing flyers in the parish to remind
people we are here. Advertising services and using the existing noticeboards to better effect was considered important. Some felt that there
should be a calendar of regular events. Homemade Christmas cards
could be made and sold to raise funds and bring awareness of St
Martin’s Church.
Within the church should we wear name badges? This seemed to be
like Marmite – you either love the idea or hate it! Some suggested that
there should be more Bible-study within the Sunday School. Now, with
the arrival of Bruce, it was felt that the Sunday School would
appreciate more input from the Clergy.
Questions that were raised included:
Do we utilise the skills within the congregation?
Volunteers in the community- where and what is needed/available?
Is there an opportunity to try alternative forms of service?
Do we meet the needs of the single people in the parish?
From the Editor:
Inevitably, trying to take notes in the plenary comes with the problem
of not being able to write fast enough to keep up with the speed that
people talked. If you felt that your personal views are not reflected in
the above, please feel free to email me your views and I will publish
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them in the next issue of St Martin’s Monthly. Below is one viewpoint
that has since been received.
The question which was presented to the congregation was:
WHY DO WE BELONG TO ST MARTIN’S?
My answer was:
TO WORSHIP GOD IN CHRISTIAN FELLOWSHIP
It is always possible to worship God as an individual but there is no
substitute for communal worship
If we worship in fellowship we need a building (especially so in
Northern Europe!)
If we need a building we need to maintain it and so we need finance
If we wish to have a priest to lead our worship and parish activities we
need to pay him/her, to house him/her and provide for a reasonable
pension for him/her.
My point is that the starting point always has to be worship in
Christian Fellowship, not finance. If we get the worship/spirituality
right the rest should follow. People cannot and should not be coerced
into ‘paying up’. It has to come from a firm desire to support the
Church and that desire should be rooted in a robust spirituality.
What I am saying is that the starting point should be one of deepening
the faith of the congregation rather than deepening the pockets. Get
the faith strengthened and the rest should follow. This was the reality
of the early Church.
On a slightly different tack, I think the idea of such a consultation is
absolutely right. However, should you ever consider a similar exercise
again which is set within the context of a 10am service, may I offer the
following reflections:
A 15 minute sermon slot
5 minutes address by the incumbent outlining the purpose of the
exercise
2 minutes silent reflection
2 minutes each person (including the children) writes on a piece of
blank paper the reason that he/she comes to St Martins.
4 minutes each person (including the children) are invited to come up
to the altar to place their (folded) in a basket
2 minutes the servers (or someone similar) read out perhaps six of the
answers
The 15 minutes ends with silent reflection. All the times are of course
approximate. My feeling is that this would keep the exercise within the
context of a service of worship. Other discussion can take place outside
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the service at a ‘meeting’. This format also has the advantage that
every member (including the children) have a voice rather than the few
who speak up.
The PCC could later analyse the answers. At a later session the same
process could be used to invite people to commit themselves either
through extra giving, or offering their time/talents in a variety of ways,
for example in teaching/hall cleaning/etc etc.
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6th St Nicholas
Father Christmas seems to be as old as Europe. Once he was Woden,
lashing his reindeer through the darkness of northern midwinter. Then
he encountered the Church, and She transformed him into a saint, the
much-loved Nicholas, Bishop of Myra (in south-west Turkey) in the
fourth century. St Nicholas became the patron saint of children, and
was given 6 December as his day.
Since the 6th century, St Nicholas has been venerated in both East and
West though virtually nothing is known of his life. Some believe he may
have been one of the fathers at the Council of Nicea (325), imprisoned
during the Emperor Diocletian’s persecution.
According to legend, Nicholas was an extremely generous
man. One story tells us he rescued three young women
from prostitution by giving their poverty-stricken father
three bags of gold. (Hence the use of three gold balls as
the pawnbroker’s signs.) Over the centuries many,
including children, sailors, unmarried girls, pawnbrokers
and moneylenders have claimed him as their patron.
