CCN 09 Vol 2.5 Lammastide-Summer 1999

C h r i s t
C h u r c h
W e s t
W i m b l e d o n
Christ Church ‘‘News
News’
’
News
VOL 2 ..5
FREE
5 LAMMASTIDE/SUMMER 1999
VOL 2 .5 LAMMASTIDE/SUMMER 1999
Revd Celia Thomson,
Christ Church Vicarage,
16 Copse Hill, SW20 0HG
0181 946 4491
FREE
CMS Links...
Anna Sophie Rachel Wooding,
born to Nick and Kate
Wooding (our CMS link couple)
at 12:33pm on Saturday 3rd
June at the Chelsea and
Westminster Hospital - see
page 5
Dear Friends,
I hope that all of you who have been
away have had a good holiday and have
come back refreshed to start the new
academic year or to return to work.
Those of us who haven’t been away have
been busy here - there seems to have
been a lot happening recently.
Thank you very much indeed to you all
for your generosity in sponsoring my
bike ride round the parish. We raised
over £1500 for the Gas Heating Fund.
Our concert and the organ recital by
Robin Jackson and Maureen McAllister
have also raised money for the fund.
Christ Church in Custody!
Christ Church and the
Adopt-A-Cop Scheme,
a link between the
Metropolitan Police and
Churches in London. Sarah
Davies is our link with the Met
- see page 8
Our next big event is the Open Day on
Saturday 18th September. The Bishop of
Southwark has asked that all the
churches in the diocese be open that
day, and we may get a visit from the
Archdeacon of Lambeth or the Bishop of
Kingston. There’s a full programme of
events and displays, so please encourage
your friends and neighbours to come and
join us.
Confirming Christ Church
The Bishop of Kingston, The
Right Reverend Peter Price,
after the Baptism and
Confirmation Service
at Christ Church on
Sunday 27th June 1999 see page 4
We shall be celebrating Harvest
Thanksgiving on 3rd October and as
usual we will be donating produce to the
local residential homes and to the
Wimbledon Guild.
All best wishes
Celia Thomson
ALSO IN THIS ISSUE -
All There is to Christ Church pp.2-3
Thought for the Season
p.5
A Stitch in Time ... Take Two
p.6
The Sunflower & The Word
p.7
Organo Pleno
p.7
Open Day
p.9
Junior Church
pp.10-11
Christ Church Toddler Group...
...aka The Bruno Bear Club
p.12
Christ Church Changes
p.13
Around the Parish 3: KCS
pp.14-15
All Things Bright & Beautiful
p.16
Saintly Snippets
p.17
Christ Church Brownies
p.17
Young Church Bowling
p.18
Sharing Our Church Building
p.18
Wordsearch & Bible Quiz
p.19
Mess of Pottage
p.19
‘Did You Know?’
p.20
Church Diary
p.20
All There is
Lantern Coffee Shop
OUTR
Children’s Society
HOLMHURST LUNCHEON CLUB
FELLO
Bible Society
Holmhurst
Luncheon
Club
ZIMBABWEAN LINK COUPLE
Oxfam
SPCK
The
Royal
Hospital
Lay Pastoral Team
Crisis
CMS LINK COUPLE
JUNIOR CHURCH
WOR
Weekdays
Morning and Evening Prayer
(said daily)
Holy Communion 11:00 am
(first Tuesday of each month)
p.2
Sunday
Holy Communion
Parish Eucharist
Junior Church
Evensong
to Christ Church
EACH
Merton
Women’s Refuge
Kneeler Group
Soup Runs
MILLENNIUM KNEELERS
Christ Church
Toddler
Group
WSHIP
Homes
for the
Elderly
Legal Advice
Cars to
Hospital
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
HOLY WEEK
Bell
Ringing
PARISH DAYS AND WEEKENDS
SHIP
Worship
............8:00 am
..........10:00 am
and Creche
............6:30 pm
Other Times
Study groups
Prayer groups
Parish weekends and quiet days
Parish outings
CHRIST CHURCH “NEWS”
Mums’ and Toddlers’ Bible Group
Silent Prayer Group
Christians in Contact
Friday Bible Study Group
Sunday Morning Creche
Junior Church
Christ Church Walks
Guest Communities - Anglo-Arab
Christian Community and The
Sarang Presbyterian Church
... and much more!
This is a pictorial description which Wendy Hamilton produced for the Deanery
Synod - each Church had to produce something about itself so that the Bishop
of Southwark could get some idea of the life of the parishes of the Merton
Deanery when he visited in March this year.
We have included it here so that you can see all that there is to Christ Church
West Wimbledon.
Vicar:
Revd Celia Thomson
Readers: Monica Brown
Simon Rocksborough Smith
p.3
Confirming
Christ
Church
T
he 7 young people and 8 adults who were
confirmed on 27th June had been meeting with
Celia since January. Lynda Coleman helped with
the preparation for the young people’s group and
we were both delighted that all who came to the
Young People
Adults
groups decided that they wanted to make their
commitment to Christ in this way.
Julia Aylen
Caroline Christie
Richard Aylen
Ian Christie
he Confirmation service was a great event for
Kate Mullin
Bisi Fadipe*
Christ Church. The church was full, Bishop Peter
Caroline Ogilvie Natasha Good
was in splendid form and we used material from
Anna Skelton
Nigel Good
the new Common Worship Initiation Services. The
hymns were chosen by the candidates and I think
Richard Spinney Mary Quilter*
Helen Williams
Vyvienne Spinney we all enjoyed the final hymn when Bishop Peter
led the newly baptised and confirmed to the back
Caroline Walton
of the church carrying their lighted candles, a
* Bisi and Mary were baptised & confirmed
symbol of the light of Christ shining in the world.
