June 2010



	JUNE 2010 NEWSLETTER PRAYER FOCUS For the future of Christ Church and that Christ may be at the centre of all our activities. For unity and togetherness in the Church. That the Summer Fair on June 12th may be an opportunity for outreach as well as fund-raising SERVICES JUNE 2010. Ploërmel 6th 1^st after Trinity 11-00 H C order 1 13th 2^nd after Trinity 11-00 Prayer and Praise followed by bring and share lunch. 20th 3^rd after Trinity 11-00 H C order 1 27th 4^th after Trinity 11-00 Family Service with Holy Communion Rostrenen (Chapelle de Manoir du Campostal.) 13th 2^nd after Trinity 10-30 H C Order 1 27th 4^th after Trinity 10.30 H C Order 1 Huelgoat (Parish Church in the town centre.) 13th 2^nd after Trinity 18.30 HC Order 1 *For further information about any of these services please get in touch with The Rev’d Hazel Door, Churchwardens or the local contacts.* Announcement At the end of the service on Sunday 16th May, the Rev Hazel, our Priest in Charge for the last three and a half years, announced she had submitted her resignation to the Diocesan Bishop, Bishop Geoffrey, and it had been accepted. Hazel said her resignation was effective from 1st May 2010 and her final service will be held on Sunday 25th July 2010. I am sure that everyone who can will want to attend Hazel's final service to say their goodbyes and wish her well for the future as she and Martin return to their home in Poitou Charente." DATES FOR YOUR DIARY/FORTHCOMING EVENTS Home Group and Fellowship Meetings – June 2010 St Vran The meetings during June will be held on the 3^rd and 17^th and will commence with a shared lunch. Everyone is welcome and for further information please contact Joyce and Alex Fraser on 02 96 56 13 22 or e-mail alex.fraser@wanadoo.fr. Redon Area For the date of the next meeting and further information or just to hear more about the Group in general please contact Joy Morin on 02 99 71 12 30 or Maureen Wilson on 02 99 08 21 94. Ploërmel A new Home Group has started in Ploërmel at the home of Chris & Liz Barge. Meetings will take place on the 1^st and 3^rd Tuesdays of the month starting at 3.00pm. For information please contact Chris or Liz on 02 97 72 45 33 or e-mail lizzieandchris@wanadoo.fr. Bannalec There is a fellowship meeting for English speakers which usually take place at the Chapel at David and Rebecca Pugh’s on Tuesday evenings at 5.00pm. For further information and to check on dates beforehand please contact Rebecca or David on 02 98 35 46 59. Summer Fete A Summer Fete is being held at Maison Mère des Frère, Ploërmel, on the afternoon of Saturday 12^th June 2010. There will be plenty of stalls selling various goods and teas and cakes will also be available, so there will be plenty of things to see and do. Please come along and bring your friends. For further information please contact Barbara Dunford on 02 97 27 19 37 Social Evenings – Ploërmel The social evenings are held on the 1^st and 3^rd Friday of the month, commencing at 7.30pm. For further information please telephone John & Helen Edge 02 97 74 97 96 OTHER NEWS AND MATTERS A Thank You Following the sad news of the death of her mother, Hazel has sent the following message from the UK: ‘Hazel and her family would like to thank the many members of Christ Church who have written to express their condolences and their prayers. It has meant a great deal to all of us.’ Rostrenen News Goodbye David & Audrey Clark On April 25^th. the Congregation at Rostrenen said an official “goodbye” to David & Audrey. The couple have worshipped at Christ Church almost since the beginning and in latter years David has worked alongside Hazel with Audrey quietly working and supporting him in her demure and unobtrusive fashion. Not only will they both be missed at Christ Church but also for the links David was forging towards Christian unity with the Roman Catholic Priest, Hubert Forget. Friday 4^th April was David’s 80^th birthday and he and Audrey took time off from the packing to celebrate with their friends from the house group. Everybody enjoyed a delicious meal at the Henry 1V restaurant and we all know that enjoying a good meal is one of David’s favourite pastimes. Sunday 9^th May was their last Sunday worshipping with us and they were played out to the tune “Are you going to Scarborough Fair?” Yes, David and Audrey will be sorely missed at both Rostrenen and Huelgoat, having endeared themselves to all who knew them, but our prayers and best wishes go with them and we all unite in wishing them every happiness and blessing in their new home. Open Garden in Coet Cado On May 5^th. Kate and Bob Nicholas opened their garden for us all to enjoy. A shower of rain at opening time left stallholders covering their wares but the sun soon came out allowing the many visitors to stroll around this truly remarkable garden. Rhododendrons on a hillside led down to a lake and everybody was able to meander around or sit in peace on strategically placed benches meditating on the beauty. The views and vistas changed around every corner and further interest was added by way of an extremely neat vegetable garden. There were various stalls selling cakes, books and plants and of course a traditional cream tea completed the afternoon. It was a joy to see the visitors from Huelgoat, Ploërmel and the Rostrenen congregation relaxing together over their teas and events such as these can only improve getting to know each other better. Over €400 was raised for Christ Church and the charities that we support. We must therefore say a big thank you to Bob and Kate for sharing their garden with us and to all those who helped to make the afternoon such a success. Huelgoat Congregation We have been blessed with a good turn out to all our Services over recent months and this has been reflected in the Offertory which has increased by 63% over a four month period. What is not so easy to define is the fact that across our Churches individual people are constantly giving of their time and talents, those who are doers and those who work in the background, those who are practical and those with interesting ideas etc etc. It would be a great exercise to consider the value of the Time & Talents currently given so freely, we would be surprised to see the results I am sure. We recently said a fond goodbye to David Clarke & his wife, a small presentation was made to them at a recent Service and we wish them well, they will both be missed. They have been good friends of the congregation and David has officiated at many of our Services over several years. They were given a hand made memento incorporating the Cross, carved in wood by Keith, as well as an Easter book mark and cards. A