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Contact Details for Rushen Parish

Vicar:

Rev’d Joe Heaton (rev.joeheaton@gmail.com) 832275

Rushen Vicarage, Barracks Road, Port St Mary

Readers:

Mrs Margaret Galloway, Cumbrae, Athol Park, Port Erin

Mrs June Harper, The Barns, Strawberry Fields, Colby 834466

Mr Richard Clague, 4 Eagle Mews, Port Erin 834606

Mr Harry Dawson, Thalloo Reagh, Cregneash 478050/835770

Mr Adam Kelly, Berwyn, Beach Rd, Port St Mary 833850

Active Clergy

Rev Roger Harper, The Barns, Strawberry Fields, Colby 834466

Rev John Gulland, 3 Snaefell House, Port Erin 834548

Rev Brian Shephard, Keayn Ard, Queens Rd, Pt. St Mary 833315

Retired Clergy:

Canon John Sheen, Kentraugh Mill, Colby

Church Wardens:

Mr Gerry Callister, 60 Ballamaddrell, Port Erin 474924/834627

Mr Arthur Cregeen, 23 Close Famman, Port Erin 832488

Mr Harry Dawson, Thalloo Reagh, Cregneash 478050/835770

Mr Peter Hayhurst, Fois Fraon, Fistard 832974

PCC Secretary:

Mr David Bowman, The Old Bakery, Qualtroughs Lane, 837117/260539

Port Erin

PCC Treasurer:

Mr Alan Kershaw, Ballakilley Barn, Church Road, 838117

Port St Mary

Parish Administrator and Safeguarding Officer for Children and Vulnerable People:

Mrs Claire Jennings, admin@rushenparish.org.uk 830850

More contact details on the inside of the back cover

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Dear Friends, As winter draws in and the days get shorter there is a distinctive darkness that pervades our homes, our streets and our lives. This change of season can affect us beyond the coldness, the wind and the rain – it can feel oppressive and overwhelming. No doubt we all feel very differently when walking down the street on a lovely summer’s evening than walking down the same street on a cold winter’s night. Bur for some they suffer with Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) whose symptoms include change of mood, loss of appetite and broken sleep patterns. These symptoms are more apparent during the winter months where there is a lack of sunlight. For those that suffer with SAD there is ‘good news’ to help manage the dark days and evenings using various forms of light therapy. The idea being that you sit in front of these light sources to be surrounded by light. Darkness influences all of us – it not only affects our feelings and emotional state but it can be disorientating and a daunting place to be. The Bible teaches us that the very first thing God created in the vast universe was ‘light’ and that light is essential for our benefit. God also gave us light to orientate our way back to him in Jesus Christ who is the ‘Light of the World’. There is a danger as the festive season approaches that we over-spend, over-feed and over-indulge and the central celebration of the Christ Child gets over-looked. If you are able, allow the light source of God’s love to surround you during the day (and night, and there is every chance that others will see how important the Christian message of God’s love and hope really is. Perhaps an easy way to do this is to invite people around for a meal, to offer help in some way, or invite them to a Church service. Richest Blessings

Rev Joe Heaton

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(See(

The Way I See it – Remembering the War

Those of us who can remember the Second World War are now a shrinking minority. Anyone who actually fought in it would now have to be in their mid-eighties. Of course, that makes ‘remembrance’ on a public scale difficult. The youth organisations line up at the war memorial each year, but with the best will in the world the exhortation ‘we will remember them’ is asking a lot of boys and girls whose grandparents were probably not born until years after the war ended.

So perhaps those of us who can remember, however distantly, what that war was like have some kind of duty to share those memories. In my case, the most vivid is leaving London on a bright morning in early September 1939 in a red double-decker bus and heading for an unknown address in rural England. In the case of my brother and me it was a village in Essex, right in the path of an invading army from the Continent. By Christmas that year my parents had decided that there were safer places for us to be, and we spent the rest of the war - blissfully, I’m ashamed to say - in the mid-Wales hills with my Welsh grandparents. We played in the fields, learnt to speak Welsh, made lifelong friendships - and were almost entirely sheltered from the reality of war-time life in London and the other great cities of our land. Mind you, the nightly news broadcast on the wet battery wireless was a reminder that our parents were much less fortunate. Like millions of others, they endured the blackout, the shortages of food, the terrors of the blitz with nightly air raids and the anxiety of my older brother eventually being ‘called up’ and landing on the Normandy beaches under enemy gunfire. The bombs missed the family home - on one occasion only just - but the trauma inevitably took its toll. At the end of the war there were the usual speeches promising that the sacrifices made should not be in vain - we would ensure that nothing like this would ever happen again. But it did, and has - over and over again. Korea, Vietnam, the Falklands, Iraq, Afghanistan - the roll-call seems endless; evidence, if we needed it, of the strange addiction of human beings to violence, conflict and war. It is one thing to remember - and a duty, in view of the sacrifices of so many. But it is no good remembering and then forgetting. War, says the New Testament, flows from ordinary human sins - greed, envy, bad choices (see James 4:1-4). To expunge from our race the hideous horrors of war and armed conflict would mean eliminating each of these manifestations of our fallen nature. Difficult? Impossible, it seems, without help from beyond ourselves. Prayer, commitment, repentance, example - even a private peaceful life-style - are steps towards that goal: small things, some would think, but history has been changed by less.

