ChadNet – no 130 – Sunday 18th September 2022
Welcome to this week’s edition of ChadNet – the eBulletin of St Chad’s Church, Pattingham with Patshull.
Death of Her Majesty the Queen
We continue with the rest of the nation to observe the period of mourning following the death of Her Majesty the Queen. The church flag is flying at half mast and will continue at half mast until after Her Majesty’s funeral. The bells were rung half muffled last Sunday and will continue to be half muffled until after the funeral.
There is a Book of Condolence on the Welcome Table at the back of the church and space for flowers to be left outside to the right of the porch.
The service this Sunday will be a Thanksgiving Service for the Life of Her Majesty, led by Ken Scott.
In this week’s ChadNet:
- View from the Pews – Iain Coleman
- Sunday 18th September – Fourteenth Sunday after Trinity
- This week
- Sunday 25th September – Harvest Thanksgiving
- Link to Hope Shoebox Appeal
- Garden Produce
- From the Memorial Book
- Resources to use at home
- Giving to the Church
View from the Pews
My parents possessed an item of furniture referred to as their “china cabinet”. Ornately woodened framed, it was otherwise constructed entirely of glass. Not the most sensible item in a household of three boisterous boys. It contained the item pictured, manufactured to celebrate the Coronation and my mother told me that it was mine as I was “a Coronation baby”. As you can see, the item has survived – as indeed did the cabinet. So in my lifetime I knew no other monarch and I was a member of a new Elizabethan age. There will be myriad and more eloquent commentaries of the life of HM the late Queen Elizabeth II than I can write but perhaps I may share some recollections and thoughts.
Aged 4, at kindergarten, in anticipation of a royal visit to Bridgnorth we made Union Flags (no buying plastic versions) with ferocious concentration, wonky rulers and liberally applied blue and red paint. I missed the event. Tonsillitis. And checking back it wasn’t the Queen, it was actually the Duchess of Kent but such was the mystique of royalty we all thought it had to be the Queen. Who else? I made the same mistake a couple of years later when chosen to present the school’s Children’s Society collection (remember the paper strips with children’s faces and behind each face you put in a penny?). Down to London by train, lunch at a restaurant, tube to the Albert Hall. Going across the platform to drop the collection into a be-ribboned cradle, I was convinced I’d be seeing the Queen. Turned out to be the Queen Mother. Eventually, aged 9 saw her, albeit celluloid only but in colour. We walked in tight crocodile formation from school to the cinema to watch “The Queen in India” a Pathe News film of the royal couple’s visit. I don’t think it lasted that long but we watched spellbound. I also remember the Queen, from photographs, as striking and glamorous to the extent that her hairstyle was copied by a number of women (including my mother). It was a strict ritual in our family, insisted upon by my father, to watch the Queen’s Speech on Christmas Day. He never missed it.
But as I aged that innocent mystique changed. The media intrusion revealed more and more of the Queen and family. I remember watching the film of the Royal Family in a more “informal” light. Time passed, and memory has become kaleidoscopic. I remember vividly the Queen at the investiture of the then Prince Charles, a series of Royal Weddings and suddenly! A silver Jubilee – had 25 years passed so quickly? – the street parties, the bunting, the celebration and didn’t a Brit win Wimbledon for the first time in ages? And before I could blink it was 50 years and I still have the bookmark that John Daimond gave us to celebrate the event. Then 60 years and we received a copy of the most aptly titled “The Servant Queen” and so recently 70 years and the brilliant celebration over four days in our village culminating in our Service of celebration in St Chad’s.
Two weeks ago, at my licensing as a Lay Reader, my oaths of allegiance included the Queen, Defender of the Faith. Little did any of us “new readers” realise at the time the events that would unfold a few days later. As my concluding recollection, whilst the Queen maintained her own counsel on virtually every matter, there was one in which she stated her position without equivocation and that was her Christian faith, and the consequence of that faith.
Indeed, “Our Servant Queen”.
Iain Coleman
Would you like to write a View from the Pews?
We welcome contributions for View from the Pews from anyone who would like to write one, It does not need to be on any particular subject. If you would like to write one please send it to or contact Henry Ibberson ( / 01902 701136).
Contacts
We do not have a VIcar at the moment. For matters which would normally be dealt with by the Vicar the churchwardens are the first point of contact. The Vicarage phone (01902 700257) is redirected to the churchwardens. When they are not available a message can be left on the voicemail and they will return the call when they are available. Emails to will be received by the churchwardens.
Contact details for church officers can be found on the Contacts page of the church website. You can use if you are nore sure who to contact and the churchwardens will be able to forward it to the correct person.
Notices, which should be received by Friday evening for inclusion in that week’s ChadNet, and other communications in relation to ChadNet should be sent to Articles for the magazine should be sent to (note – this is different to the address used before November 2020 which no longer works).
Notices, which should be received by Friday evening for inclusion in that week’s ChadNet, and other communications in relation to ChadNet should be sent to
Articles for the magazine should be sent to (note – this is different to the address used before November 2020 which no longer works).
Sunday 18th September – Fourteenth Sunday after Trinity
At 10 am there will be a Service of Thanksgiving for the Life of HM Queen Elizabeth II, led by Ken Scott, which will include a visual presentation. There will be no Communion Service. Coffee (and tea and biscuits) will be available after the service.
