St Wilfrid's Church, Kibworth in
the Diocese of Leicester
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3
The Whiteway
Interviews Archive (since
February 2004)
This is an archive of
biographies about church people and others in the local villages written by Roger Whiteway that we have published in the Parish Magazine. If you would
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Last updated 26 November 2005
Eunice
the Bazaar Tsar - The Whiteway Interview
(December
2005)
by Roger
Whiteway
It
was such a nice change to be invited to interview someone for my monthly
magazine slot. Alison McQuaid asked me then volunteered the Social Committee
for a meeting at
Ireland
and Longhill’s office two days later. Sheila Rest, Wendy Davies, Mike Dack
and Alison turned up. With the short notice and a time of 5.30 pm it was not
surprising that the other members, Liz Ellwood, Eunice Hayes, Colin Hynard,
Sue Graves, Hazel Taylor and Pat Darke could not make it. The
‘interview’ was chaotic enough anyway; with ten victims it would have
been impossible.
The
committee’s remit is not primarily to make money but entertainment. In
spite of this it made £9,000 from the last year’s functions! These
comprised two Summer fêtes, the Millionaires’ night,
Firenze
’s splendid lunch, two tea parties and an Auction of Promises. ‘We try
and put the fun into fundraising’, said Mike Dack; the others predictably
groaned. Mike is the Chairman. He is supposed to keep the meetings on track,
to bark ‘is that relevant?’ at suitable intervals. ‘We really enjoy
what we do. Not just at the events but even the planning is a barrel of
laughs,’ said Mike.
The
committee’s last event was the Harvest Supper in the Old Grammar School
Hall. This was set to a war-time theme prompted by this year’s celebration
of the 60th
anniversary of VE day, with mandatory 40’s dress and entertainment
of the period, which was well described in November’s magazine and hugely
enjoyed by ninety people. ‘A few more helpers in the kitchen would have
done no harm’, said Alison.
From
now on every event will have its leader, who will be the contact person.
‘Until now everyone has telephoned Hazel Taylor and she’s the busiest of
us all!’ said Mike. It had to stop. In this way the responsibility will be
shared more fairly.
Eunice
will be the Tsar of the Christmas Bazaar and it will be a smash hit, they
all assured me. Because they have had the foresight to book well ahead, the
real Father Christmas will be arriving in (whoops, I nearly gave it away)
and distributing his seasonal largesse from a Magical Grotto. There will be
enough mince pies and fizzy drinks to start an epidemic of clinical obesity,
stalls and games to suit every taste, and all this will take place in our
own church hall on 26th November.
The
week after, the social committee will spring into action again to welcome
Bishop Tim, who will preside over the confirmation service and open the hall
extension officially. The festivities will be accompanied by canapés and
drinks, overseen by Boss-of-the-Bishop’s-Bash, Pat.
The
traditional Shrove Tuesday pancake and Beetle-Drive party will take place on
28th February. Fuhrer-of-the-Frying-pan will be Wendy.
So
what was your finest hour? I wanted to know. Most thought the ‘Allo!
‘allo! evening was the most fun. But the millionaires’ evening was great
too with the ladies in their posh frocks and the men unrecognisable in their
dinner jackets, their hair combed and a squirt of fragrant fly spray here
and there. And then of course Up Pompei was a real lark! The mere
recollection of Mike as Lurkio started them thinking about future themed
suppers.
‘What difference will the hall extension make?’ I asked. ‘Huge. No, bigger than huge. Enormous. To get the harvest
supper in our own premises will be fantastic. Then there are smaller rooms for more intimate, informal functions. And there’s the
kitchen where we can produce far better meals. In fact the sky’s the
limit,’ they all agreed.
So what do you need to rise to
even greater heights? ‘More help on the night,’ they all said. ‘We
don’t need a bigger committee although we wouldn’t turn anyone away who
wanted to join. But it’s Indians rather than chiefs – setters of tables,
washer-uppers and clear-awayers before and after the events. The more the
merrier – and merrier is the whole point, isn’t it?’
Conversion
& Immersion - The Whiteway Interview (September
2005)
by Roger
Whiteway
 |
It
has not taken long for Peter and Anne Thornley to make their presence
felt in St Wilfrid’s. They began coming in August 2004 and have
already led the intercessions and Peter has preached and acted in SWORD.
Speaking of which, as Peter he amputated a soldier’s ear in Christ in
the Centre in 2003 and 4. Give them a chance to proclaim their faith in
Jesus and they will seize it.
Anne
was a receptionist at a Health Club in
Leicester
when Peter became a member. She found his rippling muscles irresistible;
they married in 1975 and made their home in Fleckney. Through friendship
with their neighbours they joined the congregation of
Fleckney
Baptist
Church
in 1977 and became Christians. They continued there for fifteen
years.
They
were baptized by total immersion and ran a group of some fifty youngsters aged
sixteen and over on Sundays and Tuesdays. Peter became a lay preacher and from
1991 to 1994 they both acted as Lay Pastors for the Baptist church in Walton,
which was struggling for lack of numbers. |
From
1994 to 1996 they went to New Trinity in
Leicester
and from 1994 to 2004 Peter was one of the leaders and Anne a trustee of the
New Life Christian Fellowship in Fleckney.
‘It
was an offshoot from the Baptists’, they
explained. ‘Between
eighty
and a hundred people met in the village hall, under the guidance of the Pastor
and three leaders’. Songs were accompanied by a group of enthusiastic
musicians whose instruments and ages could vary from week to week. Some people
spoke in tongues, but you might be surprised to know that a few from St
Wilfrid’s could too. We would describe the style of worship as
‘conservative charismatic’.
Through
New Life’s involvement with Kibworth Praise, the Thornleys came to know St
Wilfrid’s and decided that it would make sense to worship in Kibworth where
they have now lived for nine years.
