A Chaplain called Chapylain

 

We drove across the border into Suffolk this last weekend in search of things historical. Jean took me to the beautifully designed 19th cent “Rectory School” at Moulton, now a private dwelling, and then we went on to Thurston on the trail of Thomas Chapeleyne (spelling varies) who was the owner of a 15th century manuscript I’m working on. (It also has a school connection because it passed from Chapeleyne to Thomas Jolyffe who founded the grammar school in Stratford that Shakespeare must have gone to.)

And there Chapeleyne was on the incumbents’ board. Did he only last a year or did this important wool church have more than one priest? Was the William Chapylain who preceded him a relative (surely)? More digging to do, though my sights are more set on Jolyffe – and a visit to the Birthplace Trust and School archives at Stratford sounds very congenial!

As always we were keeping our eyes open for bishops of old. This one is on the tower, which was rebuilt with the rest of the church (chancel – above – apart) after it fell down on the night of Sunday March 18th 1860, the very night before restoration work was to start. Does that explain his expression?

Filed under: Churches, Schools, Suffolk, Thurston

Duke of Gloucester opens Cambourne Church

Last week saw the official civic opening of our new shared church at Cambourne, in the presence of HRH the Duke of Gloucester, pictured here planting a tree in front of the building.

It’s so good to see this new church growing – not just as a building but a congregation and a ministry too.

Filed under: Cambridgeshire, Churches

Whittlesford

I was invited out to Whittlesford, south of Cambridge, to lead the service last Sunday morning. It’s a rather hidden gem of a church – I just loved the old cruck beams of the porch arch – with a long history. One of the windows commemorates a Whittlesford archer at the battle of Crecy – but the congregation of today were very friendly, and we enjoyed some decent coffee and biscuits after the service in their very nice new extension on the other side of the church.

The minister Ruth Whitehead runs a good blog of her own http://thinkingaboutpreaching.blogspot.com/ where you can see what she was preaching about that day. I was with the Elijah passage too, musing on how he comes to the end of his tether and has to let God sort him out – but not at all in the way he was expecting. You can read 1 Kings 19 for yourself …

Filed under: Cambridgeshire, Church of England, Churches

Easton

 

Easton near Huntingdon has just given its a church a real birthday. They’ve raised pots of money to put in a new stone floor, relocate the font, and use the new space to install a smashing new community room and “facilities”. Since the next largest gathering space in the village would seem to be the telephone box, the new space is already in demand from all sorts of users, and it looks like being a great success. I was there on Sunday with lots of other people (above) to share a strawberry tea and bless the new works – and say very well done indeed to all who made it possible. The last time the

church had a makeover was a hundred years ago (when the south aisle was rebuilt – complete with water spouts shaped as farm animals by the architect Inskip Ladds (right). The new work is a fitting contribution for another century, but now the team have got the wind in their sails I hope they keep on going and come up with some more good schemes as this lovely mini-cathedral of a church comes to life.

 

Filed under: Cambridgeshire, Church of England, Churches, Events

Terrington St Clement

 

I was up at the “Cathedral of the Marshes”, the church at  Terrington St Clements, on Sunday. I enjoyed being in a village setting with lots of local people, a very warm fellowship, and a simple gospel-based service. The vicar, Robert Slipper, gave me James 3.1-12 to preach on – all about the potential evils of the tongue – so I watched mine and hopefully said something helpful about how that small organ can be a powerful force for good too, blessing God, blessing one another and blessing our communities just as God’s Word blesses us.

The church-the-building is pretty impressive too. Simon Knott has a lovely impression of it on his ever-useful Norfolk Churches website, which begins:

Despite my natural arrogance, I still have the capacity to be gobsmacked; this is what happened to me as I stood in the churchyard looking at the west front of Terrington St Clement, the so-called Cathedral of the Marshes. This Dec-becoming-Perp church is simply enormous, 168 feet long and cruciform, with an elegant separate tower sitting immediately beside it. The tower was originally intended for the crossing, but despite massive piers inside the builders lost confidence, and built it beside the west front instead. Perhaps because of this, this huge building is not bulky or clumsy; the clerestory continues into the transepts, to reappear triumphantly in the chancel, and imparts a delicacy to the vastness. Flying buttresses, turrets and spires complete an almost wedding cake effect.

