August 2010
“So who is your local hero?” That I am told was the question asked of Kate Saunders on the Aled Jones show on radio last sunday. I can’t say that I have ever heard the programme but I am told it is loosley christian in content and that Kate appears regularly as a contributor reviewing books.
So who did Kate nominate? Well none other than Dr Caroline Deys, our Parish Reader. And when asked why, the response was because of the amazing fundraising effort she has made with the pennies and tuppences in raising funds for our projects in Mozambique and elsewhere in Africa. Many congratulations to Caroline on this very public recognition of her efforts. We have all been aware for a long time just what an acheviement it has been but it is great that now so many people have been made aware of it.
We have all been mugged so many times that we probably take it for granted that as Caroline approaches us after Mass sunday by sunday we dive into our bags and pockets and turn out the copper for her. But it takes determination and a strong will to go on for year after year begging for money, even for a very good cause in which you believe. We will now all have to redouble our efforts to gather copper to fill Carolines potty!
On another note I am delighted to announce that we have appointed Jonathan Clinch as our new Director of Music. Jonathan will be playing for some af the services in August, but will be fully in charge from the begining of September.
Educated at Bradford and Clitheroe Grammer Schools he then studied for a degree in Music at Oxford followed by an MA in Organ Performance at Durham where he was taught by Dame Gillian Weir one of the foremost organists of the second half of the 20th century. Jonathan has also been involved in conducting choirs, singing and playing the oboe. For a year he was Assistant Organist at St. George’s Cathedral Perth Western Australia and Organist of Pusey House in Oxford. So he comes to us with an interesting and varied background and an enthusiasm for church music that I look forward to seeing and hearing in the music of our church in the future. I know that we will all make him and his wife Rachael welcome as they join the worshipping community here at St. Mary’s.
As I mentioned last month the main item on the agenda of the PCC at its July meeting was our 2010/2011 Mission Action Plan. Each year we draw up a list of areas in the life of the parish that we feel need tackling or where improvement need to be made. One item on the list last year that we have not really made much progress on is the Spiritual Life of the parish. Yes those of us who went to the Holy Land were renewed in our faith in a very special way, but only a relatively small number were able to go on that trip. So what could we do to hepl people grow in faith and devotion?
We have to be realistic, people live very hectic lives and one of the results of that is that numbers at Study Groups in the evenings have over the years taken a bit of a tumble. Yet studying and talking together, learning from eachother and hearing of others experiences is a vital part in growing in the faith. So how about having a study group on a sunday after church? The suggestion would be that after coffee we move to the Vicarage, have a Soup, bread and cheese lunch and then an hour of study. The whole thing would be over by 2.30pm at the latest. This could be in short bursts of 4-5 weeks, or could be on an ongoing basis but not every week. Let me know what you think so that we can plan for the autumn study sessions it the idea is popular.
The Patronal Festival is on 8th September. Do put it in your diaries now. It will be Jonathan’s first major contribution to the musical life of the parish and will of course be followed by supper in the Vicarage for all. Offers of contributions to that to Caroline Deys please.
If you are going away do have a good rest and tell us about the local churches you visit.
Your Parish Priest
.Guy Pope
June 2010
After fourteen years of music making at St. Mary's it was a great shame that Andrew decided to leave iso suddenly; fortunately we were able to cover his absence as his predecessor Simon Berry happened to be staying at the Vicarage.
Over the years Andy contributed in a very significant way to the life and growth of St. Mary's. On countless occasions visitors have commented to me on the very high standard of music that we enjoy. It is something that we have all treasured and valued and hope we will be able to maintain for the future. For me the high points have been the Requiems for All Souls Day, the Easter Day services and the Patronal Festivals. But it has also been in the week by week services that Andy has contributed by his flexibility and readiness to try new things.
In the days before yesterday when we had more children on a regular basis he also played for the Sunday School. Despite it being very distracting for the congregation as well as the preacher it was always good to hear the merry sound of "Stand up sit down shout thank you Lord" emanating from the Sacristy!
It has become evident over many months that his heart was nolonger in the job. He had given up meeting with me to plan music and refused to meet the Churchwardens to discuss the music budget and how best to allocate it. The sad breakdown of his marriage and his departure from the flat in the Church Hall all contributed to the difficulties.
Personally I shall always be grateful to Andy for all that he has done over a long period, and regret that we were not able to thank him personally as we have no address at which to contact him.
So with the help of a small music committee we will shortly be advertising the post of Director of Music in the hope that we will be able to find someone of the right calibre to further enhance our worship. In the meantime I am very grateful to the members of the congregation who have offered to help out and to Tim Storey who is hoping to provide us with organists to cover the interregnum. It will inevitably take some months, so please bear with us during this period.
And on a lighter note, all being well during August we will be having all new windows fitted in the Church Hall. Not only will this transform the comfort of the two flats, but it should significantly reduce the gas bill for the heating. Just three years ago we replaced the hall heaters with more efficient units, so by replacing the windows we should further reduce energy consumption. What is more it will improve the look of the Hall as it has been in dire need of redecoration for some years. The new windows are ready coated and should never require painting, so another economy in these troubled times. This work will depend on the granting of planning permission by Camden Council as we fall in a conservation area, and as a commercial building require approval. The application was lodged in April and we expect to receive approval by the end of this month.
As many of you know our tenant in the Hall basement Schermuly Design moved out last November after some 20 years. So far we have had no success in finding a new tenant despite placing the unit with two local Estate Agents. We are therefore having to seriously consider other possibilities. The conversion into a third flat is the most promising of these. However once again we require planning consent, and this is more contentious than the windows. It is bound to take a considerable time during which we receive no rent. This is a serious loss for the parish to bear on top of the large outlay that a conversion will involve. So please do keep your PCC in your prayers as we seek the best way forward in the stewardship of our resources.
Your Parish Priest.
Guy Pope
May 2010
So how will you be voting in the General Election, or for that matter in the local council elections? It may well of course be that you will want to vote differently in the two elections on the same day. After all local and national policies can be quite different with differing needs to be catered for.
So how will you decide who to vote for. There are of course all sorts of criteria by which to judge the parties. Who will be best for the country? Who will be best for the most deprived members of society? Who will be best for me personally? Whose policies will be most in tune with Christian principles?
Obviously no one party has all the answers neither does any one have all right on their side, so it is not a matter of black and white and in a three horse race it gets even more complicated. We all have a great deal of thinking to do and hopefully will not put our personal needs at the top of the agenda. After all it is surely one of our prime considerations as Christians that we put others first and the greatest good of all at the forefront of our thinking.
However that still leaves us in a very grey area. Life is never simple! All of us will want to look at the areas that most influence our thinking.
For me education is very high on my agenda as the whole education debate and the future of schools is I believe a very important issue in our city. Giving a good start in life to children from the most deprived backgrounds is I believe the only way to ensure a positive future with a minimum of racial tension and possible extremism.
Then there is the issue of the management of the economy. Each of the three parties claims to have the answer, and all seem to be contradictory. So who do we believe?
The future of the Health Service and pensions is another issue that is very important. I have just had my church pension cut after 39 years of service, so for me and for millions of others the state pension is going to be vital. Yes I know a bit of personal interest creeping in there! But with increasing numbers of pensioners it will affect the economy of the country significantly. On the Health Service there are very important issues to be faced. There must be a good service for all regardless of where they live, yet with the increasing complication and cost of treatments it will probably not be possible in the future to have all services available in every local hospital. That will not be popular, but if we are to have a service for all uncomfortable decisions will have to be made. Who will best respond to that challenge?
I could go on, and I am sure the you all have your own priorities. Defence perhaps, ending the war in Afghanistan, cleaning up politics, or the touchy subject of immigration.
So please take a while to think through what each party proposes, and how that might relate to Christian principles before you vote.
Your Parish Priest.
Guy Pope
April 2010
Dear Friends
As we go through Holy Week this year I am reminded that in only four weeks we shall be able to walk in the steps of Jesus, not just as he moved through Jerusalem on his way to the cross but also to the sites of so many of his life and work.