Perhaps it was on account of S Nicholas’ generosity that in recent
centuries children began to write little notes sometime before 6th
December, to tell him about the toys they specially wanted. These
notes were then left on the windowsill at night, or else on a ledge in
the chimney.
But St Nicholas’ Day chanced to lie in the magnetic field of a much
more potent festival - and after awhile his activities were moved
towards Christmas. Then in Bavaria the children still left their notes on
the window sill, but they addressed them to Liebes Christkind Krishkinkle as they knew him - and the saint’s part in the matter was
simply to deliver the letters in heaven.
The most popular result of the cult of St Nicholas has been the
institution of Santa Claus. He is based on Nicholas’ patronage of
children and the custom in the Low Countries of giving presents on his
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feast. Santa Claus has reached his zenith in America, where the Dutch
Protestants of New Amsterdam (New York) united to it Nordic folklore
legends of a magician who both punished naughty children and
rewarded good ones with presents.
26th St Stephen (died c 35 AD)
Have you ever stopped to consider that the very first martyr of the
Christian Church was a deacon? (No, he wasn’t worked to death by his
church.)
It was Stephen, one of the first seven deacons of the
Christian Church. He’d been appointed by the apostles to
look after the distribution of alms to the faithful poor, and
to help in the ministry of preaching.
Acts 6 and 7 tells us all that we know of his life, and the
passages seem to suggest that he was an
educated Hellenistic Jew. Certainly Stephen’s famous challenge to the
Jews reveals him to have been learned in the Scriptures and the history
of Judaism, besides being eloquent and forceful.
Stephen's proclamation on the day of his martyrdom pulled no
punches. He told the Jews that God did not depend on the Temple. The
Temple was but a temporary institution destined to be fulfilled and
superseded by Christ, who was the prophet foreseen by Moses as
the Messiah for whom the Jewish race had so long awaited.
Stephen then challenged his hearers for resisting the Spirit and for
killing the Christ, as their fathers before them had killed the prophets.
The Jews were so outraged by this that they stoned Stephen on the
spot for blasphemy.
As he died, Stephen saw a vision of Christ on God's right hand. The
men who were witness to the stoning placed their clothes at the feet of
Saul (afterwards Paul), who (to his deep regret later) consented to
Stephen's death.
By the fourth century Stephen had his own feast day in both East and
West Churches. When his supposed tomb was discovered in 415, his
popularity soared. His (supposed) relics were taken to Constantinople
and then Rome, along with some stones said to have been used at his
martyrdom.
28th Holy Innocents
The death of a very young child is perhaps the hardest grief of all to
bear. So the 28th December is a very poignant day in the church
calendar. It is when the worldwide Church joins with bereaved parents
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to grieve the loss of babies and young children.
For Holy Innocents day recalls the massacre of
the young male children of Bethlehem by Herod
the Great.
Herod had been told by the magi, or wise men,
that a great king had been born in Bethlehem,
and he felt shaken. How could a child in unimportant little Bethlehem
be so powerful that the stars in the night sky honoured his birth?!
Herod took the magi so seriously that he decided to try and kill this
new young rival. He decreed that every male baby of two years and
under should be killed. (Matthew 2:1-18). Bethlehem was not a large
place, and Bible commentators estimate that between six and 25
youngsters were slaughtered by Roman soldiers. Their mothers were
inconsolable at the death of their babies, as indeed mothers have
always been.
The death of these innocent baby boys of Bethlehem became a feastday in the western Church by the 4th century. This was because the
Church considered them to be martyrs because they not only died for
Christ, but instead of Christ. Down the centuries, the tragic loss of the
Holy Innocents has touched the imagination and hearts of poets,
preachers and artists.
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Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Luke 12.34
Giving is an integral part of discipleship that resources God’s mission in
our local community. In former times the idea of tithing (giving 10%)
was encouraged. According to the Church of England’s own data,
church members give an average of 3% of their income to the church.
