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Parish News Benefice of Bradford on Avon Holy Trinity, Westwood and Wingfield December/January 2016/17 www.htboa.org In this issue Holy Trinity reopens Are churches helping the homeless? And your guide to Christmas services and events across the Benefice...

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Page 1: Parish Newshtboa.org/PNarchive/1612 Parish News Dec 2016-Jan 2017.pdfFestival Concert Holy Trinity 11 SUNDAY THE THIRD SUNDAY OF ADVENT 8am Holy Communion Christ Church 9.30am Holy

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Parish News Benefice of Bradford on Avon Holy Trinity,

Westwood and Wingfield

December/January 2016/17

www.htboa.org

In this issue… Holy Trinity reopens Are churches helping the homeless? And your guide to Christmas services and events across the Benefice...

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DIRECTORY FOR HOLY TRINITY

Rector The Revd Joanna Abecassis, 18A Woolley St, BoA BA15 1AF [email protected] Tel: 864444 Associate Priest The Revd Dr Ali Green, 36 Budbury Close, BoA BA15 1QG [email protected] Tel: 0785 547 0069 Churchwardens David Milne, 37 Palairet Close, BA15 1UT Tel: 864341

Judith Holland, 23 Avonfield Avenue, BA15 1JD Tel: 866215 Benefice Administrator Sally Palmer-Walton [email protected] Admin Assistant Aylene Clack [email protected] Assistant Wardens Brian Netley, Val Payne Retired Clergy Canon Richard Askew, The Ven John Burgess, Canon David Driscoll, The Revd Alun Glyn-Jones, Canon Peter Hardman, The Revd Jim Hill, The Ven Ian Stanes, The Revd Karl Wiggins. Director of Music Vacant Times of Services Holy Trinity at Christ Church (Check Bulletins and notices or Church website) Sundays 8am Eucharist (Traditional language) 10.30am Holy Communion (coffee afterwards) 6pm Evensong, Compline, etc Weekday Eucharist 10.30am Wednesdays 12 noon Fridays (Traditional language) with lunch out afterwards Daily (not Sundays or Tuesdays) Morning and Evening Prayer at 8.30am and 5.30pm (please enter via the south door by the Mount Pleasant Centre). Times of Meetings mainly music 10.30am, Tuesdays, BoA Youth and Community Centre Choir Practice 6.30pm, Christ Church, Tuesdays Team Trinity Not meeting in 2016 Mothers’ Union 7.30pm 3rd Thursday, Cedar Court, Berryfield Road, BoA. Saxon Club 2–4pm Every Tuesday except August, United Church Hall Bell Practice 7.30–9pm 2nd and 4th Mondays Benefice website www.htboa.org Weekly Bulletin Notices to Sally Palmer-Walton not later than Wednesday for the following Sunday.

Please see the bulletin or visit www.htboa.org for more details on service times and locations.

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HOLY TRINITY AT CHRIST CHURCH

DIARY FOR DECEMBER 2016

1 Thursday 8pm Contemplative Hour St Mary Tory

4 SUNDAY THE SECOND SUNDAY OF ADVENT

8am Holy Communion Christ Church

10.30am Holy Communion with Choir to celebrate the 5oth Anniversary of the Priesting of the Ven Ian Stanes

Christ Church

6pm Compline Christ Church

6 Tuesday 10.30am- CHRISTMAS TREE FESTIVAL Holy Trinity

(until 11 Sunday)

6pm

9 Friday 7.30pm Silver Ring Choir Tree Festival Concert

Holy Trinity

11 SUNDAY THE THIRD SUNDAY OF ADVENT

8am Holy Communion Christ Church

9.30am Holy Communion Wingfield

10.30am Prayer and Praise Christ Church 11.15am Holy Communion with Choir Westwood

14 Wednesday 7pm St Laurence School Carol Service

Christ Church

RETURN TO HOLY TRINITY

18 SUNDAY THE FOURTH SUNDAY OF ADVENT

8am No Service 10am Benefice Sung Eucharist with Bishop Nicholas 6pm Candlelit Service of Nine Lessons and Carols 20 Tuesday 7.30pm Mothers’ Union Meeting –

Christmas Surprise! Cedar Court

25 SUNDAY CHRISTMAS DAY

SEE CENTRE SPREAD FOR CHRISTMAS SERVICES

31 Saturday 11am Marriage of Clive Tomlinson and Stephanie Squire

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HOLY TRINITY

DIARY FOR JANUARY 2017

WEEKLY GROUPS Monday 7.30pm (fortnightly) ‘Faith Explored’ (for venue ring Erin Shields-Pett on 684460) Tuesday 10.30am mainly music (a group for young children school term only), Bradford on Avon Youth and Community Centre

Baptisms

Sophia Florence Beech 6 November (Saxon Church)

FROM THE REGISTERS

Funerals

(Dorothy) Joy Harris 4 November Lucy Eleanor Yelf 18 November

1 SUNDAY THE NAMING AND CIRCUMCISION OF JESUS

9.30am Sung Eucharist

6pm Compline

5 Thursday 8pm Contemplative Hour St Mary Tory

8 SUNDAY THE BAPTISM OF CHRIST

9.30am ‘In the Round’

6pm Eucharist for Healing and Wholeness

15 SUNDAY THE SECOND SUNDAY OF EPIPHANY

9.30am Sung Eucharist 6pm Evensong Westwood

22 SUNDAY THE THIRD SUNDAY OF EPIPHANY

9.30am Sung Eucharist 2.30pm Holy Baptism of Chloe Sheppard 6pm BACT Service for Christian Unity 25 Wednesday 7.30pm Friends of Holy Trinity’s Burns Night Supper

29 SUNDAY THE PRESENTATION OF CHRIST

9.30am Benefice Sung Eucharist

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(JANUARY) 1 SUNDAY

THE NAMING AND CIRCUMCISION OF JESUS

9.30am Morning Prayer Wingfield

11.15am Family Service Westwood

8 SUNDAY THE BAPTISM OF CHRIST

9.30am Holy Communion Wingfield 11.15am Holy Communion Westwood

15 SUNDAY THE SECOND SUNDAY OF EPIPHANY

9.30am Family Service Wingfield 11.15am Mattins (BCP) Westwood 6pm Evensong Westwood

