Shepherd's Watch Spring 2014

Shepherd’s Watch The magazine for and by the people of the Good Shepherd

www.goodshepherdbrighton.org.uk

March 2014 60p

Good News from the Bible Society, pg 4

Our journey for Lent 2014, pg 6

Creative Lent, pg 8

Forgotten War, (continued from last issue) pg 12 Church Reordering, pg 14 CND, pg 22 From the church mouse, pg26 Programs, news and details of other events Knowing me, knowing you … pg33

http://showersonwheels.org/Mercy/divine_mercy_stations.htm

Page 2 The Good Shepherd Magazine Mar. 2014

Assistant Priest

Revd Christyan James 14 St Mary’s Square Brighton BN2 1FZ

Tel 07595910443; 241753 [email protected]

Vicar

Revd. Felix Mascarenhas

The Vicarage, 272 Dyke Road Brighton BN1 5AE Tel (01273) 882987

[email protected]

Parish Office The Parish Office is open on Wednesday and Friday mornings from 9.30 to 10.30. The Parish Office telephone number is (01273) 553747

Deacon

Helen Rawlings 6 Beacon Hill

Ovingdean, Brighton BN2 7BN Tel 07967695753

Reader

Michael Miller 68 Ainsworth Avenue, Ovingdean, Brighton BN2 7BG Tel (01273) 240287

Churchwardens

James Baxter: 18 The Lynchetts,Shoreham-by-Sea, BN43 5GZ Tel.(01273) 241653 Mob. 07584 255724 [email protected] David Stevens: 2 Shirley Road, Hove, BN3 6NN, Tel (01273) 555197; [email protected]


While every effort is made to ensure all information in Shepherd’s Watch is cor-rect, neither the Parochial Church Council nor the individual contributors can be held responsible or accept liability for any errors and/or omissions. The PCC does not endorse the companies, products and services that appear in Shepherd’s Watch. Responsibility for any loss, damage or distress resulting from the use of or reli-ance on any information in Shepherd’s Watch, however caused, is disclaimed by the Parochial Church Council.

God and Nature Years ago I remember someone saying "God and nature are the same; the only difference is that God forgives but the nature does not". He was no philosopher, mind you, just a motor me-chanic. It made a lot of sense to me. Now, after a frightening month or so, of floods and rains the thought is back in my mind. I had wa-ter seeping in both the church and the vicarage, of course noth-ing compared to those who lost everything! As I expect no mercy or forgiveness from the elements of nature, I think, even the best planning, dredging or playing the blame-game can win over the nature. It will take its own course. All this would make any one feel disheartened and loose hope in life. On the other hand the imminent season of Lent does give me a hope and consolation from the same philosophy as it is exactly on these occasions that the other side of that coin comes into picture: the God of hope and salvation. Notwithstanding the certainty of this destruction, possible for some and already unfolding for others, I rediscover life's mean-ing. During this season of Lent, giving up some things and tak-ing up others, could be the best dredging exercise. It could help obtain forgiveness from God and play a balancing game with the nature. God is the master of nature as well.

Fr Felix

While every effort is made to ensure all information in Shepherd’s

Watch is correct, neither the Parochial Church Council nor the indi-

vidual contributors can be held responsible or accept liability for any

errors and/or omissions. The PCC does not endorse the companies, products and services that

appear in Shepherd’s Watch.

Responsibility for any loss, damage or distress resulting from the use of

or reliance on any information in Shepherd’s Watch, however caused,

is disclaimed by the Parochial Church Council.


Good News From The Bible Society

UGANDA: The Society is encouraging churches to reach out to visually impaired people and has been distributing braille Bi-bles ,large print and audio Bibles among 300,000 blind and par-tially sighted people. This five year old ministry is proving very effective in a country which has not had this kind of service be-fore. EGYPT: Today it is dangerous to be a Christian in Egypt. But amid all the turmoil ands conflict, Christian Scriptures are more in demand than ever before. In 2012 ,Bible distribution rose by 25%, with more than 2.8 million Scriptures bought or given out. Last year two Christian bookshops were destroyed deliberately by fire. They are now being rebuilt ,but Bibles and other litera-ture are continuing to be distributed through the warehouse be-cause of high demand. CHINA: It is estimated that there are now nearly 90 million Christians in China ,each year seeing an increase of about 1 mil-lion. The big challenge is to keep pace with the growing demand for Bibles and Christian literature as a result of this encouraging trend in growth. So far, the authorities are open to the printing of Bibles. Proselytizing is outlawed, but the gift of a Bible is al-lowed, so Bibles are much in demand. Christians in the cities are buying extra copies to give to villagers in outlying rural areas where local people are too poor to buy their own copies. My own observation and comment: The above are just three examples of the many countries in which the Bible Society is working faithfully and successfully .It is remarkable to see the eagerness and thirst for Scriptures that so many people, worldwide, share. It makes me wonder why ,in this country, where the Bible is so readily available, there is so much apathy and lack of real interest in reading the Bible, even in our churches. Surveys have found that young people are sur-prisingly ignorant of the basic facts of the Christian faith and of stories in the Bible and its teachings. Is there a correlation


