parish magazine - st mary's beddington · st mary the virgin parish magazine the anglican...

St Mary the Virgin The Anglican Church

serving the Parish of Beddington

Parish Magazine

May/June 2018

Thirty fourth edition 50P

Website: stmarysbeddington.org.uk

Post Code for sat navs: SM6 7NJ

Cover

Stained glass window in St Mary’s

Picture taken by Linda Wood

I’d like you to cast your mind back to the first time you came into St Mary’s church. I’m assuming you wouldn’t be reading this maga-zine unless you’d stepped inside the Church in the Park at least once. Anyway, I’d hazard a guess that when you entered St Mary’s what you thought was ‘what a beautiful church’. That’s what most people say they think when they first come into the building, and I think we can assume those sentiments are genuine expressions of aesthetic appreciation rather than an automatic spasm of the polite-ness reflex that is responsible for the ‘nice service vicar’ platitude. And I think we can also assume that when people make those sort of comments they’re not subscribers to ‘the church is people not a building’ school of thought. We of course know that by far the most beautiful thing about St Mary’s is the people who come here; I sus-pect, alas, almost every time someone steps in here and exclaims ‘what a beautiful church’ that’s not what they have in mind.

Well yes, it is a beautiful building, for a given definition of beauty, a sort of Victorian-pretty reimagining of decorative mediaeval if-it’s-not-moving-paint-it type of beauty. It is, on those terms a very beautiful building you use for your Sunday snooze. And like all visual beauty it’s merely surface polish, skin deep, as thin as a layer of paint and possibly some varnish on top.

Don’t get me wrong. A thin layer of paint with possibly a layer of varnish on top can make all the difference between a house of pray-er and a soulless whitewashed barn. But if you’ve looked at St Mary, Beddington and just saying ‘how pretty,’ you’ve missed what is one of the most striking things about this church. There’s a lot more here than meets the eye, and for all it’s surface immediacy, this place is not a chocolate box: deep down, this is a very strange place indeed.

One of the main ways that this church building is strange is that it is bursting at the seams, stuffed to the gunnels with angels. You can’t move for the heavenly things. I’ve not yet tried to count them all but it must be getting a bit no-minueting-please-line-dancing-only crowded on the head of that pin. There are far more pictures, paintings, carvings and stained glass windows of angels in here than there are Jesuses, Marys and the saints put together. Pretty much everywhere you look someone’s picked up a pot of paint and daubed an angel on it.

The Reverend Andrew Fenby

There’s angels banging drums, angels playing the organ, angels plucking lutes and angels blowing trumpets. Salted away in the choir there’s one that is apparently playing a nose flute. There are angels announcing and accompanying, opening scrolls and the brandishing lilies. There are a couple wearing Liberty print frocks, and even an archangel- no less - sporting a seafood cloak, Crighton’s hands (you’ve had to have watched Red Dwarf to appreciate that) and a haggis on a stick. Somewhat unusually for beings usually depicted as androgynous, this church also has a stained glass angel sporting a beard.

A couple of times at least you can spot a member of the heavenly host dispatching a dragon to its fiery grave; in the church centre there’s a less ambitious version as one is pictured apparently trying to catch flies with a pair of plates. If you’re not up on your angelology you might think there are some cherubs practising their circus skills unicycling in the east window and - to at least one member of the congregation - there’s even an angel who seems to have been afflicted with a bad case of intestinal wind. Manna, so it seems, plays havoc with the digestion. There are angel wings spread in the Last Judgement painting but here God’s messengers are less frolicsome than usual: holding the scales in which our souls will be weighed and proudly displaying the instruments of Jesus’s passion.

That, I’m sure you’ll agree adds up to a lot of angels. And that’s just for starters.

So far, you might say, so nothing much to write home about. All that’s strange about the forgoing is that the description of them has been filtered through the Rector’s brain. There may be a few more than usual in this place, the Victorians may have gone a touch overboard on the wings and halos at St Mary’s but lots of churches have angels. What’s so strange about that? Well it’s not the having them that’s odd: it’s the things themselves that are.

Angels are really, seriously, strange. You’d never believe it after a thousand years of Christian art. In less than a millenium, we’ve successfully managed to thoroughly domesticate the angel. The popular conception of the creatures is that an angel is a very pretty, very nice-nicey being; a sort of holy fairy; Tinkerbell from Peter Pan just a little bit more grown-up and a little more serious.

