NEWS FROM ST MARY’S – September 2023

I was a small child in the early 1960s and retain a few relics of childhood, including a small collection of Dinky Toys. The Austin Cambridge and Vauxhall Velox survive in their boxes as they were kept for ‘best’. I also have a few remaining fragments of something called ‘Betta Bilda’, which was made by Airfix and a forerunner of lego.

I also retain an interest in the current affairs and popular culture of the period. As part of this, in the 1980s, I recorded on VHS some episodes of a half hour BBC series called ‘The Rock & Roll Years’. The edition for 1962 contains a clip with Ludovic Kennedy interviewing Donald Coggan, who was then Archbishop of York and Adam Faith, a pop singer of the time. Adam Faith’s claim to fame was that he had a hit with a novelty song in which he mispronounced the word baby as ‘bay-buh’. He also appeared in a couple of films.

Mr Faith (real name Terence Nelhams) had decided that the C of E was too fuddy-duddy for teenagers like him to relate to, and proposed what Mr Kennedy referred to as ‘a complete re-write of the English hymnal.’

You would expect the cleric to point out that the church has a rich tradition of sacred music, but that there might be avenues for innovation alongside tradition. His response was instead – ‘I’d be all for it!’

Coming right up to date, the current Archbishop of York recently stated that the words of the Our Father or Lord’s Prayer are ‘potentially problematic’ due to ‘the language of patriarchy’. This baffled most ordinary Anglicans and there was much mirth and derision in the media and in the Sunday papers. We still knelt down at St Mary’s that Sunday and prayed using the words ‘commanded by Divine teaching’.

We are at St Mary’s a traditional Anglo-Catholic parish church. As such, we ask ourselves ‘what is so special about now?’ and question the need to fall in with whatever happens to be the current secular trend.

I suspect that in 60 years time these recent pronouncements will seem as curious and dated as the BBC interview, while scripture and the tenets of the church endure.

Keith Revoir

News from St Mary’s – June 2023

I am writing this prior to this year’s Open Day and will give some (hopefully) positive feedback to everyone in the July issue. Meanwhile, here is some background to the event. 

Mary Thorley lived at The Granary in the High Street and was a regular member of the congregation until she passed away in 2004. She is buried with her mother in the front churchyard area on the Rectory side. In addition to the property at The Granary, she owned two adjoining fields, including the one immediately behind the established rear churchyard. 

She was anxious to ensure that the environment of St Mary’s retained its rural aspect after her death, particularly as in later years developers were regularly knocking on her door with lucrative offers.

She left the lower field to the Parish, and the upper field to the Countryside Trust, thereby ensuring that they would remain unspoilt and free to all to enjoy. The lower field was consecrated in 2004, and a line of recent graves can be seen along the ridge that divides the two areas.

In 2015-16 there was a substantial voluntary effort to clear large parts of the area which had become overgrown with bracken, and where fly tipping had taken place. 

Providence then took a hand, in the form of the Tesco ‘Bags of Help’ Scheme which funds improvements to green spaces in England and Wales. We developed a project bid and in November 2016 learned that our project was one of 50 in south-east England (out of 3000 applications) to receive a grant. 

The field has commanding views across the Uck valley, and is a place of beauty and calm. Our plan included a seating area and table unit made from reclaimed wood, with a large planter in three parts featuring woodland shrubs and flowers.

The grant also enabled us to tackle long overdue repairs, replace the boundary fencing, and undertake tree surgery. There was also work done to identify and clear a flat, safe pathway along the Rectory boundary up to the garden and seating area. 

The Community Garden Project was blessed and officially opened the Rt Rev Edward Dowler, Archdeacon of Hastings in May 2018.  It was resolved to hold an Open Day & Craft Fair in May of each year, to mark the anniversary of the completion of the project. 

We hope that our work does justice to the wishes of our benefactor, past and present worshippers, and to the wider community of Buxted.  

Keith Revoir

SAVE OUR MURALS

In 1887, the building of S. Mary’s was complete, and Father Arthur Wagner instructed a team of artists to paint murals throughout the interior of the church.  The murals, designed by him in the ‘Arts and Crafts’ style, took almost twenty years to complete.  Sadly Father Wagner died before they were completed.  The murals consisted of saints (some painted using the ‘Marouflage technique) and angels all emblazoned in bright colours; red, blue and lashings of gold.  Friezes of vines and pomegranates enhanced the borders along with biblical texts above the arches.  

In 1951, the then Parish Priest decided he didn’t like the murals, and in an act of total vandalism (my words) whitewashed over all of them.  Lost forever?  Well, until 2020 when the emulsion paint (9 layers) started peeling off the east wall, revealing part of the mural which we now know was painted in oil, and was therefore protected beneath the emulsion.  A recent inspection by art conservators found the partly revealed murals to be of good quality, and well worth restoring.  The cost of which will be around £30,000.  If you would like to find out more about the murals, come to S. Mary’s – the church is open most days, or contact me on 

Tel: 01825 830076, Email: colinhwoolgrove@aol.com  

Please help us save our murals.  Donations can be made by bank transfer: Account Name: Parish of Buxted and Hadlow Down.  

Account No: 11454064.  Sort Code: 40-45-32.  Reference: V Mural.

Cheques should be made payable to: Parish of Buxted and Hadlow Down, and sent to: The Rectory, Church Road, Buxted, TN22 4LP.

