I feel we=ve earned a bit of Spring this year and perhaps we=ll appreciate it all the more for having been so thoroughly cold since December! Spring is certainly coming to the churchyard, the snowdrops are out and the daffodils showing promise. And there=s good news about the lottery grant and the work Camden plan to carry out with the money: they have appointed an architect and are in the process of scheduling the work. Probably not that soon because these things take time but at least it has begun. Work is also scheduled on the wall of the churchyard above Frognal Way – nothing to do with the lottery this but necessary maintenance if we=re not to find Constable sliding down the hill! Camden did quite a lot of clearing during the winter and it=s certainly looking better. And if you=re keen on gardening why not join one of our churchyard working parties? Now that the weather=s improving we plan to hold them on the first Saturday of each month. Let us know if you=re interested and we=ll put your name on the list. We already have several volunteers who cut and clear and sweep leaves, plant and tend and keep the area from becoming completely overgrown – you may have noticed an opening up of the area to the south of the main entrance which much improves that aspect. Several notable graves have been rediscovered in the process
Spring has come too to Stephen=s Church on Haverstock Hill. Its been sad to see it on the Aderelict London@ website [some of us remember services many years ago with holes in the floor roped off for safety] so it=s good to know that it is opening its doors again this month – with, among other things I=m sure, a production of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by Antic Disposition. Some of us who=ve been to past productions in the near-derelict building will enjoy seeing what it has become.
ABeing a Christian isn=t about being good but about how you deal with being bad@ – or so it was said at a Hampstead Christian Study Centre debate last month. And if that=s true then I suppose Lent is the time when we particularly address how we individually deal with our >badness=. Parish plans for Lent include, as always, the ecumenical Lent Groups [material written by Father Stephen] and this year we will be following the Stations of the Cross on Fridays from 12 -1pm. There will also be a prayer hour on Tuesdays between 8 and 9am. There=s also a Passiontide Quiet Day on 4th April at Edgware Abbey. Details of all these Lenten observances can be found on page 12 of this issue and in the leaflets prepared by Father Jim and available in the church. All are open to everyone but some you have to sign up for so please read carefully.
Judy East