Anne
and Peter are trustees of a charity called “Alpha Communities”. This is a
relief and development charity working in
Mongolia
,
China
and
Tibet
. Anne visited these areas in 2004. The work is exciting and challenging.
Ulan Bator
has a large population of street children and the charity runs foster homes
where the children can have a loving, secure and a stable environment to grow
up in. It also works in the poorest district running kindergartens, after
school projects, Saturday clubs etc. Part of the work in the
Sichuan
province
of
China
is providing schools and materials for the poorest areas and to help
villages
become self-sufficient.
A
young man from Fleckney and his wife work for the organization in
China
and another young lady from Fleckney flies to
Mongolia
this September to work for 6 months. If you would like any further information
or would like to make a donation to this work, please speak to Peter or Anne.
Anne
works for a haulage and freight-forwarding company in Thurmaston, Jonen-Alpha,
and is now its
UK
director. Peter is regional sales manager of WT Burdens, who distribute pipes
to the water and gas industries. For recreation they like eating out with
friends at an unpretentious Indian restaurant in
Leicester
where they have been for many years. Anne goes to the gym or swims before work
and Peter plays squash and golf and watches
Leicester
City
. On Sunday they entertain up to a dozen
friends to lunch.
For
holidays they like the Greek islands, Cephalonia in particular and Anne has
brothers and sisters living in
Australia
whom they plan to visit over Christmas.
Peter
and Anne’s interest in Alpha is well known but they will be announcing a new
project, “A Pastorate after Alpha Course”, which is due to start with a
supper in September.
‘We
are happy with St Wilfrid’s but it needs improvement to the heating and
seating,’ they told me. ‘We’re used to it, but newcomers who are not
expecting to need an overcoat indoors may be put off before the Christian
message has had a chance to germinate, and that would be an awful shame.’
To
Cop a Carp - The Whiteway Interview
(May, 2005)
by Roger
Whiteway
 |
Don
Wilson is well known to most of those who refresh themselves at Coffee
Stop. His height and well trimmed moustache give him a commanding
presence even in a green waiter’s apron.
His
father was in the Royal Flying Corps in World War I. He saw and even
smelled a lot of carnage from the air and asked himself the same
question as many of his contemporaries “What kind of God would let
that sort of misery go on?” As a result he did not go to church and
Don was not under any parental pressure to go either.
Don
joined the army in 1942 and became a warrant officer in the Royal Corps
of Signals. Thanks to the chaplain responsible for his unit, he accepted
the Gospel message and was confirmed. The other important happening was
his marriage to Barbara, not that he saw much of her at the time.
‘I
was in the 52nd Lowland Division which was renamed the
Mountain Division. In training to invade and occupy
Norway
we were landed on
Walcheren
Island
on the West coast of
Holland
, one of the flattest pieces of terrain in the world. After that I was
posted to West Africa to maintain radio links between the Gold Coast,
Nigeria
, The Gambia,
Sierra Leone
and the War Office.’ |
On
demobilisation, Don became a policeman and for five years his lot was a
happy one. ‘I pounded the beat most of the time. It was rather low tech
then; instead of radios we made do with whistles and truncheons. Most people
behaved harmlessly. There were occasional scuffles at pub closing time but
nothing I couldn’t handle.’ Their son Ian came on the scene in 1947 and
the low police pay of those days became a problem. So Don left the police
and joined the industrial wing of the Singer Sewing Machine Company. He was
involved in setting up garment factories in the
UK
, Europe and the
Middle East
and demonstrating the equipment. The family moved to Holt in
Norfolk
for a while so that Don could set up a branch there.
‘We
lived for many years in Evington and all worshipped at Leicester Cathedral.
Ian was in the choir and a server, Barbara was in the Mothers’
Union
and a flower arranger, I was a sidesman and a warden even after we moved to
Kibworth in 1979. But Barbara suffered a stroke in 1986 and I had to give up
work and my cathedral duties to look after her full time. For the next ten
years until Barbara died the local clergy brought us comfort, support and
communion. We needed all we could get and were so grateful.’
Don
is glad to be able to out to church again. He is an eight o’clock man
through and through and takes his turn as a sidesman. His straight back and
polished shoes betray his uniformed past. ‘We octogenarians like the quiet
dignity of the old service. I still love the measured cadences of the Book
of Common Prayer,’ he says, ‘and I wish we could occasionally have the
traditional services of Mattins and Evensong – sung of course.’
The
house at the end of The Lea is tidy and well kept. Don likes tending his
small garden. He also enjoys
watching rugby but admits that he was no Martin Johnson. As for holidays, he
has found an organization for single people called ‘Just You’ with whom
he has visited
Prague
and
Vienna
and has booked a trip to
Lake Garda
. ‘Because we are all single there is no feeling of discrimination such as
in single occupancy supplements and we are all treated equally well.’ He
does the Times crossword every day to keep his brain exercised and goes
fishing for amusement and peace. ‘I fish for carp in the Police Angling
Association’s water. This comes at quite a friendly price but whereas
Isaak Walton spoke of ‘the wily carp’, these are dead stupid. They swim
over and give themselves up – maybe that’s because they’re in police
water.’
Stops,
notes and pedals
- The Whiteway Interview
(April, 2005)
by Roger
Whiteway
 |
One
of the many pleasures of worshipping on the third and fourth Sundays in
St Wilfrid’s is listening to the voluntaries played by our freelance
organists and none has a better repertoire than Geoffrey Clarke, who has
been playing for us since Janet Benskin retired four years ago.
Geoffrey
joined the choir of Leicester Cathedral at the age of eight then sang as
a treble in the choir of King’s College,
Cambridge
from age eleven to fourteen. During this time he began to study the
organ under David Willcocks, who was organ scholar at the college. ‘My
father was an organist,’ Geoffrey explained, ‘and I wanted to follow
in his footsteps. When my voice broke I was awarded a music scholarship
to
Aldenham
School
and continued my studies.’
