Priory News, July 2005

From the Curate

Dear Friends,

Someone once described summer in England as 'three fine days and a thunderstorm'. It was disappointing to have had several fine days at the beginning of the Rose and Sweet Pea Show week and a downpour on the day before. Thankfully, the rain held off for the day itself and many came along to enjoy the show - several of them for the very first time.

Now we look forward to our other outdoor events of the season - the musical evening on the 2nd July and the Parish Barbecue on the 26th July. While good weather would be super, remember that our heavenly father 'sends rain on the righteous as well as on the unrighteous (Matt 5:45) and come along to enjoy and celebrate whatever the weather.

25th July is, of course, the feast of our patron saint, St.'James the Great'. James and his brother John were dubbed by Jesus 'Sons of Thunder' - not inappropriate for someone remembered at this peak time for summer storms - but do you know the more likely explanation for it? Come along to the Patronal Eucharist on the evening of the 25th and find out!

Readings for July

Sunday 3rd July, Thomas the Apostle:

• Morning: Habakkuk 2: 1-4 (08:00 only); Ephesians 2: 19-end; John 20: 24-29

10th July, 7th Sunday after Trinity:

• Morning: Isaiah 55: 10-13; Romans 8: 1-11; Matthew 13: 1-9,18-23
• Evening: 2 Samuel 7: 18-end; Luke 19: 41 - 20: 8

17th July, 8th Sunday after Trinity:

• Morning: Wisdom 12: 13, 16-19; Romans 8: 12-25; Matthew 13: 24-30, 36-43

24th July, 9th Sunday after Trinity:

• Morning: 1 Kings 3: 5-12; Romans 8: 26-end; Matthew 13: 31-33, 44-52

Monday 25th July, James the Apostle, Patronal and Dedication Festival:

• Evening: Jeremiah 45: 1-5; Acts 11: 27 - 12: 2; Matthew 20: 20-28

31st July, 10th Sunday after Trinity:

• Morning: Isaiah 55: 1-5; Romans 9: 1-5; Matthew 14: 13-21

Celebrate St James
Celebrate Deeping St James!

The festival of St James the Apostle, patron of this parish, is also the date of the founding of our parish church, so there are two reasons why this day, 25th July, is significant in Deeping St James! As usual we shall hold a sung Eucharist at 19:30 on the day itself, and the choir is preparing the music for this important parish festival. Do try to be there and celebrate your membership of this parish church and your part in its ministry to the community, giving thanks for the countless parishioners who have gone before us and left us the legacy of this magnificent building and tradition of Christian service.

In addition, on the Sunday before, 24th July, after the morning services there will be a barbecue on the Vicarage Lawn for all who would like to attend, with outdoor games and a chance to meet lots of people and enjoy the common life of our village. This will be followed by a Songs of Praise in church at about 15:00 or so. If you are coming to the barbecue, please let us know by 18th July at the very latest so that we can ensure that enough food is provided; there is no need to reply if you are only coming for the games and/or the worship. Everyone is welcome: it is a celebration of the life of the whole village!

St James Barbecue reply slip:

Please deliver to the Vicarage by 18th July, or telephone or email

Names: __________________________________________________________

Telephone no.: _______________________________

Any special dietary requirements: _____________________________

____________________________________________________________

Summer Concert

Saturday 2nd July at 19:30 on the Vicarage Lawn (in church if wet)

Tickets available from Bill Flegg (347197)

Featuring this year Nick Gomm (contemporary) and Patchwork (folk)

Gates open 19:00: bring your own picnic and candles - bar available
Dress optional
Event subsidized by Deeping St James Parish Council

N o t i c e s

Holy Baptism will be administered on the first Sunday this month (3rd July) and not the second as usual.

The Explorers, Climbers and Scramblers presentations will be made at the end of the 10:00 Eucharist on 10th July.