One star feature is a massive font cover (see photo) in which some quite early work was remodelled in perhaps the seventeenth century to give a gutsy baptismal message: the scenes show not just the baptism of Christ but his resisting the temptations of a very fine devil!

Filed under: Church of England, Churches, Diocese of Ely

Cry out for Cumbria

Poor Cumbria! The communities there as resilient as you can get, but how much they seem to be having thrown at them at the moment. Some of the tragedies go with the territory. If you have amazing mountains and lakes, you’ll have terrible floods as well.

The roads that wind their way through the hills are relatively empty but sometimes all the more dangerous for that, and just as the flooded school above is the one our children went to and where I was chair of governors, so we lost friends of our own to the A66, and Patrick Short who died along with the school-children was churchwarden of a nearby parish (see the Church Times report).

But the shootings came out of left field. What can one say? Our friend Bishop James of Carlisle has spoken of ‘Our long search for answers’ and says that ‘Only with faith can we begin to grapple with something as awful and difficult to understand as this.’ Professor David Ford in his big book on Christian Wisdom, which I happen to be reading at the moment, leads on how cries are often where we start, in all their rawness and diversity. We didn’t know any of the people directly affected, but we share their cry.

Here is a prayer for their communities, written by some of their own clergy:

O God, Creator of us all,
in your Son, Jesus you have walked the way of darkness and death,
you send your Spirit of healing and truth to all in need
We pray for those injured or bereaved by inexplicable violence
May your gracious compassion surround and uphold them
We pray for all individuals and communities whose lives have been changed by this tragedy
May your sustaining love be present in all expressions of support offered and help received
We give thanks for the commitment and dedication of the emergency services
And pray that they may be given the strength they need to serve others
We give thanks for the resilience and courage of West Cumbrians
And pray that the bonds of community care and concern may hold fast at this time
Lord, in your mercy
Hear our prayer
And let our cry come unto you
Amen.

You can find the Cumbrian Church leaders’ statement here, but let me leave you with some words from an email from a former parishioner:

Yet another awful incident for our communities.  People here were asked to stay indoors, and everyone felt a bit vulnerable.  Someone working in the special X-ray and ultrasound dept. at West Cumberland Hospital, saw terrible sights and said World War II must have been something like what they experienced yesterday – certainly, to her, it was dreadful.  No one could leave the hospital, and come into it except the casualties, until the gunman was found dead. 

Filed under: Churches, community

Bedale Church Bear Hunt

St Gregory’s Church at Bedale is inhabited by a fine collection of bears, who help bring to life the many people who go to make up its community – brides and bellringers, clergy and choristers (pictured here) and many more.

A good idea for visitors old and young, and one that other churches could easily copy. I suppose each group or person is invited to contribute and dress their own bear, with some seamstress help in the background for non-sewers like me.

Filed under: Churches, community, Teddy Bears

Whittington

Christ Church, Whittington in the Norfolk bit of our Diocese was in celebration mode yesterday. Over recent years the roof has been repaired, a new organ installed, the walls replastered and painted – and now a loo and kitchenette beautifully put in at the back, using the talents of local chaps too. A special Communion Service and exhibition of local life was the frame for me to dedicate the new works, and speak of how they are very practical expression of just what Jesus prayed  (John chapter 17 verse 21)

that they may all be one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me.

• that they be in us – the lofty roof and beautiful organ music lift our hearts to heaven and help us enter into the life of God
• that they be one – the new facilities allow us to interact warmly with each other as a loving family
• that the world may believe – the exhibition of local life reminds us that the church is in business to bless the world

Christchurch was built by the same architect, Richard Phipson, who retored St Peter Mancroft in Norwich, and St Mary le Tower in Ipswich. The dedication stone on the south side records that it was Dedicated to the Glory of God and in memory of the Rev Charles Manners R Norman MA by his devoted widow Caroline Norman AD 1874. Caroline, if I remember rightly, was the foundress of the Norman C of E School at nearby Northwold where I visited recently to dedicated some new works too.

