NEWSThe editing of the new A5 hardback service book is ongoing and nearing completion. It is hoped to get it off to the printer before Christmas.A Christmas hamper and a Christmas cake will be raffled at the Service of Carols and Readings on 19th December. Donations of suitable foodstuffs and drinks for the hamper would be much appreciated. Please liaise with Diana if you would like to contribute. The Mustard Seed Relief Mission Love Box Scheme organised in Barsham by Cheryl has achieved a record number with 185 boxes being filled. Contributions have come not only from our church, but also from Beccles Lions, the Red Hat Ladies Society, from the Suffolk Stitchers and Knitters (thanks to Jenny Henwood), and 18 boxes from residents of the Foundry in Beccles (thanks to Jan and Geoff Jones). Many thanks to all who filled boxes, to the Beccles Lions for again funding the carriage and most of all to Cheryl for undertaking the enormous task of organising this exceptionally worthwhile project. The boxes were blessed on 27th October and are now on their way to Moldova.The PCC met for routine business on 14th November. Previously, on 21st October, the PCC entertained our volunteer clergy to the annual ‘Clergy Lunch’, our way of expressing the whole congregation’s appreciation for their much-valued service. Bridget and Cheryl attended the Diocesan Synod in late October and the Deanery Synod in early November. Grateful thanks to Peter and Sarah Gascoyne, who have improved the choir vestry by mending and strengthening the hanging rail. The robes are now beautifully hung and labelled. Following the charming display of produce arranged for Harvest Festival (front cover), the church was decked out in poppies for Remembrancetide. At our Remembrance service Neville Smith read the names of the Fallen, followed by the two-minutes silence and the National Anthem. The following day at the Service of Remembrance at Barsham Village Hall, taken by Revd Jonathan Olanczuk, the Two-Minute Silence was observed at 11:00am, with the Last Post and Reveille played by a trumpeter from the Sir John Leman High School. Wreaths were then laid at the village war memorial, now incorporating a new memorial to the three American airmen lost when their B-24 Liberator crashed at Church Farm, Shipmeadow on 5th November 1944. This new memorial was dedicated on 5th November this year, the 80th anniversary of the crash, in a service led by the Deputy Wing Chaplain at RAF Lakenheath. The sales table organised by Margaret raised a splendid £125.00. The final net profit from the Harvest Supper was £512.00.Very many thanks to Doreen Springall, whose Farm Gate Produce Stall has this year yielded a fantastic and record sum of £488.00 for Church funds. Thanks also to Sarah Jane for her second Market Stall of jewellery which resulted in proceeds of £256.00 being allocated to the Fabric Fund.Apologies to Pat and Neville Smith, who participated in and raised money for the Suffolk Historic Churches Trust Ride and Stride event, but whose names were omitted in the report in the last newsletter. We appreciate their contribution to fund raising and their continued support at church events, as well as their help in supplying greenery for our flower displays throughout the year.199 items, including clothes, were donated to the Food Bank in October. Thank you for your continued support. FORWARD PLANNINGThe Christmas Carol Service will be at 6.30pm on Thursday 19th December and the service on Christmas Day will start at the earlier time of 10.30am.SNIPPETS – The Suffolk Lungwort ProjectSuffolk churches are being encouraged by Bishop Martin to support plant conservation in the county by taking part in the Suffolk Lungwort Project. This project is being led by the Otter Trust, which has been awarded a Species Recovery Programme Capital Grant by Natural England. The aim is to establish new populations of Suffolk, or unspotted, Lungwort (pulmonaria obscura), since at present it occurs in only three woodland locations in the county and its survival is precarious. The Otter Trust has propagated some of these woodland plants and Malcolm is to plant some in a shady corner of the churchyard. A member of the borage family, the Suffolk lungwort is an evergreen perennial, known for its clusters of small, bell-shaped pink or purple and blue flowers that bloom from March to May. It has bristly stems and unspotted, hairy, oval and pointed leaves. The flowers produce nectar and pollen and are an important source of food for bees