Newsletter, February 2008
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Dear Friends

Two years ago we decided to go to the famous Pancake Race in Olney – we went with a friend who has lived locally for fifty years and had never been before! It was quite fun! Surprisingly easy to park and there was a good atmosphere in the town. We had a look at various stalls then decided to find a strategic place to watch the race – fairly near to the church so that we could see the end. To be honest I found the race a bit disappointing – it was over almost before it had begun. I expected to find teams of jolly ‘housewives’ efficiently wielding frying pans as they ran, perhaps even smattering the crowd with the odd bit of poorly caught pancake! Instead the runners whizzed past – training shoes flying, thumbs firmly securing the pancakes in place – they were clearly very good athletes and in training! We went to the Shriving Service in the Parish Church and sang a lot of hymns written by Cowper and Newton – all good stuff – but I wasn’t sure that I came away really feeling ‘shriven’. The best bit for me was the excellent pancake we ate in the Church Rooms after the service, light, hot and very lemony. Still, I am really glad I went and if, like our friend, you have never quite got round to it, I can recommend the experience.

There are, of course, many similar customs in different parts of the country – even in the world – the continental countries celebrate ‘Mardi Gras’, literally translated as Grease Tuesday. The day that in England is often called ‘Pancake Day’ – is properly called Shrove Tuesday. It is the day directly before Ash Wednesday and the start of one of the most solemn seasons of the Church’s year, Lent. Lent is intended to be a time of fasting and solemn reflection – so it was necessary to get rid of fats and eggs – foods forbidden in Lent. It was also important to start the season with a clean slate – so once the pancake batter had been prepared, the Shriving Bell would ring and every one went to church for confession and absolution – shriving.

Nowadays it is fashionable to hark back to the custom of giving something up – not fats and eggs, or even necessarily rich foods, but some luxury that we especially like – chocolate is the classic, or alcohol. One year I gave up eating sweets in the car – it is really the only time I bother to eat them - but even so I found it quite hard. I fear, however, that this custom and sacrifice has less to do with improving our souls and much more to do with improving our waist line – or even our bank balance – or to be entirely cynical, our standing in the community as really strong willed and disciplined individuals! I am not sure that this is really in the spirit of Lent. Of course, there are many who give the money saved to a good cause and self -discipline is important but Lent is about more than that.

It is about genuine endeavour to lead a better life. To examine our souls for what separates us from God and to try to repair the damage. This may be done by spending more time in prayer and contemplation. It may be done by reading a Lent book that helps us to grow in understanding of ourselves and our relationship with God. Taking part in a study group could be helpful – or making a genuine attempt to be at church more often – it is about finding the best way to improve our spiritual fitness!

The runners we saw in the Pancake Race were incredibly physically fit – perhaps our Lent resolution for 2008 could be to improve our spiritual fitness so that we arrive at the glorious Feast of Easter in good form and ready to celebrate Christ’s victory.

Yours in Christ

Jo Spray

grace to keep Lent well.

all sportsmen and women

our neighbours in the village that we may live peaceably with one another.

We are delighted to share together in Lent Study Groups once again with our friends amongst the community and congregation of Turvey Abbey. This year we intend to study a non-religious text – what might be called bibliotherapy! The relevance is, of course, that God is present in all life and in all we do. Making the connections between real life situations and our Christian faith is not always easy, we hope this might be a way of helping us to understand where God is in our ordinary life. The favoured text is ‘Lark Rise to Candleford’, currently a charming Sunday evening television ‘soap’. The book is not quite the same but has a wealth of thought provoking material. Details of the course will be at the back of Church.

David moved to Turvey about twenty years ago. He was a psychiatric social worker in his younger days but he had not been in good health for some years and latterly had been unable to work. He was a keen fisherman and loved Country and Western music. He was a regular member of our congregation and was proud to see his son, Adam, carry the cross at the head of our choir each Sunday. David died suddenly on 26th December, following a fall earlier in the month. His funeral was in Turvey Church on 11th January.

