The Parish Church of
HOLY TRINITY, TARLETON
Parish "Webzine" May 2007

Eastertide to Pentecost

Reader’s Letter May 2007

Dear Friends in Christ,
A combination of nearly overlapping holiday patterns has meant I need to send the magazine to press before Fr Nicholas returns from his time with the school trip.

So here we are in the great forty days of Easter. As we studied and followed Jesus’ temptations in Lent, then followed his suffering and death in Holy Week, now we rejoice with the risen Jesus for forty days. Flowers display our joy. The young people’s workshop model of the temple in Jerusalem stands proud. Our hymns remain joyful. Our services are studded with Alleluias! Our readings are full of Jesus’ post-resurrection appearances. First the women at the empty tomb, then the disciples behind locked doors, then Thomas, then increasing groups of followers all see Jesus and rejoice.

After the forty days comes Ascension Day. Like Ash Wednesday at the start of Lent, it is a midweek holy day, and unlike Ash Wednesday, a day for celebration. That is when Jesus promises the coming of the Holy Spirit, and we wait ten more days (making Eastertide a full fifty days!) for that coming at Pentecost.

The old English title of Whitsunday comes from the whiteness of a truly hot flame - and the tongues of fire that fell on the apostles were indeed spiritually white hot, truly transforming, totally life-changing. And this year we actually get Whit Monday on its proper day.

Then we will be in June, with Trinity Sunday itself, the feast of Corpus Christi, and this year the confirmation. More Spirit-filled hymns and readings, more rejoicing, more celebration.

As the hymn puts it: “risen, ascended, glorified!” Let us all join in, day by day, Sunday by Sunday, celebrating Christ’s triumph over death and sin, freeing us for life eternal.

Ian

PARISH NOTICE BOARD
This edition of the magazine has had to go to press before the Editor’s holiday and while Fr Nicholas was accompanying the school trip after his post-Easter break and retreat. That means it is slightly different in content to the usual edition - but we’ll catch up with anything we’ve missed in later editions.

The APCM also occurred after press date, so the results of the election of Wardens, of vacancies to the PCC, and the nomination of Sidesmen and Sideswomen will appear in the June issue.

The Deanery Visitation
The Deanery Visitation - when the Archdeacon comes to the Deanery and the Parish Clergy present their newly elected Wardens to him - is on Thursday 24th May at 7.30 pm at St Aidan, Bamber Bridge.

Christian Aid Week will be 13-19 May
This year’s materials feature inspiring stories of how poor communities in El Salvador, Senegal and Afghanistan are growing a future thanks to Christian Aid. See below for the El Salvador story.

Mothers’ Union May
We had a very successful week of events to celebrate the 80th Anniversary of the Mothers’ Union in the Blackburn Diocese. Our activities included study, reflection, prayer, sewing, social, and a pram Service which we hope to repeat in the near future.

Our monthly Prayer Meeting will be held on TUESDAY May 8th April at 2.00 pm in the Blessed Sacrament Chapel.

The Deanery Festival Service will be held on Wednesday May 9th at St Ambrose, Leyland, at 7.30pm

On Wednesday May 23rd we are holding a Bring & Buy Sale and Afternoon Tea in the Parish Room. Some of the proceeds will be donated to the overseas Literacy and Development Programme.
Pat Heap

The Children’s Society
The support group at Tarleton would like to thank all those who donate through their boxes to the Society. The generous sum of £1170.17p has been sent to help with the work the society do to help the children who are in need of it. Once again, thank you all for your valued support.

Christian Aid Week 13–19 May 07
‘We definitely have more hurricanes and floods than we used to. I’ve lived here all my life and it wasn’t like this before. Strong winds and big waves from the sea cause more floods now.’
Dominica Echevarría Jesús Antonio Echevarría, usually known as Chus, is 15 and lives with his sister Dominica and her husband in the San Luis la Herradura area of El Salvador. This area is particularly prone to natural disasters. Hurricanes are a growing threat, and the low-lying land is very susceptible to flooding.