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between this trend and the addictions to drugs and alcohol, un-wanted pregnancies, sexual and other types of abuse, violence, corruption and other social ills which are reported daily in our news? I wonder what can kindle a renewed interest in the Christian faith, and Bible reading? The Bible is a treasure to be cher-ished ,read regularly and applied to our everyday living. It is food for our souls. Through it God speaks to our hearts and minds, and guides us as we journey through life. We neglect or take it for granted at our peril. The season of Lent and Easter is an excellent time to start afresh ,and be renewed . For those who would like to make a fresh start with Bible reading ,there are several publications which help people to get started with organized material for each day.

Margy Weir If interested, contact Margy Weir [email protected]

or phone 551454

mailto:[email protected]


Program of Special Services and events

for our Lenten Journey to Easter Lent has one purpose: to lead us to the feast of Easter.

With alms giving, prayer and fasting, we are called to enter into

ourselves.

In this Year “A” we have Matthew’s gospel on the first Sun-

day bringing us the traditional Sunday of temptations. It is

John’s gospel passages that we are offered to continue our

Lenten journey. Looking at the readings one can observe imme-

diately that the liturgist has worked a wonderful programme

based on the theme of Baptism (and that needs conversion) so

that at the end of Lent we may have a new life in Christ after

having gone through the experiences offered by the selected

readings.

The Old Testament readings take us from the creation story

to a new hope in Ezekiel after our recognition of weakness and

sin. The second readings (all except one from his letter to the Ro-

mans,) are fine examples of Paul’s new creation that is brought

about through faith in Christ. In Christ, he finds the new man

and humanity would be lost without him.

Every year, on the first Sunday of Lent, the gospel reading

whether year “A”, “B” or “C”, is the testing in the desert . The

readings this year are so well set, that they lead us towards a

crescendo at Easter without loosing the theme of Baptism and

conversion.

On the 1st Sunday Jesus is offered as the “model” that

lives and teaches us through his own experience. As happens

with Jesus, temptations test our faith. This gospel reading also

gives us the ideal of asceticism. Life’s primary purpose is not to

conquer bread and power but above all to accept our

existence as a gift from God and adore Him. Life, as described in


the first reading, is totally in the hands of humans and yet we

can easily loose that happiness to which we are all called.

The 2nd Sunday offers humanity a new call, to get up and

go to the place where God is leading. The great figures of Abra-

ham and Nicodemus bring in the metaphor of a great change

that can come into our life. Both of them re-start their journey

as a leap in the dark with a total trust in God.

The dialogue between Jesus and the Samaritan woman is

the object of the 3rd Sunday: the action of the Spirit and how it

can change our life! In the first and third readings of today the

“thirst” is the cardinal point around which the liturgy revolves. It

indicates the real need of every human life to find fulfilment. The

woman’s encounter with Jesus reveals a thirst deeper than just

the physical one.

On the 4th Sunday, we shall celebrate Mothering Sunday

and therefore we have a change in the gospel. However, in the

Lent gospel, the miracle of the man born blind, the metaphor of

our journey in life implies that, in order to have light which wins

over darkness, it is necessary to accept one’s sinfulness.

Finally the 5th Sunday, the raising of Lazarus (one of the

great signs in the public ministry of Jesus) and the famous

chapter 37 of hope in Ezekiel, takes us closer to the Paschal

mystery. The miracle in the gospel offers us all a hope of what

God can do through Jesus in the lives of each one of us.

What then can we achieve in this Lent? Each one of us,

both individually as well as in a community, is called to follow a

journey as suggested by the readings. How are we to act then?

I wish you a holy and life-changing journey to come to live

the joys of Easter!

Fr Felix


Creative Lent Beginning on 9th March Deacon Helen will be leading a series of reflective prayer services followed by art workshops on Sunday evenings during Lent. The services will start at 5.00pm after which you will have the opportunity to try your hand at producing some artwork depict-ing a Christian theme.