General Synod has challenged all church members to give as an initial
target 5% of after-tax income. But more importantly, that members
review their giving annually. The myth of a “golden age” in church
attendance, is just that – a myth. The Diocese, with the Open
University, has looked at historical data. This shows that church
attendances were no better 100 years ago than they are now. The
records clearly show that those churches which were perceived as
being successful have generally been active within their community and
where the members have given in generosity. The same is probably
true today.
Here at St. Martin’s we are about to finish what has been a challenging
year for our finances. What is the financial picture of our church? The
figures below are calculated from known income and expenditure up to
the end of October and estimated figures for November and December.
By the end of the 2010 our expected income should be around
£140,000. Where will this money have come from?
Restricted funds
and special appeals
17%
Fabric fund
1%
Planned Giving
34%
Fund raising
Rentals
8%
26%
13%
1%
Loose collections
Reclaimed Tax
Estimated income
for 2010
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Most of our income is from Planned Giving. This will be around £48,000
for 2010. £35,560 of this will be given by Standing Order. There are 45
Standing Orders. The top four givers have pledged £17,716 per annum.
The other givers have pledged £17,844 per annum. As you can see
73% of our total income comes from direct giving, reclaimed tax and
hire charges. When we look at our own giving, does each of us meet
the Diocesan challenge?
Fund raising, where we would expect to attract monies from those who
do not regularly come to church, amounts to 8% of our income. Are
there ways we can increase this income?
How do we spend our money? The expected expenditure looks like this:
Fund raising costs
Stationery
2%
Donations
3% 4%
Restricted Funds
15%
Requisites
1%
Utilities
40%
7%
Common Fund
Maintenance
and repairs
16%
4%
Cleaning
6%
2%
Insurance
Personnel
Estimated
expenditure
for 2010
The percentage for Restricted Funds is a little inflated due to the oneoff collecting and spending the monies for the Holy Land trip and the
Malawi fund. Both of these are now closed.
The largest expenditure is the Common Fund. What is the Common
Fund and how is it spent? The Common Fund is the money we pay to
the Diocese. The table below shows how it will have been spent.
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Clergy stipend & pension, Vicarage costs, Council tax
65.5%
Parish support and training costs
31.6%
Willesden Area office costs
0.3%
St. Martin’s contribution to support other parishes
1.5%
Church Schools Levy
1.0%
Deanery Synod & ecumenical councils fees
0.1%
The percentage for Restricted Funds is a little inflated due to the oneoff collecting and spending the monies for the Holy Land trip and the
Malawi fund. Both of these are now closed.
The maintenance and repair sector includes the final payment of the
Loan we were given 4 years ago to help repair the church roof. At the
time we needed £40,000. The Diocese gave us a grant of £20,000 and
an interest-free loan of £20,000.
Clive Davis, Treasurer
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STOP PRESS . . . . STOP PRESS . . . . STOP PRESS
The Advent Fair last month raised (at the time of ‘going to press’) a
magnificent profit of £1,475. This is thanks to
everyone who bought and to all the stall
holders who worked so hard before and during
the day. Special thanks to Carolyn and Sean
who organised this year’s Advent Fair. For
those who missed Nicholas’ face painted as the
white hare, here is a photo to show you what
you
missed.
And a photo showing two of the
excited people at the Fair.
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Christmas and St Luke’s Gospel
It is to St Luke’s wonderful gospel that many Christians turn as the
year draws to a close and Christmas approaches, for it is to St Luke
that we owe the fullest account of the nativity.
Luke alone tells us the story of Mary and the angel’s visit to her, and
has thus given the Church the wonderful Magnificat of Mary.
Luke alone tells us the story of Simeon’s hymn of praise, thus giving us
the wonderful Nunc Dimmittis. Imagine an Anglican evensong without
the Nunc Dimmittis.
Luke alone tells us the story of how the angels appeared to the
shepherds and how the shepherds then visited the infant Jesus.
