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Published by elizabethmalone, 2020-09-26 11:30:55

October 2020

October 2020

St Stephen Hounslow

Know God’s Love and Believe

‘The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few.
Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into

his harvest field.’
Matthew 9 vv 37-38

PARISH E-MAGAZINE
October 2020

CONTENTS

October 2020

2 Pastoral letter
4 Services for October 2020
5 Readings and Intercession themes for October 2020
6 Annual Parochial Church Meeting
7 When will we sing again?
8 Getting to know you – Peter Lee
9 Why read the bible?
10 Outside the Back door
12 Mouse Makes
13 William Tyndale
14 Cookery Corner / Fridge appeal / Friends of St Stephen’s update
15 Wordsearch / Cartoon
16 Contacts / Wordsearch solution

PASTORAL LETTER

My beloved in Christ, Greetings!

As we emerge into the autumn, we find ourselves in the wake of yet another change
in national guidance. More on that below.

First some inadequate expressions of gratitude from me to you for a number of
things. First to my brother priests, Frs Vernon and Christopher for maintaining our
Rule of Life with the streamed services during my absence. Second to Sarah and
Andrew Bell-Wright for stepping up to the plate to host the Saturday-morning Zoom
gatherings, and third to the many volunteers who have given so much of themselves
to prepare the Vicarage at St Stephen's for its new arrivals. Only if you had seen the
'before' and 'after' could you properly come to understand how much work has been
carried out under the wise leadership of Jan and Tim Furze, Karen Mackay and so
many more. It is fair to say that, a week before I took my annual leave, I dropped this
whole venture on to Tim and Jan's shoulders (a day after it was placed delicately

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upon my own) - initially the redecoration of four bedrooms, some furniture building
and a little garden clearance. They agreed without (outward) hesitation and
successfully brought a team around them that entirely redecorated a detached five-
bedroom house, cleared an acre or more of overgrown garden and all that the
creation of a home (from scratch) demands. Their achievement and yours - in
whatever part you played in it - is simply remarkable and speaks of the hearts of
service that populate our churches. Thank you one and all.

Looking forward, there are a couple of things that it would helpful to tell you. We
have welcomed Nathan Barrett among us and only time will tell, in the current
climate, how he will shape us as a team of parishes and as we endeavour to bring
shape to his fledgling ministry. Please pray for Nathan and the other interns as they
begin their year-long journey.

No communication these days is complete without some injunction in light of the
current pandemic, and this is no exception. With the announcement of the Rule of
Six and subsequent guidance from the House of Bishops, I am pleased to say that
we will be able to plot our existing course with regard to services in person or online.
The current system for managing attendance at services seem to be holding up well,
though I do remind those who are connected to book before arrival. I am keen not to
exclude anyone from worship on the basis of no spare seats!

We look towards the Kingdom Season, Advent and Christmas with uncertainty and
in our 'tradition' of church, such seasons are often marked out by 'show-piece'
services and acts of corporate worship. Under present circumstances, the majority
of those services will not be able to take place so we will look creatively at how we
can offer these autumn/winter seasons to you with greatest meaning. We will also
remain dependent upon Zoom for spiritual encounters in smaller groups (as well as
social and fellowship events). My ongoing thanks go to Peter Lee for all that he has
done to keep our online Pilgrim Groups going as he too took a firm lead into the new
digitally enhanced spiritual age that we find ourselves in.

I close with my prayers, blessings and best wishes, as we look to a new season with
all faith in the face of mounting uncertainty.

Fr David

The Revd David Cloake
Vicar, Ss Philip & James Whitton with St Stephen Hounslow

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SERVICES FOR OCTOBER

Sundays: 09:30 Parish Eucharist – live streamed
11.00 Parish Eucharist – in church – limited numbers
Morning prayer – live streamed
Monday 09:30 Holy Communion (1662) – live streamed
Tuesday 09:30
Wednesday 09:30 Morning prayer - live streamed
Thursdays: 09:30 Parish Eucharist – live streamed

Service Booklets for download or print are available at
www.whittonchurch.com/coronavirus

Congregations are invited to return to the 11.00am Eucharist at St Stephen’s on
Sundays. Hygiene measures will be in place, including no singing or physical
contact and communion in one-kind only. Please remember that face-coverings are
now mandatory (barring medical exceptions). Data is also being collected should it
be required by NHS Track and Trace.

