Rev Barry Hanson

I started last month’s newsletter with a synopsis of St David and St Patrick whose feast days were in March, so it would be remiss of me this month not to mention our very own patron saint, George, whose feast day is April 23rd. He is best known for his legendary battle against the dragon, symbolising the triumph of good over evil. His story became popular in medieval Europe, particularly during the crusades when he and his soldiers wore his emblem of a red cross on a white cloth across their chests so that they could be recognised as Christians. This emblem became our national flag and George was officially declared our patron saint in 1348 by King Edward 111.

Hopefully you will read this in time to come to our Palm Sunday service in church at 6 p.m on Sunday 29th March. This day starts Holy Week which represents the last 8 days of Jesus’ life with Palm Sunday marking his arrival into Jerusalem.  Spy Wednesday is so called because it is the day Judas agreed to betray Jesus and Maundy Thursday commemorates the Last Supper and the washing of the disciples feet. Good Friday is a mournful day remembering Jesus’ passion, crucifixion and burial and Holy Saturday is the final day of waiting, commemorating Jesus resting in the tomb.  Finally, what we have all been leading up to – Easter Day and the celebration of the Resurrection marking the end of Holy week.  During Holy Week there will be compline every evening at 6 p.m. from Monday to Thursday (a quiet 15 minute contemplation with prayers at the eve of the day) and on Good Friday the story of St Matthews Passion in words and music, led by Jeremy Lane at 2 p.m. Do please join us – this is a most uplifting and moving experience and not to be missed.

At the end of April, on the 26th, we will be holding an evensong service as usual at 6 p.m. followed by St Mary’s APCM, so all those on the electoral roll and wider church community are invited to attend and hear about the work of the church since last April.

Patron Saints are chosen as special protectors for a country and this month we start with David, Patron Saint of Wales on the 1st March, which was the day of his death in 589. Many miracles surround David, the most notable being when the ground on which he was standing talking to the people, rose up into a hill so that everyone could see him. The story has it that he only ate leeks and drank water! Although this is not a national holiday in Wales, the day is widely celebrated with the wearing of traditional costume adorned with leeks and daffodils. Move along to the 17th March and we say hello to Patrick, the Patron Saint of Ireland who was believed to have died sometime between 461 and 493. Patrick was a Christian missionary and bishop and while much of his life is shrouded in legend, he is famously credited with using the three leafed shamrock to explain the Holy Trinity to the people. This of course is why we recognise the shamrock as being a symbol of Ireland, much like the leeks and the daffodils associated with David. In Ireland, what once was a religious holiday has become a national holiday with much celebration of the Irish culture and history with parades, music and Irish dancing and I am sure, a copious supply of Guinness!

Commonwealth Day is the annual celebration of the Commonwealth of Nations and is held on the second Monday in March falling on the 9th March this year. It traces it’s origins back to Empire Day, which when Queen Victoria was alive, was celebrated on her birthday 24th May but was renamed Commonwealth Day during the mid 20th century and moved to March. On this day the King broadcasts a message to all commonwealth countries and attends an interdenominational service  held at Westminster Abbey when the flags of the member countries are offered for blessing.

Sitting in the middle of March on the 15th is Mother’s Day which always falls on the fourth Sunday in Lent and which I talked a bit about last year. This special day has been observed by the Catholic and other Christian churches since the middle ages and the UK is believed to be the first country in the world to have a dedicated day for mothers, so well done Great Britain!

We are almost at the end of March but I have to mention first the Vernal Equinox on the 20th. This is when spring time officially begins and all across the earth there will be an equal amount of darkness and daylight. I think we will all be glad of that!

Coming right at the end of the month (phew!) on the 29th is Palm Sunday which starts Jesus’ final week on earth and marks his victorious entry into Jerusalem riding a donkey. The people welcomed him using palm fronds, laying them on the ground in front of him and shouting ‘Hosanna’. Our service in church starts at 10.30 for Holy Communion so please come along and join us for this special service. We will then be going into Holy Week with compline in the evenings at 6 p.m, St Matthews Passion on Good Friday afternoon, an Easter vigil on Saturday and our Easter Day service with Mark Thomas at the end. More details about all these things next time.