Imagine Christmas cards and nativity scenes every year without the
shepherds arriving to visit baby Jesus. Imagine school nativity plays
without our children dressed as shepherds or sheep. So, thank you,
Luke!
What makes it so amazing is that Luke was not a Jew! The man who
wrote the fullest nativity story, and indeed more of the New Testament
than any other single person, was a Gentile!
Christmas and St Matthew Gospel
Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod
the king, behold there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem,
saying, “Where is he that is born King of the Jews? For we have seen
his star in the east, and are come to worship him.”
When Herod the king had heard these things, he was troubled, and all
Jerusalem with him. And when he had gathered all the chief priests and
scribes of the people together, he demanded of them where Christ
should be born. And they said unto him, “In Bethlehem of Judaea: for
thus it is written by the prophet, ‘And thou Bethlehem, in the land of
Judah, are not the least among the princes of Judah: for out of thee
shall come a Governor, that shall rule my people Israel’”.
Then Herod, when he had privately called the wise men, inquired of
them diligently what time the star appeared. And he sent them to
Bethlehem, and said, “Go and search diligently for the young child; and
when ye have found him, bring me word again, that I may come and
worship him also”.
When they had heard the king, they departed; and lo, the star, which
they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over
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where the young child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced with
exceeding great joy.
And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child
with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when
they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold,
and frankincense, and myrrh.
DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD
Copy for the January issue should reach the Editor by 14th December.
The January magazine will be on sale by 25th December
Article for the magazine should be sent to Clive Davis
email: [email protected]
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THE HOLY LAND TRIP
The Holy Land Trip made £250.00 for each church and this will be used
to help pay our Common Fund contributions. Thanks go to Canon Dr.
Anne Davison for arranging the pilgrimage so well.
Jackie Nicholls wrote
in last month “Over
the next 3 issues I will
show you the Holy
Land...”
Unfortunately, due to
pressures of work
Jackie will start these
in the next issue.
Meanwhile, to whet
your appetite here is a
photo of the group at
one of the Holy sites.
Editor
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GIFT DAY RESULT
Amount received for Gift Day has so far reached £2,980.
Can we take the final figure to over £3,000?
Over to you!
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Merry Christmas and Happy New Year in 40 Languages
You can supply the pronunciations!
Apache (Western) - Gozhqq Keshmish
Arabic - I'D Miilad Said ous Sana Saida
Croatian - Sretan Bozic
Danish - Glædelig Jul og godt nytår
Farsi - Sal-e no mubarak
French - Joyeux Noël et Bonne Année!
German - Fröhliche Weihnachten und ein glückliches Neues Jahr!
Greek - Kala Christougenna Ki'eftihismenos O Kenourios
Chronos Hawaiian - Mele Kalikimaka & Hauoli Makahiki Hou
Hebrew - Mo'adim Lesimkha. Shanah Tova
Hindi - Shubh Naya Baras
Iraqi - Idah Saidan Wa Sanah Jadidah
Irish - Nollaig Shona Dhuit
Iroquois - Ojenyunyat Sungwiyadeson homungradon nagwutut &
Ojenyunyat osrasay
Italian - Buon Natale e Felice Anno Nuovo
Japanese - Shinnen omedeto. Kurisumasu Omedeto
Korean - Sung Tan Chuk Ha
Kyrghyz - JangI jIlIngIz guttuu bolsun!
Latin - Pax hominibus bonae voluntatis
Maori - Kia orana e kia manuia rava i teia Kiritimeti e te Mataiti Ou
Mongolian - Zul saryn bolon shine ony mend devshuulye
Nepali - krist Yesu Ko Shuva Janma Utsav Ko Upalaxhma Hardik
Shuva & Naya Barsa Ko harkik Shuvakamana
Norweigan/Nynorsk - Eg ynskjer hermed Dykk alle ein God Jul og
Godt Nyttår
Polish - Wesolych Swiat i Szczesliwego Nowego Roku.
