Make Space

It is still November as I write this and our Christmas cards are still unwritten! However, during the first weeks of December I know that Christmas cards will begin arriving on the door mat and the pressure to get ours posted will be on.

Over the next few weeks those who live in the parishes of Prestbury, All Saints, Swindon Village and Cheltenham St Peter, and Elmstone Hardwicke with Uckington, will, we hope, receive one of our North Cheltenham Team Ministry Christmas cards. (Thank you to all the people who will have been out delivering them). These cards carry Christmas greetings on behalf of all of us who feel that we are members of one of the churches in the Team Ministry. They also carry details of the variety of Christmas services which will be taking place in the local church. These service details are given as an invitation because we very much hope and pray that many people from the local community will be able to join in with the Christmas celebrations in their local church and we look forward to welcoming them as we host a wide variety of Christmas services.

This year, the front of the North Cheltenham Team Ministry Christmas card carries the words: ‘make space in your life to celebrate The Birth!’ A picture of a crib or manger is shown amongst sprigs and wreaths of holly and stockings full of presents. A good reminder to us all of the importance of making sure that we do leave room for the ‘real meaning of Christmas’ as we inevitably get caught up with all the other things: card writing, present buying, food shopping and so on! Looking again at the picture of the crib on the front of the Christmas card I realise how easily I can overlook the enormous significance of what we are celebrating at Christmastime. I get so used to seeing pictures of brightly lit nativity scenes with their clean straw, clean animals, smiling parents and perfect, sleeping baby, that I forget the reality of the world into which Jesus was born. I forget the tremendous difficulties which Mary and Joseph would have experienced as a couple because of Jesus’ birth. I forget the awful conditions in which Jesus really came into the world; nothing that we would ever see depicted on a traditional Christmas card.

And yet the truth is, as we are told in St John’s gospel, ‘God so loved the world that he gave his only son’. We make such a fuss of celebrating Jesus’ birth because we are celebrating the truth of God’s love for each and every one of us, love which is shown to us in the person of Jesus Christ: God himself living as one of us, experiencing life, with all its joys and pains, and ultimately giving his life for us on the cross. When we begin to reflect on all of that, then we will understand something of why it is so important to make some space in our own lives to celebrate ‘The Birth’.

The invitation which goes out in our Team Christmas card is sent with the genuine hope that all those who are able to join in some, or maybe only one, of the Christmas services will experience the true joy of the celebration of God’s unique and wonderful gift to the world; the gift of his son, our Lord Jesus Christ. May you know the rich blessing of the Christ-child in your life this Christmas.

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After a number of years in post, Lindsey McGowan will be stepping down at the end of this year from her role as co-ordinator of church flowers at St Mary’s. Lindsey has brought her considerable gifts for flower-arranging and floral art to this role and we are very grateful to her for the beautiful floral displays which she, and those who have worked with her, have produced over the recent years. These often quite stunning arrangements have been very much appreciated by those who worship regularly with us, as well as by our many visitors. As part of her role, Lindsey has also co-ordinated the flowers for weddings in St Mary’s, not only producing arrangements herself, but also handling the negotiations with the brides. Thank you Lindsey for sharing your gifts and talents with us; we hope to see some of your arrangements in St Mary’s or St Nicolas’ in the future!

Many thanks to all my friends in the North Cheltenham Team Ministry for your good wishes and prayers as I have been recuperating from my recent knee operation. I am pleased to say that it seems to have been very successful and I am now on the road to full mobility and to be able to resume my usual fast pace. An interesting experience this time round though was my enforced use of a wheelchair as we visited Anna at University one week after my operation.

Pushing a wheelchair around the cobbled streets of York posed challenges for Michael, Simon and Anna as they struggled to negotiate deep kerbs and narrow pavements. It was good to keep a sense of humour as I got stuck in a rut half way across a busy main road, much to the amusement of the passengers in the line of stationary vehicles patiently waiting for my ‘learner carers’ to get me to the other side.

My most interesting observation though was the reaction of members of the public as I was wheeled around. It is human nature to be curious and I was not surprised to catch many passers-by ‘looking’ at me. Very few actually made full eye contact with me, preferring to attempt an indiscreet side-long stare. I found this extremely dehumanising and made me think again about how we interact with those around us.