One of the prayers for Palm Sunday came home with renewed poignancy this year, as we prayed for those who still make Jerusalem a battle ground. There is of course fault on all sides, Jews, Palestinians, Christians of all denominations and peoples of many nations. We are all at fault. Yet that should not stop all of us in our own ways from seeking to bring peace to this tiny corner of the earth.
For most of us this will not be anything more than supporting all efforts to put pressure on the various factions involved, and endless prayer that the old enmities will be laid aside and a new vision for the future will be seen and adopted.
The life changing events of Easter must surely inspire us who have been changed by them and given the hope of eternal life in Christ to know that it is only when people learn to live together in harmony that real progress can be made for the kingdom. It is therefore our duty to work for peace in the Holy Land that the world may know Christ and his peace.
On a much more mundane note you will have noticed in the list of events on page 2 of this issue of Brookfield News that our Annual Parochial Church Meeting takes place on Sunday 18th April after Church. This is the chance for all the members of the congregation to hear what has been going on in the various areas of church life, to hear where we are financially, looking at the accounts for 2009, and to elect the Churchwardens and members of the PCC.
This is a very important occasion as understanding the vision for the parish that the PCC have developed and having your input into it is central to this meeting. Furthermore choosing your Wardens and PCC representatives is shaping that vision for the future. This year we shall be electing four members of the PCC as three have come to the end of their three year term of office, and there is one vacancy because of a resignation.
Have you thought of standing? Could you contribute to the life of the parish by being a member of the PCC? It involves some six meetings per year when we deal with all the rather mundane running needs of the church and hall, but also try at each meeting to ensure that one item from our Mission Action Plan, the vision for the future, is on the agenda.
Easter the season of new life and hope fo the world is a good time for all of us to examine our commitment to the life of the church and hopefully make a resolution to respond more fully to the call of Christ to be his disciples in today's world.
May the risen Christ inspire and uphold you now and in the future.
Your parish Priest
Guy Pope
March 2010
Dear Friends
How's Lent going for you? As I write we are at the end of the first week and my impression is that its going rather well for the parish. I had very generous comments about the sermon on the First Sunday in Lent, we had a very good session of the Lent study Group on Wednesday with interesting discussions and some new insights for people, and a very good turnout for the Friday Mass today. Nearly all the Lent Leaflets have gone, if you missed out please do make sure you pick one up form the back of the Church, there are still just a few left. Its not too late to dip into the daily meditations. The Winter Night Shelter is about to begin and we have had a good response to the call for bedding and helpers.
So are you part of one or more of those initiatives? If not why not? Unless there is growth there will be death, Now I know that sounds rather harsh, but if you think about it , it really is true. Are you using Lent to grow, its a question we all need to ask and hopefully the answer will be yes. However you may feel that none of the initiatives is for you. If so how about using lent to prepare for and make your confession. If you have never thought about it, or only did so in the dim and distant past why not give it a new try. Guilt and sinfulness so often lay heavy on us yet we so seldom recognise that it is there. It is not fashionable for us today to express guilt and beg forgiveness unless of course you are a major celebrity who wants to re engage with your public and sponsors!
And yet serious recognition of our faults and repentance for them ought to be at the centre of our life in the Church. Interestingly the Liturgical Commission when it was preparing the new services for Common Worship considered that Prayers Penitence should be a constituent part of virtually every service, even such as the Funeral Service. This seems to be running completely contrary to modern day life and thought, where taking responsibility for ones actions is seldom valued or accepted. From MP's downwards we all so often blame someone else, its never our fault. And yet it so often is. We need to learn again the lesson that to really live close to God we have to accept our sins and learn how to deal with them, by coming sincerely in penitence and faith and begging our Fathers forgiveness. He is there dying to give it to us, but only when we are truly sorry.
So then if we seek to use Lent wisely we will be trying to be more aware of our sin and guilt and then do something about ridding ourselves of it. One way of course is to come to Confession. To that end I will as always be available in Holy Week at 7.00pm on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday as well as by appointment if that is more convenient for you.
If you are interested please do have a word and we can discuss it. In the meantime have a good Lent so that we can all come to Easter renewed and open to the power of the Holy Spirit coming to us through the Resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ.
May God bless you all
Your parish Priest
Guy Pope
January 2010
Dear Friends
Although it is now a long time ago I would like to begin this month by thanking everyone who helped to make our Christmas Bazaar such a stunning success. To increase our takings by 33% in one year in a time of recession was a fabulous achievement and one you should all be very proud of. A profit of £2000.00 in a two hour slot is really wonderful.
Some of you are aware that Hugh Schermuly who has rented the basement of the Church Hall for the last twenty years moved to bigger premises during November. The PCC have been looking at various alternatives to make use of the space, including converting it into a flat. This would of course cost a large sum of money , but would produce a higher return in the long run. However after soundings of the Council we have been told that planning permission would not be granted until we have made serious attempts to let the space on a commercial basis. So we are faced with a possible long period with no income, at the end of which we may well have to spend in the region of £30,000 in order to begin to get some income again. Not a happy prospect, but one made slightly easier by the Bazaar result.
It is now almost a month since the sad spectacle of the failure of the Copenhagen Conference. In the end I fear it was various nations selfishness and greed that overtook the reality of the situation. Everybody throughout the world will suffer as a result, and despite short term gains no one will in the end win as a result of not making the cuts in emissions now.
So what do we do in the short term? Surely as a nation we must press ahead with our own cuts ever if the some of the other nations of the world fail to move. Otherwise all momentum will be lost, and by the time the UN can get leaders together again the situation will be even worse and ever greater demands will be put on everyone. Sadly it seems that only another catastrophe on the scale of the Asian Tsunami will force nations to act. By then it will be too late for the people of the Seychelles and others in low lying regions as well as numerous other inhabitants of our planet, animal, plant and aquatic.
All rather down beat for the beginning of the new year, but then there's an election campaign to look forward to! Will any of the politicians tell us the truth? It is quite clear that serious cuts will have to be made in our countries budget as a result of the banking failures, so lets all begin now to ask the questions of our politicians that will enable us to get to grips with what they really intend to do. We can and should. It is easy enough to begin with our local politicians in Camden or Islington Council, and this year with a change in boundaries we will be looking at a new MP to represent us. I hope that we can arrange a meeting locally to meet the candidates and really grill them so that they understand grassroots feelings.
Enough then of my blathering. May I wish you all a very happy new year and hope that it not only brings you peace and joy, but also a growth of faith and love for our Lord Jesus Christ.
Your Parish Priest
Guy Pope
December 2009
Dear Friends
This month all eyes will be focused on Copenhagen for the conference on Global Warming. At last the USA seems to be taking the problem seriously with Barack Obama signalling that he intends to attend the conference. Now we have to persuade the Chinese and Indians to take the whole issue seriously as well as helping to encourage all the countries of the developing world to not make the mistakes that we have made and build economies on sustainable principles.
That's all well and good on a national level, but when it comes down to the nitty gritty of daily life how do we plan to make the changes that will be necessary?
I was listening in the car the other day to a discussion on Womans Hour about the use of Tumble Dryers, one of the most un eco friendly gadgets that we have in modern society. They are for most of us an integral part of everyday life yet most of us continue to make full use of them. I know the problem only too well having lodgers who don't seem to have ever used a washing line in their lives, and when they do have no concept as to how to hang out clothes to make the most of the sun and winds drying power. The feed back from the radio audience was astounding, many claiming that they could not possibly manage without their dryer. Yet their forebears certainly did, and they only had a mangle to wring out their clothes, not an efficient spin cycle on the washing machine. The trouble is it all takes a bit more time and organisation.
And that is at the heart of the matter. In the end it comes down to whether we are prepared to change our style of living in order that future generations may have a chance of life as we know it. Both the Archbishop of Canterbury, and Bishop Richard have been very insistent that we must as Christians take this issue seriously. After all we have been given a commission to care for the world not destroy it. In this Diocese all the churches have been encouraged to look at their carbon footprint and act to cut it by one third by 2015. To this end one church in Islington has just got permission to replace all the tiles on the south face of its roof with photo cells to generate electricity. (Sadly these were not available when we replaced our roof.) We are seriously looking at replacing all the windows of the Church Hall with double glazed units to reduce our fuel consumption.
