Copy
All Saints Carshalton
Parish Paper, February 2019
View this email in your browser
      

             Ordinary Time 
All Saints is the Anglican parish church for Carshalton village and The Wrythe.
We welcome everyone to enjoy our traditional worship, strong musical tradition, long history, and the building's beautiful interior

Welcome to your monthly Parish Paper

 
 contact@socialsaints.co.uk
Also available in paper form in Church or by request
Regular Services

Sundays

  • 8:00am     Low Mass (In the Lady Chapel, enter by the South Door). 
  • 9:00am     All Ages Mass 
  • 10:30am   High Mass (choir at 2nd and 4th Sundays)
  • 6:30pm     Solemn Evensong  (Choral evensong on 3 February)

Weekdays

  • 10.00am Low Mass:     Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays(In the Lady Chapel, enter by the South Door) 
  • On Tuesdays, the church is open for visitors from 2 till 4pm
  • On Wednesdays, the church is open for visitors from 11am till 1pm
  • On Thursdays,  the church remains open for visitors after the service until 3pm. Both North and South doors will be open.
Saints Days in February
 
2 February: Presentation of Christ in the Temple
14 February: Valentine, Martyr at Rome, circa 269
 
                         
27 February: George Herbert 
 
Priest, metaphysical poet and orator  1593-1633

George Herbert was born in Wales to a wealthy family, but raised mainly in England, attending Trinity College, Cambridge and becoming the University's Public Orator. In this role, Herbert came to the attention of King James 1 serving at court and in Parliament until the death of the King when he retired to take holy orders, becoming Rector of St Andrews, Lower Bemerton, Salisbury, until his death from consumption at the age of 39.

As Rector, he was noted for his unfailing care of his parishioners, even dispensing food and clothing to those in need. Richard Baxter (Puritan and noted Non-conformist leader of the time) said of him:

"Herbert speaks to God like one that really believeth a God and whose whole business in the world is most with God. Heart-work and Heaven-work make up his books."  An inspirational epitaph on what what was such a short life.

He wrote in English, Latin and Greek and many of his poems have been translated and some set to music. There are no contemporary images of him, so let one of his more familiar hymns serve instead.

       
Let all the world, in every corner sing, My God and King

The heavens are not too high,
His praise may thither flie:
The earth is not too low,
His praises there may grow.
        Let all the world, in every corner sing, My God and King

The church with psalms must shout,
No door can keep them out;
But above all, the heart
Must bear the longest part.
       Let all the world, in every corner sing, My God and King


(Information from a range of sources, including Wikipedia and the OUP World's Classics edition of the poems from the text of F. E. Hutchinson)

Church News

NEW!  The Bridge

No, not the Diocesan newspaper we all know and love, but a new session especially for younger members of the congregation.  It will bridge the All Ages service and High Mass every Sunday so come early or stay later and take part in an activity based on exploring the theme of the main services or  on the readings of the day.

Open to all, with refreshments. 
 

It's snowdrop time again!

Keep a watch on the churchyard and don't miss the wonderful display which will lift your spirits at this gloomy time of year.  

The photograph was taken last year....

All Saints School News


All Saints School Spiritual Garden

On Wednesday 16th January, Father David Fisher, (Rector designate of Carshalton All Saints), officially opened the new Spiritual Garden at All Saints Carshalton, Church of England Primary School.

To begin the ceremony, the children in the Infant department sang, ‘He’s got the whole world in his hand’. This was followed by a blessing of the garden with holy water and prayer. The Chair of Governors, Mrs Helen Smith was present along with other members of the governing body, Mrs Marion Williams, Mrs Rosie Newton and head teacher, Mrs Emma Hart Dyke. We are very grateful to the PTA who fund raised to pay for the creation of a Spiritual Garden within the school grounds. It is a special space within our school, where children can come for a moment of quiet reflection, prayer or to listen to stories told by our Prayer Buddies.

