The Ven.

David Garnett
The Vicarage, Edensor, Bakewell,
Derbyshire DE45 1PH Tel: 01246 582130
(Church website - www.stpetersedensor.org)

December 2008
Dear Friends

I held the ladder and Richard climbed up to clear a lot of green weeds and plants out
of the guttering. We discovered a young flowering cherry tree growing in the outlet.
Hence the build up of vegetation. Richard, after pulling very hard, finally removed it
and there was a gush of water and the guttering was clear. It reminded me of visiting
one of the churches in my archdeaconry. There was a sapling growing out of the nave
roof guttering. “That’s not so good” I commented. The churchwarden replied, “But
Archdeacon, you should see it in the spring when it blossoms”!

Archdeacons are often teased for going on about guttering, spouts and drains! Yet it is
one of the most important parts of caring for a building.

Henry Scott Holland humorously said: “the more you believe in the Incarnation, the
more you care about drains”. The heart of an archdeacon’s work is incarnational.
Last Sunday I went to preach and to dedicate new facilities in a church in Chesterfield.
As part of the ceremony I flushed one of the new loos!

A few years before I had sat in that same building with the churchwardens. The roofs
were leaking and the place was damp and cold and there was an air of defeat. We
prayed and pondered. A while later I found some seed corn funding. And from that
unpromising beginning has sprung a community church with state of the art facilities,
warm, welcoming and user friendly. It is now well used by the community it serves.
Bread is broken on the Altar on a Sunday, and bread is broken with the community
during the week.

Recently, I visited a parishioner in the maternity unit in Darley Dale. There were
complications and the birth was by caesarean. The baby is really handsome and
weighs 9 lb 10 oz. No wonder they named him Hugo! I prayed with the family and
blessed him. I experienced a joy both out of this world and in this world. And I
thought of how our Lord in the manger draws down our love upon him. Heaven upon
earth. Peace and goodwill for all humanity.

A Very Happy Christmas!

David
1
 Useful Telephone Numbers
St. Anne’s
Wardens:- Rupert Turner 01629 732794
Vernon Mather 01629 732317
Treasurer:- Gloria Sherwood 01629 732983
St. Peter’s
Wardens:- Elizabeth Bradshaw 01246 582421
Duncan Gordon 01629 734099
Treasurer:- Mark Titterton 01246 582245
e-mail: mtitterton@btinternet.com

From the Registers

Baptism
St. Peter’s ~ 2nd November Maisey Emily Oakley
DATES TO NOTE
9 Dec BEELEY WI – Christmas Party 7.30pm in the Village Hall
10 Dec CHATSWORTH WI Christmas Party
7.30pm Cavendish Annexe
Buffet & wine, social time, lucky dip
Competition: a hand-made Christmas card
Flowers & Parcel: Mrs Brewer
CHRISTMAS HAMPER
13 Dec SKIP: Baslow Council Houses 7.45-8.15
Nether End Car Park 8.20-10.45
13 Dec Violin concert at St Peter’s, Edensor
13 Dec Beeley Christmas Party 7pm – late!
14 Dec Sidepersons/church cleaners meeting after church at St Peter’s,
20 Dec 10am Come and help decorate the Christmas tree at St. Peter’s
21 Dec 10.30am Carol Service at St. Peter’s Edensor
21 Dec 2.30 – 4.30 Beeley Children’s Party
22 Dec Carol singing around Edensor. Meet at church at 6 p.m.
Hot punch and mince pies at the vicarage
24 Dec 6pm Carol Service at St. Anne’s, Beeley
Christmas Eve 11.30pm Midnight Mass at St Peter’s, Edensor
25 Dec 9.30am Christmas Communion at St Anne’s, Beeley
Christmas Day 10.30am Christmas Communion at St. Peter’s, Edensor

St. Peter’s Church 100 Club

October 2008
1st prize £30 no.47 Duncan Gordon
2nd prize £20 no.10 Zoë Penrose
£45 to Church funds this month
We still have vacancies for 5 new members.
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 Christmas in Beeley
Beeley’s Christmas Party
13th December 2008
Get into the festive spirit.
Dust off your dancing shoes and dig out your groovy gear for
Beeley’s Christmas Party at the Village Hall from 7.00pm until
late. Music for all ears, a quiz and nibbles!
Bring your own drink and vessel.
Ticket entry - £4 per person in advance only
(no minimum or maximum age all are welcome)

21st December 2008

Fun, frolics and festivity for the youngsters!
At the Village Hall 2.30 until 4.30
Santa’s sack, Children’s tea and lots of fun.
Ticket entry – £1 per child in advance only (to cover food and entertainment)

Funds to cover costs and any extra raised will contribute to the
Children’s party, revamping the Beeley Children’s Playground and any
future events.

