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The Grapevine Magazine November 2002 Issue No 175
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To permit repairs to be carried out to sewers in Brook Street the junction of the B480 and the B4009 in Watlington is to be partially closed for up to five days starting on 18 November. Approaching via the B4009 (Couching Street) from Lewknor, it should still be possible to turn left for Henley/Nettlebed when you hit T-junction at Brook Street, but it will NOT be possible to turn right towards Benson/Chalgrove. The same constraints will apply in the reverse direction. OCC's recommended route to/from Wallingford and beyond to take the minor road that runs from the A40 near Tetsworth through Stoke Talmage and then proceed via Chalgrove or Cuxham. Access to and from the Hill Road car park should not be affected, so there should be no constraint on local shopping expeditions to Watlington. Note that, while this information is current at the time of publication, it is conceivable that there will be a delay in the start of the work.
A big 'Thank-you' to everyone who came to help tidy St Margaret's Churchyard on Saturday 12 October. A further day will be arranged so that we can shred the remains! Also very many thanks to all those who have helped cut grass during the summer. We still need a few more regular helpers for next year so please contact Robin and Caroline Notley on 354237 if you can spare some time. Many thanks, Caroline Notley
The School Christmas Bazaar is being held at School on Friday 29 November from 6.30pm. The pupils are going to be very busy making unusual gifts & beautiful decorations to sell. There will be a big raffle with Christmas food and wines to win, holly wreathes to order for your front door, mulled wine & mince pies, and of course a very 'special' visitor. The Christmas Carol Service will be in Church on Saturday 14 December at 6.30pm, lots of pupils will be there to sing the traditional Carols. The School Christmas Production will be held in the Jubilee Hall on Wednesday 18 December at 7pm. There will also be a matinee on the same day after lunch. If you would like to come along please contact school for details.
Grapevine seems to be thriving and growing in size - and becoming more expensive to produce. We would, therefore, like more adverts (the rates are very reasonable) and ideally someone to chase up new business and collect revenue for existing ones. With so many of the 'helpers' leaving the village and with an ageing, limping, Editor we would really welcome help with chasing up copy for the magazine, delivering etc. Thank you, Kay H
We had a very enjoyable Harvest Festival Supper following which Bishop Colin gave a very informative talk, a synopsis of which follows Does the Village Church Have a Future? The title you have given me is a rather daunting one if you think of the thousands of village churches around the country - and the villages to which they belong. Here in Oxfordshire I have come to appreciate over the past two years at least something of the large variety of villages they represent and the differences between them. Any blanket statements this way or that must be viewed a little increduously. There is a world of difference between a large village of 2000 or 3000 inhabitants and a tiny hamlet with, maybe, a small church but only a couple of houses and thousands of sheep all around. The answer to the question will in part, vary with the different situations in each village. I want, therefore to begin a little further back from the question I have been given. I want to ask the question 'Does the village have a future?' If there is no future for the villages then there is not much hope for the village church. Here the picture is a confusing one. On the one hand house prices are climbing; villages are well kept; the idea of the rural idyll is as strong as ever - there are more and more people wanting to buy into it, whether as residents or weekenders. Yet, lying behind much of the pain on last Sunday's march were the real concerns about what is happening in our villages. These realities are well known to you - the changing physical structure, with the loss of village shops, post offices, pubs, garages, farms, schools and village halls. Added to which there is the changing make up of the community - homes that become holiday cottages or houses for weekenders with the resulting lack of affordable housing for the old village families which leads to the young moving away. In many ways the villages still physically look the same as they did thirty years ago. The question is, how much can a village change yet still be left with a viable village community? There is no easy answer to that. In the midst of all these changes, the Parish Church is still intact. The Free Church Chapel may have been sold and turned into a highly desirable residence, but the Parish church is still there. It may be used less frequently, the vicarage and the resident vicar may have gone, but the church is still there, very often still playing a key role in village life, both for the regulars, for infrequent attenders and for those who don't want much to do with it but see it as an important part of the village's fabric. If you want to test out the significance of any of those groups, try closing a church down, even if it is structually unsound, and watch the resultant outcry. Now no one I know would suggest, if we had none of these churches, and this country needed to know the good news of Christ, that the best wasy to do it woyuld be to begin by putting billions of pounds into huge stone buildings. We would begin with people, meeting in homes and halls on a smaller scale. But we have no option. The buildings are here and I don't want to get rid of them. Nevertheless, to focus on buildings is to start at the wrong end. The question 'Does the Village Church have a Future?' is fundamentally about people and not a building. The Church is the people of God. Its life depends on the relationship of those people with each other. That is true of rural, urban and suburban communities. In some respects it is easier to foster the relationship in a village - we all know each other. If at the heart of the life of the church is a community of Christians then something very important follows. Responsibility for that life lies with the members of the community, not with anyone or anything else. We can see this in the New Testament, in Paul's epistles. Paul assumes that the recipients of his letters will play their role in the spiritual life of the church. Does the village church have a future here in Lewknor? If nothing else from tonight - weigh up the fact that part of the answer to that question lies in your hands. There are six areas in particular to consider. 