But these measures are all easy for us to contemplate. It is when it comes down to things that effect our daily lives and our pockets that we tend to jib at them. Are we really ready to act to save the planet or not? It is going to be hard to reduce our use of the car, to remember to switch off the lights, the TV rather than leave it on standby, to shut down the computer, to turn down the heating, to use less water and so on. But we do have to make these changes to our lives NOW if the planet is to survive in any recognisable form for the next 100 years.
All a gloomy picture, yet in Advent one that should inspire us to move forward in faith as we wait for the birth of Our Lord at Christmas. The joyful arrival of the saviour of the world in a stable on the first Christmas Day changed the world for good. We can go on changing it in our own generation to make it a more Christ like world where we all care for our neighbour as we have been taught to do.
I look forward to seeing many of you on Boxing Day for drinks at the Vicarage at 11.45am.
May you all have a Happy and Blessed Christmas
Your Parish Priest
Guy Pope
November 2009
According to the Times this week the Church of England has been rocked by the offer of the Vatican to set up a parallel structure to allow Anglican priests and parishes to become Roman Catholics while retaining elements of their Anglican heritage.
It is firstly interesting to note that the other quality national newspapers hardly gave the story any coverage. They were probably correct, for the offer that has been put on the table is I believe disingenuous. For a start I do not believe that many congregations whatever their beliefs about women bishops will as a whole wish to transfer their allegiance. Most of them are in parishes that are relatively small and not financially thriving. Rome has I believe quietly made it clear that no money will be available to support such parishes so they will have to finance themselves. Not something most UK parishes do.
In fact this whole provision relates much more to the Episcopal Church (our sister church in the US) where every parish has to be self financing. Furthermore the problems there are far worse than here as no provision has been made there for either priests or people who do not wish for the ministry of women Bishops. The result is that parishes and whole diocese are at loggerheads with the central authorities over the ownership of buildings and the future government of the church.
In a recent article in the Church Times Canon Giles Frazer of St. Paul's Cathedral, wrote that "in this country the folk in general have a much closer allegiance to their local community rather than the world wide body". I believe that he is right and that although we are all affected by the problems that our communion is experiencing in America, Australia and Nigeria members of the Church of England will in the end consider what they feel is the right course for our land, rather than the rest of the world.
It was perhaps doubly sad that only last week it was announced that the revision committee looking at the proposed measure to enable women to become bishops announced that it had decided that despite the previous vote in Synod that there should be no statutory provision for those who in conscience could not accept women bishops, they were going to propose a compromise that would enshrine in law a provision for such people. Now while that in itself poses a whole new series of difficulties, some women priests are already proposing to go on strike for one sunday, and we have to avoid the possibility of women bishops being seen as second class citizens, it is surely a much better way forward than the break up of the church.
By the time you read this many of you will have heard Fr. David Houlding from All Hallows speaking of the radio but for those who have missed him I quote an excerpt from this weeks Church Times.
"The Vatican announcement had come as no surprise, said Prebendary David Houlding, a member of the General Synods Catholic Group, on Wednesday.
It did not mean that all Anglo -Catholics had to jump on the band wagon and suddenly disappear. But they're very excited about it , and we know there wont be another offer as generous as this on the table, he said . He said that the offer placed an even greater obligation on the revision committee on women bishops to get the provision right. Far from not having to bother about it, we have to bother about it even more."
Wherever we stand on this issue, for or against I hope that we all wish to see the church we love and are part of stand and grow in faith and numbers. The present difficulties do not make this easy, and inevitably some on both sides will be unhappy with whatever compromise is finally proposed with the result that some may feel that they have no option but to leave the church. We shall all be poorer for that and we should pray earnestly that it will not happen.
Your Parish Priest
Guy Pope
October 2009
Dear Friends
How are your finances in the recession? It would seem that there is a vast difference across the nation. On the one hand there are those who have lost jobs and are therefore feeling the pinch in a big way. There are those with investments as their main income often the elderly, who are very much worse off as interest rates are now so low, and there are those who because of the lowering of VAT and mortgage rates are significantly better off.
This was brought home to me recently in a big way by the prices that were being paid at a classic car auction. It seems that those who are better off are investing in collectables of various sorts instead of putting the money into the bank or stock exchange.
For the Church this is producing a major problem. In a recent article in the Independent a study showed that charities as a whole were receiving 11% less in 2009 compared to 2008. I am not sure if this is accurately replicated in Church giving, but I do know that at the beginning of September the Diocese of London while starting the year with a balanced budget has in fact got a deficit of over a Million pounds. Clearly that is not sustainable though we are now expecting to face a deficit of £1.4 million by the end of the year.
Next year will be even worse, as we have to face increases in pension contributions in order to make up a deficit in the funds needed to plug the gap in its funds. This alone will mean the diocese will have to find £500,000. extra.
While the finances of St. Mary's are not quite that dire, our income has reduced markedly as a result of the reduction in interest rates and the increases in our utility bills earlier in the year.
In order to maintain the existing number of clergy in the Diocese all the parishes were asked to contribute at least an extra 3% next year to the central funds used to pay the clergy. Unfortunately although the PCC of St. Mary's felt that they would like to be able to increase our contribution by 5% we have had to reduce that amount to just 1% as we already know that we will be loosing a significant sum from the Hall income next year as the Schermuly Design Studio will be leaving the hall basement after 20 years.
Finding a new tenant will not be easy, but the PCC are actively looking at ways to make up the loss of income in the longer term.
So where does that leave us as a parish? We had considered a Stewardship Renewal this autumn, but felt that it would be inappropriate in the present financial conditions. However I will be writing to all members of the Electoral Roll in due course asking that they consider very carefully their giving levels for next year. But as part of the wider church we have a responsibility to the Diocese. After all outer parishes are currently funding us to the tune of £24,000 per year. Next year will I am afraid result in clergy cuts. Every department in Diocesan House is reviewing numbers of staff and identifying core responsibilities as against desirable activities. Some will have to go. Unless we are able to increase income significantly I fear that at least twenty clergy posts will have to be cut. In this deanery we currently only have two full time curates. We cannot reduce curate numbers as they are our future incumbents. So we have no alternative but to reduce the number of full time incumbents.
Now do let's be clear, no one is proposing closing of churches, apart from where this is appropriate, but it will mean sharing clergy, and more part time clergy. And that will require additional input from they lay people in order to run the churches.
The current outlook is not good, despite the numbers of people in church growing. So please do think through what your contribution might be in terms of time and commitment as well as money. Your Church Needs You.
Your Parish Priest
Guy Pope
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September 2009
Dear Friends
As I write we are once again reaching the end of the so called quiet period of August. Sadly I have not got done anything like the number of things I planned, as life has been far from quiet!
However we are just about to begin a new season in the life of the parish and we do so as Christopher and Hilda Mulinde celebrate the birth of Joshua. He was a mighty 10 pounds at birth so I guess Hilda will be very glad not to be carrying him any longer! We all thought she looked rather large, but for quite a small person he turned out to be very large. We shall look forward to when they can next make it to church so that we can all meet Joshua.
During the summer we have also had the weddings of three couples in the congregation, so lots of excitement.
Later this month there is a Sunday designated as "Back to Church Sunday", (more of that elsewhere in this issue) but it occurs to me that we might like to try and encourage people to bring a friend along to this service as we have splendid music and good fellowship afterwards. A splendid opportunity to reintroduce people to our congregation. How about it? Is there someone you could bring along? How about inviting them.
Foe some months now the Prayer Group has been in abeyance as Carolines back problems made it impossible for her to be in church. However this month will see the launch of a new style Prayer Group with time for thoughts and prayers with visual images and silence to help us develop a closer relationship with God. As usual the Prayer Group will be on the last Tuesday of the month at 7.30pm and last for approximately half an hour. If you have not been before, and would like to try it out, or have been but dropped away, why not come along on Tuesday 29th September
Your Parish Priest
Guy Pope
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August 2009
Dear Friends
You will all have read in the press of the constant controversy concerning Church Schools. The suggestion that they are exclusive, not representative of the communities they serve, divisive in terms of community cohesion, and generally a bad thing. Pressure groups would wish to see them all taken over by the local authority.
