Holy week

Our journey towards Easter has included the Lent course, based on the book, Wild Bright Hope. The weekly sessions, led by Suki and Revd Lisa at Woolton Hill Church Hall and Ashmansworth Village Hall respectively, were informative and inspiring. Those of us who attended the Woolton Hill meetings had the added advantage of walking to St Thomas's Church afterwards and joining friends at the Community Cafe!

On Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday of Holy Week Revd Lisa has led Taize services at Highclere church. As this link suggests, Taize services are a form of meditative prayer which include simple, repeated chants. Each service included a Bible reading and then an extract from Archbishop of York Stephen Cottrell's book, The Nail - describing Jesus' crucifixion from the perspective of a Roman centurion, Pontius Pilate and then Judas Iscariot. Thanks to the hard work of the Highclere team the chancel was decorated with numerous candles, creating the perfect environment for the services.

Yesterday, Maundy Thursday, I was privileged to attend the annual Chrism Mass service at Winchester Cathedral which also included an opportunity to say goodbye to, and thank, Bishop David Williams as he leaves the Diocese after 24 years to become Bishop of Truro. There are some photos here.

As you will be aware, St Martin's and all the other churches in our Benefice owe him an enormous debt of gratitude. The list of his achievements for us (including enabling us to appoint Revd Lisa!) is almost endless but you will find details in previous entries on this blog, specifically :

• The future

• Canon Christine’’s farewell service

• 200th anniversary

• Thank you, Bishop David

We all wish him, and his wife Helen, every success and happiness in Cornwall.

Approaching the joy of Easter

Now that the clocks have gone forward, the days are getting longer and warmer, Christmas seems a while ago as we approach Palm Sunday, Holy Week, Good Friday and Easter. 

Nevertheless we should not forget our celebrations of Jesus’s birth, led by Revd Lisa, specifically the Midnight Mass service on Christmas Eve and the Carol Service, attended by just under 200, nine days earlier.  Huge thanks to our wonderful flower team whose spectacular decorations made the services even more special. You can see photos on the 14 December post on the Facebook page.  A big thank you also to Hugh Cobbe, our organist, without whom the services would simply not be possible!

We are especially grateful to the St Martin’s School choir, other pupils and parents, who came to the Carol service and made such a vital and effective contribution.  

I was privileged to attend the school’s Easter service last week, also led by Revd Lisa, and comprising a series of songs and readings, which was equally impressive and moving.

We have a full programme of services throughout the benefice over the next two weeks leading up to Easter.  Full details are on the Easter leaflet, viewable via the yellow services button below .  So please join us!

November 2024

One of the highlights of our year is the opportunity to pay tribute to those who lost their lives in the defence of our freedom.  The annual Remembrance Service at the East End war memorial duly took place on 10th November, led by Revd Lisa and attended by 70-80 people.  The service followed the usual pattern, including reading the names of those East Woodhay servicemen who lost their lives in the two world wars and the laying of wreaths by the Parish Council, St Martin’s School and St Martin’s Church.  Attendance at the service seems to grow each year and I am sorry that we ran out of service sheets!  Special thanks to the Chipchase and Clifton families who once again provided refreshments after the service.

Later in the week I had the privilege of attending the St Martin’s School annual St Martin’s Day service at the church.  Led by Revd Lisa and the school staff the service included songs and a re-enactment of St Martin’s life and was a moving and well organised tribute to the man after whom our church is named.

At the end of the month a group of volunteers met to complete the winter tidying of the church, inside and outside, in preparation for our December services.  Many thanks to Toby Ward, who once again organised the morning, and also to those who worked so hard.

Our Christmas services follow the usual pattern.  The Carol Service, run in conjunction with St Martin’s School, takes place on Sunday 15th December at 11am.  This is followed by Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve at 1130pm.  We look forward to seeing you!

August 2024

Our Rector, Revd Lisa Rodrigues, was formally instituted by the Bishop of Winchester and inducted by Archdeacon Richard Brand at a special service at St Thomas’s Church, Woolton Hill on 29th July.  This was a really wonderful occasion, followed by refreshments at the Church Hall.  Thank you to the St Thomas’s team who organised the evening and everyone else who was involved in the event.

