For your diary Ladies Link - by the time you read this newsletter the first meeting of the group will have taken place at Carolyns home on the 14 August. It's a wonderful initiative and a chance to get together once a month socially for females of all ages within the church. Details of future meetings will be given out in the notices and also the newsletter.
Toddler group - now known as tots@hbc has begun and although it was intended to start this properly on a monthly basis from September, after an initial meeting to 'test the water' in July, we are already well underway with fortnightly meetings on the 1st and 3rd Thursday of each month. This is open to any parent or carer in the village with a pre schooler and seems to be going really well.
On July 14th following morning service we enjoyed a fellowship lunch and sing-a-long. Lots of food, lots of conversation and then a chance to try some new songs.
A big Thank You to everybody who took part in some way, with special thanks to Paul for all the washing up he did and to the music group. It has been suggested by several people that lunches like this should be a regular feature, so is everybody free on Sunday September 22nd ? Let me know if there are any problems with this date, if not see you there.
For your diary That we are able to give up our own stubborn limitations and believe in God for what We see as the impossible.
MEETING POINT on Friday 6th September at 7.30pm in the Village Hall. There'll be some good food followed by a talk by Alf and Doreen Beard who work with Mission Aviation Fellowship. So what's that??
Well, every 4 minutes an MAF plane is taking off somewhere in the world. MAF aircraft carry dedicated workers who provide medical care, food supplies, clean water and Christian hope to many of the world's poorest countries. MAF exists to spread the message of Jesus Christ by word and deed to places of deepest human need, to isolated places where flying is not a luxury but a life line. And the cost to you? £5 – tickets from Mel and Carolyn at the Post Office, Jenny on 870596 or Liz 870246.
Lynn has asked me [June] for the recipe for the apricot almond pie I brought to the last fellowship lunch. Well, I never had a recipe, but I had the pie out one day, loved it, found out what was in it and eventually had a go, experimented a bit, and made it several times!
100 - 150 gram dried apricots (cook until tender but not too much liquid, then blend in processor) Charismatics: Only one. Hands already in the air Kitchen Cupboard
100 grams ground almonds
100 grams caster sugar
Few drops almond essence
1 small egg
1 packet or sufficient short crust pastry to line 8 inch pie dish
How Many Choir members Does It Take to Change A Light Bulb?(Author unknown)
Roman Catholics: None. They use candles.
Pentecostals: Ten. One to change the bulb, and nine to pray against the spirit of darkness.
Presbyterians: None. God has predestined when the lights will be on and off.
Episcopalians: Eight. One to call the electrician, and seven to say how much they liked the old one better.
Mormons: One man to change the bulb, and four wives to tell him how to do it.
Unitarians: "We choose not to make a statement either in favour of or against the need for a light bulb. However, if in your own journey you have found that light bulbs work for you, that is fine. You are invited to write a poem or compose a modern dance about your personal relationship with your light bulb, and present it next month at our annual light bulb Sunday service, in which we will explore a number of light bulb traditions, including incandescent, fluorescent, three way, long life and tinted, all of which are equally valid paths to luminescence."
Baptists: At least 15. One to change the light bulb, and two or three committees to approve the change. Oh, and also one to make a casserole.
Methodists (see Baptists)
One of the pleasures of producing the newsletter for me has been in discovering what an amazing group of individuals make up our fellowship and the surprise at how little I know about them! Each time we'll focus on a different member of the congregation, and this time its Irene.
Did you know that in 1994 Irene was interviewed for the Sunday Mirror and this is her story . . .
Irene started working at the factory when she left school at fourteen. Back then it was Needles Industries Ltd and churned out needles and fish hooks. Her wages were, wait for it, 11 shillings (55p) for a 48 hour week!
During the war Irene carried on working even though she had the first of her three sons, Roy, now 50, who was just a few months old on D-day. The factory became the Entaco factory in Studley, making parts for submarines, gas masks and guns. She said "The only time our machines stopped was for a couple of hours in the morning and that was just so they could cool down."
The women did a fortnight of day shifts (8am - 7 pm) followed by a fortnight of night shifts (7 pm - 6am) and this went on for seven days a week.
"We only had a half hour break when we were able to go to the canteen for a cup of tea. We had to do it and that was it. But we enjoyed it because it was our contribution to the war"
Whilst working at the factory she formed a life long friendship with co-worker Elsie Robinson, 70, who now lives in Coventry. But she desperately missed her husband Graham, who was working as a nurse with the Royal Army Medical Corps and was stationed at a military hospital in Scotland.
"On D-day I remember going to a street party in Redditch but I just remember being overwhelmingly thankful the war was nearing an end and I would finally be reunited with my husband."
29th June 2002
At a wedding in the Deep South Neil and Vickie enjoy delightful summer weather as they tie the knot in Vickie's home town.
3rd August 2002
Another summer afternoon, another bride and groom tie the knot! The bride and groom Mr. and Mrs. Dawson (nee Nunn) emerge from St. James Church between thunderstorms.
I once went to prison! Not as a convicted criminal, but at the invitation of the prison education officer at Long Lartin. After I retired from work, I volunteered to instruct at the open Access centre of Evesham College, teaching literacy and numeracy to those who now wished to increase their knowledge after leaving school. On several occasions we had the satisfaction of seeing success to our efforts when those who had attended were able to get employment. The prison provides excellent facilities for training in a variety of trades to assist the inmates when they are released. The kitchen was well equipped with utensils. I was particularly impressed in the drawing office with the modern drawing easels. When I was a draughtsman we had a board on a desk with a separate tee square. A prisoner had painted a beautiful likeness of a tiger on one of the walls.
Prisons were used from earliest times for punishing wrongdoers and life for them once inside was extremely hard. In the bible there are several accounts of men sent to prison. Joseph, sold by his brothers, was taken to Egypt and sold as a slave to Potiphar. He was falsely accused by his masters wife and sent prison, but was released when he interpreted Pharaoh's dreams.
Samson, a judge in Israel noted for his great strength, met a philistine girl Delilah who betrayed him to his enemies. They cut off his hair which took away his strength. He became weak, was captured blinded and put to work in a prison.
John Bunyan was born near Elstree in 1628 and worked at his father's trade as a tinker. He was converted and became a preacher in the non conformist church at Bedford. Arrested in 1660 for preaching without a license, he was imprisoned for 12 years in a Bedford jail. There he wrote Grace Abounding to the chief of sinners. During a second period in prison in 1676 he wrote part of his best known work The Pilgrim's Progress.
Elizabeth Fry, wife of a London Quaker, visited Newgate prison in 1813. Horrified by what she found there, she began to press for reform of the conditions for women prisoners. She is portrayed on the new £5 bank note.
Fred
A dilemma for you this time. A company was hiring new staff. One question in the written exam was:
You are driving your car one wild and stormy night. You pass by a bus stop and you see three people waiting for the bus:
You can only take one passenger. Which one will you choose? Please explain your answer.
Last time . . . Can you join the dots together using just four straight lines, WITHOUT taking your pen off the page?
It was too simple, shouldn't have wasted your time on trivial problems! We all know we have to "think outside the box" sometimes!
Next issue will be in November. Thanks!
A final thought to take with you
Life has many choices, eternity only two. What's yours?
August 2002