So I thought that this month I would try to tell you a little about the schools which our Diocese runs, and what we hope that they achieve. Most of you know that I am heavily involved with schools, as a governor of two, and a member of the Diocesan Board for Schools and Chair of its executive and Finance Committee.
Lets start with some facts and figures. The diocese has 134 primary schools offering 32,795 places to children under the age of eleven. Most of our schools are what is called 'one form entry', which means they have approximately 210 children if they are full to capacity. A few are smaller, and a few larger with two forms of entry. St Michael's Highgate being a local example for the larger school. When we turn to secondary schools the picture is very different. We have only 16 at present with 15,077 places available. Over recent years we have opened two new Academies, one in Islington, and one in Finchley. This autumn the Chelsea Academy will open its doors to 162 eleven year olds, and that number will increase year on year as pupils move up the school. Next year we have further hopes of another school. It is a fact that the majority of our schools have as high or higher levels of children from deprived backgrounds and other ethnic communities than their local authority neighbours. Yes of course most schools give precedence to children of church going families, but after that they very much reflect the communities in which they sit.
As you can see this is a major undertaking with some 50,000 children's education in our care. A task we take very seriously yet one that the church at large so often either ignores or choses to take no interest in. But it is surely one of the greatest mission opportunities that the church has in our city. That is not to say that we would seek to indoctrinate the children, or even set out to convert them. But in a world where they are unlikely to get any christian input in their homes, and largely negative information in the press and media we have contact with, and therefore the ability to do some pre evangelism with the children of our schools. For instance I never cease to be surprised at the number of people under the age of 40 who claim never to have set foot in a church, and have no notion of christian worship, and absolutely no knowledge of the Bible or of the life and relevance of Jesus Christ. I am pretty confident that no child who has been to one of our schools could subscribe to any of the above claims.
Last autumn because of the bad publicity we had been receiving we commissioned a survey of Londoners by the respected YouGov organisation. Londoners were asked to agree or disagree with a series of nine statements. The results were very positive. 62% think that Church of England Schools have a rightful place in London's education system. Only 14% think that Church of England schools should be abolished. Over half the respondents agreed that Church of England schools do not lead to segregation and division in society. For every Londoner who is negative towards our schools , there are between 3 and 4 who are supportive. So clearly they are popular in society in general.
So what is our ambition for our schools? Well first and foremost that they should give all the children the best possible start in life, and that means giving them the highest possible standard of education. Of our 150 schools we currently have no schools that Ofsted regard as 'failing', and no schools in the next category, 'having notice to improve'. 25% of our schools are categorised by Ofsted as "outstanding' and 73% as 'good or better'. So we are doing pretty well there, but there is always room for improvement.
One of the most significant factors in education in deprived areas is the environment. We pride ourselves in achieving a much higher standard than most state schools and considerably better than our Roman Catholic colleagues. If the children and young people have pride in their school they are far less likely to cause damage through vandalism and their general behaviour is likely to improve. In fact most of our schools have standards of behaviour that are the envy of our local authority neighbours.
So what do we look for in our schools? First and foremost a Christian ethos. That means a place where Christian values are at the heart of the life of the community. Valuing every child as a reflection of Christ whatever their faith of background. It means helping children to have standards of behaviour and tolerance of others. It also means helping children to value the faith of others. At St. George the Martyr school we recently had a visit from a very experienced photographer working on this occasion for the Times Educational Supplement. We sat down a group of six 8/9 year olds and asked them simply to discuss what made their faith distinctive and what was important about it for them. Four world faiths were represented around the table. After half an hour the photographer commented that he had learnt more in that half hour about all the faiths than he had ever known before. That surely is a measure of great success, that children so young can sit around and have the confidence to discuss their religion and be able to interact positively with those of other faiths.
As I am sure you know the 1944 Education Act provided that Religious Education should be on the timetable of every school, and that an act of Religious Worship should take place in every school daily. While in many state schools the nature and character of the assembly has lost its Christian input, and RE is seen as an add on it remains compulsory, with an agreed syllabus in every education authorities schools to be taught. However the latest proposals from the Government seem to sideline RE to the extent that it is simply omitted from the syllabus completely. These proposals are likely to become the template for guidance in the future making church schools input even more important. At a time of great financial stress we must make sure that we redouble our efforts to ensure that church schools are able to exist, expand and flourish so that we may ensure that children and young people in the future have a chance to learn something of the Christian faith to enrich and expand their horizons as well as giving them a glimpse of the value of a life of faith.
Your Parish Priest
Guy Pope
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June 2009
Dear Friends
One of the most popular hymns that is asked for on all sorts of occasions is Guide me, O thou great Redeemer. We are all I am sure aware of its Welsh roots, but did you know that it was first written in Welsh, and later translated into English? It was written by William Williams, (how Welsh can you get?) who lived from 1717-1791 and wrote the words in 1745. It was translated by this brother Peter Williams. Despite being known as 'the sweet singer of Wales' it was not until it was put to the tune Cwm Rhondda composed in 1905 for a song festival by John Hughes that it became so popular.
Not only the tune, but also the words themselves express such stirring and poignant sentiments. Despite the curse of our age, the total rejection of the concept of sinfulness, and our need of repentance, these words really do stir us in a way that others fail to do. In our heart of hearts most of us are aware that we are not terribly good people, that we have failings and that we need to be forgiven and accepted if we are to move forward on the journey of our lives.
Yet there is another side to these words, the reason we often use the hymn as the offertory hymn at the Eucharist. They are filled with Eucharistic theology. The guidance for the pilgrim in difficulty is the Bread of heaven on which we can feed and be refreshed for our journey. The crystal fountain from which the healing of our lives flows is the Eucharistic feast that will bid our fears subside and bring us to eternal life.
These beliefs then are at the heart of the feast of Corpus Christi which we celebrate this month. As usual we shall be sharing the feast with our neighbours so this year we shall be at St. Benet's where we will not only be able to celebrate but also no doubt be fed and watered afterwards. Corpus Christi falls this year on Thursday 11th June, and the service will be at 7.30pm.
Elsewhere in the magazine you will see Bill Saunders article about the Midsumme Fete. As always we need lots of help both with items to sell and people to sell them. Sadly the last two years we have not been blest with good weather, so lets hope for a change this year as I am sure that many of you have been storing up plenty of elbow power for those wet sponges that you have been unable to aim at me.
Despite the weather the takings have been steadily rising so please in these hard times do your best to support this event. It is one of the main sources of cash for our outward giving, supporting the charitable and religious causes chosen by the PCC. You can see a report on one of these here. Fr. Nicholas, the ex Vicar of Camden Town tells us about his second six months in Rio de Janeiro. Most of us picture wonderful beaches, fabulous hotels and absolute luxury. Sadly that is far from the truth for most of the residents of the city. Just a few weeks ago the vicar of Ruislip went to visit Fr. Nicholas, and ended up lying on the floor of his flat for half an hour as bullets flew around. We need to continue to support Fr. Nicholas as he tries to bring life and hope to the people of his parish who live in such poverty and fear for their lives.
Your Parish Priest
Guy Pope
May 2009
Dear Friends
At last sunday's service and the AGM that followed we made our farewells to Jonathan, Konstanza and Johanna Williams. It is always sad to say good by to regular members of the congregation, but especially so when like Jonathan they have been so active in the life of the parish for a considerable number of years.
Jonathan's biannual reminders of the needs of the Fete and Bazaar have become a feature of the notices for a month before both events. I have teased him many times that they were longer than the sermon! However the result has usually been an event that was well supported and ably run. We shall miss him especially in the clearing up phase where there is always such a lot to do, yet most of the helpers have given up. We presented Jonathan with some vouchers from John Lewis so that he and Konstanza can purchase something for the new house that will remind them of their time at St. Mary's.
We wish them well for the future and God's blessing in their new home, and look forward to seeing them in church from time to time once they are settled. Jonathan will still be joining us for our pilgrimage to the Holy Land next year so those of us going to Israel will have plenty of time to catch up with him then.
And that brings me to what I really wanted to think about this month.
In my annual report to the Annual Parochial Meeting last Sunday I made a request that we as a parish, all of us, look at what we contribute in terms of time and talents. There are so many jobs that need to be done in order to keep the parish ticking over.