After
school, Geoffrey did his National Service in the RAF and was stationed
at Duxford. ‘I used my spare time to play the organs of local churches
and do the paperwork for my Associate of the Royal College of Organists.
I passed my ARCO in 1955.’
Byfords
gave Geoffrey his first job and he stayed there for twenty-five years as
a production controller until a down-turn in the industry caused his
redundancy in 1980.
‘My
first regular organist’s job was at
St John
the Divine, opposite the station,
which was converted into flats. It lasted from 1956 to 1962; the organ
was a
Taylor
as is the one in St Wilfrid’s. Then began my lengthy career at St
Anne’s,
Western
Park
, where I was organist for thirty-seven years. When I started it had a
good all male choir. Girls were admitted in 1980 and finally women. No,
I’m not hide-bound about it. For our purposes female voices are just
as good as male but you have to make sure they don’t use too much
vibrato.’ |
Geoffrey
began giving piano lessons in 1962. ‘I still do fourteen a week. I have
taken a few through to grade 8 but a lot of them stop at about grade 4 when
their GCSEs demand their attention. I have taught organ to one or two but I
probably won’t take on any more.’
One
of Geoffrey’s other jobs is at Wyggeston’s Hospital. ‘The great local
benefactor William Wyggeston, who founded the schools and who is commemorated
on the Clock Tower, founded the hospital as a charity in the 1600’s. Now it
is used as sheltered accommodation with facilities for the elderly and
handicapped, who get more and more help as they get less and less capable. The
chapel is small but I find it rewarding.’
Geoffrey’s
father was the conductor of the Co-operative Choral Society. Geoffrey played
the organ for their concerts in the De Montfort Hall. ‘Alas I had to disband
it in 1980 when the numbers sank to unsustainable levels but choirs come and
go and so do operatic societies. I am still involved with the Tudor Choir and
accompany the City of
Leicester Singers
. Apart from that I give organ recitals at the Cathedral, St Margaret’s and
St Mary’s Melton Mowbray.’
Pauline,
Geoffrey’s wife, married him in 1958. They met when they were both involved
with the Co-operative Choir. She is a member of St Anne’s choir and a
server. They have three sons. Simon is forty-four, owns a post office in
Lincoln
, has three
children, plays the organ and
sings. Simon
is forty-two, wanted
to be a pop musician but now has a successful computer-based business in
Market Harborough. Tim is thirty-six, a member of St Anne’s choir, lives in
Scraptoft and is a budget officer for Rutland County Council.
Although
never a serious cricketer himself, Geoffrey is a member of the County Cricket
Club and goes to watch at
Grace Road
whenever he can. He is fascinated by railways and enjoys travelling on them
– particularly steam trains such as those that use the Grand Central line
from Loughborough to Birstall. ‘We once had a memorable holiday in a gite in
Normandy
. It would be just great to combine that with a train journey though the
Channel Tunnel.’
Joining
cheerful songs - The Whiteway Interview
(March, 2005)
by Roger
Whiteway
 |
Phil
King showed me into the playroom, which is obviously his wife
Lizzie’s element. The centerpiece is a children’s slide, the
walls are decorated with ‘kidart’ and the toys are stowed neatly
in baskets on shelves.
When
Lizzie left school she took a course in childcare. ‘
Southfields
College
had two thousand applicants for sixty-eight places,’ she told me,
‘and I was one of the lucky ones. We had two years of thorough,
practical training, which equipped me for my chosen future. I worked
as a nanny for various families in Leicestershire for twelve years.
In most cases both parents went out to work, so I was in sole charge
and that suited me well. Three years ago I decided to be my own
boss, and converted this ground floor room into what you see now. I
take up to five children from 8am to 5pm, five days a week.’
Phil
contracted glandular fever shortly after leaving school and could do
almost nothing for three years. ‘I trained for two years as a
chiropodist and practiced for three years after that. While I was
attending to
Ann Perry
, a regular client, she mentioned that there were still some
vacancies in Joseph. I had plenty of previous stage singing
experience and knew Joseph well, so I went along and volunteered. I
sang for the selection committee, Elizabeth
Cox, Ann Flower and Louisa Feltham, they liked it and
Elizabeth
said “we’ve got our Joseph” – just like that.’ |
Lizzie has always lived in
Burton Overy. She sang in the church and school choirs and took part in
Godspell at the Haymarket when she was eleven. She performed all over the
country with the Robert Mandell Children’s Choir, and her experience
made her ideal for the role of Narrator in Joseph. The show brought Phil
and Lizzie together for the first time and they never looked back. They
realised they were soul mates and married. They expect their first baby in
February.
Phil
has just finished being a chiropodist, and is about to start training as a
nurse, which is what he has always wanted to do. He
is also singing professionally. ‘I took singing lessons and performed
with Great Glen’s Main Street Theatre in Guys and Dolls, The Wizard of
Oz and Old King Cole, so I was able to get an agent, who finds me one or
two dates a week in clubs all over the
Midlands
. The typical performance time is an hour and a half, split into two or
three sessions. Sometimes it’s difficult to warm the audience up but I
always find that singing ‘Any dream will do’ from Joseph does the
trick. It’s going to be so useful to be able to earn some extra
cash while I’m doing my nursing training.
I wanted to know what they
thought the next musical show in church should be. ‘The problem with
shows based on stories from the Bible,’ Lizzie said, ‘is that they are
male dominated. There are far more female singers than male in most
churches so we don’t have a fit. Either we could perform secular music
or have a show which is based on the Bible written for a majority of
female parts.’
Both
of them are members of SWING and Phil is about to begin rehearsing his
part for Christ in the Centre. ‘We enjoy going to St Wilfrid’s and we
always come away feeling happy. We
love
to see the Angel overhead and would keep it as long as possible.
