What a year!As we look forward to a near year, we often look back at the year past. 2025 was a particularly busy year at St James church after receiving a full report on the building, access etc. The Quinquennial inspection in the spring and summer of 2024 identified urgent work that needed to be carried out to the tiled roofs, guttering and downpipes on the Church, the tiled roof on the Bier House and the North East pinnacle. Further checks carried out by the Architect, Structural Engineer and Steeplejacks between January and March revealed that the North East pinnacle was in a precarious condition and we were instructed to stop ringing the bells as the resonance could cause the pinnacle to become unstable. And so began a busy year of small grant applications, faculty applications and also putting the fun into fundraising:April 25: Afternoon Tea and Barbershop Quartet, Family Fun afternoon, Easter Crafts, Easter Egg Hunt;May 25: Biodiversity and Bug Hotel family activities;June 25: Charity Lunch and Church tour, Warwickshire Open Studios and Southam Arts Trail (2 weeks, 3 weekends);July 25: Divertimento concert, ‘Brilliant Butterflies’ Biodiversity afternoon;September 25: Southam in Bloom’s first compost bin, Heritage Open Days & Church tours, Treasure Hunt around Town organised by the Bellringing team, Andy’s Marathon in Warsaw, Poland, Harvest Supper;October 2025: Concert with Melody Makers, Windmill Singers, Southam Primary School and guests;November 2025: Christmas Tree Festival and Enchanted Evening concert;December 2025: Table at the Christmas Fayre.Thanks to all of you who have donated, volunteered, attended events, made cakes, stewarded, served refreshments… the list is almost endless! As a result of ALL your efforts, this year we have been successful in being awarded £9,900 from Coventry Diocese and £5,740 from the National Churches Trust. The overall total raised this year was approximately £23k! And so we began some of the restoration and repair work: The gutters, gullies and drains were cleared out in July, and at the beginning of August the tiled roof works began. This was at a cost of £11,857. In early September, the North East pinnacle was removed, the ‘stump’ capped and the stonework above repointed. This was at a cost of £14,112.There is significant work ahead identified by the Quinquennial report (including work to the tower, spire and clock, but we also want to improve accessibility, replace a failing and non-eco friendly heating system, and have better kitchen and toilet facilities to help the community to gather for events. If you’d like to get involved then please contact the Church Office. So as we 2026 begins, we will continue ‘Fun Raising whilst Fund Raising’ and look forward to your continued support. Happy New Year, from Rev Vikki & Jane Jones (Churchwarden) & St James Church Restoration Team!
Great Expectations?I wonder what your expectations of Christmas are? I wonder if you feel the pressure for everything to be perfect? Do you have pictures in your minds of children playing, church choirs singing, people smiling and getting along. We look to the Christmas season to be a time of perfect peace, harmony, and joy. It is supposed to be, as the song says, "the most wonderful time of the year”, but so often it is not that way." For many it will be a very difficult time because something has interrupted the joy and hope. It may be sickness, or loss of a loved one, or a relationship breakdown, or loneliness and they carry it quietly, whilst the noise of Christmas preparations go on.Some of you are so busy and working so hard that there is no time for sitting around a fire roasting chestnuts. Or, maybe there is not anything really wrong, but for some reason you just don’t enjoy Christmas. It is not providing the emotional lift that you expected. In fact, it feels almost depressing. The world does not look like a winter wonderland. It just looks like winter.But there is hope…..Because the true message of Christmas is about hope. In the story of the Magi (or the three wise men), they saw a star that indicated the birth of a new king in Israel. Wanting to honour Him with gifts, they set out on a journey following the star to find this newborn King.Maybe we can learn from their story by asking ourselves, “What are we looking for?” The Magi knew that something very special was happening. They were looking for Jesus. This tiny baby who would change the world forever. We can ask ourselves, “Where do we look?” We learn from the magi that there are wrong and right places to look for Christmas. They started by looking in the wrong place based on their own human reasoning. The star indicated the birth of a new king in Israel and so they went where kings should be born - to the palace of Herod the Great in the capital city of Jerusalem. But when Herod heard of the birth of a new king, he jealousy sought to destroy him.We, too, are tempted to look for joy at Christmas in the wrong places. We are told by the world that by getting or giving the right gift we will be satisfied. Or that being with right person/people and having the perfect food and drink, we will be satisfied. Sadly, all of these can easily disappoint us. You may not be able to afford the right gift for a loved one or they may be missing from your holiday celebration.And lastly, “What do we give?” The magi came to Jesus' house bearing gifts. The gifts they gave were entirely meaningful and prophetic. They gave gold, gift for a king. And by giving it they acknowledged that Jesus was and is the King. They gave frankincense, a gift for a priest. This was incense the priests used in Temple. By giving it they acknowledged that Jesus was a priest - the One who would bring us to God. And they gave myrrh, a fragrant ointment used to anoint a body before burial. By giving it they acknowledged that Jesus had come to die for the sins of the world.So maybe to our families, friends, neighbours and communities, the gifts this Christmas could be to give the gift of our love and kindness to those we meet, to give the gift of our help to those who are hurting, to give the gift of forgiveness to those who have hurt us. These are the gifts that reflect the true meaning of Christmas and they will never disappoint.Blessings this Christmas,Vikki
