St Mary's January 2019 Parish Magazine

Church of St. Mary the Virgin
Finedon
Parish Magazine
January 2019
1
Digital Edition

Vicar:
Finedon Parish Church: St Mary The Virgin
The Revd Richard Coles,
St Mary the Virgin Finedon, The Vicarage,
Church Hill, Finedon, Northants, NN9 5NR
01933 681 786, Mobile 07885 967 960
email: revdrichardcoles@yahoo.co.uk
Curate Revd Jane Burns, 01536 524936
Email:janeburns2211@gmail.com
Assistant Honorary Priest Fr Peter Baden,01832 733186
email: p.baden36@btinternet.com
Reader Mr Michael Duncombe, 01536 483935
email: mikeduncombe61@gmail.com
Parish Clerk
Mrs Gill Foster Tel: 680364 (To whom first
contact for Baptisms and weddings must be
made).
Churchwardens: Mrs Jane Read Tel: 680522
Mr Neil Forster Tel: 682177
PCC Secretary: Mrs Gill Foster Tel: 680364
Treasurer: Mr Andrew Weatherill Tel: 682212
Magazine Editor: Mrs Janet Millington, Tel: 681161.
email: millingtonjanet@aol.com
(to whom all copy should addressed by
the 15 th of the month prior to publication)
Director of Music Mr Jonathan Harris Tel: 01933 779059,
Mobile 07791 664507
Email: Hjonathan83@aol.com
Deputy Organists
Mrs. Kathy Roberts
Mr Oliver Grigg
Choirmaster: Mr. Bryan Chapman Tel: 398818
Tower Captain Mr Bryan Chapman, Tel 398818
Web Site
www.finedonphotographs.org.uk/
bellringers.html
Archivist
St Michael’s Mission Room:
Dr Kaye McClelland, kayemclelland@gmail.com
Bryan & Christine Chapman
Tel: 01933 398818
Times Of Services:
Sundays
8.00 am Holy Eucharist
9.30 am Parish Eucharist.
6.00 pm Evensong (1st Sunday of the Month)

From The Vicarage January 2019
Another year out, another year in; a turbulent one has passed, and while I
hope a calmer one has arrived, it may be more turbulent still. At the time
of writing I cannot even be sure who the Prime Minister will be, or even
which party, or parties, will be in power, or even if Brexit is happening,
delayed, or avoided. What I can do, however, is state with certainty that I
don’t remember a time when more people felt more uncertain than now.
There are all sorts of reasons or this, not least Brexit, which whatever the
outcome means profound change; but it reflects too, I believe, deep
divisions already there before the Referendum. The result, which surprised
so many at the time, does not seem so surprising now we understand
better how many were left behind by the growing prosperity of the past
twenty years or so, but so unevenly divided between those in the south
east and those in, say, the post industrial north east, or the Cinderella
counties of the midlands, and the south west. The price of that
scandalous neglect is now being paid. When will our sad divisions, to
paraphrase the hymn, cease?
I don’t know; but I do know we have been here before, and we are still
here now, having endured though conflict, and famines, and plague
and impoverishment; and not least in the English Civil War, which tore
through these parts dividing nations, and communities, and families, and
Finedon, who lost its the vicar for his Royalist sympathies to a triumphant
Parliament after the battle of Naseby in 1645.
But we endured, and today the parish church offers, as it has always
offered, the worship due to God, for we know that whatever divides us is
as nothing to the love of Jesus Christ, which heals all wounds, and makes
the divided whole again. St Paul, who knew what trouble looked like,
wrote this nearly two thousand years ago:
“Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will hardship, or distress, or
persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? No, in all these
things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am
convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things
present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor
anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of
God in Christ Jesus our Lord”.
Yours in Christ,
Fr Richard.
3