Last Sunday (25th August) was the final stage of our August pilgrimage during the summer holiday period.  After 1000 Benefice Communion services on successive Sundays at St Martin’s, St Thomas’s, St Michael and All Angels’ Highclere we met at St James’ Ashmansworth  -  having been to St Michael and All Angels’ Crux Easton on the last Sunday in July.  Thank you to all those who have attended, the respective hosts who have organised and served coffee etc after each service and to Revd Lisa for leading us. 

Lisa shared with us the wonderful news that Suki Coe is about to start her formal training for ordination.  Suki became a Licensed Lay Minister in 2022 and has been a really indispensable member of the Ministry team ever since, particularly during the interregnum period between Canon Christine’s retirement and Revd Lisa’s appointment.  Thank you, Suki!

The programme of services now reverts to the standard pattern, with a service at St Martin’s each Sunday. There is much to look forward to!

St Martin's School Leavers' Service

Last week I was privileged to attend the St Martin’s School leavers’ service. 

Led by Suki and attended by parents, the service included a short address by each member of the Year 6 group which was then followed by an individual tribute from the Headteacher, Mrs Katy Bartlett . 

Each tribute was detailed and personal and I am sure would have meant a lot to the pupils, and their respective parents, as they prepare to move on to secondary school, where we wish them every success.

The involvement of the School is an important feature of our life at St Martin’s, particularly at the Carol Service and Mothering Sunday.  We all look forward to next academic year but in the meantime we wish the children, parents and staff an enjoyable and well-deserved summer holiday period!

Bill Webb

On Friday we had an opportunity to pay tribute to Bill Webb, when his funeral was held in St Martin’s - a mixture of sadness at his passing but also appreciation for all that he contributed to our community. This was evident both from the excellent and engaging eulogy delivered by Carrie Marsh, Managing Director of Marsh Fuels where Bill worked for so many years, and also from the address by Canon Christine who returned from retirement specially to lead the service.

At St Martin’s he will be remembered particularly as an accomplished bell-ringer for some seventy years, helping look after the churchyard and keeping the church clock running. But he was multitalented, as a professional horticulturist and long-standing member of the East Woodhay Silver Band. It was especially appropriate that the Band provided the music for the service.

He is greatly missed but, both for his own contribution and as a member of the distinguished Webb family, will be long remembered.

Easter 2024

Thank you to everyone who attended our Easter Sunday service and also the preceding Holy Week services. Special thanks to Revd Chris for leading our Good Friday service and then the celebratory communion on Sunday, and to Suki who led the two Compline services earlier in the week.

Suki also led the St Martin’s School Easter service which I was lucky enough to attend. This was a wonderful combination of songs, prayers and readings, telling the story of Jesus’ entry to Jerusalem, the Last Supper, Jesus’ arrest, crucifixion and His glorious resurrection. At various points in the service the children placed items on and around the wooden cross at the front of the chancel.

The entire service was very well delivered. The standard of singing, particularly by the choir, was especially impressive. Thank you and well done!

Many of you will be aware that Revd Chris and his wife Suzie are leaving the Benefice at the end of May. This was announced by the Churchwardens last week by email, which also provides assurance about the arrangements during the remainder of the interregnum.

Thank you to Chris and Suzie for all they have done for us during the past year. We shall miss them both but wish them every success and happiness.

Mothering Sunday

Thank you to everyone who attended Sunday’s service, particularly the children from St Martin’s School and their families who made the occasion so special.

Thank you to Suki for leading the service; and special thanks to the children who produced and then distributed the posies, ably led by a our flower team.

Christmas 2023

Thank you to everyone who helped us celebrate Christmas: those who attended the Carol Service on 17 December, particularly the St Martin's School pupils, choir, teachers, parents and carers, and the large congregation who came to the Midnight Mass service on Christmas Eve. Special thanks to all those who prepared the church for the services: our wonderful flower team, those lit all the candles on Christmas Eve, our choir and of course Revd Chris who led both services. Unfortunately Hugh, our organist, went down with Covid on 23rd but we were very lucky that Peter Stanley was able to substitute at very short notice and we were all extremely grateful.

We are all delighted that Hugh has now recovered and was back on the organ stool for today's Benefice Communion service.

Thank you also for our fantastic team of bell-ringers who do such a great job in announcing our services and encouraging everyone to come!

