General Chat

Good morning :-)

Remembering....


As with our Roman Catholic friends, many Anglican churches have an aumbry. This is a small cupboard where the ‘reserved Sacrament’ is kept – wafers and wine which have been consecrated and are ready to take out to those who are housebound, sick or near death. The ancient custom of Christians has been to keep a lamp burning in front of the aumbry to mark it out, to give honour to the Sacrament and to remind us of the Presence of Christ.

This little story is very relevant …..

In 1995, on the last day of his visit to the US, Pope John Paul II was due to visit a Seminary in Baltimore. His schedule was tight so the plan was for him to greet the seminarians outside on the steps. Instead, he made his way through their ranks and into the building. He wanted to make a visit to the Blessed Sacrament.

When his wishes were made known, security flew into action. They swept the building paying close attention to the chapel where the Pope would be praying. For this purpose, highly trained dogs were used to detect any person who might be present.

The dogs are trained to locate survivors in collapsed buildings after earthquakes and other disasters. These highly intelligent and eager dogs quickly went through the halls, offices and classrooms and were then sent to the chapel. They went up and down the aisle, past the pews and finally into the side chapel where the Blessed Sacrament is reserved.

Upon reaching the tabernacle, the dogs sniffed, whined, pointed, and refused to leave, their attention riveted on the tabernacle, until called by their handlers. They were convinced that they discovered someone there.

Of course, they were right — they found a real, living Person in the tabernacle!”
— Fr. Arthur Byrne

Cx :-)

Good morning :-)

Lord God, we pray for the leaders of the nations at this time and especially for the United States. Give them a longing to bring freedom from fear and freedom from want for all peoples.
Give strength and courage to those who bear heavy responsibilities for the peace of the world. We pray also for the Christian Church, called to witness to your love in this generation.
May Christians work with all men of goodwill to break down the barriers which divide people. May those who profess one faith respect those who sincerely hold another faith and build a community where there is harmony and understanding.
Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer. Amen.

Cx :-)

Good morning :-)

As we remember the gallant men who fought in the wars....we also remember the clergy.

Clergy have also been involved in serving in warfare as chaplains, and from before 1066 armies have taken clergy with them to war. The roles of chaplains within the military have changed significantly but their presence has remained as important as ever.

Priests exchanged their normal routine for theatres of war. All chaplains lived in the same conditions, experienced the same dangers, and witnessed the same carnage as the men they served.

Chaplains celebrated Mass, administered the sacraments, tended the wounded, buried the dead and brought spiritual comfort to men in need. Chaplains were also charged with strengthening regimental unity, maintaining high morale, encouraging and assisting soldiers to write to their families, censoring letters, actively participating in mess duties.

Their commitment earned them respect and admiration. Some chaplains were killed, others were wounded, gassed or died of natural causes. Many were decorated for bravery - it was not a ministry for the faint hearted. 179 chaplains died in WW1 and 134 in WW2.

The conflicts may change but the call, care, compassion and prayer remains constant.

Cx :-)

Hello all

Another foggy and damp start to the morning again.

Remembrance weekend and so very different now.

Church is closed yet again and so our village Service of Remembrance and laying of wreaths won't take place. Such a sad state of affairs imho.

I plan to watch tonight's Royal British Legion Festival of Remembrance on TV and tomorrow the Remembrance Service from the Cenotaph and the Songs of Praise Remembrance Day special later.

Great respect and admiration for all taking part.

Go0d morning :-D



We remember today O Lord all those who have died in any kind of war throughout your world,
soldiers who perished in the horror of battle,
innocent people buried beneath the rubble from bomb attacks, men women and children brutally attacked and murdered in their homes, towns and villages.

Today we remember especially those victims of the two world wars including those close to us, or to our family, parents and grandparents and for all service men and women who have died in the violence of war.

We remember and pray for those who came home with terrible injuries, both physical and psychological and those whose loved ones never returned.

May God give Peace
God give Peace.


Amen.



Cx

Hello all

A very different Remembrance Day this year, but still as emotional and humbling as ever.

"When you go home
Tell them of us and say,
For your tomorrow
We gave our today."

We will remember them.

Yes, a very different Remembrance Day all over the world.

Today, churches held small services, those that have been able to re-open or to stay open. November 11 is still the day that Canada celebrates and remembers .............. the day for all parades and services at Cenotaphs across the country, free travel on transit and free parking for veterans from about 9 am to 6 or 8 pm in many places, and a Statutory Holiday, with many people getting the day off.

Places where people are working, stores, shops, etc etc usually stop for 2 minutes at 11 am.

Much will not happen this year .............. no large services at the Cenotaphs, no parades to and from the Cenotaphs, although many Legion Halls will be open for spacially distanced and no more than the maximum number of attendees allowed for that venue (usually 50, but can be smaller or larger depending on the size of the inside space).