Portuguese - Boas Festas e um feliz Ano Novo Romanian - Craciun
fericit si un An Nou fericit!
Russian - Pozdrevlyayu s prazdnikom Rozhdestva i s Novim Godom
Samoan - Ia manuia le Kilisimasi ma le tausaga fou
Somali - ciid wanaagsan iyo sanad cusub oo fiican.
Spanish - Feliz Navidad y Próspero Año Nuevo
Sudanese - Wilujeng Natal Sareng Warsa Enggal
Swedish - God Jul och Gott Nytt År
Tagalog - Maligayang Pasko at Manigong Bagong Taon
Tahitian - Ia ora i te Noere e ia ora na i te matahiti 'api
Thai - Suksan Wan Christmas lae Sawadee Pee Mai
Ukrainian - Veseloho Vam Rizdva i Shchastlyvoho Novoho Roku!
Vietnamese - Chuc Mung Giang
Sinh - Chuc Mung Tan Nien
Zulu - Sinifesela Ukhisimusi Omuhle Nonyaka Omusha Onempumelelo
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A very big Thank You
The Martinmas Ball was a great
success and hugely enjoyed by all.
A very large part of this was due
to the Barnes, Reid and Bevitt
families who worked very hard
both before and during the
evening.
The profit of about £850.00 per
church will be used to help meet
our Common Fund payments.
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2011
Jan 23rd
Jan 24th
Jan 26th
Feb 6th
Mar 9th
Mar 17th
Mar 24th
Mar 31st
Apr 7th
Apr 10th
Apr 14th
6.30pm Joint Taize service at St Martin’s.
8pm PCC meeting
Burns Night entertainment
10.30am Joint Confirmation service at All Saints
8pm Ash Wednesday service
Lent course: Ethics for Today’s Church
Lent course: Ethics for Today’s Church
Lent course: Ethics for Today’s Church
Lent course: Ethics for Today’s Church
Annual Parochial Church Meeting
Lent course: Ethics for Today’s Church
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The Churches Players present
ALADDIN
At All Saints Church Hall, Elm Grove Road
Thursday, December 2nd at 7.30pm including Fish & Chip Supper
Tickets: £12
Friday, December 3rd at 7.30pm including Fish & Chip Supper
Tickets: £12
Saturday, December 4th at 2.30pm
Tickets: £7.50 (Concessions: £5.50); rear 4 rows £5.50
Saturday, December 4th at 8pm including Chilli con carne Supper
Tickets: £12
Sunday, December 5th at 2.30pm including Grand Raffle Draw
Tickets: £7.50 (Concessions: £5.50); rear 4 rows £5.50
Book your tickets now. Call Mo on 020 8579 1700
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EALING CHURCHES
WINTER NIGHT SHELTER
VOLUNTEERS TRAINING EVENING
Wednesday 15th December 2010, 7.30pm – 10pm
St Christopher’s Church, Bordars Road, Hanwell W7 1AG
Led by Bruce Marquart (The Upper Room),
& Rudi Richardson (Streetlytes)
If you would like to volunteer at the Night Shelter, training is
compulsory. If you are unable to attend,
but would like to volunteer at the Night Shelter, please let us know.
EALING CHURCHES WINTER NIGHT SHELTER
St Christopher’s Church
Tel: 020 8578 2796
Bordars Road
Mob: 07796 988 302
Hanwell, W7 1AG
[email protected]
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Christmas: Where did Christmas trees come from?
There are two early stories that mention fir trees. The first involves St
Boniface, who went to Germany in the 8th century as a missionary and
found people sacrificing a child to their god under an oak tree. Boniface
was appalled, and rescued the child. He then chopped down the oak
tree and found a tiny fir tree growing nearby. He gave this to the
people and said: “This is a symbol of life. Whenever you look at this
tree, remember the Christ-child who is the one who will give you life,
because he gave his life for you.”