Revd Chris is taking a well deserved holiday next Sunday (7 Jan) and we are grateful to Revd Canon Michael Kenning who is taking our Parish Communion service. Amongst other distinguished achievements Canon Michael is vice-chairman of the Jane Austen Society and author of ‘A closer walk with God: Christian insights from the novels of Jane Austen; a series of sermons given at St Nicholas Steventon 1994 - 1998’.

Canon Christine's farewell service

Thank you to everyone who attended the special Evensong service at St Martin’s on 30th November to say farewell to our wonderful Rector, Revd Canon Christine Dale, who has retired after twenty one fantastic years, and to wish her and Simon every happiness in the future.   

Although the service was in St Martin’s (where Christine’s induction service took place in November 2002 and where she and Simon were married the following year) organisation was very much a joint effort by the five churches in the Benefice.  The team of sidesmen worked hard to find space for the 260 people who attended.  Apologies to a few who had to stand at the back of the church, probably caused by the chairs being used to extend the space in the chancel to accommodate the choir, augmented by singers from Woolton Hill, Highclere and Ashmansworth!

It was particularly special that the Bishop of Basingstoke, the Right Reverend David Williams, who preached the sermon, and the Reverend David Roche, Area Dean, were able to join us.  Special thanks to them and also the many others who worked hard to make the service such a success, in particular Ann Harris, virger, Georgie Robertson who conducted the choir and Hugh Cobbe, organist.

Thank you also to the very many who contributed so generously to the collection which enabled Andrew Colville, on behalf of the churches, to present a cheque and other gifts to Christine immediately after the service.  This was followed by tributes from Katy Bartlett, Headteacher of St Martin’s School, Bishop David, Revd David, Simon and a response from Christine.  

We then enjoyed refreshments, including champagne (very generously given by an anonymous donor) and canapes prepared by numerous volunteers under the direction of Sarah Ede, whose organisational skills had been recognised earlier by Simon who invested her with a ‘drinks monitor’ badge!

The evening was a very fitting tribute to all that Christine has achieved during her twenty one years as Rector, not just during all the regular Sunday services that she has taken but through her work with the countless families she has touched:   in the schools, preparing and performing baptisms, weddings, funerals and other pastoral work.  We all owe her an enormous debt of gratitude.

We now enter a period of ‘interregnum’ during which the churchwardens will work with the Diocese to identify and recruit a new Rector.  During this period we are truly fortunate to be able to rely on our Associate Priest, Very Revd Professor Chris Hancock, and Licensed Lay Minister, Suki Coe, so that together we can continue services in our five churches and our mission of making Christ known in our communities.

…. and here is Christine’s letter, which although formally addressed to churchwardens is meant for everyone who was involved in the service and/or contributed to the presents

Remembrance Service

Thank you to everyone who attended our service of remembrance at the East End war memorial on Sunday;  and thank you to Canon Christine for leading us. 

The weather was grey and drizzly but, as Christine reminded me before the service, those whose lives we were commemorating had to put up with much worse and for much longer.  Sadly Tim Cross was not able to play the Last Post and Reveille for us this year and we missed him.  But thanks to St Martin’s School we were able to use a loudspeaker to broadcast recordings and also provide accompaniment for the hymn and National Anthem.  Special thanks to the Chipchase family for once again providing refreshment after the service (as well as electricity and WiFi for the music!)

Incidentally, full details of those from East Woodhay who lost their lives during the two world wars are published here, as well as in the church.

The previous Monday many of us met at St Martin’s Church for the funeral of Kate Mackinnon.  The service was very much one of sadness but also thanksgiving for Kate’s fulfilling and selfless life.  A member of the wonderful Webb family Kate was a churchwarden from 2004-2010.  She is greatly missed but very warmly remembered.

'One PCC' progress

As you may recall, a meeting took place at St Martin’s School on 19 November last year to hear the proposals from a working group led by Horace Mitchell to combine the PCCs of the churches in our Benefice into a single PCC.  The details are here. 

Your PCC met shortly afterwards, on 30 November, and agreed that we should proceed with the group’s recommendations, in accordance with the statement below: 

The Parochial Church Council (PCC) of St Martin’s Church, East Woodhay, has agreed to go forward with other churches in North West Hampshire to form One PCC which will support St Martin’s and three other churches (St Thomas’ Woolton Hill, St James’ Ashmansworth, St Michael and All Angels’ Crux Easton), working alongside St Michael & All Angels’ Church, Highclere, in our North West Hampshire Benefice.

