The magazine of Holy Trinity Parish Church Sutton Coldfield Mar/Apr 2013 60p
Right: We remember Eric Higgs, who died in December (page 16)
Left: Sparklers created a body to show how the body of Holy Trinity is made up, using the passage from Paul's letter to the Corinthians. They chose some of the groups of people who they felt the church couldn't do without. You can read more about the activities of Sunday School on page 20.
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Above: 12members of Trinity Lights enjoying a curry at Bashundora.
From the Editors ...
...to
Trinity Contents:
We begin this issue on a sombre note as we pay tribute to Eric Higgs, a member of our choir for almost seventy years. We also remember our talented organist, Clive Russell, who sadly lost his battle with cancer. Remaining on a musical, but happier note, we look forward to a lively performance of Captain Noah and his Floating Zoo on Palm Sunday, see page 5 for further details. As Spring rapidly approaches we receive some handy gardening tips on page 10 and John looks to the future on page 2. Wishing you joy as we celebrate Easter’s promise,
John Routh writes
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Social events
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Through a glass darkly
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Captain Noah and his floating zoo 5 Book review
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December PCC highlights
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Humorous look at the PCC
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Gardening tips
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The Pastor’s Cat
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Eric Higgs—a tribute
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Clive Russell
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From the registers
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The best school is on Sundays
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Youth Matters
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The Violinist
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Trinity & Bible verse
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Stella 329 2101 s_thebridge@yahoo.com Roger 308 1185 roger.smallwood@btinternet.com Louise 240 6366 louisejharden@hotmail.com
Louise 3
John Routh writes
Planning for our future Holy Trinity is a church planning for its future. With that in mind I want to write about two things ... First of all, re-ordering the church building. As most of you will know, reordering plans were originally drawn up about 10 years ago. Since I arrived, 7 years ago, the architect, PCC and I have spent a lot of time developing the plans. That's involved a lot of consultation and negotiation with the church and civil planning authorities, and consultation with the likes of English Heritage. We've been trying to find a final proposal acceptable to everyone. Early in 2012, the civil planners gave us their permission for the external changes (mainly a new entrance with better disabled access). Then, just before Christmas, the church authorities gave us the go ahead too. There are a couple of things we still need to sort out with them, not least a new organ, but finally we're able to move onto the next stage. And that is fundraising. We've already talked about fundraising at PCC. Now we have permission to do the work, we'll be discussing it again in March ... and I'll be asking the PCC to turn words into action and get fundraising underway. I'm sure that in the weeks and months that follow you'll be hearing a lot more on this! Secondly ... back in September we had a Reflection Day. I invited everyone to the Trinity Centre to spend a few hours reflecting on what Holy Trinity is like now, and on what we would like to be. We started from the idea that, to be a church worth joining we need to show the wider parish community that we care about them, especially the more needy amongst them. Page
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So we asked: what do we do in the community; what might we do; and what would we need to be able to do it? We spent about four hours talking all this through, with everyone present contributing ideas. And since then ... a small group is now meeting to sift through all of those ideas, to decide which are reasonable and compatible with each other. Later this year that group will come up with some concrete proposals which it will put to PCC. And then we'll start to implement them. We did this once before, three years ago, and some very positive changes came out of it. I hope ... and expect ... the same thing will happen again! So, at Holy Trinity we are looking to the future. We're not sitting back waiting for it to happen and wondering how to react. Instead we're embracing it, and ensuring we establish a proper place in the future for our church. The next year promises to be a busy, lively time ... and, I hope, a fulfilling, uplifting one too. John
Forthcoming Social Events Dates for your diary Black and White Evening 7.00pm Saturday 2nd March. Retro evening—Wear black and white, watch a black and white film (The Artist, Certificate PG), supper of Cheese and Wine with Black Forest gateau after. Tickets available from the Trinity Centre. Walk around Sutton (3 miles) Sunday 7th April after the service with Soup and Roll Quiz 7.00pm Saturday 27th April 5
Through a Glass Darkly -
The Image of God.