David Winter

(See page 16)

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and we always overcome them. I am sure that this time will be no exception.

On Thursday 19th

November will be holding our ‘Christmas Tree and Sale of Work’. We hope to sell tickets at the Friendly Lunch. Time is rushing by so quickly or is it a sign of old age!

We have recently sent cheques to two charities for £250 each. They were for ‘The Salvation Army’ and to Mr Norman Rivers to help bring the children from Chernobyl to the Island for a holiday next year.

If you can't make October’s Friendly Lunch we hope to see you at our ‘Christmas Tree and Sale of Work’ on Thursday 19

th November. This year it will be opened by the editor of

Rushen Parish Magazine, Mr David Bowman. It takes place in St Mary’s Church Hall, Port St Mary, at 2,15pm on Thursday 19

th November.

I am sure I have forgotten to tell you some news. Nevertheless we send our love and prayers to Hettie Thomas who is in hospital at the moment, and to any others who are coping with illness.

Brenda Watterson For the Ladies Working Party

Ladies Working Party – St Mary’s

We are already planning the Friendly Lunch for October and arranging who will be able to help us to prepare it and serve those who will attend. This time it coincides with the schools’ half-term holiday and we might encounter some problems finding enough people to help us. However, these problems do occur from time to time

Poor Mother

A couple were going out for the evening. They dressed carefully, called a taxi, set the lights, and put the cat out. When the taxi arrived, the couple opened the front door, and the cat shot back into the house and disappeared up the stairs. They didn’t want the cat shut in the house, so the wife went out to the taxi while the husband climbed back upstairs to find the cat and put it out.

The wife was worried abut some recent break-ins in their neighbourhood. She did not want it known that the house would be empty for the evening. So she explained carefully to the taxi driver: "He's just going upstairs to say goodbye to my mother."

A few minutes later, the husband got into the cab, looking out of breath. “Sorry I took so long," he said, "The stupid old thing was hiding under the bed and I had to poke her with a coat hanger and grab her by the scruff of the neck to get her to come out! Then she slipped away and ran into the closet, but I quickly trapped her in the corner and got a good hold on her.”

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Psalms Quiz

How well do you know the Psalms? For the next three editions of Rushen Parish Magazine there will be a quiz to find out just how good you are. Each month there will be 12 verses from the Book of Psalms. I have used the pew bibles as my source as there are so many different versions (New Revised Standard Version – Anglicized Edition). This month you will find the answers from Psalms 1 – 35. They are listed consecutively to make it easier! Good Luck - Editor

1. When you are disturbed, do not sin; ponder it on your beds, and be silent.

2. Yet you have made them a little lower than God, and crowned them with glory and honour.

3. ….. they lurk in secret like a lion in its covert; they lurk that they may seize the poor; they seize the poor and drag them off in their net.

4. Fools say in their hearts, ‘There is no God.’ They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds; there is no one who does good.

5. Smoke went up from his nostrils, and devouring fire from his mouth; glowing coals flamed forth from him.

6. Out of the brightness before him there broke through his clouds hailstones and coals of fire.

7. ….. which comes out like a bridegroom from his wedding canopy, and like a strong man runs its course with joy.

8. Save me from the mouth of the lion! From the horns of the wild oxen you have rescued me.

9. One thing I asked of the Lord, that will I seek after: to live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in his temple.

10. The voice of the Lord flashes forth flames of fire.

11. He gathered the waters of the sea as in a bottle; he put the deeps in storehouses.

12. The young lions suffer want and hunger, but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.

Answers will appear in December’s Parish Magazine

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News from St. Mary's Sunday School and Junior Church

It was good to come together again after our summer break. Most of the children had enjoyed a wonderful two weeks with the Beach Mission. We chatted about what they had done over the holidays and where they had been. . The following week we began our new Scripture Union material, the first four weeks focussing on Jesus the Friend. We also began the preparations for our Harvest Service on 27

th September.

