There is something about the arrival of September that makes us suddenly realise that the year is moving on. Perhaps it is the changing light, the cooler evenings, or the first leaves beginning to fall. The “-ber” months seem to gather momentum as we move through September, October, November and December, and before we know it Christmas is upon us. For the church too, these months have their own rhythm. We have celebrated Harvest, giving thanks for the food we receive, for the land and for all those whose work enables us to eat and flourish. Harvest reminds us that, however independent we may feel our lives are built on gifts we did not create for ourselves. Gratitude is a good place from which to begin. But then the mood changes. As the year grows darker, we come to Remembrance. We pause to remember those who have died in war and conflict, and perhaps also those we have personally loved and lost. Remembering can be painful, but it is also and act of love. To remember someone is to say that their life mattered, that they are not simply forgotten and that their story remains part of ours. And then, almost imperceptibly, we begin to look towards Christmas. It is easy to think of Christmas as the destination, with everything before it simply leading up to the familiar celebrations. But the Church gives us Advent first: a season of waiting, watching and preparing. Advent acknowledges that we live in the space between what has been and what is still to come. Perhaps that is why these months can speak so powerfully to us. Harvest invites us to look around and give thanks for what we have received. Remembrance invited us to look back and honour those who have gone before us. Advent invites us to look forward, with patience and hope. And at the heart of Christmas is the extraordinary Christian belief that God does not remain distant from any of this. God comes among us. In Jesus, God enters the ordinary stuff of human life: its joys and sorrows, its beginnings and endings, its uncertainty and its hope. So, as we enter these “-ber” months, perhaps we might resist the temptation to rush towards Christmas. There is wisdom in taking each season as it comes: giving thanks, remembering, waiting and hoping. And perhaps that is a good rhythm for life itself. To give thanks for what we have, to remember with love what has been, and to face what is coming with hope. May God be with us in all three. With every blessingBeth x
Hymns, Pimm’s and Proms 🎶🍓Join us on Saturday 12 September from 5pm as we celebrate the end of the St James’ Proms Season with a relaxed and joyful evening of Hymns, Pimm’s and Proms.We’ll gather together for an evening of music, singing and good company, with plenty of opportunities to enjoy some of those much-loved hymns and the wonderful atmosphere of the Proms.Weather permitting, we’re hoping to hold the event outside, so bring along your picnic, a chair or blanket, and settle in for the evening. If the British weather has other ideas, don’t worry — we’ll simply move into the church and continue the celebrations there!Bring your own picnic and enjoy an informal evening with friends, family and the wider church community. There will also be a cash bar available for drinks, including Pimm’s.So come along, bring your picnic and your singing voice, and help us round off the St James’ Proms Season in style!Saturday 12 September | From 5pm Hymns, Pimm’s and Proms Bring your own picnic | Cash bar available Outside if the weather allows, otherwise in churchEveryone is very welcome.
Martin Foster Rogers was born on 31 May 1937, the month of George VI's coronation. His older brother, Colin, promptly decided he should be known as Foster - a name that stayed with him for life. His parents, Norman and Connie, were both scout leaders and encouraged Foster to achieve the Queen's Scout Award in 1955, completing a solo winter hike across the Yorkshire Moors. Yet despite this toughness, childhood ill-health meant his school results never reflected his true ability. Leaving school with four O-levels, he began an engineering apprenticeship and studied for an HNC at night. A tutor encouraged him to apply to university and at 21, Foster began studying Physics and Maths at Keele University. For someone who had failed the 11+, graduating with an honours degree was a remarkable achievement. His contribution to university life was equally significant: he organised Commemoration Balls, built stage sets, and even hosted the Chancellor, Princess Margaret. At Keele he met Jill Hughes. They married in 1962 and settled near Newcastle-under-Lyme, welcoming their daughter and later their son Steve. Foster began his career teaching at Stoke Technical College before moving into technical management, eventually becoming technical director at TG Greens. In 1971, the family moved to Barn Cottage in Barton-under-Needwood, which would remain their home for 53 years. After declining a move to America to remain close to his elderly parents, Foster joined Derby College of Higher Education in 1974. His teaching spanned literacy, business strategy and the MBA programme, shaped by his own educational struggles and wide business experience. His talent led to