22 SUNDAY THE THIRD SUNDAY OF EPIPHANY

9.30am Holy Communion Wingfield 11.15am Holy Communion Westwood

29 SUNDAY THE PRESENTATION OF CHRIST

9.30am Benefice Sung Eucharist Holy Trinity

WESTWOOD & WINGFIELD

DIARY FOR DECEMBER & JANUARY 2016/17

4 SUNDAY THE SECOND SUNDAY OF ADVENT

9.30am Morning Prayer Wingfield

11.15am Family Service Westwood

9 Friday 6.30pm Candlelit Carol Concert Wingfield

11 SUNDAY THE THIRD SUNDAY OF ADVENT

9.30am Holy Communion Wingfield 11.15am Holy Communion Westwood

15 Friday & 16 Saturday

10am to 6pm

Exhibition of Nativity sets in Westwood Church

Westwood

18 SUNDAY THE FOURTH SUNDAY OF ADVENT

10am Benefice Sung Eucharist with Bishop Nicholas

Holy Trinity

6pm Carol Service Westwood

24 SUNDAY CHRISTMAS EVE

11.15pm Midnight Mass Westwood

25 SUNDAY CHRISTMAS DAY

9.30am Family Service with Carols Wingfield

11.15am Family Service with Carols Westwood

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A s we are propelled onwards into the riches of the Seasons

of Advent, Christmas and

Epiphany, what better guide and inspiration can we have than these

words from Psalm 46 which were

chosen as our welcoming message to Holy Trinity, engraved on the new glass

doors? And they have certainly formed

the basis of our very first week back in our newly restored Holy Trinity, our

‘Mary Week’. It has certainly been quite

a challenge nurturing this project – and in particular the vision – through to

completion. But a vitally important aim

from my point of view was always that we would create a sacred space where

people would experience the love and

the presence of God. And also, right from the start, that – after all this effort

– there would be a ‘wow!’ factor!

But it was not at all clear to us what that ’wow!’ factor would be…. And

so I for one, as our ‘Mary Week’ draws to a close, am thrilled and delighted

– almost awe-struck at the grace of God – that in the space of just a few days both of these aims have clearly been fulfilled. The written comments,

not to mention the verbal ones and the conversations we have had, and

the sheer look in people’s eyes as they have come through those doors, and then often just sat quietly, have been extraordinary. And there have

been some glorious superlatives – lots of ‘wow! just wow!’ and ‘simply

amazing’ and ‘awesome splendour’ – ‘I’m speechless’ – ‘a transformation’ – and a ‘beautiful, beautiful space’.

And so how appropriate for this time when we ponder and anticipate the coming of Christ, celebrate his birth, and then enjoy and explore the

wonders of his life on earth: Jesus – the Son of God – Emmanuel – God

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with us. The long months in the womb – or in exile – of which Bishop Ed spoke last December are over and the ‘baby’ has been born! And so

we look forward hugely to the Bishop of Salisbury’s visit for our ‘Sung

Eucharist of Celebration and Thanksgiving’ on 18 December when we shall be truly ‘launched’ and richly blessed in our new life together with friends

old and new, from Bradford on Avon and way beyond. It will be the first

test 0f whether we have provided enough new seating! Then just a few days later of course, we shall be celebrating Christmas itself as

wonderfully as we can manage – and then, as for any new parents and

to continue the metaphor, we have the responsibility and challenge of bringing up that child, of bringing our vision to fruition.

Perhaps that is where these words from Psalm 46 will really come into their own? For it would be easy to race ahead with plans and to try and fill

the diary with activity, but this will be the time for a corporate listening

and ‘Being Still’ as we seek to follow God’s will and identify our new life closely with the life of Christ in all those glorious Epiphany gospels and

Collects of transformation, and of journeying from the old to the new. Our

new Services ‘In the Round’ and ‘Eucharist for Healing and Wholeness’ will be examples of that – and we shall look forward to all the other things that

the ‘Holy Trinity has a Vison, here we come!’ groups are planning. And if

we truly have that gut-feeling ‘knowing that he is God’, then the sense of our ‘Mary Week’ joy will continue.

As I have said on the church Christmas card, we are moving now from a PLEASE to a massive heartfelt THANK YOU to God for his enormous

blessings, and to everyone who has contributed in so many different ways

to this amazing project! And then our sense of thanksgiving will surely naturally manifest itself in yet more generosity as we look to support our

newly energised mission and ministry into the future… As Archbishop

Sentamu says, ‘Giving is the route to joy’!

With my love and prayers and every blessing for an amazing Christmas

and New Year!

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UNHCR estimates that some

65.3 million people around the

world have been forced to flee their homes - among them 21.3

million refugees, half of whom are

under the age of 18. The ongoing conflict in Syria is

contributing most to the current

crisis. UNHCR reckons that some 4.8 million people have fled Syria

since 2011; and an additional esti-

mated 8.7 million are displaced inside the country.

A nglicans worldwide are assisting refugees and asylum

seekers through advocacy and

practical care. The Anglican Alliance is consult-

ing on the refugee crisis in Europe

with the Anglican mission agency USPG and the Church of England’s

Diocese in Europe. The UN’s refu-

gee agency, UNHCR, estimates that over 300,000 refugees crossed

the Mediterranean to seek asylum

in Europe this year.

ANGLICANS STEP UP TO GLOBAL REFUGEE CRISIS

T he Bishop of Gloucester, the Rt Revd Rachel Treweek, has launched a social media campaign, promoting the message that who you are is

more than how you look.

Bishop Rachel said, “So many young people today are sourcing their identities from social media and in the process losing their self-esteem,

which is one of the reasons why our campaign is called #liedentity. So

much of what they experience through social media presents a message of value based on physical appearance. I long for every young person to

discover their worth as a unique individual created in the image of God.”

BISHOP LAUNCHES BODY IMAGE CAMPAIGN

CHRISTMAS TREE FESTIVAL

F rom the 6 to the 11 of Decem-ber, Holy Trinity will once again

be filled with Christmas Trees. Open from 10.30 until 6pm,

come and see the beautiful trees

and our lovely new Church or stay for one of the many concerts (see page 25). And if you need some-thing for the January blues join us for a Burns Night Supper (page 29).

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CHRISTMAS @ THE HUB

T he Hub continues to have coffee morning on the second Friday of the

month. The December one on December 9th will include a Christmas Sale as well as the normal coffee/tea and homemade cake.

Staff are planning to give out Christmas boxes to the schools for

certain families, so they are collecting small gifts - chocolate and Christ-mas things - to help these families out. These will be delivered to the

schools mid-December.

DEMOLITION ZONE

C hurch Warden Paul Slade (left) and other Westwood parish-

ioners survey the scene after a November morning service.

Not the results of some earth tremor, but work in progress as builders prepare to lay an enlarged, paved gathering space

outside the west door of the church. This is part of the project to

update the nearby Parish Room and its link to the church.

CHRISTMAS CARD HELP

A t this time of year people

from Holy Trinity deliver a Christmas card to every home in the

parish. Packs are also dropped into

hotels, guesthouses, health centres, dental practices, the library and the

tourist information office.

To our regular posties, your continued support is much appreci-

ated and your packs are now ready.

Do let us know if you unable to

deliver this year. This year we will

be pleased to hear from those of you who might be new to the par-

ish and can find an hour or so to

spare and would like to help. Please either complete your name

on the list at the crossing in church,

telephone: 01225 864412, or email: marlene.haffenden@google

mail.com.

