ST. MARY’S FINEDONST. MARY’S FINEDONST. MARY’S FINEDONST. MARY’S FINEDON

PARISH MAGAZINEPARISH MAGAZINEPARISH MAGAZINEPARISH MAGAZINE

APRIL APRIL APRIL APRIL 2011201120112011

ST. MARY THE VIRGIN

FINEDON

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PARISH MAGAZINE

APRIL 2011

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From the Vicarage

April.

After the chill of winter, spring is properly here, and how lovely to be back in the

country. In my last parish, right in the middle of London, you’d have to look hard to

find the odd municipal crocus heralding the change of the season, and without

nature’s cycle to gear us to the passing year, one day can feel pretty much like any

other. As Christians we’re also geared to the Church’s year, which gathers now to its

climax. Easter is coming, but before we get there we have to go through the darkest

days of Lent and Passiontide, when we walk with Jesus the way of the Cross.

I don’t think we’re ever more out of step with the rest of the world than now,

something which was borne in on me one Good Friday in my first parish in

Lincolnshire. We got together with all the churches in the town for a Walk of

Witness, following the Cross round the shopping centre and the market place while

the Salvation Army band played When I Survey the Wondrous Cross. It brought the traffic to a halt, but if we thought we were all singing from the same hymn sheet we

had to think again when a passer-by asked if we could have Away In A Manger.

So much of Christian living is a puzzle, and not only to those on the outside. The

baby in the manger is born to die on the cross; Christ’s greatest triumph comes at

the moment of his most desperate humiliation; and amid the world’s trials and

tribulations we proclaim hope, peace and joy. If that’s hard for us to get to grips

with, imagine what it is like for those who know nothing of the gospel? And yet, for

all of us, an equal promise lies ahead, the promise of new life, anticipated in the

budding trees, the grass’ recovered greenness, and the first wobbly lambs in the

fields. At the end of our fast lies the greatest feast of all.

Yours in Christ,

Fr Richard.

Floodlight Sponsorship

6th march Alice Smith - in Memory of Ronald Walter Smith Margaret Coombs & Family - in Memory of Dorothy Isabel Harris Monica Webb to celebrate her husband Mick’s birthday. 13th March St. Mary's Thursday Club: to celebrate the Club's 50th Birthday. An anonymous donor: in memory of Lillian May Goodes Roy and Maxine Furness: to celebrate the confirmation of their Granddaughter Bethany Megan Hughes. Mrs Nancy Bollard: in memory of her son Michael 20th March David Bailey & Janet Millington in memory of Roy Bailey Sean & Lisa - in memory of Thomas Mr & Mrs Abell - in memory of William Cross All the MacClean family - in memory of Alan MacClean 27th March Jan & Rod Lawman to celebrate their grandson Elliot’s 18th birthday, with love.

Installation and Licensing of Father Richard

On Tuesday 12th April, Father Richard will be licensed by the Bishop of

Peterborough as Priest in Charge of St. Mary the Virgin and Vicar of Finedon. The Churchwardens, Parochial Parish Council and congregation are delighted that Father Richard has been called by God to be our pastoral leader and to the ministry of the people of Finedon. We all pray that his time here in Finedon will be very happy and that he will be guided by the Holy Spirit to lead our Church forward in faith, love and pastoral care.

Jane and NeilJane and NeilJane and NeilJane and Neil

Services in Holy Week in St Mary’s Church

Holy Week services in St Mary’s Church are as follows: Monday 18th April 7.00 pm Holy Eucharist Tuesday 19th April 7.00 pm Holy Eucharist Thurday 21st April 7.00 pm Holy Eucharist 22nd April - Good Friday 11 am Stations of the Cross 2-.00 pm Liturgy 24th April - Easter Sunday 8 am Holy Eucharist 9.30 am Sung Eucharist, followed by Easter Egg Hunt 6 pm Evensong

St Mary’s Church

Afternoon Tea on

Sunday 3rd April

Between 4.30 and 5.30 pm

Followed by Evensong at 6.00 pm

Church Cleaning At 10.00 am on Saturday 9th April we are having a grand cleaning and tidying in St Mary’s Church.