If you are a UK taxpayer and would like to Gift Aid your donation (25p in every £1 you donate can be claimed from the government), please ask me for a Charity Gift Aid Declaration Form.  

Thank you for your support.

News from St Mary’s – February 2023

We had our first burial in seven years at St Mary’s just after Christmas, where we bade farewell to a long standing member of our congregation. Burials seem to have grown less common in recent years, but I was struck by the dignity of the occasion and the sense of calm and purpose. A large part of this comes, I think, from the Requiem Mass and burial rite being in the same place, rather than having to get into cars afterwards and proceed to a Crematorium. 

It is entirely natural to put off thinking about last wishes, but my own will is now very out of date, written some years ago when work took me away from Sussex. Now that I am firmly established in Buxted and at St Mary’s, (nine years this year) I think the place for me is going to be our churchyard.

In the Anglo Catholic tradition it is often the practice to receive the coffin at the church the night before, with a brief service of prayer. This was the case with our friend. Six tall candles, called Catafalque candles, are lit at each side of the coffin. 

The Requiem Mass follows the next day. It is not usual to have a eulogy or a detailed reference to the deceased and their life. This can surprise some attending, even giving rise to feelings that the church has ‘not done its homework’ as regards the deceased. The eulogy in our tradition is either given at a separate memorial service, or at the post funeral reception. In the case of our friend the reception was held at the Buxted Park Hotel, where in the relaxed atmosphere of a buffet lunch, we were able to hear about many aspects of his life, including a number of amusing anecdotes.

On another but related note, we try to make sure that we always keep in mind how we welcome and care for those who come to church, both regular attenders but particularly new members of the congregation. This is very much part of my weekly role as a sidesman as I am usually the first person encountered after ascending the front steps. 

There is a group of what I can only describe as church ‘mystery shoppers’ who visit churches and rate the quality of the welcome and interest shown to them as newcomers. I wish I could remember the name of this group, but I am reasonably confident that we would receive a good rating! 

Just as important is the period at the end of the service. Some research I saw once described this as the ‘golden half hour’ where people are either made to feel valued and truly welcome, or simply slip away un-noticed, probably never to return. 

Other things occupying us currently are our quarterly Church Committee meeting, and plans for a bigger and better Open Day & Craft Fair in May. Watch this space!

Keith Revoir

 

    

        

News from St Mary’s December 2022

Iain Lindsay

6 Feb 1965 – 24 Feb 2022

Rest In Peace

As the year approaches its end, our thoughts turn to a very sad loss in February, when our Deputy Churchwarden Iain Lindsay passed away. Iain originated from Scotland and came to the village in 2016, living initially almost opposite the church. By day he was a property lawyer in London, and brought this knowledge and skill both to St Mary’s and to the PCC.

Iain was a humble man with a quiet but deep spirituality which shows through clearly in the many reflective pieces he wrote for this ‘News from St Mary’s’ page. Many people have commented that he would have made an excellent priest. In his memory, we are re-publishing his reflections from December 2021 on the meaning of Christmas.

By the time this article appears, a new Rowan tree will have been planted in Iain’s memory in a corner of the Church Hall Garden.  

Keith Revoir

As we begin December, and the Christmas season approaches, what are your first reactions to and thoughts about its arrival? Do you tingle with excitement at the prospect of the return of work parties and drinks with the neighbours, of stocking your pantry with Christmas eats and searching the shops for an abundance of gifts? Or is it somewhat different for you: forced jollity; a lot of expense for a lot of grief; difficult family get togethers; maybe the saddest of memories and loneliness.

There are a myriad of responses to our modern Christmas. And we may feel some of all of these, however contradictory, throughout the period.

So, before hurtling into this season (or cowering away from it all) let’s reset our perspective and change the lens through which we see what approaches. 

In the church, there is a wonderful preparatory period leading up to Christmas each year which we call Advent. This time throughout December encourages us to stop, reflect and listen as we anticipate the gift of the birth of Jesus, God with us. This is an opportunity to do a number of things, any and all of which can give us an entirely fresh look at Christmas.

  1. Reflect on what is going on in your life, what is good and sustains you and what is a hindrance and would be better thrown off. God wants you to live life to the full. Ask God for peace and stillness amongst all the seasonal distractions to have clarity of mind and thought and to allow God to speak to your heart. 
  2. Go the extra mile with goodness for others. Not just to those you know, although that is always needed, but also to the stranger and those whose lives we rarely see because they are marginalised and forgotten. In Advent more than any time, share and care in the most practical of ways. Jesus birth in a stable reminds us that there is none too low, too untouchable or too unreachable for his love. 
  3. Create every day an attitude of expectation and thanks. Expectation for the good things to come in the season and ultimately God becoming one of us in Jesus. And thanks for the little things as well as the grand. To instil a mindset of gratitude can overturn the most bleak of days. Not to be Pollyanna about everything (there are many hard things to endure) but to count blessings too and acknowledge what is good. It changes lives.
  4. Focus on what really matters and don’t become overwrought by the doing and the lists. Take time for one another, take time for yourself and take time for God.

Christmas doesn’t have to be a mad rush: Jesus came silent to the world. Christmas doesn’t have to be about the best gifts and over-indulgence: Jesus born in a stable was attended by shepherds and livestock. But Christmas can be all about celebration and love, of each other and in thanks to God. Give yourself that, the very best of gifts. 

Pin It on Pinterest