OCTOBER 2018

Ministerial Musings

October

Do you know the works of Alfons Mucha? He was a Czech Art Nouveau
painter and decorative artist. Among many works, he has a series of
decorative panels, called the Seasons, showing the harmonious cycles
of nature. Autumn is represented as a playful figure of a woman,
wearing a wreath of chrysanthemums in her long auburn hair. She sits
amid a rich tapestry of autumnal plants and gathers grapes from an
abundant vine. For me the bounty of autumn is beautifully illustrated
by his panel and it is with good reasons that the series brought fame to
the artist.

The autumn months are about images, colours, shapes, smells, tastes,
sounds – everything which the bounty of earth offers to its children.
Mucha`s panel resonates with Robert Frost`s poem:

October

O hushed October morning mild,

Thy leaves have ripened to the fall;
To-morrow’s wind, if it be wild,
Should waste them all.
The crows above the forest call;
To-morrow they may form and go.
O hushed October morning mild,
Begin the hours of this day slow,
Make the day seem to us less brief.
Hearts not averse to being beguiled,
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 Beguile us in the way you know;
Release one leaf at break of day;
At noon release another leaf;
One from our trees, one far away;
Retard the sun with gentle mist;
Enchant the land with amethyst.
Slow, slow!
For the grapes’ sake, if they were all,
Whose leaves already are burnt with frost,
Whose clustered fruit must else be lost—
For the grapes’ sake along the wall.

But October brings not just the bounty of the fields, but a time of
remembrance and some fun, too.

The last day of the month is two-faced: one serious, one mischievous.
It is the day the protestant Churches celebrate the beginning of the
Reformation, when Martin Luther posted his Ninety-five Theses on the
door of the All Souls’ Church in Wittemberg.

In celebration of this event, Amazon came up this year with a new

device: The Martin Luther shaped echo, which will rudely answer all
your theology questions. The program’s title is a reference to the
aggressive style and rudeness of the great reformer, considered his
trademark.

Well, they did not mince their words in the XVIth century, and in the
heat of the theological debates they used to hurl insults to their
opponents, which would make a foul-mouthed person blush today. But
that was part of the fun and the audience was as appreciative then, as
it would be today. Otherwise why come up with this device?

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Anyway, if you do not want to bother with explanations of theological
questions – whether in rude or silky tones – you could turn to the
second theme of the day: Halloween, a festival of jollity and tricks. And
the transition would not need a big leap of imagination as between the
two events there is not so much difference as you would think. Luther
enjoyed the gifts of life, had a weird sense of humour and the tunes of
some of the hymns his followers are singing today with reverence and
piety started as pub songs. Isn`t this a neat trick?

So October – as a true autumn month – offers us a cornucopia of gifts:

fruits for the body, fruits for the soul and mind and some fun in
between.

Come, be enchanted by Mucha’s images, give a try to Luther’s echo

and have the treats ready or support the consequences!
See you at the OMH.

Mária PS. Spot the Trick for a Treat!

SUNDAY SERVICES FLOWERS

Oct 7th 6-30 pm Rev Mária Pap Mrs Y Brown

Oct 14th 10- 45 am Rev Mária Pap Mrs V Brown
Oct 21st 10- 45 am Rev Mária Pap Mr T B Whiting
Oct 28th 10- 45 am Congregational Service Vacant

STEWARDS

Oct 7th 6-30 pm Mr R Wain

Oct 14th 10-45 am Mrs J Tedds
Oct 21st 10-45 am Mr N Fisher
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Oct 28th 10-45 am Mr P Frost
SATURDAY COFFEE MORNING ROTA CHAPEL OPENING ROTA

Oct 6th Miss C Wright Mrs C Wycherley Mrs L Walton

Oct 13th Mrs M Wain Mr R Wain Mr N Fisher
Oct 20th Ms A Perry Mrs M Sharpe Mr T Williams
Oct 27th Mrs A Binch Mrs J Tedds Vacant

DIARY DATES FOR OCTOBER

Oct 2nd Derek Taylor Yoga Group 6-30 pm

Oct 3rd Women’s League 2-30 pm
Oct 5th Words, Music, Silence 11-45 am
Oct 8th Arts and Crafts 7-00 pm
Oct 9th Derek Taylor Yoga Group 6-30 pm
Oct 10th Meditation 7-15 pm
Oct 16th Derek Taylor Yoga Group 6-30 pm
Oct 20th Music at OMH 12-15 pm
Oct 22nd Arts and Crafts 7-00 pm
Oct 23rd Derek Taylor Yoga Group 6-30 pm
Oct 27th Autumn Sale? 10-00 am
Oct 30th Derek Taylor Yoga Group 6-30 pm

CONGREGATIONAL SERVICES

This month’s Congregational Service will be held on Sunday, 28th

October, starting at 10-45 am. It will be led by Ann Binch on the theme
of “A Good Hymn Sing”. You are invited to let Ann know by 21st
October, what is a good hymn for you, and offer to say just a few
words on why you have chosen it. She will then include it into her
order of service.

