TWENTY SECOND SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST
13th November 2011
Graphics and cartoons & liturgical material appear only in the printed version
MOUNT MAJOR
Tom had died and Maggie missed him very much. So much so that she eventually made an appointment with a spiritualist. When the time arrived the spiritualist, after a little wriggling and writhing with his eyes closed and face contorted told her: “I have made contact with Tom so go ahead and talk Maggie.” Maggie said can you hear me Tom?” Tom replied, “No need to worry one bit. Maggie, I am fine, everything is beautiful here - love for breakfast - love for lunch - love for dinner. It is all heavenly.” “Are you an Angel in heaven then, Tom?” asked Maggie. “No, no Maggie. I am a rabbit on Mount Major.”
THIS, THAT AND THE OTHER (22)
Andrew Neaum
Welcome to summer. The church windows were flung open last Sunday, casually tearing six months worth of draught insulating gossamer, kindly spun by churchy spiders to seal them for winter. The ease with which the spiders webs were torn proved their amazing endeavours to be as ephemeral as life itself, disillusioning even spiders into a morbid contemplation of the transitoriness of life.
Blackbirds, lorikeets and bats
Between the Rectory and the Church white mulberries have begun to fall, squelching beneath churchgoers’ feet. Although white their juice stains the rectory carpet if brought in on shoes, and so we favour discalced feet on our visitors. I fear for this lovely mulberry tree’s future. Idle puritans would sooner be shadeless than have to sweep a patch of pathway daily for a month. The blackbirds already gorge themselves on the first ripe berries and we wonder if last year’s bats will return. These denizens of the night, the purported reservoirs of vile diseases, with their leathery wings, ferocious appetites and uninhibited dropping of dubious juices upon curiously upturned faces both fascinate and repel.
The rainbow lorikeets have returned to dazzle us during the daytime as they feast, offering an unmusical and incomprehensible squawking to rival or complement worship inside the church. I will again be attempting to attract them to our bird tray with food especially manufactured for these nectar and pollen eaters. They relish not only mulberries and nectar, they also delicately nibble at the grain I put out for other birds. This is frowned upon by ornithologists who maintain it could well damage their delicate brush-like tongues.
Blinding vision
To my dismay one of the loveliest gardens at our end of Orr Street has been utterly destroyed by developers. Particularly fine was a huge elm tree, possibly the best specimen in Shepparton, which was crudely lopped and uprooted as if worthless. Likewise a divine persimmon tree whose light golden leaves and deeper orange, golden fruit beautified the street for months. It was ruthless, total devastation. I am told that the place is to be turned into some sort of eye surgery or optometrists rooms, and that the beautiful garden is to be its dull car park. Fancy enabling people to see only by destroying all that is worth seeing.
There is a kind of heroism in the daily life of some of our parishioners that is both surprising and heartening. Some of them are folk who without realising it take to heart the words of Samuel Becket: “Don’t lose heart, plug yourself in to despair and sing it.”
A Great Panegyrical Repast
On December 11th at 12 noon we will be celebrating with a great “Bring and Share” luncheon in our hall some very special and remarkable folk. Not least Norm Mitchel-more, who after years and years of meticulous and devoted service as Parish Treasurer is passing on the task to Jeanette Smith. Also Heather Fitzgerald, one our wisest, most eirenic and lovely of parishioners and ex churchwardens. There will be another remarkable person to celebrate as well, who at the moment I cannot reveal, but will do so when all is certain and ready to be made public. So book the date, and if you don’t know what a panegyric is, google it!
Farewell to another Heather
The coming year is to be one full of change for the parish. This is not least because our Parish Secretary, Heather Camm, leaves us at the end of the year. She and Roger having sold their house in Euroa will be moving to Melbourne. We will celebrate her more lyrically later, but her going is a great loss to us, for she has been a very dear friend to pretty well all of us, a very special, loving Christian.
So invaluable has she been we have had to aim as stratospherically high as possible to replace her. With the Vestry’s concurrence I have asked Diana Neaum to take over her job for an initial stint of six months and she has agreed. She is too responsible a woman to accept such a position lightly and without due consideration. She even rang the wife of a former dean known to us both who had been the secretary in her husband’s parish for some years to ask how it all worked. Amid much good and sensible advice was the comment “you will have to be content to stand in the shadow of your husband.” To which I could only respond, “Small chance of that! It is far, far more likely that I shall have to grow accustomed to standing in hers.”
