SIXTH SUNDAY OF EASTER
5 May 2013
Graphics and cartoons & liturgical material appear only in the printed version
THE PERFECT REMEDY
Last Sunday Bill was sitting next to Ben at the back of St Augustine’s. Every five minutes Bill shuffled his feet and winced in pain. “What’s the matter Bill?” whispered Ben. “It’s my feet! They are killing me. My shoes are too small.” “Why do you wear shoes that are too small?” “Ah well! Two weeks ago I lost my job. My wife Sadie complains of rheumatism all day long and won’t let me near her. I can’t pay my bills. My son Tom has abandoned his studies and it has cost me my life savings already to put him into university. My daughter has run off with a no good drug addict. But when I take my shoes off, life seems wonderful!”
THIS AND THAT (83)
Andrew Neaum
Oh dear, oh dear. This is my penultimate pewsheet. What am I going to do without this weekly deadline, this opportunity to bare my soul, my prejudices my melancholia and joie de vivre? I will be bereft, will miss it more even than my parishioners. How joyous has been this daily dalliance with the computer keyboard.
Largely rubbish
Ten years worth of pewsheets have been more than just self indulgence though. I have bared my soul, my prejudices my joie de vivre and my melancholia with a purpose. Anyone who bothers to read them ends up really knowing something about me and mine and what makes me tick. This means that when they encounter me face to face there is little need to explain, reveal or excuse myself. My part in any dialogue is already more than half done. I am free to listen and question rather than waste time on myself. Well that’s the theory anyway. Like so much theory its largely rubbish!
On the road
We are at Dookie this Sunday, after which we head down to Skipton, my first parish in Australia. There we say farewell to earliest Australian friends of mine. We return on Tuesday and leave the parish finally on the fifteenth of May to head north for Canberra a city which Diana has not yet seen. There we will stay with Scott and Linda Cowdell. Scott was our guest for the 2007 Patronal Festival and also participated in a seminar we hosted. He is among the brightest and clearest of theological thinkers in the land and stimulating company.
Down the road apiece
We then head on to Tamworth to see Peter my son to help him arrange and place some of the furniture he and his siblings did not wish to see us sell. We will also reassure ourselves that he has packed away safely the wherewithal for us to set up again the two essentials of habitation, a kitchen and bedroom, should we return permanently. After that we head for Brisbane to see and farewell my brother Peter and his wife as well as further to cement our relationship with Queensland by wandering around some of its many beauties.
On the high seas
We then we drift south by way of Sydney back to Benalla to enjoy grandchildren for a week or two before Elizabeth takes us down to Melbourne Docks on the tenth of June to board a German Freighter the Bahia Blanca bound for Philadelphia in the States by way of the Panama Canal. At Philadelphia we will go to stay for three days with Peter French, Anglican Chaplain at nearby Princeton University, with whom will be staying at the same time my son David and his wife Rachel. We then board another German freighter, the Rickmers Hamburg, bound for Antwerp from where, on about the 30th of July, we will find our way to London and hopefully to a “House for Duty” appointment in Hampshire. All very exciting.
I suppose this is all part of packing as many interesting rendevous and experiences into one’s life before the inevitable limitations of geriatric ward and coffin!
How many funerals?
There were three funerals this week, two of them very small, one so much so that we had it in the Lady Chapel. Very lovely too, simple with not fuss. The second was a grave side ceremony at Pine Lodge. As I looked around I wondered how many folk I personally have laid to rest since coming to Shepparton. A quick count in the Burial Register reveals close to three hundred! That is a fair old swag. I trust that all those I have laid to rest are now in heavenly bliss. Being almost a universalist (that word “almost” is a caveat characteristic of Anglicanism) I am well aware that my homilies, prayers and blessings will in no way have effected the happy outcome that is heavenly bliss, but I do trust that they will have helped reassure the bereaved that no one lies outside of or beyond God’s all embracing love.
