magazine - summer 2015

Shepherd’s Watch The magazine for and by the people of the Good Shepherd

www.goodshepherdbrighton.org.uk

June 2015 60p

Izulu (South Africa) Visit, pg 5 Mother’s Union– What do they do?, pg 8

Post Elections: Are we being served?, pg 11 Church Quinquennial , pg 18 Victor and Constance go to the polls, pg 21 Knowing me, knowing you … pg 27 Gloria Cruttenden R.I.P. Tribute, pg 33

Programs, news and details of other events

Good Shepherd Festival 13 - 21: Details on pg 4 Family Fun Day with “Marvellous Mutts and Friends”

Dogs Pet Show on June 13th, 2-5pm

The Good Shepherd Magazine June 2015

Vicar

Revd. Felix Mascarenhas

The Vicarage, 272 Dyke Road Brighton BN1 5AE Tel (01273) 882987 [email protected]

Parish Office The Parish Office is open on Wednesday and Friday mornings

from 9.30 to 10.30. The Parish Office telephone number is

(01273) 553747

Reader

Michael Miller

68 Ainsworth Avenue, Ovingdean, Brighton

BN2 7BG Tel (01273) 240287 [email protected]

Churchwardens

David Stevens: 2 Shirley Road, Hove, BN3 6NN, Tel (01273) 555197; [email protected]

Christine James: 22 Ranelagh Villas, Hove BN3 6HE Tel 01273.724802, [email protected]

Deacon

Helen Rawlings

6 Beacon Hill Ovingdean, Brighton

BN2 7BN Tel 07967695753

[email protected]


The Diocesan Strategy and its implementation

The Diocese of Chichester, which is our diocese, has been making every

effort to review its mission and say to all that we are here to serve. For

that purpose, 23rd May has been celebrated as the day for the Launch

of the Strategy. Many events were held around the diocese, deaneries

and individual parishes for that purpose.

Those attending church here on Pentecost Sunday, viewed the short

video clip which reminded us of our own duty and right in the partici-

pation of this wonderful task. We are all called and empowered by the

Holy Spirit for this task.

The message is clear: we are all called to participate in this divine and

human task. It also reminded us of the need to review our own church

activities, inside and outside the church, so that it responded to the

needs of today particularly using the modern tools of communication.

Taking our mission seriously and notwithstanding the challenges, we

are about to celebrate one of our great days/weeks: our parish festival.

It is a great opportunity for each one of us to engage ourselves in one

way or other, and take part in this mission.

The celebrations inside the church and the social activities we perform

outside, will be in response to this strategy. We trust in God’s help and

what we can so that faith can be experienced particularly through the

achievement of Common Good.

I wish you all a great time during this week of celebrations!

Fr Felix

While every effort is made to ensure all information in Shepherd’s Watch is correct, neither the Parochial Church Council nor the individual con-tributors can be held responsible or accept liability for any errors and/or omissions. The PCC does not endorse the companies, products and services that appear in Shepherd’s Watch. Responsibility for any loss, damage or distress resulting from the use of or reliance on any information in Shepherd’s Watch, however caused, is disclaimed by the Parochial Church Council.


Good Shepherd Festival June 13 - 21 (www.goodshepherdbrighton.org.uk)

Saturday 13 June: 2pm to 5pm: Family Fun Day with

“Marvellous Mutts and Friends” Dogs Pet Show, Live mu-

sic, Stalls, Grand Raffle, Bouncy Castle and many other

games for all. Admission Free!

Sunday 14 June: 10.15am: Festival Eucharist. Preacher:

The Revd. Christyan James.

Tuesday 16 June: 2pm: Programme of music and sing-

ing by students from our neighbouring schools.

6.30pm to 8.00pm: The Teddy Bears return this

year flying down from the tower on a zip wire! The Brown-

ies are ready with new ideas! Bring a picnic to share.

Thursday 18 June : 7.30pm: Confirmation Service for

Brighton Deanery candidates. The Rt. Revd. Richard Jack-

son, Bishop of Lewes, presides.

Sunday 21 June: 10.15am: Festival Family Eucharist

Led by our young people with the dramatization of the

theme of Prodigal son.


OUR VISIT TO IZULU ORPHAN PROJECTS

KWA-ZULU NATAL, SOUTH AFRICA

As many of your will know, Colin and I visited South Africa in Febru-

ary/March this year. Apart from having a wonderful holiday visiting old

friends and places – game parks and deserted beaches and seeing amazing wildlife – we were privileged to also spend some time at the

charity we support and fundraise for, iZulu Orphan Projects, near Em-

pangeni, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Those of your who have heard our presenta-

tions will know that this small, family-run

charity, started in 2006 in a very small way, and now supports over 2,435 orphans and

widows (many HIV positive) in 737 house-

holds in rural KZN. It is not an orphanage but strives to keep families in their homes,

providing food parcels for the poorest of the

poor, rebuilding ramshackle houses, when

funds permit, but also supporting those chil-dren registered with them by paying school

fees and buying school uniform (amazingly,

children in South Africa are not allowed to attend school without wearing a school uni-

form!) We spent two full days at the charity.