Our Worship in January
Year C
6th Epiphany
Isaiah 60. 1 – 6
Psalm 72
Ephesians 3. 1 – 12
Matthew 2. 1 -1 2
Hymns
83 As with gladness men of old
85 Earth has many a noble city
86 From the eastern mountains
Anthem: Lo, how a Rose e’er
blooming arr. M Praetorius; How
brightly shines the morning star! (88)
90 (Tune St Edmund) Songs of
thankfulness and praise
13th Baptism of Christ
Isaiah 43. 1 – 17
Psalm 29
Acts 8. 14- 17
Luke 3. 15 – 17, 21 -22
Hymns
175 Come down, O Love divine
34 On Jordan’s banks the Baptist’s
cry
308 Just as I am, without one plea
93 When Jesus came to Jordan
Anthem: Psalms 98 & 100; Holy Spirit,
come, confirm us (183)
84 Brightest and best of the sons of
the morning
20th 3rd Sunday of Epiphany
Isaiah 62. 1 -5
Psalm 36 5 – 10
1 Corinthians 12. 1 -11
John 2. 1 – 11
Hymns
89 O worship the Lord in the beauty of
holiness
305 I come with joy, a child of God
591 The kingdom of God is justice
and joy
Anthem: Benedictus by Philip Moore;
Give me justice by James Macmillan
87 Hail to the Lord's anointed
27th 4th Sunday of Epiphany
Nehemiah 8.1–3, 5–6, 8–10
Psalm 19
1 Corinthians 12. 12 -31a
Luke 4. 14 – 21
Hymns
516 (Tune Blaenwern) Love divine,
all loves excelling
260 Morning has broken, like the
first morning
369 All people that on earth do dwell
(arr. Vaughan Williams)
Anthem: Ascribe unto the Lord by
S.S.Wesley (opening section); For the
beauty of the earth (253)
353 And did those feet in ancient
time
Organ Voluntaries following the
9.30am services
6th January
J.S. Bach: Chorale Prelude In dir ist
Freude BWV 615
13th January
Vincent Lübeck: Praeambulum in G
20th January
Philip Moore: Paean
27th January
J.S. Bach: Chorale Prelude Alle
Menschen müssen sterben BWV 643
Epiphany Carol Service
Sunday 6th January – 6.00 pm

Floodlight Sponsorship
Correction from the December
magazine with sincere apologies:
18th November
Lorna & John Mears - in memory of
Liam Colin Mears.
2nd December
Sponsored by Mick & Monica Webb.
9th December
Sheira Gee - in memory of her mother
Rene Higham.
16th December
Sponsored by Mick & Monica Webb.
23rd December
Maureen Gorney & Dianne
Desborough - in memory of May
Parker.
Richard Minney & family - in memory
of Lesley Minney (on what would
have been their 34th wedding
anniversary).
Sheila & Paul Harris - to celebrate
their grandchildren Felix, Summer,
Finlay, Magnus & Rowan.
Carole Mitchell - to celebrate Paul’s
special birthday.
Ian, Sue, Irene & Susan - in memory
of a dear mum Evelyn Collis.
The grandchildren & great
grandchildren - in memory of a dear
Nan Evelyn Collis.
30th December
Carole & Paul Mitchell - in memory of
all deceased family members as we
go forward into another new year.
Dianne & David Desborough & family
- in memory of Doris Emerton.
£40.00 for the Church and the rest of
the raffle money went to the
Children’s society.
Finedon Senior Citizens
Friendship Committee
Thank you for all the donations to the
Finedon Christmas parcel fund
(Finedon Senior Citizens friendship
Committee). 384 parcels were
gratefully received of which 8 were
deferred to the local food bank.
Next year the parcels contents will be
changed, we will have a more
organised collection and an option to
send parcels direct to food bank, if
requested.
Heartfelt thanks, Neil Forster ,on
behalf of FSCFC committee
Epiphany Evensong
There will be an Epiphany Evensong
in St Mary’s Church on Sunday 6th
January at 6.00 pm.
The service will be followed by light
refreshments.
Irish Blessing for the
New Year
May your troubles be less
May your blessings be more.
And nothing but happiness
Come through your Door.
Christmas Tree Festival
Thank you to those who organised,
acted as Stewards, donated and
helped with the Christmas Tree
Festival and Band Concert.
The weekend raised £588.69.
Velma’s Teddy Bear raffle raised
5
Wishing everyone a
very happy and
peaceful new year

