All Saints, North Featherstone · Middle English Cristemasse, which in turn comes from the Old English Cristesmæsse, a phrase first recorded waa-aay back in 1038. 2. Hanging stockings

St Thomas ,

Purston

All Saints, North

Featherstone

Featherstone Community Church

Magazine December 2019

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TELL THE CHILDREN

I found this anonymous story about the true

meaning of Christmas and I couldn’t think of a

better message of Christmas.

“Just a week before Christmas I had a visitor. This is how it hap-

pened...I just finished the household chores for the night and was

preparing to go to bed, when I heard a noise in the front of the

house. I opened the door to the front room and to my surprise, San-

ta himself stepped out from behind the Christmas tree. He placed

his finger over his mouth so I would not cry out. "What are you do-

ing?" I started to ask. The words choked up in my throat, and I saw

he had tears in his eyes. His usual jolly manner was gone. He then

approached me with a simple statement: "TEACH THE CHIL-

DREN!" I was puzzled; what did he mean? He anticipated my ques-

tion, and with one quick movement brought forth a miniature toy

bag from behind the tree. As I stood bewildered, Santa said, "Teach

the children! Teach them the old meaning of Christmas. The mean-

ing that these days Christmas has been forgotten." Santa then

reached in his bag and pulled out a FIR TREE and placed it before

the mantle. "Teach the children that the pure green colour of the

stately fir tree remains green all year round, depicting the

everlasting hope of mankind, all the needles point heavenward,

making it a symbol of man's thoughts turning toward heaven." He

again reached into his bag and pulled out a brilliant STAR. "Teach

the children that the star was the heavenly sign of promises long

ago. God promised a Saviour for the world, and the star was the

sign of fulfilment of His promise." He then reached into his bag and

pulled out a CANDLE. "Teach the children that the candle

symbolizes that Christ is the light of the world, and when we see

this great light we are reminded of He who displaces the darkness."

Once again he reached into his bag and removed a WREATH and

placed it on the tree.

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"Teach the children that the wreath symbolizes the real nature of love. Real love never ceases. Love is one continuous round of affection." He then pulled from his bag and ornament of HIMSELF. "Teach the children that I, Santa Claus symbolize the generosity and good will we feel during the month of December." He then brought out a HOLLY LEAF. "Teach the children that the holly plant rep-resents immortality. It represents the crown of thorns worn by our Saviour. The red holly represents the blood shed by Him." Next he pulled from his bag a GIFT and said, "Teach the children that God so loved the world that he gave his Son to be sacrificed and to redeem us". Thanks be to God for his unspeakable gift. Teach the children that the wise men bowed before the holy babe and presented him with gold, frankincense and myrrh. We should always give gifts in the same spirit of the wise men." Santa then reached in his bag and pulled out a CANDY CANE and hung it on the tree. "Teach the children that the candy cane represents the shepherds' crook. The crook on the staff helps to bring back strayed sheep to the flock. The candy cane is the symbol that we are our brother's keeper." He reached in again and pulled out an ANGEL. "Teach the children that it was the angels that heralded in the glorious news of the Saviour’s birth. The angels sang Glory to God in the highest, on earth peace and good will toward men." Suddenly I heard a soft twinkling sound, and from his bag he pulled out a BELL. "Teach the children that as the lost sheep are found by the sound of the bell, it should ring mankind to the fold. The bell symbolizes guidance and return." Santa looked back and was pleased. He looked back at me and I saw that the twinkle was back in his eyes. He said, "Remember, teach the children the true meaning of Christmas and do not put me in the centre, for I am but a humble servant of the One that is, and I bow down to worship Him, our Lord, our God.

May I wish you all a fruitful Advent and a blessed Christmas and New

Year.

Your priest and friend, Joseph

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Advent & Christmas diary dates

December

1ST THE FIRST SUNDAY OF ADVENT:

Services at the usual time: 8 & 10.30 a.m. St Thomas; 9.30 a.m. All Saints.

