FIFTH SUNDAY after PENTECOST (13)
4th July 2004
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
There is much debate about the English football louts and the disgrace they bring to our country. They are vilified as tribal hooligans bringing shame to these islands. But these very same tribal hooligans were the bowmen of England at Agincourt, the brave soldiers in Wellington's army defeating Napoleon in Spain and the rest of Europe, who fore-fronted the empire, who died on the beaches of Normandy, who are at present renowned for the peacekeeping in the Balkans. These tribal hooligans are the very spirit of this once and still potentially great nation. Do not vilify them. If it wasn't for these tribal hooligans, we would not be free on our island. They are our very essence.
T. Elmes letter to the Spectator
CAMPANOLOGICAL
After Quasimodo's death, the dean of the Cathedral of Notre Dame sent word through the streets of Paris that a new bellringer was needed. The dean decided that he would conduct the interviews personally and went up into the belfry to begin the screening process. After observing several applicants demonstrate their skills, he had decided to call it a day when an armless man approached and announced that he was there to apply for the bellringer's job. The dean was incredulous: "You have no arms!" "No matter," the man said, "Observe." He began striking the bells with his face, producing a beautiful melody on the carillon. The dean listened in astonishment. But suddenly, rushing forward to strike a bell, the armless man tripped and plunged headlong out of the belfry window to his death in the street below. The stunned dean rushed to his side. When he reached the street a crowd had gathered around the fallen figure, drawn by the beautiful music they had heard only moments before. As they silently parted to let the dean through, one asked, "Dean, who was this man?" "I don't know his name," the dean sadly replied, "but his face rings a bell." The next day there was a knock at the dean's door. It was a man who looked just like the man who had died. He explained that he was the dead man's twin brother and through family tradition, it was his obligation to fulfil all his dead brother's responsibilities. When asked if he had the same peculiar manner of ringing bells, the man began to show that he rivalled his brother's talent in armless bell-ringing. Unfortunately, he too tripped at the exact same spot where his brother had. He fell through the same window and came to rest on the same spot. When the dean reached the street, once more a crowd had gathered. Again an onlooker asked, "Dean, who is this man?" "I'm afraid I never got his name, replied the dean, "but he's a dead ringer for his brother."
THE WEEK THAT WAS
I was asked in conversation this week about the doctrine of the "Immaculate Conception". This is a dogma peculiar to the Roman Catholic Church, though there are Anglicans who voluntarily subscribe to it as well, and it should not be confused with the "Virgin Birth". The Immaculate Conception refers to the birth of Mary, the Virgin Birth to the birth of Jesus. In Wodonga I had a "Question Box" placed in the narthex for such questions. People would pop any question they wished to ask of the clergy into the box, and they were answered, very concisely, in the pew sheet. This enabled folk to ask question anonymously if they wished to. I am happy to do the same here, if folk would like me to, though in Wodonga there sometimes developed a logjam of questions, due either to shortage of time to research and compose an answer, or because too many questions came in at one time. The Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary is the dogma that "from the first moment of her conception the Blessed Virgin Mary was by the singular grace and privilege of Almighty God, and in view of the merits of Jesus Christ, Saviour of mankind, kept free from all stain of original sin". The belief has a long and well-argued history but was only promulgated as official dogma in 1854 by Pope Pius IX, although the Council of Trent (1545-63) did explicitly exclude the Blessed Virgin Mary from its decree on original sin. Biblical support has been claimed for the doctrine in Genesis 3:15 and Luke 1:28. The dogma has its own logic, though in my liberal Anglican fashion, I find the interpretation of original sin, which to a great extent it is dependent upon, unhelpful and so I am happier to be in a part of the Church that hasn't dogmatised it.
Kyabram Wedding
On Sunday last, it was a relief to head for Melbourne after church, ostensibly to take Elizabeth to catch a train to Adelaide, but also for a spot of rest and recreation after an extremely busy, funeral-laden week, a week ameliorated at its end by a wedding which took place at Kyabram not Shepparton, with the Reception in Tongala. The groom is a delightful young teacher who, as a boy, had been a server in Holy Trinity Ararat when I was Rector there. He was a good friend of our children. We were friends of all of his family, and because his parents and sisters now live in New Zealand, the groom and his bride arranged for me to be a surprise as the Celebrant at the wedding. It would have been fun to hide behind the altar and suddenly spring up as the bridal entrance music began, but that might have detracted from the solemnity of the occasion, and so my identity was revealed before the service, as much by the presence of my distinctive and well-remembered "vegie van", parked outside the church, as by anything else. It was a very happy occasion.