Please make it a success by joining us!

Tickets for both events available from:
Sarah Porter - 01629 732365
Jane Hornsby - 01629 733184

dfdfdfd CHRISTMAS GREETINGS dfdfdfd

The following people would like to wish their friends who live, work or worship in the
two parishes a very Happy Christmas and a Peaceful New Year:
Gloria & Roger Sherwood; Duncan & Cynthia Gordon; Ken Rimmington; Janet &
Peter Machin; Angela & Ian Dempsey; Christine & Roger Bemrose; Pauline &
Vernon Mather; Margaret Thomas; Doreen Gaynor; Dorothea Owen; David &
Susanne Garnett; Andrew & Bridget Flemming; Liz & Ray Bradshaw; Dorothy
Cooper; Jean Clarke; Josie Daubney; Jon & Pauline Dunkley; David & Margaret
Jackson; Pat Cree; Jayne Boyd; Jill & Michael Gowdey; Charles Illingworth; Vilna
Kembery; Ann & David Hall. -Donations will go towards church funds and should be
placed in an envelope and marked ‘Christmas Greetings’ and placed on the
collection plate during December. Thank you, Liz Bradshaw
Christmas is the season when your neighbour’s radio keeps you awake playing ‘Silent
Night’

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 dfdfdf THANK YOU dfdfdf
A big ‘THANK YOU’ to everyone who has helped, in any way at all, at St.
Peter’s and St. Anne’s this year. The people who clean, make coffee, arrange
flowers, polish brasses, read the lessons, do sterling work as sidesmen, the
organists who give us beautiful music (this despite the condition of the organ
at St. Peter’s), those who unlock and lock the church, Clive who winds the
clock at St. Peter’s and those who keep the churchyards tidy and last but by
no means least, THANK YOU to David – well done, you’ve survived your first
year with us and Vernon whose absence we always notice by the things we
forget to do! I hope no one has been forgotten here!

MEETING FOR SIDESMEN & CHURCH CLEANERS

There will be a meeting in the Cavendish Chapel, after the service – about
th
11.45am, on Sunday 14 December for sidesmen and those on the cleaning
rota – there may also be a glass of something!

St. Peter’s, Edensor

To comply with the grant we obtained from English Heritage towards the roof
repairs, an Access Audit has been carried out. We have now received the
official report but would like members of the congregation to tell us if they feel
there are any areas in the church, which are difficult to use or could be made
more ‘user friendly’. Suggestions to the churchwardens or the vicar.

Exciting concert for Edensor Church!

Village Aid wants to thank everyone at St Peter’s Church for
the generous gift of £286.00 from the 2008 Harvest produce
auction. This has gone to help the hungry in Africa where we
are working all year round in more than 260 villages, in literacy, farming, and
community projects, including digging 7000 compost pits and planting 3 million trees!

The next event, which will help Africa, is an exciting concert by a renowned young
Violinist, Tim Wright, who is coming with pianist Jason Bailey. Both students are at
the Royal College of Music. Tim, who hails from Great Longstone, has already
thrilled many local people with his virtuoso playing. On Saturday December 13th, at
7.30pm, they will play the ever-popular Bruch’s Violin Concerto in G minor, and
Brahms’ Sonata for Violin and piano No 1 in G major in our Church.

Mulled wine and mince pies will be served in the interval and tickets are available in
return for a £6.50 donation to Village Aid. Bring your friends for a Christmas musical
treat, and send some real cheer to Africa as well.
Tickets are available from Susanne Garnett at the Vicarage, Edensor, 01246 582130,
or from Village Aid, 01629814434.