new home group will be starting on June 2^nd, this a first toe in the water for us and we will be monitoring how it goes in order to ensure it meets the needs of everyone. With that in mind, initially this will be a Friendship Group to facilitate our getting to know each other better as individuals, providing a safe environment in which to chat and feel at ease in each others company. We will also use this monthly get together, perhaps over an aperitif or a coffee to set up our fund raising Bring & Buy, this might include for example home grown produce or crafts available for sale. The quiz is ongoing until December so it is not too late to join and below you will find a taster of the May edition, so why not have a go! WOMEN OF THE BIBLE ANAGRAMS A RASH AMINO RIM AIM HABITAT BAD HERO THREES AT HARM DAILY The Friendship Group will take place on June 2^nd 5pm at the home of Keith & Mary Beswetherick., please contact Keith or Mary for more details 0298 78 21 28 Carole Turner Huelgoat Congregation Archdeaconry of France & Monaco Synod, April 14-17 at St Jacut De La Mer The Synod was held for the third year running at St Jacut de la Mer on the north Brittany coast where we were as usual well looked after by the Sisters at the Abbaye. As well as Hazel, Martin, Robin and myself attended as your lay representatives.The speakers this year were all from the Diocese in Europe and most were from within the Archdeaconry. Bishop Geoffrey was present throughout and spoke on the gift of episcopacy. We also heard from the Dean of our Cathedral in Gibraltar, who almost succeeded in making canon law, an enthusiasm of his, sound interesting! The ecumenical work of the Anglican Centre in Rome was described by its Director, Fr David Richardson. Priests, former Deacons, Readers and other lay people, talked about their journeys of faith and how they had come to occupy the rôle they now play in church life. For me, the gem of the Synod was a talk given by Roger Boot, a Yorkshireman who, with dry wit, described his long involvement with St Hugh's, Vence, and his progression from Sacristan to Treasurer and self-styled odd-job man. We had a flying visit from the Archbishop of Rennes who picked up on the theme broached by the Archdeacon of caring for the poor – and, yes, there are down-and-outs in Nice! Interesting though the talks are, the most valuable part of the Synod for me is always the chance to stand back from everyday life and church responsibilities, while renewing contacts with people from other chaplaincies. Some have similar challenges to Brittany and some have very different ones, but the chance to compare notes and learn of the experiences of others is always stimulating. An evening quiz intended as relaxation provoked fierce rivalry between tables, all in good humour of course. On a free afternoon we walked out at low tide to a rocky island and chatted to the pêcheurs à pied who were scraping the surface of the sand with small rakes to find palourdes, becoming scarce because of over fishing. Every day's activities were punctuated by worship – morning and evening prayer, compline and a daily Eucharist. On the Friday morning this was in the parish church, where Bishop Geoffrey preached and licensed Tony Jewiss and June Hutchinson as Assistant priests to serve in Midi-Pyrénées and Aude. This year's Synod did not set the world on fire – that was left to the Icelandic volcano which erupted on the Thursday and prevented Adrian Mumford coming from London to give a talk on the work of Church Treasurers. As we drove away on the Saturday morning we left many of our fellow Synod members facing difficult and uncertain journeys home due to a combination of train strikes and volcanic ash. Laura Hillman TOYBOX ‘Toybox’ is a Christian charity which focuses on street children in South and Central America. My own interest in its work arises from the fact that the Chair of the Trustees of the charity, Alastair Welford, was a pupil of mine nearly forty years ago. I also taught his sister and his eldest son while Laura knew Alastair’s mother through their mutual involvement with the Mothers’ Union. The key text for Toybox’s work is Matthew 25:40; ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me’. Toybox is an organization based on caring Christian principles, seeking to promote the active engagement of the church in providing help, care and assistance to vulnerable children and their families. Toybox sees its work as a testimony to God’s unconditional love. A particular concern is for street children. The United Nations estimates that there are 100 million street children worldwide of whom an estimated 40 million live on the streets of Latin America. There are many reasons why a child may end up living on the streets. Children are frequently abandoned by their families, some even as babies. Others are orphaned by civil war, violence and hurricanes. Usually it is a combination of factors which lead to children finding themselves without a home or food and without anyone to love and care for them. On the streets the children themselves soon fall prey to violence, exploitation and disease. In Guatemala, one of the countries where Toybox works, the average life expectancy for a street child is four years from the time when they first arrive on the streets where 90% of the children become victims of sexual abuse, and/or drugs. There, on average, at least ten street children die each week, many from gunshot wounds, sometimes at the hands of the police. Toybox was founded after a BBC ‘Everyman’ programme in 1992 entitled ‘They shoot children, don’t they’ drew attention to their plight.’ In San Salvador, the capital of El Salvador, alone, the average figure for street children deaths is even higher: twelve per week. Toybox’s mission is to bring lasting and positive change to their lives meeting them at their point of need and helping them into a safe environment. Its commitment is to sustainable, effective, long-term solutions. Working with street children can be very costly work as they often need a long period of rehabilitation; it can take many months to build up their trust as they have normally only endured pain and abuse from adults. Toybox needs our help and support, both financially and prayerfully, in order to bring hope to those who have no hope. *Christ Church Newsletter Contributions: for the July 2010 issue, please e-mail your contributions to Chris Wilson at wilson.christopher@orange.fr, the deadline is Monday 21^st June 2010.* *Please note that any views expressed in this Newsletter are not necessarily those held by Christ Church Brittany but are those*


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