This section of the year, pre- and post-Easter, features particularly God’s nature as loving, generous and forgiving. Jesus always insists on respect for the Father, but he understands our fear and weakness. He gives Peter back his self respect by persuading him to make an avowal of his love, not once but three times : as many times as his denials. This treatment of Peter echoes the parable of the fig-tree on which the gardener works hard to give it a second chance. This parable reminds us that any work of rehabilitation of ourselves or of others demands great effort. We are told that we are made in the image of God. The picture above of his nature shows us how far we have strayed from this image most of the time. As one of our prayers of confession puts it, we have ‘marred his image in us’. When we are mean, hateful, narrow-minded and bitter we make ourselves very unhappy but, paradoxically, we often generate these feelings when we are not happy. Happy people find it easy to be pleasant most of the time. When we are not reflecting God’s image we close ourselves off from his grace which cuts off our peace and happiness, whereas when we are open to his grace he pours it into us in joyful plenteousness. This is a vicious circle, but it is one which we can break in three ways. The first way, of course, is by prayer. When we pray to God to make us receptive of his spirit and when we live day by day in his presence he gradually opens us up to his grace and makes us more loving. The second way is by responding to what we find of God in other people. Every time we meet love, forgiveness or generosity in others we are experiencing and sharing in a portion of the wisdom of the spirit. When we recognise these qualities it makes it easier to reciprocate them – and practice makes perfect. Page
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The third way is by attendance at Holy Communion. When we take the bread and wine repentantly and prayerfully we are taking into ourselves the nature of Jesus and he came that we might have life and have it more abundantly, which must be what living the Image of God means. Jean Schneider
Palm Sunday (6:30pm 24 March 2013) There will be a joint musical performance of Captain Noah and his floating zoo, a lively piece by Joseph Horowitz with words by Michael Flanders. Younger church members will intersperse the singing with related drama and readings. If you would like to sing, come and join the massed choir who will learn the notes during the afternoon (2-5pm). Contact Stella Thebridge for more information s_thebridge@yahoo.com. If you are of secondary school age and would like to be involved please contact Susie Walker on susiepwalker@yahoo.co.uk Finally, we want a large congregation to support with ears and eyes so please save the date!
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Book review by Derrig Ferguson...
Writing Home Regular readers of these notes will be familiar with my ramblings and will tolerate the boring bits and dig around to find the interesting bits. (Cries of "get on with it Derrig..) are ringing in my ears...) Well: first editions some first editions - old writers like Thackeray or Dickens are indeed valuable but recognizing them identifies a training need for all readers. On the back of the title page is where we start. Writing Home by Alan Bennett is the book I intend to write about. Published faber and faber, You will turn the title page over and you will find " "First published in 1994" but I will tell you about the fascinating book but before I do at the bottom of the title page I am dismayed to find "12 14 16 18 20.19 17 15 13 The book was bought for my birthday in 1994 and I turn to it again. Now I rush on because it is boring for me as well as you (possibly). So I have the twentieth edition of Bennett's book. And a jolly good read it is. It is now in paperback and at nineteen years in may be out of print. Now I will tell you about the book. The first part is called Past and Present and tells about schooldays and Leeds Trams and Uncle Clarence and mini-biographies of Russell Harty and Innes Lloyd and four other chapters about Bennett'. Good reading.
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And then The Lady in the Van. How on earth Bennett tolerated The Lady in the Van for so long is, and will remain a mystery to me and I think all Bennett's readers. Miss Shepherd parks herself in front of Bennett's house and later on his drive. How on earth Bennett tolerated this woman is beyond me. She is not a model of so-called civilised behaviour; she uses his facilities and he displays a tolerance which is denied to me and I suppose to you. Her behaviour formed the plot of a play many of you will have seen in Birmingham. I do not remember the play well but I do recall two actors - doubles Page- are involved to play Bennett's part. Continued on page 9
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Margaret’s memories from the December 2012 PCC meeting ◊ The Child Safeguarding Policy (previously the child protection
policy) has been updated to take into account new legislation and new terminology and the effects of social networking. ◊ Our charity for 2013 is to be Birmingham Foster Carer’s
association ◊ The possibility of an Open Day and a Christmas Tree festival this
year was discussed ◊ I reported in the previous magazine that the number of families
seeking baptism for their children is rising to the extent that the six baptism services in the year that we have at 10am are unable to cope. Further discussions took place at this meeting and a change of approach was agreed to take effect after July….. details will be given nearer the time. ◊ Denise Carter has been appointed to provide support for Hazel
and to work in/around the office in the Trinity Centre five mornings a week. ◊ We now have a box in church into which we are encouraged to
place items for the food bank organised by the Baptist Church ◊ Reports were received from all the committees, working groups
and inter-church committees ◊ Plans for various services & social events were noted. Details can
be found elsewhere in this publication, on the website, on facebook or in the weekly notices Margaret Le Brocq Page
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PCC Secretary
A humorous take on the members of the PCC—who can you identify?! Ed Continued from page 6
Going back to the book (- did we leave it?) There are about a hundred pages of diaries here - the sort of things many of our readers will have kept from time-to-time (I have sent letters and kept diaries, Some thought should be given to a training ground for arsonist s - on a limited scale - properly supervised. in our flat.. Back to our
moutons. And some bits - we are back to the book - about Gielgud and other famous thespians. Revelations of character and descriptions of visitors to the dressing rooms of actors - all dead by now but remembered by some of my older - and not so old - readers. I will look up whether the book is still in print - it appeared in paper back - and I would not have heard of it if Jill had not bought it for me. She will be amused to read in the opening paragraph about my liking of first editions.
