Newsletter - All Saints' Church, St Andrews...God Jul | Wesołych Świąt | Счастливого...

DEAR READER

Confusing for some, the mismatch of Church and secular years has some useful effects, beginning with the fact that as the world ends its year, the Church is already a month into its new year, commencing with the holy season of Advent. Adventus - ‘coming’ - prompts us to ponder the Last Things and encourages a soulful searching for clarity as we pray imaginatively for the coming of Christ’s Kingdom in power, to liberate, vindicate and complete the saving work of God.

With that context secured, the traditional end of the secular year becomes a bit easier to digest, even if its food and drink can be quite a challenge to our gastric organs. And it has been a most unusual year with shrill hyperbole characterising a lot of media coverage, not least in the approach to the general election earlier this month. While a clear majority in the governing party at Westminster now makes - theoretically - for more coherent policy from the south, the SNP has seen the widespread rejection in Scotland of the Conservative leadership and policy as a further sign of encouragement for the independence that clearly captivates the hearts and minds of many Scots.

What the future holds therefore now seems to polarise both certainties and uncertainties: the UK will leave the European Community and sighs of relief ensue even from many who voted to remain simply because the uncertainty is finally ended; and Scotland must somehow reach a decision about which is more important, membership of the UK or the EC.

What has the Church to do in this place? You may have noted that there has been a recurrent lament from Christian commentators over the quality of information presented in the popular press, broadcast media and the campaigns of political parties in recent months and years. I am working to contain my astonishment that so much misleading information has not been challenged effectively because the implications for what purports to be a democratic process may be very serious.

Within the congregation we have many political views generally held with some reserve and mutual respect of privacy. Whatever your view may be, I hope that in the coming months we can together remember the importance of truth as a basis for trust, and of making decisions in its calm light rather than in the fire of anger or the gloom of despair.

What we celebrate at the heart of Christmas is so much more important than any of that: the truth is much more than words, however lucid, being rooted in The Word, the saving purpose of God who, in Christ, has joined our mortal to

his immortal nature. This is none other than the marriage of heaven and earth, of time and eternity that Truth might be known, through Love dwelling in our midst as Jesus Christ.

I wish you a very happy Christmas and a healthy and creative Year of Our Lord, MMXX.

Fr Alasdair

IN THIS EDITION

News from the Diaspora 3

St George’s Church, Venice 4

Lucy Menzies 5

Poetry 6

Frances Lenman 9

Canon Brian Albert Hardy 12

Dick Carson 15

Statistical Returns 17

Update from the Treasurer 18

NEWS FROM THE DIASPORA

Those who attended the wonderful harpsichord recital given by John Kitchen in September, were aware that John was awaiting hip-replacement surgery for some time. That has now taken place successfully and - very happily - John is finding that pedal work playing the organ provides an ideal form of exercise to improve strength and mobility of his new joint. Initial forays felt, he says, a bit odd, but he has been recitaling for some weeks now, enjoying good freedom of movement.

Since education at Madras College and graduating from Oxford, former choir member and regular visitor, Anna Poole, has followed a legal career initially in the City of London but for many years now based in Edinburgh. She was

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called to the Bar in 1998 and made Queen’s Counsel in 2012. Since then she has served as a UK tribunal judge but has recently been appointed as a Senator of the College of Justice - a High Court judge - and will take up her appointment on 13 January. Anna is also Chancellor of the Dioceses of Edinburgh and Argyle & the Isles.

ST GEORGE’S ANGLICAN CHURCH, VENICE

Through my literary agency work and thanks to my client Philip Gwynne Jones and his wife Caroline I have come to know and love this outpost of the Anglican church.

St George’s is situated in Campo San Vio, close to the Grand Canal and the Accademia. There has been an Anglican chaplain in Venice – with some intervals including during Napoleon’s occupation of the city and during World War II – since the reign of King James VI and I when Nathaniel Fletcher was chaplain to the ambassador Sir Nicholas Wotton.

The church moved to its present location in the 1890s. The building was formerly a warehouse of the Venezia-Murano Glass and Mosaic Company which had gone into liquidation. The firm had supplied the mosaics used for the reredos in Westminster Abbey and on the Albert Memorial in London.

It is a beautiful building with several windows in memory of famous English residents of the city including Sir Nicholas Wotton, Robert Browning, John Ruskin, and Sir Ashley Clarke, a former British Ambassador to Italy, churchwarden for more than twenty years and one of the founders of the Venice in Peril Fund. His widow is a regular member of the congregation when she is in Venice.

The church also contains the gravestone of Consul Joseph Smith, the celebrated supporter of Canaletto and his work. Because of financial difficulties Smith had to sell his vast collection and it was acquired by King George III and forms the basis of the current royal collection of Canalettos.

The magnificent reredos came from a church in Tuscany and contains a nineteenth century copy of The Redeemer with Saints George and Jerome, the original of which was painted by Giovanni Buonconsiglio in the 16th century for the nearby Santo Spirito Church.