Please don’t feel intimidated by the thought that you can’t paint, that really doesn’t matter because you can create a collage or even a montage of cut-tings, so no drawing skills are necessary. There will be a selec-tion of materials or you can bring your own. You might even prefer to do something using fabric, perhaps a quilt square, or even something abstract. It really doesn’t matter so long as you allow your creative juices to flow. Just come along and use the creative, right side, of your brain and let your inner artist out! Art has been used to convey religious themes in one form or another since man first held a tool in his hands. Be-cause we are all so different, art speaks to some more than oth-ers and often at different stages of our life journey. So if it has not yet been part of your journey I do hope you will come and join these sessions and give it a try.


Deacon Helen explains why she would like to lead you in a Creative Lent:

God inspired men to write his word in the scriptures, why not then inspire artists to portray his creation and image in paint. Of course we can never reduce God to a mere painting but we do have Christ, God incarnate as man, who we can picture. George Bell, Bishop of Chichester called for churches to enter into partnership with artists recognising their potential ministry and God given vocation. One theologian maintained that “a great painting can affirm the goodness of Gods creation and point to God the creator.” Another that “embodiment is key for theology and the visual arts.., a point of connection between them… We experience the vision of the artist through its embodi-ment, through its incarnation as material reality, for that is the medium through which the visual artist communicates.” And yet another: ”theology cannot be complete until it appropriates” the non-verbal “arts” otherwise we limit “the capacity of the arts to be used by God in his revelation”. Some of you will already have been with me to the National Gal-lery to look at paintings depicting the life of Christ and know how enthusiastic I am about engaging with God through the vis-ual arts. What you may not know is how much art has played an impor-tant role in my own spiritual journey. I led a small group paint-ing the ‘Stations of the Cross’ for my previous church and the process of creating had a profound effect on my spiritual jour-ney, in part leading me on the path to ordination. I reflected on why this might be, apart from the obvious of the Holy Spirit working through me, as I in turn use the creative gifts God has given me. I have always believed that when we cre-ate something, whether it is a picture, a piece of carpentry, a job of work, even a meal, we put something of ourselves into it; what theologians would term ‘embodiment’ In that way we love it even


when it’s a disaster. The process of creation also involves us in such a way as to deepen our understanding of that which we are creating. And perhaps this echo’s in a small way God’s love for us as His creation. God is after all in every one of us and loves us with all our failings. We are invited to abide with him as he abides with us. Creativity and the Creator: So can we come closer to understanding the mystery of God the creator through our own creativity? The dissertation for my de-gree was based partly in trying to answer that question. I cer-tainly believe we can and I am not alone in this; Leonardo da

Vinci wrote: ‘ by these means (painting) one learns to know Him who made so many marvellous things and in this way one comes to love the Inventor of all these things for, in truth, great love is born of a profound knowledge of the thing loved” Paul Gauguin wrote: ‘The only way to rise towards God following the example of our divine master is to create.’ That in a nutshell is why I would like to lead this course to give others the opportunity to come closer to their Creator…. And of course at the same time I hope everyone taking part will have fun.

The Last Supper by Stanley Spencer


Saturday Breakfast Talks We have three Breakfast talks arranged with people involved in Christian mission and outreach, both locally and internationally, who will speak to us about their work and answer any questions we may have. Breakfast will be in the hall at 9.30 am, following our 9.00 am Eucharist. A minimum donation of £3.50 for the breakfast will be given to the respective charity. Saturday 22nd March. ‘Off The Fence’ Since 1994, Off The Fence has had the passion and the experi-ence to tackle some of the deepest social and spiritual poverty in the City of Brighton and Hove through a careful combination of social action and Christian outreach. Revd Paul Young Saturday 29th March The Clock Tower Sanctuary The young people we help have often been brought up in care or have come from very dysfunctional family backgrounds. They have no self esteem and find it hard to trust people. We aim to offer them a ‘safe space’ with crisis and ‘move on’ support . Patricia Saturday 5th April ‘Release International’ Working to support the plight of oppressed and persecuted Christians abroad. Imtiaz

Sunday Evenings 5.00pm

9th March: Praying with Images Following the stations of the cross we will look at other Christian images before beginning to create our own. March 16th: Reflective prayer service followed by creative work-shop. March 23rd: Reflective prayer service followed by creative work-shop. March 30th: Praying with our own created images April 13th (Palm Sunday) Contemplative prayer Service using nails in a symbolic way

Please note there is no service on 6th April due to APCM


A Forgotten War (continued from last issue)