Derrig Ferguson
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Gardening tips from an amateur but dedicated gardener To see crocuses emerging is very exciting and I can’t help but think of spring getting closer but will we have more snow to contend with first? Try to avoid walking on lawns when frost and snow is present as footprints compact and can damage the grass. Removing weighty snow from shrubs can help prevent twisting and breaking of stems. We have had strong winds recently so I’ll be checking to see if my small less established shrubs need any firming down and generally checking for any damage. I shall be clearing away dead stems from perennials to make way for new growth. I try to remove weeds that are growing in the crowns of plants before new shoots develop. I have all types of clematis and in February and early March I prune the late spring/early summer flowering varieties by thinning out and cutting back to healthy buds. Another job on my list is to prune and tie in my climbing rose, removing any damaged stems and I tend to tip-prune to encourage new healthy growth lower down the shrub. I also mulch around the base. Next on my list is the greenhouse - to tidy and check plants that have been overwintered. I like to prepare for seedlings and new plants by washing out seed trays and plant pots. I am enthused by choosing seeds from various catalogues but I like to collect seeds from my own plants and have been successful in the past with Salvia (HP) Asarina (HHP) Hardy Geranium, Sweet Peas, Pansies – I could go on and on! I also have dahlia tubers that I will be potting into large pots in the greenhouse. Another job, (for me on a mild day), is to clean and tidy my water feature removing dead plant matter and cleaning the pump filter. There are so many jobs to be getting on with so to you all happy gardening! Page
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Lynda King
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The Pastor’s Cat The Pastor had a kitten that climbed up a tree in his back garden and then was afraid to come down. The pastor coaxed and offered warm milk, but to no avail. The kitten would not come down. The tree was not sturdy enough to climb, so the pastor decided that if he tied a rope to his car and drove away so that the tree bent down, he could then reach up and get the kitten. That ’ s what he did, all the while checking progress in the car. He decided if he went just a little further, the tree would bend sufficiently for him to reach the kitten. But as he moved the car a little further forward, the rope broke. The tree went ‘ b oing ’ and flung the kitten out of sight. The Pastor felt terrible. He walked all over the neighbourhood asking people if they ’ d seen a little kitten. No, nobody has seen a stray kitten. So he prayed. “ Lord, I commit this kitten to your keeping, ” and went about his business. A few days later he was in the supermarket and met one of his Church members. He happened to look in her shopping trolley and was amazed to see cat food. This woman was a cat hater and everyone knew it, so he asked her: Why are you buying cat food when you hate cats so much? ” She replied, “ You won’ t believe this. ” She told him how her little girl had been begging for a cat, but she had kept refusing. Finally she told the little girl, “ Well, if God gives you a cat, I ’ ll let you keep it ” She told the Pastor, “ I watched my little child go out into the garden, get on her knees and ask God for a cat. And really Pastor, you won ’ t believe this, but I saw it with my own eyes. A kitten suddenly came flying right out the sky with its paws outspread, and landed right in front of her. ” Never underestimate the power of God and His unique sense of humour!
This story was submitted by Louise Manning who found it in the Grace Magazine. Thank you Louise for sharing this with us. 17
Eric Charles Higgs – a Tribute 5th July 1922 – 8th December 2012
On the 7th January 2013 there was a Funeral Service in Church for Eric. The congregation came to remember someone who had been a member of the Church Choir for nearly seventy years. They came to remember a quiet, gentle man, a good family man and a faithful servant to this Church. Eric was a good man to know. Eric was a true Suttonian, born here and never living anywhere else. He went to School not many yards from here, in what is now the Baptist Church and offices. On leaving school he went a few more yards up the hill to work as an apprentice electrician at T Barratts, just between Station Street and Mill Street. However, the start of the War in 1939 war brought change to Eric’s life. He was conscripted into the Fleet Air Arm, serving with the Canadian Navy. It was a very dangerous war for Eric, whilst serving on HMS Nabob off the cost of Norway, the ship was torpedoed and sunk. Eric was rescued, but then the rescue ship was sunk, Eric was again rescued, thank goodness, living to fight another day. During the War he found time to marry Mary on the 11th November 1944, they were together for only a week when Eric was sent to the Far East, he returned a year later, what a start to a marriage. It was a long happy marriage, with two children Sandy and Carl, and eventually, grand children and then great grand children. After the war Eric worked at John Weight’s as an electrician. He was also a member of our local Fire Brigade and even found time to be a Special Constable. In Eric we have an example of devoted service to our community. Eric was also a modern man; he learned to use a computer and was very proud of having successfully completed a computer training course. But he remained someone who enjoyed a more traditional way of life, walks in Sutton Park, singing in our Choir and performing with the Trinity Players, and above being with his family. Page
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The last few years have been difficult, Eric eventually being cared for in the Perry Locks Nursing Home, where to the end despite illness, he remained the quiet, polite, kind and gentle man we all knew and loved. Eric led a life of service to our community and devotion to his family. Eric was one of those unsung heroes, who carry us all, he will be missed.