During October it may prove possible to open up both the Tuesday and Thursday
services to congregations. However, at the time of going to press, new restrictions
are being considered by the government and any impact on public worship is as yet
unknown. Please keep an eye out for emails with any updates.

Public worship on Sundays is supplemented by live-streamed services available on
the Parish Facebook Pages [St Stephen’s or Ss Philip & James].

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/philipjameswhitton/
https://www.facebook.com/SaintStephenHounslow/

First come / first-served or pre-booked?

If you are intending to attend a service in person, please consider pre-booking via
ChurchSuite to avoid disappointment!

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READINGS FOR OCTOBER 2020

To help you follow services at home, here are the designated
readings for the Sunday morning Parish Eucharist throughout
October.

4th Oct Trinity 17 (Proper 22)
Exodus 20 v.1-4, 7-9, 12-20; Philippians 3 v.4b-14; Matthew 21 v.33-end

11th Oct Trinity 18 (Proper 23)
Exodus 32 v. 1-14; Philippians 4 v.1-9; Matthew 22 v.1-14

18th Oct Luke the Evangelist
Isaiah 35 v.3-6; 2 Timothy 4 v.5-17; Luke 10 v.1-9

25th Oct Last Sunday after Trinity
Deuteronomy 34 v.1-12; 1 Thessalonians 2 v.1-8; Matthew 22 v.34-end

INTERCESSIONS FOR OCTOBER 2020

St. Stephen’s is a praying community and we welcome you to that life of prayer.
Contact us if you have a matter of concern that you would like us to hold in prayer
for you and with you.

For ourselves:
4th For our study groups
11th For Sandra, our Parish Secretary
18th For the elderly and infirm
25th For our Sunday Club leaders

For others: For the work of the Childrens’ Society
4th For those who produce our food
11th For all whom feel discriminated against
18th For Bible Sunday
25th

5

ANNUAL PAROCHIAL CHURCH MEETING (APCM) WITH
ELECTIONS

Sunday 25th October 2020

We are pleased to announce that the Annual Parochial Church Meeting for St
Stephen’s will take place in church on Sunday 25th October 2020 at midday.

This is the re-scheduled Meeting that had been due to take place on Sunday 26th
April 2020 and which was postponed as a result of the COViD-19 restrictions. At
this meeting, elections will be held for representatives of the Deanery Synod and the
Parochial Church Council, and the Annual Report and Financial Accounts of the
PCC (for year ending 31st December 2019) will be received.

There are two ways to access this meeting:

1. In person in church
Attendance in person is strictly limited to 27 persons in line with current COViD-19
restrictions, and is by ‘ticket’ only. To place your name on the list of attendees,
please contact Sandra, the Hon PCC Secretary. For Health and Safety reasons,
admission to this meeting for those without a ‘ticket’ will not be permitted. ’Tickets’
are available on a strict ‘first come first served’ basis. Please note that you will be
required to wear a face mask, unless of course you are excluded for medical
reasons. You will also be required to provide your contact details upon arrival.

2. Remotely by Zoom
Virtual attendance by Zoom will be made available to those who would prefer to
attend in this way. Details of the Zoom link will be made available on ChurchSuite,
and on the Parish Website shortly before the meeting. Attendance by Zoom is
limited, and you are encouraged to sign-up through ChurchSuite, or contact the Hon
PCC Secretary who will set aside space for you.

Items for Any Other Business should be submitted in writing to the Hon PCC
Secretary by no later than seven days before the meeting. No AOB will be tabled on
the day.

Apologies for absence should be sent to the Hon PCC Secretary.