The second early fir tree story involves Martin Luther in the 16th
century. It is said that one year he decided to drag a fir tree into his
home and to decorate it with candles. He used it as a visual aid, telling
people that the candles symbolised Jesus as the light of the world, and
the evergreen tree symbolised the eternal life that Jesus gives to us.
Many of the people who followed Luther were struck by the idea, and
took up the custom.
Where did Christmas stockings come from?
No one is really sure, but a story is told of St Nicholas, a bishop who
lived in the 4th century, who may have started the custom by accident.
St Nicholas was of a wealthy family, and of a generous heart. One
year, as Christmas approached he wanted to help a poor family whom
he knew, but he did not want them to know it was him. So he climbed
up on their roof on Christmas Eve and dropped some coins down the
chimney.
The next morning the coins, to the great surprise of the family, were
found in the stockings of the ladies, who had hung them to dry by the
fire the night before. Every year following they put their stockings out,
in the hope that some more money would fall into them. They told the
story of this amazing appearance to their friends and neighbours, and
the custom caught on.
Why does it begin at midnight with Holy Communion?
The hour was first chosen at Rome in the 5th century to symbolise the
idea that Christ was born at midnight. No one knows the hour of his
birth. One British writer pointed out its “domestic convenience” in
1947: “for where there are children and no servants, husband and wife
may be unable to communicate at any other time.”
Thank Dickens for Christmas as you know it!
Ever wonder where many of our Christmas traditions come from? A
surprising amount can be traced back to the well-loved story of ‘A
Christmas Carol’, by Charles Dickens.
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When you read ‘A Christmas Carol’, you discover almost a template of
the ‘ideal Christmas’. Dickens seems to have selected the best of the
Christmas celebrations of his day and packaged them in such a way as
to give us traditions that we could accommodate and treasure - more
than a century later.
So, for instance, in ‘A Christmas Carol’, Christmas is a family day, with
a family-centred feast. In a home decorated with holly and candles the
characters enjoy a roast turkey, followed by Christmas pudding. They
give their loved ones presents. Scrooge even gives donations to
charity. And all the while outside, there is snow and frost, while church
bells ring, and carol singers sing, hoping for mulled wine. In ‘A
Christmas Carol’ there is even a Father Christmas - in the shape of
Christmas Present. Only the Christmas tree itself came later, when
Prince Albert imported ‘a pretty German toy’ that won the heart of the
English court, and hence the rest of Victorian society.
×××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××
Hello Ealing!
I have to say at this point as Area Dean I have a mixture of feelings.
Excited, daunted, privileged, hopeful, apprehensive, wanting to be
liked, glad to working with you!
When asked to take on the role I got sent a 24 page ‘how to’ booklet
(written by Andrew and other experienced area deans in the diocese.
Thanks a lot Andrew!) and then you get a shed load of dairy dates for
the coming year. It’s been good for me so far because it’s got me
praying with a bit more urgency!
All I really want to say at this point is that I’ll do my best to serve you
and your churches’ building Christ’s Kingdom in our deanery. If I can
help in any way just ask, when I make mistakes please let me know.
Some of you I have known for a while, others I may not know so well. I
look forward to getting to know you all better over the coming months.
The first thing I would like to do is listen to your stories. Then perhaps
together it will emerge how we continue to build on the all the good
stuff that is happening across the deanery.
Warmest regards,
Christopher
Area Dean of Ealing
Rev’d Christopher Ramsay
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Some more photographs from Nicholas’ 25th Anniversary at St
Martin’s.
The presentation....
About to cut the cake....
Cutting the cake....
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Services this Christmas at
St Martin’s Church
Sunday 5th
10am Christingle Family Service
Sunday 19th
6.30pm: Joint Nine Lessons & Carols
at St Martin’s
Friday 24th
4pm: Children’s Carol Service
11pm: Midnight Eucharist
Saturday 25th: Christmas Day
8am: Holy Communion
10am: Parish Communion
No 6.30pm
Sunday 26th
8am: Holy Communion
10am: Parish Communion
No 6.30pm