We believe this change can help us streamline our administration and management and release energy to engage with our local communities in our common aim of making Christ known in this beautiful and much loved area.

The proposal was also discussed at our Annual Parish Church Meeting on 17 April and referenced, by Canon Christine, in the 2022 Annual Report.

The Diocese of Winchester has now issued the ‘Draft Pastoral Scheme’, as explained in this link, which will enable the amalgamation to go ahead.  The draft includes details of how you can comment formally to the Church Commissioners.  But if you have any questions the Churchwardens and/or PCC members will be pleased to answer them.  

At the end of the consultation period, it is planned that the Pastoral Scheme (the draft is here) will be signed and we can proceed with the formation of the amalgamated PCC . 

Thank you, Toby!

Some of you may remember Toby Wright playing the organ for us at our Parish Communion service on 2nd July when Hugh was away.

Hugh and I attended a truly wonderful recital by Toby yesterday in Douai Abbey. The programme, together with Toby’s details, is here. He has a YouTube site, as well as other social media channels, where you can hear his very accomplished playing.

Not only are we so fortunate to be able to rely on Hugh, our organist for 35 years, but we are also very lucky that there are several other local organists, including Toby, who have been willing to provide us with excellent music when Hugh is unavailable.

Liz Castle

The church was completely full for Liz Castle’s funeral and thanksgiving service on 20th February, with some people having to stand at the back.  This was a fitting tribute to a wonderful person who did so much for the community of East Woodhay and the wider world. 

As her son, Richard, said in his personal tribute Liz had a natural gift for friendship as so many of us who have moved to East Woodhay experienced.  The list of her work in our community is almost endless and includes editor and distributor of Spectrum, leading roles in the NSPCC, Mothers’ Union and St Martin’s Guild Fete. 

She was also an accomplished artist in the widest sense  -  painting, flower arranging and running the kneeler group whose tapestry is so evident in the church pews. It seemed so appropriate that when we met to remember her the churchyard was adorned with a beautiful array of snowdrops.

She is greatly missed by us all but will never be forgotten.

Thank you message from Winchester Diocese

Just received from the Diocesan Secretary & Chief Operating Officer, Colin Harbidge:

To the PCC and Congregation of the Parish of East Woodhay,

I am writing to thank you for your generosity over the last year and for your payment of the Common Mission Fund request in full. It is truly and greatly appreciated by the Bishops Council and the wider Diocesan community.

This year has been another challenging one, certainly when it comes to both personal and parish finances. The Common Mission Fund continues to be hugely integral to the aims of seeing Jesus represented in every community across our region. Your ongoing commitment to this is truly humbling, and we cannot say thank you enough.

In 2022 your gift to the Common Mission Fund contributed to the costs of our stipendiary clergy and curates, the development of lay ministry, as well those that enrolled in The Bishops’ Commission for Mission programme. We were also able to continue our significant ministry across 100+ Church of England schools.

I would encourage you to share this thank you video with your congregation.

As a diocese, we aim to have a Christian presence in every community. Thank you for your commitment to this ministry, which is only realised through the generosity shown by our faithful parishes and individuals.

With all best wishes,

Colin

Thank you, Bishop David!

We were delighted to welcome the Bishop of Basingstoke, the Rt Rev David Williams, last Sunday who kindly agreed to lead our Evensong service whilst Christine was taking some well-deserved time off.

Bishop David also took the services elsewhere in the Benefice: 8am at Ashmansworth and 11am at Highclere. So we are all truly grateful. The Bishop has also been instrumental in the appointment of Rev Dr Chris Hancock as Associate Priest who we hope will join us in March. We have much to thank him for!

We have recently invested in a new wireless microphone system which has greatly improved the sound quality, particularly the ‘loop’ system which transmits the sound direct to those with hearing aids. The lectern microphone, amplifier and speakers are unchanged and their long life is a tribute to the work and expertise of Charles Vaslet (who died a few years ago but whose sister Vera still lives in the parish) and Tim Foster (a former headteacher of St Martin’s School) who installed the original system.