A man was taking it easy, lying on the grass and looking up at the clouds. He was identifying shapes when he decided to talk to God. "God", he said, "how long is a million years?
God answered, "In my frame of reference, it’s about a minute."
The man asked, "God, how much is a million dollars?"
God answered, "To me, it’s a penny."
The man smiled and asked, "God, can I have a penny?"
God smiled and said, "In a minute."

The next coffee morning will be at 10:45 on Saturday 9th February at Barton Homes. There will be a raffle and bring-and-buy stall for which contributions, especially of cakes would be much appreciated.

Last months coffee morning raised £200 towards church funds. A big thank you to Cathy Swift for hosting a very enjoyable event and to everyone who helped with and supported it. A good time was had by all!

Count your blessings instead of your crosses;
Count your gains instead of your losses.
Count your joys instead of your woes;
Count your friends instead of your foes.
Count your courage instead of your fears;
Count your laughs instead of your tears.
Count your full years instead of your lean;
Count your kind deeds instead of your mean.
Count your health instead of your wealth;<
Count of God instead of yourself.

Nothing is sweeter than love,
Nothing stronger,
Nothing higher, Nothing wider,
Nothing more pleasant,
Nothing fuller or better in heaven or earth….

Thomas A Kempis (1379-1471) from "The Imitation Of Christ"

My best lesson in child psychology came when I saw our five year old, Steven roughly jerking our toy poodle’s leash. Suddenly his fuming father appeared and asked, "Do you want to tell me how sorry you are?" "I don’t know how much you saw!" Steven stammered.

Tim was born in Worksop, Notts. to parents born and bred in Lincolnshire. His Dad, David worked for the Milk Marketing Board and his mother stayed at home to look after Tim. Because David's job took him all over the country the family moved a lot during Tim's primary school years. When Tim was eleven the family moved backed to Lincolnshire and Tim attended Grammar school in Grantham where he stayed until his school days were over.

After leaving school Tim went to Leeds University to study Chemistry. On graduating, he moved to the North West to work in industry as a research chemist for seven years. Then he had a career change and moved into IT. During this time he met Jane. Jane was dancing with Mucky Mountains Morris in St. Helens, who were looking for a musician. Tim, who had picked up a lot of Morris tunes over the years, joined Mucky Mountains as a musician and occasional dancer, and the two of them got married at Jane’s local church in 1991.

In 1995, Tim was offered a job with a software company in Bedford, and the family looked to move South. Tim and Jane had a weekend B&B at the Cranes whilst looking for a house in the area. They had been given good advice about local schools and wanted village life. Lo and behold a house came up for sale in Turvey and they moved here with two small pre school children, Kate and Tom.

It was at this point I asked Tim about his musical talents and interests. He told me he had started singing in a church choir with his father when he was 8, and spent his formative years in the choir at St. Wulfram’s Church, Grantham. The choir of boys and men sang for three regular services—Matins, Communion and Evensong—every week. The family attended All Saints because it was their local church and Tim said he felt at home because the services were very similar to the ones he had been used to in Grantham. Tim has kept up his singing ever since St. Wulfram’s. He joined Grantham Choral Society at seventeen, and numerous other choirs and choral societies since, including Bedford Choral Society and Cantamus. Jane has always sung too, but now only sings at All Saints because of other commitments. Apart from the singing, Tim is self taught on many instruments including the piano, guitar, accordion, concertina and organ. An occasional composer, some of his music has been performed by Bedford Choral Society and other groups. Luckily for us, Tim loves playing the organ and as many of you know, stepped in when Enid passed away until our present organist Paul Edwards joined us. Tim says he still deputises in for Paul occasionally and enjoys it. He has also been involved in music for the theatre since his first show as Musical Director in Grantham when he was only 16. He now plays and sometimes MDs for a number of local groups, including TATS. He also plays bass with the Ouse Valley Swing Band.