4
PILGRIM PLACES: Historic Christian Sites in Britain
– a last look at Whitby
When King Oswy decided that the He then added very pointedly that
question of the date of Easter must be Peter had the keys to heaven and it
settled once and for all, he called a was unwise to ignore his tradition.
Synod of both Celtic and Roman This alarmed King Oswy who asked
Christians. The meeting place was Colman if our Lord had indeed given
Whitby Abbey where Hilda was the the keys of heaven to Peter. Colman
greatly esteemed Abbess. said yes because it was recorded in
Matthew’s gospel. That decided the
The two parties arrived to take part in matter for King Oswy. Without
the Synod. Colman, bishop of asking what the ‘keys of heaven’
Lindisfarne, led the Celtic monks, meant, Oswy declared that he and his
supported by Irish and Scottish monks people would follow St Peter and the
and Hilda. The Roman deputation was Roman tradition. He would not offend
led by Agilbert, bishop of Dorchester, the apostle who controlled the gates of
Wilfrid, Abbot of Ripon, and James heaven!
the Deacon. King Oswy presided and
none attending that gathering in The die was cast! A momentous
Whitby could have foreseen the long- decision had been made at the Synod
term outcome of the proceedings. of Whitby. King Oswy committed
himself and his country to the Roman
Colman argued that the Celtic tradition. Hilda accepted the decision
tradition went back through Columba, but Colman resigned as Bishop of
who brought the gospel to Iona, Lindisfarne and with many of his
Polycarp, bishop and martyr in the 2nd monks returned to Iona.
century, and the Apostle John.
Wilfrid, the Roman spokesman, said Of course the Celtic Church did not
their tradition was now accepted by disappear immediately but after
Christians all over Europe and that it Whitby, the Roman Church in Britain
could be traced back to the teaching of was in the ascendancy. Celtic
both Peter and Paul. Christianity remained in these islands
for another three centuries but was
Argument and counter argument eventually incorporated with the more
followed. Colman and his supporters powerful and prestigious Roman
emphasised that John was the Lord’s administration. The Synod of Whitby
beloved disciple and that his teaching committed the British Church to the
therefore carried great weight. jurisdiction of Rome and the Pope.
Wilfrid, an ambitious young cleric, That jurisdiction lasted for eight
suggested that the Celtic Church was hundred years until it was challenged
confused in its calculations and that it and dismantled by the Reformation.
was time for the obstinate Irish and Dr Herbert McGonigle is Senior Lecturer
Scottish monks to forsake their out-of- in Historical Theology & Church History
date practices and join ‘the universal at Nazarene Theological College,
Church.’ Manchester.

5
 The Hopes and Fears of all the Years
The Rev Dr Herbert McGonigle considers Christmas...

These words come from Phillip Brooks’ familiar Christmas hymn, ‘O little
town of Bethlehem.’ In four lines Brooks reminds us that in the birth of
Jesus the salvation of the world was being played out in Bethlehem.

In thy dark street shineth

The everlasting Light
The hopes and fears of all the years
Are met in thee tonight.

More and more these days people are asking if the Christmas story has any meaning
and if it has any relevance. Some Christians even say that the New Testament doesn’t
tell us to celebrate Christmas so we should drop the whole event from the Church
calendar.

The word ‘Christmas’ comes from the old Anglo-Saxon - from ‘Christ’ and from
‘masse’ meaning ‘mass’ or ‘celebration.’ So the word ‘Christmas’ means ‘Christ’s
celebration,’ and it was because Christians from the earliest times believed that Christ
was God incarnate that His birth was celebrated.

Even though we can’t be sure of the exact month of His birth, much less the exact day,
yet His coming into the world was such a mighty event that the instinct to celebrate it
is in harmony with the New Testament. Even the calendar reminds us of His coming,
for we divide history into the time before His coming, BC, and the time since His
coming, AD.

In three verses in Luke’s Gospel, the meaning of Christmas is spelt out so simply and
so vividly. Luke gives us the Christmas Message. ‘Don’t be afraid. I bring you good
news of great joy… For all the people. There is born to you today a Saviour, who is
Christ the Lord’ (2:10,11).

Luke’s words still thrill us with their timeless good news! We need only look at some
of his key words and phrases. ‘Don’t be afraid …I bring good news…great joy. for all
the people.’ Nothing in our world this Christmas can compare with that! No need to
be fearful! The news is good! There is great joy for all who will believe it!