Lizzie
and Phil live in the stables of Lizzie’s parents’ farmhouse, which
were converted for her living accommodation some time ago. Phil was
brought up in Great Glen, where his parents still live. So they are
surrounded by potential baby-sitters and have a ready-made playgroup for
the future. I asked them what their ambitions were. ‘We feel as though
we have achieved them all already,’ they agreed. ‘We have a baby on
the way, occupations that we really want to do and we couldn’t be more
happily married.’
It
shows abundantly.
Asylum
granted to blind rabbit
- The Whiteway Interview
(December 2004)
by Roger
Whiteway
The
by-products of the smash hit production of Joseph in St Wilfrid’s last
February are still being counted.
‘I
heard it was going to be produced in St Wilfrid’s,’ Sue Suffolk told me,
‘and I thought it would be good for the children to take part. So in order
to encourage them I said I would join in too, and in order to encourage all
three of us my mother said she would take part as well.’ As a result Sue,
her children, her husband Andy and her parents all attend church regularly.
Sue
was born in Oadby but came to Kibworth when she was ten. She attended the
primary school, the High School and Robert Smyth before taking a course in
textile design at
Southfields
College
, which is now
Leicester
College
. This led to a job as textile designer at BHM Knitwear, where she met her
future husband, Andy, who was Knitting Manager. Andy was also educated locally
and became a knitting technician after leaving school. When they started going
out together Sue moved to another company because it didn’t mix with work
very well. Although the time we are talking about is no more than fifteen
years ago, the textile industry in
Leicester
has diminished much further and the vast majority of garments of all kinds are
sourced from overseas. Asia has been joined by such European countries as
Lithuania
as important suppliers. ‘They are extremely keen to give good service and
value and are grateful for every order,’ Andy told me.
‘We
considered ourselves as the high fashion end of the market, we had up-to-date
machinery and could make seven thousand garments a week, but it was still more
economical for retailers to source from abroad. Strangely enough, the large
chain stores, who pay less and charge less for their garments are much fussier
about quality control than the smaller, more exclusive outlets,’ they both
agreed.
Andy
left the industry three years ago, when his company began to import all their
merchandise. Their friends and family all told them they must obviously go
into interior design and decorating. As well as completely refurbishing their
own house they do the same for other people. Their house in
Harcourt Road
is a perfect example. They have put back the interior walls, which were
removed to make the ground floor open-plan, and are reinstalling fireplaces.
The sitting room is clean, elegant and uncluttered. Their ultimate goal is to
get into property development seriously, buying, improving and selling houses.
As this is their fourth home, they know whereof they speak. Andy gave a silent
cheer when Sue told me she was planning to create all the pictures and soft
furnishings herself. For she is no mean artist; her type-collage will be much
admired in the forthcoming Festival
of Angels.
Hannah
their daughter is ten, enjoys art and, because of her experience in Joseph,
sings in St Wilfrid’s choir. So does Jack, who is eight, attends
Kibworth
Primary School
like his sister, and leans towards music and mathematics.
Sue
attends the Alpha
course and finds it very interesting. ‘I think there are about fourteen of
us apart from the hosts. My dad and I are in Louisa’s group. She has us in
stitches all the time while the others are a bit more solemn.’
The
Suffolk
family includes Gemma and Judy, a pair of RSPCA rescue dogs and a blind
rabbit. For holidays they go West to
Cornwall
or the Isles of Scilly, where
they all put on their wet suits and go surfing, but next year they plan to go
skiing in
France
. In Kibworth they have to be content with roller-blading round the streets,
attracting a good deal of attention as they glide along like a family of
ducks. Their favourite restaurant is Fratelli but they frequent
Firenze
too and look forward to the opening of Raitha’s, the successor to the Rose
and Crown.
Sue
helps out at
JAFFA
and plans to join the choir after Christmas. When I raised my eyebrows
enquiringly at Andy, he smiled and shook his head firmly.
The
Singing Sadducee
- The Whiteway Interview
(November 2004)
by Roger
Whiteway
 |
The back row of the choir acquired another man this year. His
name is Andrew Dawes and he also sings in the Praise Band. Andrew lives
in Houghton on the Hill with his wife Anna and two cherished cats, Poppy
and Pushkin.
Andrew
and Anna met at a Queen’s Silver Jubilee party back in 1977. They
celebrated their silver wedding this year. Their son James is
twenty-four. He worked for a bank, really wanted to join the army but is
in the Metropolitan Police. Their twenty-one-year-old daughter Rosemarie
is reading architecture at
Nottingham
University
. Anna teaches religious studies at
Spencefield
School
and enjoys antique fairs and car boot sales.
I
wanted to know why having lived in Houghton for twenty-six years, Andrew
became involved with St Wilfrid’s. |
‘We
both used to go to St Catherine’s in Houghton but for various reasons our
enthusiasm waned,’ Andrew explained. ‘I like singing and when we performed
Joseph in Houghton, I played Pharaoh. It is a great part with good tunes that
you can belt out. Someone told me that Louisa Feltham was putting the show on
in Kibworth so I offered my services. Unfortunately for me, but fortunately
for everyone else, Mark Wood had been cast as Pharaoh.
I was still very happy to be one of the brothers, Dan. By the time we had
rehearsed it for weeks and months we felt like brothers. Louisa did a
fantastic job in attracting and training all the cast and helpers and it was
wonderful to give so many people a memorable evening’s entertainment.’
Louisa is not one to waste talent
so Andrew was signed up for SWORD and not long afterwards for the choir and
band.
‘When it came to Christ in the
Centre, I was carried along with the rest of SWORD and did my stuff as a
Sadducee. It must have been a very brave thing to do to put this on for the
first time. If it had not come over well it could have attracted heaps of
derision. On the contrary it was carried out with great skill and sincerity
and was followed by a respectful and devout crowd. The Bishop wants it to be
even bigger and better next year and it will receive funds from Christian
Praise.’
