Marsh Baldon News

Marsh Baldon News

Parish Newsletter - June 2006

From the Vicar

Dear friends,

The F.A. Cup final is over and I can?t believe what happened! And the World Cup is about to begin ? and I have my doubts about the outcome there as well? and yet, along with many others, I will offer up prayers at various stages along the way. Praying for England to win might seem a bit superficial [or unrealistic!!] but giving thanks for the skills involved and praying for the joy and goodwill that such occasions generate seems legitimate to me.
We?ve been discussing prayer at one of the recent ?Alpha? meetings in the Baldons, pondering on the statistic that 75% of people claim to pray at least once a week. I wonder if that?s true for you? And if so, what was the last thing you prayed for or about? Sometimes prayer seems like a kind of shopping list for God ? we look around at our own lives and concerns as well as the pain and problems of the world and then present them to the Almighty:? peace in Iraq, safety for Police Officers, a new hip for Auntie Flo and patience dealing with the kids.? This kind of prayer is valuable and valid ? God wants us to be taking notice of our world and bringing our concerns to him. Some of us find specific times to stop and reflect on life and focus our thoughts as prayer for situations that we encounter. Others of us simply let our minds drift through our diaries, our surroundings, our newspapers and offer these ponderings to God. There is no one way to pray ? its simply a matter of turning our attention away from ourselves towards God.
Like all relationships there are times for talking and listening together as we make plans and share our worries and fears. But then there are times when talking is no longer necessary. When we face great sadness, fear, trauma, often all we want to do is be in the presence of someone we love. Prayer can be like this too ? being in the presence of God, no questions, no expectations ? simply being there with all our doubts and fears.
There are also times of great delight too, when we just want to share our happiness and celebrate: that?s another kind of prayer.
In the course of some research I was doing, I once asked someone if they prayed. I can still remember her expression ? it was as if I?d asked ?do you breath?. So often we make prayer into something complicated and religious, formal and clinical ? perhaps we need to discover a matter-of-factness instead and find that prayer is simply something we can do: you don?t need a course or a qualification, it?s free and it?s simple. St. Paul encouraged the Christians in Thessalonica to pray at all times, without ceasing. So it?s okay to be praying during the football matches ? and as well as those emergency moments, why not try being in God?s presence in other ways as the long June days unfold in front of us?

Sandra
Sandra Millar ? 01865 340460 or 07976 823986 also at revdocsand@aol.com

REGULAR SERVICES
Everyone is welcome at 9.30am Wednesdays at Berinsfield church for Holy Communion

Pub nights are back! The Seven Stars is open again so the vicar will be in the pub on Thursday 22nd June from 8.00pm.. come along to talk about or avoid the footy! !

Please look closely at the service times as we have made some adjustments to the pattern ? look our for our new ?coffee and family? time at Marsh Baldon.

Services in June:

4th June ? Pentecost
8.00am Holy Communion: Berinsfield
9.30am Children?s service DSL
11.00am Family Service Berinsfield
6.00pm Holy Communion ? Toot Baldon

11th June ? Trinity Sunday
9.30am Holy Communion ? DSL
11.00am Holy Communion ? Marsh Baldon
6.00pm Holy Communion ? Berinsfield

18th June
8.30am Holy Communion ? Marsh Baldon followed by coffee and then
9. 30am Worship for everyone ? Marsh Baldon
11.00am Holy Communion ? Berinsfield

25th June
9.15am Holy Communion ? Toot Baldon
11.00am Berinsfield
6.00p DSL

Dorchester Team News

Pentecost, 4th June: there will be a Team Service at 3.30pm to celebrate the Flower Festival in the Abbey.

Greenbelt 2006
Fancy an exciting, eclectic, encouraging, enthusiastic, energising experience? Join us on a Dorchester Team Day at the Greenbelt Christian Arts Festival at the Cheltenham Racecourse ? suitable for all ages.
SUNDAY 27TH AUGUST.
Coach(es) will depart from Berinsfield around 9am. Look out for booking details in church.

Makeni News: if you would be interested in receiving newsletters from Makeni by email, please email postmaster@makeni.org.uk or visit their website http://makeni.org.uk

From Mary and Marcus Braybrooke
17 Courtiers Green, Clifton Hampden, Abingdon, Oxfordshire, OX14 3EN Tel: 01865 407566 Email: MarcusBray@aol.com
I know our Pilgrimage to the Holy Land is still some way off, but I thought you might like to know of some additional visits that I hope we shall be able to make.

