ChadNet – no 183

ChadNet – no 183 – Sunday 24th September 2023

ChadNet - the eBulletin of St Chad’s Church, Pattingham with Patshull

Welcome to this week’s edition of ChadNet – the eBulletin of St Chad’s Church, Pattingham with Patshull.

In this week’s ChadNet:

View from the Pews

Harvesting

Harvest Gatherings

The annual gathering of Swallows on the lines signifies another harvest coming to an end and what a contrast it has been to the year before. Whereas last year’s dry conditions led to a relatively straightforward harvest, this year was an all too familiar stop-start affair with frequent rain showers hampering our progress. The weather did finally improve at the end of August allowing an average grain harvest to be gathered in safely without too much loss of quality, and attention quickly moved onto establishing next year’s crops.

Traditionally farmers plough the fields and scatter but more recently sowing techniques such as minimum tillage and direct drilling have become more popular in a bid to look after and regenerate our greatest asset, the soil. The Indian summer at the beginning of September may have helped with finishing the harvest but it provided ideal conditions for a pest of newly emerging oilseed rape plants, the flea beetle. The adult beetles are found in the stems of the oilseed rape at harvest and migrate to the hedgerows where they gather in wait for next year’s crops to be sown. The Swallows play an important role for us, intercepting this bounty of insects sent into the air by the combine harvester, but even with the help of supporting groups of Swifts and House Martins they can’t make a dent in the plague like populations of these tiny beetles we get every few years. As newly sown seeds emerge the shiny black beetles appear and chomp their way through the delicate new seedlings, sometimes wiping out a crop before it can even get started.

For us the harvest is not quite over. The grain is safely in the barn but we now focus our attention on bringing in the potato crop, some to be bagged straight away for the chip shop trade, others to be stored in boxes for bagging at a later date. Plentiful rainfall during the summer months meant we did not need to irrigate as much, which is always welcome. The lack of sunshine has however limited yields of both grains and roots somewhat, so all in all a fairly average harvest. But whatever happens we always have the pleasure of being able to enjoy such beautiful surroundings in this parish as we gather in yet another harvest.

The Roberts Family

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).

Sunday 24th September – Sixteenth Sunday after Trinity – Harvest Thanksgiving

At 10 am there will be a service of Holy Communion for Harvest, led by Revd Paul Brown, in church.There will be no refreshments in church after the service but refreshments will be available at the Village Hall as part of the Scarecrow Festival.

The Scarecrow Festival is open from 12 noon to 5 pm (although the church will not be open until after the service). More information can be found at <https://www.pattinghamscarecrowfestival.org/>

At 6.30 pm there will be an EveningService for Harvest and to mark the close of the Scarecrow Festival. 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 are in the last two weeks’ issues of ChadNet and on the website.

In the Parish Prayer Diary  we pray for those who live or work in: Windsor Road, Greenway Gardens, Sandringham Road and Braemar Road.

In the Trysull Deanery Prayer Diary we pray for: St Michael and All Angels, Himley.

This week

The church will be open every day. Look out for the “church open” sign outside the porch.

The Century Club draw takes place on Monday.

Bellringing practice takes place on Monday at 7.45 pm. Anyone interested in finding out about ringing should contact Geoffrey Dann or any of the ringers.

On Tuesday Prayers for Peace will be said in church at 6 pm. Please do join us and if you would like more information or are willing to lead a session, please contact Mary Hayward ().

On Wednesday at 10.00 am there will be a service of Holy Communion according to the Book of Common Prayer, led by Revd James Makepeace, in church which will be followed by tea, coffee and cake.

After the service the church will be open from 10.30 am until at least 11.00 am as a Place of Welcome when anyone who wants to will be welcome to share in the coffee, cake and chat, whether they have been to the service or not. Those attending will receive a warm welcome.

On Wednesday at 12 noon Who’s for Lunch? is held in the Village Hall.

On Wednesday at 6 pm in church the Pattingham Shower Singers meet in church. All are welcome – just come and sing and have fun! If you need more information, contact Alix at

At 7 pm on Wednesday Choir Practice takes place in church. Anyone interested in joining the choir should contact any member of the choir.