Remembering….We all have special occasions that we remember, don’t we? Whether that’s birthdays, particular holidays, anniversaries etc and there’s lots of different ways that we may remember these times. In the lead up to Remembrance Sunday and Armistice Day, there’s one thing that particularly helps us to remember - the Poppy. The Poppy is an important reminder of the suffering and sacrifice made by ordinary men and women who gave their lives for our freedom and for the freedom of others. We wear our Poppies with pride so that we don’t forget what took place for our freedom today. And yet, we still haven’t learnt the lessons of history have we? War continues in Israel & Gaza and Ukraine & Russia and in many other places – many around the world feel forgotten as the media fails to report. And yet, the effects of defence and conflict are seen on a daily basis across the world as Armed Forces, civilians and refugees still suffer the gruesome consequences of war. On Remembrance Sunday we come together as one, to renew our commitment to seek all that makes for peace. However, faced with the evil of the world we can sometimes feel powerless. We may feel that we cannot do much about war-torn regions of our world, or the uncertain times that we face as a country, but we can. We can pray for places around the world in conflict. Some places are reported by the media, others suffer in media silence, but we trust that God has not forgotten. We can pray for the armed forces and their families paying the price for conflict. We can pray for those who can make a difference and bring peace. We can also choose to live differently and ask God to help us in the way we live our day to day lives, how we act and react with others as we strive for a way of peace and reconciliation in our communities, in our homes and our workplaces. It can be a real challenge at times.Remembrance Sunday is a time when we recall those who gave themselves for us and to remember why it was, they did what they did. It’s a time to remember the horror of war and to commit to ways of peace. It’s a time to dedicate ourselves anew to living in such a way that we don’t break faith with those who died to bring peace to the world. It’s a time to commit ourselves once again to the struggle against evil – the struggle against the very things that to lead to war in the first place.May each one of us determine, with God’s help, to make this Remembrance Sunday a time when we remember.They shall grow not old, as we who are left grow old; Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun and in the morning, we will remember them.
In last month’s issue, there was an update about some of the restoration works of St James. The complete work needed is significant for which we’ll need a big grant application, but, as mentioned last month, we are blessed to have secured some smaller grants plus with the busy fundraising, we have been able to have the gutters, hoppers and drains cleared, essential repairs to the tiled roofs of the church and also the Bier House have been carried out. Sadly the south and north aisle roofs need extensive work and despite temporary repairs we still have a few leaks! However, the steeplejacks’ ladders are up on the spire again and it’s hoped that the NE pinnacle will be removed within the next couple of months, which means that, all being well, we should be able to have the bells rung again! I know that our Bellringers have very much missed ringing at St James and many of the community have commented that they miss hearing the bells too. The Southam Bellringers have kept busy though by organising a Walking Treasure Hunt in September and despite the awful weather that afternoon, lots of fun was had, and lots of tea and cake consumed! It was lovely to meet new people whilst raising another £280. On another damp day, it was lovely to welcome Lee Ellard, Southam Town Mayor, and civic dignitaries from Warwickshire. It was hoped that Bernard from Southam Heritage would be able to lead a history tour of Southam from The Grange to St James, but sadly rain stopped play. However, we were treated to the really interesting talk in St James and after an interval for chat, tea and cake, visitors then explored the church with snippets of stories, fun facts and history of the church from Jane Jones, Churchwarden of St James. All in all a very enjoyable afternoon. As part of the Heritage Open Days, St James was open over 19th & 20th September for fascinating tours of the church with lots of fun facts. I even helped one of the Brownies with her research for a Brownie Badge! Bernard from Southam Heritage kindly set up a historic display and members of St James set up displays of historical artefacts including a very old, large, family Bible, an ancient grave book, a beautiful christening robe, and even a canon ball from the civil war! It was lovely to welcome lots of visitors - some who had travelled quite a distance - and have really interesting conversations….oh and tea and cake! October is looking just as busy as we begin the month with two churchyard clear up mornings on Friday October 3rd & Saturday 4th from 9 until 12 - weather permitting of course. If you can spare a bit of time to help that would be wonderful - I’ve been told that there will be coffee and cake at half time! On October 19th, we are very much looking forward to welcoming Southam Primary Choir, Melody Makers and the Windmill Singers for an afternoon concert. Please do look out for more information on town and church noticeboards, social media or our website https://bit.ly/SouthamStJames Tickets will be available via the church office which is open Monday, Wednesday & Thursday 9-1. 01926 812413 or southamstjames@gmail.comAnd lastly, on October 30th Footprints Stay & Play Group will be hosting a Light Party from 1 until 3pm. The group is usually for 0 to 5s, but as it’s half term siblings will be welcome. There’ll be the usual fun and refreshments plus light themed crafts and activities, so dress in your brightest clothes and join in the fun. No charge, but donations are welcomed.As always, thank you for your support and making Southam to great community that it is.Blessings,Vikki
