December 1940 Parish magazine

THE VICAR’S LETTER

My Dear Parishioners,

For most people there is always something rather cheering about a new beginning with its possibilities and its hopes. The season of Advent in which we have now entered, marks the beginning of another Christian year. It is a season of preparation and remembrance. Its message is one which can help us all.

The Christmas Message will come amid strange circumstances, yet with urgent, clamant appeal and challenge. Christian values have been trampled down, rejected by vast masses of mankind. Darkness has descended on many lands and many hearts. Yet that darkness cannot quench the great truth of the Christian Message which comes as a ray of hope, piercing the shadows.

After all it is for the preservation of Christian values that we are striving. Christmas can be for us a time of encouragement and of hope. Its message, heard amid the stress of war, will keep us steadfast, faithful to our purpose.

May this Christmas be for you all and for your loved ones, wherever they may be, a time of blessing and of inward joy and peace and may the New Year see evil overthrown and justice, freedom and peace established in every land.

Your sincere friend and Vicar,

E. J. RICH

PARISH NOTES

The Revs. V. W. Joblin and H. Taepa will be ordained to the priesthood in the Cathedral Church of St. Paul, Wellington, on Sunday, 22nd December, at 11 a.m.

Mr H. E. Evans, of Wellington, will be the speaker at the annual prize-giving function at St Matthew’s Collegiate School on Friday, 13th December, at 7.30 p.m.  The function will be held in the School Assembly Hall and all interested are invited.

There was a splendid congregation at the service held at Bideford last month and members were keen that the service should be continued. We hope to hold the service monthly, and with the help of everybody in the district it will be a worthy service.

St Alban’s Church, Taueru, was packed for the prizegiving service. The carols rendered by the Choir were greatly appreciated. The whole service was most inspiring. After the service the Choir was entertained at “Hapua” for afternoon tea. It was a very happy day in the life of our Church at Taueru and we are grateful to all who helped to make it so.

KURIPUNI NOTES

Unfavourable weather made it necessary to hold the Annual Garden Party in the Epiphany Hall. This was disappointing, for the grounds of the Church and of Sedgley were looking their best. However parishioners and friends rallied to the Guild’s support, with the result that the effort proved a marked success. A very happy fellowship in service marked the gathering and the financial results were even better than last year.

The Kuripuni prize-giving for the Sunday School will be held in the Epiphany Hall on Sunday, 15th December, at 8 p.m. Parents and friends are invited.

CHRISTMAS DAY

This great and happy festival makes a wide appeal. World conditions intensify its appeal this year and parishioners will hardly need the reminder that on Christmas Day all Communicants should make their Communion. There will be celebrations at

St Matthew’s at 6 a.m., 7 a.m., 8 a.m., and 11 a.m.

At 10 a.m. there will be a children’s service.

There will be a celebration at Kuripuni at 9 a.m.;

at Upper Plain at 9 a.m.;

at Taueru at 10.30 a.m.;

at Kopuaranga at 10.30 a.m.

On Tuesday, 24th December, we shall be glad of gifts of flowers for the Christmas decorations, and at 2 p.m. of the help of as many as possible in preparing the Church.

Any unable, on account of sickness, to make their Christmas Communion in the Church are asked to notify the Vicar so that arrangements may be made for them to receive the Sacrament in hospital or in their own home.

SPECIAL SERVICES

We all want to use this season of Advent to prepare for Christmas. The Choir is helping us in that. A special service of Lessons and Carols, which bring home the Message of this season in a striking way, will be held at 11 a.m. on Sunday, 8th December, and at 7 p.m., on Sunday, 22nd December, at St. Matthew’s. The lessons will be read by representatives of some of the parish organisations. Then at 7 p.m. on Sunday, 15th December, the Choir will lead us in a Christmas Musical Service, rendering a Christmas cantata.

ARMY CHAPLAINS

Proof of the value (states the London “Daily Telegraph) placed on the work of the chaplains is to be seen in the persistence with which officers whose units are not entitled to have a chaplain allocated solely to them, apply to have one specially attached. The war establishment authorises one chaplain to every 1100 men. That provision does not satisfy the demand of the Army.

This spontaneous tribute to the part played by the chaplains is expressed in another form. Practically every unit of the B.E.F[1]. on being reformed has demanded that it have its old padre back again. They want the men who were with them in action and on the Dunkirk beaches.

Not all such requests can be granted for casualties among the chaplains numbered 12 per cent.