Those baptised and confirmed
by the Bishop of Kingston on
Sunday 27th June 1999 were
T
p.4
Thought for the Season - September 1999
If you were arrested for being a Christian,
would there be enough evidence to convict you?
Wandering through a Cornish
village earlier this summer, I saw
this poster outside a tiny
Methodist chapel and it set me
thinking, especially in the
context of the approaching
Millennium.
We tend to forget that the
Church is built on the blood of
martyrs, those who were killed in
all sorts of horrible ways because
they refused to worship the gods
of the Roman empire or the
emperors themselves. And this
went on intermittently for a
period of over 250 years, from
the time of Nero until
Constantine became Emperor in
312. Persecution is not something
use. ‘Yes, so-and-so does have a
Bible on the bookshelf, but she
only uses it as a reference book
for crossword puzzles.’ Or, ‘Yes,
so-and-so has been seen in
church this year, but only to pay
his respects to the dead at a
funeral, and of course at
Christmas to please his mother.’
Fortunately we live in Britain,
where we are free to worship or Or, ‘Yes, so-and-so has been seen
to wear a cross occasionally, but
not to worship as we wish. But
suppose the climate changed and it was a gift and it would have
we found ourselves on the wrong been such a pity not to be seen
wearing those diamonds.’
side of the law. Would the
charges against us stick or would
a good defence lawyer be able to To my mind, the only important
thing about the Millennium is to
get us off?
show that we have the courage of
our convictions and pile up the
I can imagine some of the
evidence against
excuses that the lawyer might
in the dim, distant past either - it
is alive and kicking in many parts
of the world today. If we lived in
the southern Sudan or in
Pakistan or Iraq, for example,
would we have the courage to be
Christians?
CELIA THOMSON
CMS Partnership House, 157 Waterloo
Road,LONDON SE1 8UU
www.http://www.cms-uk.org/
CMS Links...
T
T
Nabossa, which means she is
here was a birthday cake for
a member of the sheep
CMS - 200 years old this year
(Ndiga) clan among the
- shared amongst those who
Baganda. This means she
came. About sixty in all turned up,
cannot marry another
including Nick Wooding (our CMS
member of the sheep clan!
link partner) back from Uganda for
Since the surname of Kate’s
his wife to have their second child mother was Ram, it may be
Anna. Kate had taken little Anna
appropriate for Anna to be in
(see front page!) to St Georges
the sheep clan! ‘
Hospital
for
an
injection.
Anna
has
rd
n Wednesday 23 June the
been ‘adopted’ by the African's who
CMS strawberry tea raised
or those who were interested
know the couple in Uganda - they
£180 for the Church
there was a display about CMS
have given her an African name Mission Society. The weather was
to commemorate its 200th
Nabossa. Nick wrote in his last link birthday, or there was simply more
good, despite the fact that it had
letter:
been raining the previous day,
scones, jam, strawberries and tea.
‘At Kiwoko the staff got
which allowed all to sit out, to fill the
A most pleasant way to raise funds
together to celebrate her birth
tables, bask in the glories of an
for a most worthy and now
and wrote to us to say that
English summer afternoon whilst
venerable organisation ... and all
although Anna has a lot of
eating a strawberry tea (with
the best to Nick, Kate, Ben and
names, they have given her a
strawberries freshly picked from
Anna now back in Uganda.
local name too. She is also
Garston's Farm the day before!).
here is nothing quite like a
good English summer's day
not too hot, not too humid,
but sunny, bright and perfect for
that quintessential of English
pastimes, a strawberry tea,
particularly if it combines fellowship
with raising money for a good
cause.
O
F
p.5
‘When the idea of a Kneeler Group to stitch
kneelers as a Millennium Project was first
broached, I thought it would give us an ideal
opportunity to illustrate to all worshippers
and visitors to Christ Church that we loved
and cared for our Church. The fellowship that
has resulted from the monthly sew-ins has
been an added bonus. I decided I would work
my kneeler to commemorate the marriage of
my daughter Jane to Brian Moore, which took
th
Sixteen months ago we featured an article on place on Saturday 26 September 1998 at
the Kneeler Project called ‘A Stitch in Time’ - Christ Church.’
A Stitch in
Time...
Take Two
here we have an update!
T
here are now over fifty-five
kneelers in various stages of
completion - from creating
the design and stitch plans,
to embroidering the canvases, with
nineteen actually finished. The
completed kneelers are being
photographed for the Dedication
Book, which will have a page for each
kneeler giving that dedication,
additional information about it,
including naming the Sponsor and the
person who embroidered the work (in
some instances one person has done
both). There will be a book size photo
of each kneeler too.
The project has inspired a diverse
range of conversation and work.
Embroidering took place not only at
home, or during the monthly Truman
Room sewing sessions, but in a whole
range of places - if there was room to
carry/use a frame measuring about
thirteen by thirty inches ! One
canvas fitted in a suitcase to travel
by air, then be stitched on a cruise
across the Gulf of Aqaba sailing
towards Mount Sinai. Another went
on a Conference, at times causing
more questioning than the topics
under discussion, whilst others may
have remained at home, yet became
part of every activity, from radio/
television programmes, family
Gill Pilcher
celebrations, to simply being a source
of quiet activity in the evening, or in
one instance at dawn, as the
embroiderer thought through various
concerns needing prayer.
The origins of design themes, as well
as the investigations that took place
to achieve accuracy were also
diverse:
◊ A chalice beside a bunch of purple
grapes signifying the Light of Holy
Communion, and the vineyard
near the home of the Sponsor’s
son in France; a letter F is placed
between the two being the initial
of her husband and her son.