And then he tells us what the good news is: a Saviour is born! He is Christ the Lord!
But as well as this Christmas Message Luke has a Christmas Miracle for us: ‘This
will be the sign to you: You will find a baby.’ God’s answer to the needs of the world
was to send a baby! People everywhere were looking for a deliverer, perhaps another
Moses; for a king coming in the glory and splendour of a Solomon; for a potentate like
Cyrus to bring peace to the nations; for a long-promised Messiah. And God sent a
baby! A baby, yes, but this Baby was the Incarnate God!

6
And Luke has one more word, for to the Christmas Message and Miracle he adds the
Christmas Mission. ‘The Dayspring …has visited us..to give light to those who sit in
darkness and the shadow of death, and to guide our feet in the way of peace’ (1:78,
79). The Dayspring is the gentle light of the rising sun. Christ our Lord came into our
world silently and gently like the coming of the dawn, for had He come in all His
ineffable glory and majesty we would have been blinded. And He came to bring the
light of the love and mercy of God to us lost sinners and to guide us in the way of
peace. And all who believe this grand and glorious gospel will celebrate His Coming
this Christmas!
Dr Herbert McGonigle is Senior Lecturer in Historical Theology, Church History and
Wesley Studies in Nazarene Theological College, Manchester, England.

1 CORINTHIANS 13 - THE CHRISTMAS VERSION

Author unknown

If I decorate my house perfectly with
plaid bows, strands of twinkling lights
and shiny balls, but do not show love
to my family, I'm just another
decorator.
If I slave away in the kitchen, baking
dozens of Christmas puddings,
preparing gourmet meals and
arranging a beautifully adorned table
at mealtime, but do not show love to
my family, I'm just another cook.
If I work at the soup kitchen, carol in
the nursing home, and give all that I
have to charity, but do not show love
to my family, it profits me nothing.
If I trim the spruce with shimmering
angels and crocheted snowflakes,
attend a myriad of holiday parties and
sing in the choir's cantata, but do not
focus on Christ, I have missed the
point.
Love stops the cooking to hug the
child.
Love sets aside decorating to kiss the
husband.
Love is kind, though harried and tired.
Love doesn't envy another's home that
has coordinated Christmas china and
table linens.
Love doesn't yell at the children to get
out of the way, but is thankful they are
there to be in the way.
Love doesn't give only to those who
are able to give in return, but rejoices
in giving to those who can't.
Love bears all things, believes all
things, hopes all things, endures all
things.
Love never fails.
Computer games will break, cashmere
jumpers will wear out, golf clubs will
get lost.
But giving the gift of love will endure.
Happy Christmas!

Angels fall off the top of the tree

What will be on top of your Christmas tree this year? Last year stars
knocked the angels off.... in fact, they outsold them ten-fold. It seems that
stars are seen as easier to colour co-ordinate with other decorations.
7
Fear not …..
Olave Snelling looks at Christmas at the end of a difficult year
As the Northern Hemisphere days
draw in, blinds come down earlier
and earlier in the darkening
afternoons. Lamps are switched
on and fires burn in the grate.
Collars are turned up; hats, coats
and scarves are donned at the bite
of the late-December weather
outside. Our thoughts turn
towards carols and tree
decorations, mince pies and
present wrapping, children’s
Nativity plays and family
togetherness.
That is if we have grates to burn
fires in, houses to keep out the
cold, warm clothes to put on, food
to prepare, money for presents,
families to love and be loved by.
Thoughts turn towards celebrating
the ‘Season’ in every corner of the
globe. Happy Christmas, we love
to say!
But the significance of the season
is lost in the clang of cash
registers, the tinsel jangle of ‘Jingle
Bells’ and ‘I’m dreaming of a White
Christmas’ over endless Tannoy
systems in countless stores
worldwide. It is lost in crassness as
people spill drunkenly out of bars
in Father Christmas hats and into
the streets and transport systems
of our cities. Why, as that unique
stillness falls upon the earth on
The Bells
I heard the bells on Christmas Day
Their old, familiar carols play,
8
Christmas Eve, ‘Don’t they know
it’s Christmas?’ (as Bob Geldof
puts it.) It’s not as if the date of
Christmas Day has anything to do
with the real date of Christ’s birth.
More like a pagan festival with
Yule logs, consummate
consumption and all that.
Yet in spite of ‘all of that’,
Christmas is Christmas whatever
you believe and wherever you are.
To the believer in Christ that
unique stillness falls. It is as if the
world holds its breath at what is
about to happen. ‘Emmanuel, God
with us’ is coming into our world,
Credit Crunch and all. He’s coming
into the muck and mire of the
stable, into the panic of the falling
stock market, into sub-prime
mortgage chaos, into home
repossession, unemployment,
bankrupt banks and horrible fear.
“Fear not,” said the Angel of the
Lord as the glory of the Lord
flashed and shone all about the
shepherds watching over their
flocks by night. ‘For behold, I bring
you good news of a great joy
which will come to all people. For
to you is born this day in the town
of David a Saviour, who is Christ
the Messiah, the Lord.” Glory to
God in the Highest!
And wild and sweet the words repeat
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!
Longfellow
How did the donkey get into the stable?
When you read the Christmas story from Luke this year,
you will notice that something very important is missing:
the donkey. He is not mentioned in the stable, he is not
mentioned on the flight to Egypt. Where did the donkey
go?