Everyone is welcome and we would like as many people as possible to help so that we can get it done as quickly as possible.

St Mary’s Church AGM

St Mary’s church will be holding it’s AGM on Wednesday 27th April, 2011 at 7.30 pm in the church.. PCC and Electoral Roll application forms are on the wooden box near the coffee machine for anyone who would like to be a member of the PCC or have their name on the Electoral Roll.

St Mary’s Thursday Club

Thank you to all who supported our annual Pancake Races recently, especially staff at the Mulso School, for their help with the arrangements for refreshments and allowing us to use the playground again. The winner of our ‘mums’ race was Jo Watts, 2nd Luella Letts and 3rd Ceri Brown. Preschool - 1st Henry, 2nd Nikita, 3rd Frankie Reception - 1st Harry, 2nd Tara Year 1 - 1st Freddie, 2nd Daniel, 3rd Charlie Year 2 - 1st Harley, 2nd Cameron, 3rd Harrison Year 3 - 1st Reece, 2nd George, 3rd Tristan Year 4 - 1st Jamie, 2nd Ben, 3rd Cameron Year 5 - 1st Stefan, 2nd Becky, 3rd Holly Year 6 - Joint finish Leah, Brandon, Michael, Ben Year 7 - 1st Rosie, 2nd Bradley, 3rd Sam Thank you to all the children who took part. We are sending £80.00 to the Children’s Society as a result of this event.

Christian Aid Week will run from 15 -21 May 2011.

Last year the collection for Christian Aid week in our region rose by 19%, the best in England. Here in Finedon, a team of around 30 volunteers collected £1300 through the House to House Collection. Collectors raised an average of £46 – this could pay for two sheep for a coffee farmer in Nicaragua. The sheep help clear the weeds that grow around the coffee plants, and the farmer can also sell them to raise extra income. In addition to helping with Emergency Relief, Christian Aid’s long term development projects, tackle the causes and consequences of poverty and injustice, amongst the world’s poorest people in around 50 countries, regardless of race or faith. We are always looking for new collectors to help deliver and collect envelopes. This year there

are a number of new houses to cover in Finedon. This is your chance to make a difference. So,

if you can spare a few hours during the third week of May, please speak to Kathy Roberts or

Gill Foster, or add your name and contact details to the poster on the notice board. Thank you

Next Bishop of Brixworth announced

The next Suffragan Bishop of Brixworth is to be Canon John Holbrook, who is currently the Rector of Wimborne Minster, Dorset, in Salisbury Diocese, where he has been since 2002. The news was announced by the Prime Minister’s office on Friday 4 March. In addition to caring for Wimborne Minster the main parish church, Canon Holbrook (48) also has responsibility for several rural communities and is Rural Dean. While in Wimborne he has developed new congregations and patterns of ministry, and helped to promote fair trade principles. He has also served in Barnes, Bletchley, and Adderbury near Banbury. The Suffragan Bishop of Brixworth is in effect the full time assistant bishop in the Church of England’s Diocese of Peterborough, which oversees some 360 churches across Northamptonshire, Rutland, and the city of Peterborough north of the river. He will work closely with the Bishop of Peterborough, the Rt Revd Donald Allister, across the whole diocese, sharing in the day to day pastoral work with clergy and parishes, and taking confirmation and licensing services. In due time he will also take responsibility for specific projects in the diocese, especially the development and implementation of a strategic mission plan. He replaces the Rt Revd Frank White who moved to become Assistant Bishop of Newcastle in November last year. Currently a suitable house is being sought for him, probably in the Kettering area. It is expected that Canon Holbrook will be consecrated (ordained) as a bishop in Westminster Abbey on 2 June, and welcomed to the diocese and installed in Peterborough Cathedral on St Peter’s Day, 29 June. He will officially begin to take up his responsibilities after that.