The Litter Picking Event has been postponed to Sunday 2nd October.
This week
The church will be open every day. Look out for the “church open” sign outside the porch.
On Tuesday and Thursday Prayers for Peace will be said in church at 6 pm. On other days of the week the church will remain open until at least 6.30 pm and there will be a sheet of prayers left in the Lady Chapel for people to use if they wish. If you would like to join the team of people who take turns to lead the Prayers for Peace please contact Mary Hayward ().
On Monday at 7 pm there is a wedding rehearsal in church.
On Tuesday the funeral of Liz Sampson takes place in church at 12 noon.
On Wednesday there will be a service of Holy Communion according to the Book of Common Prayer, led by Revd James Makepeace, in church at 10.00 am which will be followed by tea, coffee and cake.
On Friday the School Harvest Service takes place in church at 9.30 am.
On Friday the wedding of Rachael Slatcher and Christopher Tomes takes place in church at 12.30 pm.
On Saturday at 7.30 pm the Saltmine Theatre Company presents The Liberator at Christ Church, Tettenhall Wood. For more information see <http://www.christchurchtettenhallwood.co.uk/the-liberator/>
Sunday 25th September – Harvest Festival – Fifteenth Sunday after Trinity
At 10 am there will be a service of Holy Communion for Harvest, led by Revd Lin Vawer, in church.Coffee (and tea and biscuits) will be available after the service.
At 1 pm Ophelia Smith and Elliot Smith will be baptised in church.
At 6.30 pm there will be an Evening Service of Harvest Thanksgiving in the Iona style, led by Ken Scott.
Our harvest donations this year are being given to The Well, a Wolverhampton based food bank. Donations can be brought to church at any time when it is open until the evening service. Details of the items wanted can be seen on the church website at <https://www.pattinghamchurch.org.uk/web/harvest-2022/>.
Link to Hope Christmas Shoebox Appeal
It is time to start filling shoeboxes for The Link to Hope Christmas Shoebox Appeal. Link to Hope currently works with nationals in Moldova (NE) and Romania (NE), Bulgaria (N) and the Ukraine (S & W) and sends Christmas Shoeboxes to all of these countries. Its aim is to help the poorest and most marginalised through education and social care and to change lives by releasing communities out of poverty.
We do hope that we can do something to help these people, for whom life really is a struggle, especially in these difficult times. If you would like to make up a shoe box for the Link to Hope Appeal, do please do so. The charity asks us to prepare boxes for either a family or an elderly person.
There are leaflets at the back of the church which will give greater details and make suggestions about what they would like us to include in the boxes. More details can be found on the church website at <https://www.pattinghamchurch.org.uk/web/news-and-events/shoe-box-appeal-2022/>
Filled boxes should be taken to Barbara Tritton by Sunday 30th October to give her time to take them to the collection point.
Last year we sent 24 boxes. Can we beat that this year?
Barbara Tritton
01902 700065
email –
Garden Produce
At this time of year many people find they have excess produce from their garden or allotments. So we will have an area in the porch at St Chad’s for the next few weeks where you can leave any fresh fruit and vegetables you can spare. These are then available to anyone who would like to take them and if you would like to make a donation to the church, this can be placed in the wall safe, which is in the first pillar on the right, just beyond the font.
Thank you.
From the Memorial Book
Those whose anniversaries occur between 11th and 25th September.
Thomas Harold Beach – 12th September 1995
Phyllis Mabel Price – 13th September 2007
Annie Mary Caddick – 13th September 2011
Jonathan Hassall – 13th September 2019
Reginald John Henshaw – 14th September 2006
Jan Zdanowski – 14th September 2011
George Price – 15th September 1961
Peter John Curtis – 15th September 2005
Dorothy Caddick – 17th September 2007
Dorothy Lavender – 18th September 2016
Harry Colin Robinson – 18th September 2021
Jack Bennett – 19th September 1990
A. H. Norman Harris – 20th September 2004
Barbara Agnes Roberts – 20th September 2021
Malcolm Harris – 21st September 2003
Thomas Henry Ray – 23rd September 2016
Kenelm Henry Forshaw Rose – 24th September 2000
You can see all the pages of the Memorial Book on the Memorial Book Online page of the Church website.
Resources for worship and prayer at home
Some of resources which can be used at home are listed on the Resources Available Online and the Resources Available for Children, Young People and Families pages of the website.
For those who are unable to attend church there are still a number of services which are available online, including a weekly service on the Church of England website.
Giving to the church
Details of the various ways in which you can give can be found on the Giving page of the website.
We have a JustGiving page to enable people to make one off donations. It’s at www.justgiving.com/pattingham-church. You will be asked if you want to make a contribution on top of your donation. If you do it will go to JustGiving and not to charity. If you do not want to make such a contribution select “other”. If you are a taxpayer please consider gift aiding your donation.
You can make a bank transfer to our bank account (Account name: Pattingham Parochial Church Council – Sort Code: 20-97-78 Account No: 50655023).
If you are paying by cheque please make the cheque payable to “Pattingham PCC” or “Pattingham Parochial Church Council“.
ChadNet
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St Chad’s Church, Pattingham with Patshull Registered charity no 1151604