It is just because the chaplains are upholding their traditions that such an experienced soldier as Sir Edmund Ironside said that the Chaplains’ Department was the most important in that the chaplains kept in front of all ranks the ideal for which we are striving. Lord Gort spoke in much the same way about the padres in the B.E.F.

SUNDAY SCHOOLS

The prize-givings are held at the various schools this month, and all parents and friends of the children are asked to be present. The function at Taueru was held on Sunday, 1st December; that at Upper Plain will be held on Sunday, 8th December, at 7 p.m.; that at Lansdowne, on Sunday, 15th December, at 9.30 a.m.; that at Kuripuni on Sunday, 15th December, at 2 p.m.; that at St Matthew’s on Sunday, 15th December at 3.30 p.m.

The schools will resume next year in February--Taueru on the first Sunday at 2 p.m., and all others on the second Sunday at the usual times and places. It will be a great help if all children are present on the re-opening day.

CHRISTMAS GIFT

There was a splendid response to the suggestion that a special personal gift should be sent to the Rev. J. E. Jones; £28 10/- was the total given. Those associated with this gift were:

The Bishop of Wellington,
Archdeacon and Mrs Rich;
Rev. V. W. Joblin,
Robins family,
Jaine family,
Mesdames E. Jackson,
W. I. Armstrong,
M. Cleghorn,
Hatch,
Pauling,
Andrew,
Griffin,
Bennett,
L. Moore,
Moss,
J. G. Miller,
Carruthers,
E. J. Coleman,
A. O. Jones,
Spencer,
Price,
Howes,
Betteridge,
Polson,
Chapman,
Cruickshank,
A.T. Jackson,
H. McKay,
Mr and Mrs G. Hyde,
Mr and Mrs Denbee,
Mrs Newman,
Misses Brown,
Morrison,
M. Loader,
Creswell,
D. Kemp,
M. James,
A. Edge,
Vallance,
Stilborn,
A. Perry,
M. F. Dale,
Mrs. Joan and Mary Truscott,
Sanchia and Roger Hunter,
Messrs Wm. C. Mann,
D. Thompson,
E. J Brown,
F. H Dunderdale,
J. Ninnes,
R. Penistone,
Leo Coley,
E.W.,
J. D.
3 anonymous.

C.E.M.S.

A comprehensive study of the Evangelical Revival was given at the November meeting, and in December the study was a report of a recent address given on the “Peace of Tomorrow.”  This address dealt with matters of vital importance and should help members as they think over the future, with special reference to the matters to be studied at the Dominion Conference next year.

MAGAZINE DONATIONS

Mr Tatton, Mrs Elkington, 10/- each; Mrs Peacock, 5/-; Mrs A. Beetham, 3/6; Mrs Andrew, Mrs Williams, 3/- each; Mrs Davies, Mrs H. Loader, Mrs Ward, Mrs Wood, 2/6 each.

OUR HERITAGE

Dr Albert Mansbridge writes:

"The British State, what it stands for and all that it implies, derives its present strength to endure from the fact that its roots are struck deeply into the subsoil of British character, a subsoil created and sustained by the British spirit which derives from and is inspired by the Faith in God--Father, Son and Holy Ghost.

"In these disturbed days writers and speakers almost without exception emphasise with pride the courageous enduring spirit of these, rich or poor, who, having suffered loss or injury, forgetting themselves, are ready and eager to help and cheer their fellows. They are as those who have “Set their hearts aright, patiently endure and make not haste in time of trouble.”

"The British heritage is rich and potent, in spirit of the persistence of many false values, it is shot through and through with the recognition of and obedience to true values which rise directly out of belief in the Fatherhood of man. The roots of true British life are struck deep in the eternal immeasurable territory of God from whence wisdom and strength derive.

BAPTISMS

November

1      Keith Allan Morris

10    Diana Catherine Mouldey

14    Sydney Phillip Stevens

        Raymond Percy Stevens

        Ronald Stevens

        Roy Colin Tucker

        Clarence Leslie Campbell

        John Foster

        Thomas Frederick Lamb

        Stanley Arthur Milne

        Peter Kent Travers

        David Winter

17    Ronald Eric Downes

        Beverley Maureen Downes

29    Winifred Mary Gronn

        Margaret Shirley Gronn

        Barbara Ellen Gronn

BURIALS

November

11        George Power

            Ada Johnston

12        Frank Reeves

13        Charles Hiscock

18        Edward Thomas Wynne Bond

19        Mary McJorrow.

[1] British Expeditionary Force

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