Pax SEPTEMBER 2020
Price: 40p.
The Parish Magazine for the Benefice of St. Ippolyts with Great and Little Wymondley
VICAR
The Reverend Ginni Dear, The Vicarage, Stevenage Road, St. Ippolyts SG4 7PE 01462-237032
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
CHURCHWARDENS
St. Ippolyts
Michael Hooper, Hillrise, Stevenage Road, St. Ippolyts SG4 7PE 01462-457350
Jane Veasey, Gosmore Cross, Newlands Lane, Gosmore SG4 9BD 01462-434254
Great Wymondley
Cherry Carter, 2 Church Green, Great Wymondley SG4 7HA 01438-724919
Paul Harding, The Old Rectory, Church Green, Great Wymondley SG4 7ES 01438-729219
Little Wymondley
Mike Allardyce, 81 Whitney Drive, Stevenage SG1 4BL 07967-831968
David Palmer, 198 Cleveland Way, Great Ashby, SG1 6BY 01438-367912
Visit our website - www.stippolytschurch.org.uk
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SERVICES FOR SEPTEMBER
Our services for September are as follows:
SUNDAY 6th SEPTEMBER
8.00am. Holy Communion (BCP) St. Ippolyts
9.15am. Harvest Service Great Wymondley
(See Facebook for venue as it could be in the Community Gardens)
SUNDAY 13th SEPTEMBER
9.15am. Holy Communion (Common Worship) St. Ippolyts
SUNDAY 20th SEPTEMBER
9.15am. Holy Communion (Common Worship) Little Wymondley
SUNDAY 27th SEPTEMBER
9.15am. Holy Communion (Common Worship) St. Ippolyts
All 9.15am. services are also live-streamed to Facebook.
Monday - Thursday - live on Facebook
9.00am. Morning Prayer
6.00pm. Evening Prayer
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HERE AND THERE
HORSE BLESSING SERVICE
On Sunday 16th August at 3.00pm. the Horse Blessing Service was held at St. Ippolyts Church. Despite the weather forecast which predicted rain and storms during the afternoon and the inevitable downpour and subsequent claps of thunder, Reverend Ginni gallantly stood in front of 20 horses and their riders to hold one
of the best services we have seen. There were numerous spectators holding their umbrellas, suitably distanced
to watch a completely drenched Ginni welcome everyone and then proceed to hold the service. After the Lord's Prayer had been said, Ginni who was not wearing a coat but as usual was wearing her cheerful smile and as always her buoyant nature, proceeded to bless each horse in turn not forgetting to offer a carrot.
We are very grateful to everyone who attended the service and who were not deterred by weather. The horses and riders were a welcome sight and the spectators raised a wonderful £280 with their kind and generous donations. This will be shared between the two local Riding for the Disabled Groups which support children from local special needs schools as well as youngsters who have been excluded from senior school.
Thank you to Ginni and to everyone who attended.
Joan Pinkstone
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LINK TO HOPE 2020 SHOEBOX APPEAL
As many of you know, in previous years we have supported Link to Hope by filling shoeboxes with items for families or elderly folk in Eastern Europe. Despite the extreme necessity for such a scheme, I had been wondering if it would happen at all this year in view of these strange times in which we find ourselves. However, I have now been contacted by both the charity themselves and the area organiser to assure me that
the appeal will be happening once again this year.
To make life a little easier in the current circumstances, the charity have made some changes and are now offering four different ways to support them:
- Fill a shoebox in the usual way and return it to them.
- For a donation of around £20 they can fill a shoebox for you, put in a card (if you would like one),
wrap the box and send you a photograph of the finished box.
- Donate money directly to the appeal.
- Donate items in bulk (i.e. more than one or two) from the list on their leaflet for them to use in shoeboxes.
Obviously, with the situation as it is, we are not able to leave boxes, leaflets and goodies out in church for you to collect and use as we have done in previous years. So, if you would like to support the appeal, could you please download and print a leaflet from the Link to Hope website (if you are able) and then choose one of the options above. Should you not be able to download a leaflet we will have a few hard copies available (or we could email one to you if you prefer). We also have our usual supply of empty shoeboxes available so, if you are really stuck, let us know and we will get one to you.
All filled boxes have to be returned before Friday 6th November. Christine and I will be filling a number of boxes ourselves as usual and will be aiming to take them to the area organiser at the beginning of that week. (i.e. around Monday 2ndNovember). If you decide to fill a box and would like us to take it for you, please could you get it to us or let us know well before that date. Thank you. (Our telephone number is 01462-459145. Please contact us if you need any further help or information).
Your response in previous years has always been amazing. Please support us once again in these difficult times if you possibly can. It really does make a huge difference.
Arthur Sibun
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NEWS FROM THE WYMONDLEYS
ST. MARY’S LITTLE WYMONDLEY
WE’RE BACK !