The Supreme Commander of South East Asia, Lord Louis Mountbatten had a problem. British and Indian forces were thin on the ground. Thousands of British servicemen were being re-patriated to be demobilised. Many had been in the Far East for up to 6 years, without ever seeing their families or home. The Burma campaign, alone had lasted 3 years. The Indians were reluctant to get involved in a colonial war. The allied armies faced a hostile force of tens of thousands of insurgents. There were large Japanese arms dumps that had to be guarded in case they fell into Indonesian hands Many Japanese had deserted and joined the Indonesians and were training them in military skills. It was feared that there could be a blood bath. Louis Mountbatten had no alternative but to order the rearming of the Japanese and, only a short time after they were trying to kill us, they became our Allies! As a 20 year old sergeant, I had the strange experience of having Japanese officers saluting me and bowing to me! Fully armed Japanese troops travelled about town in their own transports! We were confined to 3 enclaves in Sumatra, Medan in the North (where we were); Pelambang in the South and Pedang in the West. The rest of Sumatra was hostile territory. Even in Medan, We only occupied a limited area with a closely guarded perime-ter. Insurgents sometimes infiltrated into our enclave and car-ried out attacks but nothing very serious. The post war Labour Government felt they had obligations to the Dutch who had been our allies in defeating Hitler and had to hold the fort until the Dutch were able to take over.. Besides, there were fears that the whole of SE Asia could become Com-munist. This happened in Vietnam (formerly French Indo China,) and nearly happened in Malaya. The Indonesian forces were dominated by the Communists. When 2 Indonesians met, they exchanged a clench fist salute and greeted each other with the word “Merdeka” – Freedom.


There were only 2 ways to leave Medan. By air, from a small air-strip (mostly used by VIP `s) or by sea, from the small port of Belawan 16 miles away. The road there was though jungle with the occasional kampong (village) Those wishing too to reach Be-lawan did so in convoy, guarded at intervals by armoured cars. These convoys were frequently shot up. In the town, there was frequent sniping, the snipers positioning themselves at the top of minarets attached to mosques outside our enclave. The range was extreme and there were few casualties. On one occasion, several artillery pieces were stationed on a road near our mess and shelled Indonesian positions. I saw shells bursting amongst trees on a hillside 2 or 3 miles away. Above flew a light aircraft, directing the shellfire. About the middle of 1946, the Dutch began to arrive. Their co-lonial troops had been recruited on the island of Ambon, one of the South Mollucca ( now Maluku) group of islands. The Am-bonese are culturally and ethnically separate from the Indone-sians and have always been loyal to the Dutch. At last the final surrender of the Japanese could take place. Ceremonies took place when Japanese officers surrendered their swords to their British opposite numbers. As a mere sergeant, I had no part to play in these affairs. However, I still possess a souvenir of my 12 months in Sumatra. A Japanese sword. In November, We arrived at Belawan to embark on the ship that would take us to Singapore. The air was heavy with the smell of burning. Dark smoke hung over the jungle. The Dutch were burning a kampong as a punishment for the villagers harbouring “terrorists”. Colonialism had its dark side. However, in my travels, I have al-ways gained the impression that the inhabitants of our former possessions still have some affection for us. There are 52 inde-pendent Nations who belong to the Commonwealth Conference who meet every 2 years. Either the Queen or Prince Charles at-tends the Conference. We cannot have been all that bad.

Robin Clark


Church Re-ordering

During week ending February 7th 2014 the finance committee met. One important subject discussed was financing of re-ordering of the church – namely the installation of a screen and projector, the extension of the chancel steps (including wheelchair access up to the choir stalls) and finally the tea point in the north-west corner of the church.

Needless to say how in the today’s world the churches are taking very seriously their role in the community. And our church is not immune in this theology of service for the community and. The mission for the community goes beyond the spiritual or li-turgical services the church conducts. One has to observe that, with the encouragement from the diocese, many churches are actively engaged in similar projects, if they have not realized them so far. As you will probably guess these changes will not be easy or cheap; for instance the distance from where services such as wa-ter currently are - at the east end of the church and where the tea point will be – at the north-west end are a major technical problem. Currently the best solution will be to dig a deep trench, dug outside the church, from the north-west corner to approximately where the toilet is found in the basement; this will allow waste to flow, by gravity, into the sewers in Reigate Road. At the same time sewer pipes will be laid in this trench which can be accessed at a future stage if the church can find the money to install a toilet on the north side of the church. The cost of the trench (the sewer pipe) alone will be in the region of £4,000. I mention this at length because apart from obtaining the agree-ment of the diocese (called a “Faculty”), the organising of quota-tions, work schedules etc. there is the issue of financing this work.


We will look very carefully at our existing resources; these are mainly the church fabric and weathervane funds. It would be prudent to run these funds ‘down to zero’ as that would leave ‘nothing’ for emergencies. Thus this means that at some stage in 2014 an appeal will probably be made to the parishioners to help with this project. This is not a begging letter – not yet - that will come later ! - but to keep you in the picture and allow you to consider/plan per-haps how you could help this project financially. If you wish to talk this through with any members of the clergy and/or church wardens and/or David Nissen or myself then please fell free to do so.