Day One: We arrived at the new Support Centre, Ngqamuzane, situated

in the heart of the tribal lands, which is now up and running since our

last visit in 2012 when building was under way. It comprises offices, store rooms, a multi-purpose building which

provides a classroom for school leavers to

learn English and IT skills in the morning, and

an after school care facility where children can obtain help with their homework. On site there

is also a kitchen, providing approximately 120

hot meals daily to those children whose carers receive no or very low income. Also on site are

vegetable gardens and chickens to help with

the provision of the meals at the centre. After meeting up with Kate Bain, the founder of the

charity and other old friends we left to visit an

HIV+ widow, Bongi, who lives with her 14 year old son, Bongili. They were found about 18

months ago living in a derelict building with


no roof but covered by tarpaulin. Since then a two roomed home has

been built for her and we were there to help paint the house. Although the novelty of paint-

ing has definitely worn off for us, having com-

pletely repainted our house in Goring where we

moved to a year ago, we were very happy to help! Bongi’s property was very neat and tidy and she

had created a vegetable garden with her bare

hands as she has no gardening tools. From there we travelled to the nearest town, Empan-

geni, to assist with the monthly food shop at the

Spar supermarket. Two truckloads, and about £2,000 later we returned to the IOP Centre and

unloaded the items into storerooms, awaiting

distribution to the poor families as food parcels and to stock the daily feeding kitchen for the

children. Items mainly consisted maize meal, samp (dried maize ker-

nels), dried beans, tinned pilchards, and cooking oil. We then saw the

soup kitchen in operation as the children started arriving from school from about 2.30 pm onwards. The meal that day was maize meal, soya

mince stew and butternut. We then sat in at the after school club

where that day they were watching a cartoon film. As we left at about 5 pm the children entertained us with singing and dancing – the harmo-

nies of Zulu singing always a very moving experience for me.

Day Two: A very early start. We met Shelley Bain,

Kate’s mother in law, at the first Support Centre,

where the project was originally started. Shelley had a full programme organised for us. Firstly we

travelled to the homes of four elderly gogos (the

Zulu name for grandmother). Belle, a 90 some-

thing year old lady, about 5 foot nothing with no shoes and one tooth in her head but what a lively

lady. Smiling, dancing and singing ‘Jesus Loves

Me’. We took scarves as presents, kindly knitted by the mother of Christine James. The old ladies

loved the bright colours! On then to deliver a

wheelchair to a 40 year old lady, Gezephu, who has deformed feet since birth and unable to walk. She told us (through

our interpreter, Lungi) that she used to have a wheelchair about 20

years ago but it broke and since then she has had to shuffle around on her bottom. This is life-changing for her – see photo of her with her

grandchild. On then to two rural crèches, each looking after about 20


children. We took hula hoops and firemens’

helmets as presents as well as sweets for them all. Our last visit of the day was back

to Bongi and Bongili’s house to give her a

spade, rake and watering can that we had

bought the previous day, enabling her to tend her vegetable garden. She was over-

joyed.

Our visit was short but we packed enough into those two days to see

how the work of the charity has progressed in

the two years since our last visit thanks to God, the wonderful small dedicated team who

run the charity, often foregoing their meagre

wages if donations are short in order that the children can be fed.

If you would like to know more please contact

us on 01903 539456 or [email protected]. We will be holding a fundraising Coffee Morning here in Goring on Saturday 5 September

2015 from 10.30 am to 1 pm. Please do come along and support us

and hear more about this very worthwhile charity.

Janet Annis

iZulu Orphan Projects

A huge thank you for all your support, money and gifts that we

were able to take with us in March to South Africa for this char-ity. Virgin Atlantic kindly donated an extra 20 kg of luggage – a

whole suitcase jam-packed full of clothes, toys, colouring pencils etc – all very much appreciated by our orphans and their carers.

A letter of thanks from the charity is on the notice board in the Church Porch.

You are all invited to our fundraising Coffee Morning to be held on Saturday 5 September 2015 at our new home, 7 Parklands

Avenue, Goring by Sea, BN12 4NG. There will be cakes, jams,

chutneys, second hand books, greetings cards etc for sale. Cof-fee and Cake £2.50

For more details please contact Janet Annis (01903) 539456 or email [email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]


MOTHERS’ UNION

The Aim: of the Mothers’ Union is the advancement of the Christian

religion in the sphere of marriage and family life.

The Purpose : is to be especially concerned with all that strengthens and preserves marriage and Christian family life.

The Objects:

1. To uphold Christ’s teaching on the nature of marriage and to

promote its wider understanding.

2. To encourage parents to bring up their children in the faith and

life of the Church

3. To maintain a world-

wide fellowship of

Christians united in

prayer, worship and

service

4. To promote conditions

in society favourable to

stable family life and

the protection of chil-

dren

5. To help those whose

family life has met with

adversity

Mothers’ Union is a wonderful organisation to belong to, each member

is a small cog in a worldwide organisation of 4 million members in over

50 countries all with common aim, purpose and objects. We, at The Good Shepherd, are part of Brighton District, which in turn is part of

Chichester Diocese

The lives of members worldwide vary greatly. The thing that binds a woman living in a small village in South Sudan and a member at The

Good Shepherd is that each is endeavouring to uphold the aim and ob-

http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CAcQjRw&url=http%3A%2F%2Fportmoresby.anglican.org%2Forg%2Fmothersu%2Frenewal.html&ei=R8ZkVe_jNebj7Qal0YGQBQ&bvm=bv.93990622,d.ZGU&psig=AFQjCNG4enfI2G_lOKGAJAkw4V_FtrhB


jects in prayer. MU pays indigenous workers overseas who travel hun-

dreds of miles visiting their scattered membership. They run literacy and numeracy courses and speak to their members about basic health-

care. Once a woman has learned to read, write and count, it is not so

easy for her to be cheated at the market, she is able to perhaps run a

small market stall of things which she has grown. These stalls often look no more than a shelf with a few vegetables on to us but it enables

women to have some say in their lives, support their families, possibly

even pay for their children to go to school.

Brighton District is involved in many outreach projects in the commu-

nity around us. Mothers’ Union members run creches at Lewes and Ford prisons whilst families visit inmates. The situation has been quite

difficult at Lewes recently but it is hoped that things are improving.

Parenting Courses have been run in both prisons. One inmate actually asked if he could come back after his release as he had one more ses-

sion which he would miss. Many of these men had poor experience of

a good family life when they were young and a course like this can be

very valuable to helping them to be a better role model.