Tony and Marlene Haffenden

CHORAL SOCIETY TO HELP WELCOME BISHOP

B radford on Avon Choral Society invites you join them on Friday, 9

December at 7.30pm in the United Church, Bradford on Avon for

Dvorak’s Mass in D major, Purcell and a few seasonal carols and readings. About 20 choir members will be joining with the church choir at

Holy Trinity on Sunday, 18 December at the inaugural service after

the refurbishment.

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You can contact the editorial team on: [email protected]

February issue copy deadline Thursday, 12 January 2017

O ne of our favourite songs to start our music session is 'I

woke up this morning with dancing feet.' Everyone lying

on the floor, so quiet to start, and then we wake up to the alarm and dancing feet, clapping hands, tapping toes and big

smiles. The chorus between each action is: 'God made my feet,

God made my toes, God made my fingers, God made my nose, God made my eyes so that I can see and I'm glad that God made me!'. With all the actions

and pointing to parts of our bodies, the volunteers all join in as we get some

good exercise. A great warm up session for all! Three ladies from St Michael's Church, North Cadby, Bristol who visited

us to see Mainly Music operating, were very enthusiastic and impressed

and are quite confident that they can start a group there. It was very favourable when the three year old daughter of one of the ladies joined in

so enthusiastically with all the songs and actions.

Revd Ali Green is joining us on December 6th to tell a story of Christmas and Percy the Parrot will also be flying in to see us before Christmas. Our

last session at the Youth & Community Centre will be 13th December and

after Christmas, we will be back in Church starting on Tuesday, 10th January. One of our mums with two sons who are now at school, did not

want to leave us, so she now comes along to help. Operating at the Youth

& Community Centre has worked very well but it will be good to return to Church. Families have been saying that it will be good to go back although

parking has been easier at the Centre!

Marlene Haffenden

RIDE AND STRIDE FOR WILTSHIRE HISTORIC CHURCHES TRUST

W e promised the result of sponsorship money collected for 2016, and

we are pleased to tell that you that the total was £395.

Our Parish received a cheque for £197 - a bit more than last year. To all of you who subscribed very many thanks. We hope to be able to repeat

the effort next year!

Simon Arnold and Edward Shaw

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Reordering Project:

Holy Trinity

Church,

Bradford on Avon

Progress Report for

December 2016

T he Architects, Engineers and Builders hope that everyone at Holy Trinity enjoys their re-ordered, re-heated, re-lit, re-paved church

with its fantastic new Tower Room, kitchen and toilets.

This has been a wonderfully challenging project with its Saxon Archaeology, Grade 1 listing and ever-present client body and

watchful parishioners!

We’re sorry the organ isn’t due to return for another seven months; but the space awaits! You will still see us from time to time as we come to

finish off the odd item and keep an eye on the building works as it settles

in and you get used to it. Chedburn Dudley

BuroHappold Engineering

Ellis and Co The Wilkins Safety Group

Wessex Archaeology and

Harrison and Harrison

wish you all the joys of the festive season!

Crossword Solutions ACROSS: 1, Lame. 3, Obtained. 8, Omit. 9, Merchant. 11, Burdensome. 14, Crafty. 15, Please. 17, Black-smith. 20, Splendid. 21, Tier. 22, Singeing. 23, Hand. DOWN: 1, Look back. 2, Main road. 4, Breast. 5, Accomplish. 6, Near. 7, Date. 10, Pestilence. 12, Basili-ca. 13, Tethered. 16, Action. 18, Asa’s. 19, Clan.

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Mary Week - Be Still and Know that I am God

M onday, 21 November saw the start of a new era as

the keys to Holy Trinity

were handed back, and the Church opened for the first time since the

reordering began

During the week, many people have made time to visit Holy Trinity

and here is selection of their

thoughts and some photographs of the (nearly) reordered Church.

“On entering the Church on 21st

November, I was speechless, and

overcome with the beauty of this House of God. May the prayers

here be unceasing in praise” Muriel

“A transformation so we can be transformed” Hugh

“Wow amazing, ‘Let there be

light!’ ” Michelle “Breath-taking. The light of the

Holy One is with us” Jane Jones

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“Awesome splendour ! Light & beauty, thankful to be home in this wonderful Church” Celia & David

“Alleluia! What an amazing space but it seems to embrace you.” Jill

“Spirit manifesting a space for change in changing times... A stunning open and glorious space. I look forward to a sing or two here. My gratitude

to the vision holders for this transformation” Robin P. Botley

“Just stunning! Thank you for the courage it took - what a gift to our town.” Tony

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W ell, it is finally happen-ing! There will inevitably

be a raft of things to

complete or to make good both in-side and out but nothing that should

prevent us from moving back and

making our reordered Holy Trinity our home again.

I did think of listing the work

currently outstanding but this distracted from the marvellous job

that our project manager Jim, our

architects, George Chedburn and Angela Dudley and the skilled

craftsmen of Ellis & Co have done

in striving to interpret and then deliver the things that we asked for

way back when “Holy Trinity has a

Vision” reported. I hope that as you see the results you will agree with

me that we now have a building

that is warm, welcoming, flexible and full of wonder.

The time table is: 1 to 3 December: Moving stored

items back

4 & 5 December: Set up for Christmas Tree Festival

6 to 11 December: Christmas Tree

Festival runs Week beginning 12 December:

New furniture and seating arrives

18 December, 10am Bishop Nicholas presides at our

Benefice Eucharist

FAQs & Answers:

Flooring: the limestone and the Purbeck stone on the

floor and in the aisle and the

wooden joinery are natural materials. There will be varia-

tions in colour and some veining

which cannot be avoided. These will mellow over the centuries.

Heating: this is underfloor (on all

the time) with a facility for boost-ing and additional radiators. This

will take time to settle down and

will need adjustment to get it right, once the floor has properly cured

Walls: the new heating will dry

the walls and may draw in mois-ture and salts; it will take time for

drying out to complete

Minor faults: the chances are that these will be on the list for rectifi-

cation – but please do draw atten-

tion to anything which you see. Guarantee: all the work is fully

guaranteed and we will keep some

money back for a year. Cost: The final settlement has yet

to be agreed, but the latest (worst

case) estimate is £1,900,900. This excludes £156,205 of low priority

items not yet proceeded with,

largely for affordability reasons. Fund raising: The BCC donations

etc now total £59,249. Sales

have netted £1,200 and the Friends have raised £29,753 to

Holy Trinity’s Reordering—The Latest...

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date. With grants, the total raised comes to a magnificent £244,800.

It is little short of fantastic that

our congregation should have raised nearly a quarter of a

million pounds! Well done to

you all!

What next? The focus now moves

towards bringing our building back to life and turning it into a thriving

centre for community activities.

Above: A view showing the new reception desk and the beautiful new limestone

The Friends will continue their fundraising in order to fund some

of those items not yet contracted

for and for anything else that it becomes apparent that we really

do need once we have settled in.