Mothers Union
We will start the New Year with a
service followed by our AGM when a
committee will take over the running of
the branch from the retiring Branch
Leader.
This meeting will be held in the
Mission Room on Tuesday 8th
January at 2.00pm.
Anyone wishing to come along will be
made most welcome.
For my part I would like to thank all the
members for the tremendous support
I’ve received from them during my
many years as Branch Leader.
A huge thank you also for the most
generous gift they presented me with
at our Christmas lunch, which came as
a great surprise.
I now wish the branch and its new
committee every success for the
future, as I look forward to sitting on
the back row!
God bless Mary
Mary Shipton
Thank you and well done Mary for the
18 years that you have led the
Mother’s Union here in Finedon as the
Enrolling Member.
Thank you Mary for all the hard work
that has gone into making the
Mother’s Union a vibrant and
enjoyable organisation in Finedon with
an interesting and varied programme
every month.
Thank you Mary for your long
commitment to the Mother’s Union.
We wish you a Happy Retirement and
may the new committee spend many
happy and fruitful years in the
future. Mother’s Union meets the first
Tuesday afternoon in the month in the
Mission Room. All are welcome.
Jane Read
Wassail and Christmas
Draw
Congratulations to all those involved in
the Wassail Evening and Christmas
Draw. The Draw raised £700.00 A
beautiful display of prizes and so
many of them too - very well done.
Thank you to all who worked together
to make the evening a success - too
many to name here.
The Wassail evening raised £265.00
Thank you to all who supported and to
John and Colin from the Bowls Club
who were most helpful.
Finedon Scout Group
A huge thank you to all the Finedon
residents who kindly donated to the
Finedon Scout Groups Santa float.
We had a fantastic response of just
over £1,300 which will go towards
supporting our 6 to 18 year old young
people.
Wishing everyone a Happy New Year
National Gardens
Scheme
The garden will be open at 67-69 High
Street on:
Sunday 24th February - Snowdrops
and Helebores.
11.00 am - 3.00 pm, £3.50 entrance
which includes homemade soup and
a roll.
Sundays 2nd & 30th June
2.00 - 6.00 pm. Cream Teas available
combined with The Vicarage on
30th June only.
Mary and Stuart Hendry

Finedon Local History
Society
We start 2019 with a talk by Peter
Austin on the “History and Founding
of the Northamptonshire Film Archive
Trust (with some film footage from
their collection).
The evening will be held in the
Mission Room, Well Street, Finedon
on Monday 28th January 2019 at
7.30pm.
Admission to the evening will be
£2.50 for members and £3.50 for
non-members.
Afterwards light refreshments will be
served. All are welcome to attend.
Church Monthly Draw
The results of the December church
monthly draw are as follows:
Total receipts of £242.00 are divided
equally between the winners and the
church funds
Winning numbers for the December
monthly draw are:
1st prize 89 £60.50
2nd prize 37 £36.30
3rd prize 31 £24.20
If you would like to join the monthly
draw (£1.00 per share per month)
which takes place in the church on
the first Sunday of the month, please
contact Kathy Hobbs on 01933
398794.
entertainment from Colin Hill who will
talk about 'Dancing with Diana', and a
Grand Raffle.
A charge of £5.00 for the evening will
include raffle tickets.
This is a members only event, but if
you would like information about the
Guild, please call 01933 680209.
St Marys Thursday Club
The committee would like to wish all
its members a Very Happy New Year.
Our next meeting will be held on
Thursday 24th January 2019.
We will be having a Surprise Bingo
and will meet at the Band Club at
7.45 pm for a 8.00 pm start.
Anyone wishing to join us will be
made very welcome. We hope to see
you all at our January's meeting.
Townswomen’s Guild
Finedon Townswomen's Guild will be
celebrating the New Year with a party
in the Town Hall at 7.30 on
3rd January.
There will be soup and a sweet
provided by the committee,
7