On Wednesday 13th September we have been invited to visit the Hope Secondary School in Beit Jala, which is near to Bethlehem and the Helen Keller Centre for the blind, which is just north of Jerusalem. Both of them receive support from the Bible Lands Society.
On Thursday 14th, we plan to visit the Shaare Zedek hospital, which is an Orthodox Jewish hospital in Jerusalem. The Department of Emergency Medicine, which deals with many of those injured by suicide bombers, and the Centre for Heart Disease are among the most up-to-date in the world. There is also a Paediatric dialysis unit where 70% of the children treated are Arab.
On Friday 5th, evening we have been invited to the Sabbath evening service at Kol HaNeshama Reform Synagogue. Rabbi Levi Weiman-Kelman, who is a friend, is a Peace Councillor and active in the movement ?Rabbis for Human Rights.?
On Thursday 21st , The Baha?i World Centre will arrange a special visit, which includes a video presentation and a visit to the Shrine of the Bab.
These visits, of course, depend on the situation in September and will mean some adjustments to the published programme.
I have also invited Yehuda Stovlov of Israel Interfaith Encounter Association to join us for the evening meal on September 12th.
Our visit is primarily a pilgrimage, although we shall want to learn something about the current situation. Rather than inviting political speakers, however, I feel it is more useful to meet with some of those working for peace, justice, healing and reconciliation, whose efforts are seldom reported.
It has been our custom before a tour to arrange a get together so that members of the group may meet each other and have a chance to ask questions. We suggest a meeting on Sunday June 25th at 12.30 for lunch finishing at about 3.30p.m. I hope this will be convenient. We shall send more details nearer the time.
The situation in Israel/Palestine is, as you are well aware, volatile. I asked Jocelyn Pimm, of Worldwide Christian Travel, what would happen were it to deteriorate. Her answer was, ?If the Foreign Office advise against travel to Israel and the airlines are not operating, then we will cancel the tour and people would have the option to transfer to an alternative holiday or have a full refund.? Let?s hope and pray, especially for all who live in the region, that this situation will not arise.

There are about six places left for the tour, so if you have friends who might be interested, please let us know and we will send them a brochure.

We are delighted to announce that the post of House for Duty in the Bridge Group has been offered to Revd. Anne Ilsley who has accepted. It is anticipated that she will be licensed in October. Anne is at present an assistant curate in Harefield. Her background prior to ordination was in the health service, where she worked in obstetrics and as a health visitor. Her husband is a consultant cardiologist at Harefield hospital and they have two grown up children.

Harcourt Arboretum
Plant Sale and Teas on Sunday 4 June, 2.30 pm ? 5 pm at the Harcourt Arboretum, Nuneham Courtenay. Wide range of plants for sale, lovely teas, bookstall, plant advice ? and the beautiful Arboretum to explore! Free parking. Organized by the Friends of Oxford Botanic Garden.

RSPCA Collection was £113.26. Thank you very much to all who contributed. Connie Barrett

Marsh Baldon School News

The School rebuild is moving on apace. We had hoped to be moved back in to the refurbished school at half term, but this has been delayed until the week of 16th June. The school will be forced to close during this period for a few days whilst we move from the PortaKabins. The PortaKabins themselves should be removed shortly thereafter.

The rebuilt school is looking good. Although broadly the same interior, it appears more light and spacious as a result of skylights. The slight lowering of the front windows has made a huge difference to the Foundation stage classroom. Children and teachers can now see out across the Green.

We have just finished SATs for Key Stages 1 and 2. Children and staff are looking forward to the half term break which will be in the last week of May.

Parish Council News

The Annual General Meeting of the Council was held on 9th May. The following officers were re-elected:

Chairman: Dorothy Tonge      Willowbrook, Marsh Baldon
         (Tel: 343234)
Vice-Chairman: Charles Barclay, The Old Farmhouse, Little Baldon
                    (Tel:343853)
Treasurer: John Maskell,    4 Wilmots, Toot Baldon      (Tel: 343203)

Report from County Councillor, David Turner
David briefed the council on the possibility of a future re-organisation of local government which could involve the break up of the County Council and devolution of its responsibilities to ?Unitary Authorities?. Oxford City Council?s wish to be a Unitary Authority has been widely reported in the local press. If this were to lead to any change in the city boundaries it could have implications for the protection of the green belt which has been our concern in relation to housing development. It is understood the government will be consulting on the possible options for change later in the year.