Those of you who are in the Stewardship scheme will be familiar with the list that is on the annual renewal form. There are many more that we could add, but lets start with them. In fact of course we get very few volunteers for the jobs from that letter. But the jobs still need to be done. Simple things such as the church cleaning. How many of you are aware that before Easter and Christmas Carol polishes the whole of the church floor with no help from anyone? How many of you know who washes and irons the altar linen, which is changed twice or three times a year? Who washes the servers albs and choir cottas? Who tidies the churchyard cuts the grass at the back of the church and deals with the weeds that inevitably grow through the gravel? Who prepares the rotas for the readers, sidespeople and intercessors? Who does the flowers on all but Christmas and Easter?
Well you may know the answer to some of those questions, but I suspect that few would be able to answer all. In fact it is just two people who do all those jobs. So my point at the Annual Meeting was to say that we should make this year the year of volunteering for the practical things that are needed in the parish.
I have already had one offer of practical help, and you will see the results of that in the next few weeks. But if we all helped out just a little bit the life of the parish would be that much smoother. Most of the tasks do not require great talents, just a bit of elbow grease, though some such as editing this Magazine really do require some expertise. Though even that can be taught where there is a willingness to learn.
So let's use the coming months all volunteer for at least one task so that the load can be spread and all take some of the responsibility for the daily running of the church.
In the meantime I hope that you will all put the two significant dates of Ascension Day, May 21st, and Pentecost, May 31st as red letter days in your diaries and do your best to be in church on those days.
Your parish priest
“So who is your local hero?” That I am told was the question asked of Kate Saunders on the Aled Jones show on radio last sunday. I can’t say that I have ever heard the programme but I am told it is loosley christian in content and that Kate appears regularly as a contributor reviewing books.
So who did Kate nominate? Well none other than Dr Caroline Deys, our Parish Reader. And when asked why, the response was because of the amazing fundraising effort she has made with the pennies and tuppences in raising funds for our projects in Mozambique and elsewhere in Africa. Many congratulations to Caroline on this very public recognition of her efforts. We have all been aware for a long time just what an acheviement it has been but it is great that now so many people have been made aware of it.
We have all been mugged so many times that we probably take it for granted that as Caroline approaches us after Mass sunday by sunday we dive into our bags and pockets and turn out the copper for her. But it takes determination and a strong will to go on for year after year begging for money, even for a very good cause in which you believe. We will now all have to redouble our efforts to gather copper to fill Carolines potty!
On another note I am delighted to announce that we have appointed Jonathan Clinch as our new Director of Music. Jonathan will be playing for some af the services in August, but will be fully in charge from the begining of September.
Educated at Bradford and Clitheroe Grammer Schools he then studied for a degree in Music at Oxford followed by an MA in Organ Performance at Durham where he was taught by Dame Gillian Weir one of the foremost organists of the second half of the 20th century. Jonathan has also been involved in conducting choirs, singing and playing the oboe. For a year he was Assistant Organist at St. George’s Cathedral Perth Western Australia and Organist of Pusey House in Oxford. So he comes to us with an interesting and varied background and an enthusiasm for church music that I look forward to seeing and hearing in the music of our church in the future. I know that we will all make him and his wife Rachael welcome as they join the worshipping community here at St. Mary’s.
As I mentioned last month the main item on the agenda of the PCC at its July meeting was our 2010/2011 Mission Action Plan. Each year we draw up a list of areas in the life of the parish that we feel need tackling or where improvement need to be made. One item on the list last year that we have not really made much progress on is the Spiritual Life of the parish. Yes those of us who went to the Holy Land were renewed in our faith in a very special way, but only a relatively small number were able to go on that trip. So what could we do to hepl people grow in faith and devotion?
We have to be realistic, people live very hectic lives and one of the results of that is that numbers at Study Groups in the evenings have over the years taken a bit of a tumble. Yet studying and talking together, learning from eachother and hearing of others experiences is a vital part in growing in the faith. So how about having a study group on a sunday after church? The suggestion would be that after coffee we move to the Vicarage, have a Soup, bread and cheese lunch and then an hour of study. The whole thing would be over by 2.30pm at the latest. This could be in short bursts of 4-5 weeks, or could be on an ongoing basis but not every week. Let me know what you think so that we can plan for the autumn study sessions it the idea is popular.
The Patronal Festival is on 8th September. Do put it in your diaries now. It will be Jonathan’s first major contribution to the musical life of the parish and will of course be followed by supper in the Vicarage for all. Offers of contributions to that to Caroline Deys please.
If you are going away do have a good rest and tell us about the local churches you visit.
Your Parish Priest
.Guy Pope
After fourteen years of music making at St. Mary's it was a great shame that Andrew decided to leave iso suddenly; fortunately we were able to cover his absence as his predecessor Simon Berry happened to be staying at the Vicarage.
Over the years Andy contributed in a very significant way to the life and growth of St. Mary's. On countless occasions visitors have commented to me on the very high standard of music that we enjoy. It is something that we have all treasured and valued and hope we will be able to maintain for the future. For me the high points have been the Requiems for All Souls Day, the Easter Day services and the Patronal Festivals. But it has also been in the week by week services that Andy has contributed by his flexibility and readiness to try new things.
In the days before yesterday when we had more children on a regular basis he also played for the Sunday School. Despite it being very distracting for the congregation as well as the preacher it was always good to hear the merry sound of "Stand up sit down shout thank you Lord" emanating from the Sacristy!
It has become evident over many months that his heart was nolonger in the job. He had given up meeting with me to plan music and refused to meet the Churchwardens to discuss the music budget and how best to allocate it. The sad breakdown of his marriage and his departure from the flat in the Church Hall all contributed to the difficulties.
Personally I shall always be grateful to Andy for all that he has done over a long period, and regret that we were not able to thank him personally as we have no address at which to contact him.
So with the help of a small music committee we will shortly be advertising the post of Director of Music in the hope that we will be able to find someone of the right calibre to further enhance our worship. In the meantime I am very grateful to the members of the congregation who have offered to help out and to Tim Storey who is hoping to provide us with organists to cover the interregnum. It will inevitably take some months, so please bear with us during this period.
And on a lighter note, all being well during August we will be having all new windows fitted in the Church Hall. Not only will this transform the comfort of the two flats, but it should significantly reduce the gas bill for the heating. Just three years ago we replaced the hall heaters with more efficient units, so by replacing the windows we should further reduce energy consumption. What is more it will improve the look of the Hall as it has been in dire need of redecoration for some years. The new windows are ready coated and should never require painting, so another economy in these troubled times. This work will depend on the granting of planning permission by Camden Council as we fall in a conservation area, and as a commercial building require approval. The application was lodged in April and we expect to receive approval by the end of this month.
As many of you know our tenant in the Hall basement Schermuly Design moved out last November after some 20 years. So far we have had no success in finding a new tenant despite placing the unit with two local Estate Agents. We are therefore having to seriously consider other possibilities. The conversion into a third flat is the most promising of these. However once again we require planning consent, and this is more contentious than the windows. It is bound to take a considerable time during which we receive no rent. This is a serious loss for the parish to bear on top of the large outlay that a conversion will involve. So please do keep your PCC in your prayers as we seek the best way forward in the stewardship of our resources.
Your Parish Priest.
So how will you be voting in the General Election, or for that matter in the local council elections? It may well of course be that you will want to vote differently in the two elections on the same day. After all local and national policies can be quite different with differing needs to be catered for.
So how will you decide who to vote for. There are of course all sorts of criteria by which to judge the parties. Who will be best for the country? Who will be best for the most deprived members of society? Who will be best for me personally? Whose policies will be most in tune with Christian principles?
Obviously no one party has all the answers neither does any one have all right on their side, so it is not a matter of black and white and in a three horse race it gets even more complicated. We all have a great deal of thinking to do and hopefully will not put our personal needs at the top of the agenda. After all it is surely one of our prime considerations as Christians that we put others first and the greatest good of all at the forefront of our thinking.
However that still leaves us in a very grey area. Life is never simple! All of us will want to look at the areas that most influence our thinking.