Paul Duckers
Clive Russell It is with sadness that we report the death of Clive Russell. Clive died on Sunday 3rd February at Good Hope Hospital, after a second bout of cancer. Clive was a professional organist who started playing for some of our services some years ago, notably Remembrance Day and the carol service. He then became organist for all our weddings and many funerals, able to play whatever was put in front of him to the highest standard and appropriately for the occasion. He attended Handsworth Grammar school (a few years after Paul Duckers) and was an organ scholar at Trinity College Cambridge. Latterly he converted to Roman Catholicism. He played organ and piano for churches and choral societies across the region, including regular commitments at the Oratory and Perry Barr Crematorium. He was a fine organist and a gentleman in his manner and attitude to his musical engagements. We will miss him tremendously at Holy Trinity.
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FROM THE REGISTERS ... Baptisms 2nd December - Kym Lorraine Whyley 13th January - Tabitha May Harvey Charlie Kavanagh 10th February - Harry Mark Cole Alexia Coller Noah Patrick
We welcome these children into new life with God, as part of our church family Marriages 2nd February - Simon Hale & Kelly Read
We wish these couples every blessing in their future together. Funerals 10th December 2012- Vera Clarice Smith 11th December - James Rainbow 20th December - Annie Buchanan Smith 4th January 2013- Sheila Margaret May Jones 7th January - Eric Charles Higgs 9th January - Philip Charles Martin 22nd January - Eric Graham Tyler 25th January - Jean Lilian Thompson 28th January - Walter Izon 30th January - Brenda Soden 5th February - Sheila Gwendoline Stapleton Readett 8th February - Peter Sidney Yeomans - John Plevey
We remember all who have died and ask for God’s comfort to sustain all who are bereaved. 21
The Best School is on Sundays Hi! I am 10 years old and I have been given the chance to write about my great time in Sparklers and Rockets every Sunday. Sparklers is for children aged 4-7 and Rockets is for the over 7s. Sparklers is on every week and Rockets is on in weeks 1&3 of every month. If you come when Rockets isn’t on you can stay in the service or come and help with the younger ones in Sparklers. Anyone under the age of 4, come to the corner by the door…! In crèche you can have lots of fun with other younger children. There are teddies, stickle bricks, colouring sheets, jigsaw puzzles and lots more. The great thing about crèche is there is lots of room for your mum and dad to sit with you. There is always another grown up in crèche and sometimes there are older children to help too. The second song in the service is especially for children. You can come to the front and play an instrument but if you are shy feel free to bring your mum or dad out with you. Then we go to our groups. In Sparklers we hear a Bible story and then do lots of interesting and fun things about the passage you have heard. Sometimes you can take your creation home or it will go up in church. In Rockets, which is the group I go to, we get a chair each and go into the clergy vestry. We always hear a Bible passage and then talk about it and what it means. We then have fun playing a game, talking about our week or sometimes doing word searches. I love going to my Sunday group as I have lots of fun and I get to see my friends. My favourite session was when we went outside and sent balloons to God with a message on them. If you want to come and join us we would love to see you. Find out more on our website www.htsc.org.uk/children-youngpeople/sundays/ Page
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YOUTH MATTERS We used to have quite a number of grey squirrels living here in our communal back gardens. They had plenty of places to live and play, and not many threats to their survival. A number of us feed the birds and the squirrels easily took advantage of that and I think one can safely say they had it pretty cushy. I know a lot of people consider squirrels pests but, at the same time, they can be quite entertaining to watch; they are cheeky, inquisitive, daring and dextrous creatures. But of late, things have not been so great for the squirrels in our gardens. For starters, some of the trees have been cut right back and, at the same time, some of the fencing has broken so they cannot stay high off the ground in their travels, which makes them easier game for the second cause of their demise, namely that there have been more cats about for a while and some of them are pretty skilled hunters. One in particular; The Black Cat, a lean, mean fighting machine, is probably the world’s best squirrel hunter. But in a way, the squirrels themselves are their own worst enemy purely because they are so cocky. They are too sure of themselves and quite disrespectful of others. My bird feeder pole is right by my window and the squirrels were forever coming and having a nosy in the window before climbing up the pole to eat the birds’ food in what was often quite an insolent manner, almost putting up one claw at me and my then cat as we sat inside watching. One in particular just did not care what we thought. But there came a day when he met his match. One day he did his usual thing of climbing on the window ledge, looking to see who was in the room, which on this occasion was me, a friend and a cat; all watching him. After a few minutes of looking he got off the ledge to climb up the pole and we all heard a crash and a kerfuffle and then saw The Black Cat running off triumphantly with the said squirrel dead in his jaws. Continued on page 23...
