ChadNet – no 71

ChadNet – no 71 – Sunday 1st August 2021

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:


The restrictions in church have been lifted. Face coverings not only protect the wearer but also other people. It is up to each individual to decide whether or not they should wear a face covering in church. So that those who wish to ensure that they can maintain social distance feel comfortable social distancing must be maintained in the South Aisle.

Do not attend church if you have any covid symptoms or are meant to be isolating.


View from the Pews

I hope you are enjoying the Olympic Games as much as I am! I’ve been a devoted spectator since my friend Basil Heatley won a sensational silver medal in the Marathon by overtaking the Japanese athlete Tsuburaya in the final 200 metres in the Tokyo Olympic stadium in 1964. It was an inspirational moment in sport and now the Games have returned to Tokyo with different athletes to inspire a new generation.

Have the Games changed much in the 57 years between the two Tokyo Olympics? In my view, yes they have; I think they have changed dramatically and for a number of reasons. There is now a much stronger political dimension with nations looking for ways to show that their way is the best way. But other changes have come about which are based on different motivations and are to be applauded. In a curious way, the International Olympic Committee and St Chad’s Church Parochial Church Council (PCC) have something in common. They both recognise that the future of what they cherish most is dependent on reaching out to young people.  The IOC has been working at this for longer than the PCC and there are a couple of changes which I think are quite significant. One of them is the Opening Ceremony. Back in 1964 it seemed to me that the ceremony was mostly focussed on the parade of athletes into the stadium and lighting the Olympic flame whereas now it is more about engaging a worldwide audience through performing arts to celebrate the history and culture of the host nation in a way that will appeal to everyone but especially to young people.

Another significant development is the inclusion of new sports into the Olympic programme, sports which are evident in youth culture. A couple of days ago I watched the Women’s Street Skateboarding where the competitors were almost exclusively teenagers. The gold medal was won by Momiji Nishiya who is just 13 years old.  I wondered what Basil might have thought of a gold medallist aged just 13 years? And I wonder how many million young people switched on their devices to watch the Olympics for the first time?

But Momiji isn’t the youngest Olympian this year. That honour goes to 12 year old Hend Zaza from Syria, a country devastated by war.  How on earth did she manage to practise properly and qualify for the Olympics while living in a country ravaged by war? Her childhood has been marred and she admitted that she had to overcome many different experiences to reach the Games. I wonder what stories she could tell from her remarkable childhood. In an interview she said that young people in Syria have to work for their desires, to try hard regardless of the difficulties and by doing that they will reach their goals. That is inspiring stuff from such a young person.  She was rewarded with the honour of carrying the Syrian flag at the opening ceremony.

GB’s youngest competitor at these Games is 13 year old Sky Brown who will compete in the Women’s Skate Park event on 4th August so perhaps you could make an effort to cheer her on! She has shown enormous determination to compete in what appears to me to be a very dangerous event. Early last year she insisted on having her broken arm put into a cast so that she could continue training and a few months later she fractured her skull and her arm but was soon back in competition to qualify for Tokyo. Sky told the BBC reporter, ‘I’m just excited to show the world what skateboarding is all about and to show young people that they can do it too.’

Hend and Sky are sure to inspire young people in GB. The challenge for organisations is to latch onto this inspiration to build a stronger future for themselves and for young people.

So how does this relate to Pattingham?

When I arrived in the village about seven years ago I was delighted to see the range and quality of sports facilities. Football pitches, tennis courts, a multi use games area, an excellent skate park and a superb village hall. So, on my first Sunday morning as a village resident, I turned up at the playing field to cheer on my local youth team but found that both teams were from Wolverhampton. There wasn’t a sports club for young people in Pattingham. This is sad because clubs give young people a chance to learn, to improve their knowledge and skills, and, most importantly, to enjoy the company and support of others with similar interests.  Older people in Pattingham understand the importance of clubs; there are probably more clubs for older people in Pattingham than any other village in the UK.

But there is an important exception in this lack of provision for young people and it’s in performing arts. Pattingham Drama Group has welcomed 8 to18 year olds into  ‘Patchwork’ for over 30 years. Its aim is to encourage young people to feel confident when speaking or appearing in public, to provide them with opportunities to experience theatre and be involved in amateur productions, and above all to have fun! Recent productions include The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, Peter Pan, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and their much acclaimed Matilda the Musical. Its young members have taken lead roles in village pantomimes and have enjoyed theatre visits to Pinocchio and A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Patchwork will reopen in September with a new leader who is a professional drama and dance teacher. Patchwork could be a model for other local organisations which want to reach out to young people.

St Chad’s PCC needs to reach out to young people because it has an ageing and declining membership. It knows that young people are its future.  It now has a working group with that responsibility. It will need to develop a plan in collaboration with stakeholders including young people. It isn’t starting from scratch; the church has an embryonic Youth Council and a long history of young people leading evening services. But crucially it will need to decide its strategy; will it try and engage with young people by providing services directly for them or will it be a catalyst for engaging young people with existing clubs and services. And when it works with young people to identify gaps in the market, could it draw on its resources and work with partners to create new groups? It has done that for older people through, for example, ‘Who’s For Lunch;’ what might a young people’s version of that look like? Could it draw on the Patchwork model to create new opportunities? My view is that the PCC should be the catalyst, the ‘honest broker’ which raises its profile with young people by working with them to ensure that their needs are met. It’s a huge challenge but crikey, it’s an exciting one too!

Tony Taylor


Could you contribute a View from the Pews?

We welcome contributions for View from the Pews from all members of the congregation. If you would like to write a View from the Pews please email or contact Henry Ibberson.


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.

Communications in relation to ChadNet should be sent to


Relaxation of restrictions in church

An extra edition of ChadNet was sent last Tuesday which sets out the changes as a result of the move into step four. Details are on  the Coronavirus – step four page of the website.