1. Prayer - spiritual life is very important indeed. I'm not talking about particular styles of worship. Because more and more people are convinced that styles of worship are much, much less important than the reality of spiritual life. Are we praying for the life of this church? For each other? For our relationships? For this church's growth numerically? For its ministry? All those are vital to the Church's survival and health. We know the importance of water for the well - being of all living things - prayer is the living water of the church and as such we need to be doing a great deal with it. 2. Community - a community where we care for each other. No community just happens. It takes a great deal of hard work. I can go into some villages and get a sense of disease and dullness. The same is true of some churches. This runs against the individualism that has been fostered in our society. A vicar can nearly be mown down as the congregation rushes away at the end of a service. I am excited by the dozens of congregations wanting to put in toilets and kitchen facilities into their churches. It makes the church more usable, more friendly, a place where people want to use the building to meet each other. 3. Ministry - the old pattern was one in which the vicar did everything. We have a new pattern now, where we all have responsibilities, with some people being called to do specific tasks. In many of our rural beneficies in ten to twenty years time there will still be stipendary priests. Their job will be facilitating the work of a much bigger team. In the villages Simon serves as the Team Vicar. In the future there will be half a dozen non-stipendary ministers with others taking the responsibilities for administration and outreach. Who are these people? I doubt if most of them will be moving into the area between now and then...they are already here, they just don't know who they are yet. 4. Building - I have already mentioned the changes going on. The DAC had 500 applications last year and there will be the same number again this year. Many are for small things. Many are to make the buildings more usable - for the congregation, the community, for concerts and plays. The ideas include heating, kitchens, glassed in areas. There is much more to come. We have here some very exciting ideas. In Lewknor there is the exciting potential of linking the use of the church with the school. It is worth remembering at this point that most mediaeval churches were seen as community spaces - markets would have been held there, animals would have been tethered in the nave whilst the Sunday service was going on. It was only the Victorians who introduced the concept of the pew. Prior to that it would have been a mud floor with rushes covering it. 5. Finance - I'm not going to talk money tonight. However, as members of the Church of England we are reliant on a pool of money left to us from the past. This is not true for other churches in this country-or other churches throughout the world where fundraising maintains the churches. If we were to get our giving right then much else would follow. There is a new church being built at Bicester. The money to build that church has been raised from the young and vibrant congregation. That is a church that will survive because the congregation understands the concept of giving. 6. Outreach - we need to be serious about sharing our faith. The reason we are here is that someone has passed on the good news of Christ to us. We don't all have to become Billy Graham. We can all play our part in passing on the good news that Christ loves us. I began with asking the question Does the Village have a future? We can change this to Does the Church have a future? The answer is a resounding YES to both. But what sort of a future is more difficult to predict. Will there be growth or shrinkage? Expansion or decline? We can't tell. Our calling is to be faithful, to take opportunities that have been presented to us, always remembering that God calls his church into being. He will keep it secure, for it is his bride, his creation, until the end. ------- Following the talk a number of people asked questions which led to an interesting debate. Some of the questions related to the re-ordering of St Margarets and reflected the concerns of the issues raised by parishioners in the survey undertaken by Simon Brignall, our vicar. It is a pity that the people who raised the concerns were unable to be with us to hear the reassurances of Bishop Colin. If anyone would like more information please contact: Ian Orr-Ewing 353600 or Paula Dormer 352622
We've had a great time exploring our senses - delicious biscuits have been made (not many made it home - far too tempting!), wonderfully scented lavender bags and to top it all - an erupting volcano! This half-term our senses are still to the fore as we look at the colours and textures of autumn. Towards the end of term - with mounting excitement - we will be turning our thoughts to Christmas! With the Festive season in mind, we have two evening events planned: The first is a Body Shop Party (Oct 29th) which is a great opportunity to stock up on favourites and get some hassle-free present-buying done. Secondly on Wednesday 13 November we are holding a Floral Evening - which will provide loads of inspiration for festive decorations - there will also be opportunity to buy those essential floral bits and pieces. We are still hunting for a supervisor so that Krakatoa can run on Fridays too. If you are interested or know of anyone who is, please contact Penny (01844 353727) for further details.