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Brahms

Ein Deutsches Requiem

For choir, soloists and piano duet

Directed by

Sandy Chenery

Saturday 29th March 2014, 7.30pm

Church of St John the Evangelist,

Knoyle Road, Preston, Brighton

Tickets £10 in advance from our website, £12

on the door (under 16’s free)

See www.esterhazychoir.org for more details

http://www.esterhazy.org.uk/


C N D How many of you remember or know what those three letters stand for? Last week I attended a lecture which set me thinking. It was given by Vice Admiral Peter Wilkinson whose present job is to head the Royal British Legion, a remarkable organisation that does much for the country and for ex servicemen. Most of us will buy a poppy for Armistice Day which is on the 11th November each year and, in 1918 signalled the end of the First World War. Three of my father’s brothers fought in that terrible war. Philip was killed, Cecil had his neck broken but the third brother Charles survived unscathed. Many families suffered worse and my father was lucky that he was too young to be called up for army service. Nowadays I rarely attend a Remembrance Day Ser-vice but I am always moved when I hear the Kohima Epitaph re-cited ‘When you go home Tell them of us and say For Your tomorrow We gave our today.’ The First World War was meant to be the end of all wars, but now nearly one hundred years later our world is still full of strife, cruelty and unresolved conflict. Sometimes I wonder how long it will be before some country or madman will push a Nuclear but-ton. For those still trying to remember what CND stands for I will tell you: It is the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament. The CND en-joyed considerable support in our country for many years and not only from the Labour party. Some serving officers in our own Armed Services expressed their concern about Nuclear weapons and that included Lord Mountbatten. The Aldermaston Marches were well supported and the CND protests by women surround-ing the American Air Force base at Greenham Common were in the end successful with the Americans agreeing to take their Nu-


clear missiles back to America. Another of CND’s aims was to ensure that there would be no further use of chemical weapons. Well so far there has been no hint of atomic weapons being used in Syria but plenty of evidence that chemical weapons have been used, and the World’s Powers are unable to agree as to what should be done. Anyway, back to that talk: Admiral Wilkinson, a career sailor and a thoughtful and interesting man, told us that he had been a submariner who had captained Nuclear submarines .He told us that before he took his submarine to sea on patrol he would tell his crew that if any of them were unhappy about firing a nu-clear weapon on his instruction, which would of course be on the order of the British Government, they should remain on shore. The Admiral gave no answer to the dilemmas that face our coun-try but I took some comfort that officers of his calibre were in charge of our country’s Navy and its nuclear deterrent. Do you fancy joining CND? The National office is in London. Telephone:020 7700 22393

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Good Shepherd Festival 2014 FAMILY FUN DAY… 2-5pm Saturday 14th June

A week of fun and entertainment for the whole community. As usual, the festivities will begin with the Family Fun Day and run through the week. Here below are some of the details: Saturday 14 June 2pm to 5pm Family Fun Day. Admission

Free!

Sunday 15 June 10.15am Festival Eucharist with The Reverend Graham Low, being the preacher for the day. Tuesday 17 June 2pm Programme of music and singing by stu-dents from our neighbouring schools Tuesday 17 June 6.30pm to 8.00pm “Welly wanging” This will be followed by “Bring a picnic to share”.

Friday 20 June 7.30pm Variety Programme: Parishioners’ tal-ents. Sunday 22 June 10.15am Festival Worship with Families and Children, all on the theme of “The Samaritan Woman”

Bouncy

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Stalls

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Mothers' Union Calendar March - May

Sat 1st March 9am Corporate Communion in the Holy Redeemer Chapel TUESDAY 18th March 12pm -1pm Wave of Prayer followed by snack lunch at 57 Tamworth Road, Hove Friday 4th April 10.30 til 3pm District Quiet Day at St John's Church, Burgess Hill. Speak to Christine for more details. Saturday 5th April 9.00am Corporate Communion in the Lady Chapel Thursday 10th April 12.45pm Talk Time led by Marguerite Harland at 7 The Paddock, Hove. Followed by snack lunch Thursday 24th April 7.30pm 'Life before the dog collar' Talk by Deacon Helen at 7 The Paddock, Hove Saturday 3rd May 9.00 am Corporate Communion in the Lady Chapel Thursday 8th May 12.45pm Talk Time led by Sue Bottani at 58 Maldon Road, Brighton. Followed by snack lunch. Saturday 17th May (note change of date) Diocesan Council at Haywards Heath 10.30 till 3.00

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Women's World Day of Prayer This year's annual service will be held on Friday 7th March at 2pm at St John's Church, Preston. All welcome.