and other pollinators. They are self-fertile, meaning that they do not require cross-pollination to reproduce.The common name ‘lungwort’ is derived from the shape of its leaves, which were thought to resemble the human lung, and from its use for centuries in traditional medicine to treat respiratory problems such as coughs, bronchitis and asthma. The plant contains compounds such as tannins, flavonoids, and saponins, which are believed to have anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties. Some studies have also suggested that Suffolk Lungwort may have antibacterial and antiviral effects, which could make it useful in the treatment of respiratory infections.Suffolk Lungwort has also been used in the kitchen. The plant's leaves have a slightly bitter taste and can be used as a substitute for spinach in recipes such as soups, stews, and quiches. The young leaves can also be eaten raw in salads.DECEMBER DIARYSunday 1st December – First Sunday of Advent. 11am Sung Eucharist (BCP). RevdJonathan Olanczuk.Sunday 8th December – Second Sunday of Advent. 11am Sung Eucharist (BCP). Revd Canon John Fellows.Sunday 15th December – Third Sunday of Advent. 11am Sung Eucharist (BCP). Revd Desmond Banister.Thursday 19th December – SERVICE OF LESSONS & CAROLS, 6.30pm. Revd Canon John Fellows.Sunday 22nd December – Fourth Sunday of Advent. 11am Sung Eucharist (BCP). RevdJonathan Olanczuk.Christmas Day – 10.30am Sung Eucharist (BCP). Revd Jonathan Olanczuk.Sunday 29th December – First Sunday of Christmas. 11am Sung Eucharist (BCP). RevdJonathan Olanczuk.
NEWSA much-valued member of our congregation, who wishes to remain anonymous, has generously offered to fund the production of new service books to replace our current deteriorating stock. A small working party has already met to agree the editing, format, and production process. The new service books, which will be A5 size, hardback and of durable quality, will include the familiar order of service for both Eucharist (set to Martin Shaw’s Folk Mass: see Snippets) and Evensong. Well done Cheryl and Amy, both of whom visited 11 churches on the day of the Ride & Stride event, raising a total of £1,000.00, half of which will come direct to Barsham Church and the other half to the Suffolk Historic Churches Trust. Many thanks as well to everyone who manned the reception desk on the day.One of the best Equinox displays for some time (front cover) was witnessed by a small gathering on the day before the Autumn Equinox, but there was sadly no display for the 15 people who gathered on the day of the Equinox itself. On 18th September members of the PCC attended a meeting with the Rural Dean to discuss and hone the Parish Profile for the benefice and on 1st October a further meeting with the two Archdeacons to agree the job description and person specification for the post of Rector. The post is being advertised nationally through October and interviews are expected to be held in November. The flower team decorated the church most beautifully for Harvest Festival on 13thOctober with a rich and bountiful array of cereals, squashes, fruits, hedgerow berries and flowers, creating a splendid backdrop for the morning service and later the Harvest Festival Evensong. We were delighted to welcome Archdeacon Sally Gaze to preside over Evensong and the choir added charm to the service with the anthem For the Beauty of the Earth. Harvest supper followed in the village hall for 40 guests, including Archdeacon Sally and her husband Chris. Convivial company, delicious food and splendidly decorated tables made for a delightful festive atmosphere. For the success of the evening, we owe huge thanks to the team who worked so hard to plan, prepare and serve the food and drinks, to provide the decorations for the tables, and to clear up afterwards.Please return filled Love Boxes by Friday 25th October at the latest so Cheryl can check and arrange them for the blessing on Sunday 27th October.The September sales table organised by Jenny raised the goodly sum of £100.00. In early October Sarah Jane and Doreen Springall held a market stall in Beccles to sell some of the remaining merchandise from Chris Bardsley’s Jewellery Bonanza. Many thanks to all three. Many thanks for the 210 items donated to the Food Bank in September, including much-needed items of clothing. With winter coming on, please keep donating clothing as well as tinned food. FORWARD PLANNINGOn Remembrance Sunday, 10th November, please arrive for 10.45am so that we can begin