Where do all those stories of a dying church come from??

Technorati Tags: Diocese of Ely,schools,church of England

Filed under: Church of England, Churches, Norfolk, Schools, Diocese of Ely

Busting the Myth

Funding has been announced for faith groups to develop their voice and capacity to challenge and engage Government, along with a prize fund for Innovation in Faith-Based Social Action.

£1m Faith Leadership in Government Fund
National faith based organisations are invited to bid for a share of £1m funding that help them develop a bigger voice and strengthen their capacity to challenge and engage Government. The money is focused on making sure these organisations have the tools they need to do the job and could be used for activities including training in fundraising.

£50,000 Innovation in Faith-Based Social Action Prize
The prize is being developed to help publicise and reward faith based projects which have not yet received the recognition they deserve. Prizes will be awarded to faith projects who are finding new ways to meet local problems, bring people together and meet the needs of local communities.

Further information is available on the CLG website http://www.communities.gov.uk/news/corporate/1507453

Myth busting’ guidance has also been issued for local government on working with faith groups.

New ‘myth busting’ guidance for local government on working with faith groups
At times there has been a reluctance or confusion on the part of some local authorities to commission services from faith based groups and there are concerns amongst many groups and organisations including faith groups that they are disadvantaged when trying to access funding. It is clear that greater clarity is needed if local authorities and faith groups are going to have confidence they need to work together. Faith-based bodies are entitled, like any other suitably qualified bodies, to be awarded funding to deliver public services. A paper dealing with some common myths entitled Ensuring a level playing field: Funding faith based organisations to provide publicly funded services, will be launched at the conference. The paper is intended to deal with current confusion about these arrangements.

You can download the guidance here, or read it below.