Chus’s father died when he was a baby and he sees his mother only occasionally. He has been brought up by his sister and her husband. The family live in three huts close together. Chus shares a hut with his brother and the family’s livestock. Chus’s hut was battered by Hurricane Stan in 2005, and this has left holes in the roof. The family survives on just a few dollars a day. Chus likes to get involved with his community in a practical way, and has worked on the local river bank with Christian Aid partner Aprodehni. He has always wanted to do this, although he was initially told he was too young. However, his enthusiasm paid off and he was allowed to work, strengthening the river bank with tyres and sandbags, in return for some food.

Chus is not the only member of his family to be involved with Aprodehni. His sister and brother-in-law play an active part in analysing what needs to be done in the community, organising working groups, and carrying out practical work on the river bank and drainage channels. Even his seven-year-old cousin, Jackeline, participates in Aprodehni’s workshops, which use sport and art to help children forget the trauma of hurricanes and earthquakes. She has also taken part in rubbish-collecting brigades.
Aprodehni encourages people to get involved in, and take responsibility for, protecting and developing their own communities. Its work includes reducing the risks created by natural disasters, reducing environmental pollution and responding to emergencies. The changing climate is creating a situation that calls for an urgent response. The increased frequency and intensity of hurricanes and subsequent flooding demonstrate the catastrophic effects that climate change is already having on some of the world’s poorest people.
Archbishop Oscar Romero memorably referred to the 80 per cent of El Salvadoreans living in poverty as a ‘crucified people’. Romero worked tirelessly on behalf of poor people, speaking out against injustice and oppression. This brought him into conflict with the government and the military. He was assassinated by the army in 1980.
Chus is just one of these ‘crucified people’. Yet with the help of Aprodehni, he is helping to save lives. Although he is poor, he is helping people to adapt to climate change and to live with the effects of natural disasters. Chus works with Christian Aid partner Aprodehni, putting down tyres and filling sandbags to strengthen the river bank. This vital work helps his community to live with the effects of climate change.
A gift of just £6/€9 to Christian Aid would enable Aprodehni to clean a well after a flood.
However, your support will be giving so much more than this.
You will also be paying for the education and training of the local community – people who can make an immediate difference, particularly young people like Chus.

THE LEPROSY MISSION
On Saturday 17 March a group of seven members of our choir went to Blackburn Cathedral to join a choir of about 80 people to sing Steiner’s Crucifixion in aid of The Leprosy Mission under the direction of Richard Tanner. This was a wonderful and very moving experience.
Other TLM events this year unfortunately coincide with our Walking Day and Field Day.
I am still collecting stamps, postcards and printer cartridges in the box at the back of the church and I have managed to get a lady from All Saints Church, Hesketh Bank, to take on the collections and stamps there.
Thank you again for all your help and contributions.
Sue

From the York Course:
Archbishop John Sentamu on building stillness into your routine:-.
Get up very early in the morning … say your prayers and then that gives you a really good beginning for the day because you’re still. You’ve got to find stillness within yourself and the only way is greater discipline … So, you can actually go out into the noise and still remember the stillness … If you wake up every morning instead of saying, ‘good morning, God,’ most of our people wake up and say, ‘good God, it is morning!’ … it should really be the other way round.

