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The Parish Magazine December 2024

Serving the communities of Charvil, Sonning & Sonning Eye since 1869

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<strong>The</strong><br />

<strong>Parish</strong><br />

<strong>Magazine</strong><br />

<strong>Magazine</strong><br />

<strong>Parish</strong> Te<br />

155<br />

<strong>The</strong> <strong>Parish</strong> <strong>Magazine</strong> 1869 — <strong>December</strong> <strong>2024</strong> 1<br />

YEARS<br />

Serving Charvil, Sonning and Sonning Eye<br />

<strong>2024</strong><br />

<strong>The</strong> John King Trophy and Gold Award<br />

Best <strong>Magazine</strong> of the Year 2018<br />

National <strong>Parish</strong> <strong>Magazine</strong> Awards<br />

Best Overall 2015, 2020, 2022, 2023<br />

Best Content 2016, 2021<br />

Best Editor 2019<br />

Best Print 2018<br />

Serving the communities of Charvil, Sonning & Sonning Eye since 1869<br />

<strong>December</strong> <strong>2024</strong> — Advent to Christmas<br />

Church of St Andrew<br />

Serving Sonning, Charvil & Sonning Eye<br />

the church of st andrew, SERVING THE COMMUNITIES OF<br />

CHARVIL, SONNING and sonning eye SINCE THE 7 th CENTURY<br />

135 DECEMBER 2O24.indd 1 13/11/<strong>2024</strong> 10:14:33


2 <strong>The</strong> <strong>Parish</strong> <strong>Magazine</strong> — <strong>December</strong> <strong>2024</strong> Please mention <strong>The</strong> <strong>Parish</strong> <strong>Magazine</strong> when responding to this advertisement<br />

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135 DECEMBER 2O24.indd 2 13/11/<strong>2024</strong> 10:14:34


Serving the communities of Charvil, Sonning & Sonning Eye since 1869<br />

Church of St Andrew<br />

Serving Sonning, Charvil & Sonning Eye<br />

<strong>Magazine</strong><br />

<strong>Parish</strong> Te<br />

<strong>The</strong> <strong>Parish</strong> <strong>Magazine</strong> 1869 — <strong>December</strong> <strong>2024</strong> 1<br />

<strong>2024</strong><br />

Serving Charvil, Sonning and Sonning Eye<br />

<strong>The</strong> John King Trophy and Gold Award<br />

Best <strong>Magazine</strong> of the Year 2018<br />

National <strong>Parish</strong> <strong>Magazine</strong> Awards<br />

Best Overall 2015, 2020, 2022, 2023<br />

Best Content 2016, 2021<br />

Best Editor 2019<br />

Best Print 2018<br />

information — 1<br />

Contents <strong>December</strong> <strong>2024</strong><br />

THE VICAR'S LETTER, 5<br />

THE PARISH NOTICEBOARD<br />

— Advent Sunday Family Service, 7<br />

— Candlelit Carol Service, 7<br />

— Sunday 29 <strong>December</strong>, 7<br />

— For your prayers, 7<br />

— Diary dates, 7<br />

— Christmas Crib Service, 7<br />

— STAY, 8-9<br />

— Why I am a Christian, 10-11<br />

— Toys and Teens Appeal, 11<br />

— Father who?, 13<br />

— From the editor's desk, 13<br />

— <strong>The</strong> Persecuted Church, 15<br />

FEATURES<br />

— Three Christmas questions, 17<br />

— Claude's Christmas past, 19<br />

— TV licence rules, 20<br />

— Christmas thoughts, 20<br />

— Sonning's Saint, 21<br />

— Christmas parish events, 22-23<br />

— 1914-18 is never forgotten, 24<br />

around the villages<br />

— WI Glebe 60th anniversary, 25<br />

— Christmas sacks, 25<br />

— Pumpkins and Halloween, 25<br />

— Young football players wanted, 25<br />

— Remembering <strong>2024</strong>, 27<br />

— RNLI wants muscians, 27<br />

HOME AND GARDEN<br />

— A foot in the garden, 28<br />

— Robins, 29<br />

HISTORY<br />

— Was it really?, 29<br />

THE SCIENCES<br />

— Five trillion cells, 37<br />

THE Christmas quiz<br />

— Questions and answers, 33<br />

This ISSUE's FRONT COVER<br />

<strong>The</strong><br />

<strong>Parish</strong><br />

<strong>Magazine</strong><br />

<strong>December</strong> <strong>2024</strong> — Advent to Christmas<br />

155<br />

<strong>The</strong> Christmas tree in<br />

St Andrew's Church<br />

Picture: Keith Hawkins<br />

EDITORIAL DEADLINE<br />

<strong>The</strong> editorial deadline for every issue<br />

of <strong>The</strong> <strong>Parish</strong> <strong>Magazine</strong> is 12 noon on<br />

the sixth day of the month prior to the<br />

date of publication.<br />

<strong>The</strong> deadline for the January 2025<br />

issue of <strong>The</strong> <strong>Parish</strong> <strong>Magazine</strong> is:<br />

Friday 6 <strong>December</strong><br />

at 12 noon<br />

Recent issues of <strong>The</strong> <strong>Parish</strong> <strong>Magazine</strong><br />

can also be read online at<br />

https://theparishmagazine.co.uk<br />

For access to <strong>The</strong> <strong>Parish</strong> <strong>Magazine</strong><br />

archives which holds copies of the<br />

magazine from 1869, please contact:<br />

editor@theparishmagazine.co.uk<br />

YEARS<br />

the church of st andrew, SERVING THE COMMUNITIES OF<br />

CHARVIL, SONNING and sonning eye SINCE THE 7 th CENTURY<br />

<strong>The</strong> <strong>Parish</strong> <strong>Magazine</strong> — <strong>December</strong> <strong>2024</strong> 3<br />

Services in<br />

St Andrew's<br />

Church Sonning<br />

Advent Sunday 1 <strong>December</strong><br />

— 8.00am Holy Communion<br />

— 10.30am Family Toy Service<br />

— 4.00pm Advent Carol Service<br />

Second Sunday of Advent<br />

8 <strong>December</strong><br />

— 8.00am Holy Communion<br />

— 10.30am <strong>Parish</strong> Eucharist with<br />

STAY and Sunday Club<br />

— 6.00pm Beer & Carols at the Bull<br />

Third Sunday of Advent<br />

15 <strong>December</strong><br />

— 8.00am Holy Communion<br />

— 10.30am Family Communion<br />

— 3.00pm Messy Christmas<br />

— 5pm Traditional Service of Nine<br />

Lessons and Carols<br />

Fourth Sunday of Advent<br />

22 <strong>December</strong><br />

— 8.00am Holy Communion<br />

— 10.30am <strong>Parish</strong> Eucharist with<br />

STAY and Sunday Club<br />

Christmas Eve 23 <strong>December</strong><br />

— 4.00pm Crib Service<br />

— 11.00 pm Midnight Mass<br />

Christmas Day<br />

10.30am <strong>Parish</strong> Eucharist<br />

First Sunday of Christmas<br />

Sunday 29 <strong>December</strong><br />

— 10.30am <strong>Parish</strong> Eucharist<br />

(Please note: No <strong>Parish</strong> Communion<br />

at 8.00am or Sunday at Six)<br />

FASHION<br />

— Anything goes comfortably, 34<br />

THE ARTS<br />

— <strong>The</strong> Incarnation, 35<br />

— Christmas Book Reviews, 35-37<br />

PUZZLE PAGES, 38-39<br />

children's page, 41<br />

INFORMATION,<br />

— Church services, 3<br />

— From the registers, 3<br />

— Local Trades and Services, 40<br />

— <strong>Parish</strong> contacts, 42<br />

— Advertisers' index, 42<br />

From the Registers<br />

WEDDINGS<br />

— Saturday 26 October, Timothy<br />

Robert Edwards and Lucy Alice<br />

Beer<br />

FUNERALS<br />

— Friday 11 October, Kaicy Rekai<br />

Zelden Brown, burial in the<br />

churchyard<br />

— Wednesday 23 October, Christina<br />

Mary Fincham, interment of<br />

ashes in the churchyard<br />

OTHER REGULAR SERVICES<br />

Morning Prayer is held in the church<br />

every Tuesday at 9.30am.<br />

Mid-week Communion in <strong>The</strong> Ark is<br />

held every Wednesday at 10.00am. Tea<br />

and coffee follows the service.<br />

Home Communion at Sonning<br />

Gardens Care Home is held on the first<br />

Monday of each month at 11.00am.<br />

135 DECEMBER 2O24.indd 3 13/11/<strong>2024</strong> 10:14:34


4 <strong>The</strong> <strong>Parish</strong> <strong>Magazine</strong> — <strong>December</strong> <strong>2024</strong> Please mention <strong>The</strong> <strong>Parish</strong> <strong>Magazine</strong> when responding to this advertisement<br />

<strong>The</strong> French Horn,<br />

Sonning. Quality.<br />

A continuing commitment to<br />

wonderful food and wine.<br />

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135 DECEMBER 2O24.indd 4 13/11/<strong>2024</strong> 10:14:39


<strong>The</strong> <strong>Parish</strong> <strong>Magazine</strong> — <strong>December</strong> <strong>2024</strong> 5<br />

<strong>The</strong> vicar's letter<br />

D e a r F r i e n d S,<br />

One of the most prominent British painters of the Victorian era was<br />

Holman Hunt. He lived for a time on Thames Street in Sonning and<br />

frequented the Bull Inn. He was also often to be seen sat at the lock<br />

chatting with friends. His most famous work is ‘Light of the world’.<br />

It was based on the depiction of Jesus from John’s Revelation, where<br />

Jesus says 'Behold I stand at the door and knock.' Jesus is portrayed,<br />

standing outside a door, holding a lantern, waiting to come in.<br />

Deliberately, no handle is to be seen on the door, for only the<br />

individual inside can open the door of their heart. <strong>The</strong> clear message is<br />

that Jesus will never impose himself. He waits to be welcomed.<br />

<strong>The</strong> original painting is hung in Keble College, Oxford, and when they<br />

started to charge people to see it, Hunt decided to make a larger version<br />

for St Paul’s Cathedral.<br />

Many years later, the painting went to be cleaned and when the<br />

restorer removed the frame, there in script at the bottom, painted by the<br />

artist, was this prayer: 'Forgive me Lord Jesus that I kept you waiting so long'.<br />

I read of this in an extraordinary book, 'Amazed by Jesus’ by Simon<br />

Ponsonby, that Westy lent me recently.<br />

I was so taken by it that we have bought the adult Confirmation<br />

candidates a copy. I have never read a Christian book quite like it; a real<br />

page turner. He brings Jesus of Nazareth to life and there was a sense<br />

that Jesus was brought near as I read it in one afternoon.<br />

As Advent begins and we await the celebration of Christ’s coming at<br />

Christmas, I recommend this book as a means of drawing closer to the<br />

Saviour. For most people, at best, there is only a passing encounter with<br />

Christ during this season: that is if he isn’t completely eclipsed by Santa<br />

and tinsel. Yet Simon writes, 'To truly encounter Jesus is to be knocked<br />

sideways, astonished, overwhelmed. Mild interest means you have not met him.'<br />

JESUS AWARENESS MONTH<br />

I understand that it was decided, by whomever, that November was to<br />

be an ‘Islamaphobia awareness month’. I have written before of my feelings<br />

on this seemingly endless creation of new awareness days, weeks and<br />

even months. Call me a cynic, but I question some of the motivations of<br />

those who push these causes, and wonder if they achieve much at all.<br />

No matter. If you can’t beat them, join them. So, I hereby declare the<br />

month of <strong>December</strong> 'Jesus awareness month'.<br />

<strong>The</strong> Lord of history has knocked on the doors of all our hearts. How<br />

long will we keep him waiting?<br />

C S Lewis, another fine Christian writer from the last century, wrote in<br />

his book ‘Mere Christianity’, something that makes perfect sense to me:<br />

'I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people<br />

often say about him: I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I<br />

don’t accept his claim to be God. That is the one thing we must not say. A man<br />

who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a<br />

great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic — on the level with the man<br />

who says he is a poached egg — or else he would be the devil of hell. You must<br />

make your choice.<br />

Either this man was, and is, the son of God, or else a madman or something<br />

worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a<br />

demon or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God, but let us not come<br />

with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has<br />

not left that open to us. He did not intend to.'<br />

St Paul's Cathedral version of 'Light of the<br />

World' by William Holman Hunt,<br />

Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons<br />

O come let us adore him, Christ the Lord!<br />

Warm wishes, Jamie<br />

135 DECEMBER 2O24.indd 5 13/11/<strong>2024</strong> 10:14:40


6 <strong>The</strong> <strong>Parish</strong> <strong>Magazine</strong> — <strong>December</strong> <strong>2024</strong> Please mention <strong>The</strong> <strong>Parish</strong> <strong>Magazine</strong> when responding to advertisements<br />

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135 DECEMBER 2O24.indd 6 13/11/<strong>2024</strong> 10:14:41


the parish noticeboard — 1<br />

Advent Sunday 1 <strong>December</strong> Family Service<br />

We shall hold our Toy Service at 10.30am where we collect<br />

new toys, games and books for the Reading Family Aid<br />

project. (More details about this project are on page 11.)<br />

St Nicholas will be there to receive the gifts and the<br />

parish Christmas tree lights will be switched on.<br />

Candlelit Advent Carol Service<br />

This year's Candle Lit Advent Carol Service will be on<br />

Sunday 1 <strong>December</strong> at 4.00pm and will be followed by a<br />

tea in <strong>The</strong> Ark<br />

Sunday 29 <strong>December</strong><br />

Please note that the only service in St Andrew’s on this<br />

day will be a <strong>Parish</strong> Eucharist at 10.30am. <strong>The</strong>re will be no<br />

8.00am service or Sunday at Six.<br />

<strong>The</strong> <strong>Parish</strong> <strong>Magazine</strong> — <strong>December</strong> <strong>2024</strong> 7<br />

