St Peter's Church, Ealing, London

February began with our celebration of Candlemas, the Feast of the Presentation of Christ in the Temple . The special Mass concluded with a procession of candles, as we recalled Christ the "light to lighten the Gentiles."

I attended the "Boyle Lecture" at St Mary le Bow, on 4th February, to hear the Revd Professor Keith Ward speak on aspects of the legacy of Darwin . It was an excellent lecture, followed by a reception in the Grocers' Hall.

The lectures, which started in 1692, were endowed in the will of Sir Robert Boyle, the great 17th century physicist. (He has a law named after him, governing the relationship between the pressure and volume of a gas.) The lectures were continued until the 19th century and then revived in 2004 by the present Rector of St Mary le Bow, the Revd George Bush, who trained at Cuddesdon with me and is my son James' godfather. He preached at St Peter's a few years ago, around the time that the other George Bush was making a state visit to the country! I was very pleased to see Simon Kingston, from our own choir, also at the lecture, not least as he offered me a lift home!

Ealing Deanery Synod met at St Mary's, Ealing, and the meeting included a reflection on the Church's ministry of welcome, led by the Revd Phil Stone, Area Dean of Brent.

Our annual Quiz Night was held on 7th February, making use of questions supplied by Christian Aid, which seemed easy enough for our contestants to achieve reasonable scores! From the profit made on the evening, £100 was sent to Christian Aid. The questions were by no means infallible, as one suggested that the First World War began in 1918!

A good number attended a Mission Party at the Vicarage on 8th February. The next party won't be until July, because there are so many other things going on.

The new venture, "Time to Pray," began in February, offering the opportunity to pray with others in the Lady Chapel on Tuesday afternoons and evenings. Do come to this or join us in prayer at home at the same time (2.00-2.30 & 8.00-8.30pm).

Year 3 students from Durston House School made a visit to the church on 11th February to learn about a place of worship and its history.

One of the highlights of the month was Sheila Clarke's 90th birthday on 19th February, for which we extend our congratulations. Sheila had a party in the church hall the previous Saturday, and then wine and cake after church the following day.

Susan and Richard Peatfield hosted a Fairtrade Tasting Party, to mark Fairtrade Fortnight, and to encourage us to buy more fairly-traded goods.

Lent got underway on Ash Wednesday with a Solemn Mass and Imposition of Ashes on 25th February. Details of the Lent Course for 2009 and a Lenten Quiet Morning will appear elsewhere in this edition of the Parish Chest. You may like to donate to our Lent appeal: this year we are supporting the Diocesan Appeal for water and sanitation projects in our link dioceses in Angola and Mozambique . Details of that are on the notice board.

Mark Powell

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Did you know?

...that everyone is invited to gather together with others in the Lady Chapel for a time of prayer on Tuesdays from 2.00 - 2.30pm and 8.00 - 8.30pm. If you are unable to be there, you are invited to join in prayer at those times in your own homes.

...that a free gardening advice and support service is available for people 60+ and people registered disabled who live in the London Borough of Ealing? Organised by Groundwork West London, and supported by the Big Lottery, this project is called 'Time to Garden.' Priority is given to those in Sheltered Housing, Council and Housing Association over those in private housing. For more information why call 020 8762 0324.

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Quiz Night

On the evening of Saturday 7th February, a very successful Quiz Night was held in the Church Hall. The teams were put through their paces by the Quiz Master (the Vicar) with questions on a wide variety of subjects including Maths, History, Geography, Music, Films, Books and Sport.

At the end of a very closely contested quiz, the winning team - by a mere half mark - was St Peter's Choir. Proceeds from the evening were £100, which will be donated to Christian Aid.

Our thanks to the Vicar for organising a thoroughly enjoyable evening, to Jenny Hall for selling a large number of raffle tickets, and to Ron and Val Stephens for all their hard work behind the scenes.

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Winter Scene

These photos show St Peter's during the recent snow. One is an excellent shot of the whole building and the other is a detail of some formidable icicles.

These pictures were taken by Philip Andrew, fiancé of Caroline Brooks. Many readers will remember that Caroline acted as a Server at our Sunday services for many years and was an active member of our youth group "Rockeys." Philip and Caroline plan to marry at St Peter's in April this year.

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Fairtrade - Make it Happen

On Saturday January 10th the London Diocesan Fairtrade Steering Group held a half day conference at St Mary le Bow church. All of the c480 parish churches in the diocese were invited and representatives from about 60 attended. It was part of the campaign to make London a Fairtrade diocese.

It was a good event with Barbara Crowther from the Fairtrade Foundation giving an excellent talk and answering questions about the work of the Foundation. The Foundation works with businesses, civic society organisations and individuals, and aims to achieve improvements for producers in the developing world that are long term and sustainable. Their main tool is certification and product labelling in line with other international organisations throughout the world.

I am sure you will all know the black, turquoise and pale green (or black and white) symbol. It seems to represent different things to different people from an abstract person waving to a modified yin-yang symbol. Make of it what you will; its meaning is now recognised by over 70% of the population.

There were three workshops for churches, which were at different stages of commitment to using Fairtrade products. These were very interesting as ideas and problems were discussed. For many, starting from scratch, it was difficult to get those who purchased tea, coffee etc for congregational use to buy Fairtrade and to keep going despite apathy. For those wanting to have a Traidcraft stall, there were the practical problems of storage and only wanting to commit to buying small quantities, which may be solved by neighbouring churches making joint orders.