Sponsored Walk for Christian Aid “Anti-flood ducks” appeal (see last month’s magazine) with the Informal Walking Group May Day Bank Holiday Monday May 7th
We start the walk at 10.30 am. Meet at the car park for St Mary the Virgin, Eccleston (by kind permission of the Rector) which is opposite the church lych-gate in Towngate, Eccleston (B5250), just over the river bridge.
We will walk upstream alongside the river Yarrow along part of Eccleston’s Millennium Walk, swinging back to the Original Farmers Arms for lunch (say, 12 to 12.30). The food, the real ales, and the wines here are all excellent - and tea and coffee also available. Feel free to meet us for lunch, or to use this as the start or end of the walk, as it is only a few minutes walk back down Towngate to the cars.
After lunch we follow field paths to Syd Brook Lane, the lane to the Mill at Croston and then alongside the Yarrow again all the way back to the cars. This section passes a point where sand martins nest and butterflies are often seen.
Sponsorship forms available in advance - but come whether sponsored or not.
Ian 07767 638996

Late Spring Bank Holiday Monday 28 May
Plans for the Pentecost Monday walk have gone on hold. I had hoped to make this one linking St Mary’s with St Mary the Virgin, Rufford, but the Environment Agency have closed the paths along the bank of the Douglas. The sequence of river bank paths from Red Bridge, past Great Hanging Bridge on the Croston road, all the way to White Bridge by the recycling site at Rufford, are closed ‘for flood protection work on the bank’ until late July.
I don’t have time to recce another route before completing this edition of the magazine, so keep your eyes on the village website for the latest info.

Parish Magazine Jottings 1902 Archdeacon Fletcher
On April 14th the annual inspection in religious knowledge was held at Tarleton and Mere Brow Schools. The Inspectors have since reported as follows:-

Tarleton Mixed School – Bible teaching was accurate, but needed to be drawn out into practical lessons more thoroughly, especially in the lower groups. Knowledge of the catechism was fairly good. Prayer Book knowledge was a stronger point, except in the lowest group. Some of the scripture repetition was not said with certainty, but the text of the catechism was known with great accuracy

Tarleton Infants’ School – The religious instruction is good, and the children are very well behaved. Perhaps some improvement might be effected by some variation in the scripture narratives year by year, and by not wearying the children by over-much insisting upon the details of early Bible History.

Mere Brow School – Great pains had been taken to teach the children the facts of the Scripture narratives, but greater effort should be made, particularly in the lower group, to draw simple lessons from them, bearing upon the children’s lives. Some children answered intelligently on the catechism, but this number was too small. The same may be said of the Prayer Book subjects. All repetition and writing-out work was very accurate.

Not quite OFSTED - but encouraging!

In contrast:-
A certificate issued by the Oxford and Cambridge Examining Board in 2006
RECOGNISING ACHIEVEMENT
Head of Engilsh & Liteacy
The Alec Hunter High School Stubbs Lane Braintree

You wouldn’t believe how difficult it was to stop my WP programme from correcting this! ED

“The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting. It has been found difficult and left untried.” G K Chesterton

Erm …
From the Ludlow Advertiser (August 24 2005)
FARNHAM £249,950
Situated within the heart of Farnham town centre this rarely available split level mews apartment offers the buyer the utmost inconvenience.

Parish Visiting Team
If you know of anybody who would welcome a visit, either because they are in hospital, or because they are confined to the home for whatever reason, or because they are new to the parish, would you please fill in one of the slips at the back of the church and place it in the box or contact Fr Nicholas on 812614 or Pat Heap on 812991

Hearing is believing?
The vicar of a church in one of the nearby (Oxfordshire) villages told me of an unusual experience at a recent parish communion. I should explain that the congregations are, by rural standards, quite large, and radio mikes are used to make sure everyone hears everything.
As the vicar finished administrating the sacrament, his churchwarden, as was his custom, brought up the rear. But, instead of holding out his hands for the bread, he held up a card with bold lettering: “Speak up. Battery’s flat!”
Canon David Winter, in the Church Times.

Tarleton Library events in May
Baby Bounce and Rhyme every Tuesday (term time only) songs and rhymes for babies 2-3pm.

Play Morning Monday 14th May 10-11am - Play dough, colouring, painting and chalking for children 18 months to 4 years, refreshments provided.

Reading Group Meeting Monday 14th May 5.45pm - 6.45pm

PARISH DIARY for May
NORMAL SUNDAY SERVICES
8.00 am Holy Communion,
10.15 am Sunday School and Crèche
10.30 am SUNG EUCHARIST
(3rd Sunday, FAMILY PARISH COMMUNION)
Sunday 29th April Fourth Sunday of Easter
8.00 am Eucharist
10.15 am Sunday School
10.30 am PARISH EUCHARIST
11.45ish Annual Parochial Meetings in School
7.00 pm Young people’s confirmation class, The Rectory
May
Tuesday 1st St Philip & St James, Apostles
10.00 am Eucharist, Oakgate Close
6.50 pm Choir practice
Wednesday 2nd 10.00 am Eucharist (Book of Common Prayer)
then tea/coffee in the Parish Room
Thursday 3rd 7.30 pm Eucharist
Friday 4th 12.15 pm Eucharist
Sunday 6th Fifth Sunday of Easter
8.00 am Eucharist
10.15 am Sunday School
10.30 am PARISH EUCHARIST
7.00 pm Young people’s confirmation class, The Rectory
Monday 7th BANK HOLIDAY MONDAY
10.30 am Informal Walking Group Christian Aid Sponsored Walk
leaves Eccleston St Mary the Virgin Church car park see above
Tuesday 8th 2.00 pm MU Prayer Group: Blessed Sacrament Chapel
Wednesday 9th 10.00 am Holy Communion (BCP)
7.30 pm MU Deanery Festival,
St Ambrose, Leyland
Thursday 10th 7.30 pm Eucharist
Friday 11th 12.15 pm Eucharist
Sunday 13th Sixth Sunday of Easter
8.00 am Eucharist
10.15 am Sunday School
10.30 am PARISH EUCHARIST
7.00 pm Young people’s confirmation class, The Rectory
START OF CHRISTIAN AID WEEK
Tuesday 15th 6.50 pm Choir practice
Wednesday 16th
10.00 am Eucharist (BCP)
Thursday 17th ASCENSION DAY
7.30 pm Sung Eucharist
Friday 18th 12.15 pm Eucharist
Sunday 20th Fifth Sunday of Easter
8.00 am Eucharist
10.30 am CHURCH FAMILY EUCHARIST
7.00 pm Young people’s confirmation class, The Rectory

Tuesday 22nd 6.50 pm Choir practice
Wednesday 23rd 10.00 am Holy Communion (BCP)
2.00 pm MU Parish Room: Bring & Buy Sale and Afternoon Tea
Thursday 24th 7.30 pm Deanery Visitation: St Aidan, Bamber Bridge
Friday 25th 12.15 pm Eucharist
Sunday 27th PENTECOST Whitsunday
8.00 am Eucharist
10.15 am Sunday School
10.30 am PARISH EUCHARIST
Monday 29th Bank Holiday Monday IWG walk to be arranged
Wednesday 30th 10.00 am Holy Communion (BCP)
Thursday 31st 7.30 pm Eucharist

June
Friday 1st 12.15 pm Eucharist
Sunday 3rd TRINITY SUNDAY
8.00 am Eucharist
10.15 am Sunday School
10.30 am PARISH EUCHARIST
7.00 pm Young people’s confirmation class, The Rectory
Monday 4th 2.00 pm MU Prayer Group: Blessed Sacrament Chapel
Tuesday 5th 6.50 pm Choir practice
Wednesday 6th 10.00 am Eucharist (BCP)
Thursday 7th Corpus Christi
7.30 pm Sung Eucharist
Friday 8th 12.15 pm Eucharist
Saturday 9th ECUMENICAL WALK OF WITNESS
Starting with Combined Worship on the school field at 2.00 pm
LOOKING ONWARD in June
Thursday 14th Joint CONFIRMATION SERVICE at St Mary’s, Rufford
Saturday 23rd ROSE QUEEN CROWNING and FIELD DAY