Dear Friends,

We seem to have been very busy right up to holiday period and certainly since we have returned. But, generally speaking, summer gives you a chance to think things through a bit. I really believe there are certain things we need to do in Glencraig to take our parish forward. I alluded to some of this in a sermon a few weeks ago. Quite rightly, we have been dragging our heels with regard to the Vicarage ground and our general ‘Development Plan’ which was composed all around the time the Hewitts moved out of Seahill Road. This was, and remains, a very comprehensive plan of action which, most importantly also looked out on a greater, wider world in need, which is key to any forward-thinking church. Seemingly, the economic climate is not going to change a great deal over the next decade or two and maybe perhaps even beyond that. So perhaps it’s time we took more positive action in this respect. Of course, any decision along these lines involves the Select Vestry and is not dependent on the whimsies of a Vicar, thank goodness!

One of my great concerns is for our young people, and has always been! From Family Services to Youth Club and Youth Fellowship and almost every aspect of youth work, we do not seem to be addressing the issues in the way that we should. I’m not blaming anyone here but myself, but I feel it’s time we really got a grip. You would be amazed at the number of young people we have on our Parish List; they need to motivated, enthused and engaged in church life and someone skilled in that area needs to do that job. We said a sad farewell to our Organist, Ian Mackrell some time ago; a superb musician he was and we miss his expertise, but it is now also an opportunity to really look at how we use music in Church. I have said to people before that I believe music in Church is like lighting in a house – it sets the whole atmosphere, and in church it can encourage worship and bring it to a whole new level. With this in mind, I have spoken to our good friend, Margaret Metcalfe who has musicality running through her veins! It would be a wonderful vision to see some of our young people helping to enhance our Church services. I’m planning to be in touch with as many people as I can over the next little while to see how many might be interested in forming a performance group.

It would be wrong to move on any further without saying a huge thank you to those who have stepped into the breach with regard to our organ. Linda Aitcheson is always willingly on hand, especially for Family Services and we are very grateful to her. Also Margaret McCabe has always been there when we have needed her and we cannot thank her enough. What has been a real joy over the last while is to have Eve Parkhill with us. To those of you who may not know, Eve was our organist before she married Rev Alan Parkhill who took her away from Glencraig in 1979. I cannot tell you how pleased I am to say that Alan has also brought her back! It is wonderful to have Alan and Eve and their family as a part of our church family in Glencraig. Alan is meant to be retired and I had no intention that they should be so involved so quickly (in order to give them a rest), but it is just circumstance and we want to say a huge thank you to them both, but especially to Eve for all her playing – it has been ‘just like ol’ times’, someone said to me recently. These are all, however, temporary measurements while we are quietly working in the background to secure a permanent organist.

With young people on my mind, I was determined that we should get the Saturday night Youth Club up and running once again. I now have a list of people who ‘qualify’ to help out. It’s not an exhaustive list and it could be a lot bigger, but perhaps with the help we have at the moment we can manage. At least if we attempt to start it again, we may engender more interest from other parents. I cannot see any of this happening, however, before October. So we have made a provisional date of Saturday 2nd October as the Youth Club Registration Night. I am very grateful to Wendy McBrien who will make herself available that night to issue all the necessary forms and I would ask that a parent of any child who wishes to attend the Youth Club be present that evening in order to sign the necessary documents. You will appreciate how careful we all need to be these days and Wendy, along with Mary Gregg, are our Safeguarding Trust experts.

The third Sunday in the month morning service is still going to be a bit of a surprise for all of us; I keep changing my mind about things! For September, anyway, there’s the possibility that we will do something that we have done many times before, usually on special occasions, so it will not be too much of a shock for any of us.

Sunday 26th September is ‘Back to Church Sunday’. BTCS, as it has become known, was first initiated in Greater Manchester in 2004. Not every Church, nor every Diocese is taking part in this initiative, but it is worth mentioning here because it is based on the simplest and shortest step in evangelism – that we should invite someone we already know to something we love; invite our friend to our church. It is very interesting that many churches have taken a certain direction in their churchmanship and in the way ‘church’ is done over the last number of years particularly. This doesn’t suit everybody and it is one of the reasons why Glencraig appeals to a lot of people. I am leading up to the fact that September 26th is, in fact, our Family Communion Sunday. I have no intention of changing that Sunday from Holy Communion. So, if we can arrange it that Ray can get kitted out in all the appropriate garb, we will certainly be able to offer to people a slightly different alternative Church style to many of the churches that surround us at the moment. I think that is only a good thing. So, please do invite a friend and we will welcome them warmly on Sunday 26th September!