PLANTS ARE NEEDED FOR THE FLOWER BEDS AROUND THE HALL If anyone has some DRAUGHT TOLERANT, HARDY PLANTS or EVERGREEN SHRUBS they would like to donate Please contact Penny McCulloch 01844 353727
ANYONE INTERESTED IN JOINING A GROUP IS INVITED TO THE JUBILEE HALL MONDAY 18th NOVEMBER at 10.00am
Since the start of the new term the Friends of Lewknor School (FOLS) have held a 'Kids Stuff' sale which raised £250; thank you to everyone who bought, sold and baked! The next event will be a 'Quiz Evening' on Friday November 8th at 7.30pm in School. Entry is £6 per team, with up to 6 in a team. There will be a raffle, and everyone is invited to bring a bottle and a dish of their favourite food to share for supper. Please contact Caroline on 352720 for entry details. A date has been set for the Friend's A.G.M. It will be held in School on Wednesday 20th November from 8pm. Please come and join us for a brief meeting about the year's fundraising and a glass of wine while we chat about future ideas.
This half term we have been studying all about the rainforest in preparation for our "Rainforest Night" at school, on Thursday 17th October. A few weeks ago we were lucky enough to visit the Living Rainforest near Newbury. It was a fantastic day out which we all thoroughly enjoyed. Here are some of Year 2 and Year 3's favourite memories of the trip. Rainforest News I went to the rainforest and as soon as I went inside it was hot and humid. There were fresh looking leaves. There were some beautiful, coloured toucans. There were some cuddly, playful marmosets. Some terrapins were asleep. I could see the colours very clearly. There were some huge lily pads on the pond. By Jenny Atterton When we went into the rainforest I took my fleece off because it was so hot and humid. I saw a large snake and it looked fantastic. Then we looked at a bird-eating spider. Then I saw some piranha fish in a tank. Then I saw a crocodile! By David Greensmith I went to see a rainforest. I saw lots of things. I saw monkeys. I saw a crocodile. I saw pacu fish. I saw leaf-carrying ants. I saw a gecko. I saw a large spider! By Jason Prior It was a Monday when we went to the humid rainforest. We saw the sharp-toothed dwarf crocodile. She didn't look real. We then saw the razor toothed piranha fish. The pacu fish (vegetarian piranha fish) were amazing. There were marmosets who looked so playful and cuddly. The Picha plant lets out a delicious smell which attracts animals. The plant has slimy walls. The lily pads on the pond were enormous you could fit a fully grown man lying down inside it. Then there were the vanilla vines they were growing across a huge archway. By Charlotte Kotvics I went to visit the rainforest with my class. When we got in we saw some toucans. Later on in a pond there was a crocodile and nearby a bird-eating spider! When we went into the rainforest it was really humid. I saw some marmoset monkeys. In a tank there were some piranhas and there were some plants that were so big their leaves were as big as elephant ears. By Megan Hawkes
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