The Magazine has Survived When I wrote this piece for the October edition of the parish magazine, I thought I was probably writing for the last print edition. I am delighted to say that I was wrong! The print version of the October edition landed on my desk on 24th September, and that very evening I was telephoned by our new editor. I very nearly did not take the call; it was late, the incoming number was not recognised and I was in a Zoom meeting at the time. I’m so very glad that I did take the call.So the new editor is Matthew Price from Southport. He has written a little article introducing himself on page 28. As I am sure you have already realised, he has some professional skills in publishing. He uses the Adobe InDesign software used by professionals and by our former editor Alison Burley. Matthew already edits a magazine for Lund parish in the Diocese of Blackburn. He enjoys it and has been keen to take on further parish magazines. He searched the internet for possibilities and discovered that we needed an editor. He does charge a fee, but it is remarkably modest and I am confident that magazine will remain financially viable. It has been a pleasure to work with him so far. From my point of view, it almost seems too good to be true, but I have not found the catch yet!On the subject of financial viability, we do need to save a little bit of money and the obvious way to do this is by reducing the number of pages in the magazine so that it costs less to print. There are places in this edition where Matthew has experimented with a two-column layout, which facilitates a smaller font size, and this saves space. We have also omitted from this edition much of the non-local material. Matthew and I will be very interested to receive your comments and feedback on these changes.In the October edition, written when I thought the print edition of the magazine was coming to an end, I set out arrangements for an email version of the parish news. I am still keen to move forward with this email news bulletin because I recognise that many people, especially younger people, find it more natural to receive information through their phone, than through printed media. The Revd Linda Carter has kindly agreed to send out the emails, which should be little more than explained links to news and publicity already visible on different websites. The first email will go out around 1st November. Please do sign up with Norma Aslin normaaslin@gmail.comto receive the emails.So, for those people who wish to contribute material for the parish magazine or the Online News emails, there are two key email addresses:parishonlinenewsbclandp@gmail.comfor Revd Linda Carter and the email version of parish news.parishmagnewsbclandp@gmail.comfor Matthew Price and the print edition of the parish magazine.In the email addresses “bclandp” stands for Baddesley Clinton, Lapworth and Packwood.So I am delighted that we are able to move forward in this way. It will be interesting to see how the two different approaches develop. I hope that they can be of real service to the local community.With my prayers and best wishes for all the people of Baddesley Clinton, Lapworth and Packwood - Canon Patrick
I remember my first Remembrance Sunday at Baddesley Clinton and Lapworth in 2010. At that time many former service people from the second world war were still alive. That made Remembrance very relevant, even if the prospect of any future war seemed remote. Sadly, in 2026, very few people who served in the war are still with us, yet Remembrance seems more relevant than ever as wars are ever more common and seem to be getting ever closer.I find I pray routinely for peace between Russia and Ukraine, in Isreal, Gaza, Lebanon and the West Bank, in Sudan and other place in Africa, in Yemen, between America and Iran, in the Middle East and the Straits of Hormuz. But the situation seems to get worse rather than better, and the number of potential flash points is always increasing.It is easy, and convenient, to blame this situation of world leaders such as Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin and Benjamin Netanyahu. But all of these people were elected, or came to power, because of widespread support in their home counties. I think that social media has been a big factor in developing warlike thinking. It is far too easy for social media to become an echo chamber, constantly reinforcing our own opinions and prejudices without allowing truth or just thinking or different perspectives to spoil the party. Power has become profoundly linked to one-sided thinking and dramatically alienated from dialogue and peace.When power becomes corrupt, we often feel a desire to raise up a new power, that is not corrupt. We want this new power to overcome the old power and to install new arrangements of justice in peace. But the track record of such initiatives is not good. To become powerful the new order must engage in the ways of power, and all to easily this leads them to become part of the problem, rather than a solution.Against this background I was delighted to hear about “Micro Actions for Peace”. These are small personal or group actions for peace which are humble and lowly enough to pass completely under the radar of power. A micro action for peace might be listening to a difficult neighbour, giving money to the poor or praying for peace. Of course, their smallness means that their impact is limited, but they look to God for their fulfilment. The approach is heavily commended by the Psalms (Ps 20.7-8, 33.16-18, Ps 118.8-9, 146.2-4). When the mighty powers have done their worst, these micro actions for peace suddenly come to the fore, like nature reclaiming an abandoned industrial site.We certainly should be doing what we can to push back the threat of war. This means promoting dialogue and listening to the voices which are not heard. But especially when our impact is limited, we need to have the humility and trust to work on micro actions for peace. The true value of these will be seen in the longer term.With prayers and best wishes, Canon Patrick
Derek Bush and Canon Patrick write…On Sunday 6th September 2026 around a dozen parishioner, some friends and some dogs, walked from St. Giles Packwood in a celebration of the three beautiful medieval churches in our Oversight Area. It was a reminder of the similar walk in September 2024, when the Oversight Area was launched and Canon Patrick was licenced at Packwood.We set out just after lunch (at around 1.30 pm) and arrived at St. Michael’s Baddesley Clinton 1 hour 20 minutes later. Almost all of this section was on footpaths, but we no sooner turned onto Netherwood Lane than David Corney overtook us in his vintage car.After a short rest for a ‘hydration break’ (10 minutes) we continued to St. Mary’s Lapworth arriving around 3.30 pm for some very welcome homemade cakes, tea and coffee. The weather was kind to us and we made good progress via quiet lanes and footpaths. Near the Boot canal bridge we bumped into the Revd Canon David Warbrick and his wife Jenny, walking in the opposite direction. David was Vicar at St Giles until 2010. He is now at All Saints, Kings Heath, but still enjoys frequent walks in the Lapworth area.Thank you to all the walkers, the helpers en route at St. Michael’s and the cake and tea/coffee providers at St. Mary’s.
After two years of jumping through all the hoops to obtain permission to install a WC at Packwood church, work commenced in the churchyard to lay a shallow drain with the utmost care underneath the path down to the corner of the car park where a septic tank has now also been installed. Fortunately the church has a digital plan of where all the graves are located but the conditions for proceeding included the oversight of an archaeologist during the excavation . This was necessary in case anything of antiquity and importance might be found. Sadly the only remains unearthed were fragments of an adult human skull which Canon Patrick reinterred with great care near the spot by the church where they were found. The drainage engineers also hand dug the ground underneath a large Yew tree and were able to thread the drain beneath its roots . The external works were prioritised over external ones to take advantage of benign autumn weather. We are hopeful that the project will be complete before Christmas. It goes without saying that installation of a WC will make a significant call on our funds so donations to this project would be gratefully received. – Caroline Spelman