For your Prayers in<br />

<strong>December</strong><br />

— Those recently Confirmed in<br />

the parish<br />

— Crisis at Christmas and the<br />

Salvation Army’s work with the<br />

homeless<br />

— Reading Family Aid 'Toys<br />

and Teens' Christmas Appeal<br />

— For the hostages still in<br />

captivity in Gaza<br />

Cheeese, Dreamstime.com<br />

Diary Dates<br />

Advent Sunday<br />

1 <strong>December</strong><br />

Family Service at 10.30am<br />

Collection of gifts for<br />

Reading Family Aid (see<br />

page 11)<br />

Candlelit Advent Carol<br />

Service at 4pm<br />

Sunday 8 <strong>December</strong><br />

Beers and Christmas Carols<br />

at the Bull Inn, Sonning at<br />

6.00pm<br />

Tuesday 10 <strong>December</strong><br />

at 12.00 noon<br />

Rendezvous Christmas<br />

Lunch — please note<br />

this will be the only<br />

Rendezvous in <strong>December</strong><br />

Sunday 15 <strong>December</strong><br />

Messy Christmas in <strong>The</strong><br />

Ark at St Andrew's Church<br />

Sonning at 3.00pm<br />

Traditional Christmastide<br />

service of Nine Lessons<br />

and Carols at 5.00pm<br />

followed by wine and<br />

mince pies<br />

Christmas Eve<br />

24 <strong>December</strong><br />

Children's Crib Service at<br />

4.00pm<br />

Midnight Mass at 11.00pm<br />

Christmas Day<br />

<strong>Parish</strong> Eucharist at<br />

10.30am. Children, bring a<br />

toy to show the vicar!<br />

Anatoliy Sadovskiy, dreamstime.com<br />

Church of St Andrew<br />

Serving Sonning, Charvil & Sonning Eye<br />

24 <strong>December</strong> <strong>2024</strong> at 4.00pm<br />

St Andrew's Church Sonning<br />

Everyone welcome!<br />

Children may come dressed as<br />

Nativity characters.<br />

For more information contact Corinne, Youth and<br />

Children's Minister on corinne@sonningparish.org.uk<br />

135 DECEMBER 2O24.indd 7 13/11/<strong>2024</strong> 10:14:48


8 <strong>The</strong> <strong>Parish</strong> <strong>Magazine</strong> — <strong>December</strong> <strong>2024</strong><br />

the parish noticeboard — 2<br />

St Andrew's Youth<br />

Westy<br />

email or text me, Westy, for ideas,<br />

a chat or to encourage<br />

what we are doing:<br />

youthminister@sonningparish.org.uk<br />

0794 622 4106<br />

STAY in October Half Term<br />

During half term we invited all the local young people<br />

for four days of fun: a scavenger hunt around Sonning,<br />

a ‘Give Back’ day of food bank shopping, a day at<br />

Thorpe Park and a light party.<br />

<strong>The</strong> scavenger hunt saw five teams working out 30<br />

clues around Sonning village. <strong>The</strong>re were prizes for<br />

quickest time and most clues found. One young person<br />

said: 'That was amazing, we had so much fun, please can<br />

we do it again.' We also took 10 young people to buy<br />

food for families who are less well off. This feels like<br />

such an honour to be able to do.<br />

One day, the young people chose to go to Thorpe<br />

Park — it's like it’s my second home! And we ended<br />

the week with a light party celebrating Jesus being the<br />

light of the world — darkness cannot overcome light<br />

STAY for Youth Alpha<br />

Youth Alpha is a course that introduces the Christian<br />

faith as some young people prepare for baptism and<br />

confirmation in November. It runs on Friday nights<br />

after youth club. Many of the young people asked deep<br />

questions about life and faith. Many of them hadn’t<br />

read the Bible so we bought them one each and the<br />

young people found it to be a safe space to think and<br />

ponder some of life’s big questions with their friends.<br />

STAY on Friday<br />

Our weekly STAY on Friday youth club continues to<br />

be a fun and safe space for teenagers to gather and<br />

enjoy their Friday evenings. We continue to have<br />

new young people joining each week for our weekly<br />

‘term time only’ youth club that runs all year. On the<br />

fourth Friday we welcome year 6’s to help with their<br />

transition to year 7. We have lots of games, sports,<br />

crafts, baking, consoles, board games and more. We<br />

always end with a final thought where everyone stops<br />

to think about a deeper question in life.<br />

STAY on Sunday<br />

STAY on Sunday youth group now meets every Sunday<br />

at 10.30am in <strong>The</strong> Ark, apart from the first Sunday of<br />

each month when we all gather in the main church for<br />

our family service. We follow a pattern each month of:<br />

1st Sunday — Family Service<br />

2nd Sunday — Faith and videos in <strong>The</strong> Ark<br />

3rd Sunday — Big games in <strong>The</strong> Ark<br />

4th Sunday — Card games in the Bull Inn<br />

5th Sunday — Faith and videos in <strong>The</strong> Ark<br />

STAY on Monday<br />

We love meeting every other Monday in the homes of the young<br />

people for games, conversations and deepening our faith through<br />

using STIR cards. <strong>The</strong> among us game continues to be a popular choice. Who<br />

knew?<br />

STAY in Schools<br />

We have also continued our schools work in the four local schools, through<br />

assemblies, prayer meetings, a Christian Union, mentoring and our brand new<br />

lunch club at Piggott WI. It is a safe space for students to bring any questions or<br />

thoughts they might have. We had 25 year 8’s come along the first week and had<br />

a wonderful time talking about life after death and our purpose as humans.<br />

135 DECEMBER 2O24.indd 8 13/11/<strong>2024</strong> 10:14:52


Lights shining in<br />

the dark!<br />

Corinne writes: October was filled with so much light! It<br />

brought daylight savings, the weather has felt chillier, and<br />

with the clocks changing, the days have grown shorter.<br />

With that said, there has been so much goodness and light<br />

that it has felt easy to be filled with joy. One of my favourite<br />

Bible passages is John 1:5 '<strong>The</strong> light shines in the darkness,<br />

and the darkness has not overcome it.' I love the idea that<br />

even in the darkest of times, hope is always an option, and<br />

for Christians, so is our faith.<br />

<strong>The</strong>re have been many things to be grateful for, including<br />

our time spent together in Sunday Club. On the second<br />

Sunday of the month, we talked about what it means to<br />

have a rich life, one where we are grateful and humble and<br />

live life to the fullest.<br />

We talked about how richness can come from doing<br />

things we love and being with people we love, and when we<br />

have an abundance, that is when we are called to give to<br />

others and support our community.<br />

SPEECHLESS<br />

On the theme of richness, we made a very rich chocolate<br />

dessert with a topping of chocolate biscuits and chocolate<br />

gold coins. Any snack or treat is always a hit!<br />

<strong>The</strong>n, on the fourth Sunday of the month, we read a<br />

passage in which Jesus healed a blind man.<br />

We had a fantastic discussion comparing Jesus's<br />

guidance and love like a pair of glasses, giving us clarity and<br />

a tool in which to live our own lives.<br />

<strong>The</strong> children were so insightful it actually left me and<br />

the other adults speechless. It is so beautiful to see their<br />

minds learn and grow!<br />

After our conversation we took turns playing a puzzle<br />

game in which one person was blindfolded and the rest<br />

guided the blindfolded person through a maze of red and<br />

green coloured paper, guiding them to get from one end of<br />

the maze to the other, making sure the person only stepped<br />

on the green pieces of paper.<br />

GLOWING LIGHTS<br />

At Messy Church, our theme was 'Light for the World'<br />

and we had many crafts and activities focussing on light.<br />

One of the children's favourite activities was creating their<br />

own lanterns with windows cut of the cardboard and then<br />

decorating them with coloured tissue paper.<br />

We loved seeing the colours shine brightly, lit up by<br />

battery-powered LED tea light candles.<br />

On the last day of October we also had our first annual<br />

children's light party, in which we all gathered in and<br />

around <strong>The</strong> Ark, decorated with brightly glowing lights.<br />

<strong>The</strong> <strong>Parish</strong> <strong>Magazine</strong> — <strong>December</strong> <strong>2024</strong> 9<br />

Corinne<br />

We talked about how Halloween is an opportunity to all come together and have some fun, but that instead of focussing on<br />

the dark and spooky nature of Halloween, we could celebrate all together at a light party and focus instead on the goodness and<br />

light in the world.<br />

We had lots of fun with competitions such as relay races, handless doughnut eating contests, apple bobbing, the flour game (in<br />

which you try not to let a chocolate fall into a pile of flour), as well as decorating our faces with face paint, creating some candle<br />

holders, and enjoying hot chocolates with squirty cream.<br />

Seeing the young people's faces light up with so much joy truly brought light into this dark time of year.<br />

135 DECEMBER 2O24.indd 9 13/11/<strong>2024</strong> 10:14:56


10 <strong>The</strong> <strong>Parish</strong> <strong>Magazine</strong> — <strong>December</strong> <strong>2024</strong><br />

the parish noticeboard — 3— 3<br />

Why I am a Christian<br />

<strong>The</strong> editor writes: In our February issue this year, Rev Jamie Taylor wrote: On the first Sunday of Lent, I shall vacate the pulpit<br />

for five Sundays and, instead, I have asked five members of the congregation to speak to the subject, 'Why I am a Christian'.<br />

<strong>The</strong>y are a varied group, at different stages of their Christian journey and I believe this could be a helpful process for us all on<br />

our own journeys. While listening to the first talk an idea came into my mind that the subject could form the basis of a series<br />

of articles for this magazine. <strong>The</strong> first was published in April and we have, so far, published seven articles that tell the story of<br />

how, and why, different members of St Andrew's Church Sonning are Christians. Below are some short, edited, extracts from<br />

the published articles which all appear on page 10 of the relevant monthly issue.<br />

ONGOING ENCOUNTER<br />

Leslie Stephen wrote in April: For<br />

me being a Christian, means that<br />

I should constantly try to look at<br />

how my thinking and my actions are<br />

informed by Jesus’s teaching and<br />

how I can try to reflect this in my<br />

daily life and the work.<br />

I believe that I am a Christian<br />

because my faith is an ongoing<br />

encounter with God that gives me joy<br />

and hope for the future and where I<br />

never feel alone facing the ups and<br />

downs of life.<br />

A hymn that gives me great<br />

comfort is 'Be Still my Soul'.<br />

I may never understand God’s<br />

wisdom for things that have<br />

happened in my life, but I have to<br />

trust his will.<br />

<strong>The</strong>se are the words of the Lord<br />

found in Jeremiah:<br />

'For I know the plans I have for you'<br />

declares the Lord, 'plans to prosper you,<br />

and not to harm you, plans to give you<br />

hope and a future'<br />

I believe God, has a plan for all<br />

our lives, and that we need to pray<br />

for his direction, have patience, and<br />

know when it comes.<br />

IN OUR MIDST<br />

Heather Hexter wrote in May: It's<br />

because I have searched my heart<br />

through my life and always come back<br />

to God. In the good times and in the<br />

difficult times when I have asked for<br />

help God has been there and answered<br />

my prayers. I have been carried. My<br />

faith is simple: I believe in love, and I<br />

have a relationship with God through<br />

grace which I share through praise and<br />

prayer.<br />

<strong>The</strong> words to a worship song which<br />

I first heard at Spring Harvest in 1992<br />

sum up why I am, and why I remain, a<br />

Christian —<br />

'I believe in Jesus. I believe he is the<br />

Son of God. I believe that he died and rose<br />

again, and he paid for us all. I believe that<br />

he is here now. Standing in our midst —<br />

with the power to heal and the grace to<br />

forgive.<br />

LOVE AND INSTRUCTION<br />

Nigel Riley told us in June: I joined<br />

in with lots of the church community<br />

activities and services. I shared<br />

what had been happening and I<br />

continued to receive so much love<br />

and instruction from them. I had<br />

been freed completely from smoking,<br />

alcohol and drug use and never felt a<br />

need to use or take them. I felt safe<br />

and loved.<br />

My anxieties and paranoia never<br />

bothered me again.<br />

I knew I was saved and that Jesus<br />

was who I had been looking for.<br />

I was excited about the future and<br />

what God had planned for me, and<br />

wondered and prayed about how I<br />

could serve him.<br />

I studied for my degree, became<br />

an RE teacher and have been<br />

teaching for over 20 years and enjoy<br />

engaging young people's minds with<br />

the questions of life, truth, meaning<br />

and purpose.<br />

I have also loved being part of a<br />

number of churches throughout my<br />

life and enjoy serving the people in<br />

the congregations and communities.<br />

God has blessed me with a<br />

wonderful family and a very special<br />

wife, who has to cope with five males<br />

in our home — we have four boys!<br />

God continues to cause me to<br />

grow in faith, in loving him and<br />

loving the people in my life.<br />

I am a Christian because I need<br />

Jesus Christ from first to last.<br />

(Continued on page 11)<br />

135 DECEMBER 2O24.indd 10 13/11/<strong>2024</strong> 10:14:58


the parish noticeboard — 4<br />

SHARING<br />

Katherine Karalus in July/<br />

August wrote: It's because others<br />

shared their faith, encouraged my<br />

faith, helped to ignite my spark<br />

and burn my flame brighter and,<br />

importantly, because I invited Jesus<br />

into my life and asked God to show<br />

me my way. We can choose to let<br />

it ignite our faith, keep it burning<br />

or let it go out, and even more<br />

importantly, we can help to ignite<br />

and keep each other's faith burning.<br />

A CHOICE<br />

Chris West in September told<br />

us: Being a Christian is not about<br />

belonging to a secret society and<br />

it is not for a chosen few. Being a<br />

Christian is a choice we can all make:<br />

— Whatever it is you need, Jesus<br />

has it;<br />

— Whatever it is you want, Jesus<br />

knows what is best for you<br />

— Whatever it is you have, Jesus<br />

wants you to use it for his<br />

kingdom and his glory.<br />

This is why I am a Christian!<br />

FEAR OF GOD<br />

Bob Peters wrote in October: I am<br />

a Christian because I fear God, in<br />

the sense of respecting him, obeying<br />

him, submitting to his discipline,<br />

and worshiping him.<br />

And because he answers our<br />

prayers, not always in the way that<br />

we want, but in a way that is always<br />

best for us.<br />

HELPED BY OTHERS<br />

And last month, Trish Hayes told<br />

us: Many people have helped me<br />

along the way in my faith journey<br />

including, friends and family who<br />

accepted my conversion, and an<br />

anonymous 'Good Samaritan' on<br />

Ealing Broadway Station.<br />

'For I am persuaded, that neither death<br />

nor life nor angels nor principalities,<br />

nor powers, nor things present, nor<br />

things to come, nor height nor depth,<br />

nor any created thing, can separate us<br />

from the love of God which is in Christ<br />

Jesus.'(Romans 8:38-39).<br />

That is why I am a Christian.<br />

How would you answer the<br />

question? I will be pleased to hear from<br />

you and share your reasons on these<br />

pages! — Bob Peters<br />

Reading Family Aid<br />

Toys and Teens <strong>2024</strong><br />

Christmas appeal<br />

During the 10.30am<br />

Family Service in St<br />

Andrew's Church on<br />

1 <strong>December</strong> we will<br />

once again support<br />

the Reading Family<br />

Aid Toys & Teens<br />

Christmas Appeal by<br />

collecting unwrapped<br />

gifts and cash which will be passed<br />

on to the organisers.<br />

Last year, Reading Family Aid<br />

provided Christmas presents to<br />

2,484 children in the Reading area<br />

who otherwise may not have received<br />

any gifts.<br />

<strong>The</strong> organisers expect the number<br />

of children needing support this year<br />

to be higher than ever, and are they<br />

especially in need of donations for<br />

older children.<br />

At the appeal's launch, the Mayor<br />

of Reading, Councillor Glenn Dennis,<br />

said: 'I am pleased to be launching the<br />

incredibly important Toys and Teens<br />

Appeal this year. It supports children<br />

from really poor backgrounds whose<br />

<strong>The</strong> <strong>Parish</strong> <strong>Magazine</strong> — <strong>December</strong> <strong>2024</strong> 11<br />

Frizzantine, dreamstime.com<br />

families don't have the means to provide<br />

them with a present at Christmas'.<br />

It is important to bring your<br />

gifts to the service in St Andrew's<br />

unwrapped, as this will save time<br />

during the sorting process by the<br />

Reading Family Aid organisers — it<br />

is better to spend the money you save<br />

on wrapping materials on the gifts<br />

and it will save the organisers the job<br />

of opening all the presents to check<br />

them before re-wrapping them again!<br />

If you are not sure what gift will<br />

be suitable you can find a wish list<br />

— starting at £2 — prepared by the<br />

organisers at:<br />

https://www.amazon.co.uk/hz/wishlist/<br />

ls/3PGW0EDJO1F4M?ref_=wl_share<br />

Don't forget your Christmas cards!<br />

FoStAC <strong>2024</strong><br />

Christmas Cards are<br />

on sale in <strong>The</strong> Ark<br />

from 11.30am after<br />

the Sunday service<br />

or at other times by<br />

email from:<br />

FoStAC-Magnus@<br />

outlook.com<br />

<strong>The</strong> Friends of St<br />

Andrew’s Church<br />

(FoStAC) are selling<br />

their <strong>2024</strong> Christmas<br />

Cards for £6 a pack<br />

of 10 cards and<br />

envelopes.<br />

This year’s design<br />

is a photograph taken<br />

by Keith Hawkins and<br />

features ‘<strong>The</strong> Advent<br />

wreath and Christmas<br />

Tree at Saint Andrew’s<br />

Church.’<br />

135 DECEMBER 2O24.indd 11 13/11/<strong>2024</strong> 10:15:01


12 <strong>The</strong> <strong>Parish</strong> <strong>Magazine</strong> — <strong>December</strong> <strong>2024</strong><br />

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parish noticeboard — 5<br />