Star Coffee House,
Institute and Hall
(continued)
With the building of the Institute the
Trustees had to look for income
streams, in addition to the
membership fees, in order to service
the loan that had been taken out to
build the Institute and also to cover
running costs and repairs of the two
buildings.
John Bailey, in his book “Finedon
otherwise Thingdon” said that the
Coffee House had been built and
paid for by Mr Mackworth Dolben and
then a trust was set up to run the
building. Sources indicate that the
Institute building was built by the
Trustees using a loan to finance it. If
this building was financed in the
same way as the later brick building
then it was financed with a bank loan
that was arranged through either Mrs
or Miss Mackworth Dolben, who both
had great interest in the Star complex
and in the temperance movement.
These ladies opened the gardens at
Finedon Hall, as a fund raiser to start
the repayment of the loan, even
before the Institute had been officially
open in 1884.
Along with the anticipated increased
membership and the accompanying
extra fees the Trustees looked for
ways of using the space in the
Institute building to generate a
regular income. Within the Institute
building there was a large downstairs
room that is often referred to as the
Star Hall, the name that was later
transferred to the newer brick built
hall. This earlier Star Hall became a
regular venue for a number of
different functions and meetings, but
it is one particular usage that I will
concentrate on now. It was the use
of, or requests to use, this room that
caused the Trustees to have conflict
with the principles of temperance,
and also the beliefs of their main
benefactors the ladies Mackworth
Dolben.
In October 1886 Mrs Bland, of
Wellingborough, had been allowed to
rent the hall for dancing classes.
The Northampton Mercury of 18 th
December 1886 reported that an
Invitation Ball had been held in the
Star Hall on the previous Monday
evening in connection with the
dancing classes, and a portion of the
Dolben Brass Band had also been in
attendance. Unfortunately nothing
further of the dancing classes was
reported in the newspapers, and by
the time the Resolutions Book picks
up the story of the Institute in
October 1887 there is no mention of
dancing classes being available.
What happened to them? It is
possible that interest just faded, or
there may be an indication of what
happened when attempts were made
in the 1890s to re-introduce this
attraction.
The Trustees rejected a request from
Mr Wallington and company in
November 1891 to hire a room for
dancing classes. There was
obviously some conflict between the

principles of temperance and dancing
classes as on 4 th May 1894 the
Northants Temperance and Band of
Hope Union met at Burton Latimer,
and the Revd. T. Stephens spoke at
length about the perils of drink and
entertainment that often accompanied
it. On dancing classes he had the
following to say “These classes did
more harm than good. In many of
them very late hours were kept, and
he knew of cases where young
women owed their downfall to them.
There were many loose dancing
classes, with low moral tone about
them, and from these nothing but evil
could arise.”
There must have been some
indication that dancing classes were
going to be considered in the Hall
later in the decade as Mr McAllister
and Mr Wilford, both Trustees, had an
interview with Miss Mackworth Dolben
and her cousin Miss Mackworth in
February 1897 about public dances at
the Star. The ladies opinions were
recorded as follows “that Miss M-D,
whilst not being at all favourable to
public dances feels that under the
present circumstances it would be
wise for the Trustees to allow
occasional dances. Miss M-D at the
same time expressed great objection
to the Star being utilised for dancing
classes, she also expressed a desire
that the Trustees should prohibit
smoking in the large room whenever
ladies are present.”
It was in this light that in October
1898 Miss Paul applied to use the
facilities for her dancing classes, after
a short discussion it was decided not
to let the room for this purpose. The
Miss Paul concerned was either the
daughter or the sister of the Vicar
who was also Chairman of the
Trustees, and the following reply to
her request was sent on behalf of the
Trustees. “The Trustees of the Star
Hall regret very much that they
cannot grant you the use of the new
room for your class, but have recently
refused the application of Messrs
York and Ellson they feel that for the
present it would not be wise to open
the room for the above named
purpose.”
Although there is evidence of the Hall
being used for dances, there is no
record of any further requests for
dancing classes to be held there.
Next time hear about those men and
women who had the day to day
running of the Star complex.
VALENTINE BARN DANCE
Saturday 16th February 2019
doors 7.00 pm for 7.30pm
at
Finedon Community Centre,
Wellingborough Rd. NN9 5LG
Dancing to KELLY’S EYE
live band with caller
Tickets £10 including Chicken
or Veggie burger & chips
from
Pam: 01933 398377 or email:
finedoncommunitycetre@gmail.com
Licensed Bar and great raffle.
9

