St Bartholomew’s, Tong
Parish news, views and muse
November news, views and muse 2024
Happenings:
During October we had two special services at Tong. On 6th October Revd Jess led a wonderful Harvest Praise which was very well attended and the children made it very special with their harvest gifts. Later in the month Revd Jess had the pleasure of conducting the wedding of Rory and Alyssa and we send our congratulations to them both as they begin their married life together.
On Sunday 3rd November we celebrate our All Souls memorial at 11am at St Bartholomew’s and again Revd Jess will be leading the congregation as we remember those who have died this year, and also we remember members of our families and friends that we think of each year as we continue without them , never forgotten. Please join us as we meet to remember all who have died.
November also brings us another day of remembrance as we give thanks for all those who gave their lives in the service of our country over two world wars and in more recent conflicts.
I will be leading the Remembrance Day service on Sunday 10th November at 10.55, again please join us to give thanks together.
Sunday 24th November gives us chance to celebrate together with Clare and Bradley who are to be married at Tong.
As we approach the end of the month we think of the coming of Advent on November 30th as we look forward to the coming of our Lord, as we prepare ourselves for Christmas.
I wish you all an incredibly happy Advent to come.
With Blessings
Revd Mike
It feels like Advent:
As children, opening the little doors on the Advent calendar got us through the long slow days waiting for Christmas. At boarding school, we sang:
“Nearer and nearer draws the time, the time that shall surely be
When the ‘Ma’s and ‘Pa’s will come up in their cars to set their children free”. And we crossed off the days.
But it isn’t Advent. How many times have I preached on waiting silently and patiently, expecting and hoping, though currently waiting for the Americans to elect Kamala Harris as President, or the hostages to be returned from Gaza, or for Ukraine to beat Russia has tinges of Waiting for Godot which played a major part in my dissertation at university; the outcomes are so uncertain and may be different altogether from what we hope for.
This year personally has been one long wait but at least thus far the outcomes have been satisfactory; my 80th birthday party…much preparation to gather family and friends, choose the venue and the menu – and it was all right on the night! Then the sword of Damocles hanging over our heads as we waited for major surgery on an aneurysm my husband didn’t know he had, or alternatively for the aorta to burst before the knife was inserted; but it was inserted and he now travels the long road to recovery from the 6-hour operation.
We wait still to put our house back on to the market and to be sold so that we can move, as anticipated a year ago, to live nearer our children and grandchildren and which has been delayed because of the Big Op, so I am living in two worlds, known to theology students as the Now and the Not Yet ( there’s an impossible word for that) with the furniture here gradually dwindling ( the piano went yesterday) and the preparations there for curtains, shelves, TV licence, Thames Water bills (!) and the anxious anticipation of new neighbours. Neither of us has ever lived outside this small area of East Shropshire/South Staffordshire. Our parents and grandparents and even further back have their bones interred in this soil.
Everyone knows about waiting – in a GP surgery when you might be told bad news, for an operation when moving is difficult or painful, for a bus in the wind and the rain, for a child who is late coming home. I was struck by the interview with the comedian Miranda Hart who has revealed she had been largely bed-bound for the last few years, unable to work, unable sometimes even to make the effort to stretch out her hand for a glass of water, and living alone, but she has at long last had a diagnosis for her decades of chronic fatigue which is Lyme’s Disease and for which she is now receiving treatment. She has learnt how to wait positively and just enjoy the tree outside the window of her bedroom blowing in the wind. Herself a Christian who would subscribe to the disciplines of Advent she has found her own way to turn them to good use. In her bed, in our queue, waiting room, anxious times, she commented “I have learnt to consider carefully what is the next loving and right action to bring joy and meaning in life. If you can demonstrate to another person that they have been heard, accepted, loved and seen as you patiently wait, your time has not been wasted”.
Pippa
October news, views and muse 2024
How the Other Do unto others as you would have them do to you (Mathew 7:12)
I have nothing against Sikhs. My mother, an offspring of the Raj, was born in Peshawar (then India, now Pakistan) and her first words were in Hindustani with her Ayah.
Later in life, much to my embarrassment, she would greet all Sikhs she met in Wolverhampton as if they were long lost family members.