Please let the clergy know if you are, or a friend or neighbour is, in hospital. Every effort will be made to visit parishioners in hospital, but omniscience does not come with holy orders! Mark and Sonia are not too busy to visit those who are sick, or worried or afraid, but they do need to know. In addition to clergy visits, the Prayer Group will pray for those it knows to be in need (via the prayer board in church or by telephone), and we are just beginning a scheme of lay visiting, too. Such pastoral support and prayer is at the heart of the local church's care for those in need.

BARNABAS FUND

Finding strength in God

Imagine you are facing the most terrible crisis of your life and do not have your Bible to turn to, nor any of your normal devotional aids. Perhaps your mind is blank and numb with shock and horrifying memories of what you have seen. How you would long to be able to turn the familiar pages and remind yourself of the Lord's promises and encouragements, or to lift your voice in praise the way that Habakkuk did (Habakkuk3:17-18). This is the situation of the Christians who lost everything they owned in the tsunami. Meeting spiritual needs like this is something which only fellow-Christians can do. Barnabas Fund is helping in a variety of ways for example, grants given to provide for 650 Bibles and 650 hymn-books in Tamil, the language spoken by many Christians in Sri Lanka and South India.

Training is also provided in leadership. A grant of £6,170 will provide support for twenty Sri Lankan Bible students from areas affected by the tsunami. Their families will not be able to help them for many months because of the damage and loss they have suffered. This grant will cover their needs for a year, by which time it is hoped their families will be back on their feet again. The buildings of a Bible college in the east of Sri Lanka were destroyed by the tsunami. It is expected to cost approximately £40,000 to rebuild the college. We hope to have more details in the next issue of Barnabas Aid.

Little treats to brighten lives

Most of the victims of the tsunami now have the basics of life: food, water and shelter, even if the shelter is only a tent furnished with a mattress, table and plastic chair. Basic food rations keep body and soul together e.g. the Sri Lankan government gives each person a weekly food allowance worth approximately £2 - enough just for rice and lentils. As time passes, such a diet becomes very monotonous.

At one camp in Sri Lanka, the refugees were thrilled to get a delivery of the kind of items they can no longer afford: tea, coffee, onions, potatoes, chillies, curry powder and other spices, dried fish, salt and soap. These were what they asked for and these were what Barnabas Fund supplied. The cost per family was £2.90 which provided enough extras for 7-10 days.

(This article is information quoted from the Barnabas Fund May-June 2005 magazine with their kind permission and grateful thanks, to help the news of all the wonderful work they carry out in the Lord's name. Please remember them and all those they help in your prayers.)

Deanery Picnic and Evening Worship

Sunday 3rd July at Sempringham Abbey and grounds

Bring-your-own picnic from 5pm: drinks provided
Celtic Worship at 6.30pm with meditation led by the Rural Dean

Sempringham Abbey is an historic building in a beautiful country setting that has to be seen to be believed and this trip to a very different part of our deanery is highly recommended. Sempringham was the home of the only English monastic order, the Gilbertines and was for fifty-four years the prison of the Welsh Princess Gwenllian until she died in 1337.

There was a time when the name of Sempringham was known throughout the land but today it is a difficult place to find. The best route is along the A15 and then fork off on the B1177 north of Bourne, taking the second left turn at Pointon village but from hereon you must keep your eyes peeled and look out for a dilapidated sign alongside a farm track on the left hand side announcing that this is the parish of St Andrew's and that the church is in the vicinity.

News from Explorers, Climbers and Scramblers

God created a wonderful world of great variety for us to enjoy living in. We have been thinking about how different the jungle is from the scenery where we live and praising God for it. The theme for the Rose and Sweet Pea Show Children's Activities this year was 'The Jungle' and we were very busy preparing collages for the competition. We also helped to decorate the Church for the Rose and Sweet Pea Show by illustrating our new song 'Who's the King of the Jungle?' with a wall display in the Children's corner.

Explorers (7 - 11), Climbers (5 - 7) and Scramblers (under 5) meet every Sunday morning (except during the Summer holiday period) at 9.50am in the Church Hall. They join older worshippers in Church for their blessing, final hymn and refreshments. New members are always welcome. Please contact Andrea (Climbers and Scramblers) on 344926 or Alison (Explorers) on 345890 for more details.

