Common Worship

Those of you who have been to church recently will have noticed that the style and language of the services have changed slightly. There has been a lot of adverse criticism recorded in the press of the new Book of Common Worship, mainly centering on the literally millions of alternatives that are available for use during the different seasons of the churchıs year. In use, most of the criticisms are are actually ill-founded, as the structure of the service remains the same - you know whatıs coming next - and it is good to have seasonal variety, emphasising Christmas, Advent, Lent and so on.

There are sound reasons behind all the changes - practical and theological, and it is making us all sit up and take a greater notice of what is where and why; also whether we like it or not ! The old Prayer Book remains very much in use, and you will see in the Benefice Newsletter when we are using the 1662 services. We do also want people to have a say in the way the services are organised, and to that end we have set up a Benefice Liturgy Group to discuss the alternatives in the light of comments and preferences people have expressed to them. If you have some thoughts on this, please do contact the following people in Helmdon:- Ann Smith, Carol Brookhouse and Wiggy Smith.

John Roberts

Youıve probably read this somewhere else,
but itıs worth repeating !

What is a Senior Citizen? A Senior Citizen is one who was here before;
the pill, television, frozen foods,
contact lenses, credit cards,
... and before man walked on the moon.
For us, "Time Sharing" meant togetherness,
not holiday homes and a "chip" meant a piece of wood.
"Hardware" meant nuts and bolts,
and "Softwear" wasn't even a word.
We got married first then lived together,
and thought cleavage was something butchers did.
A "Stud" was something that fastened a collar to a shirt
and "going all the way" meant staying on a double decker to the bus depot.
We thought "fast food" was what you ate in lent;
A "Big Mac" was an oversized raincoat,
and "crumpet" we had for tea.
In our day ³grass² was mown;
"pot" was something you cooked in;
"coke" was kept in the coal house and a "joint" was
cooked on Sundays.

We are today's Senior Citizens.
A hardy bunch when you think how the world has changed!

From the Parochial Church Council

The calendar is a strange thing; in the Church, we don't pay too much attention to it! We date our correspondence and arrange our meetings and services according to the familiar Julian calendar we all use. The Church's spiritual year begins at Advent - the annual preparation for the coming of Christ. Even more strangely, we organise our business from the Annual Parochial Church Meeting, which takes place around Easter every year. This year, our APCM in Helmdon is on the 4 April at 7.30 p.m. in the church. Just to make it more complicated, it is called the 4nnual Meeting and Vestry Meeting, but it does not take place in the vestry! Traditionally, it is the occasion when the parish elects its churchwardens who are responsible for the fabric of the village church. Like any other AGM, it is when the organisation concerned reports to its members on the past year and, most importantly, how its finances are doing and elects the offcers for the coming year. We hope we will see many of you at this important village meeting; anyone can come, but only those on the Church Electoral Roll can vote.

One item of interest you are likely to hear more of is that the wheels have been set in motion to provide running water at the church and therefore a toilet. There are also plans for kitchen facilities. This will all take time as the wheels of bureaucracy may be set in motion, but they turn extremely slowly! When it is all complete, what a difference it will make to us all, not just to the church members, but to the village as a whole.

Gay Wallis
Secretary to the Parochial Church Council