Sherlock Holmes
In Melbourne, thanks to the internet, we were booked into a hotel near to Spencer Street Station to facilitate entraining Elizabeth late in the evening. Having parked the vegie van in a hotel berth so small that the vehicle had to suck in its breath to fit, and after dumping our gear, we set out to find one of two pubs that my son David, while at Melbourne University, had introduced me to, and in which we had talked, eaten and sipped some very happy hours away. It seemed a bit extravagant to ring David in Germany to ask his help in locating the pubs, so we rang Peter in Albury instead, for he too had been a part of some of those excellent and argumentative evenings. He helped point us in the right direction, but we were thwarted. The first and best of the pubs, the Sherlock Holmes in Collins Street, had already closed its kitchens on a slack Sunday night, not least because there was major road construction going on in Collins Street, a reason for the almost non-existent clientele. Because we were desirous of a meal as well as a pint of English bitter, we set out to find the Charles Dickens but failed, eventually having to settle for a meal elsewhere. I had asked several people directions, and for the most part received that uninterested, unhelpful blankness of response that is not uncommon in a large city. One young man I asked refused even to look at me, let alone respond, simply walking past as if I had made an obscene suggestion. Incidentally the road construction, which included ripping up the tram tracks and relaying a thick layer of concrete as well as strips of tar, was all finished in the one night, most impressive.
We saw Elizabeth on to her train, which arrived late from Adelaide and so left late on its return trip. What a mess Spencer Street Station is at present, while it is being refurbished for the Commonwealth Games, and bitterly cold. There was no suggestion of an apology for the lateness of the train.
Books and disks
It was good the next day to potter around the windy chasms that are the streets of central Melbourne. We bought some Children's Church resource material and a couple of other bits and pieces, before heading back to the Sherlock Holmes for an excellent light lunch accompanied by the English bitter for which I had pined the night before. We then made our way to Readings in Lygon Street for a long and happy browse. I ended up with two meaty books by Rowan Williams and a swag of Handel disks, including all of his unutterably delightful Organ Concertos, great favourites of my father's and written not for a church organ, but for a small, portable theatre organ. They were played during the intervals between the scenes of his operas and proved immensely popular. On the way home we made a little detour to Lake Nagambie and Goulburn Weir, arriving home refreshed to an ecstatic Pippin, who had been fed and walked for us by a kindly Carole. Needless to say these notes are written as the music of Handel delights me. A little pun came to me while in conversation with Margaret: Witchcraft: Wicca-work.
Memorials and Donations
On Tuesday our "Fabric Committee" met for the first time to decide on future policy concerning memorial gifts to St Augustine's. This is a Committee formed by Vestry and consists of Michael Egan, Norm Weaver and myself. We are concerned that our lovely church does not become cluttered with memorial gifts that have been accepted in an ad hoc way. In future, requests and donations for memorial plaques, pictures or statuary in St Augustine's, will be considered first by this committee, which will have a policy and procedure worked out and accepted by Vestry, to ensure that all is done for the best of both the church and any donor. This was an interesting and talkative meeting involving a walk around the church. After lunch the bishop called in to talk about a possible assistant for the parish. There is a probably suitable one possibly available at the end of the year, but in the meantime we soldier on with myself alone, mightily grateful for the good-humoured, willing and vital help provided by Fr John Price as well as for some Sunday assistance from Fr Wayne, and lots of willing help from parishioners. I managed a couple of parish visits on Tuesday evening, something not managed at all the previous week.