The plants have been carefully chosen to thrive in dappled shade, and the Acer that had been presented to the school on its 40th anniversary, has been transplanted into the central flower bed. The sleepers give secure seating for the children when they visit the garden, and the plants around the edges will soon grow up to form a hedge to screen the road behind. 

As you can tell from the photo, the children are very excited about the garden and look forward to using it as a haven of peace at times in their busy school day.

 




Arise and shine, like the sun: the glory of the Lord is shining on you
 
Isaiah 60:1





This is the current whole school memory verse - you can see it on all the classroom doors to inspire every child. Each class also has a Showcase Book where they record their thoughts on what they have been learning in RE. The curriculum covers the main faiths, not just Christianity, and this month we have chosen a few excerpts from the Skylarks  - Year 2.

Skylarks' Lord's Prayer
We thought carefully about each part of the Lord's Prayer, and wrote our own as a class.

Dear God
Thank you for looking after us, there is nobody who cares like you.

Thank you for the lovely world and all the animals on Earth. You are beautiful and so is Earth.

Please give us everything we need; we are very grateful.

Please forgive everyone on Earth as we are thankful for your forgiveness. Please forgive me when I make mistakes, and lead my way through life.

Help us to keep our eye on the Cross and don't lead us to the wrong way. I will always try to stay on the right path.

We love you and please always love us with all your heart.

Amen


All SAINTS SCHOOL CELEBRATES 50 YEARS!

This September, All Saints Primary school will be celebrating 50 years since it admitted the first pupils.

As part of the celebrations, some governors are working with the Deputy Head and a group of pupils to produce a short history of the school to be sold for a charity of their choice.

We need your help please!

We are looking for anyone to share any photos and/or recollections of their time at the school. For example, the old school uniform, what school dinners were like, how the environment in and around the school has changed, a typical school day, the curriculum or any interesting or important events. Any experiences of parents, for example,  the valuable work of the PTA over the years.

Some of you may have attended the school yourself, or have children, grandchildren or friends who did. You may have worked there or know someone who did.

We have set up an email address to which photos and anecdotes can be uploaded. (It would be helpful for chronology if these could be dated). 

The email address is:    50yearsallsaintsschool@as-car.org

Any photos you are unable to scan can be sent for my attention at the school.

Thanking you in advance 
Helen Smith, Chair of Governors
 

Thoughts from Readers & Friends

At this time of the year, the bit between Christmas and new year, the news agenda is a bit light. Parliament is closed, all the serious journalists are off on holidays, hoping nothing 'major' happens. Hoping they can stay inebriated on the beach; the junior reporters get to have a go. In such a spirit, the BBC have been running a series of articles "what happened next?". Which really means, what happened when all the media went off to the 'next big thing' and those affected by whatever it was, picked up the pieces?

One such story caught my eye. During 2018 a quiet corner of northern Thailand became the most reported on space on earth; until the next 'big thing' happened. The 12 boys and 1 coach all made it out alive. Today the caves are sealed off permanently, and a very large bronze statue is in place honouring Petty Officer Saman Gunan, the only casualty of the whole event.

The local farmers are now enjoying a boom. Whilst the rescue took place, they lost a large area of their fields to foreign media encampments, equipment depots and flooding - the pumps had to put the water somewhere. Today the site is a mecca for Thai tourists and the local farmers do a brisk trade in souvenirs and flowers for the memorial.

All of which caused me to rather wonder a bit, what happened after the big story a couple of thousand years ago, the one we remember each year. Our big story was the large displacement of people for a census. Add in the birth of a boy in dire circumstances, who is then visited by foreign kings with expensive gifts and you have a news story. Even if it was only a few thousand displaced persons at the time, the visit of wealthy foreigners makes it a bit different; they get noticed.

You wonder how tongues would have wagged at the time; how did the parents manage to deal with it all. Not only do we have Mary pregnant in the most extraordinary of circumstances, she is sworn to secrecy about it. Joseph has to come to terms with being an adoptive father, and then along comes wealthy foreign kings to draw attention to them all.