For me education is very high on my agenda as the whole education debate and the future of schools is I believe a very important issue in our city. Giving a good start in life to children from the most deprived backgrounds is I believe the only way to ensure a positive future with a minimum of racial tension and possible extremism.
Then there is the issue of the management of the economy. Each of the three parties claims to have the answer, and all seem to be contradictory. So who do we believe?
The future of the Health Service and pensions is another issue that is very important. I have just had my church pension cut after 39 years of service, so for me and for millions of others the state pension is going to be vital. Yes I know a bit of personal interest creeping in there! But with increasing numbers of pensioners it will affect the economy of the country significantly. On the Health Service there are very important issues to be faced. There must be a good service for all regardless of where they live, yet with the increasing complication and cost of treatments it will probably not be possible in the future to have all services available in every local hospital. That will not be popular, but if we are to have a service for all uncomfortable decisions will have to be made. Who will best respond to that challenge?
I could go on, and I am sure the you all have your own priorities. Defence perhaps, ending the war in Afghanistan, cleaning up politics, or the touchy subject of immigration.
So please take a while to think through what each party proposes, and how that might relate to Christian principles before you vote.
One of the prayers for Palm Sunday came home with renewed poignancy this year, as we prayed for those who still make Jerusalem a battle ground. There is of course fault on all sides, Jews, Palestinians, Christians of all denominations and peoples of many nations. We are all at fault. Yet that should not stop all of us in our own ways from seeking to bring peace to this tiny corner of the earth.
For most of us this will not be anything more than supporting all efforts to put pressure on the various factions involved, and endless prayer that the old enmities will be laid aside and a new vision for the future will be seen and adopted.
The life changing events of Easter must surely inspire us who have been changed by them and given the hope of eternal life in Christ to know that it is only when people learn to live together in harmony that real progress can be made for the kingdom. It is therefore our duty to work for peace in the Holy Land that the world may know Christ and his peace.
On a much more mundane note you will have noticed in the list of events on page 2 of this issue of Brookfield News that our Annual Parochial Church Meeting takes place on Sunday 18th April after Church. This is the chance for all the members of the congregation to hear what has been going on in the various areas of church life, to hear where we are financially, looking at the accounts for 2009, and to elect the Churchwardens and members of the PCC.
This is a very important occasion as understanding the vision for the parish that the PCC have developed and having your input into it is central to this meeting. Furthermore choosing your Wardens and PCC representatives is shaping that vision for the future. This year we shall be electing four members of the PCC as three have come to the end of their three year term of office, and there is one vacancy because of a resignation.
Have you thought of standing? Could you contribute to the life of the parish by being a member of the PCC? It involves some six meetings per year when we deal with all the rather mundane running needs of the church and hall, but also try at each meeting to ensure that one item from our Mission Action Plan, the vision for the future, is on the agenda.
Easter the season of new life and hope fo the world is a good time for all of us to examine our commitment to the life of the church and hopefully make a resolution to respond more fully to the call of Christ to be his disciples in today's world.
May the risen Christ inspire and uphold you now and in the future.
Your parish Priest
So are you part of one or more of those initiatives? If not why not? Unless there is growth there will be death, Now I know that sounds rather harsh, but if you think about it , it really is true. Are you using Lent to grow, its a question we all need to ask and hopefully the answer will be yes. However you may feel that none of the initiatives is for you. If so how about using lent to prepare for and make your confession. If you have never thought about it, or only did so in the dim and distant past why not give it a new try. Guilt and sinfulness so often lay heavy on us yet we so seldom recognise that it is there. It is not fashionable for us today to express guilt and beg forgiveness unless of course you are a major celebrity who wants to re engage with your public and sponsors!
And yet serious recognition of our faults and repentance for them ought to be at the centre of our life in the Church. Interestingly the Liturgical Commission when it was preparing the new services for Common Worship considered that Prayers Penitence should be a constituent part of virtually every service, even such as the Funeral Service. This seems to be running completely contrary to modern day life and thought, where taking responsibility for ones actions is seldom valued or accepted. From MP's downwards we all so often blame someone else, its never our fault. And yet it so often is. We need to learn again the lesson that to really live close to God we have to accept our sins and learn how to deal with them, by coming sincerely in penitence and faith and begging our Fathers forgiveness. He is there dying to give it to us, but only when we are truly sorry.
So then if we seek to use Lent wisely we will be trying to be more aware of our sin and guilt and then do something about ridding ourselves of it. One way of course is to come to Confession. To that end I will as always be available in Holy Week at 7.00pm on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday as well as by appointment if that is more convenient for you.
If you are interested please do have a word and we can discuss it. In the meantime have a good Lent so that we can all come to Easter renewed and open to the power of the Holy Spirit coming to us through the Resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ.
May God bless you all
Your parish Priest
Although it is now a long time ago I would like to begin this month by thanking everyone who helped to make our Christmas Bazaar such a stunning success. To increase our takings by 33% in one year in a time of recession was a fabulous achievement and one you should all be very proud of. A profit of £2000.00 in a two hour slot is really wonderful.
Some of you are aware that Hugh Schermuly who has rented the basement of the Church Hall for the last twenty years moved to bigger premises during November. The PCC have been looking at various alternatives to make use of the space, including converting it into a flat. This would of course cost a large sum of money , but would produce a higher return in the long run. However after soundings of the Council we have been told that planning permission would not be granted until we have made serious attempts to let the space on a commercial basis. So we are faced with a possible long period with no income, at the end of which we may well have to spend in the region of £30,000 in order to begin to get some income again. Not a happy prospect, but one made slightly easier by the Bazaar result.
It is now almost a month since the sad spectacle of the failure of the Copenhagen Conference. In the end I fear it was various nations selfishness and greed that overtook the reality of the situation. Everybody throughout the world will suffer as a result, and despite short term gains no one will in the end win as a result of not making the cuts in emissions now.
So what do we do in the short term? Surely as a nation we must press ahead with our own cuts ever if the some of the other nations of the world fail to move. Otherwise all momentum will be lost, and by the time the UN can get leaders together again the situation will be even worse and ever greater demands will be put on everyone. Sadly it seems that only another catastrophe on the scale of the Asian Tsunami will force nations to act. By then it will be too late for the people of the Seychelles and others in low lying regions as well as numerous other inhabitants of our planet, animal, plant and aquatic.
All rather down beat for the beginning of the new year, but then there's an election campaign to look forward to! Will any of the politicians tell us the truth? It is quite clear that serious cuts will have to be made in our countries budget as a result of the banking failures, so lets all begin now to ask the questions of our politicians that will enable us to get to grips with what they really intend to do. We can and should. It is easy enough to begin with our local politicians in Camden or Islington Council, and this year with a change in boundaries we will be looking at a new MP to represent us. I hope that we can arrange a meeting locally to meet the candidates and really grill them so that they understand grassroots feelings.
Enough then of my blathering. May I wish you all a very happy new year and hope that it not only brings you peace and joy, but also a growth of faith and love for our Lord Jesus Christ.
Your Parish Priest
This month all eyes will be focused on Copenhagen for the conference on Global Warming. At last the USA seems to be taking the problem seriously with Barack Obama signalling that he intends to attend the conference. Now we have to persuade the Chinese and Indians to take the whole issue seriously as well as helping to encourage all the countries of the developing world to not make the mistakes that we have made and build economies on sustainable principles.
That's all well and good on a national level, but when it comes down to the nitty gritty of daily life how do we plan to make the changes that will be necessary?
I was listening in the car the other day to a discussion on Womans Hour about the use of Tumble Dryers, one of the most un eco friendly gadgets that we have in modern society. They are for most of us an integral part of everyday life yet most of us continue to make full use of them. I know the problem only too well having lodgers who don't seem to have ever used a washing line in their lives, and when they do have no concept as to how to hang out clothes to make the most of the sun and winds drying power. The feed back from the radio audience was astounding, many claiming that they could not possibly manage without their dryer. Yet their forebears certainly did, and they only had a mangle to wring out their clothes, not an efficient spin cycle on the washing machine. The trouble is it all takes a bit more time and organisation.