News From The Tower

We were informed that the Priory Players had a performance in the church hall on Friday 10 June. Luckily we were able to rearrange our practice in time and we rang at West Deeping instead.

We had pleasure in ringing after the service of "Thanksgiving for Marriage" on Sunday 19 June, then enjoyed the hospitality of tea and wedding cake at the church hall.

The bells will be rung on 10 July to commemorate the end of World War II. This is an event being promoted by the Central Council of Church Bell Ringers.

LANGTOFT SOCIAL CLUB

is running a coach outing on Sunday 7th August

to the Shuttleworth Vintage Aircraft Collection at Old Warden Airfield in Bedfordshire to see the MILITARY PAGEANT AIR DISPLAY in recognition of the 60th Anniversary of VJ Day.

The cost of the trip is £20 to include coach, entrance and even the drivers tip!

Interested? Contact Dave or Margaret Merchant on 346727 for details

WHO'S FASTER?

Jesus and Satan were having an ongoing argument about who was better on the computer. They had been going at it for days, and frankly God was tired of hearing all the bickering. Finally fed up, God said, "THAT'S IT! I have had enough. I am going to give you a test that will run for two hours, and from the results, I will judge who does the better job."

So Satan and Jesus sat down at the keyboards and typed away. They moused, faxed, e-mailed (with attachments), downloaded, did spreadsheets, wrote reports, created labels and cards, created charts and graphs, did some genealogy reports and basically, did every job known to man.

Jesus worked with heavenly efficiency and Satan was faster than hell.

Then, ten minutes before their time was up, lightning suddenly flashed across the sky, thunder rolled, rain poured, and, of course, the power went off.

Satan stared at his blank screen and screamed every curse word known in the underworld. Jesus just sighed.

Finally the electricity came back on, and each of them restarted their computers.

Satan started searching frantically, screaming: It's gone! It's all GONE!!" I lost everything when the power went out!"

Meanwhile, Jesus quietly started printing out all of his files from the past two hours of work. Satan observed this and became irate. Wait!" he screamed. "That's not fair! He cheated! How come he has all his work and I don't have any?"

God just shrugged and said,
"Jesus saves ..."

COOKING WITH MARGARET

SAUSAGE & PASTA SAUTÉ

• 6 Thick pork sausages,
• 4 rashers bacon,
• 1 tbs seasoned flour,
• ¾ pt chicken stock,
• 1 small onion,
• 1 tsp mustard,
• 1 tbs sunflower oil,
• 2 oz mushrooms sliced,
• 8 oz pasta shapes eg. Spirali.
• 1 tbs tomato purée
• 1 oz butter,
• 1 tbs sherry,
• 7 oz can peeled tomatoes, including juice,
• 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce,
• Seasoning.

Cut each sausage into 3 or 4 pieces. Coat them in seasoned flour. Gently fry the onion in the oil and butter, together with the chopped bacon for 2-3 minutes.

Add everything else, cover and cook gently until the pasta is just tender – approx 20 minutes. If too moist, take the lid off and boil to evaporate some liquid.

Serve with crusty bread and mixed salad.

Registers for May 2005

HOLY BAPTISM

We welcome to the Lord's family:

• 8th: Jessica May Wallis 1 Crowfields
• and: Kennedy Lauren Frances Taylor 7 Merryweather Road, Swaffham

• 22nd: Amy May Mills 16 Panton Close

FUNERALS

We commend to God's keeping:

• 16th May: William Joseph Nicholson (90) at Peterborough Crematorium
• 17th May: Elsie Battersby (74)

MARRIAGE

We congratulate:

• 14th: Stephen John Hines and Joanne Elizabeth Allwood
• 21st: Michael Laurence Oliver and Karen Ann Wilkinson
• 28th: Richard Henry Washbrooke and Victoria Anne Lane