Actually, the donkey only arrived for sure in 1260, when the medieval hagiography,
The Golden Legend was written. Jacobus de Voragine was the first writer to mention
the donkey – and for that matter, the ox.

“and there was a stable for an ass that he brought with him, in that night our
Blessed Lady and Mother of God was delivered of our Blessed Saviour upon
the hay that lay in the rack...”

After that, there was no question of ever dropping the donkey. The Renaissance
nativity scenes from Fra Angelico’s The Nativity, to Giotto’s Nativity, all painted the
donkey in, as do our Christmas cards today.

And why not? St Luke was writing a news story (a Good News story) and wanted to
tell his readers the NEW thing that had happened in a stable: that Mary had given birth
to Jesus. In first century Palestine, a donkey in the stable was hardly ‘news’ where
else, after all, would a donkey be?

No excuse offered or indeed needed for including this magical poem by Thomas Hardy
The Oxen
Christmas Eve, and twelve of the
clock.
“Now they are all on their knees,”
An elder said as we sat in a flock
By the embers in fireside ease.
We pictured the meek mild
creatures where
They dwelt in their strawy pen,
Nor did it occur to one of us there
To doubt they were kneeling
then.
So fair a fancy few would weave
In these years! Yet, I feel,
If someone said on Christmas Eve,
“Come; see the oxen kneel
“In the lonely barton by yonder
coomb
Our childhood used to know,”
I should go with him in the gloom,
Hoping it might be so.
Thomas Hardy

Wisdom for everyone with relatives coming to stay this Christmas…

The real art of conversation is not only to say the right thing at the right time, but also
to leave unsaid the wrong thing at the tempting moment. - Anon
9
Send A Cow celebrates 20 years
In 1987, a group of Christian dairy
farmers came up with what seemed to
some like a crazy idea. At the time,
EU dairy quotas were forcing them to
throw milk away. Rather than
slaughter cows, why not give them to
malnourished families in Africa?
Over the next year, those founders set
about making that idea a reality:
visiting Uganda, forging contacts
there, persuading UK farmers to
donate cows and the public to donate
cash. Finally, on 4 July 1988, 25
pregnant cows were flown to Uganda,
to be distributed through church
groups to poor families. Send a Cow
was underway.
Over the coming years, it kept
growing. All families pledged to pass
on the first female calf to another
family, so the gifts multiplied. Send A
Cow formalised its partnership with
the NGO Heifer International, and
employed extension workers. By
1996, it had flown more than 300
cows to Uganda.
years that
followed,
Send A Cow
has expanded into education and
social development, and is tackling
environmental problems. From
Uganda the work spread to Ethiopia
and beyond.
Now, in 2008, Send a Cow has
worked with more than 100,000
people in 13,000 households. It has
offices in Rwanda, Ethiopia, and
Lesotho, and works in Kenya, Zambia,
Tanzania, Cameroon, Ghana and
Mozambique through Heifer
International. Send A Cow these days
also supplies goats, bees, fruit trees,
donkeys, bulls, poultry, and oxen,
among other gifts.
Send A Cow UK is based near Bath,
but also has a countrywide network of
130 volunteers. As for the next 20
years? “We want to ensure that even
more families are given the means and
the skills to work their way out of
poverty for good.”

