Holy Week

On Palm Sunday we think about Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem on a donkey.

Donkey processions are often held in some parishes and some churches are decorated with pussy willow to represent palm leaves.

Hangings and altar frontals are removed in Holy Week in preparation for the joyous white hangings of Easter morning

I can do that!

We’ll keep you regularly informed about how things are progressing during our interregnum.

We have met with the archdeacon and have plans in place to continue our worship. You will see some new faces leading and presiding and some more familiar faces taking on new roles. During our time of interregnum it is a wonderful opportunity for us as a church family to take a proactive role and lead from the front. It’s what God calls us to do.

At our PCC meetings we talk about different areas of worship in which people might like to become involved.

Maybe you could pray and consider if you can do any of the following:

Auditor, Children’s ministry (Over 5s) Reading, Become a member of the PCC

If you’d like to be involved, or just have a chat, see Val or Sue – we might just come up and ask you though!

SIDESPEOPLE AND WELCOMERS

Would any family with children like to act as sidespeople on Sunday morning? 

It would be one Sunday a month, on a rota basis. You would welcome people as they come into church and would be a great opportunity to get to know everyone.

See the wardens, Val Gavin or Sue Farley.

Dogs Trust - Merseyside

As some of you may be aware, I have volunteered at the Dogs Trust, Merseyside branch now for sixteen years and I would like to thank everyone who has given donations either in bed linen, duvets, towels etc. or in monetary gifts during the last year or two.  Every item has been much appreciated.

Like all charities that have suffered during Covid, the Dogs Trust has still managed to re home 480 dogs during the past year.  The variety and size of breeds that are seen knows no bounds!

One of the success stories was a young Alsatian female dog who was handed in because she was too hyperactive for the family. A potential was seen at the centre and after being assessed by the Merseyside Police she was accepted to become a member of their team for training.

The following is a brief history and outline of certain aspects of the Dogs Trust:-

The charity was founded in 1891 by Lady Gertrude Stock and was initially named The National Canine Defence League abbreviated to NCDL. The charity campaigned against vivisection, unnecessary muzzling and prolonged chaining, as well as providing care for stray dogs.

There are currently 22 rehoming centres across the UK and Northern Ireland. The charity guidelines ensure that no mentally or physically healthy dogs taken into their protection are euthanised,  The charity also manages a microchipping and neutering schemes to reduce the number of unwanted puppies and stray dogs.

In the 1910’s the league campaigned against using dogs in musical hall performances throughout the decade and beyond.

The leagues guidelines resulted in the Cinematograph Films (Animals) Act in 1937 preventing cruelty to dogs in the making of films.

The combing of ‘dogs fur’ from members dogs was collected and knitted into clothing for the troops, during the first world war. This was a successful operation which continued for many years.

In 1964 the league adopted the policy to never destroy a healthy dog in its care.

It was in 1978 that the slogan “A Dog is for Life, not just for Christmas” was created and is still used today.

In 1995 The Hope Project was launched, providing free veterinary treatment for the dogs of owners facing homelessness. 

A centre in Shrewsbury was opened in 1998 called ‘Oakfield’ which is specifically for the older pooches who live in a ‘home’ environment, rather than kennels.

In 2004 the Freedom Project was launched.  This is a free dog fostering service made available to help people and their dogs to escape domestic abuse.

As the Covid pandemic hit the UK, the rehoming process continued online and included the Dog School Training classes. 

As puppy sales rose and rehoming enquiries increased, the Dogs Trust temporarily  change their slogan to “A Dog is for Life, not just for Lockdown”.

The Dogs Trust is also involved in trying to stop puppy smuggling, and has had first hand experience of receiving puppies who have been taken away from their mothers too early which can result in them developing behavioural problems.

Thankfully, most dog owners today think of their pet as a member of the family, this was not always the case. The Dogs Trust endeavours to find every dog  in their care a happy and forever home.

~ Alison Bagnall

Uncoupling the Legend of St Swithun

A subject, so often a topic of conversation with anyone living within our islands, is that of the weather. How many times do we grumble about it? We complain when it rained all the time, we complain when it's too hot, we complain when it's gets cold. 

When l was playing local cricket during the hot summer of 1976, sometimes it was so warm that it was a relief to be asked to do the scoring, as you could shade in the coolness of the pavillion, or hide away in the dark recesses of the scorebox.

Playing under burning skies on straw coloured outfields was not only uncomfortable, but also parched the throat. I remember playing in one particular match where in addition to the tea interval, there were three breaks for drinks; two in the afternoon and one at 7pm in the evening!

But it was certainly not the weather for cricket on July 15th in the year 971, (the invention of the game was still several centuries away) as it was absolutely pouring down with rain. It was raining so hard that those who were charged with the task of exhuming the buried remains of the former Bishop of Winchester, Swithun, recently made patron of the restored church by the Anglo-Saxon church reformers, were unable to start work. Eventually, the rain did cease and St Swithun was able to take his rest inside the cathedral.

Like many legends, the mystique surrounding the actual happening was left to chronicles of later generations, and around 1315, the Durham chronicles, it is believed, were credited with the fable that if it rains on St Swithun's Day (15th July), it will rain for the next forty days. 

Well, you may just dismiss this as meteorological claptrap. But the legend may convey a hint of truth. 

Our weather in the British Isles is heavily influenced by strong winds in the lower atmosphere moving from west to east called the Jet Stream. 

In summertime, the Jet often moves more slowly like a meandering river in a series of loops, bows, twists and turns. If it settles to the north of our islands, this will allow high pressure continental air masses to build up over the country, giving long spells of warm and settled weather. 

But if the Jet is pushed further south towards the Bay of Biscay, or lies across the British Isles, unsettled and cooler conditions from the north prevail with frequent rain expected. 

The Jet has the tendency to settle itself around mid-July, the time of the feast day of St Swithun, and sometimes doesn't move until the August Bank Holiday weekend, or early September. About forty days later. 

So the chronicles, without the aid of computers or weather satellites, may have unwittingly reported a pattern in our weather and attached it to the legend of a saint. 

~Phil Wells