Yesterday, we had a crack down in BC on some of our "freedom" as a result of record numbers of positive covid cases. Two adjoining health regions in southern BC, including the one where I live, have had to close large halls, only the residents of the house allowed (no visitors, even of family), immediate cancelling of limousines and party buses. This was announced at 3:00 pm yesterday and took effect at 10 pm last night ............ so immediately, no dallying round. The bans will last for 2 weeks, until November 23, and can be extended.

Churches are still allowed to have services as long as attendees can maintain spatial distancing of 6'or more and there are fewer than 50 inside the church.

OH went to church this morning, he said there were about 22 people at the Anglican church. No-one attended to Baptist church across the street, although the Filipeno members have been attending for several weeks.

No veterans, Scouts/Guides. or Cadets have been out selling poppies as they usually do, but boxes of poppies have been put near the check-outs of places that have been willing to have them previously.

OH bought 2 from the box at our coffee shop when he went down there this afternoon, as we have for the last 3 or 4 years


Stay safe

Good morning :-)


That's odd, I distinctly remember posting here yesterday....! Mind you, my internet was coming and going so maybe I posted when I wasn't on line and didn't realise. Apologies for that.

Yes a different Remembrance Sunday - but at least it was still remembered ....the Saturday night Remembrance Service was good - small in numbers but very well produced as was Sunday from the Cenotaph. Lots of churches did online services - which were mixed. Some of the services online are good, whilst others are dire I have found.

Anyway......taking a look at some brave chaplains through the wars...

Woodbine Willie was one of the best-loved chaplains of WW1. His real name was Father Geoffrey Studdert Kennedy. In 1914 he was vicar of St Paul’s Church in Worcester. He was known as a high churchman who ‘loved ritual as an aid to worship’. He also had a real way with people, and it is said that ‘scores of worshippers would queue to speak with him about what he had been saying’.

This ability to communicate with people was to stand him in good stead during the War. He had no time for conscientious objectors writing that ‘every able-bodied man ought to volunteer for service anywhere’ and on 21 December 1915, he was among them.

Four days later he was conducting a Christmas Day service in a village square in France. In Rouen he spent time seeing troops off to the front, giving them New Testaments from one bag and Woodbine cigarettes from another. That’s how he got his nickname of Woodbine Willie.

In 1916 he was at the Somme among the troops on a day when 21,000 were killed and 35,000 injured. In his diary, he wrote about accompanying the men digging trenches into No Man’s Land. He wrote,

‘Fear came. There was a pain underneath my belt. Of course, I had to go. It was the parish. We crept out. We could not get out into the two-foot ditch that they had made, it was crowded with men. We went along the edge. I whispered some inane remark as I passed by and was rewarded with a grin which even darkness could not hide and often when I passed with the muttered comment, “Gaw blyme if it ain’t the padre!” Vaguely I felt that this journey was worthwhile.’

As well as being with the troops at the front line, he marched with them, dug tunnels and trenches, shared jokes, led singing and held services. He sought out the wounded and dying in No Man’s Land, often dragging them back to the trenches for treatment and prayer. He spent time at makeshift hospitals and often went for 24 hours without sleep.

In 1917 he was awarded the Military Cross, and by the end of that year, he had visited and preached at all the British bases in France. His ability to get alongside ordinary soldiers was frowned upon by many of the senior ranks in the Army, but his biographer says ‘the ordinary soldiers heard him gladly.’

In 1929 'Woodbine Willie' was taken ill at a vicarage in Liverpool whilst he was delivering some Lenten addresses. He died at the age of 45 and his body was taken back to Worcester. His body lay in state and thousands came to pay homage - old soldiers kept a vigil. Many packets of Woodbines were placed on his coffin and in his grave.

o Archbishop William Temple, Studdert Kennedy was “One of God’s greatest gifts to our generation”, and, quite simply, “the finest priest I have ever known”. T

We give thanks for this extraordinary man.

Cx :-)

Good morning :-)

Remembrance Day.

Another inspiring chaplain......


The Revd. George Kendall, who was pivotal in choosing the body that would become known as the ‘Unknown Warrior’ - an idea which came from Revd. David Railton.

George Kendall was born in Yorkshire and trained as a Methodist Minister. When the First World War broke out, he volunteered to go to France as chaplain with the local regiment. He survived malaria in the Dardanelles and being gassed at the Somme and eventually became the leading chaplain in Belgium and France.

After 1918 he took on the grim task of exhuming all the bodies buried where they fell in Belgium, from fields, ditches, and the ruins of buildings, and moving them to the new war grave cemeteries. He was, therefore, uniquely qualified when charged with finding, exhuming, and bringing to St Pol near Arras the bodies from whom the Unknown Warrior was chosen and transferred to Dover on HMS Verdun.