Father who?<br />

One person you are bound to run into this Christmas<br />

season is Father Christmas. <strong>The</strong>se days he seems to<br />

frequent shopping malls and garden centres. If he looks<br />

tired, just remember that he has been around a long<br />

time and gone through a lot of transformations.<br />

Father Christmas wasn’t always the red-suited, whitebearded<br />

star of the retail trade that he is today. He<br />

began life as Nicholas, born about AD260 in Patara, an<br />

important port on the southern coast of Turkey.<br />

When his parents died and left him a fortune, Nicholas<br />

gave it to the poor. He became a bishop of the nearby city<br />

of Myra, where he almost certainly suffered persecution<br />

and imprisonment at the hand of the Roman Emperor<br />

Diocletian.<br />

Nicholas was a serious theologian: he was a participant<br />

at the First Council of Nicaea, which formulated the Creed<br />

that we say today. He even, reportedly, slapped another<br />

bishop in a squabble over the exact nature of the Trinity.<br />

Nicholas died in Myra about AD343, but the stories<br />

of his generosity and kindness were just beginning. One<br />

enduring tale tells of the three girls whom he rescued<br />

from certain prostitution by giving them gold for their<br />

dowries. When the father confronted him to thank him,<br />

Nicholas said he should thank God alone.<br />

In the UK, Nicholas became the basis for Father<br />

Christmas, who emerged in Victorian times as a jollyfaced<br />

bearded character. Meanwhile, Dutch and German<br />

settlers had taken him to America with them as Sinter<br />

Klaas and Sankt Niklas.<br />

'TWAS THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS<br />

It was in America that Nicholas received his final two<br />

great breaks into real stardom. <strong>The</strong> first was when the Rev<br />

Clement C Moore, a New York Episcopal minister, turned<br />

from his life-work of writing a Hebrew/English lexicon, to<br />

write a fun poem for his children one Christmas. His ‘<strong>The</strong><br />

Visit of St Nicholas’ is now universally known by its first<br />

line: ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas.<br />

From Clement Moore we discovered that St Nicholas is<br />

round and pink-cheeked and white-bearded, and that he<br />

travels at night with sleigh, reindeer and a sack of toys on<br />

his back. It was also Clement Moore who revealed that St<br />

Nicholas enters houses down chimneys and fills children’s<br />

stockings with toys and sweets.<br />

So how did we find out that Father Christmas wears<br />

red? That was the US Coca-Cola advertising campaign<br />

of 1931, when they finally released the latest, up-to-date<br />

pictures of Father Christmas — he wearing a bright red,<br />

fur-trimmed coat and a large belt.<br />

<strong>The</strong>se days, it is good that Father Christmas uses<br />

reindeer and doesn’t have to pay for petrol!<br />

In order to get round all the children in the world on<br />

Christmas Eve, he will have to travel 221 million miles<br />

at an average speed of 1,279 miles a second, that's 6,395<br />

times the speed of sound.<br />

For all those of us who are already exhausted just<br />

rushing around getting ready for Christmas, that is a<br />

sobering thought.<br />

From the<br />

editor's<br />

desk<br />

<strong>The</strong> <strong>Parish</strong> <strong>Magazine</strong> — <strong>December</strong> <strong>2024</strong> 13<br />

Your ideas are<br />

always welcome<br />

I have just added another folder to the shelf where I keep a a<br />

printed copy of each of the <strong>The</strong> <strong>Parish</strong> <strong>Magazine</strong>s that I have<br />

edited. Each folder holds a complete year, the first being<br />

for 2013. <strong>The</strong> latest — currently empty — folder is for 2025<br />

which means I have had the pleasure of producing <strong>The</strong> <strong>Parish</strong><br />

<strong>Magazine</strong> for 12 years. If my mother was alive she would now<br />

be panicking because for her 13 was very unlucky, but the<br />

good news is that for me, it is no such thing, and I am looking<br />

forward to my 13th year as editor.<br />

Looking at the first issue I edited made me realise how<br />

much it has changed physically since then; it has more pages<br />

which are larger in size, and it is printed in full colour. <strong>The</strong><br />

difference is even greater compared with the first issue of <strong>The</strong><br />

<strong>Parish</strong> <strong>Magazine</strong> published in 1869, which is not surprising<br />

because the world has changed beyond recognition since the<br />

time Victoria was on the throne. We are now on our sixth<br />

monarch since her.<br />

GENERAL INTEREST<br />

<strong>The</strong> most interesting comparison is, however, that the<br />

content of the current magazine is more like the first issues<br />

published in 1869 which had a broad range of articles and<br />

stories designed to be of general interest, although always<br />

with a Christian background.<br />

It had always been a 'paid-for' magazine which restricted<br />

its circulation and over time had turned into a document<br />

focused on recording the events directly related to St<br />

Andrew's Church Sonning. In other words, it had become<br />

very inward looking which had the consequence that less<br />

than 100 copies were being printed. Today, we print and<br />

distribute 2,300 copies free of charge for readers each month,<br />

and current issues are also available to be read online at<br />

https://www.theparishmagazine.co.uk<br />

I always welcome ideas for stories and feature articles,<br />

and indeed, I always welcome written full length articles,<br />

although I can't promise that I won't edit them a little!<br />

I am also willing to help with the actual writing of articles<br />

if you feel, as I know some people do, that they are not able to<br />

put words on paper in a meaningful way. As a journalist I did<br />

this all my working life, ghost writing articles for engineers<br />

and business managers who, while they were excellent at<br />

what they did, often found it difficult to put their ideas and<br />

thoughts on paper, or indeed, because they did not have the<br />

time to do what I was being paid to do!<br />

While on this subject of writing, I am still welcoming<br />

articles for the 'Why I am a Christian' series that we started<br />

last April. To date, we have published seven in the series and<br />

judging by the 150+ people who attend St Andrew's Sonning<br />

services every week there is scope for many more! As always,<br />

I am happy to help with the writing, so please give me a call!<br />

135 DECEMBER 2O24.indd 13 13/11/<strong>2024</strong> 10:15:02


14 <strong>The</strong> <strong>Parish</strong> <strong>Magazine</strong> — <strong>December</strong> <strong>2024</strong> Please mention <strong>The</strong> <strong>Parish</strong> <strong>Magazine</strong> when responding to advertisements<br />

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parish noticeboard — 6<br />

Nothing is impossible for God . . .<br />

<strong>The</strong> <strong>Parish</strong> <strong>Magazine</strong> — <strong>December</strong> <strong>2024</strong> 15<br />

THE PERSECUTED CHURCH BY COLIN BAILEY<br />

A market in Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso, Africa. In Africa the market is more then a place where people buy and sell something, it is<br />

the centre of African life.<br />

Lucavanzolini, dreamstime.com<br />

Aid and advocacy agencies joined<br />

together to highlight the issue<br />

of the persecuted church for an<br />

international day of prayer on the<br />

first Sunday of November. You can<br />

watch the video via the link in the<br />

references below.<br />

<strong>The</strong> Evangelical Alliance (EA) hosted<br />

the meeting and there were films,<br />

discussion, and prayer from CSW<br />

(Christian Solidarity Worldwide),<br />

Open Doors, and Release International<br />

on the situations in North Korea,<br />

Burkina Faso and Egypt respectively.<br />

STRONG MESSAGE<br />

In North Korea, any religion is<br />

viewed as a threat to the regime’s<br />

ideology, and we heard of the forced<br />

disappearances that take place.<br />

A strong message was that the<br />

persecuted are the ones that are going<br />

to be teaching the rest of us and not<br />

the other way around.<br />

One prayer for this country is that<br />

China would stop illegally repatriating<br />

North Korean refugees, returning<br />

them to certain danger.<br />

FAMILY PERSECUTION<br />

Egypt is the 13th most populous<br />

country in the world with 115 million<br />

people. A film told of persecution<br />

largely from family members in the<br />

case of people who have left Islam to<br />

follow Christ.<br />

Please pray for Muslim-background<br />

believers who are suffering because of<br />

their faith in Christ and pray for God’s<br />

protection over Christians who are illtreated<br />

by their own families.<br />

Burkina Faso has this year topped<br />

the global terrorism index. Last year<br />

2,000 people were killed by terrorists<br />

in Burkina Faso, an increase of twothirds<br />

on the previous year.<br />

<strong>The</strong> country jumped into Open<br />

Doors’ Top 50 of most persecuted<br />

countries for Christians (the World<br />

Watch List) in 2020 at number 28,<br />

which is quite exceptional, as usually<br />

countries joining that list climb up it<br />

gradually.<br />

RAPID SPREAD<br />

Open Doors is seeing an incredibly<br />

rapid spread and intensity of terrorism<br />

across the country.<br />

In Africa 16.2 million Christians<br />

are internally displaced due to violence<br />

and conflict. However the world is not<br />

talking about it!<br />

<strong>The</strong> Arise Africa campaign calls for<br />

awareness to be raised, and justice,<br />

restoration, and protection for these<br />

people. (This campaign petition may be<br />

signed at the back of St Andrew's Church).<br />

We should listen to the persecuted<br />

and find out what their needs are.<br />

Someone asked about how to get your<br />

voice heard at the political level: the<br />

guidance is to engage with your MP<br />

regarding what matters to you.<br />

SPECIAL ENVOY<br />

In the UK Government, there is a<br />

'Special Envoy for Freedom of Religion or<br />

Belief'.<br />

This post was previously held by<br />

former MP Fiona Bruce (not the TV<br />

presenter) who lost her seat at the last<br />

election.<br />

Currently, the post is vacant. It<br />

would be worth writing to your MP to<br />

encourage the Prime Minister to make<br />

this appointment.<br />

<strong>The</strong> role serves to keep the<br />

government aware of issues around<br />

the persecution of Christians. When<br />

writing, tell them you pray for them<br />

and ask how you can pray for them.<br />

<strong>The</strong> strong messages from the<br />

Evangelical Alliance meeting were:<br />

'Nothing is impossible for God'.<br />

'Be an evangelist for the<br />

persecuted church!'<br />

EA shared some prayers from the<br />

Iona Community’s 'Liturgy for healing<br />

for an international situation':<br />

Lord Jesus, we place before you the<br />

suffering places of the world, places of<br />

war, of famine, of disasters, of darkness.<br />

Guide us in how best to respond,<br />

through the giving of our time, action,<br />

and finance.<br />

Give us the courage to challenge, inform<br />

and engage those who walk in the<br />

corridors of power,<br />

in our land and the lands<br />

for which we pray.<br />

We give thanks for the countless<br />

unknown witnesses who have served<br />

you in the darkest situations.<br />

Jesus Christ, who ate with the wealthy<br />

and provided food to the poor, enter all<br />

nations and bring justice, and peace.<br />

We pray all this in Jesus’ name.<br />

AMEN<br />

References and further reading<br />

IDOP Video on YouTube:<br />

https://www.youtube.com/live/Q2GwZ05<br />

mHs8?si=axsrsS4BluUaZDXm<br />

Open Doors: What is the Arise Africa<br />

campaign?: https://www.opendoorsuk.<br />

org/news/latest-news/arise-africaexplainer/<br />

135 DECEMBER 2O24.indd 15 13/11/<strong>2024</strong> 10:15:05


16 <strong>The</strong> <strong>Parish</strong> <strong>Magazine</strong> — <strong>December</strong> <strong>2024</strong><br />

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135 DECEMBER 2O24.indd 16 13/11/<strong>2024</strong> 10:15:09


feature — 1<br />

Three Christmas questions . . .<br />

What do you do on<br />

Christmas Eve?<br />

Christmas Eve has its own customs,<br />

the most popular of which is going to<br />

Midnight Mass, or the Christ-Mas.<br />

This is the only Mass of the year that<br />

is allowed to start after sunset.<br />

In Catholic countries such as<br />

Spain, Italy and Poland, Midnight<br />

Mass is the most important<br />

church service of the entire<br />

Christmas season, and many people<br />

traditionally fast beforehand.<br />

In other countries, such as<br />

Belgium and Denmark, people dine<br />

during the evening, and then go on<br />

to the Midnight Service.<br />

<strong>The</strong> British are behind some<br />

countries when it comes to<br />

exchanging presents: in Germany,<br />

Sweden and Portugal the custom is<br />

to exchange on Christmas Eve.<br />

But the British are ahead of Serbia<br />

and Slovakia, where the Christmas<br />

tree is not even brought into the<br />

house and decorated until Christmas<br />

Eve.<br />

Yule logs are not so popular since<br />

the decline of the fireplace, but<br />

traditionally it was lit on Christmas<br />

Eve from a bit of the previous year’s<br />

log, and then would be burned<br />

non-stop until Twelfth Night (6th<br />

January).<br />

Tradition also decreed that<br />

any greenery such as holly, ivy or<br />

mistletoe must wait until Christmas<br />

Eve until being brought inside.<br />

OC Williams, Dreamstime.com<br />

<strong>The</strong> Christmas<br />

challenges . . .<br />

Christmas is a great time of year,<br />

but it’s not without its challenges!<br />

After one family had put up 250,000<br />

Christmas lights outside, they didn’t<br />

dare boil a kettle for fear of blowing<br />

the system!<br />

<strong>The</strong> challenge of over-indulging<br />

Many of us remember the episode of<br />

the Vicar of Dibley, where she had to<br />

consume four Christmas dinners!<br />

Christmas is a time when we<br />

usually eat and drink far too much<br />

with the average person gaining six<br />

pounds in weight.<br />

But Christmas is not simply about<br />

gaining weight, but losing what<br />

weighs us down.<br />

‘Cast all your anxiety on Him,<br />

because He cares for you.’ (1 Peter 5:7).<br />

Whatever your concerns or<br />

worries this Christmas, bring them<br />

to God.<br />

<strong>The</strong> challenge of overspending<br />

In the rush to buy Christmas cards, a<br />

woman bought a pack of 50 identical<br />

cards. Without reading the verse, she<br />

hastily signed and sent them off, but<br />

for one. A few days later she read the<br />

message: ‘This card is just to say a little<br />

gift is on the way.’<br />

Christmas is not about getting<br />

into debt, but God getting us out of<br />

debt.<br />

He spent exactly what was needed<br />

on the first Christmas night: ‘You are<br />

to give him the name Jesus, because<br />

he will save his people from their sins.’<br />

(Matthew 1:21).<br />

<strong>The</strong> challenge is over too quickly<br />

Christmas doesn’t last very long,<br />

yet the effect of the first Christmas<br />

is long-lasting. ‘For God so loved the<br />

world that he gave his one and only Son,<br />

that whoever believes in Him shall not<br />

perish but have eternal life.’ (John 3:16).<br />

Jesus has come to bring us life in<br />

all its fullness, both for now and all<br />

eternity.<br />

How do we face the challenges of<br />

Christmas?<br />

‘Yet what I can I give? I give my heart’.<br />

<strong>The</strong> <strong>Parish</strong> <strong>Magazine</strong> — <strong>December</strong> <strong>2024</strong> 17<br />

Do you believe the<br />

Christmas story?<br />

<strong>The</strong> story is told of a farmer who<br />

didn’t believe in Jesus. One cold,<br />

snowy Christmas Eve his wife was<br />

taking the children to a service at<br />

their local church, but he refused to<br />

go with them.<br />

He said: ‘Why would God lower<br />

himself to come to Earth as a man?<br />

That’s ridiculous!’<br />

So, they left him at home!<br />

During the evening the winds grew<br />

stronger, and the snow turned to a<br />

blizzard.<br />

He heard a series of loud thumps<br />

on the window. In the field near his<br />

house he saw a flock of wild geese.<br />

<strong>The</strong>y had been migrating<br />

south when they got caught in the<br />

snowstorm.<br />

<strong>The</strong>y were lost and stranded on<br />

his farm, with no food or shelter.<br />

<strong>The</strong> man wanted to help the geese<br />

and so he opened the doors of the<br />

barn, hoping they would go inside for<br />

shelter.<br />

But the geese didn’t do anything,<br />

despite the man’s efforts to move<br />

them.<br />

He made a bread crumb trail<br />

leading to the barn and tried to shoo<br />

them toward the barn, but they only<br />

got more scared and scattered.<br />

Nothing he did could get them<br />

to go into the barn: ‘Why don’t they<br />

follow me?!’<br />

<strong>The</strong>n he realised: ‘If only I were a<br />

goose and become one of them, then I<br />

could save them.’<br />

Finally he understood the heart of<br />

the Christmas message.<br />

God has become one of us in<br />

Jesus.<br />

<strong>The</strong> eternal creator God has<br />

entered time and space as a baby, to<br />

show us who God is and how we can<br />

know him.<br />

This Christmas, let’s celebrate<br />

again this amazing truth that we<br />

have a God who knows and can meet<br />

our needs in Jesus.<br />

‘<strong>The</strong> virgin will conceive and give<br />

birth to a son, and they will call Him<br />

Immanuel, which means ‘God with us’’.<br />

Matthew 1:23.<br />

135 DECEMBER 2O24.indd 17 13/11/<strong>2024</strong> 10:15:13


18 <strong>The</strong> <strong>Parish</strong> <strong>Magazine</strong> — <strong>December</strong> <strong>2024</strong><br />