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CHRISTIAN AID WEEK

This year's Christian Aid week runs from 11th to 17th May and focuses on the human cost of conflict. In some of the toughest places in the world, Christian Aid is helping people caught up in conflict to get the basics; medical care, water, food and shelter. Christian Aid keep people safe and help heal their emotional scars, providing the expert support they need to deal with their traumatic experiences. When the fighting stops Christian Aid are there, helping communities walk the long road to recovery: from building homes where families can feel safe to making sure peo-ple who have lost everything can earn a living again and then working to tackle the causes, not just the consequences, of con-flict. This year we will NOT be doing the usual house to house collec-tion during the week but if you still wish to donate there will be envelopes available in church. We will also be holding a Coffee Morning in the Church Hall on Saturday 24th May from 10am till 12.30pm. There will be a raf-fle and a cake stall. Please invite all your friends and neighbours to come along so that we can still raise much needed funds for the work Christian Aid. We need your support so please put the date in your diary now.

John and Christine James ------------------------------------------------------

From the church mouse

Candlemas, Christingle and First Holy Communion: February 2nd was a special day for us. We celebrated the Candlemas and the Christingle on that day. The highlight of the day was the First Communion celebration of nine of our children. Alexander Banerjee, Ellis Christoforou, Elizabeth Riley, Isaac Lewes, Isabella Beattie, Matilda Strong, Nia Christoforou, Noah Lewes and Tova Strong received for the first time their Holy Com-munion. Their parents, friends and the congregation members joyfully celebrated with them this important step in their Chris-tian life.


Brownies’ Sunday: The 16th of February was marked as the Brownies’ Sunday in the church. Being the only uniformed group in the church now, we try to welcome them once a year, in a special way. The Brownies who attended with their parents as well, took active part in the Sunday liturgy by reciting prayers and intercessions and serving at the altar. Though still a very young altar server, William Pacey religiously guided the Brownies in their movements; and they were all well behaved and thus ob-tained many brownie points for their performance. Healing Service: It was a holy and well attended celebration in-tegrated in the Holy Communion Service of 10.15am on 23rd February. The whole liturgy was set in such a way that the Prayers, Readings and Intercessions led the participants for the moment of Healing and Anointing. Those who needed the Heal-ing, soon after receiving the Holy Communion, entered the Lady Chapel to receive Healing through Anointing. Gordon Banks was the preacher for the day and members from “Soul by the Sea” enacted the gospel of the “Man born blind”, John 9. Deacon Helen Rawlings skilfully organized the liturgy of the day.

The Tea Club: enjoyed a wonderful Christmas party with lovely cakes from our kind supporters, crackers and best of all. an-other concert by the Lancing Prep School choir. It is lovely to see the conversations going on between the "rather old " and the "quite young"", we hope to welcome them again in December. We don,t meet in January but on February 3rd we had a very enjoy-able afternoon of grentle exercises led by Joanne. We are all de-terminded to carry on doing them at home and hope she will be able to come back again in the future. On March 3rd we are hav-ing something new, a Fish and Chip lunch at 1. 00 p m in the hall followed by a talk on the Fishermen,s Mission by Deacon Helen. Events to come include Bring your favourite poem, an-other concert by B H H S Junior School Choir on June 2nd Our usual Summer outing to a Garden Centre in July and hopefully, a return visit from Kirsty with her ""Sing a long"".We meet in the Hall at 1.30pm on the first Monday each month. Just come along and enjoy yourselves.

Marguerite Harland tel. 01273503040.


HOPSCOTCH

Jo Halling

Operations Director

9, Aymer Road, Hove, East Sussex BN3 4GB

Tel: 01273 385577

[email protected]

www.hopscotch.uk.com



OUR REGULAR SUNDAY SERVICES: 8am, Holy Communion 10.15am, Parish Eucharist 10.15am, “Time for God” informal worship for all ages, in Church Hall On the third Sunday of each month there is a single All age Eucharist in Church at 10.15 6.30pm, Choral Evensong : Please look at the details on our website. (Eucharist on Thursday at 10.30am followed by Coffee and on Saturday at 9am) March 2014 5th : Ash Wednesday Eucharist, 7.30pm Lent courses/Initiatives, see pages 8 and 9 for details 9th: Lent 1, Eucharist with ashes 15th : Spring Gardening, 9.45am.Volunteers please! Followed by lunch at 12.15pm 19th : Eucharist followed by PCC meet at 7.15pm 30th : MOTHERING SUNDAY, 10.15am. All age Eucharist April 2014 6th: Eucharist (10.15) followed by APCM (11.15) 13th : Palm Sunday. Please see details on the following page 14th to 20th : HOLY WEEK & EASTER 21st : Treasure Hunt for children after the 10.15am Easter ser-vice. May 2013 11th : Easter IV Good Shepherd Sun 10.15am; Choral E Song 6.30pm, June 2013 8th : PENTECOST 14th : Fam Fun Day 2-5pm, Festival week-end begins, 15th : TRINITY SUNDAY-FESTIVAL EUCHARIST 22nd : Closing Eucharist for G S Festival 10.15