the service with the reading of the names of the Fallen and the two minutes silence at 11am.The annual Service of Remembrance at Barsham Village Hall will be on Monday 11th November at 10.50am (arrive from 10.30am), with Last Post, two-minute silence and Reveille at 11.00am, followed by wreath-laying at the village war memorial. Parking will be on the village hall paddock and refreshments will be served afterwards in return for a donation. Everyone is welcome.SNIPPETS – Martin Shaw, composer of the Folk MassMartin Shaw OBE FRCM, who composed the Anglican Folk Mass, the setting for our weekly Sung Eucharist, was a composer of considerable significance as a pioneer in the revival of native English music traditions. His abiding passion was in restoring ‘Englishness’ to English music, and church music in particular. He was also a man with Suffolk connections. The son of a church organist and a trained pianist, he studied briefly at the Royal College of Music under the great Sir Charles Villiers Stanford and Hubert Parry and made life-long friends of fellow English music revivalists Ralph Vaughan Williams, Gustav Holst and John Ireland. Starting out in the 1890s as a theatre director, Shaw composed over 100 songs for theatre and was responsible for the revival of the almost forgotten music of Purcell, establishing the Purcell Operatic Society in 1899. In 1901-02 he worked as a researcher for Vaughan Williams on the English Hymnal (1905) and in 1908, encouraged by Vaughan Williams, he took up the post of organist, choirmaster and composer at St Mary’s, Primrose Hill, where the vicar was the hymnodist Percy Dearmer (an early advocate of the ministry of women). Dearmer and Shaw’s collaboration included the editing of multiple editions of two seminal works in English congregational church music, Songs of Praise (1925) and the Oxford Book of Carols (1928).Shaw’s work included researching and rediscovering or reinstating the original versions of traditional English tunes. There are 11 of Shaw’s hymn tunes in our hymnal Common Praise(and five by his brother Geoffrey), including favourites Hills of the North, rejoice; All things bright and beautiful; Father hear the prayer we offer (the alternative tune was written by Vaughan Williams), and carols Angels from the realms of glory and Lully, lulla. After Primrose Hill, Shaw had stints in the 1920s and 1930s at St Martin-in-the-Fields, as Master of the Music at the Guildhouse in London, and in the Diocese of Chelmsford. Along with his music for hymns and carols, Shaw wrote oratorios, cantatas, instrumental and chamber music, and he continued to write music for plays and festivals throughout the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s. Benjamin Britten commissioned him to write the anthem God’s Grandeur for the first ever Aldeburgh Festival in 1948. Through this mix of media, he aimed to bring the ‘Englishness’ of his music to a wide national audience.A charismatic man, he is said to have inspired the loyalty in all who knew him. In 1916, when Shaw married music teacher Joan Cobbold, of the Suffolk family, John Ireland was best man at the wedding. Having holidayed in Southwold throughout his earlier life, he moved with Joan to Blythburgh in 1946 and to Southwold in 1952, where they lived for the rest of their lives at Long Island House on the clifftop above the beach huts. With over 300 published works and his contribution to the raising of standards in English church music, Shaw was created OBE in 1955. His cantata The Redeemer (1945) is sometimes said to be his best-known work, and he regarded it as his finest, but his Anglican Folk Massmay prove to be his most lasting legacy. He died in Southwold Hospital in 1958 and his ashes are buried in the churchyard of St Edmund’s, the parish church.November DiarySunday 3rd November – All Saints. 11am Sung Eucharist (BCP). Revd Jonathan Olanczuk.Sunday 10th November – Third Sunday before Advent. Remembrance Sunday. 10.45am for 11am Sung Eucharist (BCP). Revd Canon John Fellows.Sunday 17th November – Second Sunday before Advent. Safeguarding Sunday. 11.15am Sung Eucharist (BCP). Revd Desmond Banister.Sunday 24th November – Christ the King. 11am Sung Eucharist (BCP). Revd Jonathan Olanczuk.Church correspondent: Robert Bacon 07867 306016, robert.bacon@yahoo.co.uk