The Steering Group will meet with the architects in January to discuss

how we are getting on, what works

as we intended and what might need modification.

John Cox

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Farewell and Thank You

A s Holy Trinity parishioners return to their newly

reordered church, we asked

representatives from our three temporary ‘host’ churches about

their thoughts on the months of

sharing worship together.

Civil War?

It's been a funny old year. The swans nested on the mudbank by

The Swan and got flooded out.

Again. A major road was closed. For 22 weeks! Holy Trinity & Christ

Church worshipped together.

Tillion's closed! 'Emma', in the Tythe Barn was good. The summer

turned out nice again. Oh! And

there was the Civil War. “I'm not surprised!”

“What do you mean, you're not

surprised?” “Well about the Civil War.”

“Now you've lost me.”

“Well, HT and CC worshipping together. I'm not surprised there

was a civil war!”

“Oh! I see what you mean. Actually, we got on rather well”.

“Well I never...this could be

foundational for discussion at the next meeting of Synod. General:

not Deanery!! Tell me about it:

just in case it ever should happen to us”.

“Well, time and space here is lim-

ited; I think all that needs to be

said is WE SHARED”.

It's been great! Thank you for being 'the perfect guests'. What on earth

shall we do when you are gone? I

know what...let's visit !!!! Yours, with affection,

Denise Leigh,

Churchwarden, Christ Church

Good To Meet

Members of St Mary Wingfield have been so very pleased to

have many of Holy Trinity’s

congregation attending our services here over the last few

months. We thank you all for

making the journey to us and hope that we will see some of you from

time to time.

You now know where we are and we trust, when thinking of taking

some country air, you might join us

on an occasional Sunday morning. For our part it has been a pleasure

to meet many of you and we pray

for you all and your renewed church that you might go forward

with renewed faith and vitality.

We look forward to visiting Holy Trinity again and it will be very

nice to now know many faces in

the congregation. With our best wishes

David Robinson

Churchwarden, St Mary Wingfield

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A Musical Boost Farewell, but we hope not

“Goodbye’. It has been a pleasure

to host our visitors from Holy Trinity over the last year or so and

we are going to miss you. Our

small church has been filled almost to capacity at the services attend-

ed by the HT choir and although

we were quite pleased with the quality of our hymn singing before,

the addition of a choir of rehearsed

voices has been most impressive. Thank you! I am sure you have

been looking forward to getting

back home and we look forward to coming to see you in your new sur-

roundings in December.

With best wishes to you all, Paul Slade,

Churchwarden, St Mary

the Virgin Westwood

Dear Holy Trinity,

As November approaches

the time for you all to leave

us at Christ Church becomes

nearer and nearer! We shall

be very sad to see you go but

pleased for you being able to

return ‘home’!

This year for all of you must

have felt like being refugees

but the combined worship

has brought such a wonderful

broader dimension t our

worship.

We have shared your litur-

gy, clergy, readers, lay people

and lovely choir and a bond

has grown. I do hope that this

will continue when you leave

us and I look forward to

more and I am sure more of

our church do too.

Thank you for all

your warmth and

with many prayers

and I hope that

your future in Holy

Trinity Church

will be very blessed

and encompassed.

Yours

A member of

Christ Church

congregation

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Pr

ayer

Pa

ths

Who is the Christ Child?

S oon we will once again be exchanging cards depicting

nativity scenes, and singing

well-loved carols about the Holy Family. In our prayers, it’s a time to

reflect on the nature of Christ who

came to us as a newborn baby. We believe that the incarnate Christ

was both fully divine and fully

human. But what does that mean to us now? Why is this Good News?

Accepting the

Christ Child is not about belonging

to an exclusive

club, where we belong and others

don’t. It’s about

discovering a truth that is for

all people every-

where, for all time. Jesus Christ

shows us that (as

Paul says) “God is not far from any of us. It is in him

that we live and move and have

our very being” (Acts 17:28). Christ is truly the “saviour of the

world” (John 4:42) because he

reveals the God who is love and who loves and gives life to all

things and all people, until “God

will be all in all” (1 Cor 15:28). God became incarnate love in

the form of Mary’s son to reveal to

everyone the wonderful nature of

Divine Love, which is in all creation

— and which, despite the broken-ness and suffering of the world, will

finally win the day.

So pondering in prayer the mystery of the Christ Child, in the

form of the baby whom Mary laid

in a manger, we come to realize that each of us is created in love, at

one with all of creation and deeply

hidden in God who is everywhere and always.

In the thirteenth

century, Mechtild of Magdeburg put it

like this:

“The day of my spiritual awakening was the day I

saw and knew I sawall

things in God and God in all things.”

If we accept the Christ

Child who exemplifies for us the loving God

who is in all things, then we don’t

have to choose whom to love or hate, whom to respect or

disrespect, whom to accept or

reject. Because we know that the light of Christ is in every

person we meet, and that our

call is to show the light of Christ to others. That’s the Good News

of Christmas.

Ali Green

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Christmas Services

and events around the benefice

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Tuesday 6 - Sunday 11 December Holy Trinity Christmas Tree Festival

The church will be open in all its new mystical

splendour from 10.30am to 6pm every day – come and enjoy the warmth, the light, the joy, the friendly

welcome, the refreshments, the musical interludes –

not to mention some 70 Christmas trees introduced and decorated by as many

local organisations,

businesses, churches, charities…. A must if

you have been before,

and certainly a must if you haven’t! And all

organised by ‘The

Friends of Holy Trinity’. NB Sneak preview when the Felicity Courage Performing Arts Group will

perform at 8pm on Monday 5 December!

Friday 9 December 6.30pm – St Mary, Wingfield

Christmas Candlelit Concert with The Mead School – seasonal carols, songs, poems and a Christmas

Gospel and Blessing – with complimentary mulled

wine and Mrs Robinson’s amazing mince pies in the interval – retiring collection –

free entry, but numbers limited so

please apply early to David Robinson on 01225 769018.

7.30pm – Holy Trinity Christmas Tree Festival Concert

given by the Silver Ring Choir of

Bath - with interval refreshments courtesy of The Friends of

Holy Trinity.

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Friday 16 - Saturday 17 December 10am - 6pm Nativity Set Exhibition at Westwood Church

Come and admire all the different Nativity sets and stay

for a mince pie, a glass of mulled wine or tea and coffee.

Sunday 18 December 10am – Holy Trinity – but where we shall be joined by the congregations of Christ Church, Westwood and Wingfield

Sung Eucharist of Celebration and Thanksgiving with the

Bishop of Salisbury, the Rt Revd Nick Holtam, to re-open our Parish Church after its major regeneration project and

to re-dedicate our new life and worship together - and

please do stay for the party afterwards and for a wander.