If I was the junior reporter tasked with a follow up story, what would I find out? We know the Kings went home avoiding any further contact with the local ruling powers, though when they arrived is unclear. Matthew and Luke have some differences in accounts of what did happen next. In the version of Luke, Jesus was taken to Jerusalem a few days after his birth, to be presented in the Temple. The young family then traveled peacefully back to their home in Nazareth, in Galilee.

In Matthew’s version, Bethlehem was already Joseph and Mary’s hometown, so the kings came and found them in a house, not in a stable or a cave, possibly up to two years later. Because King Herod feared that Jesus would grow up as a rival to his reign, he sought to kill Jesus. Warned in a dream, Joseph took Mary and Jesus to Egypt, where they stayed until after Herod’s death. Only then taking the trip back to their home in Bethlehem. A warning given in a dream about the danger from Herod’s son and successor prompted the young family to change direction and traveled to Galilee, settling in Nazareth. (Matthew 2:23)

After this, nothing is officially known for about a decade. The Infancy Gospels of Thomas will tell you tales; though they have been widely discredited, despite being in part referenced in the Quran. “It is reported as….” is how any journalist would describe the next few years of the child’s life, nothing is able to be substantiated.

Aged about 12 years, Jesus is taken to the temple in Jerusalem before his bar mitzvah; that is known, but then what? It appears he stayed with the family and his brothers and sisters (or cousins and steps siblings according to the tradition you wish to follow) being a carpenter - probably.

The Greek word used in both Luke and Mark’s Gospel is tekton, (τέκτων) which best translates, in my opinion as craftsman or master builder. I asked a Cypriot neighbour, who took the word in modern Greek to be mason.  Nazareth was a suburb of a Roman city named Sapphoris, the ruins of which still exist. There is no forest for many miles, but there is plenty of rock and stone, and evidence shows all the buildings made of such. Google maps will happily show you images of what remains today.

All of the above, is of course, nothing but background fluff. Two of the four Testaments omit this part of the history entirely.  The really interesting things stared to happen when the baby was about 30, but that is another story.
Richard Stone

Meeting people where they are

Several years ago, when working with disengaged young people and those with learning difficulties, I attended a training day organised by  Orchard Hill College, (as it was then), on Intensive Interaction and Autism. This approach had been developed for work with those who are very difficult to reach: people with severe autism or communication delay who may present as non-verbal, non-communicative, and indeed who may fairly be described as 'in their own world'.

Almost the first step is to work towards that person just acknowledging and then accepting the presence of another person. For example, those who are very closed in may rock or tap and the strategy for them involves mirroring these movements in a non-threatening way so that they start to recognise someone else on their 'wavelength' and potentially in their 'world'. Not to try to engage them in our world, but ask permission to join them in theirs. 

The technique can be particularly useful with small children, but we also found it helpful when working with those young people who were not in education, employment or training (NEET). They too had elected to retreat to their own world and were not engaging with adult life. The team learnt to understand their view of the world and meet them where they were choosing to be.

In their case it was rarely a cognitive problem, but more an outcome of long experience of failing at school, or failing at life in general. They needed all sorts of things to get them 'study ready' long before they could become 'work ready' - the outcome for which the course was funded.

Some needed a breakfast club with an understanding of how to prepare food and eat sensibly.  Others needed access to electronic learning resources (often to overcome dyslexia), and a quiet study space,  but above all they needed the confidence that whatever they had been told and whatever their previous experience, their options were not closed and they too had the potential to succeed at whatever they set their minds and talents to. It is not easy to persuade an 18 year old woman or man to learn to read, write and become numerate enough to join the adult world on an equal footing - but most of them responded well and moved on.