Finedon Town Council
Clerk: Mrs Julia Tufnail
Office Hours: Monday-Friday Mornings
51 Market Road, Thrapston, Northants
NN14 4JT
Telephone 07410 633544
Email:
clerk@finedontowncouncil.gov.uk
Website:
www.finedontowncouncil.gov.uk
Your Councillors:
Laurence Harper Chairman
Terry Kendall-Torry, Vice Chair &
Planning
Malcolm Ward, also WBC
Barbara Bailey, also WBC
Sally Farrell, Gill Spencer,
Gordon Swann, Stuart Cooper,
Andrew Weatherill, Mike Bentley,
Dennis Willmott, Ray Ogle, Louise
Lawrence
Proposed Health Centre Closure
As you know, Finedon’s petition was
delivered to Parliament by Peter Bone
MP who is keeping a close eye on
developments having been in contact
with both the practice and the
Department of Health about the
matter.
The Council will keep you informed as
more information becomes available.
Pocket Park
The Council has approached
Wellingborough Borough Council
asking that they transfer ownership of
the Pocket Park to them. The Council
has managed the Pocket Park since
1985 and feels that it is more than
capable of continuing to look after it
should WBC see their way to
transferring ownership.
A recent fallen tree has been
removed as it was blocking the
pathway.
The meeting dates for 2019 have
been set as follows
16th January
20th February
27th March
8th May (AGM & Annual Parish
Meeting)
19th June
24th July
4th September
16th October
27th November
The meeting on 16th January 2019
will set the budget and precept
request for the next year and you are
more than welcome to attend.
As usual, please feel free to contact
the Council should you have anything
you wish to bring to their attention.
Providing it is within the Council’s
remit, we will try our best to make
Finedon a better place to live.
With best wishes for the New Year.
Julia Tufnail
Clerk, Finedon Town Council
January 2019
Finedon Over 60s
We meet every Wednesday at the
Bowls Club, Wellingborough Road at
1.45 pm until 3.30 pm. We have tea/
coffee and biscuits with
entertainment, bingo and speakers.
Admission is £1.00 plus 20p raffle .
January Programme
9th Bingo
16th Jane Osbourne, Poetry and
Magic
23rd Games afternoon
30th Nick Oram, keyboard
entertainment
We look forward to seeing you there.

In My Day
the ramblings of Hubert James
In my day it was about this time of
year that after the excesses of last
month things calmed down. We’d look
for gentler entertainment to fill in until
pantomime at the end of the month.
Course, in those days entertainment
was limited especially when the
weather turned bad and days were
shorter than the attention span of a
teenager.
What we did have was Board Games.
They were called that because you
played them when you were bored.
We had all the traditional ones like
Snakes and Ladders, Ludo and
Draughts. Then there were card
games like Whist, Pontoon, Beat Your
Neighbour and Old Maid. Not
surprisingly Happy Families wasn’t so
popular straight after Christmas
locked in a room with your nearest
and dearest.
But head and shoulders above all
these stood Monopoly. Well I say
Monopoly, but buying the actual game
was a bit expensive. Ironically, if you
were good at the game you were
probably careful with your money so
might not buy your own board
anyway.
This was where the Parker Brothers
came in. Karl and Reg used to get
frustrated in winter because they were
keen walkers, ramblers really and
they couldn’t get out. So to give
themselves something to do at home
they invented ‘Finedopoly’.
Yes, remember? It was a bit different.
The board was a flattened cardboard
box and the pieces were made of
Plasticene. We had; a boot, flat cap,
thimble, Austin 7, rowing boat.
There were all the local streets but
instead of railway stations you had
pubs; The Mulso, The Prince, The
Dolben and The Bell. And rather than
building houses and hotels it was
houses and shoe factories. Water
Works became Water Tower
You got £200 for passing Finedon
Hall. Now because there was no jail if
you picked the wrong Chance card
you had to “go to Burton”, go directly
to Burton do not pass Finedon Hall.
Do not collect £200”. We had hours of
fun until Betty Mangle who invented
Monopoly threatened to sue the
brothers and they had to pack up.
She sent them a letter full of strange
words they’d never heard of. It sent
them scrabbling for a big dictionary. It
did give them an idea for a new game
called ‘Wordable’ where you had a
half a dozen letters and you had to
make up words with 2 or 3 letters that
nobody had heard of. It wasn’t a
success, although, a chap called Alf
Butts tweaked the idea and made a
fortune.
What was rather lovely was that to
recognise the Parker’s contribution to
Finedon history the Parish Council
named a new road after them;
Walkers Way. We already had
Parkers Terrace named after a
famous chauffeur.
11