It’s a delight to have the church open for worship again, after all these months; we have been able to enjoy two services. Socially distanced, sanitised, masked, no singing, but just good to see everyone. Reverend Ginni is doing a wonderful job live streaming the services to Facebook, where she has a growing congregation. She is quite a star in front of the camera, and I understand she has many followers in Little Wymondley, so welcome to all our new congregation. When these restrictions can be lifted, it would be lovely to meet you all in church.
BACK TO THE GARDEN
We have a mole! at least one, if not with wife and kids and extended family. We noticed some finely turned soil along the outside of the fence, quite a building project, on a par with the M1, with little air holes every so often. He has come under the main gate, worked his way round the edge of the lawn, where he has paused, probably to consult his plans. Every morning I expect to see numerous mole hills dotted across the lawn, but maybe he is having second thoughts, wrong soil, dog, cats, or perhaps he thinks our neighbour’s garden offers more, I won’t be offended. Our lawn is not a bowling green but I am quite fond of it as it is.
We have a little alcove in the garden which is sheltered and gets the afternoon sun; we grow hops and a passionflower over the pergola, which gives us some shade. A few weeks ago a pair of pigeons decided they would build a nest directly over where I sit, every morning there would be a pile of twigs on my chair where they had failed to secure them on a precarious narrow beam. We usually have a few nests in the garden which we are quite happy about, but we didn’t fancy sharing our evenings with a family a few feet above our heads. Every morning I would pick all the twigs and push them into a neighbouring shrub, then I noticed they were recycling the same material, so I pushed it back further and virtually built them a nest myself. This went on for some days, but they finally gave up and have used my construction so we are all happy.
Rosemary Stratton
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ST. MARY’S GREAT WYMONDLEY
Another two months have passed with strange weather indeed. Scorching hot for several days, torrential rain and really strong winds. We have been so lucky though with fine weather on the whole during the Lockdown, making the confinement and daily exercise much easier and more pleasant. I am not sure how it will be in the winter when it is cold and will get dark so much earlier. Already the days are shortening and it is still August! The swifts have gone back to Africa and we miss them so much. There seemed to be eleven here this year and they were such a joy to watch. We used to sit up in the Churchyard in the evening watching them and could see them going up under the apse roof to feed their young. We look forward to them returning next year. Apples are ripening on the trees and the wasps are in their 'sweet' phase of diet feeding on fallen fruit and trying to get into the beehives.
The Churchyard wild life areas have been strimmed and raked off with hopefully flower seeds fallen and set for next year. There has been an amazing number of butterflies, moths and insects of all sorts within it not to mention the field voles who nest in holes there. A good source of food for the tawny owls that fly daily over the churchyard and the occasional barn owl who has been seen. Scabious, ladies bedstraw and harebells were growing amongst the graves for the first time for very many years, a result of having the cut grass area slightly longer.
At the beginning of August we had the first service since the Lockdown began. As it was fine weather we had it in the Churchyard and welcomed our friends from the village and other churches in the Benefice. It was live streamed too on Facebook. We hope the first Sunday in October will be fine too so that we can have the service outside again.
Cherry Carter
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WYMONDLEY BAPTIST CHURCH
This has been one of the strangest years we have ever known, hasn't it. As we have all been faced with this worldwide Pandemic, we have had advice from many sources about how to keep well and safe, how to avoid infection, what to do, where to go and the Government has given us regular bulletins to keep us informed and have generously given out financial help to businesses and the like as well as allowing us cheaper meals out in August. We have been constantly reminded how important is physical health and indeed mental health too. We take great care to ensure that we eat properly, take vitamins and where possible make sure we exercise, because we want to keep our bodies healthy. The Bible also encourages us in these things but it goes even deeper as it reminds us that every human being is body, mind and spirit and there are clear instructions as to how to keep spiritually healthy, God's Word is concerned with the whole person and the book of Proverbs has plenty of advice. In Chapter 4 we read "pay attention to what I say - turn your ear to my words. Do not let them out of your sight, keep them within your hearts for they are life to those who find them and health to one's whole body." We love to feel healthy and if we have been ill what a blessing it is to feel better. But spiritual health is even more special and has to be 'tops' for us. We can have a new zest in life which will come to us as we 'feed on God's word, the Bible’ and we can feel His life giving touch bringing us spiritual health. This is emphasised in the Book of Isaiah as we read: "Do you not know, have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary and his understanding no one can fathom; He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary and young men stumble and fall. But those who hope (or wait upon) the Lord will renew their strength, they will soar on wings like eagles, they will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint."
