There’s a certain satisfaction in typing July and August’ – it means summer, it means holidays, it means everyone in a relaxed mood, it means I don’t have to produce another magazine till September! Not that I don’t enjoy doing the magazine, of course. On the job satisfaction scale its up there near the top, a contained job with a visible result and one that I know, because you say so, that is appreciated. But by how many of you I wonder? Perhaps I should do a survey – Why don’t you read the parish magazine? Because there’s no doubt that fewer people in the congregation read it than we’d like. It’s full of interesting articles and sermons and, more important, it’s full of information about what’s happening in the parish. And that’s how I know not enough people read it! They don’t know what’s going on. Many years ago I started a newsletter at the nursery where I worked called Nobody Told Me’. I don’t, I’m sure, have to explain why and what went into it – but at least people DID read it. But here people have missed the Fair, missed the Ordination, missed this, missed that – and it’s all in the magazine! If you read and enjoy our magazine and find it useful, please help hand it out after the service, take a few down to coffee and offer them around, do anything you can think of to increase circulation and help other people know what’s going on. And if you think it needs improving we’re always open to suggestions. It is, after all, your parish magazine
So, assuming you’ve read that and persuaded other people to take a copy, what can they expect this month?
Staffing
The Vicar, as well as discoursing on the Da Vinci Code, writes about the staffing situation here and whether we can expect a new curate.
Ordinations
there’s the last sermon Mother Sarah preached as a Deacon the week before her Ordination; Derek Spottiswoode’s reflections on the 20th anniversary of his Ordination.
Drama
News from the Hampstead Players who have two productions in July – the revival of Julius Caesar postponed last year when David was injured in the tube bombings and a dramatised reading of The Lark to celebrate the drama group’s 30th anniversary. You’ll find full details of both further on in this issue.
The Diocese:
There’s a report on ALMA, the Diocesan link with Angola and Mozambique and an invitation to book a date in your diary for September in support of Holy Cross Theological College in Rangoon [Yangon] and news about Inspired, an English Heritage initiative in support of historic places of worship. And – I wonder how many of you are flying abroad on holiday this year? The article about the ecological implications of travel makes sobering reading. There’s even an ad. for a holiday next year – a trip to Iona in March 2007. The Diary:
The diary’s worth noting carefully over the summer because there are changes: the Wednesday Bible Study group which usually meets on the 1st and 3rd Wednesday is changing to the 2nd and 4th in July and not meeting in August; the Friday group will meet on 14th July and then disband until September when we may be choosing another night, so if you’re interested but can’t do Fridays, let us know; we won’t be having a 9.30am service on a Thursday after 13th July until term starts again in September.
But it’s not all endings and cancellations. While the choir are on holiday the scratch choir is hoping to get together to sing Evensong for at least some of the Sundays in August and it’ll be business as usual as far as Sunday morning services go – except that you’ll have to do the singing – as always, we’ll alternate between the New English Folk Mass and Merbecke [Rites A and B in the hymn book]. We’re also hoping to get some visiting preachers over the summer.
So, home or away, we wish you all a very pleasant summer.
Judy East
July and August
Judy East