Mental health in the diocese, the Church and beyond
W
ith one in four of the
population likely to
experience a mental health
condition at some point in
their lives, work in this field has never
been more important. One of those
working within this diocese in mental
health support is Revd Philip Evans,
the Lead Chaplain at St Andrew’s
Healthcare, a specialist mental
healthcare charity based in
Northampton.
“I work alongside colleagues,
chaplains and volunteers, from a
variety of faiths and traditions, and our
role is to serve patients, staff and
visitors – of all faiths and of no faith –
offering spiritual and pastoral care,”
explains Philip. “We work with many
people who are vulnerable, unwell and
who have been through traumatic or
painful experiences, and our hope is to
bring care, compassion and healing.”
“At St Andrew’s I look after our
CAMHS (child and adolescent mental
health services) for young people at
FitzRoy House in Northampton, our
adult Autistic Spectrum Disorder wards
in Northampton and our hospital in
Mansfield, which cares for adult men
with autism or learning disabilities –
some 200 patients
in all.”
FitzRoy House is the largest mental
health charity for young people in
Europe, and there are other initiatives
across the diocese which have
emerged over the last few years.
These include Renew Wellbeing cafés,
where churches partner with with
mental health professionals and
provide spaces for people to chat and
reflect.
“The Renew Wellbeing cafés are a
wonderful concept – places of
friendship and belonging, where it is ok
to be not ok, rooted in a framework and
pattern of prayer,” says Philip. “There
are local cafés now in Northampton
town centre, Kingsthorpe, Earls Barton
and Towcester, with others in prospect.
But every single parish or other ministry
in the diocese will be addressing mental
health and wellbeing needs in some
way.”
One of the ways in which this is
happening is training events. The
Diocesan Evangelical Fellowship
invited Philip and Dr David Smart to
speak at St Giles Church, Northampton
in November on ‘Christian ministry to
those with mental health issues’, which
proved to be a helpful exercise.
“We were very pleased to be invited to
the DEF, encouraged by the wish to
reflect biblically and theologically on this
area of ministry, but with an emphasis
on practical issues. The good numbers
attending showed that these are matters
of concern to many who wish to be –
and for the Church to be – caring and of
effective help in ministry.”

Training events are also planned for the
coming year, courtesy of the Diocesan
Healing Ministry Group, which Philip is
part of.
“We are going to be running a training
day for clergy at St Andrew’s on Tuesday
19th March, giving practical help for
churches in responding to mental health
concerns. There will also be a day-long
conference at Christ the King, Kettering
on Saturday 19th October, with main
speaker Becky Harcourt (from New Wine),
addressing emotional pain and hurts. I am
especially keen that we help churches
develop good healing ministry practice in
these areas.”
These diocesan initiatives in the area of
mental health is a reflection of the work
taking place nationally in the Church.
Mind and Soul is a Christian organisation
specialising in the area of mental health,
with a range of articles, videos and advice
on its website
(www.mindandsoulfoundation.org/). There
is also the FaithAction ‘Friendly Places’
scheme where churches can sign up to
commit to being places which support
people with mental health issues
(www.faithaction.net/) . Philip is keen,
though, that the Church doesn’t just limit
this work to Christians.
“I’m keen that the Church always sees
its mission and ministry as being ‘out
there’, giving special attention to the one
who is lost, perhaps above the 99 who are
safe,” he says. “GPs and the Church need
to help and be
helped by each
other. Schools too
are in the front line,
with designated
mental health
leads being
appointed: there is
huge scope for the
Church’s children’s
and youth
ministries to
engage with
wellbeing issues.”
This bridging of
the gap between
helping those who
attend or do not
13
attend church has been helped by the fact
that Bishop Donald speaks for the Church
of England on mental health issues in the
House of Lords.
“Bishop Donald has challenged the
Government to take direct responsibility
for delivering on and being accountable
for its promises in the mental health area,”
explains Philip. “He has also spoken
about mental health chaplaincy, citing in
particular what the Royal College of
Psychiatrists has done in highlighting the
importance of spiritual care, and
essentially saying that chaplaincy
resources need to match the great needs
in society.”
So there is still work to be done, but
important inroads have been made in the
area of mental health, which Philip hopes
will continue
to grow.
“My hope is that mental healthcare
professionals will recognise the
demonstrated value and place of faith and
spirituality in securing healthcare
outcomes for patients. Similarly, I hope
and am sure that the Church will grow
more alert and responsive to mental
health needs – being accessible,
sensitive, caring and giving ‘parity of
esteem’ in its ministry and mission to all.”