The District also run a ‘Ministry of Cake’ in the premature baby unit at

The Princess Royal Hospital at Haywards Heath. Mothers’ Unions members bake cakes and dispense them at the unit. One member said

recently it is amazing how valuable a piece of cake, cup of tea and lis-

tening ear is to young families who have had their world turned upside down, things have not gone as expected and they have been under tre-

mendous strain and often need just to unload. One Dad recently

showed a photo of his baby wearing his wedding ring around its wrist, it was so tiny; another a story of a baby whose birthweight was 990g

now weighing 2.5kgs. At present cake is supplied to The Royal Sussex

but no Mothers’ Union Chaplaincy volunteers however this is shortly to

change.

There is a Contact Centre at Eastbourne so that in a family where the

parents are divorced or separated the parent who does not live with the child can have time with them, under supervision. At the moment it

has 11 families in its care, consisting of 15 children and 18 volunteers.

AFIA - The Away From It All scheme – means that families who are un-

able to afford a holiday can get away for a break. For many the

thought of a holiday is merely a pipe dream. Mothers’ Union own two mobile homes. One is at Winchelsea and another at Selsey. There is

no charge, visitors merely need to be recommended by an Incumbent or


Branch. The Selsey home is on a Haven site with indoor swimming

pool and club house and membership of these are free to the visitors. The caravans are cleaned and refreshed weekly and each new family is

welcomed by Mothers’ Union members.

Branches in Worthing make up emergency maternity hospital bags for Worthing Hospital. Patients admitted as an emergency often have

nothing with them or prepared and each bag contains a few necessities

and toiletries until families are able to bring them the things they need.

Mothers Union' have representation at the

UN and our headquarters in London are often consulted by Parliamentary Committees.

Our retiring CEO, Reg Bailey spoke nation-ally, at the request of the Prime Minister, on

one of our recent campaigns “Bye, Buy Child-

hood” which seeks to highlight the commer-

cialisation of children in our society.

Mothers’ Union members from Chichester Diocese care for the detain-

ees at The Detention Centres at Gatwick. Simple clothes are supplied (track suits bottoms, socks and tee- shirts) and each detainee (and

prisoner at Ford and Lewes) receives a personally signed card at Christ-

mas.

Members also produced a simple cookery book which was distributed

to first year students at Hastings and Brighton University Campuses at Freshers’ Week. These were well received and some branches did cook-

ery demonstrations and also cookery lessons for students.

Many members at The Good Shepherd due to age, infirmity, family or work commitments, are not able to do more than raise money to help

with these projects and pray, as prayer is at the heart of all that Moth-

ers’ Union does and is.

We are always happy to welcome new members – you don’t have to be a

mother or a woman as long as you support the aims and objects.

For further details of our meetings or events look at our notice board by

the north door in church, or the weekly sheet.

Carole Briggs (Branch Contact)


Are we being served?

The world must be made safe for democracy. T. Woodrow Wilson 1856-1924

When writing in the March issue concerning the then forthcoming Gen-

eral Election I mentioned that we would have the pleasure of listening to the gobbledygook that was being served up as part of our diet by

over-zealous reporters, commentators, statisticians and know-alls.

Given that the pundits were confounded by the result it would seem that I was not far from the truth.

Prior to the election I watched the debate involving the ‘opposition’ par-

ties and was concerned to witness what appeared to be a performance by a robotic player and Macbeth’s three witches plotting the downfall of

David Cameron and occasionally insulting the chosen villain present,

rather than aspirants inspiring us with their abilities and policies. How often did we hear that the main objective of these intransigent diehards

was to keep the Conservatives out of office? There was no suggestion of

Conservative strategies which might benefit the country – and should

be the concern of any political party – being supported. Whatever the position, the Conservatives won a democratic mandate

and a majority in the House of Commons. They are therefore entitled to

govern us, which does not mean that they are entitled to ride rough-shod over us. BUT they are in for a rough ride.

Recrimination was rife with members of the Labour Party falling over

one another apportioning blame, including a vengeful David Miliband who engaged in trying to sell the failed policies of Tony Blair. Interest-

ingly, the ever-thoughtful Labour MP, Frank Field, may have hit the

nail on the head concerning his Party’s fortunes. Among other things he said:

‘But our policies were delivered clumsily and sounded as though we

believed that only by demonising the rich can we help the poor.

‘For all Miliband’s platitudes about backing the hard-working classes, we have to remember that middle-class people work hard too – and we

need their votes. Labour must not be seen to be attacking people who

get on in life. They must not feel that their success is a bar to voting Labour.

‘They should not feel that they are then clobbered with punitive taxes

levied by MPs who have not created wealth themselves.

‘We should be in the business of rewarding success – not taking re-

venge on it.

‘And we still have not made amends for our failings on immigration in

the past’. It seems to me that Field’s message needs to reach a wider audience –


including members of the clergy who often seem to wallow in pointing

the finger at those who through their own efforts, have been successful and provide for themselves and their families – as social mobility is one

of the defining qualities of an open, democratic society. Coupled with

this, for decades post World War II many people have believed that the

class prejudices of the past were dying out. In the event, ‘class issues’ were made a major issue during the election

and every opportunity was taken to fan the flames of envy and greed

that exist in society. In my view this benefitted no one; it provided no remedies and did nothing to advance constructive debate.

Frank Field also outlined his views regarding the way ahead for his

Party and raised another important issue, concerning which he said: ‘And we should start by reforming the way that the party leader is cho-

sen. For too long it has been manipulated by trade union barons.

‘We should devise a genuine one-member, one-vote system of electing our new leader’

Regrettably reports reveal that Len McCluskey, as

an example – whose appointment as General Sec-

retary of Unite was only supported by ten percent of its membership – is still laying claim to owner-

ship of the Labour Party. The record of this Union,

which supports the use of ‘leverage teams’ is well known and given that it reportedly backs two-

thirds of Labour MPs it is likely that McCluskey

will be seeking a return on his investment. There is no doubt that the Conservatives will be subjected to pressure

from the Unions. Indeed, barely a week after voters had rejected Left-

wing values, the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Work-ers (RMT) was holding the country to ransom threatening a strike that

would hit families on the coming bank holiday.