NEWSCongratulations to John Randall on his 90th birthday! There were drinks and refreshments after morning service on 1st September to celebrate, and there was further famous Barsham hospitality on 8th September to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Colin and Margaret’s engagement. As part of the lengthy and ongoing process of finding a new Rector, members of the PCC will be attending a meeting with Archdeacons Rich Henderson and Sally Gaze on 18th September, and a further meeting with Bishop Martin on 1st October. The Autumn Equinox is on Sunday 22nd September and, weather permitting, the illumination of the rood will be visible on the 21st, 22nd and 23rd September from about 5.50pm. As was the case for the Spring event, there will be no formal introductory talk and no refreshments provided, but people are warmly welcome to come and experience the event. Thank you to those who intend to fill Love Boxes this year. Please would you return the filled boxes by Friday 25th October at the latest to give Cheryl time to check and arrange them for the blessing, which is to be on Sunday 27th October. The monthly table sales table organised by Cherry raised a splendid total of £110.00. Following the final sale of the last remaining legacy bears, an anonymous and generous benefactress so moved by Sarah Jane’s efforts and perseverance has very kindly donated £509.00, elevating the final total to a magnificent £4,000.00. Many thanks to Sarah Jane and the kind donor; this sum will boost the fabric fund and will greatly aid future repairs to our Church.For her part, Sarah Jane would like to thank Ringsfield, Redisham, Shadingfield, Sotterley and other ‘outlets’ for permitting the teddy stall to share their open days. Sarah Jane would like to extend special thanks to Doreen Springall and Amy, without whose help she could not have transformed Mike Learner’s legacy into funds for Barsham Church.The congregation donated 166 items to the Food Bank in August.FORWARD PLANNINGHarvest Festival Evensong will be held at 5.30pm on Sunday 13th October withArchdeacon Sally Gaze leading the service and preaching. Harvest supper will follow in the village hall at 7pm. Tickets for the supper cost £10.00 and are available from Bridget. SNIPPETS – ‘For they are thine, O Lord, thou lover of souls’This is the text, now all but lost to 131 years of weathering, carved into the lintel on the south face of the Barsham lychgate. The text, from The Wisdom of Solomon 11:26, is part of a passage of reassuring words, beautifully rendered in the King James Version: But thou hast mercy upon all; for thou canst do all things, and winkest at the sins of men, because they should amend. For thou lovest all the things that are, and abhorrest nothing which thou hast made: for never wouldest thou have made any thing, if thou hadst hated it. And how could any thing have endured, if it had not been thy will? or been preserved, if not called by thee? But thou sparest all: for they are thine, O Lord, thou lover of souls.The Barsham lychgate was built in 1893. It was commissioned by the patron, Rev’d RAJ Suckling, and designed by Frederick Eden, the notable Anglo-Catholic church architect and designer of church interiors, who carried out commissions for Suckling at Barsham over some 30 years from about 1890. It was constructed by Walter Calver, master carpenter and builder, of Great Common, Ilketshall St Andrew, and paid for by public subscription and from Suckling’s own resources.The figure perched above the inscription on the lychgate today is not the original. Surviving photographs show that the original was a St Christopher carrying the Christ Child. This must have weathered quickly for it had already been replaced by 1931, when a photograph shows the figure of Jesus the Good Shepherd carrying a sheep, and this is the same figure that we have today. As far as is known, this lychgate is the first to exist at Barsham. Certainly, there wasn’t one ten years earlier at the time of the 1883/4 Ordnance Survey map. That’s not to say that older lychgates did not exist elsewhere: they began to appear at the entrances to churchyards from the later medieval period. The word lych comes from the Old English lic, meaning corpse and the purpose of the lychgate was to give shelter to coffins and pallbearers as they waited for the priest to meet them at the entrance to the churchyard before conducting the coffin into the church for a funeral. The seats were for the pallbearers and the stone tracks on the floor were for the easy passage of the wheels of the bier. It may be interesting to note that the holly hedge on either side of the lychgate was planted in 1892, the year before the lychgate was