There were lots of ideas from churches already involved, from Fairtrade prayer breakfasts and Alpha or Harvest meals to getting visiting speakers or challenging youth groups to try living off Fairtrade food only for a couple of days. I liked this idea (after all there are now something like 3,000 different items labelled) but I'm afraid it might turn out to be a rather unhealthy caffeine and chocolate full few days. Except there's lots of fruit as well, so perhaps not!

There was also a videoed message of encouragement from Bishop Richard, a short meditation and a session by Sheenagh Burrell on Fairtrade in Worship, Prayer and Preaching.

I think everyone returned to their parishes re-enthused. It was just a pity that so many parishes were not represented. I am sure it is not that no one was interested, but that it is often very difficult to get the invitation or message to the right person, the person who would like to be involved.

We hope to hold another conference next year with John Bell from Iona as a key speaker. By the time this goes to press, we will have had Susan Peatfield's 'Taste and See' on the 22nd February and will be in the middle of Fairtrade Fortnight (21st February to 7th March). So a lot is happening at St Peter's. Praise the Lord.

Christina Stringer

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Deanery Synod

A meeting of the Ealing Deanery Synod took place at St Mary's, South Ealing , on Thursday 5th February. If you have not visited this church since it was carefully refurbished around five years ago you should do so; the decoration is spectacular!

The meeting was chaired by the Area Dean and the agenda included the election of a Governor for Twyford High School and an application from a group of churches in Southall for a grant from the 'Social Responsibility Fund' in support of a youth project. After a lot of discussion, and several amendments to the original proposal, there was a 'successful' vote for the sum of £4,500, which, after a tie of twenty-five votes in favour and twenty five against, was only carried by the Chair's casting vote.

This was followed by an excellent presentation from the Area Dean of Brent on 'Being a Welcoming Church .' There was some very useful discussion on this subject and a number of helpful suggestions were made.

St Peter's was represented by the Vicar, Wendy Quill and Trevor Bates. Rosamund Rowe is Secretary to the Synod.

Trevor Bates

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Financial Update

In January, the first month of our new financial year, our income was £6,873 whilst our expenditure was £9,149 - a deficit of £2,276. Provisional figures show that in February this deficit has deteriorated further to nearly £7,000.

Rosamund Rowe

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Quiz Night

At the end of a very closely contested quiz, the winning team - by a mere half mark - was St Peter's Choir. Proceeds from the evening were £100, which will be donated to Christian Aid.

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Traidcraft is 30 years old this year and has two strands: that of the plc trading company of which Fairtrade products are a part, and also the charity. The aims of Traidcraft are threefold: trading, influencing and raising awareness, and developing access to markets for third world projects. Mohammed Yunus, a craftsman jeweller from India , has stated recently,

"We are satisfied with our life. We are very happy with the support and regular work we receive from Fair Trade, and this really helps. But the real treasure in life is good relationship. If there is dignity, respect and love, we have everything. We are very happy to be part of Fair Trade."

The original idea of Traidcraft was started by Richard Adams from a house in Greenford Road . Following floods in Bangladesh , instead of aid planes flying back empty, he arranged for goods to be brought back and these were sold in churches and amongst his friends.

Our thanks must go to the Peatfield family for hosting the 'Taste and See' event of Fairtrade products on Sunday 22nd February and to Christina Stringer for her promotion of this as well as her delicious baking.

As with all good St Peter's events, we started with a glass of wine - Fairtrade from Argentina - and it was excellent. To go with this we had a number of savouries - nuts, olives, sun-dried tomatoes, crisps, all from Palestine . Susan Peatfield provided bread and cheese to soak up the wine whilst Christina Stringer had produced some sweet biscuits/cakes for everyone to enjoy. And all this was washed down with Fairtrade coffee.

Judith Stephenson, Helen Powell and Richard Morse

Do buy Fairtrade items if you can during your normal shop, but also watch out for the Traidcraft stall at church some Sundays and take the opportunity to top up your supplies of groceries or other items. As Paul Chandler, the Chief executive of Traidcraft commented to the General Synod this month,

..."fair trade is a powerful and visible reminder to churchgoers of how we are connected to the global community, and of how important it is to promote justice and social action as part of Christian discipleship. Fair Trade can connect us to our brothers and sisters (of all faiths) around the world."

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From the Parish Register

Memorial Service

7th February Pam PECK

Death

17th February Lionel PAGET

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Year's Mind

Please remember in your prayers the following people whose year's mind falls at this time:

Albert Caterer	1 March 1973
Denis Craft	2 March 1983
Margaret Britton	4 March 1961
Rodney Burke	5 March 1985
Lucie Beedell	6 March 1958
Frederick Ruston	6 March 1962
Hilda Malpas	8 March 1965
Willa Dufty	14 March 1964
Bertha Dawkins	15 March 1984
Rowland Clay	18 March 1981
Ivy Dawkins	21 March 1977
Margaret Boucher	22 March 2006
John Bould	23 March 2003
Lena Watson	24 March 1960
Madeleine Montague	25 March 1958
Iris Hall	29 March 1999
Gwen Sheldon	30 March 2003