As a teacher, I use eye contact enormously as a tool for pupil engagement and classroom control, but do I always translate that to situations when I am with people whom I know less well? Could that vital eye contact, accompanied by an open, friendly smile, be a much more powerful gesture than we realise? So, as well as putting my new knee through its paces over the next few months, I shall be putting renewed eye contact to the test. You have been warned!

Our thanks go to Dee Graham who has organised a super new replacement wheelchair for use by the congregation at St Mary’s. The cost involved in the provision of the wheelchair has been met by an anonymous donor, and Dee has passed on our appreciation and thanks to this person.

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The main focus of the November Cheltenham Deanery Synod meeting, held at Holy Apostles’ Church, was a presentation about Cheltenham’s newly built and opened All Saints’ Academy. The Principal, Peter Kingham, explained the Christian ethos underpinning everything that is done at the Anglican/Catholic independent state-funded secondary school for ages 11-19 years. Currently there are some 800 pupils and that will grow to more than 1000.

Mr Kingham explained how Gospel values, including love, peace and reconciliation, are key to the strategies in management and both teaching and pastoral work. Prayer is integrated into the day, week, term and year for meetings, assemblies and individuals. Staff aim to go the extra mile for people.

At the heart of the impressive building is a copper-coated chapel, jointly financed by the Church of England and the Roman Catholic Church. The Principal is passionate to recognize areas of faith that Anglicans and Catholics both hold while being realistic in recognizing differences too. An important verse to the Academy is the first verse of Psalm 133: ‘How wonderful it is, how pleasant, for God’s people to live together in harmony’.

Any questions about All Saints’ Academy would be welcomed via Lindsey, the Principal’s PA, at LHoughtonasachelt.org.

Additionally Fr Michael gave a clear and upbeat account of how the North Cheltenham Team Ministry Vision for Swindon Village is taking shape as part of the North Mission Area of the Deanery. Fr Daniel outlined his role and responsibility as Deanery Advisor in the Healing Ministry.

The next meeting is on 15th February 2012 at St Silas’.

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On Saturday 5th November a group of Mothers’ Union members went over to Gloucester Cathedral for the annual Diocesan Service. This is always a joyous occasion and this year had an African theme. The service began with the procession of Branch banners led by the Diocesan banner. Our banner was ably carried by Jenny. The service was conducted by the Dean of Gloucester, and Sue Wilson, the Action and Outreach Co-ordinator at Mary Sumner House, spoke of the work done by Action and Outreach workers overseas. A cheque for over £8,000 was presented to Sue; this was money collected from each deanery to aid the work of overseas community workers, who often have to travel for many miles to cover their province. The collection also went towards this fund, during which the choir Rough Diamonds sang two African songs, ‘Baba Yetu’ (part of the Lord’s Prayer in Swahili) and ‘Ise Olva’ (‘That which the creator has made cannot be destroyed’). Before the final hymn and blessing Liz Curtis led us in African-style flag-waving and dance. Altogether a memorable occasion.

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On 30th October the Local Ministry Team held a party in St Nicolas’ Church for some of the families of recently baptised children. The afternoon was good fun and everyone enjoyed themselves. We started with a short service which included some favourite songs from our Celebrate! service and the story of the baptism of Jesus, re-enacted by the Open The Book team with the assistance of some younger members of the congregation. This was followed by a shared welcome and presentation of baptism candles.

We then moved across to St Nicolas’ Church Hall for party music, hand painting, craft activities, ‘Stick the Flame on the Candle’ game, party food for the children and chat over refreshing teas and coffees for the grown-ups.

Thank you to Frances Murton, Jerry Porter and Margaret Compton for helping me with the preparation and organization, to Sharon Macauly, Brian Wood and Open The Book team for help with the service and to Hilary Brick, Margaret Moore, Paul Barnes, Stephen Murton, William and Cara for your help on the day!

We hope to run further parties in the future; please contact if you would like to help.