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135 DECEMBER 2O24.indd 18 13/11/<strong>2024</strong> 10:15:14


feature — 2<br />

Christmas pudding and<br />

boneless turkey — Claude<br />

recalls Christmas past<br />

Christmas is coming, the goose is getting fat<br />

Please put a penny in the old man’s hat!<br />

If you haven’t got a penny, a ha’penny will do,<br />

If you haven’t got a ha’penny then God bless you!<br />

Well, we didn’t have a goose but, for a couple of years during<br />

the war, my mother used to fatten a chicken, writes Claude<br />

Masters.<br />

I don’t remember where it came from but the neighbours<br />

would leave us scraps in exchange for eggs. I used to go to<br />

the bottom of the garden, where the chicken was kept in a<br />

wire cage, and feed it the scraps and left overs; I sometimes<br />

collected the eggs. It didn’t produce all the time but we had<br />

some fresh eggs when it did.<br />

My grandfather, who lived with<br />

us, would slaughter it and I helped<br />

him. I remember chopping off the<br />

head, after it was dead, and helping<br />

him to pluck and prepare it.<br />

We ate it on Christmas Day along<br />

with fresh vegetables from the<br />

garden, grown by my dad.<br />

A POUND NOTE<br />

Before Christmas every year,<br />

my grandfather entrusted me with<br />

a pound note to take to school<br />

where I would buy eight half crown<br />

savings stamps, one for each of his<br />

grandchildren, for Christmas.<br />

<strong>The</strong> stamps were stuck onto a card<br />

and you could eventually redeem<br />

them. I wasn’t very good at saving<br />

and can’t remember what I would<br />

have bought.<br />

Desperate Dan — one of Claude's heroes<br />

However I used to enjoy reading<br />

comics, so perhaps I would have<br />

bought one of those. My favourites<br />

were the Beano and the Dandy.<br />

During the war, they were published<br />

fortnightly so you could buy the<br />

Dandy one week and the Beano the<br />

next. I particularly enjoyed reading<br />

about the exploits of Desperate<br />

Dan!<br />

CHRISTMAS<br />

My grandfather wasn’t a great<br />

drinker but he always bought a<br />

five gallon (20 pint) beer keg at<br />

Christmas. It was about the same<br />

size as the one I used when making<br />

my own beer.<br />

I don’t really remember much<br />

about Christmas time in the war,<br />

although I do remember one year<br />

looking forward to it so much<br />

that I hoped I wouldn’t die before<br />

Christmas came.<br />

However, I do remember that, on<br />

Christmas Eve, I put labels on the<br />

bedroom doors, one for my<br />

mum and dad’s<br />

bedroom, one for<br />

Grandad’s, and<br />

one for mine!<br />

DC Thomson en.wikipedia.org<br />

<strong>The</strong> <strong>Parish</strong> <strong>Magazine</strong> — <strong>December</strong> <strong>2024</strong> 19<br />

Claude and his wife, Barbara — and his favourite Christmas waistcoat!<br />

I wanted Father Christmas to<br />

know exactly where to come!<br />

I also put out a special sock but didn’t<br />

get very much.<br />

I expect that it had holly at the<br />

top to prickle my fingers before<br />

finding any gifts, as that’s what<br />

happened to my own children!<br />

When our children were younger,<br />

my mother-in-law cooked the<br />

Christmas pudding.<br />

Just before it came to the table,<br />

my father-in-law would slide silver<br />

sixpence coins into it — one for each<br />

person.<br />

<strong>The</strong>y were all of different dates and<br />

each date related to a specific amount<br />

of money that he would pay to buy<br />

them back. Probably not very hygienic,<br />

but a favourite family tradition!<br />

Many years later, when I was<br />

church warden for St Bart’s and at<br />

St Luke’s, we invited members of<br />

the congregations — often foreign<br />

university students or older people<br />

who would have been on their own —<br />

to join us for Christmas lunch.<br />

For some years, I prepared the<br />

turkey by cutting out all the bones and<br />

then stuffed it into shape with sausage<br />

meat so it still looked like a turkey.<br />

A friend who taught cookery was so<br />

impressed that she asked me to show<br />

her how I did it! It was so much easier<br />

to cut and less messy on the day!<br />

Although I am less active now, I still<br />

look forward to Christmas with my<br />

children and grandchildren.<br />

135 DECEMBER 2O24.indd 19 13/11/<strong>2024</strong> 10:15:18


20 <strong>The</strong> <strong>Parish</strong> <strong>Magazine</strong> — <strong>December</strong> <strong>2024</strong><br />

feature — 3<br />

TV licence rules updated . . .<br />

David Pickup, a solicitor, explains what is legal for you to watch on TV<br />

Imagine something unlikely! <strong>The</strong>re<br />

is one television programme the<br />

whole family enjoy, but everyone<br />

watches it differently.<br />

So, you are resting upstairs and<br />

watching it on the portable set in<br />

the bedroom. Your partner is still at<br />

work and watching it on a laptop in<br />

the office. Your son is at university<br />

and watching it on his computer<br />

live. Your daughter who lives with<br />

you is on the train coming home<br />

from a short holiday loaded with<br />

dirty clothes and using her mobile<br />

phone to see the programme. Your<br />

neighbour does not have a television<br />

and listens to highlights on the<br />

radio. A happy typical family scene!<br />

You are covered if you have a<br />

television licence as it includes the<br />

whole house. If you have let out a<br />

part of your house on a separate<br />

tenancy, the tenant needs a separate<br />

licence.<br />

Your student son must have<br />

his own TV licence if he watches<br />

or records programmes as they<br />

are being shown on TV or live on<br />

an online TV service, download or<br />

watch BBC programmes on iPlayer. If<br />

he shares a house, then one licence is<br />

sufficient for the house.<br />

Your partner needs a separate TV<br />

Licence for the office if he watches<br />

live on an office phone, tablet or<br />

computer.<br />

Staff or customers do not need a<br />

licence if they watch live TV at the<br />

business address using their own<br />

Mladen Zivkovic, dreamstime.com<br />

device, if it is not plugged into the<br />

mains, and there is a TV Licence at<br />

their home address.<br />

Your daughter is covered by your<br />

home licence. <strong>The</strong> neighbour does not<br />

need a licence to listen to the radio.<br />

<strong>The</strong> law changed at the beginning<br />

of September. You must have a TV<br />

Licence to download or watch BBC<br />

programmes on iPlayer – live, catch<br />

up or on demand. If you already<br />

have a TV Licence, you are already<br />

covered.<br />

As always this is a guide and if in<br />

doubt get advice. <strong>The</strong> TV Licensing<br />

website has some very clear and<br />

helpful advice and a set of FAQs.<br />

http://www.tvlicensing.co.uk/<br />

And here's another of David Pickup's Christmas thoughts . . .<br />

What's in your Christmas pudding this year?<br />

<strong>The</strong>re is a tradition, which dates from the Middle Ages, of putting silver coins<br />

into Christmas puddings. <strong>The</strong> first coins used were a silver farthing or penny.<br />

After World War One, it became a threepenny bit and then a sixpence. Finding<br />

one was supposed to bring you good fortune, but probably it was more likely to<br />

break a tooth as you bit into the pudding.<br />

We now pay for most things with plastic or by tapping a mobile telephone.<br />

In future, will people put old credit cards or phones in their Christmas<br />

pudding? I hope not.<br />

Other coins ‘appear’ at this time of year. Chocolate coins are traditionally<br />

given to children at Christmas time, and in Jewish tradition during Hanukkah.<br />

It is said that one night Saint Nicholas climbed on a roof and threw a purse of<br />

money down a chimney. It landed in a pair of stockings that a little girl had<br />

hung up to dry. Good throw!<br />

What type of card<br />

person are you?<br />

<strong>The</strong> time to send and receive<br />

Christmas cards has come round<br />

again. It's also time for our annual<br />

shock at the cost of a coloured card,<br />

and disbelief at what the Post Office<br />

intends to charge us to deliver them!<br />

It seems there are three kinds of<br />

people when it comes to Christmas<br />

cards: the total abstainers, the total<br />

givers and the selective givers.<br />

Abstainers write ‘Happy Christmas<br />

everyone’ on Facebook, and consider<br />

the job well done.<br />

Total givers spend a fortune on<br />

cards and stamps and send them to<br />

everyone they know.<br />

Selective givers try to cut corners,<br />

but then cannot remember who<br />

sent who what, and as the cards<br />

pour through their door, spend time<br />

worrying.<br />

However you do it, it is good to<br />

stay in yearly touch with your widest<br />

circle of friends and family.<br />

Proverbs points out that:<br />

‘Like cold water to a thirsty soul,<br />

so is good news from a far country.’<br />

Proverbs 25:25.<br />

Your loved ones will enjoy hearing<br />

from you!<br />

How much will you<br />

spend this Christmas?<br />

You will probably spend about<br />

£600 during this festive period —<br />

what with Christmas gifts, food,<br />

decorations, socialising and travel.<br />

Over half your budget will go on<br />

gifts for others, followed by food<br />

and drink (18%), travel (6%), gifts for<br />

yourself (4%) and decorations (2%).<br />

About a third of us will still be<br />

shopping during <strong>December</strong>, though<br />

about 43% of us will have finished<br />

our shopping before Black Friday.<br />

We tend to spend most on our<br />

children, then on our partners, and<br />

least on our mothers-in-law.<br />

56% of those aged 18-24 and<br />

25-34 hope to receive a practical or<br />

essential gift this Christmas, rather<br />

than a luxury item.<br />

<strong>The</strong>se figures come from the<br />

<strong>The</strong> Institute of Practitioners in<br />

Advertising's annual Christmas<br />

survey.<br />

135 DECEMBER 2O24.indd 20 13/11/<strong>2024</strong> 10:15:21


feature — 4<br />

At the beginning of the 7th Century this part of<br />

the country was in the Kingdom of Wessex and its<br />

inhabitants lived as pagans, that was until about 635<br />

when a Christian priest called Birinus crossed the<br />

Channel with the intention of travelling on to the<br />

Midlands where no Christian preachers had ever set<br />

foot. But his journey was substantially delayed in<br />

South East England, where he found among the Saxon<br />

inhabitants that paganism was rife. He decided to delay<br />

his journey and make an unplanned stop there.<br />

Little is known of Birinus's early life other than he was a<br />

7th century Italian monk who was consecrated bishop in<br />

Milan by Archbishop Asterius.<br />

It seems that Birinus was a man who felt compelled to<br />

proclaim the good news of God, but for him he felt this in<br />

a particular way by making his mark on history.<br />

We are told that in 634, this led Pope Honorius to<br />

choose Birinus to 'sow the seeds of their Holy Faith in the<br />

distant lands beyond the Kingdom of the English, where no<br />

other had been before him'.<br />

Birinus set about preaching to whomever he<br />

encountered and he gradually became known, as did his<br />

message of Christ the Saviour.<br />

A major breakthough was made when the King of<br />

Wessex, Cynegils, asked Birinus for instruction in the<br />

Christian faith. His daughter was about to marry Oswald,<br />

the Christian king of Northumbria, and for political<br />

reasons Cynegils now also wanted to convert.<br />

So Birinus taught and baptised Cynegils and his<br />

family, and in return they gave him the Romano-British<br />

town of Dorchester as his see, and Birinus became the<br />

first Bishop of Dorchester.<br />

From his new ‘headquarters’, Birinus spent his last 15<br />

years starting several churches around Wessex..<br />

Towards the end of his life Birinus dedicated a church<br />

at Winchester, which later became the ecclesiastical<br />

centre of the kingdom. <strong>The</strong>re is no record of Wessex<br />

bishops at Dorchester after 660.<br />

One of the many churches inspired by Birinus is<br />

thought to be St Andrew's Sonning. Later he made St<br />

Andrew's Sonning one of the twin Cathedrals for the<br />

Bishop of his diocese, the other being Ramsbury, near<br />

Hungerford.<br />

It retained this status for about 150 years until, after<br />

several further diocesan reorganisations, Sonning became<br />

part of Salisbury Diocese, when it was founded in 1220.<br />

After another 616 years in 1836 the parish of St<br />

Andrew's Sonning, along with the rest of Berkshire, was<br />

transferred to the Oxford Diocese where it has remained<br />

ever since.<br />

One of St Andrew's Sonning legacies of being a<br />

cathedral was the 12th Century palace for visiting<br />

bishops, believed to be in the area where <strong>The</strong> Bull Hotel<br />

now stands.<br />

<strong>The</strong> <strong>Parish</strong> <strong>Magazine</strong> — <strong>December</strong> <strong>2024</strong> 21<br />

Birinus, a Sonning Lord of the Manor<br />

CHURCH BUILDER<br />

CATHEDRAL<br />

Stained glass window of Birinus at Dorchester Abbey<br />

StephenPaternoster, wikimedia commons<br />

A bronze plaque inside St Andrew's lists 11 bishops of<br />

Sonning who remained 'Lords of the Manor' until 1574<br />

when it was surrendered to Queen Elizabeth I.<br />

SUPREME HEAD<br />

When St Andrew's Church was dedicated it included<br />

the glazing of the windows. Between 1260 and 1620<br />

several extensions were built and during the latter part of<br />

that period, known as the Reformation, Henry VIII took<br />

the church, previously under the jurisdiction of the popes,<br />

away from Rome when he created the Church of England,<br />

with him as its Supreme Head.<br />

It was then that the worship was changed from Roman<br />

Catholic to Protestant.<br />

Perhaps Birinus’ major achievement was that he<br />

demonstrated that the 'obedience and faith' of the<br />

Christianity that he planted in South East England<br />

became a key part of the Britain that we have inherited<br />

today and, in doing so, he helped to shape British history<br />

for centuries to come.<br />

Birinus died in about 650, was buried in Dorchester<br />

Abbey where the stained glass window in his memory,<br />

(above) can be seen. Shortly after his death he was<br />

canonised.<br />

His feast day is 3 <strong>December</strong> in the Roman Catholic<br />

Church and Eastern Orthodox Church, although some<br />

churches also celebrate his feast on 5 <strong>December</strong>.<br />

135 DECEMBER 2O24.indd 21 13/11/<strong>2024</strong> 10:15:21


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ADVENT CAROL<br />

SERVICE<br />

Sunday 1 <strong>December</strong><br />

at 4.00 pm<br />

Everyone is we<br />

join us as we c<br />

Christmas<br />

NINE LES<br />

AND CAR<br />

Sunday 15 Dec<br />

at 5.00 p<br />

BEER & CAROLS<br />

AT THE BULL<br />

Sunday 8 <strong>December</strong><br />

at 6.00 pm<br />

MESS<br />

CHRIST<br />

Sunday 15 De<br />

at 3.00 p<br />

135 DECEMBER 2O24.indd 22 13/11/<strong>2024</strong> 10:15:30


CHILDREN'S<br />

is welcome to<br />

we celebrate<br />

mas <strong>2024</strong><br />

ESSONS<br />

AROLS<br />

5 <strong>December</strong><br />

.00 pm<br />

CRIB SERVICE<br />

Sunday 22 <strong>December</strong><br />

at 4.00 pm<br />

MIDNIGHT<br />

MASS<br />

Tuesday 24 <strong>December</strong><br />

at 11.00 pm<br />

SSY<br />

STMAS<br />

15 <strong>December</strong><br />

.00 pm<br />

CHRISTMAS<br />

DAY PARISH<br />

EUCHARIST<br />

at 10.30 am<br />

135 DECEMBER 2O24.indd 23 13/11/<strong>2024</strong> 10:15:38


24 <strong>The</strong> <strong>Parish</strong> <strong>Magazine</strong> — <strong>December</strong> <strong>2024</strong><br />

around FEATURE the — 5villages — 1<br />

Never forgotten by their old church . . .<br />

Writing in the January 1919 issue of this magazine, the then vicar of Sonning, Rev Gibbs Payne Crawford, reflected on how<br />