And that is at the heart of the matter. In the end it comes down to whether we are prepared to change our style of living in order that future generations may have a chance of life as we know it. Both the Archbishop of Canterbury, and Bishop Richard have been very insistent that we must as Christians take this issue seriously. After all we have been given a commission to care for the world not destroy it. In this Diocese all the churches have been encouraged to look at their carbon footprint and act to cut it by one third by 2015. To this end one church in Islington has just got permission to replace all the tiles on the south face of its roof with photo cells to generate electricity. (Sadly these were not available when we replaced our roof.) We are seriously looking at replacing all the windows of the Church Hall with double glazed units to reduce our fuel consumption.
But these measures are all easy for us to contemplate. It is when it comes down to things that effect our daily lives and our pockets that we tend to jib at them. Are we really ready to act to save the planet or not? It is going to be hard to reduce our use of the car, to remember to switch off the lights, the TV rather than leave it on standby, to shut down the computer, to turn down the heating, to use less water and so on. But we do have to make these changes to our lives NOW if the planet is to survive in any recognisable form for the next 100 years.
All a gloomy picture, yet in Advent one that should inspire us to move forward in faith as we wait for the birth of Our Lord at Christmas. The joyful arrival of the saviour of the world in a stable on the first Christmas Day changed the world for good. We can go on changing it in our own generation to make it a more Christ like world where we all care for our neighbour as we have been taught to do.
I look forward to seeing many of you on Boxing Day for drinks at the Vicarage at 11.45am.
May you all have a Happy and Blessed Christmas
Your Parish Priest
According to the Times this week the Church of England has been rocked by the offer of the Vatican to set up a parallel structure to allow Anglican priests and parishes to become Roman Catholics while retaining elements of their Anglican heritage.
It is firstly interesting to note that the other quality national newspapers hardly gave the story any coverage. They were probably correct, for the offer that has been put on the table is I believe disingenuous. For a start I do not believe that many congregations whatever their beliefs about women bishops will as a whole wish to transfer their allegiance. Most of them are in parishes that are relatively small and not financially thriving. Rome has I believe quietly made it clear that no money will be available to support such parishes so they will have to finance themselves. Not something most UK parishes do.
In fact this whole provision relates much more to the Episcopal Church (our sister church in the US) where every parish has to be self financing. Furthermore the problems there are far worse than here as no provision has been made there for either priests or people who do not wish for the ministry of women Bishops. The result is that parishes and whole diocese are at loggerheads with the central authorities over the ownership of buildings and the future government of the church.
In a recent article in the Church Times Canon Giles Frazer of St. Paul's Cathedral, wrote that "in this country the folk in general have a much closer allegiance to their local community rather than the world wide body". I believe that he is right and that although we are all affected by the problems that our communion is experiencing in America, Australia and Nigeria members of the Church of England will in the end consider what they feel is the right course for our land, rather than the rest of the world.
It was perhaps doubly sad that only last week it was announced that the revision committee looking at the proposed measure to enable women to become bishops announced that it had decided that despite the previous vote in Synod that there should be no statutory provision for those who in conscience could not accept women bishops, they were going to propose a compromise that would enshrine in law a provision for such people. Now while that in itself poses a whole new series of difficulties, some women priests are already proposing to go on strike for one sunday, and we have to avoid the possibility of women bishops being seen as second class citizens, it is surely a much better way forward than the break up of the church.
By the time you read this many of you will have heard Fr. David Houlding from All Hallows speaking of the radio but for those who have missed him I quote an excerpt from this weeks Church Times.
"The Vatican announcement had come as no surprise, said Prebendary David Houlding, a member of the General Synods Catholic Group, on Wednesday.
It did not mean that all Anglo -Catholics had to jump on the band wagon and suddenly disappear. But they're very excited about it , and we know there wont be another offer as generous as this on the table, he said . He said that the offer placed an even greater obligation on the revision committee on women bishops to get the provision right. Far from not having to bother about it, we have to bother about it even more."
Wherever we stand on this issue, for or against I hope that we all wish to see the church we love and are part of stand and grow in faith and numbers. The present difficulties do not make this easy, and inevitably some on both sides will be unhappy with whatever compromise is finally proposed with the result that some may feel that they have no option but to leave the church. We shall all be poorer for that and we should pray earnestly that it will not happen.
Your Parish Priest
Guy Pope
How are your finances in the recession? It would seem that there is a vast difference across the nation. On the one hand there are those who have lost jobs and are therefore feeling the pinch in a big way. There are those with investments as their main income often the elderly, who are very much worse off as interest rates are now so low, and there are those who because of the lowering of VAT and mortgage rates are significantly better off.
This was brought home to me recently in a big way by the prices that were being paid at a classic car auction. It seems that those who are better off are investing in collectables of various sorts instead of putting the money into the bank or stock exchange.
For the Church this is producing a major problem. In a recent article in the Independent a study showed that charities as a whole were receiving 11% less in 2009 compared to 2008. I am not sure if this is accurately replicated in Church giving, but I do know that at the beginning of September the Diocese of London while starting the year with a balanced budget has in fact got a deficit of over a Million pounds. Clearly that is not sustainable though we are now expecting to face a deficit of £1.4 million by the end of the year.
Next year will be even worse, as we have to face increases in pension contributions in order to make up a deficit in the funds needed to plug the gap in its funds. This alone will mean the diocese will have to find £500,000. extra.
While the finances of St. Mary's are not quite that dire, our income has reduced markedly as a result of the reduction in interest rates and the increases in our utility bills earlier in the year.
In order to maintain the existing number of clergy in the Diocese all the parishes were asked to contribute at least an extra 3% next year to the central funds used to pay the clergy. Unfortunately although the PCC of St. Mary's felt that they would like to be able to increase our contribution by 5% we have had to reduce that amount to just 1% as we already know that we will be loosing a significant sum from the Hall income next year as the Schermuly Design Studio will be leaving the hall basement after 20 years.
Finding a new tenant will not be easy, but the PCC are actively looking at ways to make up the loss of income in the longer term.
So where does that leave us as a parish? We had considered a Stewardship Renewal this autumn, but felt that it would be inappropriate in the present financial conditions. However I will be writing to all members of the Electoral Roll in due course asking that they consider very carefully their giving levels for next year. But as part of the wider church we have a responsibility to the Diocese. After all outer parishes are currently funding us to the tune of £24,000 per year. Next year will I am afraid result in clergy cuts. Every department in Diocesan House is reviewing numbers of staff and identifying core responsibilities as against desirable activities. Some will have to go. Unless we are able to increase income significantly I fear that at least twenty clergy posts will have to be cut. In this deanery we currently only have two full time curates. We cannot reduce curate numbers as they are our future incumbents. So we have no alternative but to reduce the number of full time incumbents.
Now do let's be clear, no one is proposing closing of churches, apart from where this is appropriate, but it will mean sharing clergy, and more part time clergy. And that will require additional input from they lay people in order to run the churches.
The current outlook is not good, despite the numbers of people in church growing. So please do think through what your contribution might be in terms of time and commitment as well as money. Your Church Needs You.
Your Parish Priest
However we are just about to begin a new season in the life of the parish and we do so as Christopher and Hilda Mulinde celebrate the birth of Joshua. He was a mighty 10 pounds at birth so I guess Hilda will be very glad not to be carrying him any longer! We all thought she looked rather large, but for quite a small person he turned out to be very large. We shall look forward to when they can next make it to church so that we can all meet Joshua.
During the summer we have also had the weddings of three couples in the congregation, so lots of excitement.
Later this month there is a Sunday designated as "Back to Church Sunday", (more of that elsewhere in this issue) but it occurs to me that we might like to try and encourage people to bring a friend along to this service as we have splendid music and good fellowship afterwards. A splendid opportunity to reintroduce people to our congregation. How about it? Is there someone you could bring along? How about inviting them.
Foe some months now the Prayer Group has been in abeyance as Carolines back problems made it impossible for her to be in church. However this month will see the launch of a new style Prayer Group with time for thoughts and prayers with visual images and silence to help us develop a closer relationship with God. As usual the Prayer Group will be on the last Tuesday of the month at 7.30pm and last for approximately half an hour. If you have not been before, and would like to try it out, or have been but dropped away, why not come along on Tuesday 29th September
Your Parish Priest
Guy Pope
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So I thought that this month I would try to tell you a little about the schools which our Diocese runs, and what we hope that they achieve. Most of you know that I am heavily involved with schools, as a governor of two, and a member of the Diocesan Board for Schools and Chair of its executive and Finance Committee.