Elections
Elections for the Deanery Synod and PCC are open to anyone over 16 whose name
is on the Electoral Roll. I do hope you will consider standing. If you do seek election
to one of these posts, you are not required to attend the meeting in person and can

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attend ‘virtually’. Polling facilities for all elections will be available for those attending
the meeting in person and those attending virtually.

If you would like to find out more about the Deanery Synod or being on the PCC
please do not hesitate to speak to the Vicar or any of the current PCC members.

Papers and Nomination Forms
Papers for the APCM, including nomination forms for both the Deanery Synod and
PCC positions, can be collected from the back of the church and will also be
available to download from the parish website. Alternatively, do let Sandra (Hon
PCC Secretary) know if you are unable to access the forms or would like a copy of
either nomination form posted to you. Completed forms, supported by a proposer
and seconder, should be returned to Sandra, as Hon PCC Secretary.

I do hope you will be able to attend then APCM at this important juncture for the
growth of the Parish.

Fr David
(Contact details for Sandra Bishop, Hon PCC Secretary – please see p.16 of this
Magazine)

WHEN WILL WE SING AGAIN?

The Church of England and Royal School of Church Music (RSCM) have been
awaiting updated guidance on singing in places of worship after findings of a
Government-backed study were published. The research project, known as
‘PERFORM’, recently published its findings on measuring aerosol production from
humans. It measured singing, speaking and breathing in a zero-background
environment.

Researchers reported a steep rise in aerosol mass with increase in the loudness of
the singing and speaking, rising by as much as a factor of 20-30. However, it was
also found that singing does not produce substantially more aerosol than speaking
at a similar volume. The RSCM’s Director, Hugh Morris said: “We welcome this
news. Singing is of such importance in worship, and this is a really encouraging step
towards its safe resumption.

“It is of course vital that all choirs and singing groups follow the relevant government
advice, and so we look forward to receiving the latest guidance in this important
area.” The Church of England and RSCM both regularly update their advice
following the publication of Government guidance.

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GETTING TO KNOW YOU – PETER LEE LLM

In the second of our series of articles about our ministry team, we feature Peter Lee,
Licensed Lay Minister

Q. Where was the first church where you worshipped?
The first church was St Edmund of Canterbury in Yeading, Middx. We were not a
church going family but my eldest sister fancied the organist in the church so she
joined the choir. That meant my other sister also joined (they were both in the Hayes
Girls’ Choir anyway) and being the youngest I didn’t want to be left out. I was about
7 years old when I became a choirboy and went to the Sunday morning Eucharist
and Evensong every week then until I was a teenager. My sister married the
organist by the way.

Q. What is your favourite hymn?
It’s a Charles Wesley hymn which begins with “And can it be that I should gain”. It’s
a real belter and great fun singing in a choir. Having learnt it as a boy soprano I then
had to learn the tenor part when my voice broke. I especially like the words “my
chains fell off and I was free; I rose went forth and followed Thee.” The lyrics of our
hymns are like a modern day psalm book, full of inspired words.

Q. Favourite book (not the Bible) and why?
I have two books which are my favourites. In fact one is a trilogy so I supposed that
counts as four books.

The first is the trilogy “Lamb among the Stars” by Chris Whalley. It’s Christian
science fiction which has everything thrown in including demons, angels and the
second coming. The interesting thing about it is the way that evil is introduced back
into the world after thousands of years when there has been no sin at all. It is by the
smallest little thing that evil returns. A reminder that it’s the small sins we commit
that are the most dangerous.

The other favourite is “The Shack” by William Paul Young. It’s the story of an
encounter with God and has an interesting way of portraying the Trinity. It’s both
deeply sad and at the same time uplifting.