Andrew’s
maternal grandfather founded the firm of WN Gutteridge, which is situated in
Wellington Street
. Andrew’s scholastic progress was hindered by a hip injury in his last year
at school and instead of going on to higher education his parents thought he
might as well go straight into the
family firm of which he is now production manager. They supply buttons,
buckles and other trim to the clothing industry at home and abroad. Andrew
often parks his car some distance away and cycles to work for exercise. He
holds the record for the most churches visited in the Historic Churches Bike
Ride with a score of eighty! The ride made £49,300 this year. ‘In spite of
the fact that the garment industry in
Leicester
is a shadow its former self we are still busy’, says Andrew. ‘Fashion is
big business, especially for young people. Supermarkets like Asda and Tesco
are winning a larger share of the market and driving down the prices but that
is all to the consumer’s advantage.’
When
not making buttons or rehearsing with
SWORD, Andrew likes to play snooker. ‘I play for Wigston in the
Leicestershire Conservative Clubs League. We play a game, which has the
scantest resemblance to that played by Ronnie O’Sullivan. We were pleased
not to come bottom of the league last year. My best break ever was 29, which
tells you something. I used to do indoor rifle shooting until the Dunblane
tragedy made firearms unpopular. I can’t play any musical instrument but now
that I have a Sequencer Cubase, I can compose and play my own music. I have
always written poetry so the words are no trouble. I love listening to
electric guitar music and only wish I could play lead guitar for SWING.’
All right Andrew but don’t give
up the voice.
Cockroaches
& Caterpillars
- The Whiteway Interview
(September 2004)
by Roger
Whiteway
 |
Burkina
Faso
, ‘Land of the Honest People’,
is a land-locked country in North West Africa, roughly the size of the
UK
and adjacent to
Cote d’Ivoire
and
Ghana
. Life expectancy of the ten million inhabitants is 46 and the annual
gross domestic product is less than $300 per head. Nicola Lee
went there for a month with seven other British girls in a Transform
team from Tear Fund in collaboration with the charity Accedes.
‘We
flew to the capital,
Ouagadougou
via
Paris
and continued by bus to Bobo Dioulasso, where we stayed for all but
one day of our visit. I wanted to see for myself what the
Third World
is like and to try and make a difference, however small,’ Nicola
told me. ‘People farm for themselves and grow cotton for export but
prices are depressed, incomes from agriculture are very low and the
Sahara
is encroaching year by year. Only a fifth of the people can read and
write. In spite of these problems the country is at peace, it is
politically stable and the people seem genuinely happy. The regime is
far from democratic but doesn’t seem repressive. There is adequate
rainfall; in fact we were there during the rainy season.’
|
The
Transform team’s aims have everything to do with relieving poverty,
promoting Christianity and social justice. Nicola expected to be helping to
build a dormitory but they only carried bricks for a clinic wall and the team
was partly at a loose end. ‘We started a holiday bible class (in French) for
children, which lasted a week and was quite successful. We also ran English
lessons for adults and children proficient in French – at least it did our
French some good. We planted some trees then watched the goats eat them. Our
presence at least showed the people that we in the West care about them.’
‘Conditions
for us were quite good. We slept on mattresses on the floor of a school’s
computer room. There were plenty of mosquitoes but we had nets to keep them
off us at night. The shower worked and the toilet flushed most of the time.
Although the season seemed cold to the inhabitants it was hot to us and we
appreciated the ceiling fans. Cockroaches were everywhere, horrible but
harmless. The food in our accommodation was normal but when we were out we
were treated to roasted caterpillars – nice big hairy ones and tôt, a kind
of mush derived from maize. None of us found these addictive. We had some
access to E-mail through the school so we were able to let the folks back home
know what was happening.’
Bobo
Dioulasso is the second largest city in Burkina after
Ouagadougou
. ‘There are a few large buildings,’ said Nicola, ‘the museum, banks and
the houses used by the President’s brother but the rest are single-storey,
mud-brick structures and the roads are very rough. Goats, donkeys, chickens,
sheep and turkeys roam the streets. There is a good market selling food,
cloth, motor bikes and electrical goods. It is frowned on for Christians to
frequent bars and we did not find any cafés. There is no shortage of mosques
and churches. Half the population are Muslims; the rest are Catholic or
Anglican. The people dress in their best clothes for church, the married women
wear hats and the evangelical-style services are long with a lot of singing
and clapping. The congregation has a strong faith. They say their prayers out
loud from memory and the pastor sums them up and concludes. I was allowed to
lead a service at a bible college and was interviewed for the radio. Leading
the service in Kibworth is not too daunting because the format is set and it
has been good for my confidence.’
Nicola
will begin her three-year course in Archeology at
Durham
this Autumn in the same college as her parents. She plans to join the
Christian Union and play her violin in the Hill orchestra. ‘I am not looking
any further into the future than that,’ she says.
Myrtle
in Purple - The Whiteway Interview
(September 2004)
by Roger
Whiteway
 |
Myrtle Cook was ordained Deacon with two other women and five men
at Leicester Cathedral on Sunday 4 July 2004. It was a big production
which did the Cathedral and the eight deacons great credit.
‘On
Thursday morning we attended a rehearsal of the ceremony in the
Cathedral then after lunch we were taken to Launde Abbey to begin our
retreat,’ Myrtle explained. ‘We were guided by Sheila Watson, the
Archdeacon of Buckingham, who gave us subjects like “Who is Jesus to
you?” and allowed us to think about them quietly. Most of the retreat
consisted of silent contemplation but we joined the Launde community for
morning and evening services. We each had an interview with Bishop Tim
on Saturday and signed a Declaration which affirmed our loyalty to
preach God’s word according to the beliefs of the faith revealed in
Holy Scripture to which the Church of England bears witness.’ |
Myrtle
would understand the importance of that document better than most. She left
Guyana
, the former British colony bordering
Venezuela
, to study law. She obtained a BA from
Ealing
Technical
College
before being called to the Bar in 1977. She studied part time at
University
College
London
for a Masters in Law while practicing in Criminal Law. Her voice has the
warmth of the
Caribbean
and laughter is never far below the surface. She told me ‘I was one of nine
children. My father was a pharmacist and died when I was fifteen. At that time
I wanted to become a nun but my mother had to run the business and often
needed the services of a lawyer, which gave me the idea for my future
career.’ She became a Reader in 1997.