What does the New Year hold for us?
2018 was a fabulous year at
the Cathedral. We marked our
900th anniversary in some
style, with the high point
undoubtedly coming with the visit of
the Soyuz space capsule, which
attracted almost 180,000 visitors
during its three month stay – many
more visitors than we normally get in
a whole year! Those who came were
attracted by a piece of modern
technology but discovered in the
process our extraordinary building –
in its own day, a magnificent example
of contemporary engineering and a
triumph of the human imagination.
They also encountered a living
building and a house of prayer, and it
was striking just how many people lit
candles, left prayers or engaged in
conversation with our clergy and
voluntary chaplains. In hosting the
capsule, there were many striking
juxtapositions – ancient and modern;
monumental architecture and a
surprisingly fragile piece of high tech;
science and religion. We found
ourselves looking back over our
history and asking questions about
our future and what values will
sustain humanity in the generations
to come.
As a Cathedral community, we have
also been reflecting on our vision and
values. What is our core purpose and
how will we shape our future mission
and ministry in a way that does
justice to our context, as well as
reflecting the universal truths of God’s
love that our Cathedral was built to
celebrate and witness to? Like all
Christian churches, we exist to share
the love of God in Jesus Christ, affirm
life in all its fullness and draw others
into a relationship with him. But we
have a particular history, a distinctive
calling and unique opportunities to
make that purpose
a reality.
We are, for example, exploring
how our spiritual roots in
Benedictine monasticism – with its
emphasis on a rhythm of prayer, a
high sense of welcome and
Christian hospitality, and a
commitment to learning and
service – might shape our ministry
today. And what values might
underpin such priorities –
generosity perhaps, inclusivity,
integrity, joy? How do these play
out in our very diverse city and our
sprawling complex diocese?
We are not in the business of
making glib New Year’s
resolutions, but we are committing
ourselves to think, pray and
explore; to share with and listen to
our congregations, partners,
visitors and neighbours as we work
out where we might be in the years
to come (always allowing for God
to surprise us, of course). This time
last year, we had made all kinds of
plans...and then came the Soyuz,
so who knows what God has in
store for us? What we do know is
that Christ is faithful, the Alpha and
the Omega, the one who was and
is and is to come, and at the
beginning of 2019 it is into his
hands that we commit ourselves –
all that we are and all that we shall
be.
The Very Revd Chris Dalliston,
Dean of Peterborough

January 2019
3rd
6th
8th
15th
24th
26th/
31st
28th
29th
February
1st/
2nd
4th
7th
16th
25th
March
4th
TG Town Hall, New Year Party with Soup &
Sweet
6pm Epiphany Carol Service, St Mary’s
Church.
2pm Mothers Union, AGM, Mission Room
9.45 Coffee Morning,, Bowls Club
11-3pm Nation Garden Scheme 67-69 High
Street
Finedon, Pantomime week, Star Hall
7.30 History Society, Mission Room, History
& founding of the Northamptonshire Film
Archive Trust.
9.45 Coffee Morning, Bowls Club
Last day of Finedon Pantomime
RBL Branch quiz night, Bowls Club
7.30 TG, Town Hall, Roy Smart
‘Amy Wonderful Amy’
Valentine Barn Dance, Community Centre
7.30 History Society, Mission Room,
Michael Brown, Death in the Garden
RBL Blood Couriers & Other emergencies Mr
Kamran Irani, Bowls Club
April
1st
4th
15th
29th
May
June
RBL Away with the fairies, Kevin Varty,
Bowls Club
7.30 TG, Town Hall, James Burton, An
Antiques Valuation evening
7.30 History Society, Mission Room,
Douglas Goddard, The history of the postcard
RBL Bowls Club, Quiz Night
RBL Bingo & Supper night (tbc)
2nd 2-6pm National Garden Scheme 67-69
High Street
3rd
RBL, Bowls Club, History of the Music Hall,
Colin Ray
30th 2-6pm National Garden Scheme 67-69
High Street & the Vicarage.
July
1st
August
5th
September
2nd
October
7th
November
RBL Bowls Club, Battlefields, Terry
Whenham
RBL, Bowls Club, Quiz night
RBL, Bowls Club, Fish & Chip Supper
RBL Bowls Club, My Life, Jason de-Vaux
7th
25th
7.30 TG, AGM, Adrian Cale ‘Nostalgia’, The
ramblings of Hubert James
7,30 History Society, Mission Room, Tom
Watts, The history of Finedon
Cinemas and the Watts family
4th RBL, Bowls Club, AGM
December
2nd RBL, Bowls Club, Quiz
6th RBL, Bowls Club, Christmas Party
St Michael’s Mission Room, Well Street, Finedon
Available for hire weekdays, Saturdays & Sundays.
Suitable for most social functions, charitable events, children's parties (no late
discos)
For all enquiries and information contact
Bryan & Christine Chapman Tel: 01933 398818
Email: bryanchapman2@aol.com
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