On the 27

th in was lovely to welcome everyone to St. Mary's for the Harvest Service. The

church was beautifully decorated and there was a large congregation including representatives from Rainbows, Brownies and Guides. The gifts were taken to the altar during the first hymn. The children led the singing of their Thanksgiving song and held up their pictures to illustrate each verse. They also performed their drama “This is the harvest that God made” – which told the story of the planting of the grain from the farmer through to the miller, baker, shopkeeper, customer – ending with the toast for our breakfast! During the Learning Together section Joe talked about the world's harvest and that there should be enough food produced to feed everyone. However, he also talked about how much food goes to waste each year. We all need to look carefully at what we buy and use it responsibly. In October we carried on our lessons and heard about the Samaritan woman at the well and how at this meeting Jesus broke several Jewish rules – he took a drink from a cup belonging to a Samaritan who also happened to be a woman! We learned that God knows all about us and still loves us. Our All Age service on 11

th October was led by Dick Clague based on the text from Mark 10

which the children performed as a dramatic reading where the rich man asked Jesus what he must do to have eternal life. Dick explained that we all find it difficult to put Jesus before everything else in our lives. The rich man couldn't give up his wealth and we also often place too much emphasis on material things. The children had fun threading large plastic needles but were unable to thread the camel pictures through the eyes of the needles!! We continue our classes in the next few weeks. There will be no All-Age service at St. Mary's Church on 8

th November – Remembrance Sunday – instead there will be a joint

service of Remembrance at St. Catherine's Church as well as the main Remembrance service at Kirk Christ.

With love from St. Mary's

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News from St Catherine’s

the parish. You will find them at the back of each of our four churches. All of the Christmas services throughout the parish are printed for your information.

The joint Harvest Services with the congregations from Kirk Christ, St Mary’s and St Catherine’s churches, was very well planned with the children taking part, and the choir involved. It sang an excellent harvest anthem. Pauline and David Bowman lead the prayers. I would like to thank the Sunday School teachers for their part, and the hard work they undertake every week.

On the following Monday evening the Harvest Supper was held in St Mary’s Church Hall. Brenda Watterson and the Ladies Working Party worked extremely hard to provide such a wonderful meal which everyone who attended really enjoyed. A big thank you must be given to Michal and Dorothy Kewley for all their hard work with the sale of produce. The funds raised were given to charity and will have been most welcome in these times of financial difficulty.

At St Catherine’s a coffee morning was held on Friday 25th

September in aid of Macmillan. This was organised by Sue Ali and Shelia Preston. The event raised £880 for Macmillan funds. I would like to thank Sue and Shelia, and all who baked cakes and helped on the day. Thank you too for those of you who supported this event and made it so successful.

‘Messy Church’ met during September and the number attending was above fifty. This form of outreach seems to be growing and we thank God for encouraging families into our church family in Rushen.

I look forward to bringing you more good news in our next Parish Magazine but until then I wish you God’s blessings.

Gerry Callister

Here we are in November already, and it doesn’t seem possible that ten months of this year have already passed and we are starting to think of the Christmas activities and services. Please pick up the leaflet with details of all the events taking place in

Macmillan Coffee Morning

The recently held Macmillan Coffee Morning in St Catherine’s Church Hall raised the grand total of £880.67 for this worthwhile charity. So grateful thanks to all who attended and helped in any way in making this such a successful event.

Suzanne Ali & Sheila Preston

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November Crossword

Down

1 Elijah dug one round the altar he built on Mount Carmel and filled it with water (1 Kings 18:32) (6)

2 ‘I am not — of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes’ (Romans 1:16) (7)

3 Buddhist term relating to belief in reincarnation (5)

5 Damascus disciple who, at God’s command, restored the sight of the blinded Saul of Tarsus (Acts 9:12) (7)

6 &16 Horses: their sound (Jeremiah 50:11) (5) and their gait (Joel 2:4) (6)

7 A three (anag.) (6) 9 Athenian council addressed

memorably by Paul (Acts 17:22) (9) 13 Abide by (Galatians 3:5) (7) 14 Persian princes (Daniel 3:2) (7) 15 Force (Galatians 6:12) (6) 16 See 6 Down (6) 18 Paste (anag.) (5) 20 How the cedars of Lebanon are

described (Isaiah 2:13) (5)

Across

1 ‘The Lord Jesus... took bread, and when he had given —, he broke it’

(1 Corinthians 11:24) (6) 4 ‘He has taken me to the banquet hall, and

his— over me is love’ (Song of Songs 2:4) (6) 8 Surrey town that hosts the National Christian

Resources Exhibition (5) 9 Also known as Abednego (Daniel 1:7) (7) 10 Liken (Isaiah 40:18) (7) 11 A son of Etam, descendant of Judah (1

Chronicles 4:3) (5) 12 A part of the temple where the blood of a

young bull was to be smeared (Ezekiel 45:19) (9)

17 ‘They make many promises, take false — and make agreements’ (Hosea 10:4) (5)

19 Roman province to which Paul returned after evangelising it on his first missionary journey (Acts 16:6) (7)

21 Material used to make baby Moses’ basket (Exodus 2:3) (7)

22 ‘And feeble as —, in thee do we trust, nor find thee to fail’ (5)

23 ‘The watchman opens the gate for him, and the sheep — to his voice’ (John10:3) (6)

24 Stalk carrying the sponge of wine vinegar given to Christ on the cross (John 19:29) (6)

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October Crossword Solution Answers

The winner of the September Sudoku competition was Lesley Jean. Well done Lesley! The draw took place at St Mary’s Church just prior to the joint Harvest Festival Service at 11am on 27th September. Gerry Callister drew her entry from the 5 which were presented to me. Lesley was given her £5 prize money at the service.