Guyana
has less than a million inhabitants in an
area roughly the same as
Great Britain
. It became independent in 1966. Half of its inhabitants are Christian; the
rest are mostly Hindu and Muslim. ‘We went to church three times every
Sunday and when I came to
London
I was surprised how few people attended church and how unreceptive the church
was.’
Myrtle’s
husband Mike served for thirty-two years in the Metropolitan Police. They met
at the Community Relations Council in Walthamstow. He is a big man with a
strong Christian faith and was a churchwarden in his previous parish for
twelve years. They have four children and six grandchildren between them, all
of whom live in the South of England.
Mike
comes from Leicestershire and used to drive up from
Essex
regularly to visit his father who had Alzheimer’s disease. He said ‘It
seemed a good idea to come back to this area when I retired so we moved to
Husbands Bosworth five years ago. I still work part time for the Appeals
Service and watch the Tigers as often as I can.’
‘When
I became an ordinand,’ Myrtle told me, ‘the diocese sent me to Kibworth
which needed a curate. I was told by the EMMTC principal, Michael Taylor, to
ask myself not whether I could work with Steven but whether I could pray with
him, which is much more personal and demanding.’
For
amusement Myrtle plays the piano, goes to keep-fit and belly-dancing classes.
She and Mike go walking and he enjoys gardening and cooking. They attend the
open-air theatre at De Montfort Hall and listen to jazz.
Judging
Myrtle to be ambitious, I asked her what changes she plans to make when she
becomes Archbishop of Canterbury. ‘Purple
would suit me,’ she said. ‘I would abolish permanent incumbencies. It
should be possible to fire a priest if he or she cannot do the job. Churches
must always be looking outwards. They could have more community based events
in the locality rather than on Church premises. It takes courage for outsiders
to step through that huge wooden door for the first time and all services like
baptisms, weddings and funerals must be used as evangelical opportunities. The
hardest people for the church to satisfy are teenagers. They question
everything and must be given sound reasons for coming to church, which I
intend to do.’ Myrtle we believe you.
Remand
Revelation - The Whiteway Interview
(July/August 2004)
by Roger
Whiteway
‘It
was only through going to prison that I came to know Jesus,’ Richard
Stafford told me. He was completely open about his past. ‘I used to have a
drink problem and I was so disgusted with myself that I was determined to kick
the habit, knowing that very few alcoholics succeed,’ he explained. ‘I
gave up for two years; then I suppose I was over-confident. I went on a binge,
lost my head and decided to go and settle an old score with someone who had
done me a wrong. I went to the right house but, unfortunately, my old
adversary had left and I accidentally assaulted another man who was innocent.
I was arrested and remanded in Leicester Jail.’
Richard
was born in Sheffield and came to
Leicester
when fourteen, with his mother Liz Wood. He only went to church to please her.
‘It didn’t interest me at all’, he said. ‘I only used to follow the
service to see how soon we could go home.’ He worked as a care assistant in
Saddington Nursing Home for seven years then started his training as a student
nurse when his lapse occurred.
Richard
met his partner, Paula MacDonald, at a clinic for alcoholics. They have lived
together for three and a half years and have a lively two-year-old boy Adam
who comes to church with them. They have a pretty, terraced house in Great
Glen but attend St Wilfrid’s for obvious family reasons.
Paula
was a dental nurse in
Nottingham
and then in Great Glen. ‘I did my two years training on a night course while
I worked on the job by day,’ she said. ‘I didn’t find it very
interesting and am now the support worker for the Welland Disability Inclusion
Project Worker. She is blind and uses a wheel chair and therefore understands
the problems of disability better than most.’
While
on remand, his mother Liz visited Richard and suggested he might feel better
if he went to chapel. ‘I paid attention to what the chaplain was saying and,
despite my awful circumstances, found myself suddenly happy and smiling
broadly. Jesus had become real to me. It was like being hit by a bomb of
happiness which exploded inside me.’
Paula’s
experience was similar. She was at home with Adam while Richard was elsewhere,
feeling generally low. Then she heard gurgles and chuckles from Adam and began
to feel warm and comfortable. The words ‘Have faith; the Lord will
provide’ came into her head. ‘I was an atheist so those are not the kind
of thoughts that would occur to me unless they were put there. Jesus might as
well have been sitting on the end of my bed. I found it hard to believe at
first or to tell Richard what had happened because of all my years of
unbelief, but that’s behind me now.’
Richard
continued. ‘Because I was truly sorry for what I had done and the chaplain
spoke up for me in court, I was given a light sentence. It was still eighteen
months but consisted of three months in Leicester (category B and fairly
tough), six weeks in North Sea Camp (category D and gentle enough to
accommodate Jeffrey Archer) and four and a half months with a tag. The tag is
now off and my sentence ends in October.’
Richard
and Paula were confirmed in January along with Richard’s half sister Sarah
Wood. Paula helps with the crèche and looks forward to doing more.
Richard
joined SWORD in time to be one of the thieves released from the cross in
‘Christ in the Centre’. ‘I expected the crowd to mock us but they joined
in the hymns and prayers very devoutly and there were so
many of them!’
Richard
is working on the farm for David Briggs, painting barns, de-horning calves and
doing any other jobs needed. ‘We have no ambitions,’ they agree. ‘All we
pray for is a happy, fulfilling life in which we can serve God and other
people.’