6pm – Holy Trinity

Service of Nine Lessons and Carols – come and hear our choir at its best for this very traditional and candlelit

service which begins to prepare us for Christmas Day.

6pm – St Mary the Virgin, Westwood

Carol Service

Saturday 24 December – CHRISTMAS EVE 3pm – Holy Trinity

Crib and Christingle Service – our first in the new church!! Come early to get a seat (and a Christingle) and be prepared to be

squashed (plenty of buggy parking available)! Come dressed as

your favourite nativity character - the best ever way to start Christmas - we shall be supporting the ever-increasing needs of

children in distress through the work of The Children’s Society.

11.15pm – Holy Trinity and St Mary the Virgin, Westwood

Midnight Mass – we celebrate the First Eucharist of Christmas

together on this holy night at the very ‘birth’ of Christmas Day - come and share the wonder, the mystery of ‘Emmanuel - Christ

with us’.

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CHRISTMAS DAY Thursday 25 December 8am – Holy Trinity

Eucharist (Traditional Language)

9.30am – St Mary, Wingfield

Family Holy Communion with Carols - come early to get a seat!

10am – Holy Trinity Eucharist with Carols – a joyful celebration for all the family!

11.15am – St Mary the Virgin, Westwood Family Service with Carols - come early to get a seat!

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A Journey to Small Pilgrim Places—Devon

T he starting point for the third leg of my pilgrimage around

Small Pilgrim Places in

southern England was South Zeal, tucked in the deep folds of the hills

of south Devon.

Dartmoor to the Exe

The little church of St Mary sits on

the main street, next to a tiny community garden, complete with

benches, winding gravel path and

well-manicured bushes. Derelict after the Reformation, the building

then served as a school, but is now

once again a centre of prayer and worship, and part of the network of

Small Pilgrim Places.

The interior is furnished with comfortable chairs, some circled

around a table set with candle and

Bible. Light floods into the east window, where the altar is flanked

by attractive modern hangings.

Near the door is a box for food bank donations - a poignant

connection with needs in the wider

community. My overall impression was of a well-loved and valued

quiet space.

From South Zeal I cycled east-wards dropping gradually towards

Exeter, where I followed the river

bank and headed to the city centre and the cathedral. Its impressive

west front was bathed in autumn

sunshine, and inside, the nave resounded to snatches of

“Messiah" as a choir rehearsed for

an evening concert. A short ride from the cathedral

brought me to the bustling Guild-

hall shopping centre. Right in the middle is a small stone building -

quite a contrast to the surrounding

mass of modern concrete and glass. This is the church of St

Pancras, probably the most

ancient Christian site in Exeter and my fifth pilgrimage destination.

Glass doors lead from the noisy

mall to the quiet stillness within. The interior is simple, with una-

dorned stone walls, high gothic-

arched windows and a few rows of modern chairs facing a cross on a

plain table. Regular services are Above: The peaceful interior of St Mary’s in South Zeal

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held here in this peaceful haven. By chance, as I was entering St

Pancras I bumped into hospitaller

Joy Watson, who kindly gave me supper and a bed and a packed

lunch for my onward journey.

Point in View

Next day, I cycled down the left

bank of the Exe, following the railway that hugs the coastline.

The traffic-free route was busy

with Sunday-morning cyclists, joggers, birdwatchers and walkers

of every age, enjoying the balmy

weather and the outlook across the estuary. On the northern outskirts

of Exmouth I turned uphill to reach

Point in View church. Here I found a compact worship

space, dominated by a preaching

desk, and lit from above by win-dows set in a pointed, pyramidal

roof. In a side room a small crowd

was lingering after the morning service. I was immediately offered

coffee and sat and ate my picnic

in the little garden affording com-manding views towards the coast.

I was joined by Rev Rosemary

Shirley, the hospitaller who has served as chaplain to the church

and the residents of its surround-

ing almshouses. She told me about Jane and Mary Parminter, who

built the tiny church two hundred

years ago, and who also created the resident community for

needy women.

Leaving Exmouth I pedalled on to Otterton, and next morning fol-

lowed the river Otter northwards,

under leaden skies. By the time I reached Honiton station I was

soaked to the skin and glad of the

warmth and a hot drink on the homeward train.

Ali Green

Above: St Pancras, Exeter Below: Point in View Church

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I t’s that time of year again when

every post seems to bring fresh

appeals from charities, all urging us to make donations. Some may

see this as a waste of paper, but I

see it as an opportunity to raise awareness of our world’s many

problems, how they are being ad-

dressed and how we can help. The appeals challenge us and

drive home important messages:

“Can we truly celebrate the light of the world when millions still walk

in darkness? “(Christian

Aid) ”Sara saw atrocities in Syria she will never

forget (Refugee Council)

“No tree, No lights, No family. It’s the

loneliest time of the

year” (Alzheimer’s Society) “This Christmas

120,000 children will be

homeless in Britain” (Shelter). Over the past couple of years

there has been much criticism of

charities’ fundraising practices. Certainly some charities, and par-

ticularly the fundraising agencies

they used, were guilty of unscrupu-lous practices. Fast action has been

taken to address these concerns: a

new fundraising regulator has been set up, a fundraising preference

service is to be introduced and a

Charities Act is in place which re-

quires trustees to protect

the public, including vulnerable

people, from unreasonably intrusive or persistent fundraising

approaches. All these measures

should reassure the public and give them confidence to give to charity

this Christmas.

The plight of Syrian refugees has deteriorated considerably this

year, so at Holy Trinity we shall be

supporting Embrace the Middle East again this Christmas. Their

Christmas Appeal is for

winter survival kits to ease the suffering of

refugee families,

especially children . Pastor Michael, minis-

tering in the Beirut

suburbs, came across baby Karim and her

family who had fled

Syria with the clothes they were in. Karim had nothing but a plastic

bag for a nappy which gave her a

terrible rash. Her desperate family were filling her bottle with flour

and water. Help was at hand as

Pastor Michael came back with goods provided by Embrace’s local

partners - emergency food, nap-

pies and rash cream. Please do give generously so more Syrian ref-

ugees can receive help and hope. Lindsay Driscoll

Giving to Charities at Christmas

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Ho

use a

nd

Ho

ne

C hurch communities in England support homeless

people in many ways,

from running winter night shelters to operating soup runs. In the

winter of 2014, 2,000 homeless

guests stayed in 500 night shelters run by churches working with

other organisations.

More Than A Bed

Through winter 2015, Birmingham

Churches Together Night Shelter provided 1,020 bed spaces to

rough sleepers, with the help of 14

churches and 400 volunteers. The shelters offered a bed and hot

meal, a warm welcome, friendship – and breakfast the next morning.

One volunteer commented:

“The shelter recognizes each guy as an individual with intrinsic

worth and value. This may be

equally or more important than a bed and a hot meal”.