October Sudoko Solution

CAMEO and the Vintage Tea Ladies will be holding a Christmas Afternoon Tea on Saturday 28th November 2015. It will be held in St Catherine’s Church Hall from 2 – 4pm. Entertainment will be by Balley Cashtal Brass. Tickets are £10 and can be bought from Suzanne Ali (465137), Sheila Preston (822122) and Sandy Fairest (834449).

Sheila Preston

Christmas Afternoon Tea

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2002, undertaking community, family and youth work in Harpurhey, an inner-city estate in Manchester. Cyprian was formally pastor of a thousand-strong youth congregation in Nairobi and National Director of Kenya Youth for Christ, where he and his wife worked for some years. Cyprian has recently set up a charity, Kanzi Kibera, to help poor children in the slums of Kibera in Nairobi. As well as a programme which feeds lunch to 650 children every day in 5 schools, the charity supports 25 children in a boarding secondary school through scholarships supported by sponsors. Recently CMS (IOM) has supported 2 of these children.

Marjorie Gourlay is from Dundee and is currently on furlough. She has worked in the Lebanon as a youth team leader and as a teacher at a ladies centre. She is much involved with the Arab community and is currently taking a course in Arabic at the University of St. Andrews. She plans to return to the Middle East in the near future. She visited the Island last year, spoke at the CMS (IOM) AGM and was interviewed by Judith Ley on Manx Radio. Marjorie is visiting again and will have spoken at St. Catherine’s Hall on Monday 26

th

October.

Garry Ion is from Cumbria. He is a CMS mission partner working as a consultant in construction engineering, planning and management. From his base in Kampala, Uganda he covers a large area of East Africa, including the troubled areas of South Sudan and Burundi. He supervises the building of schools, churches and hospitals for various Christian communities. He has worked in Africa for over 20 years and the University of Bolton has honoured his work by awarding him an Honorary Doctorate. He visited the Island in 2013 and spoke to Rush and to St. Mary’s ladies.

Brian Trustrum

The CMS (IOM) would like to thank the Parish of Rushen for its recent donation of £300 towards the ongoing work of CMS. For your information the Sodor and Man Association of the CMS have three mission partners:

Cyprian Yobera is originally from Kenya, but currently lives in Salford, where he leads the church of St James, Hope, and engages in outreach to the community He came to Britain in

CMS (IOM)

Answers to Riddles in October’s Magazine

1. The third room. Lions that haven't eaten in three years are dead. 2. The woman was a photographer. She shot a picture of her husband, developed it,

and hung it up to dry (shot; held under water; and hung). 3. Charcoal, as it is used in barbecuing. 4. Yesterday, today, and tomorrow (or Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Boxing Day) 5. The letter e, which is the most common letter used in the English language, does not

appear even once in the paragraph.

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Whoops!

A student went to Brazil to do some voluntary work in the summer term. He wasn‘t the brightest of students – he had spent a few months on a crash course in Spanish, only to find, on his arrival, that the language of Brazil was Portuguese. This left him struggling and not understanding much of what was going on. He decided that he would learn more about the country and its people by attending Mass.

When Sunday arrived, he took a wrong turn and got himself a little lost. When he eventually arrived, the church was packed, and the only pew left was the one on the front row. To avoid making a fool of himself, he decided to pick someone out of the crowd to imitate. He chose to follow the man sitting next to him on the front pew. When they sang, the student peeped at his neighbour‘s hymn book to see the page number. When the man stood up, the student stood up too. When the man sat down, he sat down, and when he knelt to pray, the student followed suit. Whatever the man next to him did, he copied. During the preaching, the student didn't understand a thing. He just sat there and tried to look just like that man in the front pew. The service was now drawing to a close and the priest started to make some announcements. People clapped, so he looked to see if the man was clapping. He was, and so the student clapped too. Then the priest said some more words that he didn't understand and he saw the man next to him stand up, so he stood up too. Suddenly an incredible hush fell over the entire congregation. A few people gasped. He looked around and saw that nobody else was standing, so he sat down. After the service ended, the priest stood at the door shaking the hands of those who were leaving. When the young student stretched out his hand, the priest said to him, in English, I take it that you do not speak Brazilian? The student replied, "No, I don't. How do you know that?" Well, yes, said the preacher. I announced that a family in our church has a new baby boy, and I asked the proud father to stand up.

Author Unknown

Life and Death

The vicar was preaching a powerful sermon concerning death and judgment. In the course of the sermon, he said: “Just think – all of you living in this parish will one day die.” At this, a man in the front pew began to laugh quietly. After the service the vicar demanded sternly why he had found such a serious subject so funny? The man explained: “I was just happy, because I don’t live in this parish.”