Amen
to that from us all.
Jewels
to Jubilation - The Whiteway Interview
(June 2004)
by Roger
Whiteway
‘I
could actually hear a voice telling me not to go back to work at the office,
but when I turned round to look, there was nobody there.’ That was how Mary
Lister described her call to the ministry while helping at a parish mission in
St. Martin
’s Church, Horninglow in 1951.
Mary
was born in 1928, the third child of a Christian family. Her earliest
recollection was of the airship R101 passing overhead. ‘We attended St
Michael’s Church in Handsworth every Sunday,’ she said. ‘I was invited
to teach in Sunday school when I was fourteen. I failed my School Certificate
three times so my father sent me to commercial college to learn book-keeping
and typing and work in the office of his firm of jewellery manufacturers in
Birmingham
. His desk was full of packets of diamonds and other gems mixed up with orders
and invoices and I used to carry a tin of gold and silver offcuts to the assay
office by myself.’
‘In
1950 and 51 two members of the Society of St Francis at Cerne Abbey visited
our church and I and two fellow Sunday School teachers became Companions of
the S.S.F. Fr Silyn asked me to help at the mission in Horninglow which
changed my life.’
Mary’s
future began with weeks of letter-writing and prayer after which she went to
see the Adviser for Women’s Church Work. There were interviews, exams and
visits to training colleges until she was offered a place by St Andrew’s
College in Southsea, which only took a dozen students. The training was
rigorous and with plenty of help and encouragement she obtained her
Inter-Diocesan Certificate of Recognition at the second attempt.
Mary’s
first job as a Parish Worker was in St Giles,
Lincoln
. Over lunch, the vicar’s three-year-old son said ‘I like this lady better
than the one who came yesterday’ and on that recommendation she was hired in
1955.
‘Parish
Worker can mean anything,’ Mary explained. ‘In my case, I did everything a
priest could do except celebrate communion and marry people. A lot of my time
was spent bringing people practical help that had nothing to do with Religion
but simply conveyed the love of God through a human channel. Early on I had to
visit a bereaved family. I had never seen a dead person before but I was not
afraid for the ‘person’ had obviously gone and I was looking at an empty
shell.’
After
two happy years, Mary moved to St Cyprian’s, Frecheville on the outskirts of
Sheffield
to gain more experience. She was in charge of the Carthaginians children’s
club and founded the Housewives’ Circle for young mothers, which still runs
today.
In
1962 she moved to Areley Kings in the diocese of
Worcester
. After eight months she had her own flat for the first time. Bliss! ‘I ran
a three-hour children’s Good Friday service, which sounds daunting but they
loved it. I coached a group of teenage Sunday school teachers. Their
enthusiasm taught me a lot. I led an Adventurers Club under the aegis
of the USPG and helped with the diocesan annual Children’s week, which was
held at the seaside – a new experience for many of the poorer youngsters.’
Mary
was persuaded to move to
Redditch
in 1966. ‘My flat there was spooky and cat-ridden. As I had to work in an
old church hall I got the parish to put a primitive but spacious mobile home
on some spare ground alongside’.
‘The
vicar and I did not really hit it off and I asked the bishop for another move.
He put me in charge of Kington and Dormston, which was Heaven. I lived in a
large vicarage with my little terrier Jessie for eight years. There were
wonderful characters for some of whom I organized a ‘meals on legs’ rota.
I felt called to become a deaconess and after twenty-five years as a parish
worker was ordained in March 1980. The same year, Archbishop Runcie celebrated
the thirteenth century of the
Worcester
diocese with a service for 10,000 people at the football ground.’
Wanting
one more move before retirement Mary found the parish of Ancaster in
Lincolnshire
. ‘The team vicar had more than a full time job and gave me all the
responsibility I wanted. He said I was the vicar and he the curate.’
In
1986 the General Synod voted to allow women to become Deacons – something
Mary had prayed for – and on 1 May 1987 she was ordained by Bishop Robert
Hardy with twenty-seven other women including Violet Parry. Her duties changed
little except that she could now take weddings. In her last year she ran into
an interregnum so with great relief she retired to a little house in the
middle of
Worcester
, resolved to do no church work for the next six months.
Mary
joined the staff of Old St Martin’s, whose incense and correct ceremonial
reminded her of her childhood. ‘When women were admitted to the priesthood
in 1993, Old St Martin’s would not recognize them and I had to keep my
jubilation under control. I became a volunteer at St Richard’s Hospice and
enjoyed helping the patients with arts and crafts for nine years.’
‘I
moved to
Stuart Court
in 2000 and was delighted to find three fellow members of the Third Order of
St Francis living in the village. I pursue my hobbies of photography,
painting, embroidery, gardening, make furnishings for my doll’s house, write
my memoirs and go on retreats to such places as Iona,
Glastonbury
and Ely. God blessed me in my ministry; now he blesses me in my retirement.’
It
shows, Mary. It shows.
Hold the
Front Page - The Whiteway Interview
(April 2004)
by Roger
Whiteway
Indomitable
is the word for
John Josephs
. He has done ten years hard labour, including a severe stroke, transforming
the Parish Magazine, and just celebrated his eightieth birthday. Only now does
he think it is time to hand the green eyeshade to
Chris Graves
.
‘During
the interregnum in 1994, the
PCC
asked me if I would cast a
supervisory eye over the magazine and I ended up in the editor’s chair,’
John recalls. ‘Like most church jobs, I didn’t have to fight off stiff
opposition to get it. It’s kept me in the centre of affairs and contact with
contributors and readers has been most rewarding.’
It
was not John’s first experience of editing. He put together the REME
magazine during his National Service. ‘That was a great job. I could go
anywhere and do anything. I was carpeted severely by my CO for publishing a
derogatory cartoon about the Military Police but the interview ended with his
admitting that he was highly amused.’