◊ A Persian Cross has a quotation
from St John’s Gospel in the Farsi
language, written in Persian script
to be read horizontally from right
to left; the characters are exactly
formed having been checked by
the Sponsor and his Iranian
Bishop!
◊ Many will remember Anthony and
Maggie Barker, who died in a
tandem accident. One kneeler
shows a palette/paints/brush, a
saw, and in the centre the logo of
the Helwell Trust, reflecting their
interests in painting, in woodcraft,
and in their founding work for
that Trust.
p.6
◊
The Jersey Crest spans another
kneeler design, however finding
an exact illustration of it quickly
proved difficult, though the theme
is straightforward: three leopards
on a shield. The HMSO Bookshop
in Jersey was contacted, they had
a print of the Crest, which was emailed to one of the Kneeler
Group, solving the problem in a
day!
Other designs depict a wide range of
inspiration - the Windmill on
Wimbledon Common; illustrations
reflecting learning and worship at
King’s College School; a wealth of
floral tributes, bouquets, and both
random and symmetrical images
based upon plant shapes, or
intertwining leaf patterns; the Eagle
of St John with borders taken from a
Medieval Manuscript; a stag walking
across green land.
A number of people have said how
incredible it is that one Sign repeated
many times should become new, be
seen in a different light by the
variety of colour, form and scale
used: simply, the Cross.
HILARY BRAZIER:
THE KNEELER GROUP
The Sunflower & The Word
There is a sunflower growing
THE HARVEST TABLE,
THE ABBEY, IONA,
outside the vestry door. The seed
OCTOBER 1998
was given to us by Norman Coffey, a
former member of our
congregation. When he gave us the
seed he wrote: 'In the Abbey of Iona
on 16th October 1998 at the Harvest
Festival Eucharist we were bidden
to take a sunflower seed as we gave
our offering, to sow it in the spring,
and at the flower’s harvest to share
its seed with others in our parishes
that they too, in due course, might IN THE AUTUMN WE WILL GATHER THE
share with others in their
SEEDS FROM THE CHRIST CHURCH
communities. Thus would the word SUNFLOWER AND DISTRIBUTE THEM
AMONGST THE CONGREGATION.
be spread.’
here are many common
myths and
misapprehensions about
organists, often hidden from
the gaze of audience or
congregation as they
practise their peculiar art
form. Equally, the pipe organ
itself has a mystique which
elicits an amazing array of
responses from listeners. I
have also heard - all too
often - a clergyman tell his
congregation that ‘the organ
will now play‘ and remember
one case where a prolonged
silence was ended by the
organist (not me!)
pronouncing, ‘Oh no it won't:
not unless I play it!’
God and in its silence is
shewn forth the mercy of
God.’ I forget where this old
quotation comes from, but I
do remember unbridled
mirth in the Christ Church
choir stalls one Friday night
when a visiting tenor
responded to these words
with an emphatic ‘I'll go for
mercy every time!’ I know
that some organists read
Private Eye at the organ
console during sermons,
although I cannot spare the
time for this myself! The
silence of the organ at Christ
Church during services
provides an opportunity for
necessary re-working or reharmonisation of some
newer tunes in Hymns Old &
New, transposition of
Evensong Psalm chants and
looking over one or two of
the 250-odd pieces I play
each year at Christ Church.
Somebody once said that, In
the sounding of the organ is
shewn forth the might of
The organ itself requires
frequent attention during
services: the electro-
T
pneumatic action is
unreliable and causes
drawstops (which allow
selection of the individual
tonal colours and pitches of
the organ) and pistons (the
buttons below each keyboard
and above the pedals which
select groups of stops) to
malfunction. Also, the
adjustable combinations
available via the pistons have
to be changed occasionally
(by a switchboard behind the
music desk).
I intend to share with you
some further insights into
the organists' world in the
future, but for now, I would
like to finish by thanking you
all for your year-round
support and for your kind
congratulations on my
attaining the Fellowship of
the Royal College of
Organists (the senior
qualification for organists in
the UK).
JULIE AINSCOUGH
p.7
ORGANO
PLENO
Christ Church
in Custody!
remembered for
establishing police
convalescent homes in
England. Today the CPA
has branches in almost
every police force in the
country.
good policing and for that
we need good police.
We are lucky to have Sarah
as our adopted officer. She
combines the friendly face
of policing with a quietly
confident professionalism.
The CPA recognises that
After completing her
university degree, Sarah
with the rigours of shift
admits she was slightly at a
work and other
loss as to what profession
commitments it is often
difficult for Christian police to pursue. She was passing
officers to become fully
a police station in Putney
Those of you who
involved in the life of their one day and decided on the
attended the quiz
spur of the moment to go
local church. The CPA
night in March or the therefore encourages links in and ask about a career in
annual parish lunch in between church
the police force. Since then
July probably met
communities and Christian she has never looked back.
Sarah Davies, Christ officers.
Sarah says her job is an
Church's ‘Adopted
Cop’. If not, you may
have met her walking
her Raynes Park/
West Wimbledon
beat.
The 'Adopt a Cop' scheme
is a fairly recent
development. It began in
Brixton where a group of
evangelical churches
working with local
members of the CPA set up
We all appreciate Sarah's
efforts to get to know the the scheme. To date at
people she serves, whether least 30 churches in the
Brixton area are committed
it is at Christ Church
functions or more generally to pray for their local
the people on the street. It police. The scheme has
now gone national.
gives real meaning to the
phrase 'community policing'. You may be wondering why
we 'Adopt a Cop' in our
But what does 'Adopt a
Cop' really mean and who parish. After all, what does
orderly West Wimbledon
is promoting the scheme?
have in common with
The initiative was
introduced by the Christian Brixton, an area with a
history or racial tension,
Police Association (CPA).
social deprivation and
This organisation was
founded over 100 years ago deeply ingrained suspicion
by Catherine Gurney who of the police? The answer
is simple. We all need
is perhaps best
p.8
interesting mixture of
people and paperwork. She
genuinely enjoys her regular
contact with the public but
admits that her uniform
acts as a magnet to some of
society's oddballs and
cranks.