There was a good number of visitors in the congregation for the service led by Rev Jane Haslam at the start of Epiphany this month and it was good to welcome her to St Mary’s for the first time. I think over the years we have been well looked after by a large number of priests from the Witney Deanery so it was nice to see a fresh face and enjoy her personal input into the service.

This year Easter is early and so Shrove Tuesday arrives on Tues 17th Feb. To mark this St Britius are holding their Pancake Supper in the church at 6 p.m. This is always a jolly affair and I highly recommend joining in if you can. Tickets are £7.50 for two pancakes with a variety of fillings (all tastes catered for) and you will need some pennies for extra pancakes and a drink. Let me know if you’d like to come before 10th so I can book a place for you and  organise a lift. Before that on the 7th Feb there will be a Candlemas Tea Party at the Humble Bumble cafe in Brize Norton just by the car park, again hosted by St Britius and this starts at 4 p.m. Again, let me know by 30th Jan if you would like to join in the fun so I can book you a place.

Once all the cake and pancakes have been cleared away we move into our period of Lent and to mark this special date (18th Feb) Rev Barry is holding a eucharist service at 5.30p.m in addition to our normal twice monthly services.  Two days later on the 20th we will be pleased to welcome Millie and Max from Carterton to St Mary’s to join together in Holy Matrimony. We wish them both a happy and fulfilling future together.

For those who enjoy our bible study sessions, the group will reconvene again on Tuesday 10th Feb at Jeremy’s and continue through on a fortnightly basis until the 5th May. If you are interested in knowing more about the bible and what it’s all about, it’s worth a try. You would be most welcome.

More news next month about the busyness of the run up to Easter and the events being held in Holy Week.

December is always a busy month in the life of the church and this year was no exception. Outside the tree surgeons were dealing with the big old chestnut near the entrance to the cemetery, trying to bring it back under control after 30 years of growth since it’s last haircut. Our biggest fear is that a branch will come down in a storm and damage the boundary wall, the bell tower or worse still, fall on someone’s head as they are walking along the path. So in a funny sort of way we were let off lightly, when in the process of lowering a big sawn off branch from the top of the tree, the thin end swung round and decapitated the castellation from the parapet on the top of the tower. Luckily the path had been closed to pedestrians and a clean break and a fall onto grass meant little damage was done. Not exactly good for the blood pressure though! So it’s with relief that the two stones have now been successfully reinstated.

We were able to get the Christmas tree up in church and decorated (thank you Janette) for the First Sunday in Advent which was also a communion service for all three churches in the benefice. Refreshments were served afterwards and we all had a good catch up with our friends from Brize and Carterton. The following week the outside trees were erected and dressed with lights, adding a really festive appearance to the approach along the path to the church and cemetery beyond. Thank you Richard for crawling around in all weathers fixing the cables and making everything work properly.

As usual Santa Claus paid us a visit last Saturday and gave out presents from his grotto in the Lady Chapel. We are always pleased to have him in Black Bourton and I am sure the children enjoyed his visit too. After the present giving we drank mulled wine and ate mince pies and sung all our favourite carols with Simon at the organ. As we have so few children of our own in the village I must thank those who came from the other churches in the benefice to read the passages from the bible and join in the service. We very much appreciate their boosting our numbers.

Rev Barry will be on holiday from Christmas Day for a month so on January 11th, the first Sunday in Epiphany, we will be welcoming Associate Archdeacon Rev Jane Haslam to St Mary’s to take our Holy Communion service, which I believe is the first time she has ever done this for us. So please come along and give her your support!

A Happy and Peaceful New Year to you all.