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The Advent Wreath is packed with symbolism

Firstly the ever-greenery of the wreath itself: this reminds us of the Life of Jesus triumphing over the darkness and death of winter … and of sin and death. However, some traditions also attach meanings to using different greens, each signifying another aspect of the season. These include:

Ivy – to remind us of the human spirit clinging to God’s strength; Cedar – to remind us of eternal life available to all through Christ; Holly – to remind us of Jesus’ crown of thorns; Bay – to remind us of victory over sin and death.

There are four coloured candles around a central white or gold candle. The coloured candles may well be purple; the colour associated with mourning – for Advent is a time when we mourn our sinfulness and failure to live according to Jesus’ law of love; but purple is also the colour associated with royalty, and it reminds us that we are preparing for the birth of a King –a King who came as a Baby in the manger, but a King who will also be our judge. Sometimes the candles are red – because they look pretty.

There are always four Sundays in Advent (even though there may not be four whole weeks) and a new coloured candle is lit on each Sunday; they all remind us of those who prepared the way for the coming of Jesus:

Firstly the Patriarchs – the great Old Testament figures and fathers of the Jewish faith, especially Abraham and David;

Then the Prophets – the great writers and seers who foretold that The Messiah would be born;

Then John the Baptist – the Herald who preached repentance of sin, and who baptised Jesus himself:

And finally, the Virgin Mary – who submitted in total obedience to all that God required of her and who was the loving and devoted Mother of our Lord.

The central candle symbolises Jesus as the Light of the World.

Traditional Message

Oil

A curate took his old car to the garage for an oil change. After the mechanic had briefly inspected under the bonnet he turned to the vicar: “If I were you vicar, I’d keep the oil and change the car.”

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Andrew (d. c.60) – Patron Saint of Scotland

The apostle Andrew is patron saint of Scotland. According to the gospel of Matthew, Andrew and his brother Simon Peter were the very first two disciples whom Jesus called. “Come, follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” (Matt 4:18, 19)

Without more ado, they obeyed. “At once they left their nets and followed him.” The story is touching for the simple but total faith which they had in Jesus.

Whenever the gospels mention the disciples, Andrew’s name is always in the first four. Rather than a boisterous leader of men (like Peter), he seems to have been an approachable person who wanted to help people. It was Andrew who helped introduce a group of Greeks to Jesus (John 12:20-2) and Andrew who offered Jesus the five small barley loaves and two small fishes when Jesus challenged them to feed the five thousand. (John 6:8) His faith in Jesus over small things was richly rewarded, and this faithful, kindly Galilean fisherman turned disciple went on to become one of the 12 apostles of the Christian Church.

Andrew never settled back in Capernaum by Galilee. Instead, his ‘fishing for men’ seems to have taken him far. One ancient tradition links him with Greece, where both Scythia and Epirus claimed him as their apostle. Another place in Greece, Patras in Achaia, claimed to be the place where Andrew was eventually martyred.

Like Jesus, he was crucified, but the story goes that during the two days it took him to die, he preached earnestly to the people about Jesus. Andrew was not afraid of death on a cross – he had seen it before, and knew one thing for certain: because of Jesus, there was nothing but eternal life ahead of him.

In the West, Andrew’s feast-day was universal from the 6th

century, and hundreds of churches were named after him in Italy, France and England. But how did he end up as patron saint of Scotland?

Well, according to one ancient legend, his relics were taken from Patras to Scotland in the 8th

century, and ended up in Fife, where a church dedicated to him was built and became a centre for evangelisation and later pilgrimage. As Andrew was the only apostle to make it as far as Scotland, he was chosen as patron saint.

But Andrew did not stay in Scotland. After the fall of Constantinople in 1204, it is said that the Crusaders took his relics to Amalfi. From there the despot Thomas Palaeologus sent his head to the pope in Rome in 1461 – where it became one of the most treasured possessions of St Peters - until it was sent to the church in Constantinople by Paul VI.

In art Andrew is depicted with a normal Latin cross in the most ancient examples. The saltire cross ‘X’, commonly called St Andrew’s Cross, and which represents Scotland on the Union Jack, was associated with him from the 10

th century.

Parish Pump

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All in the month of November

300 years ago on 24 Nov 1715 (until 9 Feb 1716) the River Thames in London froze over and a frost fair was held. 250 years ago on 1

st Nov 1765 the Stamp Act (a British tax

on the colonies of North America) went into effect. It became one of the key grievances that led to the American Revolution.

200 years ago on 24th

Nov 1815 Grace Darling was born. She famously rescued survivors of a shipwreck off Northumberland in 1838. She and her father used a rowing boat as the sea was too rough for a lifeboat.

150 years ago on 26th

Nov 1865 Lewis Carroll’s novel ‘Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland’ was published.

90 years ago on 13th

Nov 1925 the world’s first exhibition of Surrealist art opened at Galerie Pierre in Paris.