Thoroughly domesticated and massively wide of the mark. Listen to this description of cherubim from the book of Ezekiel:

Each had four faces, and each of them had four wings. Their legs were straight, and the soles of their feet were like the sole of a calf’s foot; and they sparkled like burnished bronze. Under their wings on their four sides they had human hands … As for the appearance of their faces: the four had the face of a human being, the face of a lion on the right side, the face of an ox on the left side, and the face of an eagle.

Bear that in mind next time you hear a child called a ‘little cherub’.

According to Isaiah, seraphs have six wings: two to fly with, two to cover their faces and two to cover their ‘feet’. Which all sounds pretty pedestrian compared with another rank of the heavenly hosts as described (again) in Ezekiel

Their appearance was like the gleaming of beryl; and they had the same form, their construction being something like a wheel within a wheel. When they moved, they moved in any of the four directions without veering as they moved. Their rims were tall and awesome, for the rims of all four were full of eyes all around.

And these are what are everywhere you look in this church.

Angels do feature quite a few times in the Bible story, but they’re possibly not quite as central to our faith as you might imagine from looking at this church. However, they are part of it, and they are there, popping up- usually unexpectedly -from the beginning of the story to the end. A message here, staying a hand there, stopping a donkey elsewhere. A touch more forcefully, guarding the gate of Eden once those dodgy humans had been thrown out here, slaying the first born of the Egyptians there, wrestling with Jacob till daybreak elsewhere. Angels here, there and everywhere, working away in the background up and down the ladder; mostly cameos until the last act and then it’s out with the bowls, scrolls and trumpets and they get some of the really the big parts. And what we’ve done… is imagined them as fat babies with wings.

Just as, over the years, we have domesticated our depictions of angels, if we are not careful, we can domesticate our faith too. For the impeccable motive of ‘accessibility’ we might try to denude our worship of its elements of strangeness: dumb down the language, replace ancient chant with bad pop songs, go for communion with Ribena and Mother’s Pride and stick the vicar in a gingham shirt and a hoodie. For the commendable sake of making a difference we might try to ignore the embarrassingly mythical and the mystical and turn our faith into an ethical code and a movement of philanthropy. With the excellent aim of growing the church we might big up on the welcoming side, building a community of friendly fellowship and a full social life. With the aim of

strengthening our commitment we might try to imagine Jesus as our best friend, a pal we can talk to, someone we can invite round for a chat and a cup of tea. All good stuff—apart from the hoodies and naff choruses—and all pretty pointless if you strip out the insurmountable strangeness, that utter otherness at the core of our faith that the angels represent.

If you come into St Mary’s, see all those angels, and only see the prettiness, you’re missing the point. They’re not there for decoration. They’re there to make an intensely serious point.

And that point, the point behind all those endless images of angels in there, is that this is the place where heaven touches earth; this is the place where humans eat the food of angels; this is the place where God dwells among humans. In this place Christians meet, those strange people with their feet on the ground and their eyes on heaven.

Here heaven touches earth. It’s meant to be strange because from where we’re standing heaven looks like a very strange place indeed. Read the book of Revelation for the description; it sure is strange. So embrace, celebrate the strange. But remember, in the end that’s an illusion, the prism of a partial perspective distorting what we see; our clouded vision bending the celestial light. It’s not heaven that is strange.

What is actually wholly bizarre is not what’s in St Mary’s church building, but what we consider to be real life. We truly are strangers in a strange land: and our home is in heaven. Embrace the strange, and welcome home.

Poetry Group The Poetry Group will be starting again in May. We meet togeth-er at 2pm on the third Wednesday of each month, read and discuss poems, have some tea/coffee and biscuits and chat. Come and join us in St Mary's Church Centre. A voluntary contribution would be welcomed. The dates are as follows: May 16th - Bring along a couple of your favourite poems. The group will decide on themes for future meetings. June 20th For further information contact: Judy Page on 07947 736372

One + One

David Harvey soprano sax & FLUTES

Eddie Abdullah guitar

Jazz standards to original composi-

tions

Sunday, 10th JUNE 2018,

3pm

Followed by afternoon tea

St. Mary’s Church,

Church Road,

(Beddington Park), SM6 7NH.

