July 2005
PARISH
PUMP
50p
THE MAGAZINE FOR OUR
ELEVEN PARISHES UNITING
THE THIRTEEN VILLAGES OF:
Alvescot
Black Bourton
BradwellVillage
Broadwell
Broughton Poggs
Filkins
Holwell
Kelmscott
Kencot
Langford
Little Faringdon
Shilton
Westwell
Published for the ShillValley and Broadshire Benefice
JULY 2005 ISSUE 22
PARISH PUMP is published every month except January, and should be
distributed to every household in the ShillValley and Broadshire benefice. If
you do not receive a copy, please contact Jane Brylewski.
Advertising does not cover all our costs, and we welcome donations
(suggesting at least £5/year) which you can send through your Parish Pump
Correspondent (see inside back cover), the person who delivers your Parish
Pump, or directly to Ellie Maughan.If you have not already done so, please
send your £5 to cover 2005’s issues.
We welcome articles, letters, diary items, or just good ideas for future articles
(and criticism, whether good or bad! Ed). Please submit through your local
Parish Pump Correspondent, or directly to Richard Martin. Photographs are
also welcome. We prefer all copy to be sent electronically by email to
, although good old paper is fine too!
All copy for inclusion should reach the editorial office by the 10th of the
month preceding publication.
Advertising enquiries are welcomed, and should be directed to Lin Edgar.
We are indebted to all the Parish Correspondents, and all those in all the
parishes who make possible the publication and distribution of Parish Pump
every month.
EDITOR
Richard Martin
Cotswold Woollen Weavers, Filkins, Nr Lechlade, Glos GL7 3JJ
Tel: 01367 860491 Email:
TREASURER
Ellie Maughan
Home Farm, Kelmscott, Lechlade, Glos GL7 3HD
Tel: 01367 252220 Email:
ADVERTISING
Lin Edgar
The CotswoldWildlifePark, Bradwell Grove, Burford, Oxon OX18 4JW
Work Tel (Tuesdays - Fridays, 10.00am - 5.00pm): 01993 823006
Home Tel: 01993 845544 Email:
DISTRIBUTION
Jane Brylewski
The Willows, Signet, Burford, Oxon OX18 4JQ
Tel: 01993 822479 Email:
Any views expressed in Parish Pump are not necessarily those of the benefice clergy, nor
of the editorial team.
EDITORIAL
Last month we launched an idea (by the by, suggested by an illustrious
Broadwellite, not Kencotian as published. Sorry!) inviting readers to write
about their own village, and another in the Benefice. This is what we said:
‘We all like to think we know how others see us, or in this case see our villages. But
do we? What do others really think about our village? Parish Pump invites all Shill &
Broadshire villagers to write two separate pieces: one about your own village, and the
second piece about one other village in the benefice. The two pieces should be a
maximum of c. 200 words each, dwelling fairly on the good and the bad aspects, what
you like and what you do not like about your own and the other village.
Obviously you know which village you live in, so you know what the first piece will
be about. You can choose for the second piece any of the other twelve villages in the
benefice. You can find a complete list on the front cover of this issue of Parish Pump.
Please post, drop in, or email your pieces to me at Parish Pump, the contact details
are on page two of this issue. We will publish (anonymously, if you like) a selection
of the pieces. and a very entertaining (and instructive?) time should be had by all.’
Well, some of you have submitted some very entertaining pieces about your
own and other villages (thank you), and next month we will publish some of
them. But there is still plenty of time for you all to pick up your pens (or flex
your key-board fingers), and keep your contributions rolling in…
The pithiest contribution has come from an Alvescot poet, who simply said:
According to the cover of the magazine, ‘The Pump’
Alvescot is the head, and Westwell is the rump.
Full marks for brevity! Poetry, of course, is entirely optional, but it reminds
me of Edward Thomas’ Adlestrop:
Yes. I remember Adlestrop—
The name, because one afternoon
Of heat the express-train drew up there
Unwontedly. It was late June.
The steam hissed. Someone cleared his
throat,
No one left and no one came
On the bare platform. What I saw
Was Adlestrop—only the name
And willows, willowherb, and grass,
And meadowsweet, and haycocks dry,
No whit less still and lonely fair
Than the high cloudlets in the sky.