By adopting Sarah, we at
Christ Church have
committed ourselves to
pray for all areas of policing
but especially for Sarah.
What kind of prayers do
police officers need? The
CPA suggests a number of
ways we can pray for the
police service - see the
CPA prayer slip reproduced
here on the lefthand side of
this page. A simple prayer
for Sarah's safety would be
enough.
SHARON MAWHINNEY
CHRIST CHURCH
WEST WIMBLEDON
Open Day 18th September 1999 10:30-4:30
Morning
Coffee,
Lunches
and Cream
Teas
Display
of Junior
Church
Children's
Work
Flower
Arranging
Display
Bell Ringing
and
Music
Kneeler
Group
Working
Party
in Action
PROGRAMME
SATURDAY 18TH SEPTEMBER
10:30am
OPENING WORSHIP
Morning Coffee 10:45-12:00 noon
11:00am
TOUR OF THE CHURCH
12:00 noon FLOWER ARRANGING
Ploughman's Lunch 12:30-1:30 pm
2:00 pm
BELL RINGING
2:30 pm
TOUR OF THE CHURCH
Cream Teas 2:30-4:15 pm
3:00 pm
ORGAN RECITAL
4:30 pm
EVENSONG
Please come
with your family and friends to enjoy the day
and support your parish Church.
Bouncy Castle,
Face Painting &
Lucky Dip especially
for children
A Display of
our
Beautiful
New Altar
Frontals
Cakes
and Sweets
Stall
Raffle
Tours of the Church
Part of
Southwark
Diocese
Churches
Open Day
p.9
History
of
Christ
Church
WEST WIMBLEDON
LAMMASTIDE
SUMMER 1999 VOL 2.5
We hope many of you enjoyed the Junior Church presentation on 11th July
on the subject of ‘Prayer‘. In case you missed it, here are some of the
things the children shared with the congregation.
Also on 11th July was a chance to see the folders of work the children had
made about ‘Prayer’ last term. These will be on display again on 18th
September at the Christ Church Open Day.
Be Still
and know
that the Lord
is here.
When we have thought
about God and been close
to him, the Spirit guides
us. If we have done wrong
and are truly sorry, God
forgives each one of us.
If we are angry or
frightened God
understands this too.
When the world looks a
frightening place and
terrible things happen,
we can bring these
things to God and he will
listen.
Lord of the loving heart, may
mine be loving too,
Lord of the gentle hands, may
mine be gentle too.
Lord of the willing feet, may mine
be willing too, so may
I grow more like you in all I say or
do.
On the whole we are very
lucky. Sometimes we have
so many good things we
forget to say thank you.
Prayer is sometimes just
remembering to say thank
you to God.
We are never alone. God
sent Jesus into the world
and at the first Pentecost
he left the Holy Spirit to be
with us always.
Prayer is about being closer to
God and being able to ask for
things too. Unfortunately we
don’t always get exactly what
we want but God gives us what
is best for us. And He is wiser
than anyone on earth.
p.10
The first thing we learned
is that you need to be very quiet to
pray, to think about God and
to listen to God.
Praising God is also a
prayer. We do this
when we sing hymns,
when we are full of the
wonder of God, when
trumpets and cymbals
and dancing can only
hint at the glory of
God.
Dear God, please be with the
people of Kosovo in their suffering
and show all the leaders of the
peoples how to make peace.
Amen
Lord Jesus, we pray for
those who will be unhappy today,
for parents who have no food to
cook for their children, for children
who are sick or frightened, and for
all who are alone.
Did you ever wonder what Junior Church is for? If there
only seem to be a few children each week, the number
of folders on display illustrates how many children we
do see over the whole term. Not everyone can come
every week. The Junior Church leaders have been
thinking about what Junior Church is really for and have
come up with the following ideas.
To teach our Christian faith in a way that is relevant, to
the young people of this church.
By this we mean:
Getting to know Getting to know Getting to know
the Church
the Bible
God
We believe the Junior Church is:
• For children of school age up till the age of
confirmation who worship with us here
• To teach our children of the love of God and of our
Christian faith
• A place where the children can grow together in
friendship through shared experiences
• A simple weekly act of worship held during term time
• A vital part of the life of this Church
• A place where members of the congregation can offer
service to God in a valued lay ministry
We hope that every member of this congregation will
help to make our children feel that they are valued, and
a vital part of the life of this Church. This you can do by
your prayers and by welcoming our children into the
services of our Church. We believe we are all together in
this work of teaching our faith to the next generation.
Sarah Aylen
p.11
Christ Church Toddler Group...
...aka The Bruno Bear Club
If you are under 5 and would like to have fun on Thursday mornings come along
and join us between 9:30 and 11:30 am - bring your parent or carer and give
them a chance for a coffee and a chat whilst you play.
For more details parents/carers can phone
Louise Roberts (0181 879 0971) or Clare Pickard (0181 947 2196)
Competition results
Thank you to all of you who
entered our name the bear/
colouring competition and
thank you to our judges:
Margaret Metters, Gill Pilcher
and Sue Morrell - it’s
amazing what you're asked
to do in church on Thursday
mornings!
New Name
We are on holiday until
Thursday 2nd September
when we reopen with a
new name - Bruno Bear
Club (thank you to
Stefanie for the new
name).
