This is the 49th edition of Connected and one constant during the past four years has been the contributions of Tony Service. Never late, always relevant and interesting, Tony has written texts for every edition. I had no idea that he has provided articles for 17 years. Staying fresh and relevant over such a time span is difficult and that Tony has achieved this is impressive. Tony, I will miss your email pinging into my inbox at the start of each month! I hope and pray that you continue to have much joy and hope in your life.Revd. Rob writes the Dear Friends article this month - I can almost feel sand between my toes! There is also an update on the excellent Afternoon Teas that were supplied by Evie and Molly Watson; my waistline bears witness to their scrumptiousness!We also remember Linda Reed who, with husband Hugh moved to Devon in 2014 and has sadly died. Glenn Guilliatt and Mrs Clarke seek to get one over on the taxman whilst also emptying your pockets of any folding loose change; remember it’s all in a very good cause!The rest of the magazine is my fault as usual.
This month Revd. Philip Macdonald celebrates the coming of Easter and notes that whilst the world may be changed by the pandemic we will always have the comfort of Christ who will live with us forever, if we let him.Local physician Tony Service prescribes leeks fried in butter to cure The Piles; whether we are to apply them to the distressed area, or eat them, is uncertain. More seriously Tony is also looking forward to Easter and the reopening of the Chapel.Karl Jarvis completes his virtual walk along the St Hilda’s Way, and Sheila Newsome raises a smile with a list of children’s writings about the Old & New Testaments.I adapt an email from Revd. Pete about Keith Fossey’s recent Zoom presentation on the work of the Swaziland Schools Project with orphaned children in eSwatini. This is a charity worthy of everyone’s attention.I also rabbit on about Albrecht Dürer’s painting Christ as a Man of Sorrows, whilst Dr Ruth M Bancewicz looks at ethics decisions in relation to new technologies. Karl Jarvis provides an update on the works proposed and undertaken in the Parish Hall. Finally I encourage everyone to consider joining the Parish Council; “ask not what your PCC will do for you, but what can you do for the PCC”, as JFK didn’t say (but would have done had lived in Brayton).
This month Revd. Pete Watson relates the bible story in John of the adulterous woman sentenced to be stoned to death, and relates this to God’s love and forgiveness for those who repent.Tony Service recalls the advice of John Wesley regarding the singing of hymns - thankfully this doesn’t include holding a tune – and also has some delightful responses of children to the question “What does love mean?”Karl Javis continues his virtual walk along the St Hilda’s Way, and Ruth Miles notes that we are all at risk when one of us is threatened.The Revd. Michael Burgess looks at Rossetti’s Ecce Ancilla Domini and Dr Ruth Bancewicz gives us some much needed advice on mental health as we continue in lockdown.The back page photographs this month are of a Parish Lunch in the old Brayton Village Hall in January 1994. Didn’t we scrub up well!
Hello allMany of you will know that here at St Wilfrid’s, Brayton, for many years we’ve financially supported a school charity working in Swaziland in southern Africa. So, I am delighted that Keith Fossey, who represents the charity in the UK, will be giving a presentation to us by zoom on Tuesday 2nd March at 7.30pm. The presentation, including an opportunity for questions, will take about an hour.I will send a zoom invitation out by email the day before.We are planning on recording the presentation and uploading it to the parish website and YouTube account. All those in attendance will be seen on the recorded video, so if you’d rather not be recorded, all you need to do is simply turn off your video for the presentation.Many thanks to Lis Middup for being our liaison with the charity and ensuring this presentation happens!Bye for nowPete