In Manchester, over 20

organisations and churches started a night shelter at the beginning of

this year. Seven churches offered

shelter and friendship to rough sleepers, providing 756 bed spaces

over 9 weeks. The scheme began

again in October and churches will be helping to develop other

Are churches helping the homeless?

Lifeline The Salvation Army staff outside a Lifehouse project

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forms of emergency accommodation.

Another group,

Together Canterbury, is helping people released

from prison in the

Canterbury district find suitable support and

accommodation. This

will help to protect them from homeless-

ness and so reduce their

risk of reoffending. Between March 2014 and August

2016, the Church Urban Fund

invested over £159,000 in 41 projects tackling homelessness in a

number of innovative ways. These

range from more traditional night shelters to job clubs and projects

providing training and work

experience to help people into employment. CUF grants support

many projects that tackle risk

factors for homelessness such as unemployment and debt.

A Helping Hand The Salvation Army has a long

track record of practical concern

for homeless people. Their ‘lifehouses’ offer emergency

accommodation (and often a free

meal) on a night-by-night basis to people who have nowhere else to

stay. As well as people sleeping on

the streets, this may include ‘sofa surfers’ or people with no recourse

to public funds. Accommodation is

basic but safe and secure, with staff available to offer support

through the night.

There are also drop-in services for homeless adults, with activities

giving respite from the stressful-

ness of street living or isolation and loneliness. Clothing and toiletries

are provided for those in need,

as well as help in accessing other services on offer. The Salvation

Army also has a resettlement

programme which offers the support people need to break the

cycle of homelessness at an early

stage. If you see someone sleeping rough and think they could benefit

from support, you can contact your

local Salvation Army, or Streetlink via www.streetlink.org.uk, or call

0300 500 0914.

Homeless: Risk factors include unemployment & debt

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L ast month we looked at the

reasons why the NHS is in a lot of financial trouble, and

why there must always be rationing.

So what should we do? As a Christian I see basis of the NHS

as very much Good Samaritan

territory: the compassion and dedication of many staff are

definitely due to the feeling of

helping one's neighbour when they fall upon hard times.

For the shortage of doctors

we will have to train more, and currently just muddle on as best

we can, which includes employing

more doctors from abroad. Since in many cases they come from

countries with inadequate medical

provision, this may seem to be of dubious morality. However, if these

doctors are trained and return

home to provide a better service it could be morally okay. Obviously

we must also continue to employ

more nurses and technical staff for many routine tasks, since they can

be trained much more quickly and

will cost less overall.

Money, money, money

The biggest headache is of course money. Jesus was quite happy to

talk about money, so there is good

biblical justification to discuss it in great detail. There are several pos-

sible possibilities: 1) We could just increase taxation,

although the economists warn us

that this might choke off any economic recovery leading to less

government income, and thus less

money available for health. It might help to make the money for

the NHS a genuinely hypothecated

tax – that is a tax dedicated exclu-sively to one thing, in this case

health – say as a supplement to

Income Tax. People could then see directly what it is costing, and after

discussion make decisions about

how much the total should be. National Insurance was supposed

to be like this, but for political rea-

sons rapidly became just another complicated and in many ways

unfair additional tax on income.

2) We must consider having further charges for some NHS services.

Currently we only pay something

for a few services. Here are some ideas:

When we go into hospital we

pay nothing for the 'hotel' cost. We make savings on

things such as food, heating

and lighting. Perhaps charges should be introduced,

obviously means-tested so

that in particular the very poor pay only a minimal amount.

The blanket prescription

Medical Rationing—Part 2

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charge exemption for the

over 60s is also not really defensible. I think it would

be more equitable to have

some kind of means-tested contribution from all adults,

probably with an upper

maximum per year as there currently is for the under 60s.

We should consider the system

originated by Oregon in the USA in the 1990s. Basically

they put all operations into

a list in order of cost-effectiveness. Each year the

government-funded program

then pays for procedures costing up to a figure which

depends on the total money

available. In this country the National Institute for Health

and Care Excellence (NICE)

has been doing a similar calculation for some years for

new drugs, recommending

only those which are cost-effective enough. This cost-

effective figure is of course

quite arbitrary, and both this and how we measure cost-

effectiveness anyhow cause a

lot of argument. However you do your list of cost-

effectiveness you find you still

have to make a lot of excep-tions, both for humanitarian

and political reasons. Never-

theless I think we will have to

use some kind of variant of these ideas. It could be elabo-

rated of course so that for

some treatments the patient makes a contribution, a

so-called co-payment.

3) It might be possible to have charities do more health-related

activities. Currently much research

and some things such as hospice care have significant charitable

input. I think the scope for more is

limited but ‘every little counts’ so I do not rule it out.

Despite all these problems I

remain quite optimistic about the NHS. Illness is a sort of evil, and I

am sure good will prevail. We must

‘fight the good fight’ and stand firm on our ideals – as Jesus did,

and paid the ultimate price for

doing so. We should particularly support and pray for our politicians

so they get it right, and in the

end we get better health without crippling costs.

Nicholas Nutt

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HT’s Big Community ‘Christmas’ Connection

B y the time you read this the builders will have handed

over Holy Trinity. In the

past 18 months we have raised a significant amount of funds towards

the Holy Trinity Big Community

Connection, so thank you if you’ve contributed in any way. Of course

there is still much to do including

work on the organ and stained glass windows.

There are plenty of events to

look forward to in 2017 and be-yond. There’s a wee dram on offer

at the Burns Night Supper, January

25th, and early in the new year we’ll be letting you know the

date of the Big Com-munity Connection

Benefice Walk.

By the way, some-thing you may enjoy is

a new book: “A Small

Town History in Maps”, a history of

Bradford on Avon from 1200 to

the present day by John Seekings. Newly published, at just £10

it’s a great stocking filler this

Christmas. And £5 from every sale is being donated to the Organ

Fund. It’s available from Ex Libris

in the Shambles. Steve Fountain

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Children’s Books for Christmas

N eed a Christmas present for a little one? Ex Libris in

The Shambles has gifted

us with their choice of the best books for children this Christmas.

So go along and support our fab

local bookshop.

A Twist of Tales: Julia Donaldson,

illustrated by Peter Bailey

A king hides a

terrible secret under his crown.

A marvelous

dream inspires an epic journey.

A clever girl out-

wits the king. Children’s books superstar Julia Donaldson retells

three charming tales.

£6.99

Oi Dog: Kes

and Claire Gray, illustrat-

ed by Jim Field

Frog is chang-ing the rules.

Dogs no long-

er sit on frogs. Dogs now sit on logs. Most im-

portantly where is FROG going to

sit? Oi Frog, like their last title, will have children rolling with laughter.

£6.99

I’ll Be Home for Christmas: A fund raiser for Crisis,

an important charity

with the Parish News 2016 theme of House

& Home

A fantastic collec-tion of UK young au-

thors, including Mel-

vin Burgess and Ju-no Dawson, contribute stories and

poems on the theme of home. £1

from every book will be donated to Crisis.