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The Congregational Service in November will be at 10-45 am on
Sunday, 25th. It will be led by Lynn Walton. You are invited to let her
know by Sunday, 18th November of any wording that you have found
helpful in living your life. She will then incorporate them into her
service on “Words that I have found helpful”.

THANKYOU

Thank you to everyone who came to my “At Home”. The sum of £125
was raised for the Restoration Fund.
Ann Binch.

MUSIC AT OMH

Thomas Williams, OMH Organist, will give the Opening Recital of

the 2018-9 Season on Saturday, 20th October at 12-15 pm.

CHAPEL MEMBERS AND LIST OF FRIENDS

The recent Review of Chapel Members and setting up of a

List of Friends is now fully completed. It showed that out of the
previous 48 members 34 wished to remain as Chapel Members
and 10 wished to move over to being Friends, with the remaining
4 not responding at all, and have now been removed reluctantly
from our list of Chapel Members. Of our now 34 Chapel
Members 9 also wished to be recorded as Friends as well as
Chapel Members. This means that our founding List of Friends
now stands at 20 - with one new person joining them. This
drop in our number of Chapel Members may come as a dis-
appointment to us, and probably also to our national organi-
sation, the General Assembly, but it is a more realistic number

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which reflects our true strength and level of people attending
our Sunday services and activities.

The number of people currently attending our Sunday services

is always somewhere in the twenties (with more at special
services) and there has been a small increase in numbers
attending over recent months. We remain a small community but
alive and in good heart. Derek

HERITAGE WEEKEND

Heritage Weekend proved to be an action-packed three days and the

working party would like to thank you all for your wonderful support.

Opened by Kate Allsop, the first female Executive Mayor of Mansfield,

the theme of Women Firsts proved to be a popular subject and we
were delighted to welcome Ben Bradley, Mansfield’s MP, who paid a
visit to the Age Concern Friday Coffee Morning as well as our event.

From people who lived locally but had never been in the Chapel, to two
ladies who came specially by train from Leicester, everyone remarked
on the warmth of the welcome, the high quality of all the talks and the
fascinating exhibitions. The quieter times too offered the opportunity
for the building of friendships amongst the congregation, with even
discussions of future ventures for HOD.

After a meaningful Sunday Service, people brought their lunch ready

for the afternoon concert by “The Singers“, conducted by Meryl
Chambers. A capacity audience enjoyed a wonderful programme of
music by the talented singers and the programmes, which told of their
forthcoming concerts, were still much in demand during the
refreshments afterwards.

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A great weekend was had by all who participated.

JOHN EASTWOOD HOSPICE

On Friday 31st of August several members and friends of the Old

Meeting House met at the hospice to present this year’s cheque for
monies raised through our charity walk that took place on May 7th this
year.

We were greeted by a representative of the Hospice and instead of

gathering for our usual group photo, we were taken to a room at the
rear of the building and showed their “sensory” room which is new this
year, it has a glass ceiling lit from behind showing a blue sky with white
fluffy clouds. Lights change the colour of the walls and a projector
displays images on the walls and ceiling, soothing music can also be
played. There is one single bed in this room, so the patient has a total
one on one experience when using this facility and we were told the
patients love it.

There was a reason we were shown this room. We were told that the
money we raised on last year’s walk was spent completely on
equipment for this room, tangible evidence that the money you give
goes to something you can see and not into a general pot. We should
all be very proud of the work we have done for the John Eastwood
Hospice, in the short time we have been doing these walks we have
raised over £10,500 for the cause, WELL DONE TO YOU ALL!

WESTFIELD FOLKHOUSE PANTOMIME Saturday, 12th January 2019

If you would like tickets for the Pantomime, Aladdin, can you please let
Christine know, as soon as possible, how many you would like. The
cost of these is £5.50 each and payment would be appreciated as soon

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as you are able to. Tickets will be handed out on the day of the
Pantomime. A tea will follow and all are welcome to stay.

ANOTHER THANKYOU

We would like to thank Paul Birch for his continued support of our
technology needs. This year Paul donated to us a TV monitor screen to
show our WW1 DVD at the Heritage Weekend. He has kindly added
this to our projector and screen which he also provided, and which
continues to help in our presentations.
Also, a big thank-you to Liam Birch for his expertise in the setting up of
the lap-top to play the DVD, where would we be without youth!

THE SUMMER WIND

Alistair Hamilton

It was a warm Summer night,

As we walked hand in hand
Everything seemed so right,
As I gave my heart to you
And the Summer wind.
Those warm nights I remember,
Those nights we used to share.
Now it’s dark December,
With a chill in the air,
But take me back in dreams
To that golden Summer time
As we held hands together
The world seemed yours and mine.
But that world was never ours to keep.
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I fell in love too deep,
And I lost you
To the Summer wind.