|
FROM ST GILES’ CLERGY
 Early last month I had a busy morning welcoming three separate groups of Year One children from Breakspear Infants School to look around St Giles’ Church. Contending with a continuous barrage of questions really kept me on my toes! But the best thing was that it made me look closely at parts of the church that I walk past everyday and take for granted. In fact the enormous number of items that were given in memory of loved ones struck me again. But it was the stained glass window depicting Christ on the cross with the cruel nails in his hands and feet that caused the greatest number of questions – who killed him? Why did he die? And what has happened to the cross that he died on? This last question made me think!
In one sense the story of Christ’s passion is well known, his agonising death at the hands of the Roman soldiers demanded by the religious authorities of the time, who mistook the Son of God for a blasphemer. However, Christians believe that this only explains how his death happened and not why. The ‘why’ question is answered many times in the Bible, and famously in this verse from John’s Gospel, ‘For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life’. Christ’s death on the cross was a deliberate act of love and mercy, the means by which we can receive forgiveness and be re-united with God.
But what about the actual cross he died on? I guess the reality is that the wood used for the cross was used repeatedly for the death sentence of criminals, reminding us again that Christ, who was innocent, died in such humiliation.
The stained glass window that provoked these questions sits above the place where each Sunday we remember Christ’s death as we celebrate Holy Communion together. This is a fantastic reminder that Christians view the events of Good Friday in the light of that first Sunday, Easter Day when Jesus rose from the dead. Christ’s resurrection confirms his victory over death and sin and that he is alive today by his Holy Spirit in the lives of Christians. The events of Easter can be a reality for Christians throughout the year as we daily receive his forgiveness and experience his risen life.
If you would like to look around the church at any time, you don’t need to be part of a school visit! The church is open most lunchtimes, and on Sundays for church services of course! You would be most welcome to view the church, and ask your questions about the Christian faith.
Adrian
Baptisms
Feb. 20th Ryan and Charlotte McSweeney
Katie Hall
Cremations at Breakspear Crematorium
Feb. 16th Irene Page, aged 85
24th Anne Jones, aged 83 (after service at St Giles’ Church)
Mar. 7th Audrey Davis, aged 77 (after service at St Giles’ Church)
Burial at Mortlake Cemetery
Feb. 21st Eddie Mason, aged 77 (after service at St Giles’ Church taken by the Revd. Andrew Sheard)
 Audrey was born on 6th February 1928 in Stretford in Greater Manchester, the only child to Harry and Bessie Toothill. She left school at 16 and began work in Textile Design and her artistic flair was noted when she won second prize in the Textile Industry Competition in 1946 having entered a series of designs on cotton, linen and silk.
Audrey met her beloved Walter at a dance, and they married in 1952, setting up home in Swinton in Greater Manchester. Two years later John was born. The family moved south due to Walter’s work as a Chemist, and they settled in Wallasey Crescent in 1956. In due course, Sue and Elly were born.
Audrey had many talents and interests. She loved to paint watercolours, and she had a long involvement with Ickenham Art Society. She was wonderfully talented at homemaking – sewing, knitting, gardening and cooking. Her homemade marmalade was second to none. Not only was she a great Mum, she was a devoted Grandmother.
Her foremost interest was her family, but she also enjoyed a wide breadth of reading. She was a friend of Kew Gardens, and a member of the U3A.
.
Audrey was a committed member of St Giles’ Church, and both she, and Walter, were stalwarts at putting their Christian faith into action through practical acts of service, ministry and kindness. Audrey displayed many Christ-like characteristics, which bore witness to her Saviour and Lord. She was not interested in self-promotion, greed, or materialism. She derived great pleasure from the natural world around her, and from worshipping the God who created it all.
|
|
|