And for that minute a blackbird sang
Close by, and round him, mistier,
Farther and farther, all the birds
Of Oxfordshire and Gloucestershire.
This is evocative and beautiful, but it is the archetypical fleeting, outsider’s
view of a village, and the exact opposite of the informed pieces Parish Pump
readers will write about the villages we know so well.
Richard Martin
SELECTED CONTENTS
3 Parish & Benefice Services 4 The Rector’s Letter
9 What’s Miss Cuba to us? 11 Round the villages
25 Westminster View: Education, Education! 35 What (or who) is in a name
PARISH & BENEFICE SERVICES
3rd July – Trinity VI
10.30am Holwell Benefice Eucharist Service HM & RM
Followed by a party in honour of Roland Meredith
6.00pm Alvescot Evensong EJ
6.00pm Shilton Youth Service HM
10th July – Trinity VII
9.00am Alvescot Holy Communion HM
9.00am Westwell/Holwell Combined Holy Communion NUW
10.30am Filkins British Legion Remembrance Service HM
The new Standard will be dedicated during this service
10.30am Shilton Family Communion NUW
6.00pm B Bourton Evensong NUW
6.00pm Kencot Evensong HM
17th July – Trinity VIII
9.00am B Bourton/Alvescot Combined Holy Communion EJ
9.00am Holwell Holy Communion HM
10.30am Kencot/Broadwell Combined Parish Communion HM
10.30am Kelmscott Family Communion EJ
10.30am Langford Family Service FSG.
6.00pm B Poggs Evensong EJ
6.00pm Westwell Evensong HM
24th July – Trinity IX
9.00am Broadwell/Kencot Combined Holy Communion NUW
9.00am Shilton Holy Communion HM
10.30am Alvescot/B Bourton Combined Morning Prayer EJ
10.30am Filkins Family Communion HM
11.00am L.Faringdon Parish Communion NUW
6.00pm Holwell/Westwell Combined Evensong EJ
6.00pm Langford Evensong TF
31st July – Trinity X
9.00am Langford Holy Communion HM
10.30am Kencot Parish Communion EJ
10.30am Shilton Parish Communion NUW
6.00pm Alvescot Evensong HM
7th August – Trinity XI
10.30am Kelmscott Benefice Eucharist Service HM & EJ
6.00pm Shilton Evensong HM
There is also a Communion Service at Black Bourton every Wednesday at 10.00am
SERVICE CELEBRANTS
EJ Liz Johnson FSG Family Service Group
HM Harry MacInnes NUW Neville Usher-Wilson
RM Roland Meredith TF Tom Farrell
BENEFICE SERVICES
The dates of Benefice Services for the rest of 2005 are:
3rd July Holwell at 10.30am
7th August Kelmscott at 10.30am
4th September Black Bourton at 10.30am
6th November Little Faringdon at 10.30am
4th December Langford at 10.30am.
THE LECTIONARY
3rd July – Trinity VI ®
Habakkuk 2. 1-4 Psalm 31. 1-6
Ephesians 2.19-22 John 20. 24-29
10th July – Trinity VII (G)
Genesis 25. 19-34 Psalm 119. 105-112
Romans 8.1-11 Matthew 13. 1-9, 18-23
17th July – Trinity VIII (G)
Genesis 28. 10-19a Psalm 139 1-12
Romans 8.12-25 Matthew 13. 24-30, 36-43
22nd July – Mary Magdalene (W)
Song of Solomon 3. 1-4 Psalm 42 1-7
2 Corinthians 5. 14-17 John20.1-2, 11-18
24th July – Trinity IX (G)
Genesis 29. 15-28 Psalm 105. 1-11
Romans 8.26-39 Matthew 13. 31-33, 44-52
31st July – Trinity X (G)
Genesis 32. 22-31 Psalm 17. 1-7
Romans 9.1-5 Matthew 14. 13-21
7th August – Trinity XI (G)
Genesis 37. 1-4, 12-28 Psalm 105. 1-6, 16-22
Romans 10.5-1‘5 Matthew 14. 22-33
THE RECTOR’S LETTER
Dear Friends
The Westminster Catechism states that ‘man’s chief end is to glorify God
and to enjoy him forever.’ For the Christian this means that all that we
do with our lives, our work, our leisure and so on, all find their
fulfilment as human acts that open us up to the presence of God. This is all
brought together when we gather with the specific aim to worship God.