HOLY WEEK PROGRAMME-2014

Day Time Service Details

Palm Sunday 13th April

8am Eucharist

10.15

am

Procession of Palms from Hall, Dramatised Passion Gospel & Sung Eucharist with a short sermon leading into the Holy Week We take part in the Dramatised Passion taking us back to the first Holy Week. ‘Time for God’ con-tinues in the Hall after the Procession. (Time for God is an alternate service for children/ families. They return in the church for communion.)

Mon.14 8pm Eucharist at the Good Shepherd church

Tue. 15 8pm Eucharist at St Matthias’

Wed.16 8pm Eucharist at St John’s

Maundy Thurs-day 17th April

8pm

Eucharist/ Last Supper with Washing of Feet followed by Watch Our Church becomes the Upper Room; we recall the Last Supper, welcoming Christ in Commun-ion. Our Lady Chapel then becomes our Geth-semane; we keep vigil there and respond to Christ’s call: “Watch and pray with me!” Preacher: The Revd. Mathew Philip

Good Friday 18th April

10am Family Service followed by Hot Cross Buns Our young people will explore Jesus’ journey on Good Friday and build a garden to await his Resurrection.

1pm An Hour Before the Cross: Reflection and Hymns. Preacher: The Revd. Andy Flowerday

2pm The Liturgy of Good Friday with the Procla-mation of the Cross and Holy Communion We discover the Cross in Words (the Passion Gospel), the Cross in Wood (as the Cross is car-ried into Church as a focus of our devotions) and the Cross in Bread (as we share in the Sacra-ment). Preacher: The Revd. Andy Flowerday

20th April Easter Day

8am Eucharist

10. 15 am

Easter Eucharist We light the new fire and the Easter candle sym-bolizing the risen Christ. celebrate the Easter Eucharist as we welcome him into our lives. We bring flowers as darkness becomes light. Treas-ure hunt for children soon after the Eucharist.


Brighton Festival comes to the Good Shepherd This year for the first time The Good Shepherd will open its doors to visitors as one of the popular Artists Open Houses for the Brighton Festival in May. The exhibition will comprise an eclectic mix of styles and media from a variety of local artists and will be open for all four week-ends in May.10 am—5pm Saturdays 12 noon - 5pm Sundays.

Martin Tomlinson Landscape paintings, many inspired by the South Downs

Helen Rawlings Wildlife and animal portraits

Robert Ollerenshaw Local scenes in

Watercolour, pastels and ink

Alex Lobo: Small Pen & wash sketches of peoples homes and buildings of inter-

est.

Astrid Lee: Exploring spiritual symbolism using mixed media.


Knowing me, knowing you ….

Patricia Jackson is one of our PCC members . She reflects on her work-experience in the field of social service

Family Background: My family originate from Jamaica. My par-ents left Jamaica in the early 60’s, to start a new life in the ‘mother’ country. For a short while I resided with my maternal grandmother, and then joined my parents once they had secured employment and accommodation (in Oxford).

I enjoyed my childhood, growing up in Oxford; I especially loved school, both primary and secondary, and the many friends I made over the year-some of which I am still in contact with.

After completing statutory education, the big question was, what was I going to do with my life? What career path was I going to follow? It is true to say I had no idea! However, my immediate thought was, I had had enough of studying (I had stayed on in the 6th Form), and now wished to earn an income and progress to adulthood!

Work Experience: I had the idea that my working life should be people centred, that is helping those in need. I thought that this would be achieved by working for what was then known as the Department of Health and Social Security. My post was that of a Clerical Officer. I soon realised that the job was not what I imag-ined it to be. I found myself processing benefit claims, and not really having any ‘helping’ role to the people I encountered. Thankfully my line-manager realised my frustration, and was very supportive in guiding me out of the job and into returning to more learning! My line manager put forward the thought that I should do a degree in what would introduce me to understand-ing society from various perspectives, and this in turn may help to direct me into a career that would suit my interest more ap-propriately. After pondering this idea, I decided to undertake a degree in Sociology. This subject lit the torch paper. My under-standing of social difference and inequality grew. After comple-tion of this degree, I was clear that I wanted to have a wider


