Services this Sunday
Sunday 16 November
10am Parish Communion – Easton with Revd Phil Collins
Remembrance in the Parish by Alex Pease
Remembrance Sunday is one of the most important days in the Itchen Valley calendar. Whether we are regular church goers, whether we are former service men and women, or not, so many of us come together to recognise and appreciate what our Armed Forces have done and continue to do to maintain our freedom and peace. Recognising the courage and sacrifice of so many, we lay wreaths at each village memorial to recall those who died in the First and Second World Wars.
Wreaths were laid at Avington by Admiral John Lang, on behalf of the Itchen Valley Royal British Legion, a Sea Cadet, the youngest member of the village of Avington, a Prince’s Mead pupil, Jackie Porter on behalf of the City Council and the Headteacher and a pupil from Itchen Abbas Primary School.
The children of Itchen Abbas Primary had created their own wreath from poppies that they had each made which contained a reflection on the heroism and sacrifice made by those who were being remembered.
We rotate our Remembrance Service round each of the villages each year. By this means we draw into these poignant ceremonies as many of the community as are available.
This year the service was at St Mary’s Avington. I think there were at least 95 people who attended, but there was plenty of room. Ted Budgen who has been the RBL standard bearer at these services for almost 30 years is finally putting the standard down this year. We are all grateful to him for so many years of fulfilling this important role.
The service was led sensitively by LLM Gerry Stacey and the organ was played beautifully by John Dover. The two Bible Readings were read clearly by David Wolfe and David Anderson.
James Young, the Chairman of the Itchen Valley RBL, read a number of ‘Vignettes for Remembrance’ describing the suffering experienced, and courage shown, of soldiers in recent conflicts, such as Iraq and Afghanistan. These were very moving, as they brought to many of us, who have not been on active service, a sense of immediacy and reality to the remembrance that we were undertaking.
Admiral John Lang, the President of the Itchen Valley RBL, gave a very good talk (that can be read here) which he ended by describing a letter sent by his father, a naval officer who was stationed on a RN ship in Tokyo Bay when the Japanese surrendered. The letter had a profound impact upon John. It made it clear to him and his family that his father had concluded that pursuing Christian faith was the route to maintaining the peace that so many had died for during the Second World War.
We are all very grateful to those who organised and contributed to such an excellent service. There were many points and stories which we will doubtless ponder over the next few weeks.
Christmas Eve ‘Midnight’ Communion
We are still in need of an organist please pass this onto anyone you think might be able to help us!
Our usual network of organists are all unavailable to play for this service (which starts at 11pm) this year, so we are looking for a keyboard player to play the organ (or keyboard) at St John’s Church, Itchen Abbas. It will all be well known carols and there is a fee payable. Please email Beccy on admin@itchenvalleychurches.org if you, or someone you know, can help.
for global peace
for those who are ill or suffering at the moment or for those recently bereaved
for the parish in this time of interregnum and for the selection process that has now begun
for Cameo as they meet this week
Sunday’s Readings can be read here
Click here to buy tickets
Please check our website in case of
any unexpected changes:
http://www.itchenvalleychurches.org