He selected six corpses without identification marks. He made sure all the coffins looked exactly the same and that there was no evidence of where the bodies came from. The six coffins were placed in a hut and each was covered with a Union Jack. All night they rested on trestles, with nothing to distinguish one from the other. 'The door of the hut was locked, and sentries posted outside. In the morning, a general entered the hut, placed his hand on one of the flag-shrouded coffins and the body therein became the Unknown Warrior.

The Unknown Warrior’s body, that George Kendall, helped to choose, was brought to London and buried on November 11, 1920 in Westminster Abbey. Watching, as the coffin was buried with 100 sandbags of soil brought from the battlefields, were 100 women who had lost their husbands and all their sons in the war, It is now one of the world’s most famous war graves.


Cx :-)

Remembering today all those who have given their lives in conflict wherever and whenever it took place and those who are still suffering physically and mentally.

At 11 am I took a couple of quiet minutes out of the day but found that, instead of thinking of those who didn't come back from the wars, I was thinking of my late father-in-law. He was in Germany and came home after the war ended but it wasn't until the last year or so of his life that he ever talked about his experiences and then only to OH, his eldest son. It was clear that he had a pretty horrific time and must have carried the scars with him throughout his life. When the medals were being handed out he refused to take his. He was patriotic and prepared to fight for his country but he felt that having medals was almost like glorifying the experience and there was no glory in war. He was an ordinary man of quiet courage and I respected him enormously.

Hello all

I watched the BBC1 service this morning focused around the Unknown Warrior. I stood and observed the 2 minutes silence along with the others and you could have heard a pin drop inside the Abbey.

I've missed being with my church family and villagers at the Remembrance Service and Memorial this weekend and again today.
Brave men who proudly wore their medals and berets and shed tears at the playing of the Last Post and the Reveille. Everyone deep in thought at such poignant times.

Vera, thank you for sharing your own special family memories here today.

We will remember them.

Good morning :-)


The service from the Abbey was lovely.....we certainly know how to do things well don't we. I have the decorator here at the moment and, along with my daughter, we all stood for the 2 minutes silence.

Vera, such bittersweet memories for you. In those days, ptsd was recognised as it is today and so many men suffered unimaginable agonies over there wartime experiences......OH's father was much the same. <3

Many chaplains died in the 2 wars.....

Revd Gareth Banting

Gareth B. Banting was the son of Revd Edgar Banting and Charlotte Emily Banting of Plumtree Rectory. He took holy orders after graduating from Cambridge and became the much-liked Chaplain of No. 2 Commando and served in all their campaigns of 1943-1944.

While Allied armies were fighting their way across Europe in the autumn of 1944, a small force of Royal Marine and Army commandos was preparing to capture the Albanian town of Saranda to help the Albanian partisans harass the retreating German forces.

The combined force of No 2 and No 40 Commandos battled on through atrocious terrain and monsoon-type weather conditions. After a bitterly contested battle, the town of Saranda fell on the afternoon of October 9th1944.

The next day, Gareth was attending to the burial of British Commandos and German soldiers when he stepped on an anti-personnel mine. He died while being carried to an aid post, on October 10th 1944, he was 32 years old.

An extract from the No 2 Commando War Diary reads:

"Revd. Banting takes party from 3 Tp. to bury Capt. Parsons, Lieut. Coyle, Gnr. Clarke, and Pte. Lyons. After burial he moved forward to bury German dead in the same position but is blown up on a mine. Stretcher party finds he has died of wounds - carried back to Saranda by M.O. before nightfall."

Gareth was buried the following day at 3pm. Naturally, his parents were devastated to learn of his death. His mother, Charlotte, never fully recovered from the shock.

The memorial headstone to him reads:

CHAPLAIN TO THE FORCES
THE REV. G. B. BANTING. MA.
ROYAL ARMY CHAPLAINS DEPT.
NO.2 COMMANDO
10TH OCTOBER 1944 AGE 32
BLESSED ARE THE PURE IN HEART:
FOR THEY SHALL SEE GOD



Cx :-)

Good morning :-)

Another brave chaplain......


Reverend J.Fraser McLuskey, a minister in the Church of Scotland and a Military Cross recipient, dropped far behind German lines with his SAS parish to work with the French Resistance. He jumped unarmed, as all chaplains did, but carried a substantial load in addition to his rations and other equipment. In his pack were prayer books, hymnals, New Testaments, an oak cross, Communion vessels, and a silk altar cloth dyed Airborne maroon.

McLuskey held regular services, although the volume of the men’s hymn-singing sometimes had to be muffled to avoid attracting the interest of a nearby enemy. Other chaplains jumped on D-Day. In a single British airborne brigade, two chaplains were killed and a third captured.