Church Monthly Draw

The winning numbers for the March monthly draw are: 1st Prize No. 65 £69.50 2nd Prize No. 276 £41.70 3rd Prize No. 4 £27.80 Total receipts of £278.00 are divided equally between the winners and the Restoration Fund. If you would like to join the monthly draw (£1.00 per share per month) which takes place on

the first Sunday of the month, please contact Kathy Hobbs on 01933 398794

Church of St Mary the Virgin, Finedon

Meat Bingo

on Friday

8th April

at the

Mulso School,

Wellingborough Road

at 7.30 pm

Admission Free

Refreshments available, Raffle

Everyone Welcome

Transport available.

For details please telephone

Andrew Weatherill 682212

Church of St Mary the VirginChurch of St Mary the VirginChurch of St Mary the VirginChurch of St Mary the Virgin

Easter HuntEaster HuntEaster HuntEaster Hunt onononon

Sunday 24th AprilSunday 24th AprilSunday 24th AprilSunday 24th April

In the church yard after 9.30 EucharistIn the church yard after 9.30 EucharistIn the church yard after 9.30 EucharistIn the church yard after 9.30 Eucharist If wet, in the churchIf wet, in the churchIf wet, in the churchIf wet, in the church

Flower Festival

There will be an Open Meeting for the Flower Festival for anyone who is interested in being involved on Monday 18th April at 8.00 pm in the Church. This year’s Festival will be held over the weekend of 16th, 17th and 18th September.

Finedon Local History Society

The next meeting of the History Society will be held on Monday 18th April in the Mission Room, Well Street at 7.30pm. The speaker will be Richard J Moisey who will give a talk entitled ‘Stately Housekeeping’, concerning the care of old buildings owned by the National Trust. Admission is £2.00 for members and £3.00 for non-members including light refreshments. A raffle will also be held.

Finedon Families & Personalities Exhibition

The next exhibition to be held by Finedon Local History Society will be “Finedon Families & Personalities’’. The exhibition, which will look at some of Finedon’s better known families and personalities, will be held in the Friends Meeting House starting on 30th April, running into July. Opening hours are from 2pm to 4pm on Saturdays and Sundays.

Townswomen’s Guild

This month's meeting will take place on Thursday 7th April at 7-30pm in the Town Hall. Our speaker will be Robert Kendall who will talk about Restoring 78 Derngate.

The competition will be for a home decorated egg, so ladies an opportunity for you to get creative! There will be the usual coffee break and raffle and the Social Half Hour will be taken by the Flower Group.

Finedon WI

The meeting is on Monday 11th April at 7.30pm at the Mission Room, Well Street. Our Speaker is Margaret Hawkins, topic - 'National Trust Gardens' Landscapes to Arts & Crafts. Everyone welcome.

Northamptonshire Association for the Blind

Are you a Cricket Supporter? Do you find the match difficult to follow due to poor Eyesight? Did you know that Northamptonshire Association for the Blind offers Ball by Ball commentary on every 1 day and 4 day Home games at the County Ground. Match commentaries are provided by a team of volunteer commentators and can be heard in the Ground on headsets. If you are visually impaired you can go to one of these games for a special price of £5 with your friend or carer getting in free. It is free to hire the headsets but a refundable deposit of £5 is required on the day. To take advantage of this fantastic service you must book your tickets in advance by contacting Barbara at Northants CCC on: Telephone: 01604 514455 Email: reception@nccc.co.uk www.northantscricket.com Call nab’s Helpline for more assistance 01604 719193

Anyone for Tennis

Come along to Finedon Tennis Club on Sunday 17th April. Free play tennis for children aged 7-15 years, 10.00 am to 12 midday.16 years plus open pre-season tournament, registration 12.45 pm for 1.00 pm start. Entry £3.00. Any enquiries, please contact Christine Felce on 01933 680609.

Out of the Mouths of Babes

A mischievous boy was asked by his mother ‘How do you expect to get into heaven?’ He thought for a moment and said ‘Well, I shall just run in and out and keep slamming the door until they say ‘for goodness sake come in or stay out’ and then I’ll go in.

