JULY UPDATE FROM ST ANDREW’S, HARLESTONE

With no substantive St Andrew’s news for you since March, down to my inability to juggle deadlines, here is a whistlestop update beyond this month’s deadline, thanks to the Editor being on another continent! The headings are services, people and then bits and bobs. All are interlinked.

Services: On top of our regular service pattern, the church has been filled for some special services, sadder and happier. I was pleased and grateful that Rev Andrea allowed for the use of St Andrew’s for two very poignant services linked to my work.

On Tuesday 19 April, we welcomed the family of the late Sgt Paul Keany, who died at work due to heart failure, aged 42, at the beginning of Covid. The rules meant that he was allowed only a graveside committal with around ten people present, and ever since, the promised Memorial Service was postponed on many occasions, due to the latest Covid rulings. In the month of the second anniversary of his death, I asked if we could host the service at St Andrew’s, followed by a Reception at Harlestone Park. A lovely service took place, led by the National Police Chaplain and Revd Andrea, with a tribute from the Chief Constable. The choir sang Psalm 23, and Jude Wilton sang ‘How long will I love you?’ The Force ceremonial team paraded the Force standard in and out of church – an event very much appreciated by Paul’s mum and family and officers & staff who attended and some closure achieved.

A fortnight later on 28 April, the church was stretched to its 230 capacity as the family and friends of the late Anne Mortimer attended her funeral which was lovely (in its truest sense) and full of the hope we expect the funeral of a good Christian lady to be charged with. It was truly uplifting with beautiful hymns and readings, older and newer. Our hearts and love remain with the quite remarkable Graham and we are grateful for the Votive Candle stand which will adorn the church in Anne’s memory from July, to be dedicated later in the year, to remind us that ‘the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.’

As we laid Anne to rest, back at work, the police family was being rocked with the news of the collapse and death of PC Alex Prentice, a 40 year old colleague who suffered heart failure at work and died in A&E. A hugely popular figure in the force and community, his funeral had been held in East Carlton and Corby for close family and friends. The Chief Constable asked if we could hold his Police family Memorial Service of Thanksgiving at Harlestone, and this took place on 25 May in another packed church of around 200 congregation, led by Rev John Evans, and the Chief Constable leading the tributes, again followed by Tea at Harlestone Park. There was a muffled peal of the church bells, the choir sang and we had the pleasure of hearing John Evans Jr singing an apt solo rendition of ‘Will your anchor hold in the storms of life?’ John Griff attended in his role as HM Deputy Lieutenant representing the Lord Lieutenant and the Queen, as he presented Alex’s father with the Platinum Jubilee medal which Alex never had the chance to collect himself. The ceremonial team paraded, and it was so moving that so many police colleagues turned out to pay their respects to this immensely popular officer. The service featured in a half page feature in the following week’s Chronicle & Echo, as John Griff reflected on the service ‘Recollections of lives of service, lived to the full, were wonderfully moving.’

John Griff was again in church in his DL role on Friday 3 June as the bells pealed, this time unmuffled, as people from all over our village and church community walked and drove to church on this special holiday to commemorate the Platinum Jubilee of HM The Queen. Led by Rev Andrea, with a full choir, organ, trumpets and timpani, we sang our hearts out and listened to Readings from the Bible and from speeches made over the years by Her Majesty. We heard a good, solid, cracking sermon from Rev John Evans and the roof was veritably raised before four litres of gin and 40 litres of tonic plus nibbles were consumed at the back of church.

And as we look ahead, we now have Music for a Summer’s Evening in church, organised by Bobbie Austin. After that concert, and taking into account attendees of Tuesday Tea and Toast and Thursday Arts and Crafts, in two months, the church will have welcomed well over 700 visitors not on a Sunday, which delights us.

People: As Revd Kathryn seeks the next chapter of her ministry journey to take on her own parish following successful completion of her curacy with us, we will sadly wave her and her family farewell. Until that time, she will remain in the Brampton Rectory and in our Benefice. On Sunday 17 July at a special Benefice Service at Harlestone at 10am, we will welcome Mrs Kim McCloghry who is to be our newly ordained Curate. As a part-time priest, she will undergo her training with us for the next four years and we look forward to welcoming her (and her husband Fergus) into our church community.