4 p.m. “LOOKING FOR THE LIGHT”. A service at the beginning of Advent in St Thomas church.

8TH THE SECOND SUNDAY OF ADVENT:

Services at the usual time: 8 & 10.30 a.m. St Thomas; 9 a.m. All Saints.

10TH TUESDAY:

6. p.m. SINGING AROUND THE CHRISTMAS TREE opposite “Bradley Arms” North Feather-stone.

11TH WEDNESDAY:

6 for 6.30 p.m. CIVIC CHRISTMAS CAROL SERVICE in St Thomas church.

12TH THURSDAY:

6. p.m. SINGING AROUND THE CHRISTMAS TREE in Purston opposite LIDL. Featherstone brass band will perform.

15TH THE THIRD SUNDAY OF ADVENT:

Services at the usual time: 8 & 10.30 a.m. St Thomas; 9 a.m. All Saints.

4 p.m. “SONGS OF PRAISE”, a service of carols & readings in the Gospel Hall.

19TH THURSDAY:

9.30 a.m. ALL SAINTS SCHOOL CHRISTMAS SERVICE in All Saints church 20TH FRIDAY:

11 a.m. ST THOMAS SCHOOL CHRISTMAS SERVICE in St Thomas church. 22ND THE FOURTH SUNDAY OF ADVENT:

Services at the usual time: 8 & 10.30 a.m. St Thomas; 9 a.m. All Saints.

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TH

CHRISTMAS EVE:

7.30 p.m. CHRISTMAS EVE MASS in All Saints church.

11 p.m. MIDNIGHT MASS (for both S.T. & A.S. congregations) in St Thomas church.

25TH

CHRISTMAS DAY: services at 8 a.m. St Thomas, 9 a.m. All Saints,

10.30 a.m. St Thomas.

29TH

THE FIRST SUNDAY OF CHRISTMAS: 8 & 10.30 a.m. St Thom-

as; 9 a.m. All Saints.

JANUARY

1ST

NEW YEAR’S DAY: 12 noon New Year service in All Saints (for both

parishes of AS & ST)

5TH

THE EPHIPANY: 8 & 10.30 a.m. St Thomas; 9.30 a.m. All Saints.

10TH

FRIDAY: CHRISMAS/NEW YEAR MEAL (for both parishes). Venue

and other details to be announced.

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HUGGAMUG COFFEE SHOP

NEW SEASONAL MENU

Church lane, Featherstone

Hot & cold food to eat in or take away.

Small after hours functions available e.g.

baby showers, afternoon teas.

Open 7.00a.m. –4.00p.m. Mon

to Friday

Tel: Jo—0758 4635870

Twisted Vintage

Give your home a soul

We Have an eclectic mix of modern, vintage and rustic style home

accessories and gifts.

Handmade soft furnishings

Candles

Pre-loved vintage items

Fabric, ribbon and lace

Gifts

Garden accessories

The Old Mexborough Arms

CastlefordWF10 5PT

Tel:01977 512939

Opening Times: Everyday 10am – 4.00pm

7

DENTURES BY DOMINIC

General dental Council Reg No 145164

11 Andrew Street, Featherstone WF7 5NS

01977 793193

Private Denture Clinic where quality & service count.

At Dentures by Dominic, we don’t just make dentures, we create smiles.....

Complete or partial acrylic dentures

Soft comfortable linings

Denture care & denture repair

Metal/chrome dentures

Wheelchair access

Home visits available

Residential & Care Home visits

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From Frances, Derek & Family to all our friends at St Thomas . A happy & joyful Christmas to all at church

At this Holy season may you all be blessed with joy, peace, love

& happiness. Love & prayers, Norah

To all at St Thomas church;

Wishing everyone a happy Christmas

and good health & happiness in 2020.

From Carol Brown, & Daivd Studd

To all our church

friends, May the

peace , joy & special

wonder of Christmas

remain with you

throughout 2020,

From Norman & Eliz-

abeth Wishing you all the very best

for Christmas & New Year.