St Andrew's Church supported the 1914-18 war effort. <strong>The</strong> following is a slightly edited version of his account . . .<br />

One of the best things we had<br />

was certainly the Friday War<br />

Communion. It was begun at the<br />

request of a family staying in the<br />

village.<br />

<strong>The</strong> first took place on Friday 28<br />

August 1914 and it was continued<br />

every Friday, with very few exceptions<br />

— mainly when it broke down for<br />

want of communicants — till Friday 15<br />

November, when it became a Eucharist<br />

service for the conclusion of war. It<br />

was, week by week, the great prayer of<br />

the parish about the war, and though<br />

attended by fewer people than we<br />

hoped, we felt that throughout our<br />

fellowship in Christ it was the prayer<br />

offered by the few in the name of all.<br />

Often it was made deeply real, by<br />

the presence of some who sought it in<br />

their day of trial.<br />

For many months we had a young<br />

wife pleading in it for her husband who<br />

eventually fell in battle; at another<br />

time we had a mother committing her<br />

young son in it to the care of God; now<br />

and then a husband and wife made<br />

it their parting service, or they made<br />

it their thanksgiving when they met<br />

again after the perils of the war.<br />

THE SOLDIERS BELL<br />

All through the war we had a<br />

mother making it her prayer for the<br />

safety of her dear boys in soul and<br />

body during the perils of campaigning.<br />

Sometimes lads and maidens<br />

made it their pledge of love to be<br />

kept faithful during their parting,<br />

and always the celebrant reading out<br />

one by one the names of those of the<br />

parish who were in the perils of war,<br />

while those who had made the great<br />

sacrifice gave a solemn reality to the<br />

pleading.<br />

Collections were always given to<br />

the British Red Cross Society and the<br />

Order of St John of Jerusalem.<br />

From the beginning of the war a<br />

bell was rung every day at noon. It was<br />

a call for the prayers of those at home<br />

on behalf of those absent on service,<br />

and whenever one of our men fell, the<br />

same bell tolled at noon to let everyone<br />

know that a soldier had died. It is now<br />

called the 'soldiers’ bell'.<br />

<strong>The</strong> Great War memorial plaque in St Andrew's Church Sonning<br />

At every Sunday service there was<br />

remembrance made of the war and of<br />

the men in it.<br />

At Evensong the second part<br />

of the usual prayers gave place, by<br />

permission of the Bishop, to the<br />

special prayers issued for the war.<br />

This praying varied according to the<br />

circumstances of the war and was<br />

always very real.<br />

Each prayer was introduced by a<br />

war related thought and the hush that<br />

filled the church while the prayer was<br />

said spoke of itself for the reality with<br />

which it was offered.<br />

<strong>The</strong>re were sermons about the<br />

war — not so many as some wished,<br />

but more than others did. Everywhere<br />

that was a point in people’s minds.<br />

Some were only too glad to leave<br />

thoughts of war outside the church,<br />

while others felt that war was for the<br />

time the national life, and therefore<br />

that preaching should be directed<br />

upon it.<br />

In our church there was a middle<br />

course; war was not dragged into the<br />

preaching, rather it was used to voice<br />

people’s minds when thought of the<br />

war was specially prominent.<br />

REMEMBRANCE<br />

At each daily service remembrance<br />

was made of it in prayer, and at the<br />

end of Evensong, first the sailors and<br />

then the soldiers of our parish, each in<br />

a separate prayer, were committed to<br />

God’s care for the coming night.<br />

Our men will never be able to say<br />

that while absent they were forgotten<br />

in their old church. Perhaps a grateful<br />

remembrance of this will bring them<br />

back to using their church.<br />

Each time when news reached us of<br />

the death of one of our men, we held a<br />

short memorial service for him on the<br />

following Sunday evening, at which his<br />

family was present.<br />

When the man was well known<br />

in Sonning it was attended by a large<br />

number of people in the village.<br />

Whether common action will place<br />

in the church any memorial of those<br />

who have fallen in their country’s cause<br />

remains to be seen.<br />

COMMUNION<br />

Peter Rennie<br />

We have a church rich in its beauty,<br />

but it would not be difficult to find<br />

points at which it could be made still<br />

more beautiful.<br />

This is something of what was done<br />

in our church during the war. It is<br />

impossible to record everything.<br />

It is hard to say whether the war<br />

entered deeply into the spiritual<br />

consciousness of the people; whether<br />

it taught any to pray better, or to use<br />

their Communion better; and whether<br />

it is leaving behind it any spiritual fruit.<br />

Only God knows this for certain.<br />

LIFTED TO GOD<br />

No doubt it brought neighbours<br />

together: mutual interests in common<br />

war work, the sharing of each others<br />

anxieties and sorrows, and the one<br />

great cause of the Empire in which we<br />

were all united have undoubtedly made<br />

people know each other better and<br />

learn their mutual worth.<br />

And from the church we cannot<br />

help thinking that there went out into<br />

the parish through those who attended<br />

it some power to endure, some faith<br />

that lifted the war up to God.<br />

135 DECEMBER 2O24.indd 24 13/11/<strong>2024</strong> 10:15:39


around the villages — 1<br />

arounD the villages — 1<br />

Happy 60th<br />

birthday<br />

for Sonning<br />

Glebe WI<br />

October for Sonning Glebe WI<br />

marked a major landmark in its<br />

history and, as you would expect,<br />

they celebrated it in style.<br />

It was 60 years ago in October 1964<br />

when a small group of Sonning ladies<br />

formed the village evening WI.<br />

Over the last 60 years, Sonning<br />

Glebe WI has been a stalwart in the<br />

village, planting trees, organising<br />

entertainment, participating in<br />

village events such as the 1976<br />

Sonning Festival and the 1977 Silver<br />

Jubilee festivities.<br />

TEA, CAKES . . .<br />

During this time they have served<br />

villagers and visitors with endless<br />

cups of tea and slices of cake at<br />

village events, as well as organising<br />

monthly meetings, coffee mornings,<br />

suppers, Scrabble, Rummikub,<br />

Rounders and supporting several<br />

charities.<br />

<strong>The</strong> WI drama group even<br />

performed at the Royal Shakespeare<br />

theatre in Stratford!<br />

. . . AND TRIFLE<br />

To mark the occasion they held<br />

a 1960's theme party in Pearson<br />

Hall with, as you would expect, vol<br />

au vents, pineapple and cheese on<br />

sticks, celery and cream cheese, Ritz<br />

crackers and of course trifle while<br />

being serenaded by Geraint Thomas!<br />

<strong>The</strong> following week the members<br />

celebrated in style with a splendid<br />

evening meal at Sonning Golf Club.<br />

Remarkably, they still have one of<br />

its founder members, Enid Harvey,<br />

who was at the first meeting 60 years<br />

ago.<br />

Appropriately, Enid's daughter,<br />

Carole Collier, is the current<br />

president of Sonning Glebe WI, and<br />

so together they were able to cut the<br />

delicious anniversary cake!<br />

<strong>The</strong> <strong>Parish</strong> <strong>Magazine</strong> — <strong>December</strong> <strong>2024</strong> 25<br />

Christmas sacks for Cowshed<br />

Members of Inner Wheel Club of Reading Maiden Erlegh are pictured above<br />

holding some of the many Christmas sacks that they have sewn for the<br />

Cowshed charity. <strong>The</strong>se will be filled with toys and Christmas goodies and<br />

distributed to children from families who are struggling at the moment.<br />

You can find out more about Inner Wheel by visiting their website at:<br />

https://innerwheel.co.uk/ on Facebook at: innerwheelclubofreadingmaidenerlegh<br />

or by emailing iwcrme@gmail.com<br />

<strong>The</strong> Cowshed is a charity which gives support to people of all backgrounds in<br />

a time of personal crisis by providing good quality cleaned and ironed clothes<br />

and other essentials free to anyone in need. https://www.thecowshed.org/<br />

Pumpkins and Halloween<br />

On Sunday 27 October, <strong>The</strong> Sonning Club, which meets in Pearson Hall, held<br />

a pumpkin carving and Halloween event for local children. It was really well<br />

attended and over 15 pumpkins were carved — and a lot of fun was had,<br />

especially by the parents! For forthcoming event details visit:<br />

https://www.sonningclub.co.uk<br />

Young footballers wanted for AFC Charvil<br />

AFC (Association Football Club) Charvil is looking for young players to<br />

train. <strong>The</strong>y meet on a Tuesday evening on the new state-of-the-art 3 G pitch<br />

at Berkshire County Sports Club in Sonning and are on the lookout for new<br />

players join their primary school age groups U6 (Year 1) — U11 (Year 6).<br />

https://www.pitchero.com/clubs/afccharvil<br />

135 DECEMBER 2O24.indd 25 13/11/<strong>2024</strong> 10:15:40


26 <strong>The</strong> <strong>Parish</strong> <strong>Magazine</strong> — <strong>December</strong> <strong>2024</strong><br />

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135 DECEMBER 2O24.indd 26 13/11/<strong>2024</strong> 10:15:41


around the villages — 1<br />

around the villages — 2<br />

During the past year, the Royal<br />

British Legion Sonning Branch<br />

has been remembering several<br />

significant events from past wars<br />

including:<br />

— <strong>The</strong> 110th anniversary of the start<br />

of World War I.<br />

— It was 80 years since D-Day.<br />

<strong>The</strong> Normandy Landings of 6 June<br />

were the largest sea borne invasion<br />

in history, and began the Allied<br />

invasion of Normandy which led to<br />

the liberation of France and laid the<br />

foundations of the Allied victory on<br />

the Western Front.<br />

— It was also 80 years since the<br />

Battle of Monte Cassino in Italy,<br />

the bloodiest battle of the Italian<br />

Campaign, when Allied forces<br />

finally broke through the Germans’<br />

notorious ‘Gustav Line’ and freed<br />

Route Six and the way to Rome.<br />

— <strong>2024</strong> was the 80th anniversary<br />

of the battles for Kohima and<br />

Imphal where, in northeast India,<br />

the Imperial Japanese Army was<br />

held off by much smaller numbers<br />

of British and Indian troops. In<br />

Kohima alone, the defenders held<br />

off a staggering 25 Japanese attacks<br />

over 14 days in appalling conditions.<br />

When Indian troops arrived to<br />

relieve the defenders, the Japanese<br />

encirclement was broken. Among<br />

the liberators was Havildar Major<br />

A Duck billed platypus is surprised to see a duck filled fatty puss.<br />

Philip Mason<br />

<strong>The</strong> <strong>Parish</strong> <strong>Magazine</strong> — <strong>December</strong> <strong>2024</strong> 27<br />

<strong>2024</strong> was a year of Remembrance for the Royal<br />

British Legion<br />

A duck billed platypus is surprised to see a duck filled fatty puss!<br />

<strong>The</strong> ruins of Cassino, May 1944- a wrecked Sherman tank and Bailey bridge in the foreground,<br />

with Monastery Ridge and Castle Hill in the background<br />

War Office official photographer, Tanner (Capt), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons<br />

Rajindar Singh Dhatt of the Royal<br />

Indian Army Service Corps, from the<br />

Punjab.<br />

— It also marked the 80th<br />

anniversary of Operation Market<br />

Garden in the Netherlands, when the<br />

Allies managed to free Eindhoven<br />

and Nijmegen, but failed to capture<br />

the bridge at Arnhem. <strong>The</strong> story is<br />

told in the film A Bridge too Far.<br />

As the Royal British Legion<br />

reminded us, 'While D-Day was<br />

fundamental to the allied victory, the<br />

Second World War was not won on any<br />

single day – or battle – and we recognise<br />

and pay tribute to all who served from the<br />

British Armed Forces, Commonwealth<br />

Philip Mason<br />

and allied nations, such as those who<br />

served in the Battles of Monte Cassino,<br />

Imphal and Kohima, Operation Market<br />

Garden and the Scheldt.'<br />

And also during the year they<br />

looked beyond the Second World<br />

War, to Kosovo and Afghanistan.<br />

<strong>The</strong> Legion also paid tribute to<br />

those who served, and currently<br />

serve, in Kosovo 25 years after<br />

the deployment of the NATO<br />

peacekeeping force, and those who<br />

served in Afghanistan — Thursday<br />

12 <strong>December</strong> is the 10th anniversary<br />

of the end of the UK's involvement in<br />

Operation Herrick in Afghanistan.<br />

RNLI seek<br />

muscians<br />

After a successful Celebration<br />

Supper in October, where the<br />

RNLI Sonning Branch was able<br />

to forward a profit of £2,058 to<br />

its headquarters, they are now<br />

planning a Music Night.<br />

It will be held in Pearson Hall, on<br />

Saturday 15 February. Tickets are £15<br />

each from David Bates on 0118 969<br />

7376.<br />

If you are a musician and would<br />

like to perform at this fun and<br />

relaxed event, please also contact<br />

David Bates.<br />

135 DECEMBER 2O24.indd 27 13/11/<strong>2024</strong> 10:15:42


around the villages — 1<br />

28 <strong>The</strong> <strong>Parish</strong> <strong>Magazine</strong> — <strong>December</strong> <strong>2024</strong><br />