Since joining you as your new Rector last October, I began a review of the
pattern of services that take place within each of the twelve churches that
make up this Benefice. After working with Neville and Liz, and seeking to
listen and understand the needs and preferences of each of the churches in
the Benefice we are beginning a new pattern of services this month.
There are various principles behind changing the pattern of services through
the Benefice which are as follows:
1 To enable an hour and half between services to avoid rushing between one
church and another and giving time to meet with people after the service as
well as allowing the person taking a service to prepare themselves properly for
the next one.
2 To create a simple pattern, that will make it easier for people to know the
service times across the benefice.
3 To look at the spread of services across the Benefice so that each Sunday
there will be services that are accessible to families, services using Common
Worship, as well as 1662 Prayer Book services. This will give us all a variety of
provision.
4 To create a system where we know when a church is having their service
and can plan baptisms and other events within this structure.
5 To review the number of services being offered each Sunday. Neville
remembers that since he has been serving in this Benefice the number of
clergy and laity serving in the Benefice has halved.
The plan is for this new pattern of services (at 9.00am and 10.30 or 11.00am)
to be put in place for twelve months, with a review at the end of that period.
Having listened to the views expressed by the different parishes, it seems that
this pattern would accommodate the majority.
There are many important elements in the life of a Christian congregation,
but the greatest priority is for worship. It is the key to everything else in our
lives, and it requires time. It is a great shame when it gets rushed or hurried,
or when the pressures are such that there simply is not enough space to open
ourselves to the presence of the living God. Liz, Neville and I all very much
hope that these small changes will contribute towards a richer experience of
His love and grace.
Harry MacInnes
CHRISTIAN FELLOWSHIP
ur monthly meeting is on Wednesday 6th July in the Methodist Chapel
Schoolroom, Filkins. Our speaker will be Mrs Jean Smith, who will tell
us about her recent visit to the Holy Land.
Everyone in the Benefice is most welcome to join us.
MAB
THE BISHOP OF DORCHESTER’S VISIT
unday 5th June was an occasion for celebration in the benefice, as
Bishop Colin came to lead a Service of Confirmation in St. Matthew’s
Church, Langford. The Confirmation Service gives an opportunity for
those who were baptised as babies or young children to affirm their faith for
themselves and to become full members of the church.
It was a joy to see three adults and seven young
people from the benefice ready and willing to take
this step forward in faith and commitment, with the
support of a large congregation. Bishop Colin put
everyone at ease with his warm welcome, and spoke of
the way Jesus reached out to people of all sorts
because of his great love for them, even when his
actions provoked disapproval. His challenge to the
candidates, and to us all, is to reach out with love and
compassion to those around us.
But the focus was not just on our commitment to God; it was also on God’s
commitment to us. The central point of the Confirmation came as Bishop
Colin laid his hand on each of the candidates in turn, addressing them by
name with the words, ‘God has called you by name and made you his own.
Confirm, O Lord, your servant with your Holy Spirit’. The service continued
with a celebration of Holy Communion, with the newly-confirmed being the
first to receive the bread and the wine as a token of God’s love.
Those confirmed were: Christine and Mark Reynolds; Louise Finlay-Wilson;
Jackie, Isla, Rory and Lizzie Maundell-Perkins; Catherine and Annabelle
Rowntree and Dominic Hagues from this benefice, and Chloe Musson from
Witney.
Liz Johnson
The Bishop adds:
It was lovely to be out at Langford on Sunday night and to see so much that
was good going on in the Benefice.
Yours Ever
- Colin
A PARTY FOR ROLAND MEREDITH
As many of you now know Canon Roland Meredith is leaving us to
move to Eynsham. On Sunday 3rd July we will be formally saying
thank you to Roland for his service to the Benefice since he retired in
presiding at services across our churches, and of course also in his previous
role as Area Dean. I have invited Roland to preach at the service at St Mary’s,
Holwell which he has very kindly accepted. We are planning to provide
refreshments after the service and I do hope that as many of you as possible
will be able to come to this service to show our appreciation and thanks for
all that Roland has given to us over the years.