£7.99

101 Books to Read

Before You Grow

Up: Bianca Schulze This is a fun handbook

for book lovers and

their families to read, check off and give

their own book reviews.

£8.99

The Four Seasons: Vivaldi

Your child can listen, dance and discover the

musical genius of

Vivaldi’s composi-tions with this great

little sound book.

£7.99

Happy present shopping!

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web when you slip

into debt. The foodbank

brings them in

touch with people who are vulnerable and in situa-

tions of crisis. She mentioned that

they have plenty of baked beans at the moment but would like to

receive small packets of sugar,

fruit juices, cans of fruit and food related to the season of Christmas.

Although there are few in Bradford

-on–Avon who are technically homeless there are ‘sofa surfers’

who are temporally living with

friends, and people living in deprived conditions on the canal

boats. Many of these people are

in the 25 to 35 age group and unemployed. The Hub provides

a venue to make contact with

Selwood Housing. Avril told us stories of large families who have

a catalogue of misfortunes and

who need help and somewhere to seek support.

Avril expressed thanks for the

backing she is given from all the churches in Bradford (especially

Holy Trinity) and encouraged us to

come to the open coffee morning on the second Friday of every

month. They are open from 10am

to 1pm from Monday to Friday. Jill Wright

MU Update

A vril Clarke came to give

Mothers’ Union a lively up-date in November on the

Hub@BA15 in Church Street. This

invaluable resource exists in our community to help us all with the

many problems which arise in daily,

contemporary life. She stressed the broad range of

calls made on their services from

many sections of the community. They share much needed expertise

and support in the use of

computers to fill in forms. These can be for a variety of reasons

such as job applications and CVs

and matters related to benefits, PIP, disablement, bedroom tax and

attendance allowance. A team of

9 trained volunteers give debt advice and help people sort out

what seems an impenetrable

COMMUNITY HELP

The Selwood Housing Group works toward improving homes and communities. Selwood Housing Association is a charity and a social enterprise that puts all profits back into our communities.

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T his is a busy term at St Laurence. Year 11 – 16-27th November and

Y12/13 in the first week of 2017. All these students are working hard and hoping to do well.

Collective Worship: Our theme this term is Community and there are tutorial activities allied with this so that students can develop their

thoughts and prepare for our end of term Christmas Quiz. Our Carol Ser-

vice this year on 14th December will be at Christchurch rather than Holy Trinity. This will be an interesting change of venue and hopefully will be as

full with students, parents and members of the community as usual.

Trips and Challenge: The sixth form geographers have returned from a field trips to Italy and the volcanic land surrounding Vesuvius. Y12 also

went on a field trip to Dorset. Year 8 students have returned from their

week in the Lakes – they had beautiful late autumn weather this year which always makes for a fantastic trip. This is an experience they will talk

about for years to come. They will soon be preparing their exhibition

which will be shown in the town library in February. They also have been introduced to a programme called The Edge which is designed to build life

skills such as initiative, resilience and leadership. Year 7 had a chance to

work with the Orchestra of the Age of the Enlightenment on Purcell's opera about King Arthur. The work produced was a pleasure to watch.

Celebrations and achievements: Michael Dorseman and Stella Cook-

son, both in Y12, took part in the national Swimming Championships in Sheffied and coming coming first and second respectively in their races.

We also congratulate former pupil, Francesca D’Argenio for her degree

from Oxford in English Language and Literature and wish her well for her MA in Medieval Literature at Cambridge. Communication Ex-pupil Chloe

McMahon is in her final year studying for a BA in Film at Falmouth. She is

trying to raise money to make her first film by crowd funding to pay for costumes etc. The film’s title is Stalemate. The link to the website is http://

www.crowdfunder.co.uk/stale-mate. We will also have a tree at the Christmas Tree Festival so do come along to this great event..

Lorraine Marlow

Be Spirited

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S ome of my regular readers

may have noticed that the

butterfly report in the No-vember issue of Parish News was

identical to that in the August/

September issue but with a different picture. As it happens the report

that should have appeared was

very short so readers have missed very little.

October was a very mild, calm

and frequently sunny month and a few butterflies were seen on most

days, the most frequent species

being the Red Admiral. I received records of 88 individuals, mainly

from gardens and urban areas and

so far four have been noted in No-vember. A few Commas were seen

early in the month, the last on 17th

October in Westbury and the final Speckled Wood on the 16th here in

Bradford. Both Large and Small

Whites and Brimstones were also to be seen in small numbers until

16th with a single Brimstone report-

ed on 2nd November. Peacocks usually enter into their

long hibernation stage in late Au-

gust but a few remained active with at least four reported during

October. I have just received the

results for Wiltshire from the na-tional Big Butterfly Count, carried

out in July and August. An amazing

3,000 people participated in Wilt-

shire, send-ing in their

sightings,

mainly from gardens and

urban area

throughout the county. I

still expect to receive a few sight-

ings of Red Admirals during the winter months as long as we don’t

suffer any severe prolonged peri-

ods of extreme cold. They do not enter into true hibernation mode

and may occasionally be seen on

any warm sunny winter’s day and some manage to survive the entire

winter period and appear early in

the following year. This year at least 12 were reported prior to the

first wave of immigrants arriving

from the continent in May. Overall, 2016 has been a

disappointing butterfly season

with numbers very much reduced. As I said in my last report, a full and

detailed 2016 butterfly report will

be produced in due course and anyone wishing to have a copy

should contact me.

Mike Fuller Wiltshire Butterfly Recorder

Wiltshire Butterflies - October & November

Whoops! Our apologies readers and Mike - The Eds

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Saint for the Season: Thomas Becket

T homas was born into a London merchant family in

1118. After a good education

he entered the service of Theobald, Archbishop of Canterbury, showing

considerable gifts in administration

and diplomacy. In 1155 King Henry II appointed

him as his chancellor. They worked

well together and thus in 1161 it seemed natural for the king to

nominate Thomas to succeed Theo-

bald as Archbishop of Canterbury. But following his enthronement,

Thomas began to lead a very

austere life and took extremely seriously the spiritual responsibili-

ties of his new office. Tension

mounted between the King and Thomas and a severe disagreement

erupted regarding their respective

jurisdictions over clergy convicted

Pic

ture

by

Jose

ph M

art

in K

ron

hei

m (

1810

-189

6)

of a crime. King Henry wanted the trial to take place in a civil court;

Thomas insisted on an ecclesiasti-

cal court. Relations got so bad that at one point Thomas fled to France

for his own safety.

Thomas returned to England on 1 December 1170, but sadly

another dispute arose driving

Henry into a terrible rage, when he is supposed to have cried out, ‘Who

will rid me of this turbulent priest?’