On 17 July, we shall also welcome Dr Brian Canfield from the USA. Brian is Professor of Clinical Mental Health at Florida University and an ancestor of his, 19 generations back, John Calmfield, is buried in the aisle of St Andrew’s. In past years, prior to Covid, we were used to welcoming a visit from Brian and friends as part of a one-week summer programme in the UK – the Oxford Institute for Family and Couple Therapy, held at St Hilda’s College, Oxford. This year’s programme will comprise 30 participants – mental health professionals and graduate students – from throughout the USA and internationally. Around 20 including members of Brian’s family will be joining us for worship and an afternoon in the village.

Bits and bobs

· We have now joined the Parish Giving Scheme which means that we can join the other parishes with our own QR code to make giving easier. We also await delivery of our new ‘CollectTin’ – a card reader which will allow visitors to donate to church, or offer their giving/collection by selecting the amount and swiping their card. This eventually hopefully responds to the cashless society we have now become.

· Our church website is gathering new visitors monthly – do check out www.achurchnearyou.com/church/16414 or search on the website.

· It’s been a delight to hear the bells ringing out with members of the Benefice bellringing teams practising at St Andrew’s, and with the team from around the Deanery who ring for our special services under the leadership of Nick Hiams. The bells have had some attention and maintenance recently from Taylors of Loughborough, and thanks to a kind donor in the village, we will now have our own set of leather bell muffles to allow the bells to be rung with their sombre echo, for funerals and sadder occasions.

· Teas in church will resume on Sunday afternoons in July, August and September, with thanks to the ladies who bake and serve at this popular event. We have new greetings cards displays for the wonderful array of stock made and provided by Bobbie.

· The tower area is being gradually cleared and cleaned to allow for dual use as a children’s area. Noticeboards have been installed, and we are provisioning wheeled storage units for toys and a soft area, so our ministry of welcome for our younger visitors is assured at whatever event – services or Tea & Toast! We are also looking to clear some more space so that our new Curate, who will live outside the Benefice, will have a base in church.

· With the demise of the church noticeboard in the gales, a new information board has been ordered and we are grateful to the Parish Council for their support of this – they don’t come cheap!

· We are in discussion with our neighbours at the Golf Club, who have agreed to make unlocking and locking of the church part of their daily schedule. This will allow us to review/reduce our key issue and maximise the security cameras to allow fuller access by all to church during the daytime.

· We have installed new radio microphones which were ‘christened’ at the Jubilee Service. The new microphones allow for two wireless lapel microphones as well as the lectern microphone. Sylvia Roberts made a point of grabbing my elbow in Waitrose (in that way that only Sylvia can do) and assured me it was the clearest she had heard in church. Praise indeed!

· As you have read, we have had many visitors to church in recent months and it’s always interesting to hear comment and feedback. To see the church through a visitor’s eyes is always helpful. Highlights for me as Churchwarden have been ‘you really do welcome children, and don’t just tolerate them,’ ‘I really didn’t expect such musical and liturgical quality in a village church’, ‘this place is such a warm welcoming spiritual space – can I come back?’, ‘what a beautiful church and how well it is maintained and unspoilt’, ‘I’ve never been offered tea and toast, and gin and tonic in a church – and I love it.’, ‘how lucky you are to have such a well-maintained churchyard.’ My thanks, and those of the PCC, go out to all who contribute to make those comments possible – not least the Parish Council of Harlestone whose contribution to the maintenance of our churchyard is so very much appreciated, alongside their excellent contractors at the village’s A&A Landscapes.

Much to report here, and much to be grateful for. Our church is very much alive and if I could do a cartwheel, I would, for we are now proving that an active church is not just about bums on seats on a Sunday, though I thoroughly recommend that too! I also recommend you now clear from your minds the image of me doing a cartwheel before you move on!

SAM DOBBS (Churchwarden)