The Parish Magazine April 2021

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8 The Parish Magazine - April 2021 Please mention The Parish Magazine when responding to advertisements advert-1...vis 1_Layout 1 15/09/2011 11:47 Page 1 Are you thinking about homecare? BOOK A BEAUTIFUL NIGHT STAY WITH US. RECEIVE 15% OFF QUOTE THE CODE FST1845 TAKE AWAY FISH AND CHIPS £10 The Bull Inn, Sonning on Thames Berkshire RG4 6UP, T: 0118 969 3901 e: bullinn@fullers.co.uk www.bullinnsonning.co.uk If you would like to learn more please call us on 0118 947 6666 www.thebmgc.com 10% of the value of your first order will be donated to the new community hall fund when you quote Ref: BMGC-CH • Pull-up banners • Point of sale • Window graphics • Vehicle livery • PVC banners • Posters • Corporate branding • Graphic design • Installation services • Shop signage • Exhibition systems • Signage for commerce • Bespoke wall coverings For cost effective, locally produced, quality graphics call us on 0118 934 5016 The Homestead, Park Lane, Charvil, Reading RG10 9TR email: sales@thebmgc.com
the parish noticeboard — 2 On reflection . . . Abraham and taking matters into our hands By Elizabeth Spiers Abraham serving three angels by Rembrandt Public domain According to the Bible in Genesis 12, Israel is a nation that was started by God when he promised Abram, a childless but religious man, that he would be the father of a nation so numerous that you couldn’t count them. He changed Abram’s name to Abraham because that means ‘father of multitudes’. However, Abraham and his wife Sarah had to wait many years to see this promise fulfilled and in the waiting period, they took matters into their own hands. At Sarah’s prompting, Abraham had a son, Ishmael, with her maidservant, Hagar. Abraham’s actions didn’t stop God being faithful. 13 years after Ishmael was born, God gave Abraham and Sarah a son of their own, Isaac. And from Isaac came the Jewish nation. But soon after Isaac was born, there was great strife between the two mothers, and much to Abraham’s distress, Sarah made him send Ishmael and Hagar away. CONSEQUENCES By taking matters into their own hands they caused problems for everyone in the family at the time, and far into the future, with serious consequences. Forced to leave his father’s house, Ishmael was not part of the family that led to the birth of the nation of Israel. Islamic lore says that Hagar took Ishmael to Mecca. Certainly, Ishmael is considered a patriarch of Islam and many Arabs today can probably trace their line back to him. There is still a great deal of strife between the descendants of Isaac and those who see Ishmael as their father — look at the problems in the Middle East. We can often do as Abraham and Sarah did and take things into our own hands. We give God a ‘helping hand’ or perhaps we doubt that we heard from him or maybe we don’t believe that God is still interested in us or our nation or the wider world. It’s easy for us to lose confidence when time passes, and nothing happens. But our God is faithful. If he promises something, he means it and will do it. It is in God’s timing, not ours. Taking matters into our own hands can have consequences beyond anything we can imagine. What might the world look like today if Abraham and Sarah had not decided to give God a helping hand? From the desk of the editor editor@theparishmagazine.co.uk One event, many interpretations The Parish Magazine - April 2021 9 St George's Day on 23 April always reminds me of the first church that I went to, I wonder how many people remember their first church? St George's Church in Tarpots, Essex, was not then a 'proper' church as most people would imagine, it was a hall in which worship was held for the local people who found it difficult attending the 'real', 1,000 year old parish church of St Peter's Thundersley. The two churches were only 1½ miles apart along a road aptly named, Church Road, where I lived. The journey between the two churches meant climbing a very steep hill — also aptly named 'Church Hill' — that even many cars in the early 1950's had difficulty driving up. As a boy, one of the greatest challenges was to try to cycle up it, the reward being a dangerously fast but thrilling ride down. One of my aunts lived at the bottom of the hill so when we crashed there was somewhere to get patched up! St George's was one of those small halls that were built by churches after the war and although it was used for services, worshippers had to face west instead of the traditional east — east meant looking towards Jerusalem, the city that was at the centre of the Easter events that we celebrate this month. The 'proper' services such as baptism, confirmation, marriage and funerals, were always celebrated up the hill in St Peter's. It was in St George's that I believe I had my first call to serve in the church, but that's another long story! MEMORABLE Nevertheless, St George's was where each month I marched with a boy scouts' drum and fife band. I was the lead drummer, although secretly I wanted to play the big bass drum but that was a man-sized job! On St George's Day we all trooped off to Southend-on-Sea for a huge parade when scouts from throughout Essex marched along the seafront with their bands playing and flags flying for a service in the Odeon theatre and cinema. For me, St George's Day has always been memorable. St George's Church stood in a large field on the edge of Tarpots and beyond was a 'green belt' area. The other day I googled St George's Church and was pleased to see that it still exists, although it is no longer a daughter church of St Peter's. It is part of the New Wine evangelical movement that grew out of the Church of England as a multidenominational group of churches. The old building had long gone and now a smart new church stands in a more densely-populated area. My excuse for writing about my St George's Day memories is that it led me to think about how Christians experience their faith in so many different ways but all recognise that their roots lie in the amazing, life changing, and historychanging events that happened in Jerusalem 2,000 years ago — albeit in slightly different ways. This, in turn, led to the centre page article this month. Happy Easter!
Page 1 and 2: The Parish Magazine - April 2021 1
Page 3 and 4: Serving the communities of Charvil,
Page 7: the parish noticeboard — 1 A pass
Page 11 and 12: the parish noticeboard — 3 The Pe
Page 13 and 14: the parish noticeboard — 4 The Pa
Page 17 and 18: feature — 3 Easter 'traditions' o
Page 19 and 20: feature — 4 Jake takes a step up
Page 21 and 22: feature — 5 It is 100 years since
Page 25 and 26: around the villages — 1 The Paris
Page 27 and 28: around the villages — 2 Looking f
Page 29 and 30: HEALTH — 1 Ingredients for the
Page 31 and 32: HEALTH — 2 Dr Simon Ruffle writes
Page 33 and 34: HOME & GARDEN Rare visitor from Bib
Page 35 and 36: THE ARTS — 1 From blindness to si
Page 37 and 38: the ARTS — 2 Poetry corner Promis
Page 39 and 40: NEXT ISSUE EASTER ANAGRAMS 1. Airy
Page 41 and 42: CHILDREN'S PAGE The Parish Magazine
Page 43 and 44: Please mention The Parish Magazine

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