This became a death warrant as four knights immediately rode to

Canterbury, and murdered Thomas

in his cathedral on 29 December (now his day in our calendar). He

was soon proclaimed a martyr and

canonised by Pope Alexander III in 1173. A shrine to Thomas was

erected in Canterbury Cathedral in

1220. The cult of pilgrimage to Thomas’ shrine inspired Geoffrey

Chaucer to write his famous

‘Canterbury Tales’. His martyrdom has also been dramatised, notably

by Jean Anouilh and TS Eliot.

A clash of wills between Thomas and Henry II echoed a similar

tension between Church and State,

made worse by the external claims of the papacy. Disagreements be-

tween Church and State still occur

today, and it is not impossible that there will be further controversy!

David Driscoll

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The Parish Church of St Mary the Virgin, Westwood

Churchwardens: Jonathan Azis

[email protected]

Paul Slade [email protected]

PCC Secretary

Jill Ross [email protected]

The Parish Church of St Mary, Wingfield

Churchwarden:

David Robinson

[email protected] PCC Secretary

Vacant

For Prayer in December

Our readiness for the coming of Christ Our new life together at Holy Trinity Bishop Nicholas as he visits us Emmanuel – God is with us

For Prayer in January

Transform the poverty of our nature by the riches of your grace’ The lonely in our community The world’s refugees The world’s migrants

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Quick Crossword The Bible version is the NIV

Clues across 1 ‘The blind receive sight, the — walk’ (Luke 7:22) (4) 3 Got (Philippians 3:12) (8) 8 Leave out (Jeremiah 26:2) (4) 9 Castigated for using dishonest scales ( Hosea 12:7) (8) 11 Weighty (1 John 5:3) (10) 14 ‘Now the serpent was more — than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made’ (Genesis 3:1) (6) 15 ‘Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot — God’ (Romans 8:8) (6) 17 Because Israel lacked one of these, tools had to be sharpened by the Philistines (1 Samuel 13:19) (10) 20 In his vision of the two eagles and the vine, this is how Ezekiel described the latter (Ezekiel 17:8) (8) 21 Rite (anag.) (4) 22 Nine gigs (anag.) (8) 23 ‘The eye cannot say to the — , “I don’t need you”’ (1 Corinthians 12:21) (4)

Source: Crosswords reproduced by kind permission of BRF and John Capon, originally published in Three Down, Nine Across, by John Capon

Solutions on page 13

Clues down 1 ‘Flee for your lives! Don’t — — , and don’t stop anywhere in the plain!’ (Genesis 19:17) (4,4) 2 Principal thoroughfare (Numbers 20:19) (4,4) 4 ‘The tax collector... beat his — and said, “God have mercy on me, a sinner”’ (Luke 18:13) (6) 5 ‘The zeal of the Lord Almighty will — this’ (2 Kings 19:31) (10) 6 ‘The day of the Lord is — for all nations’ (Obadiah 15) (4) 7 Specified day (Acts 21:26) (4) 10 Deadly epidemic (Deuteronomy 32:24) (10) 12 Roman Catholic church which has special ceremonial rights (8) 13 Tied up (2 Kings 7:10) (8) 16 In his speech to the Sanhedrin, Stephen described Moses as ‘powerful in speech and — ’ (Acts 7:22) (6) 18 ‘Although he did not remove the high places, — heart was fully committed to the Lord all his life’ (1 Kings 15:14) (4) 19 Tribe (Deuteronomy 29:18) (4)

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PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL Officers

The Revd Joanna Abecassis, Chair

The Rev Dr Ali Green (Associate Priest)

Judith Holland (Churchwarden), Vice Chair

David Milne (Churchwarden)

Members

Chris Hodge, PCC Secretary

* Deanery Synod representatives

The Standing Committee

Chair, Churchwardens, Associate Priest and Treasurer

Churchwardens Emeriti

Jeremy Lavis, Mike Fuller, Anne Carter, Tony Haffenden, Joan Finch, Trevor Ford

The Pastoral Care Team

Joanna, Anne Carter, Alison Cook, Joan Finch, Marlene Haffenden, Tony Haffenden,

Chris Hodge, Evelyn Humphrey, Heather Knight, Sue Lavis, Val Payne, David Raw-

stron, Hazel Rawstron, Geneviève Roberts and Sylvia Stanes.

The Friends of Holy Trinity Church

Chairman: John Cox, Secretaries: Mike and Jenny Fuller, Treasurer: Vacant

Committee: Michael Cottle, Chris Hodge

Ex officio: Revd Joanna Abecassis, Judith Holland and David Milne

Bradford Group Ministry

This is a longstanding body which now comprises the two benefices of North

Bradford on Avon and Villages and our own. We look forward to establishing a

much closer bond and to this end joint meetings and services have recently been

held, and the Group clergy meet regularly.

Alison Cook

Joh Cox

Deirdre Garrett

Steve Fountain

Marlene Haffenden

Jeremy Lavis* (Treasurer)

Denise Pape

Anne Willis*

Jill Wright

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OTHER OFFICERS AND ORGANIZERS PCC Secretary Chris Hodge 869357 email: [email protected] PCC Treasurer Jeremy Lavis 863600 Benefice Administrator Sally Palmer-Walton [email protected] Benefice Admin Assistant Aylene Clack [email protected] Bellringers Sarah Quintin 869469 Bookstall Brass Cleaning Chris Hodge 869357 Coffee on Sunday Janet Brown and 862188 Malcolm Walsh 862702 Church Stewards David Milne 864341 Director of Music Electoral Roll Officer Alan Knight 860991 Flowers Jonquil Burgess 868905 Food Bank Heather and Alan Knight 860991 Guides & Brownies Sarah Bennett [email protected] mainly music Marlene Haffenden 864412 [email protected] Mothers’ Union Jill Wright 287786 MU Prayer Circle Chris Hodge 869357 Re-ordering Fundraiser Steve Fountain [email protected] Servers Mary Ford 862240 Saxon Club David Driscoll 865314 Saxon Church and St Mary Tory Trustees: Chairman Anna Tanfield (all bookings) 863819 Secretary Anne Carter 862146 Treasurer Jeremy Lavis 863600 Sidespersons Judith Holland 866215 Stewardship Secretary Pam Harman [email protected] Street Market: Community Stalls John Cox 864270 Communications Church Stalls Mervyn Harris 863440 Team Trinity June Harrison 863745

Parish Representatives on other organisations: Bradford Group Council: The Churchwardens Children’s Society: Anne Carter Christian Aid: Judith Holland Deanery Synod: Jeremy Lavis and Anne Willis BoA Churches Together: c/o The Revd Joanna Abecassis St Laurence School: The Revd Joanna Abecassis and Lindsay Driscoll (Foundation Governors)

Printed at the Parish Office, 18A Woolley Street, Bradford on Avon. Parish News also appears (in colour) on the Holy Trinity web site: www.htboa.org. Previous issues of the magazine can also be found in the magazine archive on the church web site.