ENSURING A LEVEL PLAYING FIELD: FUNDING FAITH-BASED ORGANISATIONS TO PROVIDE PUBLICLY FUNDED SERVICES
Some myths ‘busted’
Faith-based bodies and religious organisations make a significant contribution to the well-being of society. They are eligible, like any other suitably qualified bodies, to be awarded a tender to deliver publicly funded services, or to be given a grant to carry out a project of benefit to the wider community or to their own members or constituency of supporters.
However, a number of myths surround the funding of faith-based bodies to deliver publicly funded services and can obstruct the fair access of such bodies to public funding and tendering opportunities as part of the third sector. Some of these myths, followed by the facts in each case, are set out below.
These notes are a positive attempt to ensure that there is a level playing field. They are addressed primarily to purchasers and funders of services in local government.
Myth 1: "We’re not allowed to give public money to religious organisations."
Fact: There is no law against funding faith-based bodies, nor is there any Government policy discouraging this. Whilst it should be transparent that funds will not primarily be used to promote the specifically religious activities of the funded body, there is a difference between solely religious activity and wider faith based work for the common good. Often faith-based bodies are best placed to deliver services.
Myth 2: "Faith-based bodies don’t have the necessary expertise or ‘clout’ to deliver services."
Fact: On the contrary, faith-based groups often have the experience, ‘reach’, buildings and volunteers that can enable highly effective delivery of services. Many among their number operate on a large scale and have led innovation in housing, social care and the children and family sectors to name but three.
Myth 3: "They will use public money for proselytising or worship.”
Fact: Faith-based service providers will want to be honest and open about their religious convictions and/or practices and for others to recognise that their faith or religion is a prime grounding or motivation for their social action. However, they understand that, public money is not for use for purely religious purposes. Making the provision of services conditional on the unwanted taking part in an act of worship would not be acceptable. Local authorities and other parts of government at the local level may wish to reassure themselves that such conditionality would not apply.
Myth 4: "They wouldn’t want to help people they don’t approve of”
Fact: The equalities legislation is clear: religious organisations providing public services are subject to the requirements of discrimination law in the same way as other organisations, save for the limited exceptions designed to ensure that a person’s right to hold and manifest a religious belief is not interfered with.
Discrimination against faith-based providers in a tendering process could, however, be unlawful.
Myth 5: "Single group funding has negative implications for community cohesion."
Fact: Faith-based organisations and religious organisations can be funded to deliver services to a wide cross section of the community, such as homeless shelters, youth clubs, health and social care, health promotion or pregnancy advice and relationship counselling services.
In particular circumstances they (and other identity-, cause- or issue-focused bodies) may be funded to work primarily with their own community. It is not unlawful for a local authority to contract with an organisation to provide a service to a particular community (e.g. Kosher meals on wheels to Jewish old people), as part of service provision for the local population as a whole. Sometimes this can enhance service access to especially vulnerable groups in society.
Local authority funders may wish to encourage faith-based service providers to co-operate, where appropriate, with other faith traditions or communities with which it may have racial, social or theological differences. They will no doubt also wish to encourage the wider voluntary sector to collaborate with faith based bodies so that skills, access and resources can be pooled.
Myth 6: "Faith based groups only work with their own communities."
Fact: Many faith-based organisations are only too willing to extend the help they offer to others in the wider community. For example, churches which have been embedded in local communities for centuries hold precepts that explicitly encourage them to regard themselves as part of the wider community and naturally extend the help they offer to that community. This is true of many other communities also.
Myth 7: "Funding will imply support for the religious views/doctrine of the organisation."
Fact: This issue is not confined to faith based organisations. Local authorities and other bodies may want to include a disclaimer with any grant emphasising that funding does not imply support for views/doctrine, but in any case this implication is unlikely to be drawn. Local public bodies would fund only those functions which they consider to be of benefit to the community. Funding to organisations to deliver services does not imply endorsement of their overall organisational aims – whether they are religious or not.
Myth 8: "This is too much of a cosy relationship between faith and government."
Fact: Not at all, it is about local government and other parts of the local state, especially where Total Place is active, supporting those who are well placed to deliver the services which it is obliged to ensure are available locally.
Myth 9: "It means that non faith-based service providers in the third sector will be disadvantaged."
Fact: Not true. If other voluntary sector groups can offer the best service, the contract would go to them.
Myth 10: “If you engage with one faith community you will have always to engage with all the others in the same way and all together.”
Fact: Not true. Whilst public authorities must not discriminate against religion and belief organisations in matters of engagement and the letting of contracts, there are great differences in scale, capacity and skills between faith communities in different parts of the country, just as there are across the wider third sector. Faith communities should be engaged with as appropriate to this context. For example, in some regions or sectors a faith community or religious organisation may be able to take on a large service contract while another community in the same area, or the same community or organisation in another region, may not yet be ready to do so.

Filed under: Churches, community, Resources

St Mary’s March burnt down today

 

I was shocked to hear today’s sad news of the devastating fire at March St Mary (situated near Westry on the Wisbech Road north of the main part of the town).

The church website reminds us of the church’s history, and of recent work only just completed to renovate it:

The parish was formed in 1868 and the church was built in 1874 at a cost of £2,500 with seating for 200 people. The building is of stone in the decorated style of the 14th Century, with chancel. nave, south porch, vestry and a western turret with one bell. St. Mary’s is unusual having an apse with a south facing altar.

A rectory was built behind the church. This building was sold off in the 1970′s and later burned down on May 21st. 1978.The parish covers over 7,000 acres and in 1891 the population was over 630 people.

In 1891 a chapel of ease was erected in West Fen. Dedicated to St. Mary Magdalen, this small stone building fell into disuse and was demolished in the 1970s.

The lych gate at St. Mary’s was erected in 1932. One of the stained glass windows in the church is a memorial to the Revd T.T. Peyton. A small brass plaque commemorates a World War I soldier and in the churchyard are two war graves from the second world war.

In August 2009 work was completed to provide easy access by the provision of a gently sloping ramp to the church doors.

Inside, we have made space for wheelchairs and buggies and a welcome for everyone whatever their age or physical ability.

My thoughts are very much with the people of St Mary’s in their loss. I will be with them on Sunday at their 9.15 service in the parish hall, where worship will continue, and ask you all to hold in them in your own prayers as well. Easter will be here soon, and St Mary’s will see a new beginning and have a great future too.

Filed under: Church of England, Churches