Your Bell Ringers

Need You!

Ever wondered what that beautiful noise is that fills the air on a

Sunday morning and a Thursday evening? Ever fancied having a go

and dare not admit it?

Now is your chance.

The ringers are having an open morning on May 21st from 10.00 to

midday. Come along and see how it’s done have a look at the bells and

the workings behind the scenes. Have a go at ringing or just come

and have a cup of tea

and a chat.

All you lapsed ringers.

Where are you? Come back and try again. You never forget, it’s like

riding a bike. Come and have a go and see.

An extract from a letter from World Vision re-

Pakistan Flood Disaster

Imagine watching your home being pulled away by roaring torrents of water. Your only means to provide for your family swept away. Or worse still, having loved ones pulled from your grasp. I’m talking about the devastating floods that terrorised vast swathes of Pakistan last year. The worst flooding in Pakistan’s living memory. Perhaps you remember the distressing pictures on the news. Mothers weeping uncontrollably by flood waters. Devastated children covered in filth, wandering vacantly wondering where their parents had gone. Thousands of lives lost. I still remember the haunting words of Mike Bailey, one of our colleagues on the frontline of our relief efforts. “My throat was burning, my eyes were itching and I wanted to vomit”, he said. “The stench was coming from the water and the mud from the bodies trapped there”. He went on to describe the hardship facing the survivors’. “The worst cases of malnutrition are really bad. I saw many distorted, skeletal faces. Children are suffering a lot.” We launched an immediate emergency appeal. You responded quickly and helped save lives – and we are so grateful. Your support enabled helicopter food drops to get supplies to remote areas where people had lost absolutely everything. We provided basic medical supplies, family tents for shelter, and containers of clean water to help reduce the spread of diarrhoea and other diseases. Thanks to the generous support of people like you, we were able to reach 650,000 people in the first three months and help them emerge safely. I went to Pakistan last year, to see how much progress has been made. I was nervous on the 10 hour flight over, wondering what I’d discover. Let me tell you: I found a country of brave, resilient people who have survived one of the worst catastrophes in their country’s history. Innocent children who are only here thanks to emergency humanitarian aid. But I also saw a country where much more needs to be done. The most urgent need is to protect those innocent children from deadly waterborne diseases. We need to improve the water they drink, hygiene and sanitation facilities in the hardest hit areas. We need to help children back to school. Many schools were washed away by the floods. We need to replace lost livestock, seeds and training to rebuild their parent’s lives. In the summer 2010 it could have been the end for many children in Pakistan. Thanks to wonderful supporters like you, those children emerged safely from disaster. Elisa Malnis Programme Officer for Pakistan. (There is a photograph of some children we have supported on the notice board in Church.) If you would like to continue to help the children in the flood areas to rebuild their lives please call the donation line, Monday to Friday on 01908 84 12 12

In My DayIn My DayIn My DayIn My Day

the ramblings of Hubert James

In my day it was about this time of year that the Wedding Season opened. Now of course, in them days, marriages were rationed so folk could only start getting married under the first moon of Spring. Then they had until the last Autumn moon to get the ceremony in. The rules were very strict. In fact, they was so strict that confetti was kept in a locked box in the Vestry during the off season. The old box had a dirty great padlock. Only the Church Wardens had a key. Even now you know you can’t have a wedding without confetti. Some dangerous rebels tried to use rice but of course, that had to be imported, so was expensive. And when a bride was left unconscious after being struck by a tin of creamed rice pudding. from the Orient rice had to be abandoned. Oh, I nearly forgot, that padlock was known as the Wedlock. The other big difference to weddings in my day was that you never went on holiday after the big day. You spent your wedding night on the settee round your Mum’s and you were back in the shoe factory on the Monday. It was very popular in my day, to give the bride a cardboard black cat or horseshoe covered in kitchen foil. As you know this led directly to the demise of the chimney sweep who could no longer get work at weekends. Now in Finedon, someone can always find a money making scheme. In the case of weddings it was Elsie Knorr. Elsie moved here from Shakespeare Avenue in Wellingborough to breed bees and make soup. She’d heard bees were happier living in a hamlet, in turn producing more honey . And she was right. In no time at all she was over run with jars and jars of the stuff. Cleverly she put it about that bees were lucky and eating honey guaranteed a long and happy marriage. She ran a spring moon competition for courting couples. She hid a prize in a jar of honey. Whichever couple bought the winning jar would get whisked off for a long weekend in Skegness. It was such a success that folk couldn’t wait for the beginning of each years wedding season and spring moon became honeymoon. Lucky cardboard bees were almost as popular. Couples weren’t content with just one.

They had to have one for the bride and one for the groom.. Young girls due to be married

became brides-two-bee. And of course, folk only wanted to know one thing about the

wedding; Two bees or not two bees? That is the question.

April

3rd 4.30-5.30 St Mary’s Church afternoon tea 6pm Evensong

4th 7.30 RBL Post during WW2, Mr D Smeathers, Bowls Club

5th 9.45 Coffee Morning, Bowls Club 7.45 Wildlife Trust AGM, Cricket Club

7th 7.30 TG Town Hall—Robert Kendall—Restoring 78 Derngate

8th 7.30 Church meat bingo, Mulso School

11th 7.30 WI Mission Room, National Trust Gardens, Margaret Haw-kins

12th 10am Coffee morning, Football Club 7.30 Induction of Fr Richard.

18th 7.30 History Society, Mission room, Stately Housekeeping, Rich-ard J Moisey 7.30 Flower Festival Open Meeting

19th 9.45 Coffee Morning, Bowls Club

24th St Mary’s Church Easter Hunt

26th 10am Coffee Morning, Football Club

27th 7.30 St Mary’s Church AGM

29th Wesleyan Chapel Royal Wedding Street Party, Affleck Bridge

30th 2-4pm History Society exhibition opens.

May

9th 7.30 WI Mission Room, Resolutions/Faith Supper/plant sale 7.30 RBL Milestones, Helen Crabtree, Bowls Club

14th Scout Group Town Sale

15th to 21st

Christian Aid Week

23rd History Society visit to Deene Park

June

6th 7.30 RBL Mullocks & Memories, Tom Partridge-Underwood, Bowls Club

13th 7.30 Mission Room - Spring Flowers & Gifts, Amanda Cameron

15th-18 Tingdene Entertainers musical ‘Anything Goes’

18th 12-4 St Mary’s Church Summer Fete

26th 6pm Songs of Praise on The Green

27th 7.30 History Society, Mission Room, Witchcraft in Early Modern Northamptonshire, Dr Cathy Smith

July

4th 7.30 RBL Painting, Michael Peachy, Gladstone Club

11th 7.30 WI Mission Room - Behind the curtains at Milton Keynes Theatre, Nicola Jelliman

25th 7.30 History Society, Mission Room, Ironstone quarrying around Finedon, Francis Terry

August

1st 7.30 RBL I Bequeath 15th Century Wills, Jacqui Minchinton, Bowls Club

8th WI Garden Party

22nd 7.30 History Society, Mission Room, Swim Ginger, Malcolm Dea-con

September

3rd 7.30 RBL Humour, Mike Leonard, Bowls, Club

12th 7.30 WI Mission Room, Fun with Wine, Margaret Morley

16/17/18th St Mary's Church Flower Festival

October

3rd 7.30 RBL, Dovecotes, Colin Ray, Bowls Club

10th 7.30 WI Mission Room, AGM, Glamour for the over 60’s,Sylvia Smith

19th 7pm Inter Church Quiz night, Welseyan Chapel

24th 7.30 Mission Room, History Society, Finedon Past, John Bailey

November

7th 7.30 RBL, AGM, Bowls Club,

14th 7.30 WI Mission Room, Victorian Magic Lantern Show, Dr Mike Lewis

22nd 7.30 Mission Room History Society AGM & Slides

December

5th 7.30 RBL, Entertainment at Woodford

12th 7.30 WI Christmas Party