December News, 2023

November is the month of Remembrance, but for us it has been the month of Frustration from the moment the Carbon monoxide alarm went off ensuring all gas appliances ( aga, heating, hot water, gas fire) were immediately shut down and capped off, then the freezer defrosted itself , the puppy took a liking for rabbit/badger holes and refused to come out, plus two visits of the chimney sweep, the gas man and an aga man after many phone calls and much waiting about as we try to sell our house.

However amongst the frustrations I took pains to “Remember Remember the fifth of November” and could put myself into the shoes of the Catholic plotters who felt so abused that the religion of their forbears was by then disallowed and they felt driven to take action on behalf of their fellows in the faith. From being favoured under one queen, they were liable to be sent to the Tower by the next and finally under James 1 could stand it no longer and conceived the outrageous plan to blow up the State Opening of Parliament when the monarch, the Lords and the Commons would all be together in one building – just as they were this very last week.

What they set out to do was so risky, so dangerous, so nearly achieved – within ten hours, it would have been – after months of planning and the transporting of 2½ tons of gunpowder in barrels across the Thames by night, that I had to admire the resolve of the faith they held so dear. A dozen of them were rounded up and tortured and killed , Guy Fawkes being racked, hanged, drawn and quartered, though he was dead before he was disembowelled.

The strong feelings, the cruelty, the no-holds barred approach, brought me up short to wonder if we have learnt anything. How do Arab and Jew, Russian and Ukrainian come to do such dastardly things to each other and to old people, young people and children who have not had a say in whether to go to war or not? All are suffering and in the end nobody “wins” in terms of peace of mind, permanent solutions, or even real freedom.

Remembrance Sunday each year is a time to recollect the awful threat to our own compatriots when Britain could have been overrun by a foreign invader for the first time in 1000 years, but thanks to the derring-do of ordinary men and women and committed leaders we escaped by a mere whisker. I spent my first year in cellars not far from Woolwich Arsenal where my father worked with the munitions. Imagine the angst of my parents wondering if their firstborn would be buried alive and translate that to the inhabitants of Gaza and Israel, Kiev and the homes of Russia. Why are human beings unable to meet those they disagree with and take them seriously, walk around in their shoes for a while and understand another point of view? When it comes to Truth and Reconciliation committees and trials for war crimes, it is too late; the damage is done. We could try listening and comprehending the other point of view before blowing people up rather than when the carnage has taken place, hearts are broken, bodies and minds damaged for ever.

Pippa.

November News, 2023

Memorial Service at Tong

Our Memorial Service will be held at 4.00 pm on the last Sunday of October. If you would like your loved ones who have departed this life remembered and prayed for, please add their names to the list near the door (so that we can read them!)

For Remembrance Sunday –

We would like to collect any Memorabilia from both World Wars that you may have and would lend us to display around the weekend of November 11th

Heritage Open Days:

The National Trust organises these all over the country in September each year and we have participated at Tong each year. In 2023 we had more visitors than previously including three tours. Robert Parry has kindly agreed to take over the booking for the tours next year.

Nursery Harvest.

There is a very young intake of children at Country kids Nursery this autumn so the staff had decided to invite me to join them for their Harvest songs there, instead of bringing them to church. The parents had again produced masses of goodies for the Food Bank which Jemma Francis took to Telford Crisis. She wrote this: ‘they were thrilled, to quote, ‘you can come again!’

They weighed it all out, 98kgs worth of donations! Incredible!! And there is more to come from our Harvest Festival in church. Thank you everyone!

Harvest Collection for RABI – for our farmers – £170. Well done!

One sad departure

from the Parish is Rhona Murfin who has moved south to be more in reach of her offspring. She and her husband John were very involved in the life of the village and St. Bartholomew’s when John was alive. I remember taking our youngest to play with their son Tom in the early Eighties, so 40 years have flown.

From Pippa’s work diary:

19th September. Funeral of Georgina Mary Rutherford (79) at St. Chad’s church Chetton, followed by burial there.

5th October – Memorial Service in St. Martin’s, Worcester for Christopher John Eldon George Firmstone (86)

October News, 2023

Shifnal Male Voice Choir:
On 12th August we were well entertained by the Choir who performed a very varied and interesting programme for us in St. Bartholomew’s church.