London Underground
Talking of funerals brings to mind the London Underground which I love. I discover that my tally of funerals since moving to Shepparton is more than the total of London Underground stations, which is 270, if my counting is correct, (I have just enjoyed counting them, there’s a picture of each and every station on Wikipedia). Even with the six new stations planned, I have stationed more good folk underground than there are London Underground stations. Pimlico is the only station name that does not contain any letters from the word “badger”. I wonder who worked out that piece of unutterably irrelevant, useless and yet interesting piece of information.
Welcome back
We welcome back to the Parish Office on Wednesday the much loved Heather Camm. For about three months she will be driving up each week from her home on the Mornington Peninsular. This is to allow the new Rector to familiarise himself with the Parish Office in the company of someone already familiar with it. Thereafter he will be able to set about finding a permanent Parish Secretary locally. We are very grateful to Heather for offering her services, she has done so out of love of the parish and her Lord. Office hours will be: Wednesdays 9.00am - 4.30pm, Thursdays 9.00am - 5.30pm, Fridays 9.00am - 2.00pm.
RETURN TO
TRISTAN DA CUNHA (18)
The trip to Nightingale Island was a fitting climax to our stay. On our return, nervous about our passports which we had left with the Purser on the Agulhas and so they had gone on to Gough Island without us, we made a quick visit to the Administration Building to establish that they would be brought ashore and stamped. We did not want the South African Immigration officials wondering how it was we had left the country only to return from nowhere. The Admin. Offices were closed, but we saw Sean, the Administrator himself on the way back and he said that our passports would be seen to as a matter of course and there would be nothing to worry about.
Peggy called in with a little present for us, as too did Rhianna, Lars and Trina. The Parish Council and Congregation gave us a model island longboat made by Peggy’s husband.
In the evening I ate with great pleasure the tails of the two whole crayfish in the fridge and Diana heated up leftovers from the lamb we had had the night before, for which I had had to take the baked potatoes out of the oven in order to fry them brown, the oven not being up to the task. Very good though.
Our luggage tomorrow is to be picked up at 10.00am and we are to be at the helicopter field at 3.00pm. Since the return from Nightingale I have titled and transferred all our photos of the last few days onto the little computer.
Friday 5 October, 2012 7.45am
We will be off to Mattins for the last time in a few minutes. We have eaten the last piece of bread as toast for breakfast and a wash is on the clothes line. It is another fishing day today, the gong went at about half past five though it looks a little windy. The Island’s lee is elsewhere perhaps. I see the ride in the RIB has left me with the legacy of a broken blister on my elbow as well as aches and pains in my thigh muscles which are a little better this morning.
We have now just returned from our last Mattins on the island. These have been lovely sessions for which we have used the South African rite, sitting in a pew looking out over low cottage roofs and flax to the great ocean. We have missed only one day since being here and that was yesterday as we waited to field a phone call about the Nightingale trip.
It appears that if you give someone a little gift here it almost invariably brings a return gift. Agnes called round up with first day cover Tristan Stamps on an envelope and a little note, very sweet of her. I took some of our ancient carrots up to the cows roaming the village to see if they would eat them with the same gusto that they seem to eat potatoes. One cow obligingly ate one, the others were disdainful of them, though I suspect that they will return to them later, for they appear to eat pretty well anything.
Later 10.55pm South Atlantic:
We are now safely aboard the Agulhas. The day went as final days tend to, mostly in tidying up. I did manage a trip down to Garden Gate beach where I was able to take a photo of the old rock pools with the tide far out and I sighted several of the fish we used to catch as boys, darting at great speed from one pool to another. One of them initially in a small corner of a pool of the sort from which we used to catch them. I also got some good shots of a pair of lovely Tristan terns.
So we arrived at the field to be helicoptered off, kissing many but missing others, because those without immediate family to bid farewell tended to stand behind the stone wall not in front of it in the field itself. We are now back on the ship and in the same room. We had to go down to the hold to get our suitcases which had been collected from the front of the house at about 10.30. I had eaten three of the four eggs left well before lunch, two of them duck eggs, I trust there will be no evil consequences! Our last meal was split-pea dhal and because we had packed the two sauces it was so bland it is best forgotten. We followed it with tinned fruit, enjoying mightily, as we have all holiday, the South African pineapple.