erected, at the expense of the Rector, Rev’d Allan Coates. Perhaps his choice of holly came down to its effectiveness as an all-season thick screen, but holly was commonly used in churchyard hedges and it is rich in popular Christian symbolism. The red berries, for instance, symbolise the blood of Christ, shed on the cross. Legend has it that holly berries were originally white or yellow, but the blood Christ shed for the sins of humankind stained the berries forever red. Another ancient legend claims that the cross on which Jesus was crucified was constructed of holly wood. Some see the holly’s pointed leaves as symbolic of the crown of thorns placed on Jesus’ head before the crucifixion. In Germany holly is known as ‘christdorn’ or ‘Christ thorn’. For others, the evergreen nature of the tree is a metaphor for eternal life. Holly is, of course, associated with Christmas and the words of the traditional English carol The Holly and the Ivy reflect its multi-faceted symbolism.Beyond the symbolism, and thinking environmentally, holly has much value in nature. The thick habitat provides vital nesting cover for birds, and in winter, the dry holly leaves on the ground are used by hibernating hedgehogs and the berries are a vital food source for birds and small mammals. In summer, the tiny white holly flowers provide nectar and pollen for bees and attract the holly blue butterfly and various moths.OCTOBER DIARYSunday 6th October – Nineteenth Sunday after Trinity. 11am Sung Eucharist (BCP). Revd Jonathan Olanczuk.Sunday 13th October – Twentieth Sunday after Trinity. 11am Sung Eucharist (BCP). Revd Canon John Fellows.Sunday 13th October – Harvest Evensong. 5.30pm Choral Evensong. Archdeacon Sally Gaze.Sunday 20th October – Twenty-first Sunday after Trinity. 11am Sung Eucharist (BCP). Revd Desmond Banister.Sunday 27th October – Last Sunday after Trinity. 11am Sung Eucharist (BCP). Revd Jonathan Olanczuk.Church correspondent: Robert Bacon 07867 306016, robert.bacon@yahoo.co.uk
NEWSHeartfelt thanks were extended to Revd Josh and a presentation was made to him at his final Sunday service at Barsham on 4th August. We are immensely grateful to Josh for the enthusiasm with which he has adopted Barsham’s form of service and the love he has extended to our congregation and those connected with it. Meetings to discuss a successor to Revd Josh are timetabled for September. Congratulations to Robyn Howard and Tom Escobar, whose wedding took place at Holy Trinity Barsham on Saturday 10th August. The singing was led by the choir and Diana and Margaret helped with the flowers. Churchyard Haymaking was undertaken over four days in the week commencing 29thJuly by our own volunteers assisted by hard-working Community Payback teams. It was a highly successful operation. Many thanks to everyone who helped in the extreme heat, and special thanks to the Bardsleys: Chris for so kindly providing ploughman’s lunches, and Malcolm for arranging the help of the Community Payback teams. Dominique’s belfry swift project has reached its seasonal conclusion, with the sound system that broadcasts swift calls switched off until next May. The project has been a success, with eight or more swifts regularly circling the belfry in the early mornings by way of reconnaissance, and now every prospect that some will use the nesting boxes next year or the year after when they return from their migration.A hassock (kneeler) made by Katherine Suckling, former patron of Holy Trinity Barsham, has recently returned from St Edmundsbury Cathedral and is displayed in the side chapel (front cover photo and see Snippets below). The Jewellery Bonanza sales table organised by Chris Bardsley, offering a spectacular display of jewellery, raised the splendid sum of £90.00, whilst the routine monthly table staffed by Bridget produced a very healthy £77.00.Sarah Jane’s determination to find homes for all the legacy bears has finally achieved its goal following sales at Redisham and Shadingfield, yielding a further £141.00 and £40.00 respectively and bringing the cumulative total to a magnificent and almost unbelievable £3,491.00. Well done and many thanks to Sarah Jane for her extraordinary perseverance!139 items were sent to the Food Bank in July. FORWARD PLANNINGSaturday 14th September, 9am-5pm – the annual Suffolk Historic Churches Trust Ride, Stride & Drive. The SHCT charity raises funds for the repair and restoration of churches and chapels in Suffolk. Of any sponsorship money you might raise, half comes to Holy Trinity