What's
happening in
September
In addition to our
usual activities play house, train
set, climbing
frame, baby
corner, pretend
play, jig-saws and
books - we shall
have a weekly
craft table. The
craft table will
have a different
activity each week
(painting,
modelling,
collage,
baking...). More
details of activities
in the Bruno Bear
Club Newsletter
available in
September.
Bruno Bear will be sending
some bear chums to Stefanie
(aged 21/2), Fiona (aged 4),
Julia (aged 18 months) and
Rhiannon (aged 5) and a
Bruno Bear thank you to the
other entrants.
Bruno
p.12
Stop Press: 3rd October
Cake Stall and Toy Stall
On Harvest Festival
Sunday we shall have a
cake stall and secondhand toy stall in the hall
after the service to raise
money for the Bible
Society and the Bruno
Bear Club.
Louise and Clare would
be very happy to receive
toys and promises of
cakes - more reminders
later!
Christ Church Changes. now you see them ... now you don’t :
the new fellowship space at the rear of the nave - minus pews!
p.13
We continue our Around the Parish
series with an article about King's
College School from Colin Holloway,
Headmaster of King’s College Junior
School 1976-1998.
D
espite its many acres the
parish of Christ Church
has little commerce or industry
within its bounds. Historically
it has supported hospitals,
homes for the elderly and
schools, but few are bearing up
well before the ravages of
accelerating change. Pastorally
we should all reckon it prudent
to cherish the relationships that
remain.
Around the Parish 3:
King’s College School
paying, day school. The vast growth of
used to be, at least to those happy souls
whose only use for academic league tables mid-Victorian boarding schools was yet to
occur, Miss Beale and Miss Buss were still
is to wrap the rubbish.
to stir and the 1870 Education Act was
ing’s is an Anglican foundation and
half a century away. Here too is the
proud of its Christian tradition.
elucidation of the correct name of the
Interestingly this is no stumbling-block to
School. KCS for short, King’s by
those of other faiths or less defined beliefs
familiarity, but never King’s College: that
who prefer a basis of understood moral
is our former senior partner, now part of
and spiritual values for the education of
the University of London, though the
their children rather than the shifting
School has, by kind permission, inherited
sands of secular materialism. The School
the royal coat of arms.
started life as the Junior Department of
ortunes in the Strand at first flowed
King’s College, London, which was
strongly but then came the ebb-tide
established in 1829 by the Church of
ing’s College School moved to
for the School. The restricted confines of
England as a godly riposte to the
Wimbledon with l8l boys in May
the basement of Robert Smirke’s building
unsectarian University College, London.
1897, some 16 years after Samuel Teulon’s Despite its Royal Charter and its siting on did not accord with an expanding
church had been extended to
Crown Land next to Somerset House the curriculum or with the prevalent belief in
accommodate 685 sittings. Today with
College, like most products of the politics the value of organised games; the middle
nearly 1200 boys and 170 teaching and
classes were drifting to the suburbs and,
of protest, remained chronically short of
non-teaching staff the School would fill a money. The College depended financially even worse, the College needed the space.
building twice as big. The School still
on the School and the School depended
comes to worship at Christ Church at the on a ready flow of day boys from the
start of each term but fortunately not all
vicinity of the Strand. It was an uneasy
together. Earlier congregations would have partnership.
been familiar each Sunday in term-time
hus from the outset King’s College
with the attendance at Mattins of the
School was designed and equipped
boarders in black coats and waistcoats,
to
meet
the needs of boys of academic
grey flannels and white stiff collars, while
ability who in due course would enjoy
the robed choirboys in the 1960s were
more advanced work and subsequent
mainly Junior School pupils. Today the
university or professional courses, though
links are less obvious; all pupils are day
even then most did not go on to King’s
boys, the choral activities at the School
seem all-embracing, the School has its own College itself. This is even more true
chapel and two chaplains to minister to its today. Last year 132 King’s boys secured
university places, including 41 to Oxford
special needs. With relatively few King’s
and Cambridge, while at A Level 91.3% of
boys living within the parish and
regrettably fewer King’s families forming subject grades were at A/B/C level. The
circumstances of its foundation also
part of the regular congregation, the
School is perhaps less well-known than it explain why King’s is a single-sex, fee-
K
F
K
T
p.10
p.14
E
jected, dejected and soon to be
saddled with £38,000 of debt,
King’s College School re-opened in
South Hayes, a large house on
Southside, and set about building for the
future. In 1899 the Duke of Cambridge
officially opened the Great Hall,
Banister Fletcher’s splendid centre-piece
of the present campus. It was to be the
first of many additions and acquisitions,
but the struggle to progress was long
and dire, a warning from history against
future smugness. Those who now carp
at Ofsted criticisms would be taken
aback by the scathing comments of the
first inspectors. The buildings were ‘so
unsatisfactory in themselves and so
utterly inadequate for the needs of the
School that any detailed record of their
defects would be superfluous’. Salvation
came from three sources. First the
School was completely severed from the
College, it became self-governing and it
appointed a first-class headmaster.
Secondly it became Grant Aided,
drawing some outstanding boys from
primary schools maintained by the
Surrey County Council. Even when the
School became fully independent after
1944, these Surrey Scholars were to be
the driving force of the School’s
scholastic triumphs in the post-war
decades. Lastly in 1912 a separate Junior
School for boys aged eight to thirteen
was set up on the same site with its own
headmaster and teaching staff.
According to the School history this
guaranteed the eventual recovery of the
School.
Plays in Collyer Hall Theatre and
concerts in Great Hall as well as in local
churches and London venues are widely
advertised. School matches in cricket,
rugby, hockey and soccer need no pass
to the touchline, while the boathouse on
the Tideway at Putney gives spectators
plenty to watch. The new art and
technology building, which will celebrate
the Millennium, will hold exhibitions
and other attractions for a wider public.