We were surprised to notice the number of caves and a little beach or two beneath the low, black cliffs of Mordor (the lava plateau). I noticed from the helicopter that an arch had been worn into the black cliffs as well, obviously some of the lava is softer than the rest. For dinner on board we sat down next to the returning and retired doctor and partner (dread word). Also at the table was the returning dentist and her little daughter, Scottish she lives in Sweden. Delightful.
Later on I was able to talk to several islanders about their views of their home island. I asked one who had been just visiting if he would like to return permanently. He said not yet, because the pace of the island is too leisurely for him, he is still “too full of steam” to find it tolerable.
Interestingly I was also told that the fishermen can make £200 to £300 each in a single day and that as both spouses in a couple work, poverty is not really an issue on the island except for pensioners. I asked about ennui and was told that this is indeed a problem because no longer are there the traditional pastimes of days gone by: the sport and games they played, the sea scouts, the rituals around Christmas that involved the selection and killing of a sheep and the whole island making broth.... Nostalgia of course, but in fact activities now are few and far between and so drink does become a problem. I also talked to someone who had worked for a while on super tankers. One of the frightening things about them, he said, is that they actually twist in heavy weather, you can see them doing so if you look from the bridge forward. It is only dangerous if they don’t, because that means they might well break!
We had mixed feelings as we watched the towering island get smaller and smaller. There was no head wind as we headed east for Cape Town, what wind there was came from behind and must have been blowing at much the same speed as we were travelling. Standing at the bow we watched the effortless soaring and water skimming of the Skuas. They rarely had to flap their wings at all. The top of the mountain was clouded, though runnels of snow were just visible for a while below the cloud.
How mixed the feelings of my parents must have been when they left in 1956. Having lived there for three and a half years they left a mark on the island and its life that the mere three and half week visit by us could in no way match. Their time on Tristan proved to be the great pivot of their lives, changing their outlook and focus forever. The place remained always a topic of conversation, reminiscence and interest for ever afterwards. They left thinking that they would never ever see any of the islanders again, for in those days there was little movement away from the island. However they were on long leave from Rhodesia in England in 1961 or 1962, after the volcanic eruption when the whole population was evacuated to Britain and so, to their great delight, they did meet up with them all again.
I am the only member of our family to make the trip back to Tristan. It is not an easy place to get to and it takes time and money, though the actual voyage from Cape Town and back we did not think at all prohibitive. Perhaps too I am the one member of my family for whom the island most became a sort of Narnia, a place of deep longing, a Promised Land, a Garden of Eden. Not only have I always wanted to return to the actual place I have also developed a wider penchant for windswept and isolated places in general. My first serious attempt to return was not to Tristan itself, but to the Falklands, where I very nearly did end up, but had to settle for St Helena instead when the priest on the Falklands renewed his contract. Tropical islands do not interest me anywhere near as much as temperate or sub arctic or antarctic ones.
Our 2012 trip was hugely memorable. The most poignant moment of all was standing on the deck as we drew near to the settlement and seeing once more, with adult eyes, the beautiful, strange, remote pivot of my whole family’s life, a small, homely village, lit up by early morning sun in a stiff, cold breeze, defying the sublime vastness of great mountain and wild ocean. It was a sort of home-coming and although much had changed, there was no sense of disillusionment. The islanders them-selves were as remembered; different, hospitable, kind, reticent and resourceful. Though of course also very human and fallible with the quirks, oddities and eccentricities common to humanity with a few extra, peculiar to isolated island life which add to rather than detract from their attractiveness.
Both Diana and I left feeling immensely privileged and enriched by our visit and were half tempted to offer ourselves for a stint as priest and wife. However the Island needs someone younger and able to commit to several years, not a retired nostalgic like myself. The post of Chaplain to the Island has been readvertised, and once I get to England I will challenge every comfortable parish priest I see with the allurement of a vocation on the most interesting island fragment in the world. Irresistible surely to anyone with a sense of adventure.