Q. What was your favourite subject at school and why?
In primary school we used to be taken each week to the swimming baths in Heston
to be taught to swim. I hated it. The swimming pool was built in the 1930s and
wouldn't have looked out of place in post war East Germany. It was horrible and I’m
not surprised the council pulled it down in 2014 and replaced it. Eventually the

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school gave up trying to teach me to swim and I was allowed to stay in the
classroom, with the other kids who couldn’t go, and work on individual workbooks.
That is where I discovered the pleasure of learning for myself and discovered an
interest in things that I didn’t realize I had. For instance I learnt how the Babylonians
and Mayans counted. It opened up a new world to me which is probably why I am a
member of the British Museum and enjoy going off on my own learning about
objects and civilizations. Oh and I finally learnt to swim when I was 24 years old.

Q. Do you have a particular skill or interest that would surprise people?
Having devoted a lifetime to avoiding any physical activity or participating in sport, I
was signed up by my wife to do a 5km Parkrun when I was 63 years old. Two and a
half years later I was nearing my 100th parkrun when “lockdown” happened. But I
still run 5km every week as I feel better afterwards!
I also joined a Tai Chi class at Whitton Community Centre, when I retired, and I have
been continuing that during “lockdown” via zoom twice a week. Oddly enough they
are on a Monday and Wednesday, the same days that I lead online Pilgrim Groups.

WHY READ THE BIBLE?

As we acknowledge Bible Sunday this month, it’s a good opportunity to ask the
question: why should I read the Bible? The Bible is the world’s best-selling book of
all time. However, it isn’t one book, but a library of 66 books, composed by some 44
writers over a period of 1500 years in a range of literature including history, poetry,
prophecy, letters and apocalyptic (end times). Despite having a number of different
writers, the Bible claims one author: God himself!

This is the basis of the unity of its message and authoritative claim to be the primary
way by which God speaks to us: ‘All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for
teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God
may be thoroughly equipped for every good work’ (2 Timothy 3:16). The Bible is
inspired (‘the word of God in the words of men’) and presents itself as a manual for
life, equipping us to live for God in every aspect of our lives. We also have the
promise of the Holy Spirit to guide us in applying the words to our lives: ‘the Spirit
will guide you into all truth’ (John 16:13).

The Bible could also be described as a love letter from God, as He uses it to deepen
our relationship with him. As Jesus said: ‘You diligently study the Scriptures because
you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify
about me’ (John 5:39,40). Christians follow a person not a book, and the Scriptures
are intended to help us to know Jesus better.

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OUTSIDE THE BACK DOOR

RECYCLING FOR GARDENS AND WILDLIFE

The end of last month saw Recycle Week 2020, organised by WRAP – the Waste
and Resources Action Programme. WRAP is working on UK wide initiatives to work
with, for example, the packaging industry to reduce those layers of unnecessary
plastic that we fight our way through even to open a packet of biscuits! Eventually
there will come a time when we all say, remember when we had all those plastic
cartons lying around? But for now, for the majority of people, convenience means
that we continue to buy and dispose of more plastic than we would ideally like. So
can we be creative and use it for the benefit of our gardens and wildlife? Recently
I’ve stumbled across a few ideas that have merit and some which may even keep
our younger readers occupied across the October half-term!

The first is the fruit-juice carton birdfeeder! This popped up on my
newsfeed on Facebook recently and I thought, what a fun idea!
Although ideally you should be feeding your garden birds all year
round, there is a tendency for us all to do that little bit more for
them during winter. Fruit juice cartons, you know the sort, are
ideal for this as they even come with a ready-made sloping roof to
protect seed from the rain! Crafty website Pinterest has literally
thousands of pictures of people being creative with their fruit juice
cartons. A fruit juice carton bird feeder may not be squirrel-proof, but then neither
are many of the more expensive models on sale in garden centres so you may as
well give this a go!

Earlier in the spring I mentioned that I’d also used fruit juice cartons as additional
seed trays. I have to say that these worked remarkably well! The were particularly
good for large seeds, such as cosmos, which you can easily space out. I’d certainly
do this again.

Milk carton watering cans are another way to re-use one of those bits of plastic that
are hard to avoid. Again, there are hundreds of examples of how to do this. I also
saw one suggestion about keeping a carton of water to hand next to your most
needy plants so that you can step in and water them at the drop of a hat!

