January Services at Ansley Churches
| 5th January
Epiphany |
St John’s | 10.45 a.m. | Holy Communion
|
| 12th January
Epiphany 1 |
St Laurence’s | 10.30 a.m. | Morning Worship
Annexe |
| 19th January
Epiphany 2 |
St John’s | 10.30 a.m. | Morning Worship
|
| 26thJanuary
Epiphany 3 |
St Laurence’s | 10.30 a.m.
|
Memorial Service |
Memorial Service
On Sunday 26th January we will hold our Annual Memorial Service in St Laurence Church at 10.30 a.m. This provides an opportunity for people to light a candle to remember loved ones. The person/people you wish to remember may be from a recent loss or a past loss. They may have lived locally or in another area. If you have a person or people that you would like to remember at this service please write the name or names on the list that will be in church. You can contact a church member to do this for you by using the details on the front of this magazine. Listed names will be read out during the service. You do not have to be present at the service yourself.
Prayer Meeting at St John’s
The next meeting will be Tuesday 28th January at 2.00 p.m.
Christmas Tree Festival 2024 – Interim Report
Well, we made it! God certainly had a hand in getting this event ready on time. With illness, injuries and other commitments our usual team was very depleted. However offers of help arrived just in time, particularly with bringing the trees into church. We are so grateful to Mark Woods for his help with this. Then there was the extra help received from others who appeared each day during preparation week, especially on the Friday. To everyone – Thank you.
The first weekend approached with weather forecasts warning that the effects of Storm Darragh would be felt all over the country. We did wonder if we would have any visitors at all on the first day! However our area did not experience the full force of the storm and many people braved the strong winds and grey, gloomy skies.
The church was never empty of visitors from 11.15 to 4.45 on that day. The bright colours and the twinkling lights, along with the peaceful atmosphere inside the building, provided a strong contrast to the stark conditions outside.
On the Sunday we had a good number of people in the congregation for the Christingle Service. This service was developed by the Moravian Church in Eastern Europe and later adopted by The Children’s Society.
We would like to thank Jill Noble for leading this service. She began by explaining its history. Then oranges were distributed to the congregation. Jill explained the meaning behind a number of items that each person could fix to their orange. This activity told of God’s creation of the world and all its produce that sustains life. Lighting the candles that had been placed on the oranges reminded us that God sent His Son to bring light to the world through His death and resurrection. A collection was made for the work of The Children’s Society, which amounts to £85.49 at the time of writing.
Concert Report
On the evening of the 7th December, Jess and Richard Arrowsmith plus Jo Maher, performed a concert in the church. It was marvellous that the concert was able to go ahead as other events in the area were cancelled because of the weather. Not only did it take place but over sixty people were in the audience, as well as members of the family. A wonderful time was had by all as the group entertained the audience with carols and other seasonal songs. Some were traditional, some of their own composition, and some arranged by them. Thank you to all who helped with this event. We are very grateful for the donation to the church of £120, including raffle tickets sold for a cake prize, from this annual event.
Spurgeon’s Children’s Charity
Thank you to everyone who gave to this charity. The final total sent to Spurgeon’s was £325.
Christmas Raffle
This was drawn at the end of November. Thank you to Linda who organised the raffle and to her helpers. A good number of beautifully packaged bundles of gifts were won. A total of £481 was raised for church funds. Thank you to everyone who sold and bought tickets.
Ansley Village Church Hall
We were delighted to receive some soft protective covers for the hall radiators. They look wonderful. They have been made in fabric and decorated with pictures of animals, toys etc. They will be a colourful and practical asset for the Ansley Tots group which meets on the first Monday of the month in the hall from 10.30 to 12.00 noon.
From the PCC
The Churchyard: Progress continues on the memorial for the new area for the interment of cremated remains. Tarmac has now been laid, the memorial stones are in place and we await the arrival of the central cross.
It was disappointing to discover that a metal sign that was by the gate has disappeared. It reminded people not to dump rubbish there and had been in the churchyard for over sixty years.
Organ Tuner: In October, our organ tuner made his regular visit to tune and maintain the organ. He also handed in a letter of resignation in which he told us of his and his father’s long association with St Laurence. John’s father tuned and maintained the organ from around the mid 1930s. John remembers coming along to assist him from around 1942, when he was nine years of age. They arrived on the old red Midland bus service and as the buses were infrequent were allowed to bring bikes along with them on the bus so they could cycle home. Later, as John grew older, they cycled both ways.
John completed his apprenticeship in 1954 and took over the tuning and maintenance work in 1970, when his father retired.