Then the BSE crisis in the UK led to a For more information, contact: Send a
ban on livestock exports. So Send a Cow, The Old Estate Yard, Newton St
Cow started buying animals in Africa Loe, Bath, BA2 9BR 01225 874222
– a more cost-effective system. In the or go to www.sendacow.org.uk

Sup soup this month – and help the Salvation Army

The New Covent Garden Food Company has dedicated its December Soup of the
Month to the Salvation Army. The soup - chicken, vegetable and pearl barley, is on
sale throughout December in supermarkets across the country. Look out for the
special cartons carrying the Army’s Red Shield logo.

The New Covent Garden Food Company expects to raise £10,000 for the Army to
provide food and Christmas gifts for homeless and vulnerable people.
10
Let’s have a less wasteful Christmas this year
Amid all the rejoicing at Christmas, it is
easy to forget our good intentions about
recycling. Overwhelmed by a mountain of
discarded packaging, tinsel, food scraps
and other rubbish, we have so much to
distract us. But it’s worth giving some
thought to ways in which we can minimise
the waste that is created during the
festivities.
An estimated one billion Christmas cards
and 85 square kilometres of wrapping
paper will have to go somewhere. Turkey
foil wrap alone will create 3,000 tons of
waste.
Although green and blue recycling bins are
becoming a familiar sight, the UK still lacks
an extensive recycling infrastructure. The
nation still creates 150 million tons of
rubbish each year, of which 80 per cent is
buried. Landfill space is rapidly running
out.
The good news is that this year over a
million Christmas trees will be recycled
and turned into ash or mulch by local
authorities, many of which will arrange
collection. But that still leaves six million
that will be thrown out with the rubbish or
left to rot in back yards or gardens.

Also looking for a home will be loads of old
electronic gadgets (displaced by new
ones). Thousands of mobile phones will
be exchanged as gifts (15 million are
replaced in the UK each year). According
to a survey, each child will expect to
receive ten presents, on top of those from
parents – and 40 per cent of the toys will
be broken within three months.
Hardly any batteries are recycled despite
the toxic substances they contain.
So what can we do on an individual level?
If you have an old mobile phone lying
around, you could give it to Community
Fonebak, a scheme that recycles phones
or repairs and redistributes them around
the world (Tel 01708 683436). The project
will also give donations to your favourite
charity. Christmas cards could be taken to
the special bins provided in (or outside)
supermarkets. “Think before you throw” is
a good motto for all of us.

Don’t get mad this Christmas

If you have a stressful family time ahead of you this Christmas, you have a
difficult choice to make. Research has discovered that suppressing your
anger can damage your body’s ability to heal itself of cuts, so increasing the
risk of infection. Whereas, people who don’t bottle their emotions, but pour
out their anger, keep their cortisol levels lower, and so heal faster.

BUT, people who pour out their anger usually upset other people and family
rifts can take even longer to heal. So – perhaps a cut on the hand is better
than two aunts in a huff...or a sister in a sulk...?

Meanwhile, it is not known if the researchers themselves, at Ohio State

University, still intend to go home this Christmas...
My guardian angel helps me with maths, but he's not much good for science. Henry, 8