HOME AND Garden — 1<br />

A FOOT IN THE GARDEN<br />

Now for something completely different<br />

By Ray Puddefoot<br />

Take a daylight walk around your village when the<br />

weather is clement. Admire the evergreens and berries<br />

of winter in the gardens you walk past. See how many<br />

plants still have flowers even at this time of year. If you<br />

are admiring a neighbour’s garden and they see you,<br />

give them a merry wave and a thumbs up. For sure,<br />

inspiration for your own garden is all around us!<br />

THE DEEP WINTER<br />

Take time to look up at the conifers in our parks and<br />

gardens. <strong>The</strong> full beat of pines, cedars, giant redwoods,<br />

yews, firs, spruce and cypress trees gracing our landscape<br />

can be admired in the winter.<br />

Our largest regularly seen broad leaved evergreen is<br />

the holm oak, probably followed by the bay tree after<br />

which we are looking at smaller garden sized trees. Keep<br />

your eyes peeled for trees with coloured bark such as<br />

birch, acers, cherry, eucalyptus and plane trees.<br />

FESTIVE FLOWERS<br />

It always surprises me how many flowers can been seen<br />

over the festive period.<br />

Roses can often be found while viburnums tinus and<br />

camelias might be flowering.<br />

Hazel, witch hazel, its relative chimonanthus and<br />

mahonia can also be in flower.<br />

At ground level snowdrops, hellebores and cyclamen<br />

are welcome winter flowers occasionally accompanied by<br />

native primroses.<br />

Shrubs with coloured bark such as the dogwoods in<br />

red ‘westonbirt’, yellow (flaviramia) and ‘midwinter fire’<br />

glowing in the low winter sun.<br />

In sunnier drier spots heathers and heaths can also be<br />

in flower during <strong>December</strong>.<br />

Eleagnus ‘Limelight<br />

Ray Puddefoot<br />

Mid-Winter Tasks<br />

— Pruning and planting are traditional winter jobs<br />

especially enjoyable when the sun shines.<br />

— Prune apples, pears, soft fruit and woody shrubs and<br />

roses. With roses I always cut out one old stem as low<br />

as possible every year.<br />

— Plant trees, shrubs, winter bedding like bellis, pansy,<br />

violets and bulbs in the garden or pots.<br />

— Tidy borders and lawns.<br />

— Weed and mulch your borders. Protect less-hardy<br />

plants with generous amounts of mulch around the<br />

base.<br />

Ray's <strong>December</strong> Top Tips<br />

— Enjoy winter foliage<br />

— Plant winter bedding<br />

— Plant trees and shrubs<br />

— Weed, Mulch and Tidy<br />

— Plan for next year<br />

Fruits of Euonymus Elatus<br />

A serene winter garden<br />

Ray Puddefoot<br />

Prostockstudio, dreamstime.com<br />

135 DECEMBER 2O24.indd 28 13/11/<strong>2024</strong> 10:15:45


HOME AND Garden — 2<br />

Robin facts and fiction<br />

By Sally Churches<br />

Robins are always high up the<br />

popularity list for most people<br />

in the UK. In a 2015 poll, 37% of<br />

British people chose the robin<br />

as their national bird. It was<br />

more than three times popular<br />

than the barn owl, but why are<br />

they on the front of so many<br />

Christmas cards?<br />

Hanna Pasichnyk,<br />

dreamstime.com<br />

It probably arises from the fact that postmen in Victorian<br />

Britain wore red jackets and were nicknamed ‘Robins’, so<br />

the robin featured on the Christmas card is an emblem of<br />

the postman delivering the card.<br />

In 1861 the postmen’s uniform was changed to blue,<br />

but red has remained as the traditional colour of the Royal<br />

Mail, reflected in its vans and post boxes.<br />

However, there are several legends that actually link<br />

the robin to the Christmas story. One of these is that<br />

Mother Mary was worried that baby Jesus would get cold<br />

as the embers were dying in the fire.<br />

<strong>The</strong> other animals didn’t help but a plain, brown<br />

coloured robin assisted by flapping his wings so the<br />

embers glowed again. He then picked up some dry<br />

sticks and tossed them into the fire. As he did so a flame<br />

suddenly burst forth and burned the little bird’s breast a<br />

bright red.<br />

Mary praised the robin for all he had done, saying<br />

‘From now on, let your red breast be a blessed reminder of your<br />

noble deed. You will be known throughout the universe as the<br />

messenger of the Christ child, the true herald of Christmas…<br />

and you will be part of the message of Christmas until the end<br />

of time and will always be known as the Christmas Robin’.<br />

(Shortened version of that written by Henry Livingston Jr<br />

1748-1828, proposed uncredited author of <strong>The</strong> Night Before<br />

Christmas).<br />

Did you know? . . .<br />

— Male and female robins are similar in colouration.<br />

— Nearly 75% of robins will die before they are a<br />

year old, but after that their life expectancy increases.<br />

— Male robins exhibit highly aggressive territorial<br />

behaviour, many ending in fatalities.<br />

— In the 15th century the bird became known as Robin<br />

redbreast, (rather than just redbreast), when it was<br />

popular to give human names to familiar species.<br />

— Some sports organisations are nicknamed ‘<strong>The</strong> Robins’,<br />

typically teams whose home colours predominantly<br />

use red.<br />

— Due to artificial lighting robins will often sing at night.<br />

— <strong>The</strong> robin has twice been declared Britain’s national<br />

bird, the first time in 1960 and the second in 2015, but<br />

it’s not yet been made official.<br />

— <strong>The</strong>re is an increase in robin numbers during the winter<br />

months with migrants from Scandinavia, Russia and<br />

Europe joining resident birds when the winters<br />

become too cold and food scarce in those places.<br />

— National Robin Day in the UK is on Saturday 21<br />

<strong>December</strong>.<br />

<strong>The</strong> <strong>Parish</strong> <strong>Magazine</strong> — <strong>December</strong> <strong>2024</strong> 29<br />

HISTORY<br />

Was it really? . . .<br />

. . . 1,750 YEARS AGO on 25 <strong>December</strong> 274 that the Roman<br />

Emperor Aurelian founded the cult of Sol Invictus as<br />

an official religion. He erected a temple and declared 25<br />

<strong>December</strong> a national holiday, to be known as the Feast of<br />

the Unconquered Sun. In 336, after the conversion of the<br />

Emperor Constantine, 25 <strong>December</strong> began to be celebrated by<br />

the church in Rome as the birthday of God’s Son.<br />

. . . 500 YEARS AGO on 24 <strong>December</strong> 1524 that Vasco da<br />

Gama, Portuguese explorer, died of malaria. He was the first<br />

European to reach India by sea.<br />

. . . 200 YEARS AGO on 21 <strong>December</strong> 1824 James Parkinson,<br />

British surgeon and politician, died. In 1817, he became the<br />

first person to describe Parkinson’s disease.<br />

. . . 125 YEARS AGO, on 5 <strong>December</strong> 1899 that Henry<br />

Tate, British sugar merchant and philanthropist, died. He<br />

established the Tate Gallery in London.<br />

. . . ALSO 125 YEARS AGO on 16 <strong>December</strong> 1899, Noel<br />

Coward, British playwright, composer, director, actor and<br />

singer, was born. His plays include Hay Fever, Private Lives,<br />

and Blithe Spirit.<br />

. . . ALSO 125 YEARS AGO on 22 <strong>December</strong> 1899, Dwight L<br />

Moody, famous American evangelist, died.<br />

. . . 80 YEARS AGO from 16 <strong>December</strong> 1944 — 16 January<br />

1945 that the Battle of the Bulge (Belgium) took place.<br />

German forces launched a surprise assault on the Allies<br />

in the Ardennes Forest. It was their last major counteroffensive<br />

operation of the war.<br />

. . . 75 YEARS AGO on 13 <strong>December</strong> 1949 Jerusalem became<br />

the capital of Israel, replacing Tel Aviv.<br />

. . . 60 YEARS AGO on 19 <strong>December</strong> 1964 that the first<br />

coordinated nationwide protests against the war in Vietnam<br />

were held in the USA.<br />

. . . ALSO 60 YEARS AGO on 31 <strong>December</strong> 1964, Donald<br />

Campbell broke the world water speed record. He became<br />

the only person to break both the land speed record and the<br />

water speed record in the same year.<br />

. . . 50 YEARS AGO on 5 <strong>December</strong> 1974, the last episode<br />

of the TV comedy series Monty Python’s Flying Circus was<br />

broadcast in the UK. It had begun in October 1969.<br />

. . . 40 YEARS A GO on 26 <strong>December</strong> 2004 the Indian Ocean<br />

earthquake and tsunami took place. A massive undersea<br />

earthquake caused a devastating tsunami that swamped<br />

coastal areas in Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India, Thailand and East<br />

Africa. It killed more than 230,000 people in 14 countries.<br />

. . . ALSO 40 YEARS AGO on 31 <strong>December</strong> 1984 that the<br />

Bank of England stopped producing one pound notes. <strong>The</strong>y<br />

remained legal tender until 1988.<br />

135 DECEMBER 2O24.indd 29 13/11/<strong>2024</strong> 10:15:46


30 <strong>The</strong> <strong>Parish</strong> <strong>Magazine</strong> — <strong>December</strong> <strong>2024</strong><br />

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THE SCIENCES<br />

<strong>The</strong> <strong>Parish</strong> <strong>Magazine</strong> — <strong>December</strong> <strong>2024</strong> 31<br />

Five trillion cells — and counting<br />

New born baby<br />

Savin Sorin Matei Contescu, dreamstime.com<br />

By Dr Ruth M Bancewicz, Church Engagement Director, <strong>The</strong> Faraday Institute for Science and Religion, Cambridge<br />

After the bright beam of annunciation<br />

fused heaven with dark earth<br />

His searing sharply-focused light<br />

went out for a while<br />

eclipsed in amniotic gloom:<br />

His cool immensity of splendour<br />

His universal grace<br />

small-folded in a warm dim<br />

female space<br />

<strong>The</strong> above extract from Luci Shaw’s poem 'Made Flesh'<br />

captures something of the wonder of the moment when<br />

the second person of the Trinity became an embryo.<br />

How does a single cell turn into an infant, and what does<br />

that process say about us — and God? <strong>The</strong>se are the<br />

questions that Prof Jeff Hardin, a developmental biologist,<br />

asks himself. Having studied theology as well as science, he<br />

has a unique perspective on embryonic development.<br />

A new-born baby is made of around five trillion cells.<br />

<strong>The</strong>se cells come in hundreds of different types, each of<br />

which must be in the correct place for the child’s body to<br />

function properly. Every new life is the result of intricate and<br />

highly ordered processes. Three things must happen as an<br />

embryo develops.<br />

DRIVEN FORWARD<br />

<strong>The</strong> first important process is for cells to take on their<br />

identity as types of muscle, bone, nerves, and so on. <strong>The</strong><br />

second is when each cell learns which part of the body it<br />

belongs to. Third, those cells are moved around to form the<br />

different tissues and organs.<br />

<strong>The</strong>se three are not discrete stages, but they all happen<br />

at around the same time, building up gradually like the<br />

different aspects of a picture coming into focus.<br />

All three processes are driven forward by the movement<br />

of cells, the connections between them, and the signals they<br />

pass to each other. Jeff studies a sort of cellular glue which is<br />

involved in joining cells together. Making and breaking these<br />

Close-up of a human cell with nucleus glowing brightly surrounded by a<br />

liquid environment'. This image captures a detailed and vibrant close-up<br />

of a single human cell, focusing on the glowing nucleus. <strong>The</strong> cell is set<br />

against a watery background, illustrating complex biological structures<br />

and scientific exploration.<br />

AI generated Doberman84, dreamstime.com<br />

adhesions can affect how cells move and signal to each other,<br />

their identity in the body, how they are organised as groups,<br />

and ultimately their survival. This glue is found on the<br />

surface of cells throughout the animal kingdom, including<br />

the small worms Jeff’s lab studies.<br />

For Jeff, peering down a microscope at tiny worm<br />

embryos can be an act of worship. It is also an exercise in<br />

art appreciation as he learns to appreciate the created order.<br />

Understanding the complexities of development, while also<br />

being aware that God knows that process intimately both as<br />

Creator and created, fills Jeff with a profound sense of awe,<br />

wonder and worship.<br />

Does the minute scale of our early development,<br />

compared with the incomprehensibly vast and ancient<br />

universe, give us a sense of insignificance? Psalm 8 says,<br />

“When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,<br />

the moon and the stars that you have established;<br />

what are human beings that you are mindful of them,<br />

mortals that you care for them?”<br />

For Jeff and the Psalmist, such feelings can be a positive<br />

experience if they serve as a reminder to be humble in the<br />

face of a universe that is vastly complicated but also deeply<br />

meaningful, made by a God who loves each one of us.<br />

THE<br />

135 DECEMBER 2O24.indd 31 13/11/<strong>2024</strong> 10:15:48


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CHRISTMAS christmas quiz<br />

David Pickup looks back with 20<br />

Christmas questions from the past ...<br />

<strong>The</strong> <strong>Parish</strong> <strong>Magazine</strong> — <strong>December</strong> <strong>2024</strong> 33<br />

1. This year was a Leap Year. Were 1900 and 2000 Leap Years?<br />

2. What is Whamaggedon?<br />

3. Alan Bates hit the headlines in January? He shares his name with a famous actor<br />

but why is he well known?<br />

4. HRH Duke of Edinburgh met a special resident at St Helena in January who had<br />

also met his grandparents. Who is he?<br />

5. A young actor, fresh out of drama school, was told by Arthur Lowe, 'don’t worry if<br />

there’s not a lot of lines. <strong>The</strong>y’ll come. In the meantime get yourself a funny<br />

costume and stand near me'. Who was the actor who died this year and starred in<br />

this classic sitcom?<br />

6. Why did a family photo taken for Mothering Sunday lead to media speculation?<br />

7. Why did North Korean Television object to Alan Titchmarsh and his trousers?<br />

8. How did Matins, a black cat, get into trouble on 2 June 1953 at Westminster Abbey<br />

9. Where was the Carnation Revolution 50 years ago?<br />

10. What product manufacturer (a byword in usefulness) announced in <strong>2024</strong> they<br />

would introduce the first bladeless version?<br />

11. Which Oxford Don applied unsuccessfully to be a code breaker in the 1940s?<br />

<strong>The</strong>re was a note by his name 'keen'.<br />

12. Where is the Elephant and Bear Line?<br />

13. What is Election purdah?<br />

Tetiana Kidalova, dreamstime.com<br />

14. What was Gamblegate?<br />

15. 17 July was National Emoji Day. One of the most popular is known as ROTFL. What does that mean?<br />

16. In this year’s Olympics the Philippines gold medallist Carlos Yulo got an unusual reward and a medal. What was it?<br />

17. In August a north Italian city advertised for people to learn an ancient skill. <strong>The</strong> job requirements include being 18<br />

or over, having a high school-level education, knowing how to swim, and possessing a medical certificate that proves<br />

'a healthy and robust constitution'. What job was this for?<br />

18. What music celebrated its 200th anniversary? Liked by many and Karl Marx though 'it a solemn mass of earthly joy'?<br />

19. Why might you be looking forward to not looking back in anger?<br />

20. What types of special judges were cancelled after 147 years service and replaced electronically?<br />

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1. 2000 was a leap year. 1900 was not. Every 4 years is a leap year.<br />

2. Whamageddon is a game played during the 24 days before Christmas in<br />

which players try to go from 1 <strong>December</strong> to the end of Christmas Eve (24<br />

<strong>December</strong>) without hearing 'Last Christmas' by Wham!<br />

3. Alan Bates has been very active in trying to address the Post Office<br />

scandal.<br />

4. A giant tortoise.<br />

5. Ian Lavender, who played Pike.<br />

6. <strong>The</strong> photo taken by HRH Princess of Wales had been not very successfully<br />

altered.<br />

7. He was wearing American style jeans.<br />

8. <strong>The</strong> cat fell asleep on the Coronation throne.<br />

9. Portugal.<br />

10. Swiss Army knife.<br />

11. JRR Tolkein. <strong>The</strong> word 'keen' may have been a surname misspelling.<br />

12. Near Coventry from Nuneaton down to Royal Leamington Spa.<br />

13. <strong>The</strong> rule that civil servants and others will normally observe discretion<br />

about making new announcements or decisions that could influence voters.<br />

14. <strong>The</strong> allegations that some politicians took bets on when the general<br />

election would be when they had insider information.<br />

15. Roll on the floor laughing.<br />

16. A lifetime of free colonoscopies.<br />

17. Gondolier.<br />

18. Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony.<br />

19. <strong>The</strong> news that the group Oasis are performing again.<br />

20. Line judges at Wimbledon.<br />

135 DECEMBER 2O24.indd 33 13/11/<strong>2024</strong> 10:15:51


34 <strong>The</strong> <strong>Parish</strong> <strong>Magazine</strong> — <strong>December</strong> <strong>2024</strong><br />

