Parish News and Events

From David Williams, Team Rector of the Risborough Anglican Team

With March comes the start of Lent, and I wonder what you are thinking of doing for Lent this year? Knowing that many of you enjoy your gardening, I’d like to begin this letter by sharing with you the following story. A man was showing his friend around his beautiful garden on which he had lavished years of careful attention. Once it had been a wilderness with no shape or colour, but years of hard work had turned it into a place of delight, where you could relax and enjoy the sights and sounds of an ‘English country garden’. “This is indeed a beautiful garden,” the friend remarked. “I don’t think I have ever seen such order and loveliness. God most certainly is to be praised for such handiwork”. The owner of the garden hesitated for a moment, and then said: “Yes, God most certainly should be praised, but you should have seen it when He had it all to Himself!”

 With the pace of living today, our lives are often affected by our busyness. We can find ourselves wrestling with questions like: “Why do those I love complain that they don’t get enough time with me?” Or: “Why does it seem that there isn’t enough time in the day to do the things I want to do, or to spend time with God? Now if you are reading this, and answering ‘yes’ to any of these questions, then please be assured you are certainly not alone! In a recent survey of 1000 people: 75% agreed that there is never enough time to get through the things they need to do each day; 64% didn’t feel that they give their close relationships enough time; 63% feel regularly stressed or tired; 28% spend more than 45 hours at work each week; and 14% don’t take at least one day off from work. However, why not take a moment to think about these.

 Is your life governed by priorities or pressures? God, as in the gardening story, wants us to work and live each day with Him, and times spent with God have the capacity to be anchors in our busy lives rather than just another stress in life. So we need to work through what our priorities are and be thankful for what we have. Now, arguably, one of the major sacrifices that we can make these days involves time, and in a busy life, where time is a premium, it’s very easy to allow our relationship with God to be the first thing to get knocked off the ‘To Do List’. We have to work and do other things, but what about our relationship with God?

 I believe we can often learn so much from those who have faced difficult things, like illness. Just read what Rita has to say about this, a woman in her late thirties with two young children who had a heart attack recently. “My long-term goals are to enjoy my grandchildren, and to watch my daughter walk down the aisle….but just in case none of these happen, I’m focussing on today. Every day I marvel at the softness of my son’s little hands and feet. I laugh with my daughter, and I tell them both that I love them and I always will. I have learned to be grateful for now, for this moment”. And isn’t this the challenge for all of us; to make sure that we aren’t too busy to love God or those He has put in our lives? Let’s take the opportunity this Lent to spend our time more wisely, because that less busy day we keep holding out for may never come!

David Williams

A Personal Story from World War II

We are delighted to announce that the Annual Talk on Friday 25th March 2011, will be given by Philip Smith who has kindly agreed to tell us how he and his family escaped from Paris before its occupation by the German Army in 1940.
 His talk will be held at Bledlow Village Hall at 7.30pm and tickets will be available at £7.50 each.  Canapés and wine are included in the ticket price.  The money raised will go to the Church Restoration Fund and the current project for the installation of a toilet at Holy Trinity Church, Bledlow for which permission in principle has been granted by the Diocese and which we hope will be completed this year.
 We are very grateful indeed to Philip for agreeing to give this talk.  His is a truly compelling story of one family’s experiences at a terrible period in world history.   For Philip and his elder brother it was a great adventure full of excitement and daring; for their parents the most dangerous and traumatic journey they and their sons would probably make in their lives.      
 Tickets are available from Ann Beaton, Brenda Buchanan, Sarah Moore, Sally Manning and Jenny Strange

Ash Wednesday Service

Due to the Interregnum there will not be a service at Holy Trinity Church on Ash Wednesday, 9th March.
The Revd David Williams will be very pleased to welcome anyone from Bledlow, Saunderton and Horsenden to the service to be held in the Chapter House of St Mary's in Princes Risborough at 10.30 that morning. 