We welcomed our military friends for our annual Remembrance Service both at the memorial and at the church and afterwards at the Vines for light refreshments. We are privileged to have the war graves in our churchyard and also to have the commitment and support from our military neighbours when it comes to this important time of the year. It was unusual to see all the chaps in their fatigues this year as normally they are very formally dressed in their Number Ones but it made not a scrap of difference as the church was full and we were very ably led by Jeremy Lane. And everyone sang at the top of their voices which was excellent!

A big thank you to all who contributed to the Christmas Bazaar last Saturday whether by manning tables, making cakes, donating items for sale or helping with the general setting up. In spite of the horrid weather, it was good to see so many people in the church enjoying a morning of festivity and friendliness with a variety of gifts and handmade items for sale and some very tasty refreshments.  I am happy to report that all your efforts enabled us to raise nearly £1,000 which is absolutely amazing and will help us to continue making our lovely church a nice place to gather.

This Sunday is the beginning of Advent and so we mark this day by having a joint benefice service at 10.30 a.m. Do come along and meet our friends and neighbours from our two sister churches and enjoy some tea and cake afterwards. Christmas seems to come round quicker and quicker each year so before we know it we will be enjoying some lovely choral music from the Voicebox Choir from Witney (a big hit last year) and our own Santa’s Grotto and Carols complete with mince pies and mulled wine. Our Christmas Eve Holy Communion service is at 10 p.m on the 24th and I am pleased to say we have Phil Waite playing the organ for us so that we can all have a hearty sing song of all our favourite carols. Details of all the above in this newsletter so hope to see you at one or all events.

A very Merry Christmas one and all!!

You will no doubt have noticed the intensity of the colour of the leaves on the trees and bushes around us not to mention the carpet they are creating under our feet as they gradually fall to the ground. I mentioned last month the abundance of fruit and berries this year and so it seems that the leaves are not to be outdone in the colours they are showing. I say this because the church flower team created the most wonderful arrangements for harvest festival using all the reds, yellows and ambers of the bushes and berries around us together with the bold colours of the late flowering perennials which have been spectacular this year. Thank you to all those who contributed and also to Christine Pope who laid out a country scene in the porch reminding us of the autumn bounty which we are lucky enough to be surrounded by.

The main events for November are our usual Remembrance Day service in church preceded by the laying of wreaths at the War Memorial. This starts at 10.50 and moves to the church for the service led by Jeremy Lane and attended by a good number of our military neighbours from RAF Brize Norton. It is a moving service and gives us all a chance to remember and reflect on the courage of the men who fought for our freedom in two World Wars and who in the end made the ultimate sacrifice.

In error last month, I mentioned that the Christmas Bazaar was  on the 14th November so I  must quickly point out that it is Saturday 22nd November from 10.30 till 1.30 p.m.  There will be lots of handmade items to buy for Christmas including crafts and gifts made by Niki Clarke and cushions and stocking fillers made by Lene Bussell as well as other contributions. There is a tombola and a raffle, some delicious cakes and preserves and a chance to chat to village folk over a cup of tea, a slice of cake or even a glass of mulled wine and a mince pie.  All money raised goes towards improvements for the comfort and use of the church, not just for worshippers but for all those who use the church as a place to meet, whether it be clubs, coffee mornings or concerts! And if you haven’t got cash (and to avoid disappointment!) we now have a card reader which will happily take your payment. Please come along and support us – all your contributions are very welcome and we would love to see you all at this happy and festive occasion.

Donations for the tombola can be left with Doreen Hart (01993 844124) before the event and cakes or produce to Wendy Taylor or Doreen either the day before or on the morning.

To round off the news this month, the following week we come to the First Sunday in Advent (can’t believe we are hurtling towards Christmas so fast!) and as it’s also the fifth Sunday in the month it falls on St Mary’s to hold the Joint Benefice service. This is the only service held in the benefice on that morning so all our friends from St John’s and St Britius will be joining us for communion and some coffee and refreshments afterwards. Another get together with friends before we start the countdown to the Christmas activities!!