Sadly the pandemic has meant that all those nice, reusable coffee cups that we
were all getting used to carrying around with us, are generally no longer accepted at
most coffee outlets. This means that we’re starting to face a mountain of disposable
coffee cups again so why not rinse them out, take them home and use them as plant
pots? The ‘rinse out’ bit is vitally important there as I doubt anyone wants to find
coffee dregs in the bottom of their handbag!

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Of course the best recycling you can do in your garden that benefits both plants and
wildlife is composting. Yet again the other Friday evening, Monty Don was extolling
the virtues of composting on Gardeners’ World and talking us through his enormous
4-bin system. As I’ve said before, composting on this scale is unthinkable for most
of us! Realistically most of us have to be content with either a small square bin or
one of those council supplied ‘daleks’. We are lucky enough to have one of each
and equally each has been a learning curve.

To avoid the plastic dalek turning into green sludge, we decided to built a wooden
bin to take most of our grass clippings, or at least to allow us to drip-feed them into
the other bin. To be honest, we rather ignored this heap until this spring when the
pandemic caused our green garden waste collections to be cancelled at just the
peak of the garden waste production cycle! Consequently this bin was revitalised
and brought back into weekly (or almost daily) usage to take both grass clippings
and larger, woodier prunings. To our surprise, it seems to be working ok and there
might even be something vaguely usable at the end of it all.

The dry spring and an expanded hot border meant that we also took the brave (or
foolish) decision to empty our dalek completely and start again. It hadn’t been fully
emptied for some years and so we were rewarded with surprisingly rich, dark
compost at the bottom which, hopefully, will have enriched some of our dry soil.
What we had not bargained for, however, was the knock-on effect of all those split /
slightly mouldy tomatoes that I’ve tossed in the bin over the years. As a result, I
spent most of the spring pulling up tiny tomato plants from all over the garden!
Inevitably I missed two … which have spent the summer growing rampant in the
flower border! They’ve had no feed and irregular watering and yet they are
producing bigger and better fruits that those that I have spent time and energy
fussing over in the greenhouse. Isn’t that just typical?

Do you have a top tip for recycling materials in the garden? Do let me know.

Elizabeth Malone

Read an illustrated version of this article at
https://outsidethebackdoor.wordpress.com

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12

WILLIAM TYNDALE – 6th OCTOBER

BIBLE TRANSLATOR AND REFORMER

This month is the 501st anniversary of the beginning of the Reformation, and so a
good time to pay tribute to an outstanding English scholar, translator and martyr of
the Reformation.

William Tyndale (c. 1494 – 6th October 1536) was born near Gloucester, and
studied at Oxford and Cambridge. He could speak seven languages, and was
proficient in ancient Hebrew and Greek. As a priest, his abilities would have taken
him a long way, but by 1523 Tyndale’s only desire was to translate the Bible, so that
English men and women could read it for themselves. It became his life’s passion.

For Tyndale had rediscovered a vital doctrine that the Church had been ignoring:
that of justification by faith. He had found it when reading Erasmus’s Greek edition of
the New Testament. In fact, his life’s work was well summed up in some words of
his mentor, Erasmus: “Christ desires His mysteries to be published abroad as widely
as possible. I would that [the Gospels and the epistles of Paul] were translated into
all languages, of all Christian people, and that they might be read and known.”

Tyndale’s translation was the first Bible to be published in English, the first to draw
directly from Hebrew and Greek texts, and the first English translation to take
advantage of the printing press. It was to cost him his life. For Tyndale’s work was
seen as a direct challenge to the power of both the Roman Catholic Church and the
laws of England in maintaining the Church’s position.

When the authorities had tried to stop his translation, Tyndale fled to Hamburg,
Wittenberg, Cologne, and finally to the Lutheran city of Worms. It was there, in 1525,
his New Testament emerged. It was quickly smuggled into England, and King Henry
VIII, Cardinal Wolsey, and others, were furious.

