NEWS
Tickets are now on sale for the Summer Lunch, which is to be held on Wednesday 1st July from 12.30pm at St Bartholomew’s Shipmeadow. Tickets cost £12.50 and can be purchased in advance from Bridget. All welcome and do bring guests.
Cheryl’s Church Walking Group meets again on Sunday 28th June at 2pm at Barsham Church for a ramble of about 3.5 miles through Barsham and Shipmeadow. Tea will be served at the church afterwards. All welcome.
The magnificent organ recital given by Dr David Flood on Saturday 30th May attracted a large and appreciative audience, filling both the nave and chapel, and spilling over into the choir stalls. David’s choice of music explored a range of styles and moods and included well-known as well as less familiar pieces. The beautiful and delicate Entry of Polymnie by Rameau was a favourite for many and the recital concluded with Widor’s epic and much-loved Toccata in F. A fabulous Barsham tea rounded off a memorable afternoon. Donations raised a net sum of £710.00, designated for the rethatching of the nave roof. Our grateful thanks to David Flood and to those who worked so hard to produce the tea.
On Trinity Sunday, 31st May, we were delighted to welcome The Ven Rich Henderson, Archdeacon of Suffolk, to preach at our Patronal Evensong service. For the anthem the choir sang beautifully the hymn Affirm Anew the Threefold Name, sung in four parts to the tune Kingsfold, a traditional English country tune adapted by Ralph Vaughan Williams. Fizz and delicious canapés followed. Thanks to all who made this such a splendid occasion.
As our churchwardens, Bridget and Cheryl attended the annual Archdeacon’s Visitation Service for the Waveney and Blyth Deanery at St Michael’s Beccles on Monday 8th June.
Adrian Ramsey MP has been invited to attend the next Deanery Synod on 1st July to hear the PCC’s concerns about the suspension of the Listed Places of Worship Scheme, which since 2004 has provided grants towards the cost of VAT paid on church repairs.
Swifts have been seen flying around the tower, responding to the electronic swift calls, but as yet there is no sign of nesting.
The sales table organised by Sarah Jane raised £95.00. The Gift Aid rebate on donations and collections, received from HMRC in May, amounted to £5,235.43.
Amy reports that 212 items were donated to the Foodbank in May.
FORWARD PLANNING
Haymaking will take place in the week of Monday 17th August. The work will be undertaken largely by a Community Payback team, but we are encouraged to support the team and all helpers are welcome. As ever, Chris Bardsley will kindly provide a lovely ploughman’s lunch.
SNIPPETS – The Summer Lunch: a blast from the past.
The annual Barsham with Shipmeadow Summer Lunch is perhaps a faint echo of a tradition that was almost entirely lost during the Protestant Reformation of the 16thand 17th centuries. So-called ‘church ales’ were a church-led community celebration involving eating, drinking and entertainments, usually in the churchyard. They were a means of raising funds for keeping the church in good repair as well as alms for the poor. Church ales were a fixture in the calendar of most parishes in medieval England, often linked to the Church calendar, marking a church’s patronal festival or, quite commonly, at Whitsun.
In many cases the churchwardens were responsible for brewing the ale and providing a plentiful and varied feast, though members of the community might also contribute. The ale that flowed liberally and the high spirits that followed no doubt took the sting out of the inflated prices that served to maximise income from the event. Entertainments might typically include music and singing, Morris dancing, sports, mystery plays dramatizing stories from the Bible, and costumed pageants. In a tradition known as ‘king play’ a low-ranking member of the community presided over the events of the day as mock monarch.
Church ales were noted for their over-exuberance and alcohol-fuelled excesses. In the increasingly regulated world of Elizabethan England the secular authorities, who appreciated the role of church ales in promoting social cohesion, were nonetheless concerned about drunkenness and its potential for disorder, violence and criminality. The religious authorities, and especially those of Puritan persuasion, were concerned that church ales promoted sinful behaviour: idleness, gluttony, lasciviousness, and that they were a ‘popish’ tradition, rooted in the pre-Reformation Catholic calendar.
So it was that by the early years of the 17th century church ales were suppressed and went into sharp decline. For half a century from the 1590s a series of Local Orders caused local magistrates and judges to crack down on church ales. In 1604 the Church of England’s Canon 88 banned the drinking of alcohol on church grounds and forbade churchwardens to allow church ales to take place in churches, church houses or churchyards. By the end of the century the age-old tradition of church ales had been lost completely.
At our Summer Lunch at the beginning of July we might not have the entertainments typical of medieval church ales, but there will be plentiful feasting, some drinking and an excellent community spirit, and the proceeds of ticket sales will contribute towards the upkeep of the church. I doubt the authorities – religious or secular – will need to worry too much about criminality or sinfulness.
July Diary
Sunday 5th July – Fifth Sunday after Trinity. 11am Sung Eucharist (BCP), Barsham. Revd Jonathan Olanczuk SSC.
Sunday 12th July – Sixth Sunday after Trinity. 11am Sung Eucharist (BCP). Revd Canon John Fellows.
Sunday 19th July – Seventh Sunday after Trinity. 11.15am Sung Eucharist (BCP). Revd Desmond Banister SSC.
Sunday 26th July – Eighth Sunday after Trinity. 11am Sung Eucharist (BCP). Revd Graham Naylor.
Church correspondent: Robert Bacon 07867 306016, [email protected]