80 years ago on 6th

Nov 1935 Britain’s Hawker Hurricane fighter plane made its first flight. It played a major role in WW2, especially during the Battle of Britain.

75 years ago on 14th

Nov 1940 the German Luftwaffe bombers virtually destroyed the city of Coventry, including the medieval cathedral.

50 years ago on 9th

Nov 1965 the death penalty was abolished in the UK.

40 years ago on 3rd

Nov 1975 Britain’s first North Sea oil pipeline was officially opened.

30 years ago on 15th

Nov 1985 the Anglo-Irish Agreement was signed in Dublin by Margaret Thatcher and Irish President Garret Fitzgerald. It gave the Irish Government a consultative role in the affairs of Northern Ireland.

25 years ago on 12th

Nov 1990 British computer scientist Tim Berners-Lee published a formal proposal for the World Wide Web.

20 years ago on 20th

Nov 1995 Princess Diana spoke openly about her separation from the Prince of Wales in a frank interview for the BBC.

15 years ago on 27th

Nov 2000 Nigerian schoolboy Damilola Taylor, aged 10, died after being stabbed in the leg by a gang of hooded attackers near his home in South London.

10 years ago on 22nd

Nov 2005 Angela Merkel became the first female Chancellor of Germany.

16

linked appeal was Armistice Day, and the British Legion took a big chance: they had no idea if the poppies would ‘catch on’ over here or not, but went ahead, ordered nine million, and held their breath... On the day itself, the first poppy was bought in London a few seconds after midnight. The poppies were on sale at an official price of threepence but before breakfast single petals were selling Smithfield Market for £5. All day long motor cars fetched poppies and crate after crate was emptied until supplies ran out. A message from Queen Mary brought sellers to Buckingham Palace, but hearing that poppies were in short supply, she bought only two. A basket of poppies auctioned at Christies raised nearly £500. That first appeal raised £106,000 (nearly £30 million in today's terms). In 1922 the "Poppy Factory" was established in the UK and has been employing disabled ex-Servicemen to make the poppies ever since. Poppies were "sold" when the appeal started. Nowadays, charity legislation requires them to be 'distributed in return for donations'

Poppies for Remembrance

The annual Poppy Appeal is now underway. Did you ever wonder how it all began?

It seems that poppies were first suggested as a symbol of Remembrance in the USA by a Miss Moina Michael, way back in November 1918. The American Legion used them in 1920, and then in 1921 Madame Guerin introduced her poppies, made by widows of a French-American charity, to the British Legion. The next suitable occasion for a poppy-linked

From the Registers

Funerals (September 2015):

Wednesday 2nd

September 2015 Mr Victor Lesley Harrison Kirk Christ @ 2.30pm

Wednesday 9th

September 2015 Mr Gary Brown Kirk Christ @ 2.00pm

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Rushen Mothers’ Union

It was a beautiful, sunny day for our first meeting on Monday 12

th October, in St Mary’s Hall, and it was lovely to

welcome such a good number of members and our speaker Dr Pat McClure, whose willingness to change the date for her talk on the work of Church Recorders, we appreciate. (As she was to be on holiday in Tuscany, Brenda had asked me to chair the meeting – both an honour and a responsibility!)

We opened the afternoon with our short service, Maureen Hartly giving us two contrasting readings and Margaret Coupar both choosing our hymns and playing the piano. Thank you both. The Diocesan Quiet Day was the next day, at Marown Church. Everyone was looking forward to hearing Dr Pat McClure’s talk about the work of Church Recorders, and we were not disappointed. Having studied Church Archaeology at Liverpool University, she now researches inside Manx and Welsh churches and churchyards. She was a founder member of the Isle of Man Church Recorders and group leader for eleven years, and her talk, accompanied by a power point display of slides, vividly explained the fascinating, and painstaking, work of this group of volunteers, each of whom has their own speciality: memorials, metalwork, stonework, woodwork, textiles, paintings etc, library, windows and miscellaneous. From the east end of a church, clockwise, they record for posterity, the materials, date, measurements, artist, architect, sculptor, woodworker etc, manufacturer or retailer, history of family donor and date of gift, and the memorial inscription or dedication, producing large volumes of records, some of which Dr McClure had brought for us to examine. Sue Maddrell gave a most appreciative vote of thanks and a gift, and after our closing hymn we all enjoyed tea and biscuits, and a good chat. Thank you ladies. Our next meeting will be on Monday 9

th November at 2pm, in St Catherine’s Hall, when

our talk on the ‘Manx Trio’, (Knox, Nicholson, Hoggatt) will be given by Yvonne Cresswell from MNH. Welcome home, Brenda! We all missed you.

Pat Thomson

Hear me

Preacher: Can everyone hear me at the back? Voice from the back: Yes, but I wouldn’t mind changing seats with someone who

can’t!