Tyndale moved on to Antwerp, where for nine more years he continued his work.
Then in May 1535 he was betrayed, arrested, and jailed in a castle near Brussels.
Tied to the stake for strangulation and burning, his dying prayer was that the King of
England’s eyes would be opened. Sure enough, two years later King Henry
authorised the Great Bible for the Church of England, which relied largely on
Tyndale’s work.

Not only that, but in 1611, the 54 scholars who produced the King James Bible drew
very heavily from Tyndale. Even today we honour him: in 2002, Tyndale was
placed at number 26 in the BBC’s poll of 100 Greatest Britons.

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COOKERY CORNER

DRIED APRICOTS WITH BLUE CHEESE AND ALMOND

Another little appetizer / hors d'oeuvres!

Ingredients:
6 dried Apricots
4 tsp cream cheese
2 tsp blue cheese
crumbled almonds (or any other nut!)

Method:
Mix the two cheeses together and stuff into the dried apricots. Dust with the
crumbled nuts. Couldn’t be easier!

Genna Martinez

FRIDGE APPEAL!

After many years’ service, the Church Hall fridge has sadly passed its use-by date.
If we could avoid the additional cost of purchasing a new one, this would be helpful.
If anyone does have a fridge surplus to use that they would like to donate, please do
contact me on: 020 8570 0979

Fred Michell

FRIENDS OF ST STEPHEN’S SUBSCRIPTIONS 2020

You will have realised by now that has been impossible to do our usual door-to-door
collections for Friends of St Stephen’s subscriptions this year. We would, however,
as you not to forget us as the church continues to accrue expenses as normal. If
you would like to give to St Stephen’s, there are a number of ways in which you can
do this. Our Treasurer, John Barnes, will be happy to supply you with details. Why
not phone or email him?
Tel: 020 8570 8810
Email: [email protected]

Thank you.

14

AMERICAN PRESIDENTS WORDSEARCH

This month’s wordsearch contains the surnames of 24 presidents of the United
States of America. The 16 unused letters form the names of the 8th and 9th
President. Solution next month.

DRETRACSEYAH
NREAGANOXINS
AORWVAOTFATU
LOEEONTBUNRB
ESLGRHGENLUU
VEYDENNEKOMC
EVTIHAIEACAH
LERLTDHRSNNA
CLUONASRPIIN
STMOAMABOLEA
ONPCRSWILSON
DROFGNOSKCAJ

John Barnes

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ST. STEPHEN'S CHURCH
Parkside Road, Hounslow

Vicar: The Revd David Cloake

Email: [email protected]

Parish Office 020 8898 2694

Churchwardens: Mrs. Sally Billenness 020 8737 0477

Miss. Genna Martinez [email protected]

Hon. Treasurer: Mr. John Barnes 020 8570 8810

Hon. Secretary: Mrs. Sandra Bishop 020 8570 4570

Email: [email protected]

Children's Champion - Tracey Bunce 020 8230 4918

Safeguarding Officer: Ms. Vanessa Pimbert

Email: [email protected]

Magazine Editor: Mrs. Elizabeth Malone 020 8941 4722

Email: [email protected]

Keep in touch:

Website: http://www.saintstephenhounslow.org.uk/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SaintStephenHounslow/

SOLUTION TO CAT WORDSEARCH

ABYSSINIAN, BALINESE, BIRMAN, BURMESE, CHEETAH, COUGAR, HAVANA,
HIMALAYAN, KITTEN, KORAT, LEOPARD, LIGER, LION, LYNX, OCELOT,
PANTHER, PERSIAN, PUMA, PUSS, SERVAL, SIAMESE, SINGAPURA, SOMALI,
TABBY, TIGER, TIGON, TONKINESE. The 5 unused letters formed JERRY.

John Barnes

Magazine Deadline

The next Magazine will be the November 2020 issue. Items for inclusion should be
emailed to the editor – [email protected]
Please forward your contribution by Sunday 18th October at the absolute latest!

Opinions expressed in articles in this magazine do not
necessarily reflect the views of the Vicar, Editor or the P.C.C.

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