Evening services at 6.30 pm will now be held on the 2nd and 4th Sundays of each month (but not 8th August). Sunday morning services will continue to be streamed online until the end of August.


Sunday 1st August – Ninth Sunday after Trinity

There will be a Family Service led by Henry Ibberson, which will be followed by Holy Communion for those who wish to stay, in church at 10 am.

The Family Service will be screened live for those who cannot or do not want to attend. It will be available then and later on the Worship on the Web page of the website and also on YouTube at <https://youtu.be/1c7H4zWFCpQ> This week’s service will not be on the Dial a Service phone line (01902 906585).

Henry looks forward to seeing as many people as possible at the service. He says that the Family Service or All Age Worshipis intended to be, as far as is possible, a Post Pandemic Service of Praise with some rousing hymns specially chosen by Greg and Henry to give the congregation of all ages an opportunity once more to enjoy a good sing and hopefully raise the roof! The theme will be a question, which we will aim to answer, that question being “What is the work of God?

The collect and readings for the Eucharist, which would normally be on the pewsheet, are available on the website.


This week

The church will be open as it used to be before the pandemic every day. Look out for the “church open” sign outside the porch. Please observe the instructions in the notice on the door.

There is a PCC meeting in church on Tuesday evening.

On Wednesday there will be a service of Holy Communion according to the Book of Common Prayer in church at 10.00 am.


Sunday 8th August – Tenth Sunday after Trinity

There will be a service of Holy Communion in church at 10 am.

It will be screened live for those who cannot or do not want to attend. It will be available on the Worship on the Web page of the website and also on YouTube.

There will be a Service of Baptism in church at 3 pm.

The Celebration Tea Party for Maureen will be held at 3 pm in the Village Hall.

There will not be an evening service.

The collect and readings for the Eucharist, which would normally be on the pewsheet, are available on the website.


Celebration Tea Party

The Celebration Tea Party for Vicar Maureen will be held on Sunday 8th August at 3.00 pm to approx 5.00 pm in the Village Hall.

All are welcome for Afternoon Tea, Coffee and Cakes and the chance to celebrate her time with us and wish her every happiness in retirement.

(Certain Covid precautions will be maintained in line with Government guidance and any specific changes or requirements will be communicated before the event via the church website )


Century Club draw

This month’s Century Club draw will be held on Monday 26th July. It will not be on Zoom this month.

For more information please contact Alan Smith on 07757 688518 or


Scarecrow Festival

Under the large cloud of the COVID-19 virus situation existing in the UK and Worldwide, the decision process by the Steering Committee to hold a Scarecrow Festival in Pattingham began in early 2021.  Each twist and turn of the virus phenomena was monitored and a series of very guarded decisions were put in place over several months, until eventually in June it was decided to move the event forward by releasing the scarecrow registration forms. The quantity of these returned, it was felt, would indicate the strength of feeling from villagers as to whether the event should take place.

Four registration stations were placed around the village… in the Church, the Co-op, Martin Thomas butchers and the Pattingham Club.  Within days, over 40 registration forms had been taken!  Over the next few days, the display at the Co-op was filled several times with the result that to date around 150 forms have been taken. A sure sign from villagers that they are in favour of their favourite event… the Pattingham Scarecrow Festival.

Sponsorships from local businesses and also individual donations to help finance the event has also seen tremendous support, again indicating the positive backing of people in the area towards the festival.

The event has always carried with it the excitement, happiness and feel-good factor for all generations from a young child in a push chair to proud grandparents escorting their grandchildren around the village trail of unique and individual scarecrows. What better medicine could be given to the people of Pattingham after the months of forced isolation and lack of future events to look forward to ?

It has been decided that this year’s event will only be publicised in Pattingham and the surrounding villages in order to control the amount of people attending the event so that it can be operated in the safest possible way.

The festival is mainly an outside event and will be set in a Covid safe environment with hand sanitiser stations placed around the village.  The planned indoor activities within the Church and the Village Hall will be reviewed before the opening of the event and a decision made as to whether these will operate.

The committee has always been ultra-cautious in deciding the future of the 2021 Scarecrow Festival striving always to maintain the maximum safety of Pattingham villagers, their families and friends against COVID-19.

Mike Coope – 01902 700426 –


From the Memorial Book

Those whose anniversaries occur between 25th July and 8th August.

Matthew Robinson – 30th July 2008
Colin George Hartley – 1st August 2008
Ellen Hayhurst – 2nd August 2007
Pauline Ann Moore – 2nd August 2011
Henry Parton – 4th August 1980
William Pugh – 4th August 1995
Phillippa Bullock Reeves – 5th August 2003
Christine Harley – 5th August 2013
Hilda Cecilia Whitty – 8th August 1993
Patricia Mabel Fildes – 8th August 1995

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 to make their communion there is a form of Spriritual Communion on the Church of England website.

In the absence of our own Sunday School we encourage children and families to look at the Virtual Sunday School YouTube channel. A new Sunday School video normally comes out every two weeks but at the moment a new one comes out every week on a Saturday. Last week’s was Jesus heals a deaf and mute man + we meet the cast of the VHC dramas!  This week’s. which is Its Tropical Time! Coconut challenge + holiday club sneak peak!, will be available from 10 am on Saturday morning. There will be a Virtual Holiday Club from 9th to 13th August – for more detail see <https://www.virtualsundayschooluk.com/pages/virtual-holiday-club-2021>

They can all be found on the Sunday School on the Web page of our web


Giving to the church

In the current circumstances there will inevitably be a reduction in the money which the church receives. However we will need to continue to pay our bills and we would ask that those who can afford to do so should continue to give regularly. 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.

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 102 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