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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24
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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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