St. Bartholomew’s-tide Choral Evensong:
On 27th August, joined by St. Andrew’s Choir and organist and the benefice clergy, we enjoyed the ‘full works’ including the collects intoned by Revd. Mike Shaw. Our preacher was the Rural Dean, The Revd. Matthew Lefroy. There followed a stupendous tea in the Village Hall.

And the following Sunday, 3rd September, we had a lovely and generous celebration for Ruth & Mick Pilsbury Golden Wedding. Many Congratulations to them and grateful thanks to all who helped put on the three events. With ticket sales and donations , nearly £700 has been added to the coffers.

And in other news…

Every now and then things in churches go spectacularly and horribly wrong, and it is nothing new. The collection of 150 poems we call the Psalms addressed the same problems :

” How long will you love delusions and seek false gods?” ( Ps 4:2)

“ Not a word from their mouth can be trusted; their heart is filled with destruction” (Ps 5:9)

“The fool says in his heart,’there is no God’ ” (Ps14:1)

“Do not be overawed when a man grows rich, when the splendour of his house increases; for he will take nothing with him when he dies…” (Ps 49: 16/17)

“If an enemy were insulting me, I could endure it;…but it is you, my companion, my close friend, with whom I once enjoyed sweet fellowship “ (Ps 55: 12/13) .

A theft, a row, deceit, a cohesive fellowship falling apart and you don’t have to look far for the infiltration of “the father of lies, the Devil”. ( John 8:44). That was the language Jesus used, but we have become mealy-mouthed in the past century about recognising the Opposition for what it is, whether we call it the Devil or drop the D and see it simply as Evil that manipulates often nice, previously good people so that they oppose all that belongs to God. But whenever a Christian fellowship is thriving there will be a backlash which I have come to recognise over the course of 40 years as the destructive force of the Anti-Christ which does not want the redemption of the world but enjoys chaos, foulness, blasphemy. That same opposition is not going to bother with churches that have lost their bottle and the battle to keep moving forward to witness to the Almighty doing “a new thing”.

We all have the seeds of opposition within us. As children we thumbed our noses at authority which tried to make us “good” when it seemed much more fun not to be. I’ve enjoyed being a rebel myself and I retain the right to rebel against crass rules, binding bureaucracy, and the nay-sayers. Jesus is a good role model in rebellion and look where it got him.

Let the Reader understand that there has been an unpleasant episode in the life of a sister church coyly called “financial irregularities” to some tune. We could all be victims especially if we get complacent at how well things are going, and worryingly as individuals we could each be duped into serving the wrong side when greed, lust, power or any of the Seven Deadlies beckon to us alluringly. So let’s not be holier than thou, but recognise broken, fallen humanity for what it is – and the need for forgiveness of our peccadilloes (do we use the word ‘sin’ any more?) Otherwise we too may find ourselves going in the wrong direction.

Pippa.

September News, 2023

Since it has been public knowledge that John and I are leaving the locality where not only we were born and raised, but where our roots are generations-deep into the West Midlands, and that we are proposing to move to a 2-up, 2-down in the Thames Valley in order to be nearer to our 4 children (and 11 grandchildren) who, as we descend further into dottiness or immobility will have to make decisions for us. So people say, “But all your friends are here and your children might move.” I know, but life without risk is a life of fear and inaction when we know God puts a wide horizon in front of us. Abraham and Sarah were a couple of old people who left their roots and journeyed to a land that God promised to show them and where his plan would be fulfilled through them. And if they had found it more comfortable to remain in Ur of the Chaldees? St Paul set out on his missionary journeys convinced that God would direct him. The Celtic Christians put to sea in coracles without oars and went where the wind took them, so to move from Albrighton to Henley doesn’t seem that reckless!

Then people ask: What is Pippa going to do without Tong? And what is Tong going to do without Pippa? (Who hasn’t even managed to get the toilets agreed yet!). I have no idea of the answer to the first one but have been putting my mind to the challenge of finding a replacement leader. After all, parish ministry is not very complicated if one likes other human beings (created in the image of God, all of them,) and understands that people like continuity, so to turn up at 11 o’clock every Sunday and lead a service for an hour is a start. Therefore, the race is on to find someone who can do those two things, empathise with all sorts and conditions, and keep turning up. At Tong there is one added ingredient and that is to learn to be curator of a historic pile – which I didn’t really want to do, but has been a fascinating diversion.