Wendy & Dave

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To all our church family, Peace, Joy & Love for

Christmas & 2020,

From Joyce & Tom

A happy & Holy Christmas

to all from Keith & Wendy

Wilson

Peace & God’s blessings to you all this

Christmas & New Year from Gail

Copley & family

A very Happy Christmas to

all & a great 2020. Elizabeth

& Malcolm

May peace &

love be with you

at Christmas &

the coming year.

Joyce Settle.

All good wishes for

the New Year.

M.L.Barlow

Christmas Blessings to everyone,

Jenny & Brian

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Peace at Christmas to everyone Love Julie

Peace & happiness at Christmas

Val & Dave

Wishing you all a joyful Christmas & a happy new Year

George & Marion

Happy Christmas to everyone from

Janice & David

Wishing everyone a Joyful Christmas & a Healthy & Hap-py New Year

Brian, Sue, Bethany & Austin

Wishing you all Peace & Joy at Christmas

Josie

CHRISTMAS MESSAGES raised £100 for

Featherstone food bank

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Peace & Joy to every-one for Christmas

Jenny D

Merry Christmas & a Hap-py New Year

Irene

Thank you for supporting us. We wish you all a Hap-py & Holy Christmas

The Tanzanian Team

Wishing you all a happy & Holy Christmas

Pat OH

A happy & holy Christmas to everyone

Sue Kirkham

Christmas blessings to everyone from

Alex & Rhiannon

Father Joseph, Clare & family wish

you all a peaceful & merry

Christmas, & a healthy & happy New

Year

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Christmas traditions and origins 1. Christmas is a contraction of “Christ’s Mass,” which is derived from the Middle English Cristemasse, which in turn comes from the Old English Cristesmæsse, a phrase first recorded waa-aay back in 1038.

2. Hanging stockings out comes from the Dutch custom of leaving shoes packed with food for St Nicholas’s donkeys. He would leave small gifts in return.

3. The tradition of putting tangerines in stockings comes from 12th-century French nuns who left socks full of fruit, nuts and tangerines at the houses of the poor.

4. Boxing Day gets its name from all the money collected in church alms-boxes for the poor.

5. The first commercial Christmas cards were commissioned by civil servant Sir Henry Cole in London in 1843. Featuring a family drinking wine, one sold for £8,469 in 2014.

6. Robins on cards started as a joke 150 years ago when postmen wore red tunics and were named after them.

7. The Christmas cracker was invented by a London sweet shop owner called Tom Smith. In 1847, after spotting French bonbons wrapped in paper with a twist at each end, he sold similar sweets with a “love motto” inside. He then included a little trinket and a “bang”. His “Bangs of Expectation” included gifts such as jewellery and miniature dolls. By 1900, he was selling 13 million a year.

8. According to tradition, you should eat one mince pie on each of the 12 days of Christmas to bring good luck.

9. It’s technically illegal to eat mince pies on Christmas Day in England. In the 17th century, Oliver Cromwell banned Christmas pudding, mince pies and anything to do with gluttony. The law has never been rescinded.

10. Why red, gold and green? Green has long been a symbol of life and rebirth; red symbolizes the blood of Christ, and gold represents light as well as wealth and royalty.