Women Priests
On Wednesday morning I had the usual 10.00am Eucharist with a congregation of 50, followed by some interviews of a pastoral nature. In the afternoon I went to Wangaratta for a Patronage Board meeting for the Parish of Yackandandah. The Parish Nominators had done their homework well and so it was a productive meeting, though it seems very difficult to find top quality clergy for country parishes these days. Whether this, in part is because not only are we a country diocese, but also a conservative one, is debatable. On the way in to the meeting I met the Nominators of my last parish, Wodonga, who had just completed a meeting. They are still searching for a priest. Our diocese's conservative image might well be dented at this year's Synod in September. The Canon to enable women to be priested is again going to be moved in tandem with another to allow for "Alternative Episcopal" oversight. There is some good chance of it being passed by the clergy, not least because it is an initiative of the Bishop. If both are passed then, as I understand the situation, there will be women priests accepted to serve in this diocese only in locations where there is more than one parish, so ensuring that there is a parish church available both to those in favour of women priests and those against. In this diocese only Albury- Wodonga and Wangaratta fulfil this requirement. This might seem too small a step forward to many of us, but it is a step forward nonetheless and if the conservative clergy do pass the necessary motions at Synod, it will represent a considerable concession and compromise on their part. To which charitable observation one might add, with rather less charity, "and about time too!"
On Thursday I gathered together this pew sheet, with the help of Heather, and I also had a short meeting with Norm Mitchelmore and Sandra Simonis to further the refurbishing of the Hall Kitchen cause. We are now at the stage of asking for quotations to do the job. For lunch on Thursday, which hasn't yet arrived as I tap away at these notes, we have the parents of the groom married last Saturday. I must as well select some music for choir practice tonight and fit in a visit to the hospital.
Rats and ratting
Having heard strange noises in the Rectory for some time, scratchings and even thumpings, and being too prosaic by far to ascribe them to anything supernatural, we set a rat trap beneath the house and caught a beauty, since when, so far, there have been no more noises. The number of rats we had to trap and dispose of on the Island of St Helena allows us to be very blase about these unpleasant rodents. In my father's youth in Derbyshire, young people would sometimes colourfully insult their peers by saying, "Lend us yer face to go rattin' with". Far more imaginative than today's boringly ubiquitous "F" word. Fr Andrew Neaum
A PRAYER FOR THE WEEK
Father, give to your child that which he himself knows not how to ask. I dare not ask either for crosses or consolation; I simply present myself before you, I open my heart to you. Behold my needs which I know not myself; see and do according to your tender mercy. Smite or heal, depress or raise me up. I adore all your purposes without knowing them. I am silent; I offer myself in sacrifice. I yield myself to you. I would have no other desire than to accomplish your will. Teach me to pray. Pray yourself in me. Fenelon 1651-1715
CONFIRMATION
Confirmation classes are to start in the coming school term, probably at 4.30pm on Tuesdays beginning on 13th July. This time and date are negotiable. Please let me know if they do not suit. Also starting on the 17th July will be a Eucharist on Saturday nights at 6.00pm to enable folk unable to attend on Sunday to fulfil their obligation. Enquires about confirmation preparation up until now have been decidedly tentative and provisional. I need to know more definitely now who intends taking up the challenge.
WORSHIP EATING AND STUDY
Beginning on Tuesday July the 16th with a meal at the Rectory at 6.30pm , is a series of studies based on a booklet called "This is Our Faith". The meal will be hot and include a glass of wine, it will be followed at 7.30pm, by a simple act of worship and the study. There will be a small charge for the meal to cover costs and no more, probably $4, and if a surplus builds up, then less for subsequent meals. The booklets are rather fine, glossy things and cost $30.00 each. Those who don't want to keep them will be able to take one for $10.00 only and return them at the end of the course for use by others later. If you are interested sign up in the Narthex.
CONGRATULATIONS
Congratulations to Lesley Rankin, whose birthday is today, Sunday the 4th of July, to Pat Griffin for the 7th of July and to Sophie Bell for Friday the 9th of July.
BEAUTIFULLY PUT
At Denmark Hill the sun came out
And from the window of the train
October, like a tickled trout,
Resurfaced through a week of rain,
Anon
INTERESTING SEMINAR
On Saturday the 24th of July there is a Seminar here at St Augustine's at which The Rt Rev'd Andrew Curnow, Bishop of Bendigo and The Rev'd Dr. Andrew McGowan, director of Trinity College Theological School will address us on the subject "Gifts of the past for our future". There are more details to be seen on the Notice Board.