O
ver the last hundred years or so
Christ Church and King’s College
H
owever, to this day King’s still
lacks any endowments. Its
enviable resources have all been paid for
by parents, often at considerable
sacrifice. The subsequent withdrawal by
both central and local government of
their scholarship and bursary assistance
has removed similar opportunities for
other able boys from less wealthy
backgrounds. The School will never be
able adequately to subsidise that breadth
of recruitment from its own fee income.
T
he School wants to remain an open
community, though modern
security precautions by necessity restrict
random access. The sports hall, the pool,
the tennis and squash courts are
available to members of the Sports Club.
p.15
School have remained peculiarly stable
neighbours in their constant witness to
abiding values, although almost all of
our physical surroundings would now be
unrecognisable to our founding fathers.
Yet both Church and School strive to
continue to be open, active and
responsive to the needs of the people
they serve; neither exists for itself, but
for the high purpose to which each is
committed.
COLIN HOLLOWAY
All Things Bright & Beautiful
hunters of the Western World
until discovered in a remote
area of China in 1941. It is a
deciduous conifer tree, and
was said to have been around
when dinosaurs roamed the
world.
♦ A tulip tree from western
North America
♦ A strawberry tree - of the trees
Earlier this summer John Barrett
led one of his Christ Church walks to the Isabella
Plantation in Richmond Park ... with the beauties
of an early English summer surrounding them it
was, indeed, all things bright and beautiful.
T
hat was the feeling when
John Barrett led a group
from Christ Church on a guided
walk of the Isabella Plantation,
in Richmond Park. It was Lord
Sidmouth, the then Ranger of
the park, who in 1831 had the
area enclosed, but it was not
until the early 1950s that it
was opened to the public. Now
we have over 40 acres of
lawns, glades, streams,
flowers, trees and ponds to see
and admire.
Why is it called Isabella? The
origin is not known but on a map
of 1771 the locality was called
Isabell Slade - Isabell is defined
as ‘dingy yellow’ (possibly the
colour of the topsoil at the time)
and slade is a valley.
It was not until the late 1940s
that the pond (now known as
Peg’s Pond) at the bottom of the
plantation was brought within the
enclosed area. The
superintendent at the time was
Joseph Fisher, and his work was
carried on by his successor
George Thompson who was
responsible for the pond named
after him, and situated in the
middle of the plantation. Another
employee this time was Wally
Miller who created ‘Wally’s Island’
on Peg’s Pond. It is now a bird
sanctuary.
As for flowers in bloom they were
mainly rhododendrons, azaleas
and primulas and irises along the
edge of the streams. When you
are next on a visit to the Isabella
and want to know what is in
bloom then spare a minute or
two to look at the Information
Boards at the two main
entrances. There in the bottom
right-hand corner of the Boards
you will see a notice of what to
see and where. The notice is
changed on the first day of each
month by Jane Braham, the head
gardener.
Some of the interesting trees
pointed out to us were:
♦ A dawn redwood - this tree
escaped detection by plant
p.16
native to this country this is
one of the rarest in the wild
♦ Tibetan cherry tree which is
planted primarily for its unusual
attractive bark
♦ An ancient oak, around 400
years old. It is hollow in the
centre, and has a
rhododendron growing out of
the top of it. This type of tree
is thought to have come to this
country at the end of the last
Ice Age, that is about 10,000
years ago
Then there are masses of
rhododendron ponticum. These
have purple flowers and are
popular in this park and all the
Royal Parks. These rhodos were
discovered in eastern Turkey, in
an area known as Armenia which
was formally called Pontus hence Ponticum.
So it was we made our way back
to the car park, and home, after a
pleasant stroll through the
plantation and fellowship with
other church members.
JOHN BARRETT
Saintly
Snippets
4. Lady
Julian of
Norwich
‘We are his crown,
and this crown is the
joy of the Father, the
glory of the Son, and
the happiness of the
Holy Spirit.‘
So wrote Lady Julian, an
anchoress who lived in a cell
attached to Saint Julian’s, a
four-hundred-year-old
church in Norwich, from
‘...all shall be which, almost certainly, she
her name. Julian was
well,and all took
born in 1342 and was
manner of educated by the nuns at
Carrow, a Benedictine priory.
thing shall It is thought that she herself
be well‘ was not a nun.
In 1373, when she was 30
years old, during a severe
VAL HANCOCK illness, she received sixteen
‘shewings’ of Jesus Christ,
occurring over several days.
On her recovery, she
dedicated herself to God,
becoming a solitary, living
permanently alone. She wrote
about these events in what has
become known as the ‘short
text’, but continued to
meditate on these visions for
the next twenty years, after
which she published the
longer text, known as The
Revelations of Divine Love.
This was the first book known
to have been written by a
woman in English. It has
become a great classic of
spiritual literature worldwide.
Her theology Is one of
simplicity, optimism and
earthiness. Her view was that
prayer was what we are made
for, that it is natural and open
to everyone. She believed
also, that ‘in every soul to be
saved, there is a godly will,
that never consented to sin,
nor ever shall‘. Never denying
the reality and power of sin,
her optimism asserts that ‘all
shall be well, and all manner
of thing shall be well‘. She
stresses that God is in
everything, ‘I saw with
absolute certainty that our
substance is in God, and that
He is in our sensuality too.
Our substance and sensuality
together are rightly called our
souls‘. At a time when earthly
matters were separated from
spiritual ones, this was pretty
radical.
Julian, enclosed in her cell yet
free in spirit, challenged her
world and still challenges ours
today. Her cell remains as The
Julian Shrine; it has become a
place of pilgrimage for people
from all over the world, its
silence speaking still to all.
Christ Church Brownies (12th Wimbledon)
hrist Church Brownies meet in
the church hall on Thursdays,
4.45 - 6.00pm during term
time. We have about 24 -26 Brownies
with a long waiting list of those
wanting to join us. We welcome girls
aged 7 - 10 from all schools and all
denominations but those who live
locally and those who attend Christ
Church are particularly welcome.
he Brownies are divided into
four Sixes - the Gnomes, the
Elves, the Pixies and the
Scottish Kelpies. We all join together
in our Brownie Ring around the
toadstool at the beginning of each
meeting to discuss activities for that
meeting, ones in the future and any
special news that anyone has to
share. Brownie meetings are
organised around the 8 Points of the
Brownie Challenges. These are:
Brownies are FRIENDLY, Brownies are
C
T
Campaign sponsored swim and with
another pack we raised over £1000.
This year we are going to support
BOOK AID INTERNATIONAL. This
organisation operates in partnership
with people in developing countries;
the books that are in most demand
are those written for children and
young adults. We are hoping to
collect lots of books during the next
year and would be grateful for
donations of children’s books which
have to be in very good condition
and less than 10 years old.
his year we were delighted to
have our new flag blessed at
the church service. We bought
a new linen flag to replace our
original leather pennant
which we have had since
our pack started. We
are always delighted
for anyone to visit us
and we are
interested to hear
from anyone who
feels they might
like to become
involved in some
way.
WIDE AWAKE, Brownies HELP AT
HOME, Brownies KEEP FIT, Brownies
DO THEIR BEST, Brownies MAKE
THINGS, Brownies LEND A HAND and
Brownies HAVE FUN OUT OF DOORS.
ur Brownies always try to
participate in suitable church
events and services, we make
cakes and other goodies to help swell
funds, we help deliver harvest
baskets and hope to be friendly to
other churchgoers and to brownies in
other packs in the district. We make
frequent use of the church garden
for our games, we also use Holland
Gardens for lots of outdoor activities
which help us to keep fit and wide
awake! Our pack also like to support
a children’s charity each year and in
the past we had a barbecue and
games evening when everyone wore ROSEY
a hat and brought £1. Last November HICKSON
we joined in the National Asthma
T
O
p.17
Young Church Bowling
The Christ Church Confirmation Group (Younger
Candidates) at the David Lloyd Centre enjoying
bowling and snacks. The group, now confirmed
into the Church of England, plan to meet as a
Young Church Group on Sundays from September.
Julia Aylen
Richard Aylen
Kate Mullin
Caroline Ogilvie
Anna Skelton
Richard Spinney
Helen Williams
Back Row (left- right): Helen Williams, Anna
Skelton, Caroline Ogilvie, Kate Mullin, Lynda
& Bess Coleman (Helpers), Richard Spinney,
Celia.
Front (left- right) Julia & Richard Aylen
SHARING OUR CHURCH BUILDING
F
or the last two years the Anglo-Arab Christian
Community have been worshipping at Christ
Church on the second Sunday afternoon of each
month. From 5th September, the Sarang
Presbyterian Church, a Korean Evangelical
congregation, will be meeting every Sunday at
Christ Church, from 1 pm to 5 pm, except on the
second Sunday of the month when they will finish at
3 pm.
T
his area of London has the largest Korean
population outside Korea and there are many
Anglican and other churches in the area that share
their church buildings with Korean congregations.
We discussed this at the PCC and asked two local
churches for advice from their experience before
drawing up a contract with Pastor Myung Whan
Chen. Pastor Chen has been worshipping with us
occasionally on Sunday mornings over the last three
months and we look forward to welcoming his
congregation to Christ Church in September.
p.18
A New Heaven
Alpha & Omega
Amen
Asher
Asia
Babylon
Benjamin
Blood
Burnished
Bronze
Cinnamon
Death & Hades
Dragon
Eagle
Earthquake
Ephesus
Flames of Fire
Flesh
Gad
Gog & Magog
Gold
Golden Bowl
of Incense
Hail & Fire
Hallelujah
Harlot
He is Coming
Holy, Holy, Holy
Iron
Israel
Issachar
Jesus Christ
Jewels
John
Joseph
Judah
Lampstands
Laodicea
Levi
Lion
BIBLE QUIZ 1.
ON 3.2.
NUMBERS 4.
PETER FLEMING
Manaseh
Marble
Mount Zion
Naphtali
New Jerusalem
Pergamum
Philadelphia
Plagues
Prophecy
Purple
Reuben
Revelation
Salvation
Sardis
Scorpion
Seven Angels
Silver
Simeon
Smyr na
Sodom
Spice
The Almighty
The Beast
The Lamb
The Lord God
Thyatira
Tribulation
Trumpets
Two-Edged
Sword
Wormwood
Worthy
Zebulon
PAUL BRAZIER
Answers to Bible Quiz &
the Wordsearch will be
at the cross aisle in
Church from Sunday 12th
September
For approximately how many days did Noah and his family remain
in the ark?
How many men did Gideon take with him to fight the Midianites?
How many disciples did Jesus send, in pairs, before Him on His
way to Jerusalem?
What is the ‘number of the beast’ which is ‘the number of the
person’?
‘Mess of Pottage’
‘Esau selleth his birthright for a mess of pottage’ Heading to Genesis 25, Geneva Bible 1560
QUICK AND EASY CHICKEN AND RICE
1
1 kg / 2 /2lb chicken - jointed (or
chicken breasts or thighs)
3
/4 cup uncooked rice
75g / 3oz tin mushrooms
50g / 2oz butter
1 tbsp grated onion (or 1/2 garlic
clove, minced)
2 chicken bouillon cubes, dissolved
in 3/4 cup of water
Dip the chicken joints in
flour then brown in a little
oil.