In the context Nicola Sturgeon, who did not stand for Westminster and

speaks for a fraction of the electorate – the latest statistics record the populations of Scotland and England as 5.295million and 53.01million

respectively – we have the main protagonist in the ‘Hate the Tories’

campaign which reached an unhealthy level of derision. It is recorded that Ms Sturgeon turned to politics in her teens because she despised

how Margaret Thatcher was tearing up Scotland. Clearly this is her

right, but is the deep-seated loathing that she displays healthy, given that our leaders need to make rational judgements?

Whatever the position, to achieve power she and the SNP had to over-

throw the powerful Scottish Labour Party which they did with a venge-ance. It follows that her party has secured a firm foothold in Westmin-

ster, which provides her with a number of opportunities not the least of


which concerns the subject of ‘independence’. In the circumstances she

may prefer to bide her time before taking any impulsive action. Insofar as the Conservatives are concerned they have nothing to gain

from confrontation and it may pay them to transfer more powers north

of the border – provided that the Scots do not expect England to bail

them out if (when) they get into trouble. By packing nationalists off to Holyrood, Cameron would be left to run the rest of Britain.

We are all aware that the General Election affords us the opportunity to

vote for the Party of our choice and there is no doubt that we had am-ple opportunity to carefully consider what was on offer. And having

voted we would like to think that we could go about our business in the

secure knowledge that the democratically appointed Government would be allowed to implement its strategies once they had been subjected to

questioning and scrutiny by Her Majesty’s Official Opposition. But we

would be wrong. Regrettably there are a significant number of people in our midst that

are not prepared to accept the umpire’s decision and believe that deci-

sions that do not accord with their ideology should be ignored. And if

things do not go their way they often rant and rave and as happened post-election some of them take to the streets. To add insult to injury

on this occasion a memorial honouring women who served in World

War II, was vandalised, as millions of people marked the 70th anniver-sary of VE Day. The trouble is that these people display a complete dis-

regard for economics, a basic lack of faith in democracy, intolerance of

dissenting opinions and supercilious disregard for the common man: their time is spent engaging in scare tactics and being disruptive.

The Government is also confronted by another stumbling block – the

House of Lords; the so-called ‘Upper House’ which is a misleading de-scription given that it is unelected and secondary in importance. Today

the Lords comprises a very mixed bag e.g. former journeyman MPs,

charity executives with an agenda, party donors and individuals with

known allegiances. Whatever the position, there are 224 Conservative peers, 213 Labour, 179 allegedly neutral crossbenchers and 101 Lib-

eral Democrats. It does not take a genius to work out that difficulties

could be experienced in advancing legislation. As mentioned earlier, the Conservatives won a democratic mandate and

a majority in the House of Commons and are therefore entitled to gov-

ern us. In the circumstances, given that the College of Bishops pro-vided advice regarding issues relative to the General Election, it would

be interesting to learn what advice they would give concerning attempts

to thwart the efforts of the electorates appointed Government, now that the result is known.

Neil Kelly


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QUINQUENNIAL

Notwithstanding its reputation as a very concise language I never re-

garded Latin as superior to our mother tongue, with our rich and broad

vocabulary affording many shades of meaning. Latin’s long, slow dis-

appearance into the Romantic vernaculars has nevertheless undergone a resurrection. Ecclesiastical, legal, medical and scientific terminologies

now abound in its once dead words and phrases. Latin still has a hold

on the Roman Church, and to a lesser degree on the reformed Anglican Church.

Let us now examine “Quintus Annus” – a name befitting a five year old Roman – but

now transmuted into “Quinquennial”,

standing for the inspection of church prop-erties on a regular cycle. Within the

Church of England church buildings have

to be inspected by an architect or chartered

building surveyor every five years. This was introduced in 1955 by The Inspection

of Churches Measure. Other denomina-

tions have different rules.

The Quinquennial extends beyond church buildings to churchyards,

paths, trees and features giving rise to health and safety issues. Ap-pointments of inspectors are made by the Parochial Church Council

(PCC) with the approval of the Diocesan Advisory Committee (DAC).

Our inspector is David Kemp BA.,.RIBA………………….

The formal report of the inspector (commonly referred to as “the Quin-

quennial”) is a lengthy document since the inspector has to examine

the fabric of the building in considerable detail, taking into considera-tion such matters as the possible movements in structures which re-

quire monitoring the development of cracks. Recommendations range

from items such as redecoration, removing rust and replacing guttering to major problems which need urgent attention.

It is the responsibility of the PCC to consider the recommendations in the Quinquennial and to determine the works to be authorised.

Clearly, financial considerations will be a significant factor, and it is

unlikely that every proposal will be acted upon. It is fortunate that in recent years the Good Shepherd Church has received a new roof and

has been comprehensively rewired. Parts of the exterior brickwork


have been repointed, in particular the south and west facing walls

which bear the brunt of winter storms. Some of the windows are now suffering from age, and the bell tower no longer keeps out the stormy

weather. The current Quinquennial is now upon us, and by the time

this article appears in prints, the PCC will have considered what action

is appropriate.

It is a point well made in the Church Care Website

( www.churchcare.co.uk) that maintenance and appropriate care form the basis for preservation and conservation. In this regard the assis-

tance given by volunteers is invaluable. There are aspects of mainte-

nance such as repainting areas of the church interior and the preserva-tion of doors and woodwork which can be done very effectively by our-

selves. It is also good exercise and, dare I say, fun to wield paint

brushes and rollers alongside fellow worshippers. Many will recall our grand repainting of the Hall from floor to ceiling some years ago. There

may well be opportunities of this kind in the current Quinquennial. To

engage in such works would be to follow the oft-quoted advice on the

importance of building maintenance given by William Morris in 1877: “Stave off decay by daily care.”. We would all benefit by following his

advice!

David Nissen

http://www.churchcare.co.uk/


VICTOR AND CONSTANCE GO TO THE POLLS

‘No politics please,’ said Constance when I sat down for breakfast with

her on the morning after the General Election. ‘Everybody has had their vote and its fair shares for all.’

‘That’s absolute nonsense Constance!’ I was so upset by the Liberal Party’s losses that I found myself shouting. ‘Maybe it’s good for the

Good, the Bad and the ugly, but what about my party? I have been a

Liberal all my life and we have lost nearly all our seats and some good people. Given the number of votes, we got should have sixty Members

of Parliament and while I hate the U Kippers or whatever they are

called, they got four million votes, and just

one seat. There are no

fair shares in British

elections.’

Unseen, by me, my

son Richard and his wife Fa tu Yung had

entered the room by

another door.

‘Pipe down Dad,’ said

Richard, ‘the news is that the Liberals will

hold the Orkney and

Shetland Islands.’

‘That’s no good,’ I said

grumpily, ’but I sup-

pose you are happy enough, you and your

wretched Conserva-

tives.’

‘I didn’t vote Conservative, I voted Labour.’

There was nothing for it, I had to apologise to everybody for making

such a fuss.


‘And if you want to know who I voted for,’ added Constance, ‘I voted for the Greens.’

‘Another wasted vote,’ I muttered.

‘What about you Fa?’ asked Constance.

‘My vote should be secret,’ Fa replied with an engaging smile, ‘but as he sounded interesting, I voted for the Raving Monster Lunatic and his

party.’ We all laughed, even me.

Then, looking out of the window, I saw that Charlie our gardener had

arrived. He had promised me that if the weather was fine we would

have a bonfire. I called him in to have a coffee with us before we started work. Over the years Charlie has become a good friend, one of my best.

We go badger watching together

‘Who did you vote for Charlie?’ I asked. ‘UKIP of course, but despite get-ting all those votes we are only going to win one or two seats. The sys-

tem is rubbish and the country is ruled by greedy people.’ There was a

silence until Richard came to the rescue: ‘You are right Charlie, the present system is neither fair nor sensible.’

Strangely, I was encouraged by our conversation and even more so when later that afternoon the leaders of both the Liberal party and the

Labour party resigned saying they accepted responsibility for their de-

feat. Their resignations gave the election a touch of much-needed dig-nity.

Constance has now forgiven me for shouting at her and we went to The

Church of the Good Shepherd last week. We enjoyed the exhibition of paintings by local artists; some wonderful work was on display. It is

good to see the Church active and open.

Maybe I will offer my services for their annual fete, but I don’t want to

be in charge of stationary donkeys. I used to know a card game – Find

the Queen -but I suspect that Father Felix will not want gambling in his garden.

Tim Parker


N Battrick

Painter and Decorator

Property Maintenance and all Exterior and Interior

Work

RELIABILITY and

QUALITY GUARANTEED Your Local Tradesman

Estimates Free Tel 01435 831645

07765641289

07801420828

The Little Lambs

(Parents and Toddler Group)

Meets on Wednesday in the

Church Hall from 1.30 - 3pm. Contact:

Jane: 07980564849 Catherine:07807510873

Brownies

7-10 years

Meet on Tuesday evening in the Church Hall. Please con-

tact Tessa Pacey (01273)

551298

Mothers’ Union Summer Calendar

Saturday 6th June 9am Corporate Communion in the Lady Chapel

Thursday 11th June 12.45pm Talk Time at the home of Yvonne Ains-worth, 8 The Paddock. Hove. Followed by snack lunch. Please let

Yvonne know if you will be there 01273 553449

Saturday 13th June 2pm Family Fun Day. Help needed with serving teas pleas. Homemade cakes will be gratefully received.

Thursday 25th June 7.30pm Meeting in the Green Room. We look for-ward to hearing Fr Ian Hutchinson- Cervantes, Diocesan World Mission

Officer. Non members will be most welcome at this meeting.

Saturday 4th July 9am Corporate Communion in the Lady Chapel.

Thursday 6th August Trip to Mary Sumner House (at the time of going

to print there is one space available- speak to Christine James for fur-ther details)

Saturday 26th September Don’t forget the Overseas Day here at the Good Shepherd.


It's More Than Just a Sunday Morning Service

Many people perceive church as what happens on a Sunday morning.

Centuries of church practice have made it difficult to imagine church

as anything other than weekly worship gathering. This is especially

true for those that don't regularly attend a church and they don't see

that community is at the heart of church life.

The church fails as a community if it does not seek to welcome new

and existing members. To do this we offer many 'services' as a church such as mar-

riage preparation, bereavement support,

taking communion to the sick and visiting schools. We also seek to regularly support

local (national and international) charities

by fund raising and donating items to the

local food bank.

We also hold many social events throughout

the year, the most precious of these have to

be the events which bring the church and the community together. We do this with

great enthusiasm and regard it as an inte-

gral part of our mission.

When putting together a calendar of events for the church the social

committee try to get a balance of events that focus on local community

involvement and those that we have traditionally enjoyed. We want to enable those who are currently outside the church to see us as more

than the big building where you can get married, baptise your child

and so forth. We want the local community to feel welcomed and give

them a sense that they belong to the church just as any body else.

The events where we bring the church and the

community together such as the bonfire

night party and the family fun day are an op-portunity for us to get to know one an-

other, to forge new friendships and help to

build a strong neighbourhood. It is impor-tant for the church to facilitate these type of

events. We need and try to be and at the


heart of the local community.

Whilst it is important to hold social events we do have to consider how we link them into the liturgi-

cal year. The annual crib service seems to be the

climax of the liturgical year as far as attracting the

local community when attendance regularly ex-ceeds 500 people. We hold a children's Christmas

party a couple of weeks before Christmas which

involves food, dancing, games and a visit from Fa-ther Christmas. Easter too attracts a larger congregation and we al-

ways hold an Easter egg hunt in the vicarage garden, after the service,

which is open to all children. The social committee also organise re-freshments for after the Corpus Christi service

in June – who can say no to strawberries and a

glass of fizz!

Whilst it might not be an official part of the li-

turgical calendar the annual Hymns & Pimms is

an important celebration of our favourite

hymns. This event often attracts members of

other churches and the local community.

As part of the Church of the Good Shepherd Festival we hold a joint

event with the Brownie pack on the Tuesday evening. Historically this has alternated between welly-wanging and teddy bear sky diving,

though this year it is diversifying into a teddy bear zip wire! This event

also includes a bring and share picnic. This is a lovely community event in which parents and siblings of the

brownies stay and join in.

All of our events and social gatherings are ad-vertised to the community through the web-

site, word of mouth, posters and leaflet drops.

Anyone and everyone is welcome to attend

any of the events that they wish to, so please

bring along friends and family, the more the merrier.

Louise Hotchkiss


OUR REGULAR SUNDAY SERVICES: 8am, Holy Communion 10.15am, Parish Eucharist

10.15am, “Time for God” informal worship for all ages, in Church Hall

On the third Sunday of each month there is a single All age Eucharist in Church at 10.15

(Eucharist on Thursday at 10.30am followed by Coffee and on Saturday

at 9am)

June 2015

2nd : Tea Club, 1.30pm

4th : Corpus Christi Eucharist followed by Strawberies ..., 7pm 13th : Fam Fun Day 2-5pm, GSFestival week. Details on page 4

July 2015 5th : Breakfast for all at 9.45

6th : Tea Club, 1.30pm

11th : Summer Gardening

24 - 26th : Retreat at Alton Abbey

August 2015

16th: Summer BBQ, 11.30am in the Vicarage Garden

September 2015

6th : B Virgin Mary: Hymns, Pimms & High Tea 5pm

The Good Shepherd Teddy Bear Zip Wire Challenge 2015

The brave Good Shepherd and Brownie Teddy Bears (other cuddly

toys, too) are going to have a new experience during the GS Festival

this year. The intrepid bears will be given the chance to descend

from the top of the tower on a zip wire. So start preparing your fa-vourites for their adventure now and bring them along on Tuesday

16 June from 6pm. The charge will be £1 for each “zipper” – and

they’ll get a certificate at the end. Don’t worry, there’ll be a “doctor” on hand in case of any injuries!

Afterwards we’ll enjoy our usual picnic so bring a plate of food and a drink to share. Finally, to round off the evening, the Brownies

will lead us with campfire songs.

Pat Hunter


Knowing me knowing you .... The life and times of Doctor Sue

I was born in Blackpool and brought up, in extreme poverty, in SW

Manchester. I was sent to nursery at six weeks and at 3yrs, after decid-

ing to be a doctor, apart from a six month hiccup where I wanted to be a clown, I stayed firm to my initial intention. Throughout my schooling

my hopes were treated by constant negativity by my parents— “you will

never be a doctor because you must be the child of a doctor, you are female, you will never be clever enough"-that was the red rag to a bull

as I was a rebellious only child with no relatives and few friends. I was

worse than useless at all sport.

Anglicanism was my choice of religion. My parents were Unitarian but I was allowed to go to Brownies and Guides at the Church of England. I

decided on my own to get confirmed at 12. My parents didn't come. I

passed the 11+ even although my mother said it was a fluke. I did well at local grammar and turned down an Oxford scholarship to go to

Birmingham (5 years rather than 7). Medical School was amazing. It

brought home the sanctity and wonder of life. Delivering babies, I found truly miraculous: operating on people

seemingly dead, bringing them back to life, was

my adrenaline, my raison d'être. Some amusing episodes at medical school in-

cluded my first theatre attendance where the pa-

tient was draped in green towels with his male

organs only on display and a screen across his chest. I walked in, as a naive medical student and

said loudly “that’s the biggest what’s it I have ever

seen”. The patient loudly replied “thank you very much indeed” — it was a vasectomy under local

anaesthetic!! ! Working in the local psychiatric

hospital one day, I became hungry at visiting time and went to the chocolate machine. I put in my shilling and pressed the button, but no

chocolate bar was forthcoming. I started to bang the machine. Still no

luck. I shook it and the crowds of visitors started collecting. “I am a doctor I said” “Yes, Yes” said the onlookers,” which ward shall we take

you back to?”

I remember a really exciting experience, dashing onto a lift with the

surgical team when the lift stuck on the way to theatre. The patient stopped breathing and the consultant diagnosed a clot travelling to the

lungs and stopping the heart — a pulmonary embolism. He opened the

chest and I held the retractors while he pulled out a huge clot! We got to theatre and the lady survived!! Working in A and E one night, a gen-

tleman arrived and had violent abdominal pain. The boss was called


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and the patient went pale and his belly visibly expanded. The consult-

ant opened his tummy in A and E, blood poured all over my shoes and he just grabbed my finger and said, press here. An hour later, we got

to theatre and my very numb finger and hand were released from duty!

Again, remarkably, the patient with the aortic rupture had survived!

I got married to an electrical engineer in my final year and with the pro-ceeds of my academic scholarships and Lancashire’s support I put a

deposit on a house. (no nasty overdrafts in those days). I worked in

The Queen Elizabeth Hospital and Selly Oak in Birmingham and man-aged again to pass lots of examinations. I was promoted rapidly to a

registrar post and managed to pass my Member of the Royal College of

physicians at first sitting. I moved to London in 1974 to the National Heart Hospital and later to Great Ormond Street Hospital, where I

worked with very sick blue babies.

Professor Sir Magdi Yacoub and Mr Donald Ross - legends in our life time. I loved them and I loved everything I did along my career route. I

hated seeing tiny babies and children suffering. I hated breaking bad

news when things had gone wrong and children died, I loved being a

part of the team that got them better.! ! And then… I conceived my first daughter Amanda… a miracle…my own miracle. Unlike many career

women, I just couldn't leave her and so …baby Olivia was born. Again I

couldn't leave her but taught for the Open University, taking a seminar one Saturday at term and then the next one the following Saturday

with Olivia in a cot!! I decided to retrain in General Practice. I loved it

and couldn't get enough of helping people. Those were the days when we cared and looked after patients properly and knew all our patients

and their families.

There were many memorable moments: the saddest a young mother of 18 whom I saw at surgery weighing about six stone, bright yellow and

clearly dying. Visiting her at home, her 50 year husband shouted for

his dinner and cans of beer. The desperation on that young girl’s face

as she realised what fate she was leaving her son to, was heart break-ing. My first full-time general practice post was in Chertsey, in Surrey.

I did this alongside a clinical assistant job in dermatology. Sadly in

1985, after 18 years of being together and 13 years of marriage, I was divorced. I moved to Brighton and became a partner in the centre of

Brighton. What a different sort of practice from the suburban leafy,

conservative areas of Surrey. My surgeries were full of people addicted to alcohol, drugs and criminality, amongst the many lovely hard-

working but generally deprived patients. I ran a substance misuse ser-

vice, cared for many HIV patients and cared, sitting up night after night, for many AIDS sufferers. My patients were colourful and I had

the privilege of having looked after 50 transsexual patients, many from


the start of their very difficult and hostile route to what they wanted.

Many dint like pharmaceutical help they wanted holistic care. In 1990, I met and married my wonderful husband, Mick. I have been

so very blessed having Mick’s unstinting help and support and love

over 24 years. Shortly after this I developed devastating sciatica. I was

operated on and, everything went wrong. In essence, I died twice. I felt very peaceful and saw a great white light. I wasn't frightened. I didn't

see Jesus but I knew he was there and all would be well. Fortunately,

with the help of 24 pints of blood, I live to tell the tale. After six months I returned to work and alongside my practice worked in Cardi-

ology at The County, putting in pacemakers and helping with clinics.

I wrote the ‘Dear Dr Sue’ column in The Argus and, as a result of writ-ing about migraine, which had plagued my life since childhood, I was

asked to join an advisory group to a pharmaceutical company. I set up

a large group for interested GPs and we spread the word that Migraine was manageable. From this I was head hunted to start a Headache

clinic in Brighton and have been doing this for 20 years. It has also

allowed me to travel the world, lecturing to doctors, international con-

ferences and patients about headache. I have written papers and books and loved every minute of this part of my work. General Practice has

changed out of all recognition. It isn't what I trained for and ten min-

utes is just not enough to do everything that is expected of doctors. The work is progressively less caring and more evidence based — is this

what patients want?

Everything is black and white and there is no space for using wisdom gained from experience.! To be fair, many patients want more and more

and the consultation of me against Google and The Daily Mail is not

easily handled. I have been fortunate in receiving many gifts. Some amazing, many smile-worthy. The BOGOF where I got the free one, toi-

let rolls, nut crackers, jars of homemade jam that didn't quite set,

home-made scarves and jumpers that didn't fit and a myriad of differ-

ent paintings. More treasured was a gift from a lady of small stature, whom I battled for against her working, who took up quilting and made

me some beautiful cards. Some gifts were amazingly sad. One lady,

after I’d helped her with severe depression, came in with some cut crys-tal glasses and a smile. I thanked her profusely as she said how very

much I had helped her. An hour later she killed herself. Another who

brought me a wonderful bunch of flowers saying she couldn't have got better without me, leapt off the quarry in Lewes two hours after I had

seen her.

Visits were fun but absolutely exhausting, but these are no longer rou-tinely done. Something I bitterly regret for all. I remember one Sunday,

I did 29 visits, Mick driving me around with migraine, stopping eight


times by side of road to vomit and finding I was visiting patients with a

headache of an hour or two!! On one visit down a cul-de-sac, my route was barred by an elephant! The local circus was in town. One house I

visited, where the front door knocker was a penis, the rooms had full

sized sculptures of nude men and I had to hang on to a penis newel

post. The patient upstairs with diarrhoea was almost certainly dying of AIDS. I visited a house where I was met at the door by a huge dog and

two burly men who flanked me as I examined the male patient check-

ing my instruments each time they came out of my bag. I did a very urgent visit and I flew into the house, leaving behind my handbag, stu-

pidly. Three minutes later when I went out to get my defibrillator, my

car had been broken into, my handbag stolen and scattered around Whitehawk. Sadly the police commented that it could have been any-

one in the road.

Alongside General Practice, the partnership worked for the police and I was a police surgeon.! A frightening experience involved a gentleman

who, sadly, was clearly mentally ill. He was painted green all over and

after discussing with his hands whether he would talk with me, sprang

at me and tried to poke my eyes out. Sad experiences, were of certify-ing death in a lady left in a warm place for over a week and maggots

invading her body. Also certifying death in horrifically burned bodies.

My colleague, had to certify death after going in cherry picker from the Marina. The body was a skeleton uncovered in landslide. Lighter sides

of police work included being stopped by a police motorbike whilst

speeding but fortunately being recognised “Urgent nappy rash doc?” was the warning from the policeman. Death can be wonderfully cele-

brated, travellers with coffins brilliantly laid out with lace and silk and

the bodies on display in their finest clothes. Some people have no family and sometimes, I have been the only

mourner at funeral. How very sad!! ! As GPs we frequently fight for our

patients, at least I do! Some parents and children need supporting let-

ters for various reasons - I never charged. Some work places are very unsupportive of people who have mental health problems, often a letter

from the GP can help. I fought a hard a bitter fight with the Job people

who insisted a lady, with bilateral leg amputation, return to work after six months or she would lose her job. We managed to get her a year off

and the special conditions so that she could, as she wanted, return

part time. Modern General Practice and, in fact medicine in general, is plagued by people wanting to sue. I have had many such cases and be-

lieve I have never intentionally hurt, neglected or harmed anyone, but

the lure of easy money is forever with us all. I still do five or six three quarter days but really cannot define myself other than by the work I

do. I love it and hope I can carry on helping people for years to come.!


God gave me the strength, skill and love to help so may I feel humbled

being a part of so many lives. The nature of my work is exhausting emotionally and physically, especially when we did 72 hr shifts. The

rewards of making one person feel better outweigh everything. But I

find replenishment via the church and the community within it. The

safety of the service ritual is wonderful and calming. The predictability of the church and the services, against the unpredictability of my work

and life in general keeps me sane and makes me feel cared for.

I get comfort from church, support from congregation and love the wel-coming to all who come. I really found the wonderful help given to

Olivia and Raphi after the tragedy of Mark’s death a reflection of the

community love of Jesus. My girls were in choir and support for them initially and later for me, especially from Christine, Derek and Hilary,

has been really brilliant.

Has my life been an ego trip? Well, “Yes, "but hopefully I have helped people along the way and hopefully others have felt God’s love as well

as mine. Life is wonderful, living it, watching it and sharing it with

others. Birth into this world is the most amazing thing I have ever seen.

I believe rebirth through Christ will be even more amazing! ! !

Abbreviated from my talk to the Mothers Union on 23rd April 2015

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Gloria Cruttenden R.I.P.

Tribute given at Gloria's funeral service by The Ven. Archdeacon of Chichester, Douglas McKittrick

The photograph on the front of this order of service is a lovely one, pic-turing the Gloria we all remember and want to remember; happy with

that lovely smile.

As one who has experienced very closely dementia in my own father, I

think it is fair to say that bereavement for you Martin occurred not fol-

lowing Good Friday, but actually sometime before. Dementia is a thief. It gradually diminishes people, robbing them of their character and

personality, they gradually shut down and before your very eyes you

see disappearing the person you have loved and known for so many years. As the late Sir Terry Pratchett said: "There isn't one kind of de-

mentia. There aren't a dozen kinds. There are hundreds and thousands

of kinds of dementia" Each person who suffers dementia sufferers a

unique kind of dementia.


In the past few years and the too few times I met with Gloria there was

the absence of that characteristic greeting: "Hello my dear." That kind, hospitable, interested, concerned person had disappeared. "How are

the doggies my dear?" were familiar words I was not to hear again from

Gloria, dementia had robbed her of those thoughts and concerns. They

had disappeared and forever. Martin you have been valiant over these recent very difficult years. Patient, though naturally frustrated, dis-

tressed at times feeling helpless. You see you can't stem dementia only

live with it and as you have done love Gloria in her dementia loving her as you always had.

Those regular, daily trips over Devil's Dyke to the garden centre for tea were important moments for you both. Away from the house, a change

of scene, a bit of space but always together.

The last time I saw Gloria, before Christmas, I had locked myself out of

the house my secretary, living some distance away in another part of

Hove, had a spare set of my house keys. I couldn't phone her as my

mobile phone was with my keys in the house I could only turn for help to Martin and Gloria. It was the afternoon and you both were just

about to set off to the garden centre for tea. Martin you kindly said

characteristically that you would drive me to my secretary's house. Glo-ria was anxious and during that short trip she asked several times

"Where are we going?" "Why are you going this way?" I witnessed in a

very short space of time the demands on you Martin and though I was only with you for about 10 minutes in the car (quite enough for me

knowing your driving), seriously, I felt that the Gloria I knew, the Gloria

in the photograph was no longer.

After much effort Martin found Maycroft Manor where Gloria would

spend her final weeks receiving the care that she needed. Faithfully

Martin you visited Gloria each day though she never settled there.

I thank God for Gloria's friendship over the years, for all she gave to

this church of the Good Shepherd which she loved and knew so well. She would be thrilled with the flower arrangements here today. I thank

God for Gloria allowing in their marriage time for Martin to give to the

local church here and the wider diocese where he continues to make an important contribution and I know, having spoken to the Bishop of

Chichester this morning, how grateful he is for Martin's continuing

contribution to the life of the diocese.


Hall Bookings: Tel. Sheena on 07932591172 or

[email protected]

Grub Club Meets on third Monday of the month. All welcome. Please contact

Daisy Walpole at (508600) or Pat Hunter at (555954)

Choir Choir practice: Sunday morning at 9. All are welcome. Please contact:

Derek Froud (681007)

Flowers If you would like to donate an

arrangement in memory of someone or help with the flower

arranging, please contact church office 882987.

Stewardship Secretary David Nissen

1 Shirley Road, Hove, BN3 6NN Tel (01273) 554183

[email protected]

Bell Ringing Ringing practice every Tuesday evening in the Tower. New ringers

are always welcome. Please contact Pat Hunter (555954)

Notice-boards Information (lists and posters) for

the notice boards may be placed in

the tray in the church porch w i n d o w s i l l o r c o n t a c t

Martin Cruttenden (505225).

Our Service Times

Sunday Worship 8am Holy Communion 10:15 Sung Eucharist

10:15 “Time for God”

6.30pm: check on the web *On the 3rd Sunday of

each month this will be a Family Eucharist to which

children are particularly welcome.

“ Time for God” Services are

held in the Church Hall. Weekday Eucharist

Thursday:10:30am

Saturday: 9am

=====================

Magazine

Contributions to the magazine are welcome.

Please leave copy at the back of Church by 15th of

every Feb., May, Aug. and

Nov. or e-mail [email protected]

or to The Vicar —————————————-

Tea Club Meets on the first Monday

of the month at 1.30pm. We welcome all who are 50

years plus, and would like some company. Just come

along. Tel. Sheena on

07932591172 or sheenarichardson@btintern

et.com

magazine - summer 2015

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