FASHION BY harriet nelson<br />

Style + warmth = a comfortable Christmas!<br />

As the fashion season is already<br />

beginning to sparkle with festive<br />

decorations, I am looking forward<br />

to our house being filled with the<br />

lovely aroma of cinnamon and pine<br />

and festive baking, and listening<br />

to the corny Christmas hits once<br />

again. With gatherings, parties<br />

and family events on the horizon,<br />

Christmas fashion is a prominent<br />

topic of discussion online and in<br />

fashion magazines. So let's explore<br />

the vibrant trends and styles that<br />

can help you shine bright during the<br />

festive season.<br />

No conversation about winter<br />

fashion is complete without<br />

mentioning the iconic Christmas<br />

jumper that offers warmth and<br />

personality, whether it's a festive<br />

reindeer and snowflakes sweater or a<br />

more classic, comfy knit with subtle<br />

festive patterns.<br />

Pair your Christmas sweater with<br />

black jeans or tailored trousers for<br />

a comfortable chic look. This year<br />

consider opting for oversized styles<br />

or those featuring eco-friendly<br />

materials, aligning comfort with<br />

sustainabilty.<br />

<strong>The</strong> Christmas sweater is a perfect<br />

fashion stable to help you feel warm<br />

and comfy while participating in<br />

your family's Christmas traditions.<br />

A gorgeous dress can elevate<br />

your festive spirit for those special<br />

Christmas parties and gatherings.<br />

Think luxurious fabrics such as<br />

velvet or satin in rich jewel tones,<br />

such as emerald greens, deep reds,<br />

and royal blues, to get you in the<br />

Christmas mood.<br />

Midi and maxi lengths are<br />

trending, providing movement<br />

and style. Don't shy away from<br />

incorporating bold prints or sequins<br />

that are perfect for evening affairs.<br />

Any dress can be accessorised<br />

with gorgeous sparkling jewellery. A<br />

pair of knee-high boots, or elegant<br />

heels to complete the look.<br />

RELAXED CODE<br />

Go bold this winter season and<br />

dress to impress this autumn.<br />

Many holiday events are moving<br />

towards a more relaxed dress code,<br />

making elevated casual wear the<br />

ideal choice — I'm one of those<br />

people who want to be comfy during<br />

my Christmas meal!<br />

Whether it's jeans and a jumper,<br />

lounge wear or tailored trousers<br />

paired with a festive blouse, all<br />

these options of comfort and style<br />

for gatherings at home or casual<br />

outings.<br />

Any casual outfit can be<br />

transformed to make you look more<br />

festive.<br />

Start with statement pieces such<br />

as chunky knit scarves or beanies<br />

adorned with the classic pom-pom.<br />

A pair of sparkly earings or a festive<br />

clutch bag can add just the right<br />

amount of flair to your attire.<br />

And we need to remember shoes!<br />

I love good fluffy boots such as a pair<br />

of Uggs, to keep you nice an toasty<br />

during the day, or a pair of classic<br />

Doc Martens to keep the cold away<br />

while looking bold and stylish.<br />

<strong>The</strong> comfort of being at home<br />

during the holidays is just as<br />

important as looking festive.<br />

This year, matching holiday<br />

pyjamas are trending again.<br />

<strong>The</strong>y are perfect for family photo<br />

shoots or cosy movie nights by the<br />

fire.<br />

Choose from soft cotton or<br />

flannel sets decorated with cheerful<br />

patterns, or consider luxurious<br />

lounge wear options in cashmere or<br />

silk blends to make your Christmas<br />

evenings as comfy as possible.<br />

Christmas fashion is all about<br />

expressing joy, warmth, and style<br />

while celebrating your personal<br />

Christmas day.<br />

Whether you opt for classic<br />

Christmas sweaters, elegant dresses,<br />

or cosy lounge wear, choosing<br />

pieces that make you happy and<br />

comfortable is vital.<br />

As you prepare and decorate for<br />

the festivities, let your wardrobe<br />

reflect the happy holiday season<br />

ahead.<br />

Happy Christmas!<br />

135 DECEMBER 2O24.indd 34 13/11/<strong>2024</strong> 10:15:54


THE ARTS — 1<br />

Rev Michael Burgess continues looking at great works of music<br />

Capturing the heart of<br />

the Incarnation<br />

In the Middle Ages, at the end of the Christmas<br />

Midnight Mass, the clergy would often tell the animals’<br />

version of the Nativity story and imitate the sound of<br />

each animal.<br />

<strong>The</strong> cock would crow ‘Christus natus est.’ (Christ is born).<br />

<strong>The</strong> cows would moo ‘Ubi?’ (Where?). <strong>The</strong> sheep would<br />

bleat ‘In Bethlehem.’ And the donkey would cry ‘Eamus’<br />

(Let us go there). It was a way of expressing something of<br />

the joy and fun of the Christmas celebration.<br />

Commercialism, with all its trappings, has sadly made<br />

that fun and festivity the be all and end all of Christmas.<br />

We need to capture again the heart of the Incarnation,<br />

which is a mystery rooted in silence and wonder. <strong>The</strong><br />

book of Wisdom reads: ‘For while gentle silence enveloped all<br />

things, and night in its swift course was now half gone, the all<br />

powerful Word leapt from heaven, from the royal throne.’<br />

<strong>The</strong>se words remind us that at Bethlehem there is<br />

that silence and wonder. <strong>The</strong> animals may rejoice to tell<br />

the good news of the Incarnation at the midnight mass,<br />

but at the crib they gather with the holy family and the<br />

shepherds. We are given no words of Mary and Joseph<br />

and the shepherds around the crib.<br />

WONDERING WORSHIP<br />

<strong>The</strong> mystery of what was happening seems to have<br />

intensified their silence. <strong>The</strong>y did not know what the<br />

future held for this new-born child, but they did know<br />

that God was acting in a special way. <strong>The</strong>y were like people<br />

standing in the faint light of the dawn, and their response<br />

was an expectant and wondering worship.<br />

It is at the heart of this month’s beautiful and moving<br />

setting of some words from the matins of Christmas<br />

morning, ‘O magnum mysterium.’ ‘O great mystery and<br />

wondrous sacrament, that animals should see the new-born<br />

Lord, lying in the manger. Blessed Virgin, whose womb was<br />

found worthy to bear Christ the Lord. Alleluia.’<br />

<strong>The</strong> words were set by the American composer, Morten<br />

Lauridsen in 1994 and first performed a few days before<br />

Christmas in Los Angeles. Since then, it has been sung by<br />

choirs, both professional and amateur, around the world.<br />

After the opening chord, the altos introduce us to a<br />

motif that pervades the work.<br />

It is like the movement of the heart, rising in praise<br />

and resting in hope at the mystery of the Incarnation. <strong>The</strong><br />

joy is inner and reaches a climax with Alleluia. <strong>The</strong> final<br />

words are that all this glory lies in a manger, where the<br />

animals gather.<br />

While the world will call us to a frenzy of doing and<br />

buying amid a clamour of noise and muzak. ‘O magnum<br />

mysterium’ invites us to step into the stable again and join<br />

the animals, the Holy Family and the shepherds to find a<br />

joy and a wonder that can nourish the soul.<br />

At the crib we can know ‘the silence of eternity<br />

interpreted by Love’ and with the choir we can respond:<br />

'Alleluia!'<br />

<strong>The</strong> <strong>Parish</strong> <strong>Magazine</strong> — <strong>December</strong> <strong>2024</strong> 35<br />

Book Reviews — 1<br />

<strong>The</strong> Moment of Truth – Reflections<br />

on Incarnation and Resurrection<br />

By Samuel Wells, Canterbury Press,<br />

£11.69<br />

Christmas, Easter, Advent and Lent,<br />

each focus on the central beliefs<br />

of Christian faith — that in the<br />

Incarnation, God comes among us,<br />

and that in the resurrection, death is<br />

defeated and creation is renewed.<br />

In this collection of seasonal<br />

reflections, Samuel Wells unpacks the<br />

substance of these key Christian doctrines, and explores<br />

their practical implications for living as Christians.<br />

Whose Promised Land? – <strong>The</strong><br />

Continuing Conflict over Israel and<br />

Palestine<br />

By Colin Chapman, SPCK, £16.99<br />

(revised and expanded edition)<br />

<strong>The</strong> conflict between Israel and the<br />

Palestinians has profoundly affected<br />

the Middle East for almost 80 years,<br />

and shows no sign of ending.<br />

With two peoples claiming the<br />

same piece of land for different<br />

reasons, it remains a huge political and humanitarian<br />

problem. Can it ever be resolved? If so, how? <strong>The</strong>se are the<br />

basic questions addressed in this revised and expanded<br />

sixth edition of Colin Chapman’s highly acclaimed book.<br />

Having lived and worked in the Middle East at<br />

various times since 1968, the author explains the roots<br />

of the problem and outlines the arguments of the main<br />

parties involved. He also explores the theme of land<br />

in the Old and New Testaments, discussing legitimate<br />

and illegitimate ways of using the Bible in relation to<br />

the conflict. This new and fully updated edition covers<br />

developments over the past 10 years, including the war<br />

that broke out between Israel and Hamas in October 2023.<br />

MORE CHRISTMAS BOOK REVIEWS ON PAGE 37<br />

Poetry Corner<br />

Forgiveness<br />

If our greatest need had been information,<br />

God would have sent us an educator.<br />

If our greatest need had been money,<br />

God would have sent us an economist.<br />

If our greatest need had been technology,<br />

God would have sent us a scientist.<br />

If our greatest need had been pleasure,<br />

God would have sent us an entertainer.<br />

But our greatest need was forgiveness,<br />

So God sent us a Saviour. (Anon)<br />

Very punny . . .<br />

What is a dentist’s favourite hymn?<br />

Crown him with many crowns<br />

What is a dentist’s second favourite hymn?<br />

Holy, Holy, Holy!<br />

How does Moses make his coffee? Hebrews it!<br />

135 DECEMBER 2O24.indd 35 13/11/<strong>2024</strong> 10:15:55


36 <strong>The</strong> <strong>Parish</strong> <strong>Magazine</strong> — <strong>December</strong> <strong>2024</strong><br />

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135 DECEMBER 2O24.indd 36 13/11/<strong>2024</strong> 10:15:57


THE ARTS — 2<br />

Book Reviews — 2<br />

Do Not Be Afraid - the Joy of<br />

Waiting in a Time of Fear<br />

<strong>The</strong> Archbishop of York's<br />

Advent Book for <strong>2024</strong><br />

By Rachel Mann, SPCK, £10.99<br />

<strong>The</strong>se meditations tell stories of God<br />

waiting with us when we're in fear<br />

or distress; of coming — bidden or<br />

unbidden — to relieve our loneliness;<br />

of disconcerting us, desiring us and<br />

surprising us with joy. Most of all<br />

they remind us that Jesus comes into<br />

the world as one long waited for; as the servant who waits<br />

on others; as the one on whom we are called to wait.<br />

<strong>The</strong> Love That Moves the Sun —<br />

Advent hope in a time of crisis<br />

By Paul Dominiak, Canterbury Press,<br />

£10.39<br />

<strong>The</strong> season of Advent traditionally<br />

involved meditation on the four<br />

last things: heaven, hell, death, and<br />

judgement. This ancient but nearly<br />

lost sacred art of contemplation<br />

encouraged Christians to evaluate<br />

who they were, what they treasured<br />

and how they ought to live in view of<br />

the world to come. <strong>The</strong> Love That Moves the Sun revives this<br />

ancient practice and blends it with contemporary concerns<br />

such as climate emergency, rise of populism, racial<br />

injustice and economic inequality.<br />

Busy Family Devotional — 52<br />

Short Devotions from Genesis to<br />

Revelation<br />

By Lucy Rycroft, SPCK, £9.99<br />

<strong>The</strong> Busy Family Devotional is a<br />

short and simple way of leading<br />

your children through Scripture,<br />

from Genesis to Revelation. It is a<br />

resource that can help them grow in<br />

relationship with the God who<br />

created and loves them. Each of the<br />

52 devotionals include a Bible reading,<br />

some questions to consider, a prayer and a Bible verse to<br />

memorise.<br />

<strong>The</strong> Nativity Story<br />

By Juliet David, SPCK,<br />

£4.99<br />

This sturdy and colourful<br />

board book is just right<br />

for little ones starting<br />

to learn about Mary<br />

and Joseph's journey to<br />

Bethlehem, the shepherds<br />

and the wise men who<br />

came to meet Baby Jesus.<br />

It would make a good<br />

stocking filler.<br />

<strong>The</strong> <strong>Parish</strong> <strong>Magazine</strong> — <strong>December</strong> <strong>2024</strong> 37<br />

<strong>The</strong> Extra Special Baby — Story of<br />

the Christmas Promise<br />

By Antonia Woodward,<br />

SPCK, £10.99<br />

A long time ago, a long way away,<br />

some very clever men discovered an<br />

exciting promise! For in Bethlehem one<br />

night, under the quiet starry sky, an<br />

Extra Special Baby was born.<br />

This beautiful retelling of the Nativity story will take<br />

children back to the excitement of that very first<br />

Christmas night, when life on earth would change forever.<br />

<strong>The</strong> Shepherd Girl of Bethlehem<br />

— a Nativity story<br />

By Carey Morning,<br />

SPCK £5.99<br />

A little shepherd girl loves her father<br />

greatly, and adores spending time with<br />

him on the hillside, tending his flocks.<br />

But one night, he is called away and<br />

she can't find him. She searches high<br />

and low, eventually finding him at a stable in Bethlehem,<br />

where her journey ends with a glorious discovery.<br />

Wow! Christmas - Creatively explore<br />

stories in the Bible<br />

By Martha Shrimpton.<br />

SPCK 10.99<br />

Here is a well designed and colourful<br />

Christmas activity book for children.<br />

<strong>The</strong> stories cover the birth of Jesus,<br />

the shepherds, the journey of the<br />

Wise Men, and the giving of gifts.<br />

With each story there is a prayer, a<br />

craft, and a chance to act out the story, followed by a time<br />

for reflection, discussion, and creative praise.<br />

<strong>The</strong> Big Big Big Christmas -<br />

(That Was Also Very Small)<br />

By Emma Randall and Mei Shan<br />

Dibble, 10Publishing, £4.99<br />

<strong>The</strong> wonder of the Incarnation<br />

is told here in a fresh, funny and<br />

child-friendly way.<br />

<strong>The</strong> book offers a hilarious<br />

series of zany comparisons<br />

that get bigger and bigger until<br />

they help children discover just how big God is and how<br />

amazing it is that he became a tiny baby at Christmas.<br />

A Very Noisy Christmas<br />

By Tim Thornborough, illustrated by<br />

Jennifer Davison£4.99<br />

A fun re-telling of the Christmas<br />

story for young children that<br />

includes regular invitations to<br />

make some noise! It is an engaging<br />

interactive book for toddlers and a<br />

great resource for all-ages gatherings.<br />

135 DECEMBER 2O24.indd 37 13/11/<strong>2024</strong> 10:15:57


38 <strong>The</strong> <strong>Parish</strong> <strong>Magazine</strong> — <strong>December</strong> <strong>2024</strong><br />

PUZZLE PAGE — 1<br />

BIBLE CROSSWORD<br />

Across<br />

1 ‘<strong>The</strong> blind receive sight, the — walk’ (Luke 7:22) (4)<br />

3 Got (Philippians 3:12) (8)<br />

8 Leave out (Jeremiah 26:2) (4)<br />

9 Castigated for using dishonest scales (Hosea 12:7) (8)<br />

11 Weighty (1 John 5:3) (10)<br />

14 ‘Now the serpent was more — than any of the wild animals the<br />

Lord God had made’ (Genesis 3:1) (6)<br />

15 ‘Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot — God’<br />

(Romans 8:8) (6)<br />

17 Because Israel lacked one of these, tools had to be sharpened<br />

by the Philistines (1 Samuel 13:19) (10)<br />

20 In his vision of the two eagles and the vine, this is how Ezekiel<br />

described the latter (Ezekiel 17:8) (8)<br />

21 Rite (anag.) (4)<br />

22 Nine gigs (anag.) (8)<br />

23 ‘<strong>The</strong> eye cannot say to the — 'I don’t need you’<br />

(1 Corinthians 12:21) (4)<br />

Down<br />

1 ‘Flee for your lives! Don’t — — , and don’t stop anywhere in the<br />

plain!’ (Genesis 19:17) (4,4)<br />

2 Principal thoroughfare (Numbers 20:19) (4,4)<br />

4 ‘<strong>The</strong> tax collector... beat his — and said, “God have mercy on me,<br />

a sinner”’ (Luke 18:13) (6)<br />

5 ‘<strong>The</strong> zeal of the Lord Almighty will — this’ (2 Kings 19:31) (10)<br />

6 ‘<strong>The</strong> day of the Lord is — for all nations’ (Obadiah 15) (4)<br />