Donations in aid of church

One + One Jazz Duo

plays regularly at Ab-

solute Abode and are

an in-demand group

performing at London

jazz venues and clubs,

including the Junction

in south London, Wa-

terloo’s Union bar as

well as private func-

tions and events.

St . Mary’s Beddington

Mothers’ Union and Open Group

This poem was written by a visiting speaker in the Manchester Diocese, who admitted she knew nothing about the Mothers' Union apart from what she had read on the church notice boards. A Reflective Poem – Mothers' Union Many thousands are our numbers, together we are one. Off'ring love and prayer and fellowship And faith to build upon. Touching hearts and lives and futures Where our banners fly unfurled; Here within our own communities And all across the world. Ever loving, ever giving, Ever sowing God's good seed, Reaching out to those in peril, Reaching out to those in need. Supporting and encouraging, Through good times and through bad; United as a family Through happy times and sad. Never falt'ring in our quest to leave the world a brighter place; In our bid to spread God's love and care, Throughout the human race. Our members all around the world Join hands in love and prayer; None shall ever come between us And the fellowship we share. A L Hartley

Meetings May 3rd Future of St. Mary’s Branch

Pastoral Care

If you, or anyone you know, is unwell, in hospital, or is finding it

difficult to come to church and would like a visit from the Pastoral

Care Team, or Home Communion brought to them, please contact:

Jenifer Davison

020 8773 2004 [email protected]

Maud Adams


Heather Cosgrove


Community and Church News

Melanie’s Walks ([email protected])

Come and join us for a walk around Beddington Park or

Waddon Ponds every Friday morning at 10.00am. Meet by St

Mary’s Church, Church Road, Wallington. Refreshments available

in the church after the walk—contributions to church funds.

Betty will be opening the bookstall on May

6th and June 3rd in St Mary’s Centre after

the 9.30am service.

Sunday Morning

Bookstall

mailto:[email protected]

Children at St Mary’s

Children are welcome at all services at St Mary’s.

There is a play area with toys and activities at the

back of the St Nicholas chapel for babies and toddlers

during a service. All leaders are DBS checked.

Sunday Club runs

during our 9:30am Sunday

Eucharist, in the Church

Centre with creative activi-

ties, games and stories

from the Bible and is for the

younger children in our

congregation

Junior Church is for

our grown up children and

young people and meets in

the mezzanine area of the

centre. We meet together

twice a month for discus-

sions and music and learn

more about Jesus Christ.

Understanding God’s Love for

all is met through both pray-

er and creative activity. For further information about

church for children at St Mary's just

come along or drop us an email:

[email protected]

Or talk to Alison, Judy, Sophie,

Church youth group open to all.

Every Friday - 5.30pm until 7pm

St Mary’s Church Hall, Church Road,

Beddington Park.

Children aged 11yrs-15yrs welcome.

Games, debates, projects, outings and much

more

All leaders are DBS checked.

£1 donation per session

For more details call - 07910814447

ST MARY’S YOUTH LINK


ST MARY’S

TODDLERS

Parent/Carer Toddler Group for pre-school children.

Every Wednesday 10am - 12 noon.

£2 voluntary contribution

Free play, Crafts, Stories, Music and Refreshments

All staff DBS checked

The Centre

St Mary’s Church

Beddington

Call - 07910814447

Open Reel Come and join us for our

monthly film night.

6.30pm

At St Mary’s Church Centre

St Mary’s Open Reel gives us an

opportunity to meet, share food and watch

films that are thought provoking and

celebrate diversity.

Monday 21st May Moonlight

Monday 18th June Balzac and the Little

Chinese Seamstress

Bring and share food.

@ St Mary, Beddington

On

Saturday, May 26th

3-5pm

You are invited

Quiet @ St Mary’s

World Labyrinth Day.

Saturday 5th May

Drop in from 11am - 3pm.

An opportunity to leave behind the

strains and stresses of everyday life in

the beautiful space of St Mary’s Church

Beddington Park. You will find activities

to aid relaxation, quiet and mindfulness,

including the opportunity to walk

A labyrinth.