Services for June

4th June Holy Communion             (8am)           Berinsfield
Pentecost Children?s Service       (9.30)   Drayton St.L
  Family Service       (11am)         Berinsfield
  Parish Communion        (6pm)   Toot Baldon
11th June Holy Communion             (9.30)          Drayton St. L
Trinity Parish Communion       (11.00)   Marsh Baldon
  Holy Communion             (6pm)          Berinsfield
18th June Holy Communion           (8.30)          Marsh Baldon
   followed by coffee and then at 9.30
  Worship for everyone                        Marsh Baldon
  Holy Communion       (11am) Berinsfield
25th June Parish Communion       (9.15)         Toot Baldon
  Holy Communion             (11am)        Berinsfield
  Holy Communion             (6pm)         Drayton St. L

Sidesduty
        Marsh         Toot
4th June          (6pm) Ann Druce
11th June Stephen Dance      (11am)
18th June Richard Barnett      (9.30)
25th June         (9.15) Jenny van Dijk
Flowers
4&11 June       June Shepherd                  Sandy Greenaway
  Iris Wright            Angela Avis
18&25 June Caddy Attewill           Ann Druce
  Penny Dudson            Dorothy Brook
Prayer at St. Peter?s on Thursday 15th June at 8am
Housegroup at Dulnain: Tuesday 20th June ? 8pm
Date for your diary: Cameron Young speaking about his Christian ministry amongst sportsmen in East Asia: Monday 3rd July at Dulnain.

Items for July/August Newsletter to: Sonia Hewitt (tel & fax 343398, e-mail: ronsonhewitt@btinternet.com), Nicola Barclay-Watt (343224, e-mail: barclaywatt@btinternet.com) or Sherry Rix, e-mail: sherry@travelafricamag.com by 16th June at the latest please.

Newsletter

In June and July our distributors will be collecting the subscriptions for the Newsletter. The year?s subscription is £5. As in other years, would you please use the buff envelope attached to the Newsletter and write your name and address on the front of this. Nuneham Courtenay and Little Baldon subscribers may leave the envelope at the florist?s called Flower Angel, by kind permission of Yasmin. Should you miss the distributor in your area, you too may use the florist?s, but it is essential that you write your name and address on the envelope. Thank you for your support. The Editors.

Marsh Baldon Churchyard

Assistance with mowing the churchyard would be very much appreciated. If anyone is able to give 2 hours sometime during the Summer please contact Peter Barclay-Watt after 18^th June.

The Baldon Players News

Thank you for the tremendous support for our recent performances of ?The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe? involving 52 local children. It has been a huge success and we are so proud of all the children who took part. Thanks again to the Baldon Events Committee for enabling us to pay the royalties, and to Jane George and Coral Arts for their generous funding of the magnificent Aslan costume and mask-making workshops.

Lady Windermere?s Fan

Tickets are now on sale at Flower Angel in Nuneham for performances on Thursday 15^th, Friday 16^th and Saturday 17^th June at 8pm in Nuneham Village Hall. This glorious play by Oscar Wilde is set around 1890 with sumptuous period costumes, witty humour and some serious drama. Lady Windermere is played by our new star ? a very talented local girl ? Sonja van Dijk. We promise you a thoroughly entertaining evening and look forward to your company. Seating will be informal café style. Call Penny on 340361 for further information. We will also be selling tickets in the Seven Stars Pub on Friday nights. In the absence of a village shop and/or a central notice board (which we are assured is definitely coming!) we ask you to please pass this information on to friends and family who may be interested. We cannot continue without local support.

Oh What a Lovely War!

Rehearsals begin in June. If you are interested in coming along please do. We especially need young men and women for this hard hitting anti-war musical workshop set during World War 2. Ability to sing in tune not necessary ? just lots of enthusiasm. This is an adult show so performers aged 17 or over only please. Call Penny on 340361 for info.

Open rehearsals will be as follows:

Tuesday 20^th June: 1^st Song rehearsal 8-10pm Old Rectory Marsh B.

Tuesday 27^th June: 2^nd Song rehearsal ? as above.

Tuesday 4^th July: Drama Workshop Nuneham Village Hall 8-10pm

Tuesday 11^th July: Drama Workshop as above.

Rehearsals will resume in September for performances in November.