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Faith before the firing squad

This year is the centenary of Edith Cavell’s death. Many remember her patriotism. But for Edith, patriotism was not enough. Many saw her as a hero and a martyr; some even think she was a spy. But Edith asked to be remembered ‘… only as a nurse who tried to do her duty’.

Dozens of books have been written about Edith Cavell, but none answered the question:

‘How could she be so calm and confident before the firing squad?’ My new book, Edith Cavell - Faith before the firing squad (Monarch, £8.99) tells Edith’s story. It traces the roots of her calm confidence, her love for others expressed in practical, selfless service to friend and foe alike, as well as her courage helping fugitives from war find freedom.

Self-sacrifice was the hallmark of Nurse Edith Cavell’s life. She was executed on 12th

October 1915 for enabling at least 200 Allied soldiers to escape occupied Belgium into neutral territory, but her care had extended to German and Allied soldiers.

On the night before her execution she told the chaplain who came to give her Holy Communion that she was grateful for the weeks of quiet she had spent in solitary confinement after such a busy life. She said, ‘I have seen death so often that it is not strange or fearful to me … This I would say, standing as I do in view of God and eternity, I realize that patriotism is not enough. I must have no hatred or bitterness towards anyone.’

She knew that the patriotism her fellow prisoners had used in their defence was not enough to enable her to stand in God’s presence. Throughout her life she had used the Book of Common Prayer, repeating the Lord’s Prayer morning and evening, ‘forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive them that trespass against us’. She knew that she couldn’t hold on to hatred or bitterness. She needed to forgive others, just as she had been forgiven.

After they had shared communion, they said together the words of the hymn ‘Abide with Me’, and they talked about heaven. As he left her cell, she took the chaplain’s hand and said with confidence in her eternal future, ‘We shall meet again.’ She was executed by firing squad at dawn the next morning.

Catherine Butcher

The New Minister The new minister was visiting in the homes of his parishioners. At one house it seemed obvious that someone was at home, but no answer came to his repeated knocks at the door. Finally he took out a card, wrote ‘Revelation 3:20’ on the back and stuck it in the door. When the offering was processed the following Sunday, he found that his card had been returned. Added to it was this cryptic message, ‘Genesis 3:10’. Reaching for his Bible to check out the citation, he broke up in gales of laughter. Revelation 3:20 begins "Behold, I stand at the door and knock." Genesis 3:10 reads, "I heard your voice in the garden and I was afraid for I was naked."

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Children’s Page

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Jerusalem

Of course, when Blake was living and writing in London at the turn of the 18th century, the Women’s Institute was the last thing on his mind. He was not an establishment sort of person. Even though William Blake was a firm believer in Christianity, with a great affection for the Bible, this visionary poet was very hostile to the established church of the day. Instead, William Blake was fascinated by Mysticism and the growing Romantic Movement. His poetry and print-making reflect his highly idiosyncratic view of life. His spirituality was intense and very personal: he produced a magnificent illustrated version of The Book of Job, but believed that he could talk freely to the Old Testament prophets. Blake would undoubtedly have raised a few eyebrows if he’d ever been let loose in a Women’s Institute, but his poetry has been loved by millions over the past two centuries. Though largely ignored during his lifetime (he died in 1827) Blake’s work is seen by many scholars as highly significant in the history of both poetry and the visual arts. Indeed, William Blake was voted 38th in a poll of the 100 Greatest Britons, organised by the BBC in 2002. One modern critic has even called him “far and away the greatest artist Britain has ever produced.” William Blake gave the Women’s Institute ‘Jerusalem’. In return, he would probably have appreciated their jam!

And did those feet in ancient time Walk upon England's mountains green? And was the holy Lamb of God On England's pleasant pastures seen? And did the Countenance Divine Shine forth upon our clouded hills? And was Jerusalem builded here Among these dark Satanic Mills? Bring me my bow of burning gold! Bring me my arrows of desire! Bring me my spear! O clouds, unfold! Bring me my chariot of fire! I will not cease from mental fight, Nor shall my sword sleep in my hand, Till we have built Jerusalem In England's green and pleasant land

The Story Behind the Hymn

Every member of every Women’s Institute throughout the country will probably know this already, but this year is the 250th anniversary of the birth of William Blake…the man who put ‘Jerusalem’ into the W I’s ‘Jam and Jerusalem’ The man who wrote the ‘theme-tune’ for the Women’s Institute, William Blake, was born in London 250 years ago this month, on 28 November.

