Park time for Mary’s Meals

We had a great afternoon in Birchfields Park today for Mary’s Meals.

At 1.30pm Year 6 children from St Chrysostom’s and St John’s schools with teachers and other adults  met to run a 1km circuit around the park. They did it easily. Many decided to do another1km. It was a lovely meeting of the two classes, and great to see their teachers joining in so enthusiastically. As one of the head teachers commented it was clear all ‘had a great afternoon.’

The children and teachers raised over £700 for Mary’s Meals, our charity for May – Mary’s (Mariam’s) month. We are supported in this in our community by Church, Schools and others. Thank you to the children and all who supported. A very special thank you must go to Ibrahim, Year 6, of St Chrysostom’s School who raised an amazing £418.50.

Shabaz from St John’s School, who has recently been very poorly raised £40. Every 20p raised was very welcome and as the children will tell you 20p given to Mary’s meals gives a child in Malawi a week’s school dinners. (This means today we raised enough money to give about 100 children free school meals for a year)

At 4pm younger children gathered for their bike ride, toddle, or push chair ride round the same circuit. Grace managed to toddle round the whole 1km in 25 minutes – not bad for a 21 month little one.

A Birthday celebration – Pentecost 2012

A guest writer contributes -

I walked into church today and thought ‘this is like a party.’ The colourfulness, the pentecost banner, the decoration, food being got ready, the drummers preparing all built up the sense of expectation. People dressing specially for the day added to the colour of the day.

This was a birthday! A celebration of God breathing the Spirit that began the church at Pentecost, and breathing new life into us today.

Pentecost 2012

The celebration continued after Mass.

Sharing food, taking photographs, drumming, singing and even dancing made the celebration greater.

(See some of the drumming and dancing: click here )

Jubilee Celebration

Arriving for the Celebration

Well over 250 people gathered in Church on Wednesday afternoon for our Community celebration of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee. Older children from St John’s and St Chrysostom’s school came and sang wonderfully and there were steel pans too! 

Here are some things children from St John’s school said during the celebration about the Queen:

I think Queen Elizabeth is a very thoughtful person. She has given lots of money to charity to help others.   (Tehreem)

Queen Elizabeth is quite extraordinary as she has raised up the spirit of our country and helped others.  (Tayab)

The Queen looks after our country so well and makes adults and children proud. (Maria)

Waving the flags in celebration
(Click on photo to see the flags!)

The Queen is great because for 60 years she has ruled so well. (Sadiqe)

At the end of the celebration we waved the flags of the countries for whom the Queen is head of state, and sang the National Anthem. It was a splendid celebration involving all ages, many faiths and people from many different countries.

G r o t e s q u e

You may have noticed St John Chrysostom looking down on you as you enter St Chrysostom’s Church. He stands above the main door looking out on the parish.

But what about our little friend in the photograph here. He looks down too but from a different part of the church. Have you seen him?

Such a fun creature is called a Grotesque or a Chimera.

Any suggestions for a name?

Do post your suggestions, (by using the leave a comment below) and if you can please give your reason..

Postcard from a Bishops’ Advisory Panel (BAP)

Shallowford House

Fr Ian and Admos from our congregation are Bishops’ advisors on panels giving advice on whether candidates should be recommended for training to priesthood or not.

Here is a postcard from such a panel from a candidate. Guess who!

The trains rumble past every 4 minutes all day, and seemingly, all night. Where am I? The Railway Hotel? Elwood from the Blues Brother’s boarding house? Nope. On a Bishops’ Advisory Panel at Shallowford House, Staffordshire.

The panel is two and half days of tests, interviews and other means of selecting people, or not, for training for the Priesthood in the Church of England. The sessions are intense and the stakes are high: some people have spent decades discerning a vocation, others have given up a great deal to pursue their calling.

A comfortable place to sit around in
- for Advisors

That said, most of the time is spent… sitting around.

On a visit lasting two days I must have completed 40 laps of the garden, just trying to kill the great stretches of time between interviews. Despite polite and interesting chatter, the free time only adds to the tension and emotional charge that underlies the whole experience. Everyone is observed at every meal, every minute that one of the ‘advisors’ is in the room.

The building is pleasant, the spaces and times to pray and worship are enriching. The bar, down in the cellar, is a much appreciated feature each evening after supper.

It feels a little like being trapped in a surreal world akin to the TV classic ‘The Prisoner’ or the kind of house party a mysteriously absent host throws for a group of strangers in order to kill them off one by one! Everything and everyone is very nice and comfortable, but one is aware of constant observation and that there is another, uncontrollable purpose being worked out. – no honestly, it’s not that sinister! Just a bit odd.

In the end, the key is to relax and enjoy the experience. That is the only way one is able to really ‘be yourself’ and that is the most important thing of all.

Dick Hatch 1936 – 2012

Dick and Gill at Church

Dick Hatch, an enthusiastic member of St Chrysostom’s, died on 20th April. His funeral was in Church on Monday 30th April, and on Tuesday 8th we had a Requiem mass.

At St Chrysostom’s we thank God for Dick’s energy and enthusiasm for our Church. He was himself a priest but became disillusioned with the hierarchy of the church and later worked in public relations. He returned to public worship at St Chrysostom’s, where Gill, his wife was worshipping. He loved our church, and its people, and gave a great deal to it. He worked hard on the grounds outside the church, where Gill’s ashes are buried. He welcomed new people – especially young adults new to our area. He encouraged the music of the church and began Party Pieces concerts, in which church members and their friends performed music or did readings to the best of their ability. We’re holding such a concert as a memorial to Dick on Thursday 24th May at 7.30pm at Church.

Veronica, Juliet and Elizabeth say farewell in a truly Dick style!

The worship we had in memory of Dick had sadness, as well as celebration. Elizabeth, Juliet and Veronica, Dick’s daughters,  arranged a lovely funeral with a special touch at the end, instead of the usual dark hearse, something more in keeping with Dick.

We have decided to place a bench outside church in memory of Dick, and welcome donations towards this in Dick’s memory.

Dick suffered a massive stroke during the night of 6/7 January 2007, and never recovered. It was a difficult time for him and his family. Elizabeth and Paul, her husband, are doing a sponsored cycle ride from London to Paris in September for the Stroke Association and you can sponsor them in memory of Dick through www.justgiving.com/dickhatch

St Chrysostom’s School sings out!

The Parish Assistants enjoy their work in the parish schools, not least when they can go on outings with the children.

Jack accompanied children from Years 3, 4 and 5 of
St Chrysostom’s School to the choir competition of the Alderley Edge
Festival on Tuesday afternoon.
Amidst the smart blazers and harmonies of the competing schools St Chrysostom’s raised a storm with their exhuberant and joyous rendition

of Disney classics Hakuna Matata and Chim-Chiminee. The climax was, undoubtedly, Pricetag – something of an anthem for the school.

The singing, actions and solos were fantastic and ended with a
heart-rendering solo by Tobi, year 5 and a standing ovation.

What a wonderful occasion and the result of much hard work by staff
and pupils.

Well done St Chrysostom’s School – ‘Its not about the b-bling
b-bling b-bling’, it’s about soul and they had plenty of it!