international work, including a 'visiting professorship' at Stockholm School of Economics and teaching engagements across Europe, the Americas, India, Russia and China. He became especially involved in senior management training for China's aviation industry, earning deep respect for his cultural understanding, humour and humanity. When Steve and his wife Altaire moved to Vancouver, Foster relished time with his grandchildren, Tildy and Sam. After Altaire's illness and passing, Foster organised trips to ensure support for Steve, and during COVID he helped Sam with English reading comprehension on regular zoom sessions. Even in his 70's, Foster continued teaching in China, but at home his energy increasing focussed on community life. He helped to establish the Barton Teddy Festival, which has raised nearly £200,000 for charities and the church, delighting hundreds of local children. He later led major church projects including the restoration of the Barton Bells, raising £165,000 in grants to help complete the work. A gifted cook, his church lunches were much appreciated, and he was a WoW stalwart, enjoying the company of very young villagers. An Indian Railway Director, taught by Foster, once wrote a fictional biography of him, describing a man shaped by strong principles. Two sayings captured his outlook: "He who would make his dreams come true must first wake up" and "It is easier to ask for forgiveness than permission". Foster twice took on the role of church treasurer for St James', the second time in 2009 when the diocese were worried about its own charitable status because St James' had failed to file accounts for several years. With help from his daughter Janet and the diocesan accounts department and a great deal of work, he managed to sort it out. In 2019 he took on the role of churchwarden only to find that the Vicar had found a new post. In 2020, with no vicar and lockdown the two wardens, Foster and David Yardley managed to upload online services every week with help from a local retired clergyman and anyone in the church, including bishops and archdeacons, whom Foster could persuade to send a sermon and a blessing prayer. Over 60 services were put together and uploaded to YouTube, while 18 DVDs were delivered around the village by bicycle each week to anyone who didn't do internet! Foster was delighted and honoured to be given an award for this effort, although he was proudest of his first prize for a scarecrow in the Barton Scarecrow Competition two years ago!Foster's generosity was quiet but profound - from funding lifesaving travel for a family in China to giving away travel tickets for a pilgrimage. Wise, kind, humorous and practical, he leaves a lasting legacy and a deep sense a loss among his family, church and community. Rest in eternal peace Foster.
Hello all, One of the joys of my role is visiting schools and seeing young people develop. I have the privilege to visit, on a regular basis, four primary schools in the area and it is lovely to see the fun and excitement on the children's faces when I'm leading an assembly or when listening to what they have learned and have been up to. As we grow, we face change: change in ourselves and changes in the world around us. Our understanding develops, our bodies change (more aches and pains in my case!), our friends move away, and new ones fill the gap that is left. But however used to change we become, there is often a resistance to or indeed an anxiety about what the change will bring. School has change built into the system, when each year you move up a class or indeed schools at certain times, and this can be worrying for young people. I remember how worried I was! The six-week holiday before starting at junior school or high school seems a long time to worry about the new year! But this gap between the old and the new is present in every change, it is called "liminal" space or time: a threshold which needs to be crossed, where old doors are closed before a new door is opened. Liminal spaces can be uncomfortable places to be, where our place in the world in undefined and fluid, where choices are made with no definite knowledge of the outcome and we can feel "adrift" or in "limbo". The reassurance is, the more times you go through liminality, the more you become used to it and even excited about the change to come. The Christian narrative is littered with stories of liminality from the Children of Israeal "wandering" in the desert for 40 years to the death and resurrection of Jesus. I know that not everyone who reads this will have faith or trust in God, but knowledge from experience I have tells me that change is invariably good and that liminal spaces are not to be feared but to be embraced. I also believe that God is a God who redeems all things, even our anxieties. Many of our children will be "moving up" or "moving on" this summer. We can really help our young people by understanding how difficult this time can be and just being there for them. Please join me in praying that this six weeks of summer holidays will be a time of refreshment and excitement for what is to come and that any joy and peace will outweigh any fear or resistance.Every blessing, Rev Andy