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Rushen Parish Prayer Diary

Help me to live each day Quietly, easily,

To lean on your great strength Trustfully, restfully,

To await the unfolding of your will Patiently, joyously, To face tomorrow

Confidently, courageously Amen

November 2015 This is your invitation to pray day by day for:

1st

All saints, known or unknown, now in heaven 2

nd People we have known and loved, but no longer see

3rd

Christians around the world 4

th Children who are affected when families break up

5th

Safety for all those involved in firework and bonfire celebrations 6

th The work of the British Legion in preparation for Remembrance Sunday

7th

The refugees seeking better opportunities for themselves 8

th Those who died in two world wars and subsequent conflicts to give us freedom

9th

The Mothers’ Union Branch Meeting taking place at 2pm this afternoon 10

th Older people who need warmth as winter approaches

11th

The Armistice which is remembered today 12

th The work of charities both at home and overseas

13th

Those who are ill, or in hospital, and the people who look after them 14

th People who are suffering hardship through loss of earnings

15th

Fishermen who risk their lives to provide us with food to eat 16

th Babies born today and the families into which they are born

17th

The PCC meeting taking place in St Catherine’s Church Hall this evening 18

th The importance of the Bible as a teaching aid for all Christians

19th

People in prison seeking to improve their lives 20

th Preparations for Christmas in shops and other retail outlets

21st

Messy Church and its successful outreach into the community 22

nd Christ the King – the last Sunday in the church year

23rd

Couples who are preparing for marriage at some point in the future 24

th Our congregations throughout Rushen which meet in fellowship and faith each Sunday

25th

Port Erin United Men’s Fellowship meeting in Port Erin Methodist Hall at 7.30pm 26

th Preparations throughout the parish for our Christmas services

27th

Those who intercede at our services throughout the parish 28

th Wendy Heaton and Mark Payne who are training for ministry

29th

A new church year beginning on this Advent Sunday 30

th Saint Andrew, Patron Saint of Scotland, and brother of St Peter the Apostle

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1st Nov. 8am St Catherine’s Holy Communion (BCP) (All Saints) 9.30am Kirk Christ Morning Prayer (CW)

11am St Mary’s Holy Communion (CW) 11am St Catherine’s Morning Prayer (CW) 3.15pm St Peter’s Evening Prayer + Baptism (BCP)

6.30pm St Mary’s Confirmation

4th Nov. 11.45am Southlands Holy Communion (CW) 2pm St Mary’s Play & Praise

8th Nov. 10.45am Kirk Christ Remembrance Service (Remembrance 10.55am St Catherine’s Holy Communion (CW) 3 Before Advent) 3.15pm St Peter’s Evening Prayer (BCP) 6.30pm St Mary’s Alternative Worship

15th Nov. 8am St Catherine’s Holy Communion (BCP) (2 Before Advent) 9.30am Kirk Christ Morning Prayer (CW) 11am St Mary’s Holy Communion (CW) 11am St Catherine’s All-Age Service (CW) 3.15pm St Peter’s Holy Communion (BCP)

22nd Nov. 9.30am Kirk Christ Holy Communion (CW) (Christ the King) 11am St Mary’s Morning Prayer (CW) 11am St Catherine’s Holy Communion (CW) 3.15pm St Peter’s Evening Prayer (BCP) 29th Nov. 11am Kirk Christ All-Age Joint Service (CW) (Advent 1)

(CW) Common Worship (BCP) Book of Common Prayer

Services November 2015

2015

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Contact Details for Rushen Parish

St Mary’s Sunday School Leader:

Carole Coole, Cronk-NyGreiney, Fisher’s Hill, Arbory 827545

St Mary’s Ladies Working Party & St Mary’s Friendly Lunches

Mrs Brenda Watterson, Cair Vie, Linden Ave. Port St Mary 833618

St Mary’s Hall Bookings:

Mrs Brenda Watterson, Cair Vie, Linden Ave. Port St Mary 833618

St Catherine’s CAMEO & Morning Coffee

Mrs Suzanne Ali, 25 Sunnydale Avenue, Port Erin 834456

St Catherine’s Hall Bookings:

Mr & Mrs G Callister, 60 Ballamaddrell, Port Erin 474924/834627

Web Site/E-mail:

www.rushenparish.org.uk admin@rushenparish.org.uk

Magazine Editor

Mr David Bowman, The Old Bakery, Qualtroughs Lane, 837117/260539

Ballafesson, Port Erin

e-mail: dbow43@manx.net or dbow43@live.co.uk

Articles for the magazine should be submitted to the editor no later

than 20th of each month. This arrangement is subject to change.

Parish Director of Music:

Mr M D Porter, 10 Fairway Drive, Rowany, Port Erin 832143

Churchyard Enquiries:

Please contact Mr Harry Dawson: 478050/835770

or Mr G Callister: 474924/834627

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November Sudoku Competition

Here is this month’s Sudoko competition. If you would like me to send you a copy I will do so with pleasure. When completed, you can submit your entry to me at my address which can be found in the magazine, or give it to one of the wardens, or telephone me so that I can collect it from you. You must ensure that your name and address is printed somewhere on your entry. There is a prize of £5 for the winner. The solution will be printed in the December edition of the magazine. If possible the draw will be made at the joint service at Kirk Christ on 29th November. The closing date is Friday 27th November 2015. The very best of luck!

David Bowman (Editor)