FROM THE REGISTERS
Birthdays:
Tiffany Chandler. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5 May
Merle Maskell. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8 May
Joyce Oxley. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 May
Anniversary:
Reg & Lesley Wells. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 May
BLESSINGS
Congratulations to Clara Radevski to be baptized on Saturday 11 May and to her parents and godparents.
ARISE 255 YOUTH GROUP
6 May Monday 5.30pm
Looking at what Jesus says
Jesus’ philosophy about teaching
VESTRY MEETING
8 May Wednesday 2.00pm
GV HEALTH EXTENDED CARE AUX.
‘THE HELP’
9 May Thursday 11.30-12.30pm
Film and Boxed Luncheon. Village 4 Cinema Shepparton. Pre paid tickets $20, at Mimma’s Hairdressing or via Lolene 58219182
DOLL AND TAPESTRY DISPLAY
9 May Thursday At 1.30pm
20 Francis St. Tatura. Entry & Afternoon Tea $6. Contact Phyl Bramley 58242633 for details
FEEDING 5000
The “Elegiac Banquet”
10 May Friday 6.00pm Church Hall
The closing date for acceptances of the invitation to the Farewell to the Neaums is today, 5 May. This is a real Feeding of the 5000 occasion. Unlike Jesus we need to know if you are coming.
INFORMAL ‘BRING & SHARE’ LUNCH
12 May after 10.30am Eucharist
Sunday May 12 happens to be Mother’s Day and so many folk will be celebrating en famille. However, because it is the Neaum’s last Sunday in the parish those who are not committed to family celebrations are invited to bring along to share a light lunch after the 10.30am Eucharist. Tea and Coffee will be provided (plus anything else still edible from the twelve baskets left over from Friday’s Elegiac Dinner). Murchison and Rushworth folk will be joining us at St Augustine’s and we are hoping that Dookie and Katandra will too.
HOSPICE TEA AND HARMONY
14 May Tuesday 1.30pm
Eastbank Centre
Guest Speaker: Peter Roberts from Geelong, Guest Artist: Kathryn Bradbury, nee King, from the Gold Coast. All funds to the GV Hospice Care Service. Tickets:$30 available from Pat 58313080 or Heather 58299418
ECUMENICAL SERVICE
26 May Sunday 7.00pm, Uniting Church, Maude St
The annual Pentecost Ecumenical Service will be held on Sunday, May 26 at the Uniting Church, Maude Street Shepparton at 7.00pm. Fr Joe Taylor will be the preacher. The service is on Trinity Sunday rather than Pentecost, but the Liturgy will be that prepared for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.
INDUCTION
2 June Sunday 4.30pm
Our new Rector, The Revd Des Potter, is to be inducted at Choral Evensong on 2 June at 4.30pm, followed by excellent food and drink.
YOUTH
You are only young once, but you can stay immature indefinitely. Ogden Nash
DIARY DATES
May 6 Mon. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Arise 255 Youth Group
May 10 Fri. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Rector’s Farewell 6.00PM
May 15 Wed. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Parish Council
May 16 Thur. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Ladies Guild
May 21 Tues. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Friendship Group
May 23 Thu. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4pm Raffle sub Committee Roz’s Room
May 25 Sat. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Garden Working Bee
May 26 Sun. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Ecumenical Service Uniting Church 7pm
May 31-June 1 Fri-Sun. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Synod
June 2 Sun. . . . . . . . . . . . . .Patronal Festival & Induction of New Rector
June 8 Sat. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Martyrs of Uganda Service and Breakfast
June 13 Thur. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4pm Fair Planning Group Roz’s Room
Oct 19 Sat. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Parish Fair
Oct 26 Sat. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Murchison - Boot Sale
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.
Bruce Hodgson & family, Paul Liversedge, Bob & June McKellar, Lynda Saville, Sandra Simonis, Suzanne Singh, Gloria Wayman, Cheryl, Simon, Joy, James & Rachel, Ray, David, Tom.
