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Calendar for March 2001

Services in Kingscote

Services in Horsley

• NB: Please note that the Family Service this month has been moved from the Second Sunday (ie 11th) to the Fourth Sunday (ie 25th) so that it coincides with Mothering Sunday.
• The Taize Worship group meets in the Lady Chapel on Thursday 1st of March. Worship commences at 7.30 pm . All are very welcome.
• This year Lent began on Wednesday 28th February. Each year the Gloucestershire churches encourage a Lent Fast. This means that the occasional meal is given up during the season and the money which would have been spent on that meal is donated to a designated cause. The cause designated this year is the Christian Commission for Development which helps communities in Third World countries rebuild after being hit by cyclones, floods, earthquakes, or climate related disasters. Further details of this scheme, together with envelopes in which to place donations, can be found at the back of the church.
• This year there will be three parish Lent Meetings on Thursdays the 8th, 15th and 22nd Mar. The groups will be following the Diocesan Lent Course entitled ?From Seedtime to Harvest? which explores the mission of the church in the local community. We are kindly invited to hold all three events at Ashcroft House - the home of Georgina Harford - and each will begin with a simple Lent Supper at 7.30 pm. All are very welcome and lifts can be provided. Would all those wishing to take part please contact Georgina in good time to enable her to make appropriate arrangements.
• The Deanery Synod meets on Monday 12th March at 7.30 pm in Kingscote Village Hall.
• Next PCC Meeting on Monday 26 March, 8.00 pm in the Village Hall.
• The Annual Parochial Church Meeting will be held on Monday 23rd April at 7.30 pm in the Village Hall. This is an open meeting to which all members of the church and the parish are welcome.
• Other notices for Kingscote and Bagpath can be seen on the www.UKVillages.com website (the link for the noticeboard appears on the left hand side a few seconds after you click here). You can also post your own notices on the noticeboard.

Diocesan Internet News Site www.glosdioc.org.uk

The Vicar's Letter

Dear All,

When I was based in Sheffield for a while, I worked with a group of churches involved in a project with the unemployed. One regular visitor to the project was a young woman who was racked with guilt. Her story was a tragic one. One day her neighbour had asked her if she would look after her two children while she went shopping. The young woman agreed. She took them in and settled them down to play with her own children. But there were not enough toys to go round and the children began to squabble. The woman slipped upstairs to fetch some more toys. Rummaging in the toy box, she came across an old photograph. She paused and looked at it, daydreaming for a while. That moment was just long enough for one of her little charges to toddle out through the front door, which had accidentally been left slightly ajar. There was a screech of brakes, but it was too late, the tiny boy was killed. The young woman went to pieces. Whilst she was still undergoing psychiatric treatment, the mother of the dead child visited her, the worst of her grief now over. Her forgiveness helped enormously to set the young woman on the road to recovery. But she was never quite the same again. She could never forgive herself for that moment?s neglect.

Forgiveness is a very hard thing. "Forgive and forget", we are told. If only we could forget, forgiveness would come easy. But the scars of old hurts fester on, refusing to heal. And our resentment grows each time we remember the rejection, the insult, the injury. Our resentment wells up again, as if it was only yesterday. Bygones refuse to be bygones. The closer the friendship, the deeper the hurt. The little forgiveness we can muster is usually reserved for strangers. Our lives are strewn with broken friendships. We just cannot forgive. How often were we told when we were small "Shake hands and make up" ? That lesson seems to have disappeared with our schooldays. No wonder we ascribe forgiveness to God alone. "To err is human, to forgive is divine". We subscribe wholeheartedly to the Psalmist when he says: "It is He who forgives all your guilt, who heals every one of your ills, who redeems your life from the grave, who crowns you with love and compassion".

"May God forgive him!" we mutter to ourselves, recalling for the umpteenth time some ancient hurt. We could spare ourselves that prayer. What God would like to know is will we forgive him.

Swift, with all his satire, was closer to the truth than we care to admit: "We have just enough religion to make us hate, but not enough to make us love one another". How else can we explain those murderous wars between those who claim allegiance to their God ? An expert once claimed that of all the wars being fought at present in the world, few are against foreign aggressors. Most of the belligerents were compatriots, separated only by their religion. It was certainly true not so long ago of the former Yugoslavia, where Muslims, Orthodox and Catholics were locked in fratricidal war. Or Palestine, where Abraham?s children, Jews and Arabs, nurture ancient wrongs. Such wars will last as long as we refuse to forgive.

"As we forgive them", we pray every time we say the Lord?s Prayer. Thus we are passing sentence on ourselves, as long as we withhold forgiveness.

"Forgive your neighbour the hurt he does you, and when you pray, your sins will be forgiven. If a man nurses anger against another, can he them demand compassion from the Lord ?"

God bless,

Mar 4th to Apr 8th Lent - No Flowers

Apr 15th and 22nd Easter - Altar Guild and Helpers

Jo Spash

The next meeting is on Sunday 4th March at 11 am in the Village Hall. This month we shall continue making our ?Life of Jesus? board game, so it would be a good idea to wear old clothes or bring a painting apron. We shall also be making preparations for Mothering Sunday. All children in the parish are welcome to join us.

We will meet at my home, Alton, at 2.30 pm on Wednesday 28th March to discuss our charitable giving and how we proceed in the months ahead.

We had a very good meeting on 6th February, but unfortunately no new volunteer emerged to take on the task of Chief Grumbler. Despite this, we made plans for the coming months. Our next meeting will be at the home of Ann Hillam (The Old Police House) at 7.30 pm on the 27th of March. We are having a poetry evening, so everyone should bring along their favourite poems.