Something else that might be slightly different this year is our main Harvest Thanksgiving at 11 O’clock! Our guest preacher is someone I knew in Dublin when we were both training for the ministry and he has recently been appointed as senior chaplain to The Missions to Seafarers, the Rev. Colin Hall-Thompson. He was formerly Rector of Ballymacarrett. I can assure you of a lively discourse on this Sunday and the ‘sea’ will be a large feature of the service. We hope to take a special collection that Sunday for The Mission to Seafarers. Our Annual Christian Aid Harvest Lunch will follow this Service – please do not forget to join us! Christian Aid remains one of our favourite charities and in the wake of, for example, the most appalling situation in Pakistan, we understand very clearly that Christian Aid is on constant vigilance to help relieve disaster areas throughout the world.

At our Harvest Eucharist, we will be welcoming again our friends from Ballygilbert. We usually take on the preaching role ourselves at this service, but this year I have asked the Rev. Adrian McLaughlin to preach. Adrian is the Curate-Assistant in Bangor Abbey and I have been wanting him to take a Family Service for us for sometime in Glencraig, because he has a sound reputation of blowing things up and all sorts of things like that on such occasions. That is for another day perhaps. Tea and coffee will follow this service and I can at this stage say a huge thank you to Hazel Johnston and a whole gang of workers who will have provided lunch earlier on in the day and now tea after Harvest Eucharist. Thank you so much.

Summer, if that is what it was called, passes by so quickly and I hope we can now return to all our Church activities with great vision and confidence.

With every best wish,

Paul Hewitt

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Vestry News

I hope that our readers will not be too disappointed that there is very little to report from the Select Vestry simply because it goes into its summer hibernation during the moths of July and August. But we will all be back in action in September and we hope then to have something more to say to you all.

The expert work on the church doors has not gone unnoticed. How well they look now that the decorative iron work has been replaced. We have Simon Haselden to thank for providing the expertise and the elbow grease. He was ably assisted by his wife, Clare, and several other parishioners who rose to the challenge.

The annual battle with the mare’s tail growing in the car park has been waged. What a persistent and invasive weed this is. If it were not treated each year it could very easily take over the car park and lift the tarmac surface. Keep using the car park! The weed does not like to have cars run over it!

Talking of gardening - is there anyone out there who could tackle the growth in the bushes along the side of the driveway? They would need to be cut back soon as they are encroaching step by step across the driveway. A wee working party should be able to do the trick.

A few lessons from history

A couple of volumes of the Glencraig Magazine between March 1917 and February 1919 have come our way through the late Michael Williams who served as Deputy Head of Rockport School for many years.

Michael’s interest in them was in connection with all of the men and women in the parish who served in the First World War. We are all familiar with many of the names which are pronounced at our annual Remembrance Service in November. But there are other snippets in these volumes which give us some insight about Glencraig almost 100 years ago.

For example there is an article entitled: Valuable Parishioners. What, you might well ask, is a ‘valuable parishioner’? Is this person any different in 2010 that such a person in 1919? Let’s see what the article says and you can judge for yourself.

(They are)….composed of the faithful people who are a help and an ornament in the church, and whose praise is in the hearts and lips of all who know them. They are a comfort to the rector and the mainstay of the parish. They are always in their places during Divine Service, unless hindered by some necessity, ready ever with aid and sympathy and appreciativeness and invariably to be depended upon to support every noble undertaking. In them we have valuable parishioners…….Everyone con be a valuable parishioner if he will. It does not require that he be rich, or a person of elegant leisure. All that it is necessary is for him to do what is easily in his power.

What about that then? Any difference between than and now? Although the words ‘elegant leisure’ certainly do give some food for thought!

There is also an article on: Medicinal Herb Growing which makes you sit up and take notice. It goes as follows:

Though Opium Poppy flowers well in Ireland, opium is usually made only from the capsules of poppies grown in the East. The poppy heads do not ripen and enlarge sufficiently here to make them pay for gathering for fomentation.

So that’s what parishioners got up to nearly a century ago! As they say: don’t try this one at home!

This was shortly after a time towards the end of the 19th century when you could buy Stickney and Poor’s Paregoric to help children to sleep. It comprised 46% alcohol and 1 grain of opium and was recommended for children from five days old to five years. Adults could have 1 Teaspoonful.