John’s business ceased trading at the end of December 2023 but he felt a responsibility to continue until the end of December 2024.
He writes in his letter,
“I have always enjoyed my visits to Ansley to enable me to work in the church, with its serene beauty, quietness, surroundings and history. A Great Privilege. But I hope to make the occasional visit in my retirement.” John Burns
The members of the PCC would like to offer their heartfelt gratitude to John for his commitment to the care of the organ over so many years. We are so pleased that he holds happy memories of his visits to St Laurence.
Thank you to everyone who has helped in any way over the past year, including our hall caretakers, cleaners, churchyard clippers, readers of lessons, leaders of intercessions, bell ringers etc. – the list seems endless. We are grateful too to those who pray for the churches in Ansley and Ansley Common.
History of Ansley St Laurence Flower Festival
The Voice of Flowers
The words below were written by Margaret Antill’s mother, Edith Truelove over 55 years ago as she reflected on how the Flower Festival began. We are including it in the magazine in sections, as there is space, as it seems fitting to hear the words of the person who began the festival now it has ended.
“To beautify the place we love is always a joy but to make that beauty carry a message to touch the hearts of all who see it, is to tell the message of Jesus through another medium. Therefore I call this “The Voice of Flowers.”
Knowing well the Voice of Flowers and the love of God which causes them to bring so much beauty into the world; we at Ansley have tried through successive festivals to share with all who care to come this beauty, pleasure and friendship, as we portray with flowers our interpretations of the Bible.
Our lovely old church was in need of some attention and repair in the 1960’s. During one autumn, early in the 1960’s, my mother came to spend a while with me. One day we were discussing expenses. I said,
“I wish I could think of some new money spinner.”
Mother replied,
“I went to a beautiful event at Christchurch Priory (Dorset). They called it a Flower Festival. It presented a huge display of colour, starting with purple and red at the back of the church. It ranged through the full spectrum of colours until the altar was reached, all decked in white. It was a wonderful sight!”
Then, seeing my interest and guessing, rightly, that I might try to do the same; Mother said,
“It’s no good. You could never afford it. Those blossoms must have cost a fortune and of course Christchurch itself is always an attraction. A festival of any sort could not fail to succeed there, whereas Ansley Church, for all its beauty, is not at all famous.”
That was the first frostbite. But the seed was sown.
During the following weeks I could not forget the pleasure Mother had experienced at Christchurch; so, at a Parochial Church Council meeting, I suggested we might have a Flower Festival during the next summer.
The horrible hush that greeted the idea was the second frostbite.
However, after the meeting one lady came to me and said,
“Tell me more about your ideas,” and a ray of sunshine shone on the hoar frost in my mind, making it sparkle with hope.
During the winter I talked with folk and interest began to grow.
No-one in our community knew much about floral art, which was good, as being a small rural place, copying professionals was out of the question. We had to evolve a style of our own. We always decorated the church at the different festivals, so it must not be just a ‘flower show’.
Then I thought what a wonderful opportunity it would be to pass on a Christian message through our flower displays. Every arrangement should convey a meaning. Even if it did not pass on its message to the visitors, it would at least have made the arranger think. In this way we could do some good to ourselves even if to no-one else.
We heard of a festival at Solihull and visited it. It was beautiful but formal. The same shapes appeared again and again in different colours. They also had an exhibition of Modern Art.
My daughter and I looked at the pictures and I would have walked away, unimpressed, not understanding them. However, I overheard a lady say,
“They should have put the titles of the pictures more plainly, then visitors would know what they mean. This picture is of…..”
“So it is!” my daughter exclaimed and the picture came to life. To myself I said,
“What they can do with paint we can do with flowers but we will print our titles plainly for all to see.”
Interest grew as the year progressed. Except for a few ‘hard nuts’ of the PCC, most folk thought it could be done. The vicar (who told me years later that he had had very cold feet about the venture) was most encouraging. He suggested that although not everyone could do the arranging, anyone with a garden could grow a few flowers and so have ‘a finger in the pie’.
The local doctor told me he was making a point of looking at the gardens of patients before he visited them. Then, by dropping hints, he aroused their interest and often got the promise of blossoms for the Festival.
(To be continued when space allows.)
[How many doctors today have ever visited their patients’ houses yet alone seen their gardens! – Editor’s comment.}
Prayer requests: If you would like someone or a particular situation remembered in prayer, please make contact by email or phone one of the numbers on the front cove
WE WISH EVERYONE A HAPPY AND HEALTHY NEW YEAR