knowledge of why some children and young people failed in the school system. This naturally led me to study at Masters level, the Sociology of Education. Having finished this course, I started work in Westminster Social Services, in a Pupil Referral Centre. This was amazing work. I met so many talented children and pupils who enjoyed learning and achieving, but simply could not function in a mainstream educational setting. It also became fairly apparent that most of these children and young people were experiencing very difficult home lives. This realisation, coupled with my direct work with a young person who was resident in a local children’s home led me into yet another different working environment! This time a chil-dren’s home, where my duties and task would be the link worker between the school and home, thus promoting the education of the children in the home. I worked in this field for approx. 3 years, and then decided that in order for me to be more proactive in helping children, young people and families; maybe, I should be at the beginning of the process, before the children entered the care system. So, yes, I trained to become a social worker. This has been my area of work for over 20yrs.

My duties and responsibilities as a Social Worker: From the on-set it needs to be said that my Christian belief has helped me enormously to understand what social work is (this is certainly true of my understanding). Jesus teaches us about poor and vulnerable people, and their need for care and compassion by fellow human beings.

Social service is provided via the state through legislature ( the historical development of this makes very interesting reading from a purely historical perspective, but also highlights changing views over time, in what constitutes good enough family life).

As a practicing social worker (prior to my current position as manager for a social work team) I worked as a Child Protection social worker. This involved working with the Police Child Pro-tection Unit, investigating allegations and referrals of child abuse. As a social worker, my role was to ensure the social as-


pect of the child was protected, whilst the Police dealt with mat-ters from a criminal point of view. I was engaged in this type of social work for 7yrs. Following this, I practiced in a long- term generic team. This consisted in working with children who were either on the Child Protection Register, or children and young people who were in long-term foster care, ensuring that all the statutory requirements were fulfilled (making sure that the chil-dren’s educational, health and social needs were being met).

For the past 13yrs, I have managed a social work team which is responsible for adoption work (matching children with prospec-tive adopters through to the granting of the adoption order), and children who are in permanent foster placements-that is remain-ing with foster carers until they become18yrs old, and beyond, in some instances.

A Reflection: Did I choose the right profession? To a large extent, I am of the view that we do the job we were born to do (I don’t quite know how this can be evidenced). Often when I reflect on my work journey, I reflect on the people who saw something in me that could be of use to others, and helped me to get there. Similarly, from the start I knew I wanted to work with people, but wasn’t sure of the context. However, the young person who was from the children’s home put me on another path that fi-nally led me to becoming a social worker. It is clear to me that social work is about people, seeing the po-tential in people to change to reach their potential. Over the years, I would say that some people find change difficult, almost impossible, and thus cannot accept the help offered. However, I also know that giving up on people is not an option, and so, con-stantly, new creative ways are sought to engage people in partici-pating fully in social life. I firmly believe that social work has en-riched my life-albeit it is very stressful and often unrewarding at the time of direct involvement. The personal reward for me is that I have made a contribution, in a non-judgemental way to someone in need.

Patricia Jackson


Hall Bookings: Tel. Sheena on 07932591172 or

[email protected]

Grub Club Meets on third Monday of the month. All welcome. Please contact Daisy Walpole at (508600) or Pat Hunter at (555954)

Choir Choir practice: Sunday morning at 9. All are welcome. Please contact: Derek Froud (681007)

Flowers If you would like to donate an arrangement in memory of someone or help with the flower arranging, please contact church office 882987.

Stewardship Secretary David Nissen 1 Shirley Road, Hove, BN3 6NN Tel (01273) 554183 [email protected]

Bell Ringing Ringing practice every Tuesday evening in the Tower. New ringers are always welcome. Please contact Pat Hunter (555954)

Notice-boards Information (lists and posters) for the notice boards may be placed in the tray in the church porch w i n d o w s i l l o r c o n t a c t Gloria Cruttenden (505225).

Our Service Times

Sunday Worship 8am Holy Communion 10:15 Sung Eucharist* 10:15 Time for God**

6.30pm: check on the web *On the 3rd Sunday of each month this will be a Family Eucharist to which children are particularly welcome. ** Time for God” Services are held in the Church Hall.

Weekday Eucharist

Thursday:10:30am

Saturday: 9am =====================

Magazine

Contributions to the magazine are welcome. Please leave copy at the back of Church by 15th of every Feb., May, Aug. and Nov. or e-mail daisy.walpole@btinternet. com or to The Vicar —————————————-

Tea Club

Meets on the first Monday of the month at 1.30pm. We welcome all who are 50 years plus, and would like some company. Just come along. Tel. Marguerite Harland 503040; hughharland325@ btinternet.com

Documents

Shepherd's Watch Spring 2014