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CHRISTMAS QUIZ

NAME THE CHRISTMAS SONGS- we have done the first one

1. Bleached Yule - answer White Christmas

2. Castaneous-coloured Seed Vesicated in a Conflagration

3. Singular Yearning for the Twin Anterior Incisors

4. Righteous Darkness

5. Arrival Time2400 hrs – Weather Cloudless

6. Loyal Followers Advance

7. Far Off in a Feeder

8. Array the Corridor

9. Bantam Male Percussionist

10. Monarchial Triad

11. Nocturnal Noiselessness

12. Jehovah Deactivate Blithe Chevaliers

13. Red Man En Route to Borough

14. Frozen Precipitation Commence

15. Proceed and Enlighten on the Pinnacle

16. The Quadruped with the Vermillion Probiscis

17. Query Regarding Identity of Descendant

18. Delight for this Planet

19. Give Attention to the Melodious Celestial Beings

20. The Dozen Festive 24 Hour Intervals

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The Rectory St James the Least of All My dear Nephew Darren I am sorry I was not alive during that wonderful four-year pe-riod when Oliver Cromwell abolished Christmas. Just think! No Christmas parties, no carol services, no cards to send and no frantic last-minute shopping. That man was a hero. Planning for Christmas at St James’ normally starts on 2nd January. By Easter, the flowers for church have been colour coordinated, the seating plans and table dec-orations for the Christmas party have been allocated (with nominated reserves in case someone should inconveniently die in the intervening eight months). Long before Summer is over, the tree lights have been tested, music for the 9 Lessons and Carols Service has been chosen and the service sheets printed. Way before the dark nights set in, car parking attendants will have been found, those who are to light all the candles will have been rehearsed to perfection and the brass lectern has had its annual polish. We do not do spontaneity at St James the Least of All. If ever there was a service when time for something unexpected was allowed, its place would be announced in the order of service, how long it would happen unexpectedly would have been decided by a committee and who was to be spontaneous would have been allocated on a rota. The one person none of these well-meaning, efficient, committed organisers can control is the Rector. You could call it a staff perk. Carols will (accidentally, of course) be announced in the wrong order; if verse 3 was to be omitted, I announce it will be verse 4. This keeps the organist on his toes while the choir hovers on the point of a collective nervous breakdown. At the Christmas supper, my introductory welcome speech and extensive grace make those in the kitchen wonder if the vegetables being boiled should better be served as thick soup. I offer the helpful suggestion that the tree, having been installed and decorated in the chancel, may perhaps look better in the sanctuary and I turn all the heating off throughout the season, explaining that it will help the flowers to last. All Services will start five minutes early (was my watch rather fast?) so I can look disapprovingly at those still coming in while we are singing the first carol and making it clear that I think they had spent too long in the pub next door. And so we all reach Christmas morning, with 12 months of planning having gone yet again slightly awry, with parishioners exhausted and I exhilarated at the chaos that has been created with such ease. Mr Cromwell, your spirit lives on. Your loving uncle,

Eustace

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.

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Tuesday Coffee Morning St Thomas Church Hall Tuesday 9.30 am—12 noon. Delicious homemade cake & buns & toasted teacakes

Wednesday Coffee Morning All Saints Church Wednesday 10.30—12 noon Delicious homemade cake, quiche & toasted teacakes

J M HENNEL MRICS AMM T ENG

Plans drawn and put through

Planning and Building Regulations

Houses to garages

Newlands

Cutsyke Road

Featherstone

WF7 6BD

Tel 01977 780436

Mobile 07932 773241

E-mail: [email protected]

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TUESDAY PARENT & TODDLER/BABY GROUP

Come & join us at our new free group. Time to chat, whilst hav-

ing a cup of tea and time for your children to play together &

socialise. Come along to All Saints church every Tuesday in

school term time from 9.15 a.m. to 10.30

Bethlehemian Rhapsody

If you enjoyed the song Bohemian Rhapsody, and would like the ‘Christmas version’, complete with singing puppets, do visit this on You Tube. It is from last year, but still well worth the visit! https://youtu.be/IxvMkSKRWOA

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ST THOMAS Years Mind December

1 Edith Grandidge

Maureen Fletcher

Irene Simpson

2 Harry Nicholls

3 Elias Taylor

Joe Beevers

4 George Eyre

Howard Briton

Sarah J Randall

6 Dorothy Richards

7 Frederick Goldnrough

8 Violetta Roberts

9 Herbert Dixo

Harold Grandidge

Walter Higgins

11 George A Kirk

12 Jim Kerr

S Jennifer Fox

13 Dpris Sharratt

Charles Raybould

14 Harriet Baxter

Gordon Goode

Harry Morgan

15 Bernard Bullock

16 William D Howgate

Ida Ramsden

Frederick J Corbet

18 John A Rammsbotham

(Bishop)