When Fr David first came to the church he gave an 8am sermon on a 'God who visits' and Christ's example of meeting people where they are, which brought this training back to me. And he is right, although we are a long way from the Jehovah's Witness practice of actually knocking on doors or standing in the shopping precinct, we too can influence people just by being who we are wherever we are.  Sometimes this is in church, when people visit for an event, attend a pastoral service such as a wedding or just to look at the historical interior of the building. On these occasions we are very definitely seen as representatives of the wider Church as well as members of All Saints. 

Even big business realises now that the hard sell - in this country at least - is not the way to build a responsible, trusted and successful brand. They run emotional literacy courses which include skills such as making a genuine and caring personal connection, putting yourself in the shoes of others, and not being 'fake' - as much with colleagues as with customers.


And our individual outreach is basically  on much the same lines - being truly friendly, non-judgemental, welcoming and understanding. Evangelism by example is often so much more effective than persuasion. 

So, as Fr David said,  let us try to follow Christ's example and meet people where they are

From the Archives

And this is the end of our poem, with the last of the trades and a few more of the important buildings in the area - some of which we have featured before. 

There's a pastry cook, where you can purchase a bun,
Or raspberry tart, or a famed Sally Lunn*.

There's a kennel where somebody keeps lots of hounds;
And for those who've been careful to save up their browns,
There's a bank to deposit their savings secure,
A great boon to industrious people, I'm sure.

There's a gas-house* to furnish the people with light,
To make the place cheerful each dark winter's night.
There are two who lay claim to the title of draper,
And just outside the village a mill to make paper *

There's a society formed for mutual improvement*
And many support this commendable movement.
They're going to have people to lecture, and so on, 
And I hope the affair will successfully go on.

There's a bricklayer, I know, for I've seen him at work,
But where he may live I know no more than a Turk.

What's the hospital now, was at one time of day
The workhouse* - at least so I've heard people say.
It's built of red brick and covered with slate,
If you want to get in you must ring at the gate;
It's established for people who long have been ill,
Past curing by physic or surgical skill.

There's a shop that combines fish and fruit both together,
There's a saddler who says there's nothing like leather.

There's a station, all covered with roses so gaily,
That the engines come puffing and blowing to daily.

There's two knights of St Crispin*, called vulgarly snobs,
And a cobbler or two for the rough sort of jobs - 
though they don't (like the famous one) live in a stall.

There's a station for peelers*,  and that's about all.
So I thought while the iron was hot I would strike it,
So this is Carshalton - pray how do you like it?


*Sally Lunn: a version of a Bath bun, like a brioche, supposedly brought to Bath in the 1680s' by a Huguenot refugee called Solange Luyon
*gas house: The Carshalton Gas Company was based in the Wrythe where the gas holder still stands, merging with the Croydon Gas Company in 1894. It started by supplying street lighting before expanding to heating and cooking uses, though some developers declined to pay the connection fees for new developments, such as Carshalton on the Hill.
*paper mill: on Mill Lane, there is still a Paper Mill Close to remember this industry
*society: this predates both the Public Hall and the Cottage Reading rooms in West Street
*workhouse: on the present Carshalton College site
* knights of St Crispin:  patron saint of, presumably, upmarket shoe makers
*peelers: Police station where Margaret's Pool is now, at the West Street junction with Pound Street - see photo

From George B Brightling's 'History and Antiquities of Carshalton', first printed in 1872, and facsimile of the 2nd (1882) edition published by the London Borough of Sutton Libraries and Arts Services in 1978.
The advert of the impressively versatile George Morley is from also from Brightling, and the photo of the Police Station in the 1850's from 'Old Carshalton' by John Phillips, original in the Sutton Archive.

Chinese New Year:   Tuesday 5 February

On February 5 the Year of the Dog ends and the Year of the Pig begins. 

The Pig is the twelfth of all zodiac animals. According to one myth, the Jade Emperor said the order would be decided by the order in which they arrived to his party. Pig was late because he overslept. 

You may well feel this is not the most inspiring of the Chinese Zodiac signs, but you would be wrong!