John
was born and bred a Jew but friendship with a padre while in the army resulted
in his accepting the truth of the Christian message. At the same time his
brother, Joe, wrote to him from the RAF in
India
to tell him that he had become a
Christian too. Joe became vicar of St James the Greater in
Leicester
before owning and running
Stoneygate
School
.
John’s
career began in his father’s company of leather merchants. He met his wife
Wendy who comes from Stalham in
Norfolk
and suddenly his visits to
Norwich
on business increased exponentially. They married in 1954 and had three
children, who have given them four grandchildren. Susie, the eldest daughter
is chairman of a PR company specialising in information technology, David who
has a son with epilepsy is a director of the National Society for Epilepsy and
Bell
the younger daughter is an art therapist and works with children who have
behavioral difficulties.
Cricket
has always been John’s passion. His path to an
Oxford
blue as a left arm spinner was only thwarted by the presence of AH Kardar, the
future Captain of Pakistan. However he captained the County seconds and played
for the first eleven nine times. His greatest moment of glory came in 1996,
when he was Chairman of Leicestershire County Cricket Club and they won the
County
Championship
. ‘We won ten matches out of seventeen, which is pretty unusual. When we had
it in the bag we played
Surrey
, very relaxed and out to enjoy ourselves. We won by a mile largely due to the
batting of Ben Smith of Kibworth.
Surrey
generously said we were the best championship side they had played against.’
John
served as a magistrate for some thirty years. ‘I enjoyed being a JP. The
petty sessions take care of most of the cases that come before the courts.
They are quick and efficient and operated by unpaid, caring magistrates and I
was proud to be one.’ Rotary gives him another opportunity to serve the
community. He has been a member of the
Leicester
branch for many years and founded Interact for boys and girls between thirteen
and eighteen and Rotoract for those between eighteen and thirty to meet
pleasurably and learn about community service.
John
and Wendy celebrated the Millennium with a new house, dog and garden. Wendy is
a very accomplished gardener and flower arranger and the new
garden is
as beautiful as the old but smaller and more manageable. To the casual
observer the house looks much the same size. Not long afterwards, John had his
stroke. ‘The grey matter is no worse than it was before but my footwork is
not as agile. My little electric chariot makes up for it.’
‘My attitude to the church is
ambivalent,’ says John. ‘My heart opposes most kinds of reform from the
ASB onwards but my head sees crowds of happy children and young parents piling
into church on Sunday morning and I know we must be doing something right.’
John and Wendy, your readers
wish you both a happy retirement.
Plants
& Transplants - The Whiteway Interview
(March 2004)
by Roger
Whiteway
Some
folk spend their lives avoiding responsibility; others sign up cheerfully and
assess the liabilities later. Chris and Sue Graves belong to the latter group.
They
used to live on the
South
Coast
near
Worthing
and found that negotiating the M25 to
visit their family was too much of an ordeal. It seemed good sense to relocate
to
Market Harborough
but having failed to find anything
suitable they were advised to search in Kibworth and found a bungalow in
Albert Street
in August 2003.
‘Our
son, Mark 32, is an accountant, lives in Broughton Astley, and is married with
two children,’ Sue explained. ‘Alex is a teacher living in Narborough,
married with one boy. Both their sons are devout Christians and worship with
the Living Rock. My father lives in Stotfold Herts and my mother died very
recently. Our daughter Lynn continues to live on the South coast. She has
taught sailing and other outdoor activities and is doing an MA in teaching at
Chichester
. She attends New Frontiers in
Worthing
, which plants as many new churches as
possible.’
By
the time the furniture van was unloaded they were members of the tennis club,
the flower guild, the men’s fellowship, the coffee and the sidemen’s rotas.
They both play golf and bridge and Chris plays chess. ‘The floodlit tennis courts in
Smeeton Road
helped us to decide on Kibworth,’
says Sue.
Chris read botany at
Nottingham
and took a D Phil at
Sussex
. He worked at the Glass House Crop Institute and claims never to have grown a
plant in soil. ‘Soil is too variable. Hydroponics, as it’s called, means
growing plants in water with accurately measured nutrients and often in an
inert support medium such as Rockwool.
Sue began her career with ten
years in the family business with a large store selling neither food nor
clothing but pretty well everything else and a cinema. While the children were
growing up she became a nurse but hardly had time to practise before Chris had
his first bout of cancer. He was cured and returned to work but suffered
cancer of the liver three years later and required a transplant, which works
well. Chris retired in 1994 and Sue had to go on working for another eight
years, about which she still chunters slightly.
Sue
has been a Christian for as long as she can remember but to Chris, a
scientist, it seemed only right to be a devout atheist.
‘My illnesses changed all that,’ he said. ‘I was flattered and
moved to know how many people had prayed for me while I was ill and, as my
recovery was pretty remarkable, I wondered if the prayers had had some effect.
Then I considered the beauty, magnificence and mystery of the universe. Could
all this really have occurred by chance? I became convinced that it must have
been the work of a divine creator. Now I’m a Christian and proud to say so
to anyone.’
When
John Josephs
asked Chris if he would become editor of the magazine, he accepted without
hesitation. The April issue will be published under his leadership. ‘I have
worked on a parish magazine before,’ says Chris, ‘and this should bring me
up to speed with Kibworth quickly. I
know I shall enjoy it if I get as much support as John has.’
Chris
and Sue are both helpers with
JAFFA
and Sue sang in the choir of Joseph. Chris wisely hides his voice under
a bushel, we are told.
Sue likes to help the poor and
disabled. She sailed on Nelson, a three-masted barque with a crew of disabled
people. ‘Chris was on a golf holiday at the time,’ she said, ‘and
switched on the television in time to see a helicopter rescuing one of our
seasick passengers.’ She also went to
Peru
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