After returning to Britain Fraser McLuskey travelled throughout the country visiting the families of men killed in action with the SAS to explain the circumstances of their death. He also helped set up the Royal Army Chaplain’s Training Centre at Bagshot, Surrey

He was later called to St Columba’s, London in 1960 and remained there until his retirement in 1986. His first wife died in 1959 and he married his second wife, Ruth Briant (nee Hunter) in 1966.

He maintained links with the Army by acting as the Chaplain to the London Scottish Regiment and was also Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland in 1983-84.

Fraser McLuskey died in 2005.

Cx :-)

Hello all

Another fascinating topic Cynthia. Thank you.

Blessings to all who are struggling today.

Take care and keep safe everyone.

Good evening! :-)

Sorry to be later but its been quite a week and a very hectic morning today. Better late than never I suppose... :-D


To end our look at the chaplains role in warfare……


A wounded American officer, sheltering in a shell hole during the battle in the Ardennes Forest, was amazed to see the unarmed chaplain running towards the front line, dodging bullets, mortar shells, splintering wood from the trees as they disintegrated under the heavy enemy fire, dirt and shrapnel flying in all directions.

He called out to the chaplain, 'Where do you think you are going Father? All hell is breaking loose out there!'

The chaplain, not stopping shouted back, 'I'm going where I am needed.'

That simple statement of the obvious is still as relevant today to all in ministry.



Cx :-)

Don’t worry about being late Cynthia. We appreciate the amount of time you give to this thread in your busy life so thank you for that.

It’s been another interesting topic this week. There were some very brave men amongst the services’ chaplains.

Good morning :-)

Goodness, it's horrible here - wet, grey and windy.......a stay inside day for sure! :-D

I have been upside down here all week - kitchen redecorated and new cupboard doors plus new bathroom sink (it suddenly decided to come away from the wall) and a new bathroom floor because there was a problem with it. I have lived to tell the tale. zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz :-D


The Collect (special prayer) for today:

Heavenly Father,
whose blessed Son was revealed
to destroy the works of the devil
and to make us the children of God and heirs of eternal life:
grant that we, having this hope,
may purify ourselves even as he is pure;
that when he shall appear in power and great glory
we may be made like him in his eternal and glorious kingdom;
where he is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever. Amen.


Cx :-)

Good morning :-)

Yesterday’s reading of the parable of the talents is so interesting. It reminds us that Jesus has promised to come again and that we are responsible for using the gifts he has given us to the best of our ability.

Whatever our talent is, Jesus is saying that it is important not to hide our talents from others – not to just keep them to ourselves and never let them grow. Instead, it is by going out into the world, by sharing our talents and using our skills to help others that we serve God.

Generous God, you gave us a voice. Help us shout loud for what is right and fair. You gave us ears. Help us to listen to those in need. You gave us talents. Help us share and multiply them for the good of all your people. Amen


Cx :-)

Good morning :-)


Our talents.....

Quilting seems to be a very popular past-time. I remember reading a poem about an old lady who painstakingly made a quilt for her church funds. Her sight was poor and her fingers arthritic but she persevered and prayed, as she stitched, that the quilt would bring happiness to someone.

Unfortunately, come the day of the bazaar, the beautiful quilt was not sold so it was packed into a box and sent for missionary work in Africa.

When it arrived, a missionary packed it up and took it with him on his travels to remote areas. At one place, the African Chief was so taken by the beauty of the quilt that he wanted to keep it.

To cut a long story short, the quilt made by the prayerful old lady in England, was instrumental in opening the gate for the missionary to teach this African Chief and his people about Jesus.

Lord, help us to use our talents, however small they are, to bring the Good News to others. Amen.


Cx :-)

Good morning :-)


Our talents and gifts…

Three pelicans were flying to a popular lake. As they travelled, they were each lost in thought.

The first pelican thought to himself, “I love my beak. It’s magnificent. No other bird has a beak quite like mine. When I get to the lake, I’m going to parade along the bank, showing off my beautiful beak and all of the other birds will be jealous.”

The second pelican thought to himself, “I love my beak and I need to protect it. I can’t afford for it to get damaged, so I’m going to only catch small fish in shallow waters. I know that I can do more, but it’s too risky.”

The third pelican thought to himself, “I love my beak. It’s a beauty and I’m going to push the limits and get the most out of it. I’m going to become the best catcher of fish in the lake. I’ve been given this beak for a reason, so I’m going to work hard and catch the biggest fish out there.”

We’ve all been given unique talents and gifts, however small they may be, for a reason.
Not to show off that we have them.
Not to do the bare minimum with them.
But to fully develop them and use them to their maximum capacity.
We are each here to make a positive difference to the world around us and are all equipped for the task one way or another.

Lord, help us to use our gifts to benefit others in any way we can. Amen.

Cx :-)