Although a Landscape Architect by profession Diana is not without secretarial experience. When George Carey retired as Archbishop of Canterbury he asked Diana to become his P.A, which she duly did for a year and a half until he and his wife left Bristol to live elsewhere.
Names and faces
Many years ago Joan Harder put together a display of photographs of parishioners which is now about thirty five years old. How fascinating it is to see present parishioners as they were then, and to remember those who, aided by the prayers of mother Church, now rest in peace.
Diana has been putting into effect over the past few weeks a long-time scheme of mine. Namely to take a photograph of all present church-going parishioners who are willing. With digital photography this costs nothing and provides a visual record of who we are at this time to enable ruminative reminiscing in years to come. It will also assist new clergy (as well as parishioners) to sit quietly at a screen and troll through the flock in an attempt to fix names to faces in the memory. This is becoming vital for your present Rector, never very good at fitting names to faces and getting worse. Names, not faces, tend to be lost in the chaotic maelstrom that is my subconscious. There they jostle with all sorts of less consequential fragments from a full, varied and unutterably fascinating life.
We have now about 160 photographs on file. Already they are fun to troll through. Any we consider unflattering we replace.
Eels and sphincters
On Monday Diana and I head for New Zealand for two weeks. This is a holiday initiated by the Department of Immigration. Diana’s provisional Permanent Residence Visa to be activated requires entry from another country. Goodness knows why. One assumes a good reason even when there is no evidence of it. While in New Zealand we will be throwing ourselves upon the hospitality of friends. The first of these is a doctor we both knew on the Island of St Helena. I did not get to know him as well as Diana because it was his predecessor who parted me from my appendix, assisted in the birth of Elizabeth and accompanied me down precipitous cliffs to fish. On one such trip he filled me in on the details of a then current and fascinating Island tale.
One of the tastiest of fish to be caught from the rocks was what the islanders termed a “Conger”, but which in fact was a Moray eel. Not only are these eels ferocious and likely to give an unwary fisherman a nasty bite, they also have Y-shaped bones running down their backs. These are totally indigestible and so if swallowed pass right through the system, if you are fortunate. Given their shape, however, before their journey is complete they often lodge themselves somewhere to irritate, fester and cause nasty problems.
On the island at that time there was a woman who was somewhat strange, to put it delicately. On all festive occasions such as processions and weddings she would feature prominently in front of the band always dressed up in homemade wedding gear, prancing and cavorting, her withered shanks all atremble with excitement and joy. The doctor with whom I fished confirmed some of the bizarre details of a story about her that one would normally have dismissed as fanciful. She had once fed her husband “conger” eel without ensuring that all the bones were removed. These he had swallowed and most unfortunately one of them in its passage through his body lodged itself maliciously in his sphincter. This soon began to cause him much dire distress.
Like all good wives his was something of a soother and healer, and she determined to sort his problem out. Without tweezers to hand she resorted to a pair of pliers, causing him such agony, by all accounts, that the unfortunate man rushed from his house bellowing like a bull to pull up a banana tree by the roots before repairing back to bed to allow septicaemia to establish itself and bring on easeful death.
Good company
Egotists can still be good company, but only if they are articulate, witty and well informed and so able to feed and parade their ego by dazzling as much with accounts of others as of themselves. The very, very best of company, however, is that which attends. The sort of person who is so comfortable with himself that he is free fully to attend, listen to and take you seriously. Their lovely worth, by its very nature, is largely unremarked upon, but they are to be treasured and loved.
Most people who rabbit on incessantly about themselves are damaged folk, compelled to push themselves forward for constant affirmation and reassurance because denied it as little ones. They tend to be unconscionable bores. In a competition for the most boring title for an autobiography the winner was: “No, I tell a lie, it must have been Tuesday.”
Two highlights of each day. A scalding hot shower in the morning. Getting into a crisp bed at night. All the rest is parenthesis.
CONGRATULATIONS
Birthdays:
Andrew Neaum 16th Nov
Nancee Beck 16th Nov
CHARITY CARD & GIFT SHOP
Scot’s Church Hall, Cnr. Fryers & Corio St.
Opening Hours:- 9.30am - 4.30pm Monday - Friday. 9.30am - 12 noon on Saturdays
FATHER JOHN AND FAITH MARSH
Fr John and Faith Marsh will be here for the 10.00am Eucharist and to enjoy once more the finest parish in the diocese on Wednesday 23rd of November. The date has been mixed up a bit, for which our apologies, but the 23rd is definitive! Come along and stay for a cuppa and chat with them both.