In Chinese culture, pigs are the symbol of wealth, their chubby faces and big ears are signs of fortune as well.

They have a beautiful personality and are blessed with good fortune in life.  I don't think the chubby face and big ears are compulsory! 

The event this year took place at Sutton Grammar School for Boys (with the kind permission and support of the Head  - Gordon Ironside - and his staff), with the theme of 'Torn from Home'.  

It was introduced by Councillor Ruth Dombey, Leader of the Council,  with an opening speech by The Worshipful the Mayor of the London Borough of Sutton, Councillor Steve Cook. 

Paul Safari from Sutton & District Synogogue introduced the speakers, the first of which was Mrs Eve Gill, an Austrian survivor of the Holocaust, who gave a very moving account of her experiences in the war up to her settlement in the UK. She ended with saying how happy and grateful she was to be living here,  and how much she loved the country, but was saddened by the current seeming resurgence of anti-Semitism.

The second speaker was Eric Murangwa OBE - a survivor of the 1994 Rwandan genocide. His story was no less moving and equally inspiring in his testament of resilience and hope. Both speakers continue to work for the cause of peace.

Boys from Homefield Prep and Sutton Grammar School contributed greatly to the event by showing and explaining a piece of artwork, playing pieces on the violin and the cello and piano, speaking and by reading a poem one had written about the experience of a member of his family during the war. 

Rabbi Shmuli Sagal of the United Synogogue gave a closing address and conducted the memorial prayer, and then there was a minute's silence in final remembrance.

The school hall was filled with adults, students and local dignitaries who had all come to take part in this solemn but inspiring event, conducted every year to help ensure these sorts of atrocities do not recur - though we were sadly reminded about Dafur where people continue to suffer....
 

Local News

Cinema on your doorstep – our coming winter films 
Films at Carshalton Methodist Church, Ruskin Road, Carshalton, SM5 3DE 
Admission free; donations appreciated. 
www.carshalton-methodist.org.ukfacebook.com/CarshaltonMethodist Church


THE POST
Saturday 16 February 3.00pm and 7.30pm
Meryl Streep and Tom Hanks star in the story based on true facts of how the Washington Post newspaper exposed a massive government cover up of information, risking their careers and freedom in a fight to expose the truth.  2017 film Certificate rated 12.

Also in February, do also come and see the Church’s production of Gilbert and Sullivan’s comic light opera, The Mikado, performed by Utopians Unlimited on February 23rd at 7.30pm.  Tickets now available from Sue Trewhitt – Price £10.00  See our church website for more details – click on http://www.carshalton-methodist.org.uk/events/utopians

And for your diary.....

SUITE FRANCAISE

Saturday 23 March 3.00pm and 7.30 pm
France 1940.  As Hitler’s armies take over the whole of France, a young wife and her mother-in-law, living in a small town, find their lives turned upside down when a handsome German officer is posted to live in their home.  Contains some strong language. Certificate rated 15.

MARY MAGDALENE
Tuesday 16 April.  Single showing at 7.30pm 
Our Film for Holy Week tells the story of Mary of Magdala, a small village on the shores of Lake Galilee. It is based on the gnostic gospel of Mary, found outside the Bible. Mary is attracted by the charism of the teacher, Jesus, and determines to follow Him. 2017 film. 
Certificate rated 12A.
 
If you'd like to give feedback or submit an article, write to us at: 
contact@socialsaints.co.uk
Copyright © 2019 All Saints Church Carshalton, All rights reserved.


We hold a limited amount of your personal data for the purpose of sending you this newsletter. You may unsubscribe at anytime and all your data will be deleted. We intend to hold your data indefinitely until you tell us not to. We never share, sell or lease any of your data to anyone ever; nor shall we use it for any other reason than to send you information about All Saints Church Carshalton.

Want to change how you receive these emails?
You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list

Email Marketing Powered by Mailchimp