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The Violinist A man sat at a metro station in Washington DC and started to play the violin; it was a cold January morning. He played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time, since it was rush hour, it was calculated that thousands of people went through the station, most of them on their way to work. Three minutes went by and a middle aged man noticed there was a musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds and then hurried up to meet his schedule. A minute later, the violinist received his first dollar tip: a woman threw the money in the till and without stopping continued to walk. A few minutes later, someone leaned against the wall to listen to him, but the man looked at his watch and started to walk again. Clearly he was late for work. The one who paid the most attention was a 3 year old boy. His mother tagged him along, hurried but the child stopped to look at the violinist. Finally the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk turning his head all the time. This action was repeated by several other children. All the parents, without exception, forced them to move on. In the 45 minutes the musician played, only six people stopped and stayed for a while. About 20 gave him money, but continued to walk their normal pace. He collected $32. When he finished playing and silence took over, no one noticed it. No one applauded, nor was there any recognition. No one knew this but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the top musicians in the world. He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written, with a violin worth $3.5 million. Two days before his playing in the subway, Joshua Bell sold out at a theatre in Boston and the seats average $100. Page 22
This is a real story. Joshua Bell playing incognito in the metro station was organised by the Washington Post as part of a social experiment about perception, taste and priorities of people. The outlines were: in a commonplace environment at an inappropriate hour: Do we perceive beauty? Do we stop to appreciate it? Do we recognise the talent in an unexpected context? One of the possible conclusions from this experience could be: If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world playing the best music ever written, how many other things are we missing?”
I came across this story, which I understand to be true, on Facebook this week. As a busy new mum it reminded me of how we can get distracted and miss the beautiful things in our midst that are freely available to us to enjoy. Like the violinist, many people don’t realise who Jesus Christ is and the wonder that he offers to all of us - Ed
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And that is the main cause of the decline in squirrel numbers in our back garden. They are overconfident and disrespectful of those around them which gives them a vulnerability that in the end comes back to destroy them. People say ‘what goes around comes around’ which in biblical terms is ‘reaping what you sow.’ A lot of people these days seem to treat those around them with discourtesy and disrespect, which is a side of the world I am very saddened to see. You will remember that ‘respect’ is the only rule we have at JCYG. But in the end the people who really get harmed are the ones who behave badly. ‘Do as you would be done by,’ I say, which is another biblical maxim that Jesus would applaud.
Susie Walker
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Trinity Arrangements for 2013 The cost per issue is still only 60p, and an annual subscription £3-50. If you are a casual reader who would like to subscribe regularly or advertise, or if you have any other queries relating to the magazine, please contact the Trinity Centre in the first instance on 321 1144 or admin@htsc.org.uk
Publication schedule Cover date
Copy deadline
Publication date
May/Jun 2013
7th April
21st April
Jul/Aug 2013
2nd June
16th June
Sep/Oct 2013
4th August
18th August
Nov/Dec 2013
6th October
20th October
Please submit material for the next issue by the deadline above to : Roger Smallwood email: roger.smallwood@btinternet.com Written text: Please leave in the “Magazine” pigeon-hole in church OR in the Trinity Centre office. Contributions on any topic or photographs are always welcome. A page contains about 400 words.
Bible verse for this issue “But those who trust in the Lord for help will find their strength renewed. They will rise on wings like eagles; they will run and not get weary; they will walk and not get weak.” Isaiah 40 v31
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Burns Night at the Trinity Centre
Victoria Falls, Zambia
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