FRIENDSHIP GROUP
The Friendship Group meets on Nov 22nd at 2pm. Special guests (hopefully) will be John & Faith Marsh. All are welcome.
EVENING GUILD
The Evening Guild meets Nov. 17th at 1.30pm for the Eucharist followed by a Meeting.
EDUCATION FOR MINISTRY – would you like to join us to deepen your understanding of the links between life, God, the bible and your faith?
Our EfM group has had another wonderful year – we’ve learned and laughed lots! We’ve been at capacity this year and could run two groups next year if there is enough interest. You need no formal theological training, just an interest in reflecting on what is happening in your life and where this is touched by the story of God’s people. It is NOT training for ordination, it is NOT asking you to DO more and it is SO MUCH MORE than Bible study (just ask any of the current EfM group)! EfM is a learning community that facilitates you coming to know God better as He acts in your life and through the ministry that you are already doing.
At the Quiet Day the EfM group will briefly demonstrate the art of Theological Reflection, one of the mainstays of EfM sessions, to give you a taste of what joining EfM would be like. For more information, ask Helen hmalcolm@bigpond.com, Victoria heeno@bigpond.com, Heather in the office, or any of the current group: Carole, Heather F, Heather P, Linda, Bev., Joan, John or Kate. Deadline for letting Helen know if you’d like to join us next year is 18th December.
EfM MISSION STALL
Sunday 20th November at the Craft Market in the Queen’s Gardens.
The EfM group is to run a stall to raise money to support our parish’s mission giving through ABM for water and education projects in the Philippines.
We will be selling handmade craft items such as bookmarks, beads, novelty pencils, Christmas decorations etc. and there will be a raffle. We would encourage parishioners to assist us by supplying new/as new craft items of paper/wool/cloth/wood/pottery eg baby clothes, soft toys etc. (any donations to the church office by Thursday 17th Nov. please) and also by patronising the stall on the day. Raffle prizes: 1st prize: $100 Coles/Myer shopping voucher; 2nd prize: set of 4 coffee cups and saucers; 3rd prize: potted plant; 4th prize: lady’s pamper pack. Tickets $1 from anyone in the EfM group. For more inform-ation contact Helen or Heather in the office.
QUIET DAY
Saturday 10th December 10am – 3.30pm St Paul’s church/hall Rushworth.
All parishioners are invited to take a break from the Christmas frenzy in a beautiful setting to refresh and re-create through periods of silent reflection. The day will start with morning tea (supplied) and a demonstration of Theological Reflection (see EfM notice) and conclude with the Eucharist. Please BYO lunch (just for yourself although we can eat as a group), a chair if you want to sit outside, something to read or just yourself. There will be a sign-up sheet in the narthex (to allow for morning tea catering) but even if you don’t put your name down and would like to come for some/all of the day, please just turn up. Car pooling will be available by meeting in the church carpark at 9.15am or if you need a lift from home, talk to one of the EfM group.
More information from Helen or the EfM group.
OUTREACH
The deadline for the Christmas edition of Outreach will be Sunday 4th Dec. Contributions to Helen at hmalcolm @bigpond.com or to the church office please.
WOMEN’S BREAKFAST
3rd December, please place your names on the list on the Narthex table
CALENDARS
The Anglican Calendars have arrived so if you have ordered one please pick it up from the office.