19 Kate Braithwaite

George F Bakewell

20 Gail E Emery

Willam Frankland

Joseph H Livesey

21 Besssi Anderson

Elsie Beevers

Joyce Watson

23 Enid Baker

John J Williams

Enid N Matthewman

24 Hertbert Sharp

25 Jim Kerr

27 Charles Hutchinson

28 Bessie Scargill

William Gunn

30 Olive Pearce

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1st Lesley Stocks 2009

26th Thomas Kirk 2012

27th Alfgred Short 2012

27th Bertha Noble

6th Dr Robert Forster 2009 28th Jessie Ellis 2014

10th Arthur Morton 2014

Sharon Maxey 2010

12th Cyril Lockett 2006 Jenny Joicey 2010

Barry Gill 2009

17th Joyce Morley 2014

18th Donald D Garland 2005 Florence Riley 2009

Gladys Melhurst 2010

Edith Webster 2010

23rd Sidney James Jack Walker 2009

Arthur Morton 2014 Renie Keenan 2010

Ronald Hepworth 2014 Joan Rowett 2010

From the Parish Registers, All Saints

December Year’s Mind

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It is just over 30 years since World Aids Day first began, in 1988. It was the first ever glob-al health day, and there is still very much a need for continuing an informed and united

fight against AID-related illnesses.

Worldwide, there are now an estimated 36.7million people who have the virus. More than 35 million others have already died of HIV or AIDS, making it one of the most destructive

pandemics in history.

Each year in the UK, more than 4,300 are diagnosed with HIV. There are 101,600 people

living with HIV in the UK.

World AIDS Day aims to raise awareness of the problem. More details of how to get in-volved at: www.worldaidsday.org

Meanwhile, ACET UK is a Christian charity which began in the 1980s as a compassionate

response to the HIV and AIDS pandemic. In many countries, where stigma and discrimi-

nation against sufferers is very great, ACET works to help facilitate the delivery of HIV pre-

vention, care and support programmes. More details at www.acet-uk.com

Christmas Quiz Answers : 1. White Christmas 2. Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire 3. All I Want for Christmas is My Two Front Teeth 4. O Holy Night 5. It Came Upon a Midnight Clear 6. O Come, All Ye Faithful 7. Away in a Manger 8. Deck the Hall 9. Little Drummer Boy 10. We Three Kings 11. Silent Night 12. God Rest Ye, Merry Gentlemen 13. Santa Claus is Coming to Town 14. Let it Snow 15. Go, Tell It on the Mountain 16. Rudolph, the Red-nosed Reindeer 17. What Child is This? 18. Joy to the World

19. Hark! The Herald Angels Sing

20. The Twelve Days of Christmas

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PARISH MASS

Sunday 9am at All Saints’ Parish Church Featherstone 1st Sunday of Month 9.30am Family Service All Saints

and at 10.30am at Saint Thomas' Parish Church also 8am Said Mass at Saint Thomas

Father Joseph Grosu Saint Thomas’ House

32 Victoria Street, Purston WF7 5EZ

Telephone 01977 792288 Curate Peter Clapham

Usual Said Masses

Tuesdays 12pm St Thomas Church Hall Wednesdays 9.30am All Saints’–

Including Healing on last Wednesday of each month

Baptism enquiries St Thomas ;Joyce Dibb Tel . 709680 All Saints ; Jane Wyard Tel. 796050 or Gail Copley Tel. 706064 Magazine editors: Jenny Pye & Clare Grosu & Val Carter

Hire of St Thomas Church Hall Tel. Clare 01977 792288 Hire of All Saints Rooms Tel. Sue Kirkham 01977 703113 Churchwardens

St Thomas ; Frances & Derek Varndell: Tel. 075353 50705 All Saints; David Brooks Tel. 550748 , Wendy Wilson Tel. 277947 Saint Thomas Junior School Head teacher Mrs D Randall Telephone: 01977 706063 All Saints Church of England Academy Headteacher Mr M Jones Telephone 01977 780225