11
It’s a Wonderful Life?
Paul Hardingham considers a well-loved Christmas film
One of today’s most popular
Christmas films is It’s a Wonderful
Life. The film was directed in 1946 by
Frank Capra and stars James Stewart
and Donna Reid. It concerns the life of
George Bailey, the unsung hero of
Bedford Falls. Every attempt he
makes to leave his humdrum existence
in this small community is constantly
thwarted. Although it ends up being a
great ‘feel-good’ movie, in the first
part of the film George faces
mounting personal and financial
problems. Together these bring him to
the brink of ruin, despair and suicide,
so that he looks back on his life as
little more than wasted potential. This
really is a story about broken dreams!
So why is this black and white film
from the 1940s still so powerful with
audiences? Christmas is an obvious
time for us to reflect on how things
have gone over the past year. For
some it marks the close of a year full
of great memories, while others
remember only sadness and
disappointment. We often look back
on a year of broken dreams.
It’s also a good time to ask ourselves
‘Do I have a Wonderful Life?’ I
wonder how we find ourselves
responding to this question. Christmas
also raises some important questions
for our culture about the things that we
consider necessary to live a wonderful
life, especially in these difficult
economic times.
The good news of Christmas concerns
a man, born in a stable in Bethlehem,
who came to offer everybody the gift
of a truly wonderful life. As Jesus
said, ‘I came so that they can have real
and eternal life, more and better life
than they ever dreamed of.’ (John
10:10, The Message). It is a life that
enables us to grasp the purpose for
which God created us; a life in
relationship with our creator, in which
eternity begins today!
Christmas is a time for us to see how
valuable we are as individuals in this
world. Without spoiling the film for
those who haven’t seen it, this is the
point at which it ends. With the help
of an angel named Clarence (!),
George sees that he really has made a
difference to other people’s lives in a
way that he never fully appreciated.
Like George Bailey, let’s make sure
this Christmas is a time of recognising
what is important in life and how we
too can make a difference

Home alone – and forgotten

In the UK, 300,000 elderly people can go for an entire month without speaking to a
family member or even neighbour. For some, their only form of human contact
these days in the postman or milkman.

It is estimated that more than 1.2 million elderly people are living lonely and
isolated lives, say the charity Counsel and Care. In a recent report to the
government, the charity puts the reason down to the growing fragmentation of
families, age discrimination, and a decline in support services.
Are there lonely, elderly people we could be visiting?
12
Christmas stamps – thank the Royal Mail!
Famous paintings depicting the Madonna and Child
appear on millions of Christmas stamps again this
year. ‘The Madonna of Humility’, by Lippo di Dalmasio and ‘Madonna and Child’,
by William Dyce, will feature on many first and second class stamps.

The Royal Mail has been producing Christmas stamps for more than 40 years, and last
year came under fire when rumours spread that it had a policy to phase out religious
themes on its Christmas stamps. This year it has issued stamps with a pantomime
theme, but also stamps with this religious theme.

If you are happy that the Royal Mail has done a religious issue as well as a secular
one, why not write to let them know? A good response to the religious stamps may
encourage them for the future!
Contact: Press Office – Special Stamps, Royal Mail Group, 148 Old Street, LONDON,
EC1V 9HQ or Email: press.office@royalmail.com or even phone them on: 0207
2502468

Dominoes
Dominoes aren’t exactly play-station, but it seems they are making a
comeback. In fact, the game is becoming so popular that a few months ago
John Lewis reported that its own-brand £4 domino boxes were flying off their
shelves at the rate of one every half hour!

It seems that some celebrities have started the craze, though the cost is within
everyone’s reach. A low-cost, low-tech present that will last forever, and
provide hours of simple numerical enjoyment.... not bad!

What your sat nav won’t tell you

A sat nav may help you find your
relatives this Christmas, but it can’t
help you make sense of the trip, or
appreciate the area when you get
there. A leading cartographer has
warned that we are ignoring the
rich tapestry of the British
landscape, with its thousands of
churches, dozens of stately
homes, and hundreds of quaint
landmarks, that can guide us when
we use a conventional road map.
The result? Adults are almost
scared now of reading a map, and
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children are growing
up without basic
navigational skills.
May Spence, president of the
British Cartographic Society, says:
“We’re in danger of losing what
makes maps so unique; giving us
a feel for a place even if we’ve
never been there.”
Sat navs reduce trips to no more
than a series of right and left-hand
turns... which hopefully won’t
strand you somewhere remote!
Book Reviews
The Advent Calendar
By Stephen Croft (Darton, Longman & Todd £9.95)
Here is a children’s story from the new Bishop of Sheffield. Stephen Croft writes:

‘The door at the top of the calendar slowly began to swing open. There was just
blackness on the other side – not the kind of blackness you expect to see in a painting.
For Sam and Alice it was like looking down a tiny, dark hole or through a window
into nothingness. They both took a step backwards in shock. A split second later, the
tiny door was as big as a large window and it came rushing toward them. A moment
after that, before they could move or think or do anything at all, they were completely
swallowed up by the great and utter darkness and, at first, complete silence.’