Harry MacInnes
ROLAND MEREDITH: AN APPRECIATION
oland has been a familiar figure in this benefice since 1995, when he
retired as Team Rector of Witney, where he had overseen the
development and expansion of that ministry after his appointment
there in 1979. He had developed connections too with this benefice especially
after 1989, when he became Rural Dean and he was an important mover in
the initial unification of the Shill and Broadshire Benefices.
After retiring from Witney and moving to Bampton, he started coming to our
staff meetings and has been enormously helpful, especially in the last five
years or so, when there have been a number of interregnums and, at the same
time, various people, who were involved in taking services, progressively
retired or moved away. When I first joined the team as a deacon in 1996, we
used to number some nine people at our meetings, who could and did take
services, compared this month (June) with three!
With his wealth of experience Roland was always a valuable member of the
team with an encyclopedic knowledge of canon law, especially in the running
of churches and church meetings, parishes, church fabric and graveyard
regulations, enabling us to avoid all kinds of possible pitfalls, and, despite his
numerous other commitments to Freelands Convent, other churches in the
deanery and elsewhere, including abroad, where his son worked in British
embassies, and also his duties at the Cathedral and in mental hospitals in
Oxford, he was usually able to fill the gaps in our service rotas. He is also an
‘ideas’ man and developed a number of initiatives.
Always good humoured, though able to make unpopular remonstrance where
needed, such as on an occasion, when confetti was being scattered in the
churchyard, he was ready with a cheery greeting and a smile.
In his services and sermons, though inevitably I was rarely able to be present,
it was said he was scholarly and the master of brevity; no long, turgid and
boring expositions!
He and Susan have now moved to Eynsham, where he can have easy access to
Oxford and the Cathedral. We shall miss him and, I’m sure, all of you, with
me, wish him well, though, I’m sure too, on visits to Christchurch, we may see
him from time to time, and, perhaps also back here. Thank you Roland, for
everything!
Neville Usher-Wilson
CHILDREN’S CHURCH
n September we are planning to pioneer a children’s church, which would
run concurrently with the main service. Do contact Debs Price on 01993
847039 if you think that you might like to contribute to this ministry.
BENEFICE CHOIR
With Harry’s great support and encouragement, I am trying to keep up the
good work started by Wanda Adams.
The Benefice Choir offers a stress-free opportunity to all the singers in the
area, and we do need more of you!
The first public performance is not until a service in November, so we have
time to get together and prepare ourselves and our music. Do contact me if
you are interested in joining the choir.
Amanda Butler (Email: )
60TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE END OF WWII
Members of the British Legion and friends are
reminded that a special Benefice service has been
arranged to mark the 60th Anniversary of the end of the
Second World War. It will take place at 10.30am on
Sunday 10th July at St Peter’s, Filkins. The service will
also include the dedication of the new Filkins District
Branch standard and the laying-up of the old one.
Please encourage as many as possible, whether Legion
members or not, to attend this unique service which will
coincide with the National Commemoration Day.
Medals should be worn.
Jeremy Taylor
THE BIBLE SURVIVES
Last month a Leicestershire Hospitals Trust decided to ban bed-side bibles
on the grounds their presence could offend non-Christians, and aid the
spread of the MRSA superbug. No one could be found to defend the latter
argument, and so great was the outcry (including from many non-Christians)
about the former, that the Trust backed down. ‘I can confirm that Gideons
Bibles will remain in patient bedside lockers’ said Philip Hammersley, the
trust chairman.
How good it is to know that sometimes sense and principle will prevail, even
amongst the po-faced PC brigade which sees ‘ishoos’ everywhere.
WHAT’S MISS CUBA TO US?
In the first of a series, we are invited to take a look around the world with a local
Catholic contributor.This month Cuba.
Maybe she wasn’t Miss Cuba, but if her home country had allowed
such a dubious accolade in her lifetime, she could have been. It’s
what we called her, after she’d left our hire-car to complete her
journey from the outskirts of Havana to the distant town of Santa Clara,
where her mother lived. Like most Cubans, she relied on hitch-hiking to get
around: yes, there were buses and trains, but they were expensive.
How had she stayed so immaculate, and so composed, after three hours
waiting in vain by the roadside on a typically hot and humid day? Didn’t she
worry at all, stepping into and out of trucks, cars and vans, trusting to
strangers in a way that now seems inconceivable in our own, so much more
‘developed’ nation? Most mysterious of all, how had her belief in God, stated