I do find it distasteful however, that an MP, should rent out flats with black mould and ant infestations and then admit finally that his flats do not have the correct property licences required under a scheme that he introduced as a Council leader. Hypocrisy and lying (about the property licences initially) and profiteering, not to mention intimidation, since many of the tenants were afraid if their identities were revealed they would be evicted, are particularly unbecoming for an MP, and Jas Athwal has recently been elected to the Labour benches – though interestingly, according to the BBC, he is the biggest landlord in the House of Commons. He happens to be a Sikh which won’t impress any would-be rioters who are not now in prison for rioting against “foreigners”, but nor does it impress me, because he is not upholding the tenets of his religion which like all the main faiths advocates social justice and service to humanity, honesty, humility and generosity alongside spiritual devotion and reverence for God. I would not argue over any of those ideals as a Christian.
Following the in-depth report running to seven volumes of the Grenfell Tower fire and the whole catalogue of failures at every level in the same week, I fear passing the buck at every opportunity, we have become corrupt as a nation at almost every level, unwilling to be accountable and often irresponsible. It has, however, been impressive how the former residents of the tower who survived the appalling fire have stuck together as a community. But what a catalogue of mismanagement, turning a blind eye to what should be done to make life safe for their fellow human beings. And Mr. Atwal’s flats allegedly had fire alarms hanging loose, dirty communal areas with dumped white goods in them with no lights on the stairs. Yet he committed to writing: “Rogue landlords, we are coming for you.” He is a disappointment to other Sikhs though we cannot tar them all with his brush. He is a disappointment to the human race, to his God and ours. And he’s an MP.
Miniature Sikh figures I inherited
Pippa
September news, views and muse
New Beginnings
It has now been 3 months since Rev’d Jess, and I were appointed as lead ministers for St Bartholomew’s Tong following the retirement of Pippa.
We both faced a huge challenge to follow on from the wonderful years during which Pippa has successfully guided the church and the Parish, and indeed taken a great weight off the shoulders of our terribly busy Vicar Revd. Chris.
Tong owes Pippa a great debt of gratitude and I must say that the congregation has welcomed Jess and I with open arms. We have undergone a huge amount of learning to catch up on the intricacies of an overly complex church with all its history and ongoing restoration projects.
I have had the privilege of chairing the PCC in times when we are facing major projects that are ongoing.
Progress has now been made on drainage works allowing us to build a new tea point area at the west end of the church toilet, are making progress in our applications for tomb restorations, a temporary toilet and the possibility of setting up a meeting centre in Tong which will benefit us greatly especially bearing in mind our many visitors from all over the world.
Tong tours continue to be an enormous success in educating our visitors on the history of this beautiful church and a huge thanks goes to all of those involved.
We all of course wait for a decision to be taken by the diocese to find a permanent replacement for Pippa but in the meantime Jess and I will continue to serve as your ministers for as long as it takes and we all have faith that God will guide us through this interim period.
I am reminded of a message from Martin Luther King ‘Faith is putting hope and power into that which cannot be seen now but know that we will see in the future. Faith is taking the first step even when you do not see the whole staircase.’
With all blessings
Revd. Mike
An update on Baths
Some months ago, I fulminated against modern baths and the impossibility of getting out of them; that is if you managed to get in. Our retirement house for the Over 55s ( and a bit) has a smart white bath that is 13 centimetres higher than our unfashionable green one here; 12 centimetres too high, that is; so I set about the task of finding a plumber to remove smart white – more about him later – and finding low white, not realising that there are hundreds of bathtubs on the internet – you can have a copper one for thousands of pounds, square ones, oval ones, short ones. After many hours scrolling I came down to these essential requirements: 1700 centimetres in length (to fit the space); 750 width, to give turnaround room; 450 cms or less in height and handles (they are called “grips”) and NO tapholes because our smart bath has very smart taps already connected to the wall, so that the water gets cold on its long drop. (Huh!) Oh, and it had to be “single-ended” which means that the waste is by your feet, not under your buttocks.
It took up hours of time and we even went and trialled possible tubs in Telford, climbing in and being hauled out with our shoes on. Poor guy who had to clean all of them after our visit, and we bought nothing! I was told they don’t have baths with “grips” in the showrooms as they are “special interest”. In the end I permed the really vital ingredients though I had to concede the 750 centimetres width for the more standard 700. The delivery was scheduled for a Tuesday and the plumber whose name is Attila (yep!) was starting work on the Thursday. We waited in all day the first day with phone calls to HQ who had promised it for that day, though of course the blame was put on the carrier for non-delivery. We tried the other tactic on Wednesday reckoning if we went out it would be sure to arrive – but it didn’t. On Thursday Attila texted to say he was still marooned at the airport in HUNGARY but would start on Friday which gave us a little wiggle room, though we were due back in Shropshire on Thursday. Finally, when we had already loaded up the car, the carrier arrived, but although I had explained we were both in our 80s, it was only a kerbside drop. Fortunately, even 80-year-olds can carry an acrylic bath (with handles), even though our next abode is probably 100 yards from the kerbside. We haven’t tried the tub yet, but I hope it pays off all those hours.