PARISH FAIR
Don't forget the Parish Fair! Don't throw items away that could be useful to us: jewellery, craft, children's toys, white elephant items, china and glassware, plants, books.... all are needed!
LIST OF THE SICK
The list of the sick this week is decidedly shorter as we are in the process of renewing it. Note that no one should be prayed for publically without their permission. Names put on the list in the narthex need the signature of someone who has obtained that permission.
DUTIES FOR THE 4th July 2004
Readers 8.30 Heather Fitzgerald, Victoria Heenan
Readers 10.30 Charlotte Brewer, Maureen Cormican
Servers 8,30 Beth, Rachel, Emma
Servers 10.30 Joan McCann, Jenny Pleming
Euch. Assists 8.30 Bev Condon, Heather Fitzgerald
Euch. Assists 10.30 Christine Evans, Carole Henderson
Intercessors Bev Condon, Christine Jones
Welcoming 8.30 Bev Reither, Joyce Cavill
Welcomers 10.30 Charlotte Brewer, Christine Jones
Sidespeople 8.30 Norm Mitchelmore, Joy Campbell
Sidespeople 10.30 John Pleming, Jennifer Pleming
Tea 8.30 Gwyn Cowland
Mowing Lionel Waterson, Adrian Evans
DUTIES FOR THE 11thJuly2004
Readers 8.30 Ann Weaire, Margaret Neaum
Readers 10.30 Nancy Noonan, Hilder Lidgard
Servers 8,30 Beth, Rachel, Emma
Servers 10.30 Joan McCann, Jenny Pleming
Euc. Assts 8.30 John Griffin, Heather Fitzgerald
Euc. Assts 10.30 Christine Evans, Carole Henderson
Intercessors Celebrant, Children
Welcoming 8.30 Cecily McDonald, Shirley Dean
Welcomers 10.30 Frank Steen, Jill Waterson
Sidespeople 8.30 Trevor Batey, Victoria Heenan
Sidespeople 10.30 Alan Akers, Adrian Evans
Tea 8.30 Pat Griffin
Mowing nil
IMPORTANT DATES
July 6th Baptism Preparation
July 6th Playgroup
July 11th Children's Church & B.B.Q. lunch
July 13th G.F.S. Townsend
July 13th Afternoon Guild
July 15th Evening Guild
July 21st Parish Council
July 24th Seminar
Sept 11th Wedding
Sept 17 -18th Synod
Oct 3rd St Francistide Pet Blessing
Oct 16th Wedding 3.00pm
Oct 23rd Wedding 3.00pm
Oct 24th Confirmation
Nov 6th Wedding 3.30pm
Nov 13th Wedding 2.30pm
Nov 13th Parish Fair
Nov 21st. Bishop's Visit
Nov 27th Wedding 1.30pm
Dec 18th Wedding 1.30pm
THIS WEEK IN THE PARISH
Monday July 5th
Fr Andrew's day off
7.45am Mattins & Eucharist - Lady Chapel
5.30pm Evening Prayer
Tuesday July 6th
7.45am Mattins & Eucharist - Lady Chapel
10.00am Playgroup
5.30pm Evening Prayer
7.30pm Baptism Preparation- Narthex
Wednesday July 7th
7.45am Mattins - Lady Chapel
10.00am Eucharist - St Augustine's
11.00am Pastoral Care Meeting - Library
1.30pm Hakea Lodge
7.30pm Prayer Support Group - Chapel
Thursday July 8th
7.45am Mattins & Eucharist - Lady Chapel
2.00pm Valley Nursing Home
5.30pm Evening Prayer
7.30pm Choir Practice
Friday July 9th
7.45am Mattins & Eucharist - Lady Chapel
10.00am Anglicare Forum - Benalla
5.30pm Evening Prayer
Saturday July 10th
7.45am Mattins & Eucharist - Lady Chapel
5.30pm Evening Prayer
Sunday July 11th
8.00am Mattins - Lady Chapel
8.30am Sung Eucharist - St Augustine's
10.30am Eucharist - St Augustine's - Children's Church
10.45am Eucharist - St Mary's Katandra
5.30pm Evening Prayer