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One of the goals identified both in The Vision Exercise and in discussion within the Local Ministry Team was the need to reach out to the community around us. The first and most important way of doing this is through prayer. To aid this, the LMT has produced leaflets listing the streets within the parish. Each street is allocated to a certain date so that day by day, street by street, the whole parish is prayed for every month. The street names from the two leaflets are listed below.

Leaflets are available in both churches and we will start using them at our services from 1st December. We hope that everyone who prays will join in this project. Please take a leaflet for use at home. If you would like a leaflet from the other church, ask a member of the LMT, who will obtain one for you.

If your road is not listed, please tell the

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See    Part 1    Part 2    Part 3

Roger Hodges

In July Roger spent several days in Malawi with the charity MACS. - Editor

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Firstly, a big thank-you to everyone who gave up their time on Saturday 12th November to help with the churchyard tidy-up at St Mary’s. It was a very pleasant Autumn day for carrying out the planned jobs including: raking and bagging up fallen leaves, clearing gulleys, removing ivy from tombstones, and trimming branches from conifers. Thanks also to Steve and Emma at Prestbury Village Stores for generously donating the much appreciated sausage rolls eagerly consumed mid-morning by the volunteer workforce.

Following the fall of a large branch from one of the horse chestnut trees in the churchyard a tree surgeon was consulted and, following his advice, a number of the trees in the churchyard will be undergoing some much needed maintenance at the beginning of December.

Finally, you may have noticed the work carried out on a number of the churchyard monuments. This work has now been suspended, due to the potential for bad weather, until spring time next year when the stone mason will return to complete restoration work on four more of the grade II listed monuments.

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On Friday 14th and Saturday 15th October CHADS put on their annual performance at Prestbury Hall. The show, entitled ‘Visual Variety’, was extremely well supported on both evenings and an enjoyable time was had by all. After each performance there were refreshments for everyone, plus a raffle and an auction.

CHADS always donate their proceeds to a worthy charity and this year the charity to benefit is ‘STEPS’ – a small national charity supporting children and adults affected by a lower limb condition such as hip dysplasia or club foot.

This charity was chosen because, as many people are aware, my grand-daughter, Demi, was born with severe hip dysplasia for which she has been receiving treatment throughout the last year, and will be for some time to come. Also her two older cousins, Matthew and Sophie Bestwick, have both played a significant part in the CHADS production.

Just recently another little girl in our Church Family (Erin, Linda Biggs’ grand-daughter) has also been diagnosed with the same condition and her Mum, like Demi’s Mum, has been helped by the STEPS charity.

The overall proceeds from the performances total £1,600 and, because a sponsor has covered all the production and running costs, this is all profit. Of this, £1,300 has been given to STEPS and £300 to the Prestbury Hall.

Our heartfelt thanks go to everyone who has worked so hard to put on this production and also to all those people who came and supported them.

And a special thank you from Demi.

Mary Turner

See more pictures from the show

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The ‘Real Christmas’

The ‘Real Christmas’ this year will be on Saturday 3rd December in St Mary’s Church from 2pm until 5pm. There will be seasonal stalls, entertainment and refreshments. Entry is free and all are invited to come and spend some time with us.

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St Nicolas’ day is actually 6th December, but we will celebrate the patronal festival at St Nicolas’ on Sunday 4th December at 9.30am when the guest preacher will be Fr Grant Bayliss, a former curate. We look forward to welcoming Fr Grant and the family on that weekend.

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Our December meeting will be on Tuesday 6th December at the earlier time of 7pm, when we will have Christmas music led by Frances Pavey and readings by some of our young family members. We will have seasonal refreshments and an evening with a difference, when we hope Demi and family will be with us. Everyone is very welcome, especially young people and family members.

Our first meeting next year is on Tuesday 24th January at 7.30pm and our guest speaker will be the Reverend Rod Paterson, whose topic is entitled ‘India’. He is an inspiring speaker and everyone is welcome to come and meet him. Both meetings are at St Nicolas’ church.

At St Nicolas’ Church on Tuesday 20th December at 7.00-8.00pm there will be an informal programme of Christmas songs, carols and readings. Seasonal refreshments will be served. Everyone welcome.

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