Last year we made plans for a millennium trip, but owing to unforseen circumstances it did not happen so we decided to do something this year. However ! - we agreed unanimously that instead of a trip we would send a donation of £200 to the Indian Earthquake Disaster fund.

I would like to thank everyone who bought cards and gifts from my Christmas catalogue. I was able to donate my commission of £123.17 to the Stroud Court Autistic Community.

Vida Sutton

The total collection of Boxholder?s Donations this year has amounted to £135.81. Thank you all for your continued support.

Gill James

1. Mike Waite has been elected Chairman of the Committee. Richard Dalziel is thanked for his hard work of the past year.
2. Following the enjoyable and well supported Quiz Night, the VHMC is hosting a Whist Drive on Saturday 17th March. Whist Drives were a very popular feature in the social life of the village going back in time to the early 1900?s. Given that many of the younger members of the community might never have taken part in a ?Drive? and that some of those older members might have forgotten what they once knew, it is proposed that an introductory/refresher course will be held in advance of the main event. The programme in the Village Hall is therefore: Wed 14th March - 7.00 pm Free Introductory/Refresher Course Sat 17th March - 7.00 pm Whist Drive, £2 adults, £1 children, inc. coffee & biscuits. Bring your own drinks if you wish. Enquiries to Tim Sage.
3. Arrangements are well in hand for the Village Hall Music Evening scheduled for Saturday 21st April. The performances will be acoustic with an emphasis on folk and jazz material. Full details will be published in the April Forerunner.

Village Hall Management Committee

Kingscote Hunting Appointments (subject to Foot and Mouth)

Friday March 2nd: The Berkeley Foxhounds will meet at Hunters? Hall at 11 am to go to Bagpath and Ozleworth.

Saturday March 24th: The annual joint meet of the Berkeley Foxhounds and the Duke of Beaufort?s Foxhounds will take place at Hunters? Hall at 12 noon. This meet always attracts a large following which can lead to some disruption of traffic.

Tim Sage

Caroline Edwards has recently been appointed the new South Cotswolds Fieldworker for the GRCC. This independent charity promotes equality of opportunity for people living in rural areas and seeks to improve the quality of life for rural people by:

Helping communities assess their needs through consultation; providing information and facilitating project work in response to needs, such as children?s play areas, transport initiatives, youth projects, environment; providing support, advice and information for village halls.

Forthcoming Event: Youth Leisure Show on Friday 18th May at Sir William Romney?s Community School Playing Fields, 6.30 pm to 9.00 pm followed by disco. The aim of the show is to make the young people of Tetbury and the surrounding parishes aware of the many different clubs and groups in the area, to introduce them to a new hobby or interest, and to give local clubs a chance to advertise and recruit new members.

Further information and consultation contact Caroline

Cay modelling from life. No experience necessary. Monday mornings from 9.30 am to 1.00 pm in Kingscote Village Hall.

For details and bookings please telephone.

Andrew Wood

The mobile library will be by The Walled Garden from 9.40 am to 9.55 am on Thursdays March 8th and 22nd.

The boxes will be emptied as follows:

Newington and Bagpath - Mondays 5th and 19th March.

Kingscote - Tuesdays 6th and 20th March.

The editor apologises to the ladies of the Grumbolds Ash group for omitting important information from their announcement in the February issue.

Contributions for the next issue please by 20th March to Harry Tubbs, 3 The Walled Garden, Tel. 860 194, Email

The New Church of England Service Book was published at the end of last year to replace the Alternative Service Book. The latter has been available since 1980 as a more modern alternative to the Book of Common Prayer, which contains some old words and expressions which may be unclear to those not familiar with it. The Book of Common Prayer itself, which is cherished by many older people who have grown up with it, remains in use.

The available printed versions of the New Book are not ideal for our community here in Kingscote, as they contain many alternative prayers, making them bulky, expensive and clumsy to use. The PCC has therefore, under the guidance of the vicar, prepared a more limited selection of alternative prayers which will satisfy our real needs whilst being simpler and cheaper.

The PCC plans to have the new booklet available for Easter 2001, and hopes that all will enjoy using it in place of the ASB on the third and fourth Sundays of each month. The booklet also contains a revised form of family worship which may when necessary be led by a lay-person.

Most will find the changes modest and very acceptable, as illustrated by the example of The Lord?s Prayer shown on a subsequent page.

The editor for the PCC

(We have space to spare this month so the editor has added the material below for your interest)

Extracts from: The Diary of a Cotswold Parson - Reverend F.E.Witts

1783-1854, Edited by David Very, Sutton Publishing, Stroud.

October 16th, 1833:

Walked before breakfast to the Montpellier Walks and Spa where we found even at this season a numerous company of water drinkers and promenaders. Met Mr. George who had attended the Sessions at Gloucester yesterday, and told me that Mr. Bathurst of Lydney Park has been appointed Chairman. It had been rumoured that the Whig party would have proposed some magistrate of their own politics; but as they would have had little chance in a court the majority of whose members hold Tory opinions it was prudent of them not to make the trial. Mr. Bathurst was brought up at the bar, is a sound lawyer, a very steady, upright, grave man. When I was last at the Quarter Sessions a most unjustified attack on the clerical magistrates was made by that hot headed, ill conditioned veteran Whig, Colonel Kingscote. That might have passed; but not a single voice was raised by a solitary layman present to disavow the insulting language used against the clergy, and I have felt little disposition to expose myself to a fresh insult. I more than doubt the wisdom in the present excited state of the country of a clergyman appearing at the Quarter Sessions; the contention between Whig and Tory runs high.

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