Sunday 1st October – Seventeenth Sunday after Trinity

At 10 am there will be a Family Service, led by Robert Colin-Stokes, in church. This will be followed by a short service of Holy Communion, led by Revd Paul Brown, to which you are all most welcome. Coffee, tea and biscuits will be available after the service.

In the Parish Prayer Diary  we pray for those who live or work in: Orchard Close, Damson Park and Highgate Court.

In the Trysull Deanery Prayer Diary we pray for: St Michael and All Angels, Tettenhall Regis.

Harvest Supper

The Harvest Supper will take place on Monday 2nd October at 7.00 pm at the Dartmouth Arms, Burnhill Green. For tickets or more information contact Gena Richards (700188).

Century Club

This month’s Century Club draw will be held on Monday.

There are seven vacancies for the Century Club. For more details, please contact Alan Smith on 07757 688518 or or see the website at <https://www.pattinghamchurch.org.uk/web/information/century-club/

Link to Hope Christmas Shoebox Appeal

Link to Hope

It’s time to think about doing our shoeboxes now. This year the countries include Ukraine.  I do hope that we can do something to help these people, for whom life really is a struggle, especially in these difficult times.

There are other options, including making a donation, but hopefully we can gather up lots of actual boxes this year.  More details can be found on the Link to Hope website at <https://linktohope.co.uk/shoebox-appeal-2023/> and on the church website at <https://www.pattinghamchurch.org.uk/web/news-and-events/shoe-box-appeal-2023/>.

I will take the filled boxes to the local co-ordinator.

Why support the Link to Hope Shoebox Appeal?

  • They ask people to fill a Shoebox for a family or an elderly couple – not just a child.  Their list contains items for all family members and includes items such a shower gel/shampoo, family games, stationery items, gift for mum and dad as well as sweets, soft toys, hats, scarves etc.
  • Their annual Family Shoebox Appeal has been running since 1992 and has delivered smiles to thousands of people in Eastern Europe over the years. Over 1,000,000 shoeboxes have been sent to hundreds of different locations!
  • It’s a really simple idea, anyone can get involved.

There are leaflets at the back of church.  It is important to check the leaflet as they are very particular what can, and cannot, be  included.  Alternatively, download a copy from the website noted above.

There are only 4 weeks to go, so I ask that these boxes are brought to me, or left at the back of church, by Sunday 29th October – to allow me time to take them to the collection point.

Barbara Tritton
17 High Street, Pattingham
(01902 700065)
email –

Rotas

The rotas for October to December (and the first Sunday of January) have been sent to those on the rotas. They are also on the church website and on the notice board at the back of the church.

Dementia Friendly Church

Weekly Prayer

Becoming Dementia Friendly Church 2023-24

The Prayer of St Columba

Be thou a bright flame before us;
Be thou a guiding star above us;
Be thou a smooth path below us;
Be thou kindly shepherd behind us
Today, tonight and forever.

AMEN.

Donations for The Well

The need for the Food Bank continues and the box for donations for the Food Bank at The Well in Wolverhampton continues to be at the back of the church. The wishing well is also at the back of the church if you have any spare loose change. Donations, however small, go towards running costs. Don’t be shy, every little helps!

From the Memorial Book

Those whose anniversaries occur between 17th September and 1st October.

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
Mollie Lucy Mallett – 26th September 1996
Reginald Oswald Dearn – 27th September 1993
Ivy Evans – 27th September 2001
Edna Elizabeth Bristow – 28th September 2008
David Simpson – 1st October 2002
John Edward Lavender – 1st October 2018

You can see all the pages of the Memorial Book on the Memorial Book Online page of the Church 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

This bulletin is sent to those who have requested it. We now have 122 subscribers but there may still  be some people who are not aware of it and would wish to receive it. The weekly bulletin for each Sunday will normally be sent on the preceding Friday or Saturday. Additional bulletins may be sent if required. It is only being sent to those who have requested it.

If you know of anyone who might be interested please tell them about it and ask them to sign up using the form on the website (www.pattinghamchurch.org.uk/web/information/chadnet/sign-up-to-chadnet/) or by email to

St Chad’s Church, Pattingham with Patshull Registered charity no 1151604