If you have fruit trees in your garden you will have noticed how heavy the crop is this year despite the lack of water throughout the summer. The hedgerows are laden with blackberries, sloes, and crab apples and it seems that everyone is busy making the most of this bumper harvest by making jams and chutneys and freezing the apples, plums and pears. Apple pressing and BBQ organised by the BBVA has been brought forward to next Saturday October 4th at 1pm because of the glut!

So this brings me to Harvest Festival which is on Sunday 12th October at 10.30 and is our annual thanksgiving for the abundance of food we see all around us. Let us also not forget our farmers who work so hard tilling the land to bring food to our tables against all the awful conditions that nature can throw at them. For some years now we have asked for your donations so that we can support our local Besom food bank in Carterton and Witney so once again I ask for your generosity by providing food donations for this worthy cause. Obviously we can’t pass on the bounty from the trees and bushes around us but any nonperishable food will be most welcome. You can include things like canned baked beans, tomatoes, lentils, beans, peas, pasta, rice, biscuits, tinned fish or meat, breakfast cereals or packets of sauces, coffee, tea and sugar. I almost forgot jams,  marmalades, pickle –  the list is endless but you get the idea. Items can be left in the church on the Friday or Saturday prior to the service or I can collect if you would like me to. Thank you in advance and I hope to see you in church that day.

There will no doubt be a notice elsewhere in the newsletter from the Parish Council about the meeting in church on  Weds 15th October 7 p.m. for a discussion about using a defibrillator. We are lucky enough to have had one in our village for some years but it would be useful to know more about it and what we should do if we ever need to use it. I urge you to attend this meeting – it’s important for us all to be aware of this facility should we need it.

The Gardening Club continues with it’s autumn programme in October with a talk on ‘Autumn Planting’ by Paul Green from Gloucester. The club have just completed their first year and have done well with coffee mornings and guest speakers and a trip out to Friars Court. New members are welcome and the meetings are always very enjoyable with coffee and biscuits for all.

Looking further ahead we will be holding our popular Christmas Bazaar in November, more details next month, but please contribute if you can by making a cake or letting us have some produce from your garden or even a raffle prize! There will be a tombola so smaller items for this are welcome too. Tell your friends and pop the date in your diary Sat November 15th from 10.30 till 1 p.m. in the church so that you don’t miss it.

Services this month are Harvest Festival on Sunday 12th Oct 10.30 and Evensong on Sunday 26th 6 p.m.

Before I go I would like to say congratulations to Olivia and Aaron who are getting married at St Mary’s on Friday 24th October at 11 a.m. We wish them both a wonderful wedding day and hope that they have may years of happiness together.

Well no one can say we haven’t had a good summer with non stop sunshine for months on end. Now we are all back from holidays and children start school for a new year, we move into the autumn schedule with busy weeks ahead. This Sunday there is a benefice communion service at St Britius at 10.30 so if you can spare the time do go along for worship and fellowship with our friends from Brize and Carterton.

The Film Club starts it’s new season on 4th September at 7.p.m. with a showing of ‘Annie Hall’ – have a read about this film in the Film Club section.

The weekend after the fete we have the Ride and Stride which takes place on Saturday 13th throughout the day but this also coincides with the Gardening Club coffee morning so it will be a lovely day of saying hello to our local neighbours as well as those from a bit further afield. Nikki is helping to organise so let her know if you are free to do an hour in the front porch.

I am pleased to say that the porch roof has been replaced and looks fantastic. We have also had some pointing done to the porch walls and will continue to work our way around the main body of the church as and when finances allow.

Work on refurbishing the path starts soon.

For those of you who would like to learn more about the bible and what it tells us, we start our autumn session of Bible Study on Tues 16th Sept at 5.30 at my house alternating weekly at Jeremy’s. These sessions are very informal and you can join in as much or as little as you want to, but it’s interesting to hear how the scriptures written thousands of years ago have so much relevance in our modern day life.

Normal services are Holy Communion on 14th Sept 10.30 a.m. and Evensong on 28th Sept 6 p.m. and we’ll be holding Harvest Festival in October as usual, more details next month.