Email newsletter

If you would like to receive our

email newsletter of

forthcoming services and

events, please email

“subscribe” to

[email protected].

uk or click the link on the

parish website. You could also

sign up on the sheet at the

back of the church.

IN MEMORY OF JO COX

Bringing the community together

At St Mary’s Church, Beddington

Outdoor (or in The Centre if wet)

1pm-4pm

Food and music

With a Carnival Theme

Saturday, June 23rd

Quiet @ St Mary’s

At St Mary’s Church, Beddington

On June 21st from 11am to 2pm



Make a fiery chocolate chilli cake for Pentecost

You will need 175 gms of wholemeal self-raising flour 175 gms of soft light brown sugar 3 large eggs (beaten) 1 heaped tablespoon of cocoa powder 1 red chilli pepper, finely chopped (sweet, mild chillies are best) ½ tsp dried chilli flakes. Filling and butter icing: 250 gms dark chocolate (chilli chocolate would be good) 250mls double cream 1 small knob of butter (about a heaped tablespoon) 1 red chilli pepper finely chopped ½ tsp of hot chilli powder ½ tsp of dried chilli flakes Chopped pistachios How to make it

Sift the flour, cocoa powder and baking powder into a bowl.

Add sugar, butter, eggs, fresh chilli and dried chilli. Mix together.

Divide into two baking tins (7 in diameter) and bake at 170 degrees C (325F) for 30 minutes.

Cool for one hour after cooking.

Filling/and topping

Melt chocolate over a low heat placing your heat proof bowl over a pan of boiling water. Stir till melted.

When melted, remove from heat and stir in the chillies, butter and cream. Cover with cling film and cool. When cool, place this in the fridge for about an hour till it has thickened enough to spread.

Spread over one cake and sandwich together with the other.

Spread over top of cake. Decorate with crushed pistachios and finely chopped fresh red chillies

St Mary the Virgin, Beddington

Readings May and June, 2018

06/05/18 Easter 6 Acts 10.44-end 1 John 5.1-6 John 15.9-17 Song of Solomon 4.16-5.2,8.6,7

Revelation 3.14-end

13/05/18 Ascension Sunday Daniel 7.9-14 Acts 1.1-11 Luke 24.44-end

Song of the Three 29-37

Revelation 5

20/05/18 Pentecost Acts 2.1-21 Romans 8.22-27

John 15.26-27,16.4b-15

Ezekiel 36.22-28 Acts 2.22-38

27/05/18 Trinity Sunday Isaiah 6.1-8 Romans 8.12-17

John 3.1-17 Ezekiel 1.4-10.22-28a

Revelation 4

03/06/18 Corpus Christi Genesis 14.18-20

1 Corinthians 11.23-26

John 6.51-58 Proverbs 9.1-5 Luke 9.11-17

10/06/18 Trinity 2 1 Samuel 8.4-11,16-20

2 Corinthians 4.13-5.1

Mark 3 20-end

Jeremiah 6.16-21 Romans 9.1-13

17/06/18 Trinity 3 1 Samuel 15.34-16.13

2 Corinthians 5.6-10,14-17

Mark 4.26-34 Jeremiah 7.1-16 Romans 9.14-26

24/06/18 Birth of John the Baptist

Isaiah 40.1-11 Galatians Luke 1.57-66,80

Malachi 4 Matthew 11.2-19

01/07/18 SS Peter and Paul Acts 12.1-11 2 Timothy 4.6-8,17-18

Matthew 16.13-19

Ezekiel 34.11-16 John 21.15-22

08/07/18 Trinity 6 2 Samuel 5.1-5,9-10

2 Corinthians 12.2-10

Mark 6.1-13 Jeremiah 20.1-11a

Romans 14.1-17

1st Reading 2nd Reading Gospel Evensong 1st Evensong 2nd

Children’s Page

1. Who is buried at Holy Trinity Church, Strat-ford ?

2. Trinity House oversees all the UK lighthouses.

Who is its Master ?

3. Which illustrated manuscript is kept in the library of

Trinity College, Dublin ?

4. Which rugby league team has Trinity in its name ?

5. The home ground of which Championship soccer

team is on Trinity Road ?

6. Which island was discovered by Christopher

Columbus on Trinity Sunday 1498 ?.