This is the photo Attila sent (it is white not pink, but I don’t care what colour it is as long as I can have a relaxing bath every day). Attila even managed to reinstate the surrounding tiles.
My other observation during the whole of the tub-hunting saga was that almost all the tradesmen we dealt with were not British but all equally helpful. And yet our streets are full of rioters who want foreigners to go back to where they came from. That is material for another day.
Pippa (08.08.24)
July/August 2024, news views and muse
Work at home or go to the Office?
A salutary tale from our two oldest grand-daughters…. ‘A’ is in the office all day and when she goes to the car park, she finds one of her tyres is deflated. She’s resourceful and has a gadget she can plug into the cigarette lighter ( they still call them that!) and attach to the tyre valve and it gradually inflates the tyre so she can get home. A man she has only seen a few times – none other than the CEO of the large company she works for in a lowly marketing position – is making his way across the car park and sees this damsel in distress and engages her in conversation. He is most impressed at her practical know-how. If she’s good at dealing with flat tyres – what else might she be good at? NB If she had been working at home she wouldn’t have got a flat tyre, but equally she wouldn’t have had a conversation with the CEO.
Grand-daughter Number 2, ‘B , is in the office and a call goes out for a deputation to go and see an important client in Battersea. ‘B’ volunteers and sets off with about 5 others somewhat senior to herself. They are together with the client and his entourage in a lift going up a high rise tower when he says to her ( she is young and pretty!) “’B’ , where do you come from?” “Putney” she replies. “Oh, I thought you might be from the West Midlands as there is a family of Thorneycrofts up there”. “Yes, those are my grandparents. My father grew up there”. “Well”, continues, the client, “my mother died last year and her funeral was taken by a Pippa Thorneycroft. Is she any relation?” “That’s my Granny”. By which time the lift, full of older more senior colleagues is silent and taking it all in. Well done ‘I’ for going to the office, and for volunteering even though you are only in your first year of employment post university. You won’t be forgotten!
I must add that for mothers with dependent children, and especially all single parents , working from home is a brilliant way of managing both roles with all the technology now available. But if you want to be noticed and you have a choice, making the effort to go to the office will have unforeseen spin-offs – though not every day – by chance encounters such as these.
Pippa.
June 2024 news, views and muse
SIGNS of LIFE – or not?
At intervals I have waged war on poorly presented notices around our church, but such things also offend me along our highways and in our towns. We are bombarded with brown signs saying “Golf Course” which we know closed several years ago or “Elysium” ( long since The Old Rectory Care Home) or yellow signs advertising a new housing complex which folk have been living in for a decade or more. Once when I pointed this out to the Council they said I could take it down ( a metal sign on strong metal upright concreted into the green in front of our house. I managed to wiggle off the sign, but the black metal upright is still there.) Or there are the flapping signs which advertise “Christmas Menu – book now” in Lent, “Coming soon…” an event or opening that has not only come but gone. “Retired Men’s Guild – open to all”, with a date last year. You know. You’ve seen them and ignored them. There is too much information bombarding us so we blank it out which is why “Jumble Sale” or “ Cream Teas” or “ Concert by XYZ” on a home-made poster is unlikely to bring in many members of the public. We are too sophisticated now and will visit the What’s On website rather than peruse the tatty papers.
For many years we judged a church by its noticeboard. If we turned up and there were bird droppings in the porch, bits of out-of-date paper hanging to a moth-eaten old board, rusty drawing pins and information long since past, we knew without trying the door that all was not well in that place. God had moved on, because He doesn’t remain in death but bursts forth again in Resurrection ( “ I am the Dance and I still go on”.)
This may be my final message to the worshippers at Tong: please keep the notices informative and relevant. Please keep the noticeboards clean , not cloudy and gathering moss. Take down everything that has passed its sell-by date or usefulness or just looks passé. Do we really need a No Smoking sign? Please, Everyone, look at the boards (and the porch) as if you were approaching someone’s home. Is the display inviting, clean and tidy or does it give the impression “Nobody cares here, so don’t bother to enter”? Oh, and 4 pins to each sheet! Chuck the rusty ones. Amen.
Pippa
Would You Like To Support Us?
The Tong Vision for 2020 and beyond has a target to raise £500,000 over the next 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!
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