Annual Parochial Church Meeting   

The above will take place at Holy Trinity Church, Bledlow on Thursday 7th April 2011 at 7.45pm.  Please make a note in your diary, and look out for more information in the April Messenger.   

Parish Profile: Jeff Stewart ~ Our Choir Master Jeff Stewart began singing at the age of 7 with St George’s Church Choir in Ashtead,  Surrey, which was, at the time, one of the finest church choirs in the country.  With St George’s he was lucky enough to sing in many of England’s great cathedrals and also to tour in Europe.  He later joined the Royal School of Church Music’s Cathedral singers, under Martin How, with whom he toured extensively, first as a treble, then as a bass and finally a tenor.  It was this early grounding which gave him his love of choral music. In 1988, Jeff took up a place at the Guildhall School of Music to study Singing.  He completed the performance course and the opera course, winning the Harold Rosenthal Award for outstanding achievement.  He followed this with a further year at the National Opera Studio, before embarking on a solo career which has taken him to America, China, Germany, France, Hungary, Austria, Italy, Spain, Macedonia, and Croatia as a soloist for opera companies and/or concerts.

Jeff became a professor at the Royal College of Music in 2004 and at about the same time, took over the choir at Holy Trinity Church in the village of Bledlow within the parish in which he lives.  Starting with 8 people, the choir grew quickly and currently has a membership of around 40 local people.  The choir has become quite a focus for the community and has undertaken many trips to sing in Cathedrals, including weekends at Wells, Lincoln and Norwich cathedrals.  This year they will be singing in Salisbury Cathedral in April, Southwell Minster in September and York Minster on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day 2012. Jeff’s reputation for being able to inspire people to sing and to achieve things which they considered beyond their musical capabilities quickly spread and in 2009 he was appointed Musical Director of Uxbridge Choral Society, with whom he has already performed some ambitious programmes. Jeff continues to sing professionally and to teach, and has recently launched a company,  Choral Holidays (www.choralholidays.com), which combines choral singing, for people of all abilities, with trips to beautiful locations.      He believes passionately that far more people would like to sing than are actually doing it.  He also seeks to teach people to sing in a way which is absolutely in tune with their body and spirit. It is not just about technical musical precision, but people can find relief from emotional and physical pain through singing.  For Jeff, singing is about releasing one’s ability to really feel and express feeling.

Your Choir in 2011

This year promises to be the most exciting yet for the choir of Holy Trinity Church, Bledlow.
To begin with, of course there are the services at the church, which you will have seen listed in the last issue of the Messenger. Among the highlights of these will be the Easter Sunday service, for which we will be joined by the choir of St Mary's Church, Princes Risborough.

The choir membership has now passed the 40 mark, which is very exciting as it gives us the resources to sing a wider range of repertoire. We try to think very carefully about the music we choose for different services so that it will fit with the particular day and style of service and that it will be an enhancement to the worship. We try very hard to sing the music in such a way that the listener will really feel what is being expressed and may therefore find themselves brought closer to God.

Of course, there will inevitably be occasions when a particular piece doesn't strike a chord (excuse the pun) with some people in the congregation and there will be some people who just don't connect with what we are doing.  However, from the comments we have been receiving, it would appear to be clear that it's working for most people.
If you have comments or opinions on what we are doing, whether good or bad, I am only too happy to listen. The point is, we are there not to perform but to enrich the worship. We can only achieve that aim if we know how it's making the congregation feel.

Aside from our duties at Bledlow, we have three very exciting trips lined up. On 15th April we will be singing evensong at Salisbury Cathedral. For me this will be a particularly exciting event for a rather peculiar reason: some of our best singers won't be there! As it happens, a number of people on whom we often rely in the Soprano, Tenor and Bass sections can unfortunately not be with us. I see this as a positive because, when leaders are missing, new leaders emerge. I think this will have a very positive effect on the choir's future.

On 3rd & 4th September the choir will be singing all the services at Southwell Minster. Southwell is the smallest cathedral city in the country and it's beautiful minster is a wonderful example of Norman architecture. 
Jeff Stewart

Annual Revision of the Church Electoral Roll : 7th – 21st March 2011

There is an opportunity for revision to be made to the Church Electoral Roll during the above period. If you would like your name added to or deleted from the existing Roll then please contact the Church Electoral Roll Officer, Eugenie Bendyshe-Brown or one of the Church Wardens, Dick Strange or Ann Beaton.

The Enrolment Application Form gives details of eligibility and the rights of membership, and a note is also enclosed explaining the financial implication that Roll Members have on the Parish. Copies of the revised Roll will be posted at the three churches (Bledlow, Saunderton and Horsenden) and will become effective at the Annual Meeting on 7th April at Holy Trinity Church, Bledlow.    

PCC News from the January 2011 Meeting

SELECTING A NEW VICAR
The Revd David Williams, Team Rector of the Risborough Anglican Team, was invited to the meeting to discuss the process for selecting a new vicar.   The Parish Profile drawn up by the Churchwardens was discussed and a meeting on 25th January has been arranged with Andrew Gear, the Diocesan Development Officer, to take the process forward.

NADFAS
The NADFAS Church Recording of Holy Trinity Church had been completed and it was hoped that the bound copy would be presented to the church in the summer.   Funding had been given by NADFAS to set up a Church Trail in Holy Trinity Church for use by both children and adults.
MAINTENANCE & FABRIC
Saunderton Church: 
The PCC agreed to work being carried out to remove the white paint from the woodwork on the ceiling of the chancel.
The bench in the churchyard, very kindly donated by Mr & Mrs Mutch, has been installed.
Horsenden Church:
The PCC agreed that the work to re-decorate the church with lime-wash should go ahead.
Bledlow Church: 
The stained glass War Memorial Window was removed from Bledlow Methodist Chapel on the 10th January and is undergoing renovation.  A metal frame will be constructed to install the window at Holy Trinity Church.
A Conservation Forum was held at Lambeth Palace last year to discuss the damage being caused in church buildings by bats and the results are to  be investigated further, as there are bats in Holy Trinity Church. 
The faculty application for the plans to install a toilet in Holy Trinity Church have been given approval in principle.  Another site meeting with the DAC will be carried out in February.     
Holy Trinity Church was very cold over the Christmas period and a heating engineer has been approached to inspect the heating at Holy Trinity Church, with a view to recommending improvements.
FINANCE
The monies due to the PCC from the 2010 Bledlow Fête has still not been received.  The Fête Committee Chairman has been contacted to expedite the transfer.
Pat Madden has volunteered to become our Treasurer again and the PCC welcomed his offer.  There was still a vacancy for a Minutes Secretary for the PCC and an advertisement would be put in The Messenger to encourage someone to fill the position. (see next page)
THE PARISH MESSENGER
An Editorial Board has been set up to publish The Parish Messenger and handle advertising when Colin Lees retires from the position of Editor.  
‘FAIRTRADE’ EASTER EGGS
The Diocese was promoting the sale of the Fairtrade Real Easter Egg at £4.99 each and the parish will purchase 48 eggs.
PLANT SALE
Vicky & Robert Peel have kindly agreed to host a Plant Sale on 7th May at their home in Horsenden to raise money for Horsenden Church funds.
SOCIAL COMMITTEE
The next event will be the Annual Talk on 25th March and there was a Social Committee meeting on 25th January, when the events over the next two years were planned. It was suggested that one event per year should be featured to help pay for the cost of oil at Holy Trinity Church. This cost is now substantial, as the heating has to be on all the time because of the wall paintings.
TRAINING FOR CHILDRENS’ LEADERS
The Revds David and Nancy Wallace, who have been conducting several of our services during the Interregnum, had come forward with training advice for children's leaders.
WORSHIP COMMITTEE
Before he retired, the Revd David Dewick had suggested that we establish a Worship Committee and there was discussion on whether we should do this now or wait until our new Incumbent is in place.  

“Wonderful!”

That was the word on all the guests’ lips after the New Year Lunch on Saturday 22nd January in Bledlow Village Hall. The Bledlow Belles (Bledlow Social Club) had invited the 70+s of the Parish and their partners to the village hall to enjoy a lunch time of food, drink and entertainment, as a ‘thank you’ for their efforts in the past and a get-together of ALL the age groups! Fifty or so guests were welcomed with a glass of sherry, and children were circulating offering a variety of fruit juices and salmon canapés.   The hall looked magnificent with tables for 10 covered with pink gingham clothes, each with  water, red and white wine, a menu and a large centre arrangement of pink roses.

A Bledlow Belle and a child attended each table and the guests were efficiently served with wine to accompany the main course of Beef Casserole, mash potatoes and peas, followed by Fruit Crumble with the choice of either custard or cream - and there were seconds of both courses!! To round off the meal, tea or coffee was served together with a large box of Black Magic chocolates for each table!   Was this the end? - No it wasn’t! There was a free draw, which included six prizes and each table had a winner for their table’s flower arrangement. This must be the end! - But it wasn’t! There followed an excellent variety of sketches performed on stage by the Bledlow Belles, and their husbands, in costume (wolves, cows, chickens, and a dishy Red Riding Hood!!!) with a beautifully painted backdrop.  The story theme revolved around Bledlow people and its geography, with the words  performed in verse and to music.  What a talented crowd we are so fortunate to have in this tiny village! The event was a total success and every plaudit should be directed to the organisers, their husbands and their children, who obviously worked so very hard, had been exceptionally generous, and were so inventive when reviving this lapsed village tradition. There will be a lot of people in the parish who all of a sudden are looking forward to their 70th birthday to qualify in the future! And we are assured that it is the intention of the Bledlow Belles to ‘do it again’ next year.   Yippee!!

Our Sincere Thanks

During the period around Christmas, and now in the Interregnun, we are indebted for the help given by the Reverends David Williams, Denise Critchell, James Tomkins, Nancy Wallace, David Wallace, Serena Hutton and Peter Viney, and to Lay Readers John Reid and Norman Critchell in maintaining our normal pattern of services in all three churches throughout the Parish and at Cherry Tree Nursing Home.
Thank you all, very much.

My Last…!

The March 2011 edition of The Parish Messenger is my last as Editor, and it is with slightly mixed feelings that I retire and hand over after 14 years, which involved the production of 155 issues without a break! The job has become a way of life, having to plan my time, family commitments, holidays and visits to my roots in the north, around deadline dates, printing schedules and distribution requirements.  It will be very agreeable in the future to be able to read The Messenger in a relaxed way, as opposed to cringing whenever I discover a typo or spelling mistake! But what a pleasure for me to have been involved in something I was able to carry out and at the same time serve the Church and the community in a worthwhile way - I just hope that my efforts have proved acceptable, engaging and hopefully rewarding to the magazines’ readers. May I take this opportunity of thanking everyone for their support over the years, particularly those who have contributed subject matter; those who have backed the magazine financially (‘Friends of the Messenger’ and advertisers); those who have ‘religiously’ distributed every issue every month to every home in the Parish, but above all my wife Ann, for her unceasing assistance and tolerance! I wish my successors all the very best in what is a very satisfying endeavour. Colin Lees

For inclusions in the parish magazine

The Parish Messenger
The Magazine for the Parish of Bledlow with Saunderton & Horsenden

Please submit to

or ~ the Editors.

Copy Deadline: 10 am ~ 10th of the month - this is the ABSOLUTE DEADLINE, but it would be appreciated if, where possible, items could be submitted earlier.

Back to home page