Barsham and the remainder is placed in a central fund from which grants are made. Dick Carter (the Barsham organiser) and Cheryl Coutts (the Beccles area coordinator) would be grateful for participants and helpers on the day, so please keep the date free in your diary!Harvest Festival Evensong will be held at 5.30pm on Sunday 13th October withArchdeacon Sally Gaze leading the service and preaching. Harvest supper will follow in the village hall at 7pm. SNIPPETS – The Barsham Hassock and its ContextAlthough the Diocese of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich was created in 1914, it wasn’t until 1959 that work started on transforming what had been the former parish church into a building of cathedral proportions. Over the following 11 years the Victorian chancel was replaced by a new quire, and additions included transepts, a Lady chapel, a side chapel and a cloister. Over the same period, each parish in the Diocese was invited to make two hassocks, creating almost a thousand in celebration of the new cathedral building, and these were dedicated at a special festival service on 25th July 1970. There was a uniform design for the new hassocks, with the early Christian ‘Y’ cross worked in red and gold against a blue background – blue being the traditional colour of medieval Suffolk cloth. Each parish could then add a unique symbol of its own and stitch the parish name at the bottom. It is not entirely clear what the symbol on the Barsham hassock represents – perhaps a stylised chalice and wafer – the latter a darker yellow disc where the stem of the chalice meets the cup. What do you think?When, in March this year, the Victorian pews at St Edmundsbury were replaced with chairs to provide a more flexible space for services and events, it was decided to withdraw the kneelers from use and to display one from each parish as a visible sign of the connection between the parishes of the Diocese and the Cathedral. The remainder were repatriated to their own parishes, hence the recent return of ours.In his article Made with Love (Country Life magazine, Dec 2023), Revd Colin Heber-Percy explains that the term ‘hassock’ stems from the original type of church kneeler, made from dried tussocks of matted vegetation harvested from bogs. By the late 17th century these were often replaced by turkey-work kneelers in which yarns were knotted as in carpets to create a comfortable pile and it wasn’t until Victorian times that needlework kneelers became the fashion. Our own rich array of kneelers is more recent, the beautiful work of embroiderers amongst the congregation. Some are an expression of time, celebrating particular events such as the Millenium, the 100th birthday of Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother in August 2000, or the bicentenary of the Battle of Trafalgar five years later. One celebrates a marriage. Others are dedicated to the memory of treasured relatives or friends, and there’s one remembering Janet’s faithful dog Sasha. Most common are representations of Biblical motifs – a dove, a cross in various formats, a lamb, a star, and there’s a stitched quotation from St John’s gospel. Then there are Christian symbols such as the crossed keys of St Peter, the white lily representing the purity of Christ and His resurrection, and a pomegranate, which can have various interpretations but is commonly seen as a symbol of the Church and the unity of all the believers in Christ. Beyond those is a colourful array of patterns, floral designs, birds (including St Francis feeding the birds) and even landscapes picked out in the needlework. Most of us don’t kneel any longer, but Barsham’s hassocks have meaning in themselves, and they beautify the church. You can learn more about the history of kneelers from Elizabeth Bingham’s book, Kneelers: The Unsung Folk Art of England and Wales (Chatto & Windus, 2023).SEPTEMBER DIARYSunday 1st September – Fourteenth Sunday after Trinity. 11am Sung Eucharist (BCP). Revd Jonathan Olanczuk.Sunday 8th September – Fifteenth Sunday after Trinity. 11am Sung Eucharist (BCP). Revd Canon John Fellows.Sunday 15th September – Sixteenth Sunday after Trinity. 11 or 11.15am TBC. Sung Eucharist (BCP). Revd Desmond Banister.Sunday 22nd September – Seventeenth Sunday after Trinity. 11am Sung Eucharist (BCP). Revd Jonathan Olanczuk.Sunday 29th September – Eighteenth Sunday after Trinity. 11am Sung Eucharist (BCP). Revd Jonathan Olanczuk.Church correspondent: Robert Bacon 07867 306016, robert.bacon@yahoo.co.uk