So – does anyone who is reading this know any one recently retired who would like to look after St. Bartholomew’s for another period of time? I would happily work alongside them for the next few months so that the person doesn’t have to start from scratch after I have left learning names, places, history and architecture. These days Bishops and Archdeacons don’t have spare clergy at their fingertips but someone ‘out there’ might have knowledge of a family member coming up to retirement who would fit the bill. As outlined in my first paragraph I believe in being proactive, rather than waiting for something to turn up. And as an inducement, there is an honorarium.

Pippa.

July/August News, 2023

The bishop of Shrewsbury, Bishop Sarah Bullock, will be coming to Tong to confirm three members of our congregation on Sunday 23rd July. The last Confirmation held at St. Bartholomew’s was Bishop Sarah’s first. Since then her husband Peter has played the organ for us on several occasions and he has agreed to play on that day. It will be three more years ( unless there is another pandemic) before it will be Tong’s turn for a Confirmation service again, so if there is anyone out there who wants to be prepared for this step in their spiritual life, I could possibly add your name to the list – and prepare you afterwards!

My 13-year-old grandson thought it might be helpful for me if he asked ChatGPT to write a sermon on “Faith, Hope and Charity”. Within less than a minute, I had quite a passable homily in front of me, though I would have to “translate” it into something resembling my style, but nothing on earth would persuade me to use it. I was brought up on the warnings of the Tower of Babel which is the story in Genesis 11 of human beings over-reaching themselves and, as in the tale of Eve and the apple, wanting to be on a par with God and “make a name for themselves”. But it all ends in tears; what had once been a community living in harmony became a cacophony (a babble) and they ended up being quite incapable of understanding one another.

My 13-year-old grandson thought it might be helpful for me if he asked ChatGPT to write a sermon on “Faith, Hope and Charity”. Within less than a minute, I had quite a passable homily in front of me, though I would have to “translate” it into something resembling my style, but nothing on earth would persuade me to use it. I was brought up on the warnings of the Tower of Babel which is the story in Genesis 11 of human beings over-reaching themselves and, as in the tale of Eve and the apple, wanting to be on a par with God and “make a name for themselves”. But it all ends in tears; what had once been a community living in harmony became a cacophony (a babble) and they ended up being quite incapable of understanding one another.

I fear AI is another moment in our history when we humans could easily over-reach ourselves. Yes it takes the drudgery out of repetitive chores and I am sure is very useful in writing computer-code. I also acknowledge the scientific advances in medicine that a human brain or eye or hand alone could not achieve but there is always a cost to taking the easy way out ( sorry, does that sound very old-fashioned? My mother speaks again!) Technological advances from the printing press to the Spinning Jenny make people redundant which is the first step to finding alternative ways of making a living, some legal, others not.

I can understand the attraction for those taking Maths exams to embrace the charms of ChatGPT . AI recently got 96% on an A-level Maths paper, but I thought the whole point of exams is for the students to learn how to do it themselves – and where they fall short. Soon, there will be no need for driving instructors, examiners, taxi and bus drivers, because AI will propel our vehicles without human intervention. We already enjoy Tomtom and Waze telling us how to get to our destinations, and although I use them, I regret no longer poring over the map and deciding for myself how to get from A to B. Who reads a map these days?

The biggest problem with AI is that it uses the internet to generate what it produces. It can scan the WWW in seconds, and we all know that we would be lost without the web, but we also know that it doesn’t only deal with truths. There is a great deal on it that is hateful, dark, corrupt and biased. How does Artificial Intelligence discriminate between what is good and evil because unlike human beings it doesn’t have a conscience or any moral compass?

Would you like to help us?

The Tong Vision for 2020 and beyond had a target to raise £500,000 over 3 years in order to fund urgent and
essential restoration work, and to ensure that all visitors and congregations can continue to enjoy this unique building! If you can
offer your support either financially, in-kind or otherwise, please contact Revd Pippa Thorneycroft ( pippa.thorneycroft@icloud.com ) or
the Vision2020 “Support Us” page on this web site, or visit our JustGiving page by clicking on the image, below.

A big thank you to all our supporters! Particular thanks go to the following: