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Winter 1996             Issue 64

When all things were in quiet silence, and night was in the midst of her swift course, thine Almighty Word, O Lord, leaped down from heaven out of thy royal throne

St. Andrew's Church staff

to St Andrew's Church at 6.30 p.m. on Sunday December 22nd for the CHRISTMAS SERVICE OF CAROLS AND READINGS

CHILDREN'S CAROL SERVICE 11.30 A.M. ON SUNDAY 22ND DECEMBER

CHRISTMAS SERVICES

The Welch Room

Now the room is to be used for the creche (Sunday club on Sundays at 10) and for occasional meetings during the week, e.g. the Archdeaconry lectures on the New Testament (January to March), and other classes etc. The P.C.C. gratefully acknowledges the generous bequest from the late Frank Welch and a modest grant from SODC. Also thanks to the hon. architect Liz Shatford of the foot care division of Sandford Ministry Team.



Meeting point will not happen in January, as we all get over Christmas, but will continue from 12.30 to 1.30 (lunch) on February 14th and March 14th and April 11th etc. (i.e. second Friday of the month). Grateful thank you to Marjorie and Peggy for excellent cooking. Tuesday coffee mornings will be discontinued in the New Year as the take-up does not justify renting (and heating) the village hall. But those who came and those who wanted this further weekly meeting in the village want to thank Liz and Ann for the work they put into it.



The chattering classes
Those wanting to think together about a better and more just society are invited to discussion of the Bishops' document The Common Good in the Parish Room (by Church tower) at 7.30 p.m. on Monday 13th January.

A shared meal

CONGRATULATIONS

FAREWELL

WELCOME

Politics

Coming home

What Sandford people do (no.32)

The Littlemore Development

We walked over the lock watching the gulls sweep above us. Young black-headed gulls, their heads not yet the dark chocolate brown of adulthood. We turned left by the lock-keeper's white house and walked up stream. A flash of movement on a moored boat opposite us. A squirrel perhaps - no, it was two young rats scampering and playing despite our presence. Whilst we stood the ducks gathered hopefully - mallards with a sprinkling of coots. We had brought no bread but some of the ducks were so desperate they flew ashore and waddled around us quacking mournfully. My young daughter sitting in her pushchair stared in astonishment. Cold got the better of us and we walked on, crossing over the weir. A small bird flew across the river - a kingfisher, even on this dull day a blaze of glory. I can recall the excitement and wonder I have felt each time I have seen this lovely bird. I only ever see it in the winter on those cold, grey days when one wonders whether summer will ever come again. Perhaps there is a message of hope for us all in the vibrant colours of the kingfisher.

We kept walking, warmer now we were amongst the willows, alders and hawthorns growing on the river bank. It seemed here as if nature was asleep - all was quiet. Except for the skies where it was all action. High above gulls wheeled and swooped white against the grey sky. A lone, slow heron flew up river, the only sound of its passing that strange, prehistoric 'quark' so surprising in so elegant and aristocratic a bird. Now a V of Canada geese whooshed overhead , the long powerful sighing of their wings clearly audible until they passed out of sight. It was now time to head for home, so we retraced our steps past the foaming weir and the still hopeful ducks. Home for toast and tea.

Sandford Millennium

To record a new century we have an interesting precedent, which the parish clerk of the time had the foresight to enter in the old parchment parish register:

   Memorandum, "the Yew tree in Sandford churchyard
   was planted on Good Friday in the year of our Lord
   God 1800 by John Roberts clerk."

The place chosen for the planting of this Yew tree leads to an interesting speculation - near the bottom of the tree can be seen the bone of an ancient preaching cross, and by its position it appears to have been roughly removed and cast aside. Had this old cross perhaps in the early days been the centre of religious fervour in the village? It is of great age, said to date from around the 13th century or earlier, perhaps even the forerunner of the present church. Was it removed to plant the present yew in its place? Undoubtably it must have played a great part in the religious life of the village.
Kingcup.       [Kingcup - more info]

Greening Sandford

Garden refuse need not be burned. The material burnt is often soft green vegetation that in less than a year would rot down to make ideal garden compost. This process benefits the garden, helps us to conserve wildlife as well as protecting the atmosphere. Smoke is one of the polluting gases that has so damaged our atmosphere, apart from the offensive smell that it creates. Bad enough is the principle of burning garden refuse, let alone the anti-social impact it has upon the neighbourhood. Why is it preferable to have a bonfire on a sunny day when neighbours have washing out to dry and their windows open, or worse still when all the material is wet and thus creates more smoke. Some houses still use an open fire, ourselves included, but dry wood prevents unnecessary smoke and pollution.

SODC have made recycling efforts, but in River View and Church Road I have rarely seen more than about half a dozen Green Boxes (or alternative) placed out with papers and 'tins' for collection on Mondays. Our neighbours in Kennington put us to shame with their enthusiasm for this civic duty. However all is not as it could be with recycling. Why is the White Horse box scheme able to take glass, plastic and rubber as well as tins and paper? SODC told me it was too costly and dangerous to separate out the components of the box. In the long run the cost of not doing this will be far higher.

Perhaps our council could assist us by reconsidering their approach to recycling. Widening the green box scheme and providing garden refuse recycling facilities would go a long way, but only if we take greater personal responsibility as well as requesting better services. Would the village population use a bottle bank, a clothes bank and a garden refuse facility if they were provided?

Oxford City made available cheap composters to their residents and the White Horse box has a lid that stops all the paper getting wet!

Finally a note of congratulations to the Kings Arms for removing the derelict outbuildings and unsafe play equipment. Let's hope the car park and newly laid garden is kept clear of litter and broken glass.

The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary has sustained some damage. Almost certainly she originally hovered behind, or perhaps beside, an altar, but it is unlikely that all the damage was sustained accidentally when she was moved. Much of the damage was probably deliberate, carried out either at the Reformation or during the Civil War by Cromwell's men. The damage is highly localised: on face and hands and the cup-like shape below. Such a pattern of damage is to be found elsewhere - in the Lady Chapel of Ely and countless other mediaeval monuments.

An image of rare beauty was only partially damaged to destroy the potency of the content rather than the beauty of its form. The Virgin's hands and face and the cup over which she hovers have been broken up. Her gesture, personality and symbolism were attacked because it was in these things that the possibility of idolatry would be found. The aspect of this carved relief that is important to emphasize is not the subject of the Assumption (which is a late theological development apparently completely unknown in the early centuries of the Church and receiving its official western formulation only in 1950) but the badly broken form over which the Virgin hovers. This now-broken form, I believe, was originally a tabernacle to house the consecrated host.

A very early title given to Mary by the Church (at the Council of Ephesus (431) was Theotokos, 'God-bearer'. It was through her humble submission to the will of God that she bore God into the world; she was the God-bearing vessel and that was the reason for her exaltation.

Now to the broken vessel below the Virgin on your wonderful carving. That broken vessel is a sign of Mary herself, for it was to hold the sacrament, the Body of Christ. But the whole point of the sacrament is that it should be shared by the people of God to God's praise and glory. Having received the sacrament the people, the body of Christ, make possible, by their own 'yes' to God, a renewed incarnation and become Christ's hands and feet to do the will and works of God. God is then taken out into the world - we also in our own small way and according to the measure of our faith, can become 'Theotokos', God-bearers.

We are connected to that carving; when we identify ourselves with the will of God, it is also a sign for us.

A fine performance

SANDFORD-ON-THAMES PARISH COUNCIL

Minutes of recent meetings

Minutes of meeting held on Monday 2nd September at 7 pm in the Village Hall, at which six members were present.
The minutes of the previous meeting were approved and signed. There were no matters arising, and no correspondence.
Matters for consideration - General
Thames Water - Sandford Sewage Treatment Works
Presentation by Mick Daly, Oxford Area Production Manager, on the