I really should mention Turvey Mysteries—this has been his special project! Tim first saw the Mysteries performed in the 80’s, and has had the script on his shelf for 15 years just waiting for an opportunity to stage them. That opportunity came about after a chance conversation with Jo, and many of you will have seen the first two plays in the cycle—The Nativity and The Passion. The music for these was reconstructed by Tim from recordings, in an exercise in musical archaeology, as there is no surviving musical score. The first two plays were well attended and I am certain that the last play, Doomsday, will be as well. I am told people come from far and wide as the plays have something of a cult following. Tim says All Saints has been a superb venue, and rehearsals will start in the Spring for the final play, Doomsday, to be performed in October this year.

As if all this is not enough Tim has another hobby—sailing. Having built and raced his own Enterprise class dinghy years ago, Tim and Jane now enjoy occasional yacht sailing. Both are qualified Skippers, and have sailed in Europe (including a return trip across the North Sea in a gale—Tim says Lowestoft has never looked so attractive!), Croatia and the British Virgin Islands. What do you do in your spare time Tim?

A group of geography students studied the seven wonders of the world. At the end of the session the students were asked to list what they considered to be the present seven wonders of the world. The following got the most votes.

Egypt’s Great Pyramids.
Taj Mahal.
Grand Canyon.
Panama Canal
Empire State Building.
St Peter’s Basilica.
China’s Great Wall.

While gathering the votes, the teacher noted that one student, a quiet girl, had not turned her paper in, so she asked the girl if she was having trouble with her list. The girl replied "Yes, a little, I couldn’t quite make my mind up because there were so many". The teacher said, "Well, tell us what you have and maybe we can help". The girl hesitated, then read "I think the seven wonders of the world are

1. to touch.
2. to taste.
3. to see
4. to hear
5. to feel
6. to laugh.
7. and to love.

Then the room was so full of silence it was deafening. It is far too easy for us to look at the exploits of man and refer to them as "wonders" while we overlook all God has done for us. May you be reminded today of those things which are truly wondrous!

This year we celebrate Mothering Sunday on the 2nd March. Mothering Sunday in the UK is the equivalent of Mother’s day in other countries. It has been celebrated on the fourth Sunday in Lent since at least the 16th century. For a long time, it has been a day for giving thanks for all the things our mothers do for us. Mothering Sunday was also known as ‘Refreshment Sunday’ or ‘Mid-Lent Sunday.’ No one is absolutely certain exactly how the idea of Mothering Sunday began, but we know that on this day, about four hundred years ago, people who lived in little villages made a point of going not to their local church but to nearest big church. To what was called the Mother church. And some would go to the nearest City to worship in the cathedral. People who visited their mother church would say they had gone "a gathering." Young English girls in service were only allowed one day to visit their family each year and this was usually on Mothering Sunday. Often the housekeeper or cook would allow the maids to bake a cake to take home for their mother. Sometimes a gift of eggs, or flowers from the garden was allowed. Flowers were traditional, as the young boys and girls would have to walk home to their village, and could gather them on their way home through the meadows. Mothering Sunday is a time when children pay respect to their mothers and children often give their mother a gift and card. Many churches, including All Saints, give the children in the congregation a little bunch of spring flowers during the Mothering Sunday Service, to give their mothers as a thank you for all their care and love throughout the year.

I’ll to thee a Simnell bring
Gainst thou go’st a mothering,
So that, when she blesseth thee,
Half that blessing thou’lt give to me.

Robert Herrick 1648

The Simnel cake is a fruit cake, a flat layer of marzipan is placed on top of the cake and decorated with 11 marzipan balls representing the 12 apostles minus Judas, who betrayed Christ. The word simnel probably derived from the Latin word ‘simila’, meaning fine, wheaten flour form which the cakes were made. A Simnel is still made in many parts of England today, although it is now more commonly made for and eaten on Easter Day.