Lets start with some facts and figures. The diocese has 134 primary schools offering 32,795 places to children under the age of eleven. Most of our schools are what is called 'one form entry', which means they have approximately 210 children if they are full to capacity. A few are smaller, and a few larger with two forms of entry. St Michael's Highgate being a local example for the larger school. When we turn to secondary schools the picture is very different. We have only 16 at present with 15,077 places available. Over recent years we have opened two new Academies, one in Islington, and one in Finchley. This autumn the Chelsea Academy will open its doors to 162 eleven year olds, and that number will increase year on year as pupils move up the school. Next year we have further hopes of another school. It is a fact that the majority of our schools have as high or higher levels of children from deprived backgrounds and other ethnic communities than their local authority neighbours. Yes of course most schools give precedence to children of church going families, but after that they very much reflect the communities in which they sit.
As you can see this is a major undertaking with some 50,000 children's education in our care. A task we take very seriously yet one that the church at large so often either ignores or choses to take no interest in. But it is surely one of the greatest mission opportunities that the church has in our city. That is not to say that we would seek to indoctrinate the children, or even set out to convert them. But in a world where they are unlikely to get any christian input in their homes, and largely negative information in the press and media we have contact with, and therefore the ability to do some pre evangelism with the children of our schools. For instance I never cease to be surprised at the number of people under the age of 40 who claim never to have set foot in a church, and have no notion of christian worship, and absolutely no knowledge of the Bible or of the life and relevance of Jesus Christ. I am pretty confident that no child who has been to one of our schools could subscribe to any of the above claims.
Last autumn because of the bad publicity we had been receiving we commissioned a survey of Londoners by the respected YouGov organisation. Londoners were asked to agree or disagree with a series of nine statements. The results were very positive. 62% think that Church of England Schools have a rightful place in London's education system. Only 14% think that Church of England schools should be abolished. Over half the respondents agreed that Church of England schools do not lead to segregation and division in society. For every Londoner who is negative towards our schools , there are between 3 and 4 who are supportive. So clearly they are popular in society in general.
So what is our ambition for our schools? Well first and foremost that they should give all the children the best possible start in life, and that means giving them the highest possible standard of education. Of our 150 schools we currently have no schools that Ofsted regard as 'failing', and no schools in the next category, 'having notice to improve'. 25% of our schools are categorised by Ofsted as "outstanding' and 73% as 'good or better'. So we are doing pretty well there, but there is always room for improvement.
One of the most significant factors in education in deprived areas is the environment. We pride ourselves in achieving a much higher standard than most state schools and considerably better than our Roman Catholic colleagues. If the children and young people have pride in their school they are far less likely to cause damage through vandalism and their general behaviour is likely to improve. In fact most of our schools have standards of behaviour that are the envy of our local authority neighbours.
So what do we look for in our schools? First and foremost a Christian ethos. That means a place where Christian values are at the heart of the life of the community. Valuing every child as a reflection of Christ whatever their faith of background. It means helping children to have standards of behaviour and tolerance of others. It also means helping children to value the faith of others. At St. George the Martyr school we recently had a visit from a very experienced photographer working on this occasion for the Times Educational Supplement. We sat down a group of six 8/9 year olds and asked them simply to discuss what made their faith distinctive and what was important about it for them. Four world faiths were represented around the table. After half an hour the photographer commented that he had learnt more in that half hour about all the faiths than he had ever known before. That surely is a measure of great success, that children so young can sit around and have the confidence to discuss their religion and be able to interact positively with those of other faiths.
As I am sure you know the 1944 Education Act provided that Religious Education should be on the timetable of every school, and that an act of Religious Worship should take place in every school daily. While in many state schools the nature and character of the assembly has lost its Christian input, and RE is seen as an add on it remains compulsory, with an agreed syllabus in every education authorities schools to be taught. However the latest proposals from the Government seem to sideline RE to the extent that it is simply omitted from the syllabus completely. These proposals are likely to become the template for guidance in the future making church schools input even more important. At a time of great financial stress we must make sure that we redouble our efforts to ensure that church schools are able to exist, expand and flourish so that we may ensure that children and young people in the future have a chance to learn something of the Christian faith to enrich and expand their horizons as well as giving them a glimpse of the value of a life of faith.
Your Parish Priest
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Guy Pope
April 2009
Dear Friends
Some time ago a group of school children were visiting St. Mary's, I asked them to go around the church and see how many crosses they could find. When they got over 70 they began to realise just how important a Christian symbol it is. However they also noticed a distinct difference, as some of the crosses had the figure of Jesus on them and others didn't.
This is the central significance of Holy Week and Easter. Jesus offers himself for us on the cross on Good Friday and rises from the grave on Easter Day leaving the cross empty as a sign of his triumph over the powers of darkness and death. The early Christians very quickly came to recognise how powerful a symbol both images were and how the cross and resurrection changed the world for ever.
Today we too rejoice that our lives are changed for ever by the sacrifice of Christ. We are given a supreme demonstration of love for our neighbour that we must try to live up to. We will fail many times, but through the love of Christ will be forgiven.
The great services of this week remind us step by step of His earthly life and His joyful resurrection. I hope that you will able to join us to celebrate these great days, and can assure you of a warm welcome at St. Mary's. May God give you his blessing this Easter.
Your Parish Priest
Guy Pope
March 2009
For the last few years the PCC has been wanting to get a parish website up and running. Now at last thanks to the efforts of Peter Dann we finally have the site active, though still in the process of development. We have been waiting for the arrival of the text of the revised and updated history of St Mary's which various members of the Saunders family have been working on for the last eleven years! However we have now gone live without this part of our site being active. Appart from the up to date list of events, a welcome to visitors to the site and information about the church hall we hope to include articles from the magazine and other information about life in the parish from tiime to time.
A major component also to be added will be a guided tour of the churtch with pictures of each area of interest. These will now need to wait till after Easter to be taken, as if we take them now, as Lent begins, the place will tend to look rather dull. However a great start has been made, and many thanks to Peter who has put a great deal of effort into setting the site up, and will maintain it for us in the future. So if you have any comments, suggestions as to improvements or material that might be included, please do speak to Peter, or email him here Webmaster.
I have published on the website two articles about redundancy. The first relating to the destablising effect of the threat, and secondly prayers (here) for those made redundant. While as far as I am aware no one in the congregation has as yet been made redundant, I am very aware of folk who are finding obtaining a job extremely difficult in the present climate.
I was talking only thismorning to someone who has recently set up as a freelance in his field who felt that his prospects were good as companies are tending to divest themselves of full time staff and employ specialists for individual projects. While this is good for some it will not suit the majority of people. It makes obtaining a mortgage for instance very difficult even if you can find one today!
For the last fifteen years or so we have lived in a boom economy where the possibility of a downturn has simply been put aside. Now we must face the reality and for many this is an unpleasant situation. The church has to be there to help those who turn to us for help in dealing with the new realities of life in a constructive way. You can find these prayers
Some of you may have seen the very strong criticism of Bishop Richard in last weeks Evening Standard. He sent a pastoral letter to all the clergy last week encouraging us all to see through the difficulties that all the churches will face in the comming months as income declines and outgoings rise. We must see the present situation he insisted as a positive pastoral situation to be taken advantage of, where we can get alongside people to help them and encourage them the see that there may be new openings in the changes in their lives.
Typically of journalists, the Standard accused Bishop Richard of saying that the depression was a good thing, taking one phrase out of context. But none the less the present economic situation does call on all of us to reasses our prioities in life and particularly in a financial perspective. How do we spend our money? What do ws see as important? What is really unneccessary and what is vital for our health and happiness both in mind and body?
Those surely are some good questions for us to ponder at the begining of Lent and I am sure will surface many times in our Lent Groups, meeting each Wednesday evening, which have the title Faith Hope and Love.
May I wish you all a Holy Lent where your faith is deepened so that you may come to Easter renewed in your faith.