While it browns put the
rice, salt and pepper in a
greased casserole and
sprinkle in the grated
onion.
Put in the mushrooms
including the juice.
Arrange the chicken on
top; pour the bouillon over
it and dot with butter.
Cover and bake it at gas
mark 4, 180oC (350oF) for
an hour.
SUPPLIED BY ISLAY AYLWIN
p.19
Christ Church “News” - Information Page
CHURCH DIARY
AUGUST - NOVEMBER 1999
‘Did you Know?’
11. The Transfiguration
13 Oct 8:00 pm Discussion Group 29 Aug Trinity 13
Old Testament Leaders
4 Sept 1:30 pm Wedding of Lisa
Furthermore, the
Did you know that the
Phylaktis and Quentin Laithwaite 16 Oct 1:30-4:00 pm GRAND AUTUMN
SALE
impression given from
Transfiguration probably
4 Sept 3:30 pm Wedding of Pamela
17
Oct
Ewing
and
Jonathan
White
Trinity
20
took place near the source reading the gospel accounts
5 Sept Trinity 14
24 Oct The Last Sunday after Trinity/
is that Jesus and the three
of the River Jordan?
Bible Sunday
7
Sept
11:00
am
Holy
Communion
disciples, Peter, James and
31 Oct All Saints’ Sunday
8 Sept 2:00-4:00 pm Kneeler Sewing
John, were alone on the
The Transfiguration is
2 Nov 11:00 am Holy Communion
Session, Truman Room
mountain and, in the first
described in all three
4 Nov 8:00 pm Discussion Group 11 Sept 3:30 pm Wedding of Tracey
synoptic gospels (Matthew century AD, there was a
Old Testament Leaders
Saltmarsh and Alex Collins
17:1-8; Mark 9:2-8; Luke 9: town on the summit of
6 Nov lOam Commemoration of the
12 Sept Trinity 15
Departed (All Souls)
Mount Tabor.
28-36). All three gospels
18 Sept CHURCH OPEN DAY
6
Nov
3:00
pm Wedding of Susan
tell us that it occurred a few
19 Sept Trinity 16
Symonds
and Arnd Leinerman
Other references to the
days after Peter had
21 Sept St Matthew
7 Nov The Third Sunday before Advent
11:00 am Holy Communion
Transfiguration in the New
recognised Jesus as the
10
Nov 2:00-4:00 pm Kneeler Sewing
Revd
Vic
Read
to
celebrate
his
Testament may be in John
Messiah and had been
Session, Truman Room
40th anniversary of priesthood,
named as the rock on which 1:14 and 2 Peter 1:16-18 and
followed by lunch
11 Nov 8:00 pm Discussion Group the church would be built; it is significant that these
Old Testament Leaders
25 Sept 3.30 pm Wedding of Katy
Murray and Adam Knight
Matthew and Mark say that were two of the apostles
14 Nov The Second Sunday before
26 Sept Trinity 17
Advent/Remembrance
present at the event. It is
this happened in Caesarea
17 Nov 8:00 pm Discussion Group - Old
likely that neither of these 1 Oct Afternoon outing to Claremont
Philippi.
Gardens,
organised
by
the
Lay
Testament Leaders
books was written by the
Pastoral Team
21 Nov Christ the King/The Sunday
apostle himself, although
The traditional site of the
before Advent
3 Oct Trinity 18
some scholars would
Transfiguration is Mount
HARVEST THANKSGIVING
24 Nov 8:00 pm Discussion Group Tabor in the Plain of Jezreel dispute this, but the actual 5 Oct 11:00 am Holy Communion
Old Testament Leaders
writers were probably
in the southern part of
6 Oct 8:00 pm Discussion Group 28 Nov Advent Sunday
Old Testament Leaders
Open House at the Vicarage
familiar with the apostles’
Galilee but there is reason
after the 10:00 am service
teaching and did their best 8-10 Oct Art Exhibition in Church to believe that it is more
CHRISTINE MORRELL
likely to have occurred on to record it accurately.
10 Oct Trinity 19
one of the peaks in the
PETER FLEMING 13 Oct 2:00-4:00 pm Kneeler Sewing
Hermon region. Mount
Session, Truman Room
A LARGE PRINT DIARY IS
Hermon is in the extreme
north of modern Israel;
AVAILABLE PHONE 0181 542 4902
nearly 3000 metres high,
its summit is snow-clad all
year round and the streams
has now completed its second year
which flow down its slopes
Thank you to all who have contributed to, or helped in some way!
form the headwaters of the
The deadline and publication dates for the next year are:
Jordan. Caesarea Philippi
Remembrance: 7th November 1999 (copy deadline: 17th October)
lies at the very foot of
Christmas:
19th December 1999 (copy deadline: 28th November)
Mount Hermon whereas it
Lent:
12th March 2000 (copy deadline: 20th February)
Pentecost:
11th June 2000
(copy deadline: 21st May)
is nearly fifty miles from
th
Lammastide: 20 August 2000 (copy deadline: 30th July)
Mount Tabor.
Christ Church ‘News’
EDITORIAL
Christ Church ‘News’ is published by
Christ Church West Wimbledon, a
Church of England church in the
Diocese of Southwark. Ideas and copy
(typed) are welcome and will be
considered for publication.
p.20
Christ Church “News” is produced by
the staff and congregation, all costs are
borne by them not the Church.
Donations towards the mission of Christ
Church and/or the maintenance of the
buildings would be gratefully received.
EDITOR:
Revd Celia Thomson
SUB EDITORS:
Sharon Mawhinney: copy editor
Mike Hammond: print editor
Helen Harding: proof reader
Paul Brazier: layout/design editor