And so begins the biggest adventure of Alice’s life. In a new city and at a new school,
Alice isn’t looking forward to Christmas. But when Sam, her idiot uncle, brings home
a mysterious advent calendar that’s short on chocolate but big on surprises, she is
thrown into an Advent she never dreamed of.

Packed with codes and secrets and inviting us to explore the deeper meanings of
Christmas, this enthralling and touching tale can be read on many levels, and is
suitable for adults and children alike.

‘Beating Stress, Anxiety and Depression’ By Prof Plant and Janet Stephenson.

Are you depressed? Smile - it might help you more than taking Prozac. So says one
government scientific adviser, Prof Jane Plant. Her recent book on unorthodox ways
to fight depression and anxiety has other unusual ideas, such as:

Dancing cheers you up; spending LESS money, not more, could make you happier;
eat kippers for breakfast (they contain omega-3 fatty acids); and send fewer text
messages.

Winter Walking
If you plan to eat too much this Christmas Day, why not at least
stagger out for a traditional Boxing Day walk?

The Festival of Winter Walks is the Ramblers’ Association’s

annual festival of walks which are open to everyone. There are many hundreds of
walks happening across England, Scotland and Wales. For details. visit:
www.ramblers.org.uk/winterwalks or www.mapoffestivalwalks

Camels
In Jane’s Christmas drawing, two of the camels were approaching the
inn, over which was pictured a large star. The third camel and its
rider were going directly away from it. “Why is the third man going in a different
direction?” her mother asked. Jane replied: “Oh, he’s looking for a place to park.”

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 lllllSERVICES & ROTAS FOR DECEMBER 2008 lllll
St. Anne’s, Beeley
Flowers
7 Dec 9.30am Holy Communion No flowers in Advent
14 Dec 9.30am Holy Communion 2.30pm Evensong " "
21 Dec 9.30am Holy Communion " "
24 Dec 6pm Carol Service Christmas Flowers
25 Dec 9.30am Holy Communion
28 Dec 9.30am Holy Communion " "
4 Jan 9.30am Holy Communion Mrs Homer

St. Peter’s, Edensor

Sidesmen
7 Dec 10.30am Holy Communion R A Gray/J Bowns
14 Dec 10.30am Holy Communion R Bemrose/Jayne Boyd
21 Dec 10.30am Carol Service Mrs Thomas/Mrs Bemrose + 2 more
24 Dec 11.30pm Midnight Mass Mr & Mrs Gordon
25 Dec 10.30am Holy Communion Mr & Mrs Machin
28 Dec 10.30am Holy Communion Mr & Mrs Jackson
4 Jan 10.30am Holy Communion Mr & Mrs Machin
Coffee Cleaning Flowers
7 Dec Mrs Mather Mrs Bateman/Mrs Robinson No flowers in Advent
14 Dec Mr & Mrs Sherwood ---------------------------- " "
21 Dec No Coffee Mrs Day/Mrs Nelson/Mrs Owen Christmas Flowers
28 Dec Mrs Bradshaw --------------------------------- " "
4 Jan Mrs Cooper/Mrs Clarke Mrs Sherwood/Mrs Kembery
The Church & Christmas tree will be decorated on Saturday 20th December from
10am. Everyone welcome! glglglglglg
Readings at St. Peter’s
Epistle Gospel Reader
7 Dec Romans 15: 4-13 Luke 21: 25-32 Molly Marshall
Advent 2 Bible Sunday
14 Dec 1 Thessalonians 5: 16-24 John 1: 6-8 + 19-28 Joan Davies
Advent 3 John the Baptist
21 Dec Carol Service To be arranged
24 Dec Hebrews 1: 1-4 John 1: 1-14 To be arranged
Christmas “Unto us a child is born”
25 Dec Isaiah 9: 2,6,7 Luke 2: 8-20 Doreen Gaynor
28 Dec Galatians 4: 4-7 Luke 2: 15-21 Molly Marshall
Christmas 1 Sharing His Divinity
‘The Bridge’ Parish Magazine – From the January 2009 issue the price will be 60p
per copy (£7.20 per year) Items for inclusion in the January magazine should
reach me by Monday 8th DECEMBER . e-mail:raybradshaw@onetel.com
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