MANY THANKS
Thank-you to all you wonderful, talented ladies who contributed to the Craft Stall at the Church Fair. We were overwhelmed by your generosity and craftsmanship with your donations of sewing, knitting etc., also to those who donated their pre-loved handbags and jewellery- thank you so much. Without your support we could not have raised the great total that we did. On behalf of the Craft Stall ladies - thank-you, thank-you. Dorothy Grant
READINGS NEXT WEEK
Ezekiel 34:11-16, 20-24, Ephesians 1:15-23
FOR THE DIARY
Nov 17th Evening Guild/Eucharist & Meeting 1.30pm
Nov 19th Wedding 1pm
Nov 22nd Friendship Group 2pm/Narthex
Nov 26th Wedding 2pm
Dec 3rd Women’s Breakfast
Dec 10th Parish Quiet Day
Dec 10th Men’s Breakfast
Dec 10th Wedding
Dec 11th Annual Parish Breakfast-St. Paul’s Rushworth
Dec 15th Carol Service
Dec 16th Concert: Sempre Cantare
Oct 20th 2012 Parish Fair and Garden Party
Duties for 13th November 2011
Readers 8.30 Jeanette Smith, Norm Weaver
Readers 10.30 Verna Pestell, Greg Pestell
Servers 8.30 Michelle, Beth
Servers 10.30 Greg, Eve, Grace
Intercessors Norman Weaver, Children
Euc. Assts 8.30 Ian Bryce, Heather Fitzgerald
Euc. Assts 10.30 Greg Pestell, Christine Evans
Welcomers 8.30 Gwen Betson, Shirley Dean
Welcomers 10.30 Sandra Simonis, Volunteer
Sidespeople 8.30 Joe Pearson, Norman Mitchelmore
Sidespeople 10.30 John Pleming, Mitch Macheda
Tea 8.30 Val Bambrook
Welcoming Table Dorothy Cook
Mowing none this week
Altar Linen/Oct Ella Egan
Duties for 20th November 2011
Readers 8.30 Carole Henderson, Heather Pearson
Readers 10.30 Jenny Pleming, Peter Martin
Servers 8.30 Beth, Michelle
Servers 10.30 Frank, Jenny, Greg
Intercessors Carole Henderson, Jenny Pleming
Euc. Assts 8.30 Carole Henderson, John Griffin
Euc. Assts 10.30 Jenny Pleming, Greg Pestell
Welcomers 8.30 Bev Reither, Beryl Goodfellow
Welcomers 10.30 Charlotte Brewer, Jenny Moran
Sidespeople 8.30 Gwyn & Merv Cowland
Sidespeople 10.30 John Pleming, Jenny Moran
Tea 8.30 Bev Reither
Welcoming Table
Mowing John Pleming, John Wellman
Altar Linen/Nov Ella Egan
REQUESTS FOR PRAYER
At the beginning of each month this list is cleared and ALL names need putting down again on the list in the narthex and signed in. No names should be listed without a person’s permission. The list for names of those to be prayed for is kept in the top drawer of the little plastic box of drawers on the narthex table.
Dulcie Ackland, Nicole Ackland, Margaret Aldous, Alan & Hilary Akers, Liam Bognar, Nola Brewer, Joy & Ian Carmen, Ross & Helen Dainton, Michael Egan, Beryl Goodfellow, Frank Harder, Katherine Holt, John & Kate Horder, Ruth Lewis, Elsie Lieschke, Olive Paez, Margaret Kidman, Albert Oxenbury, Val Rose, Ethel & George Rumble, Patricia Sparkes, Peter Swindells, Malcolm, David, Peter, Val, David & Judith, Kaye, Pat, Lewis.
Anniversaries: Douglas Keem, Eric Evans 13th, Margaret Fairless, Sarah-Jane Morrow, John Griffiths, Sylvia Kennedy, Betty Doherty 15th, Arthur Basset, Frances Brown 16th, Doris Stansfield, Thomas Trevaskis, Cecil McKellar 17th, Stanley Houghton, John Jeffery 18th, Edward Lacey, Victor Reither 19th.
THIS WEEK IN THE PARISH
Monday 14th November
7.45am Mattins & Eucharist - Lady Chapel
5.30pm Youth Group
Tuesday 15th November
7.45am Mattins & Eucharist - Lady Chapel
11.00am Shepparton Aged Care
Wednesday 16th November
7.45am Mattins only - Lady Chapel
10.00am Eucharist - St Augustine’s
7.30pm Parish Council
Thursday 17th November
7.45am Mattins & Eucharist - Lady Chapel
9.00am Eucharist - Acacia & Hakea
11.00am Eucharist - Harmony
1.30pm Eucharist for Evening Guild - Mtg: Narthex
4.00pm Eucharist - Banksia
5.30pm Choir Practice - St Martin’s Chapel
Friday 18th November
7.45am Mattins & Eucharist - Lady Chapel
Wedding Rehearsal
Saturday 19th November
(Associate Priest’s Day off)
7.45am Mattins only
1.00pm Wedding
6.00pm Vigil Eucharist - Lady Chapel
Sunday 20th November: Christ the King
8.30am Sung Eucharist - St Augustine’s
10.30am Eucharist - St. Augustine’s
12.15pm Orthodox Baptism
8.45am Eucharist - St Luke’s
10.45am Eucharist - St. Mary’s
9.00am Eucharist- Rushworth
11.00am Eucharist-Murchison