7 Specified day (Acts 21:26) (4)<br />

10 Deadly epidemic (Deuteronomy 32:24) (10)<br />

12 Roman Catholic church which has special ceremonial rights (8)<br />

13 Tied up (2 Kings 7:10) (8)<br />

16 In his speech to the Sanhedrin, Stephen described Moses as<br />

‘powerful in speech and — ’ (Acts 7:22) (6)<br />

18 ‘Although he did not remove the high places, — heart was fully<br />

committed to the Lord all his life’ (1 Kings 15:14) (4)<br />

19 Tribe (Deuteronomy 29:18) (4)<br />

Christmas Cheers Verse Search by Ralph<br />

S<br />

T<br />

A<br />

A<br />

C<br />

O<br />

V<br />

D<br />

A<br />

N<br />

O<br />

G<br />

O<br />

BA<br />

TI<br />

C<br />

S<br />

P<br />

R<br />

O<br />

S<br />

E<br />

C<br />

C<br />

O<br />

S<br />

I<br />

E<br />

A<br />

I<br />

H<br />

H<br />

A<br />

B<br />

I<br />

T<br />

T<br />

E<br />

R<br />

H<br />

H<br />

N<br />

U<br />

C<br />

O<br />

A<br />

C<br />

A<br />

V<br />

E<br />

I<br />

L<br />

T<br />

E<br />

E<br />

C<br />

P<br />

R<br />

A<br />

R<br />

M<br />

N<br />

L<br />

T<br />

K<br />

L<br />

U<br />

R<br />

U<br />

D<br />

E<br />

N<br />

L<br />

R<br />

E<br />

Ralph's ‘Christmas cheers search’ grid above contains<br />

the names of 30 'beverages' whose names begin: 3A, 5B,<br />

4C, G, 2K, 2L, 3M, 3P, R, 4S, V, W. If you find all 30 you<br />

will also notice that the unused letters in the grid spell<br />

out a relevant verse from the Good News Bible. You<br />

might even manage to identify the verse. Good luck, and<br />

God Bless!<br />

Write your answers here . . .<br />

ANSWERS TO RALPH'S NOVEMBER VERSE SEARCH<br />

AIRCRAFT CARRIER<br />

BARQUE<br />

CARRACK<br />

CATAMARAN<br />

CLIPPER<br />

CORVETTE<br />

CRUISER<br />

DESTROYER<br />

DHOW<br />

P<br />

U<br />

L<br />

I<br />

E<br />

C<br />

R<br />

A<br />

I<br />

O<br />

E<br />

E<br />

Y<br />

D<br />

V<br />

A<br />

P<br />

I<br />

S<br />

M<br />

Y<br />

A<br />

C<br />

E<br />

E<br />

T<br />

D<br />

H<br />

I<br />

I<br />

G<br />

K<br />

O<br />

N<br />

D<br />

U<br />

T<br />

M<br />

H<br />

R<br />

N<br />

S<br />

C<br />

D<br />

R<br />

N<br />

M<br />

I<br />

N<br />

I<br />

I<br />

A<br />

T<br />

P<br />

A<br />

T<br />

Y<br />

S<br />

I<br />

D<br />

DINGY<br />

DUGOUT<br />

FREIGHTER<br />

FRIGATE<br />

ICEBREAKER<br />

LIGHTERS<br />

OUTRIGGER<br />

PEDALO<br />

E<br />

E<br />

A<br />

L<br />

N<br />

T<br />

O<br />

R<br />

R<br />

A<br />

L<br />

N<br />

R<br />

G<br />

W<br />

T<br />

H<br />

T<br />

E<br />

W<br />

P<br />

R<br />

B<br />

F<br />

T<br />

R<br />

U<br />

I<br />

E<br />

E<br />

S<br />

I<br />

A<br />

L<br />

O<br />

J<br />

U<br />

A<br />

E<br />

B<br />

M<br />

I<br />

K<br />

O<br />

R<br />

A<br />

M<br />

A<br />

D<br />

E<br />

I<br />

R<br />

A<br />

M<br />

R<br />

E<br />

G<br />

A<br />

L<br />

C<br />

<strong>The</strong> hidden Bible verse was from Matthew 8:24<br />

Good News Bible<br />

SUDDENLY A FIERCE STORM HIT THE LAKE<br />

AND THE BOAT WAS IN DANGER OF SINKING<br />

A<br />

B<br />

S<br />

I<br />

N<br />

T<br />

H<br />

E<br />

Y<br />

K<br />

S<br />

I<br />

H<br />

W<br />

S<br />

SCHOONER<br />

TENDER<br />

TRAMP<br />

TRAWLER<br />

TRIMORAN<br />

WHALER<br />

WINDJAMMER<br />

A<br />

K<br />

D<br />

O<br />

V<br />

C<br />

O<br />

C<br />

K<br />

T<br />

A<br />

I<br />

L<br />

S<br />

N<br />

135 DECEMBER 2O24.indd 38 13/11/<strong>2024</strong> 10:15:58


PUZZLE PAGE — 2<br />

CROSSWORD<br />

1 2 3 4 5 6 7<br />

8<br />

9 10<br />

SUDOKU<br />

<strong>The</strong> <strong>Parish</strong> <strong>Magazine</strong> — <strong>December</strong> <strong>2024</strong> 39<br />

answers in the next issue<br />

November<br />

Solutions<br />

CROSSWORD<br />

11 12<br />

13<br />

14<br />

15 16<br />

17 18<br />

19 20<br />

21 22<br />

Across<br />

1 ACROSS<br />

- Spaces or intervals (4)<br />

31 -- Wonderful<br />

Spaces<br />

(8)<br />

or intervals (4)<br />

9 - Burdensome (7)<br />

3 - Wonderful (8)<br />

10 Heavy iron tool (5)<br />

9 - Burdensome (7)<br />

11 Frozen water (3)<br />

12 10 - Out - Heavy of fashion iron (5) tool (5)<br />

13 11 - Should Frozen (5) water (3)<br />

15 - Eg Pacific or Atlantic 12 - Out of fashion (5)<br />

17 - Use to one's advantage (5)<br />

13 - Should (5)<br />

18 - Research place (abbrev.) (3)<br />

15 - Eg Pacific or Atlantic (5)<br />

19 - Gold block (5)<br />

20 17 -- Herb Use related to one's to parsley advantage (7) (5)<br />

21 18 -- Propose Research a candidate place for (abbrev.) office (8) (3)<br />

22 - Spur on (4)<br />

19 - Gold block (5)<br />

20 - Herb related to parsley (7)<br />

21 - Propose a candidate for office (8)<br />

22 - Spur on (4)<br />

CODEWORD<br />

Down<br />

DOWN 1 - Exaltation (13)<br />

1 - Exaltation<br />

2 - Part of<br />

(13)<br />

(5)<br />

4 - Pondering (6)<br />

2 - Part of (5)<br />

5 - Having an acrid wit (5-7)<br />

4 - Pondering (6)<br />

5 - Having an acrid wit (5-7)<br />

6 - Puts money into a venture (7)<br />

7 - 50th anniversary of a major event (6,7)<br />

6 - Puts 8 money - Worldly (12) into a venture (7)<br />

14 - Mercury alloy (7)<br />

7 - 50th anniversary of a<br />

16 - Evoke (6)<br />

major event (6,7)<br />

18 - Intimate companion (5)<br />

8 - Worldly (12)<br />

14 - Mercury alloy (7)<br />

16 - Evoke (6)<br />

18 - Intimate companion (5)<br />

9 12 8 23 12 4 4 5 17 23 9 8<br />

23 15 9 18 7 26 13<br />

8 11 3 23 23 2 23 17 18 23 13 9<br />

5 9 25 23 12 9 5<br />

22 23 7 12 3 7 17 23 16 23 7 26<br />

5 20 23 15 13 6<br />

7 23 9 20 23 8 14 23 13 18 26 14<br />

10 3 7 16 26 5<br />

13 24 9 13 8 5 20 23 7 23 8 8<br />

15 24 26 17 7 19 26<br />

13 18 5 24 5 9 23 17 5 26 13 18<br />

18 8 7 12 1 12 23<br />

16 13 14 12 10 13 7 1 23 18 21 8<br />

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z<br />

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13<br />

U I A<br />

14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26<br />

Each of the nine blocks has to contain all the<br />

numbers 1-9 within its squares. Each number<br />

can only appear once in a row, column or box.<br />

WORDSEARCH<br />

Father Christmas is based on St Nicholas,<br />

who was born in the 3rd Century in the Greek<br />

village of Patara, on what is today the southern<br />

coast of Turkey. His family were both devout<br />

and wealthy, and when his parents died in an<br />

epidemic, Nicholas decided to help people. He<br />

gave to the needy, the sick, the suffering, and<br />

was made Bishop of Myra while still a young<br />

man. As a bishop, he suffered in prison with<br />

other bishops under the emperor Diocletian’s<br />

persecution of Christians.<br />

One story of his generosity explains<br />

why we hang Christmas stockings over<br />

our mantelpieces today. <strong>The</strong>re was a poor<br />

family with three daughters who needed<br />

dowries if they were to marry, and not be<br />

sold into slavery. Nicholas heard of their<br />

plight, and tossed three bags of gold into<br />

their home through an open window – thus<br />

saving the girls from a life of misery. <strong>The</strong><br />

bags of gold landed in stockings or shoes<br />

left before the fire to dry. Hence the custom<br />

of children hanging out stockings – in the<br />

hope of attracting presents of their own from<br />

St Nicholas - on Christmas Eve. That is why<br />

three gold balls, sometimes represented as<br />

oranges, are one of the symbols of St Nicholas.<br />

FATHER<br />

CHRISTMAS<br />

NICHOLAS<br />

CENTURY<br />

STOCKINGS<br />

DAUGHTERS<br />

VILLAGE<br />

DEVOUT<br />

WEALTHY<br />

NEEDY<br />

PRISON<br />

EMPEROR<br />

FAMILY<br />

SUFFERING<br />

THREE<br />

MONEY<br />

BORN<br />

THIRD<br />

GREEK<br />

POOR<br />

SICK<br />

CODEWORD<br />

SUDOKU<br />

WORDSEARCH<br />

BIBLE CROSSWORD<br />

135 DECEMBER 2O24.indd 39 13/11/<strong>2024</strong> 10:15:59


40 <strong>The</strong> <strong>Parish</strong> <strong>Magazine</strong> — <strong>December</strong> <strong>2024</strong><br />

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135 DECEMBER 2O24.indd 40 13/11/<strong>2024</strong> 10:16:00


CHILDREN'S PAGE<br />

<strong>The</strong> <strong>Parish</strong> <strong>Magazine</strong> — <strong>December</strong> <strong>2024</strong> 41<br />

135 DECEMBER 2O24.indd 41 13/11/<strong>2024</strong> 10:16:01


42 <strong>The</strong> <strong>Parish</strong> <strong>Magazine</strong> — <strong>December</strong> <strong>2024</strong> Please mention <strong>The</strong> <strong>Parish</strong> <strong>Magazine</strong> when replying to advertisements<br />

information — 2<br />

<strong>Parish</strong> contacts<br />

Ministry Team<br />

— <strong>The</strong> Vicar: Revd Jamie Taylor (Day off Friday)<br />

<strong>The</strong> <strong>Parish</strong> Office, Thames Street, Sonning, RG4 6UR<br />

vicar@sonningparish.org.uk / 0118 969 3298<br />

— Youth Minister: Chris West (Westy)<br />

youthminister@sonningparish.org.uk / 0794 622 4106<br />

— Licensed Lay Minister: Bob Peters<br />

bob@sonningparish.org.uk / 0118 377 5887<br />

— Children and Youth Minister: Corinne Robertson<br />

corinne@sonningparish.org.uk / 0118 969 3298<br />

Churchwardens<br />

— Liz Nelson, liz.nelson1@ntlworld.com / 0779 194 4270<br />

— Ruth Jeffery, ruth@jefferyfamily.net / 0797 101 8730<br />

Deputy Churchwardens<br />

— Kevin Wilson, kevinmichaelwilson@gmail.com / 0118 969 3298<br />

— Sue Peters, mail@susanjpeters.com / 0118 377 5887<br />

<strong>Parish</strong> Office Manager<br />

— Hilary Rennie, office@sonningparish.org.uk / 0118 969 3298<br />

Parochial Church Council<br />

— Secretary: Hilary Rennie 0118 969 3298<br />

— Treasurer: Jerry Wood 0118 969 3298<br />

Director of Music, Organist and Choirmaster<br />

— Richard Meehan MA ARCO<br />

music@sonningparish.org.uk<br />

Safeguarding Officer<br />

— Nicola Riley: nic.nige@sky.com / 0742 517 3359<br />

Sonning Bell Ringers<br />

— Tower Captain: Pam Elliston<br />

pam.elliston@talktalk.net / 0118 969 5967<br />

— Deputy Tower Captain: Rob Needham<br />

r06needham@gmail.com / 0118 926 7724<br />

St Andrew's Church <strong>Parish</strong> Website<br />

https://www.sonningparish.org.uk<br />

Advertisers' index<br />

ABD Construction 6<br />

Abbeyfield Wey Valley Society 6<br />

ACG Services Locksmith 40<br />

Active Security 30<br />

AMS Water Softeners 14<br />

Barn Store Henley 6<br />

Berkshire Stump Removals 40<br />

BHR Maintenance 40<br />

Big Heart Tree Care 40<br />

Blandy & Blandy Solicitors 14<br />

Blue Moose 26<br />

Bridges Homecare Meals on Wheels 12<br />

Bull Inn 32<br />

Canon Tree Care 30<br />

Chole Lefroy Counselling 40<br />

Clark Bicknell Bignall Plumbing and Heating<br />

40<br />

Computer Frustrations 40<br />

Crosfields School 32<br />

EDP Dental Practice 32<br />

French Horn 4<br />

Gardiners Home Care 32<br />

Good Oaks Home Care 26<br />

Great House Sonning 12<br />

Handyman and Decorating Services 40<br />

Handyman and Satellite TV repairs 40<br />

Haslams Estate Agents 2<br />

Hicks Group 18<br />

Home Stair Lifts 18<br />

Kingfisher Bathrooms 30<br />

MC Cleaning 40<br />

Mill at Sonning 44<br />

Muck & Mulch 18<br />

Reading Blue Coat School 14<br />

Richfield Flooring 16<br />

Shiplake College 16<br />

Smallwood Landscaping 40<br />

Sonning Golf Club 16<br />

Sonning Scouts 32<br />

Studio DFP 40<br />

Thames Valley Water Softeners 6<br />

Thames Chimney Sweep 40<br />

<strong>The</strong> Abbey Nursery 43<br />

Tomalin Funerals 14<br />

Walker Funerals 12<br />

Water Softener Salt 18<br />

Window Cleaner 18<br />

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AB0049_<strong>The</strong>_Abbey_Little_Knellies_Ad_175x255.indd 1 06/03/<strong>2024</strong> 09:32<br />

135 DECEMBER 2O24.indd 43 13/11/<strong>2024</strong> 10:16:02


44 <strong>The</strong> <strong>Parish</strong> <strong>Magazine</strong> — <strong>December</strong> <strong>2024</strong><br />

Please mention <strong>The</strong> <strong>Parish</strong> <strong>Magazine</strong> when responding to this advertisement<br />

BOOKING NOW<br />

27 NOVEMBER <strong>2024</strong> -<br />

25 JANUARY 2025<br />

THE WATERWHEEL BAR<br />

13 FEBRUARY -<br />

12 APRIL 2025<br />

STORYTIME<br />

Open Wednesday - Sunday, 11am - 5pm for<br />

Sandwiches, Homemade Cakes & Artisan Coffee.<br />

Come and treat yourself to a scrumptious lunch<br />

in the most beautiful setting.<br />

On Wednesday Mornings, enjoy a magical<br />

experience as pre-school children are treated to<br />

a story and singing in the theatre, followed by<br />

dressing up and colouring in activities in the<br />

Waterwheel Bar. £6, book at Box Office.<br />

BOX OFFICE: (0118) 969 8000<br />

millatsonning.com<br />

135 DECEMBER 2O24.indd 44 13/11/<strong>2024</strong> 10:16:02

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