7. The mother church of the CofE Diocese in Europe is

the Cathedral of the Holy Trinity. Where is it?

8. Which Oscar-winning film features a race around

the Great Court of Trinity College, Cambridge ?

9. In which subject discipline would you find The

Impossible Trinity ?

10. Where are the Trinity Alps ?

11. The common name of which tree is Pyrus

Calleryana?

12. Which course on the Christian faith began at Holy

Trinity, Brompton ?

13. Archbishop John Whitgift, founder of Trinity

School, Croydon, crowned only one monarch.

A Quiz for Trinity

Need a hall for your party

Or

another occasion?

ST MARY’S CENTRE

is available for hire

For further details or to book contact

Mike Morgan on 020 8669 3933

14. What was the Trinity test in the New Mexico

desert in July 1945 ?

15. El Greco’s famous painting The Holy Trinity is

found in which art gallery ?

Answers to the Trinity Quiz

1. William Shakespeare; 2.Princess Royal; 3.Book of Kells; 4.Wakefield Trinity; 5. Aston Villa; 6.Trinidad;

7. Gibraltar; 8. Chariots of Fire; 9. Economics;

10. Northern California; 11.Trinity Pear; 12. Alpha Course;

13. James I; 14. First atomic bomb; 15. Prado, Madrid. Sent in by Gareth Gregory

Advertisers

Advertisers help to finance the

production of the magazine. If

you make use of their services,

please tell them you saw their

advert in St Mary's Parish Maga-

zine.

If you would like to advertise (or

suggest someone who might like

to advertise) please contact

[email protected]

SUBMISSION GUIDELINE

We welcome works from all areas of the community. However, we will

not accept any items which may be construed as having an indecent

or abusive nature. The copyright of each individual item remains with

the author. Reproduction of their work is strictly prohibited without the

written consent of the authors themselves. We will only use chosen

works for the magazine, either in paper or electronic form.

Sent in by Gareth Gregory

From Parish Pump

Who's Who at St Mary's

RECTOR Revd. Andrew Fenby

tel:020 8647 1973

email:[email protected]

READER Miss Jenifer Davison

tel:020 8773 2004

PASTORAL Mrs Heather Cosgrove

AUXILLIARIES tel:020 8647 9102


Mrs Maud Adams

tel:07903 122 119

email: [email protected]

CHURCH Mrs Alison Hargreaves

WARDENS tel: 07910 814447

Email:[email protected]

Mrs Judy Page

tel: 07947 736372


PCC SECRETARY Mrs Christine Morgan

tel:020 8669 3933

Email: [email protected]

SACRISTAN Mrs Linda Wood

tel:07928 545 960


ORGANIST AND Mr Karl Dorman

CHOIRMASTER tel:07870 938 167





FRIENDS OF ST MARYS Mrs Heather Cosgrove

STEWARDSHIP Covenant Secretary-Mrs Heather

Cosgrove

020 8647 9102

Recorders-Mr Pierre and Mrs

Jean Delahunty

tel:020 8669 1603

CHURCH FLOWERS Mrs Pam Akhurst


SUNDAY SCHOOL Mrs. Judy Page

SMYL Mrs Alison Hargreaves

(St Mary's Youth Link) tel:007910 814447

MOTHERS' UNION Miss Jenifer Davison

AND OPEN GROUP tel:020 8773 2004

FUNDRAISING Mr Derek Whiting

tel:020 8688 1966

LADIES' GROUP Mrs Chris Morgan

tel: 020 8669 3933


MEN'S GROUP Mr Ian Atkins

tel: 020 8688 5204


BELLRINGERS Mr Richard Fitch

tel: 020 8647 5304


TREASURER Dr Hugh Crozier

tel:020 8643 4134

SUTTON WELCARE Mrs Pam Vernon

CHURCHES tel:020 8669 1549

REPRESENTATIVE

PARISH MAGAZINE Mrs Judy Page

(editorial and advertising)

tel: 07947 736372


Mr Nathan Jones (sub-editing)

Mrs Maud Adams

Drop in

For coffee, biscuits and a chat in

St Mary’s Centre every

Friday morning from 10.30 till

Noon.

parish magazine - st mary's beddington · st mary the virgin parish magazine the anglican...

Documents