During these unforgettable weeks we, like many other churches have found that the modern technology, especially Zoom, has been most helpful as we have used it in Sunday services, Bible studies, Church meetings and children's work and even a Quiz too! Of course we have missed enormously actually meeting together in the usual way but we have enjoyed seeing each other 'on screen' and being able to talk to each other too. The weekly 'It's Monday' Group has had its first and only break since it began 18 and a half years ago. But we keep in touch with folk and look forward to a celebration and a new programme when the time is right. Congratulations to Una on her 90th birthday in August.
We pray for all who are poorly at this time and all who are mourning and missing loved ones. We pray regularly every Tuesday in our homes for all in need in our land and overseas. We don't have our coffee and discussion at the Orange Tree on the first Tuesday but we have been having these on Zoom with Will and Lynne Andrews. This year has reminded us of the joy of friends and families and neighbours.
We are thankful that all our booked speakers have joined us on Zoom and the speakers in September are as follows:
6th Rev. Phil Jackson 13th Hannah Dengate
20th Clive Bacon 27th Adrian Brixey
We will give advance warning when we are back in the Chapel again.
Meanwhile dial in at 10.30am for a 10.45am start on 0131-4601196 or 020-0512874. Use the link https//zoom.us/j8675752648 or download the zoom app. and join using meeting ID 8675752648.
Any problems phone 07531-08162 Craig Bacon, our Host will be glad to help.
"Blest be the tie that binds our hearts in Christian love."
Marjorie McCarley (01438-727050)
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NEWS FROM ST. IPPOLYTS
ST. IPPOLYTS PARISH COUNCIL
The next meeting which takes place on Monday 14th September at 7.30pm. will be on Zoom. Copies of the Agenda and Approved Minutes are displayed in the council notice boards and on website www.stippolyts-parishcouncil.org.uk. There is always an Agenda item for Public Participation where residents can ask questions and raise issues. Please contact clerk on 01462-421409 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. with your questions if you would like to join this meeting.
Pam Skeggs
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ST. IPPOLYTS PARISH HALL
The Trustees have been looking at ways to re-open the hall safely. We emailed a questionnaire to User Groups to complete and return and a good response was received. We have carried out a risk assessment, prepared various necessary documents and notices etc. We have a management meeting on Thursday 3rd September on Zoom and also invited user group representatives to join. Brilliant news - the hall will re-open w/c Monday
7th September but recognise that required limitations may mean not all users will be able to return immediately. http://www.stippolyts-hall.co.uk.
Pam Skeggs
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ANNUAL CHURCH MEETINGS - ST. IPPOLYTS
The delayed “Annual Parishioners Meeting” (to elect churchwardens) and “The Annual Parochial Church Meeting of the Parish of St. Ippolyts” will be held in St. Ippolyts Church at 6.00pm. on Wednesday 16th September 2020. The meeting will commence with Reverend Ginni’s Live Streamed 10 minute Evening Prayer. Everyone is welcome to attend but only those on the St. Ippolyts Church Electoral Roll may vote at the second meeting. We are hoping that we can hold the meeting outside the Church but should this not be appropriate
due to inclement weather we will retire to the Church.
The meeting is the Church’s AGM and there will be a review of 2019 with reports from the Reverend Ginni, Our Safeguarding Officer, Churchwardens, Treasurer, and St. Ippolyts School, as well as the appointment of officers, sidesmen and independent financial examiners. To make the evening ‘go with a flow’ we hope that there will be wine, soft drinks and nibbles available but this will depend upon any coronavirus restrictions.
The Church Electoral Roll is closed 15 days before the Annual Parochial Church Meeting and this means Wednesday 1stSeptember 2020. If you would like to be included on the Church Electoral Roll then forms can be obtained from the Church Electoral Roll Officer, Alan Hinks H.452429, or a Churchwarden, Michael Hooper H.457350 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., or Jane Veasey H.434254.
We are looking for new members of our Parochial Church Council. If you are interested in playing a key role
in the future of our church please consider putting yourself forward for election, it is not a particularly onerous task! Those wishing to be elected can put their names on the election list at the back of the church or contact one of the Churchwardens on the contact details above. In addition we are still seeking a treasurer to take over from Michael. If you feel you could spare the time to play an important role in the life of our church please consider taking on this task.
Michael Hooper - Churchwarden
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100 CLUB
The winners for JULY were:
No. 24 Frank Harding £20
No. 127 Jenny Morrell £15
No. 93 Poppy Cowlishaw £10
And the winners for AUGUST were:
No. 162 Jennifer Veasey £20
No. 57 Carolyn Marsh £15
No. 64 Carolyn Marsh £10
Shelagh Cox
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DEADLINE
Material for the OCTOBER issue of Pax should reach Clare Larsen, 24 Ninesprings Way, Hitchin SG4 9NN (tel. 01462-453541 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.) by Tuesday 15th September, please. Or given to Rosemary Stratton by Saturday 12thSeptember.
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