Rest in Peace: Bonnie Howard, Fr Lauri Allot, Dos King, Margaret Bakker,
Anniversaries: Keith Oxley, Stan Dainton, Gus Kelly, Rodger Saville (5 May), Dorothy Neaum, Geoffrey Carmichael, William Lethlean (7 May), Jim Reither, Eva Wooton (8 May), Bosilka Damianopoulos, Simon Keeley, Glenda Kuehnapfel, Arthur Smith (9 May), June Reid, Bobby Causon, Roger Knights (11 May).
READINGS EASTER SEVEN 12 May
Acts1616-34, Psalm 97, Revelation 22 12-,22
Duties Sixth Sunday of Easter 5 May 2013
Readers 8.30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . John Wellman, Jeanette Smith
Intercessor 8.30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Heather Pearson
Servers 8.30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . John Horder, Soibhan, Beth
Euc. Assts 8.30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Barbara Schier, Bev Condon
Sidespeople 8.30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Norm Mitchelmore, Joe Pearson
Welcomer 8.30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dulcie Ackland, Shirley Dean
Welcome Tbl 8.30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Dorothy
Tea 8.30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Gwyn Cowland
Reader 10.30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Chris Jones
Intercessor 10.30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Joan McCann
Servers 10.30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jordan Gilbert, Veila Gatu
Euc. Assts 10.30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jenny, Joe
Sidespeople 10.30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .John Pleming, Rob Gilbert
Welcomers 10.30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Frank Steen, Beryl Black
Welcome Tbl 10.30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dorothy Cook
Projector 10.30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Black Family
Children’s Church10.30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Mary Pearson
Mowing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .none
Monday Office 6 May. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Rosemary Moore, Jeanette Smith
Duties for Seventh Sunday of Easter 12 May 2013
Readers 8.30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Pat Griffin, Bev Condon
Intercessor 8.30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Jeanette Smith
Servers 8.30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . John Griffin, Soibhan, Michelle,
Euc. Assts 8.30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Joe Pearson, Heather Pearson
Sidespeople 8.30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Gwyn and Merv Cowland
Welcomer 8.30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Beryl Goodfellow, Heather Nichols
Welcome Tbl 8.30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dorothy Cook
Tea 8.30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Barbara Schier
Reader 10.30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Aaron Bhat
Intercessor 10.30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ryan Bhat
Servers 10.30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Jenny,,
Euc. Assts 10.30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Chris Evans, Joe Fernandez
Sidespeople 10.30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . John Pleming, Donna Venables
Welcomers 10.30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Yasmin Bhat, Irene Crawford
Welcome Tbl 10.30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dorothy Cook
Projector 10.30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Black Family
Children’s Church10.30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Diana Neaum
Monday Office 13 May. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Jenny Mintern, Jan Phillips
Mowing 18 May . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .John Pleming, John Wellman
THIS WEEK IN THE PARISH
Sunday 5 May 6th Sunday of Easter
5.30pm Evening Prayer- Lady Chapel
Monday 6 May
Rector’s Day Off
7.45am Mattins & Eucharist - Lady Chapel
11.00am Shepp Age Care
5.30pm Arise 255 Youth Group
Tuesday 7 May
7.45am Mattins & Eucharist - Lady Chapel
10.00am Play Group
5.00pm Evening Prayer
Wednesday 8 May Julian of Norwich
7.45am Mattins - Lady Chapel
10.00am Eucharist - St Augustine’s
2.00pm Vestry Meeting
5.00pm Evening Prayer
5.30pm Hospice
6.30pm EfM
Thursday 9 May Ascension Day
7.45am Mattins & Eucharist - Lady Chapel
10.00am Mercy
11.00am Harmony
11.00am Ave Maria
Hospital
5.00pm Evening Prayer
5.30pm Choir Practice
Friday 10 May
7.45am Mattins & Eucharist - Lady Chapel
6.00pm Neaum’s Farewell
Saturday 11 May
7.45am Mattins & Eucharist - Lady Chapel
11.00pm Orthodox Baptism
6.00pm Vigil Eucharist
Sunday12 May 7th Sunday of Easter
8.30am Sung Eucharist - St Augustine’s
10.30am Eucharist & Children’s Ch - St Augustine’s
5.30pm Evening Prayer