But much more importantly, St George’s is a thriving, working church. The number of regular worshippers is small but is augmented by very many visitors

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from around the world. Their service of Nine Lessons and Carols has become a regular feature with visiting choirs – this year it was the choir from Kent College, Canterbury and the church was packed with standing room only. Lessons were read by amongst others, Don Andrea, priest of the church of the Gesuati, the Roman Catholic parish in which St George’s is situated (reading in Italian), a student from Zimbabwe, and an American parishioner. The Vicar General of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Venice gave the Blessing.

St George’s hosts a Biennale exhibition and this is proving to be a very useful source of income as much work needs to be done on the building. The Venice Music Project holds fifty concerts a year there. They are led by Liesl Odenweller, a professional opera singer from the US and now resident in Venice. They research and perform ancient Venetian music.

The church is used by the local Filipini congregation who meet there regularly. There is a supper club where students from around the world meet once a month for friendship and fellowship. The current chaplain is the Revd Canon Malcolm Bradshaw MBE who previously served at the Anglican church in Athens. He also looks after the Anglican church in Trieste.

St George’s features in Philip’s latest book The Venetian Masquerade when a murder is committed there but as he assures readers in his acknowledgements ‘to the best of my knowledge no one has ever been horribly murdered there’. Do visit if you are in Venice – there is always a wonderfully warm welcome.

I am very grateful to Geraldine Ludbrook for much of the historical background and to Gilly Wiscarson for her help in writing this short piece.

John Beaton

LUCY MENZIES

When the current scheme of holy days was devised for the Scottish Episcopal Church, it was an aim that at least one person of outstanding holiness be included from each of the seven dioceses. Thanks to some local support, one of those considered for commemoration was Lucy Menzies, a member of our own congregation whom we commemorate each November with readings from her spiritual writings and translations.

Because of the increasing awareness of her importance, St Mary’s College is interested in commissioning a portrait

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of Lucy to be hung in College Hall. There is a strong resonance with her at St Mary’s as she was conferred with the honorary degree Doctor of Divinity by the University shortly before her death in 1954. The presentation address at that graduation included this description of Lucy.

Possessing deep historical scholarship and linguistic equipment both wide and accurate, Miss Menzies brought to the understanding of St Columba and Queen Margaret the rarer gifts of intuition and insight, and as the list of her writings lengthened, so this unusual insight deepened into an unusual spiritual charm . . . For ten years she was Warden of the Retreat House at Pleshey, that centre of spiritual peace and contemplation, and if she largely made that place a haven for others, it ripened in her those gracious qualities and lovely virtues which we who know her most admire.

If you would like to contribute to funding the portrait, please either speak to Judith Wolfe or Bill Hyland, or visit the web address below.

gf.me/u/w3rqxh

POETRY

With its liturgical tradition encouraging us to reach beyond the bare meaning of words into the mystery of God and creation, it’s not surprising that All Saints’ has many people with an interest in poetry. In recent years we’ve had within the congregation a number of poets, prize-winning, published and - in the truest sense - amateur. Here is a selection of poems submitted for this Newsletter from within the congregation.

from Caledonian Postcards

Swans at the Royal Botanic Gardens

But are they sad? I overheard her say.No more than fiveAlone with mum on a weekend getaway. Because I didn’t catch her answer, I’ve Since had to guess. Could anything be sad Beneath the cirrus sky of Scottish autumn? Two swans approached and formed a heart, while skyward,

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http://gf.me/u/w3rqxh

Wild geese flew south toward France and Spain, and had I read a sign in this, then I’d have thought them Homesick, maybe. Sad? That wasn’t my word.

Glasgow Necropolis

What could be more Victorian than this? A picnic lunch,The two of us walk the Necropolis In search of famous dead. You had a hunch We’d come up empty. Bruce and Burns and Hume, Of course, were elsewhere, from another age. Here’s where the 19th Century is laid.Those dark industrial lords have founded tomb By tomb their city of the dead. Their wage,Bequeathed to us as romance, fully paid.

Postscript: at the ruins of St Mary on the Rocks

Was it just legal fiction brought us here?The batteryIs silent on the question, gone cold for fearThey’d wake the dead. They won’t but you know me—A “ruin bibber,” unreformed, Romantic. The morning’s clear, if cold. I sit in choir,Intone a requiem in foreign diction.Communed with gulls, asperged by the Atlantic,Would that I sang with Pentecostal fire.My teeth are flint and steel. My breath is friction.

Dan Rattelle

The Oxen

Christmas Eve, and twelve of the clock. “Now they are one their knees,”An elder said as we sat in a flock By the embers in the hearthside ease.

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We pictured the meek mild creatures where They dwelt in their strawy pen,Nor did it occur to one of us there To doubt they were kneeling then.

So fair a fancy few would weave In these years! Yet, I feel,If someone said on Christmas Eve, “Come; see the oxen kneel

“In the lonely barton by yonger coomb Our childhood used to know,”I should go with him in the gloom, Hoping it might be so.

Thomas Hardysubmitted by Charlotte Johnston

Mordecai

By accident or fate I said the words That saved the king from poison unto death.  Despite his trust I maintained shibboleths.  The son of Jair, I’m not afraid of birds.   The judge caught me at prayer before the feasts And longed to see me eaten by shabhaz.  He ruled all servants and gentlemen must pass Beside him head bowed down like pagan priests.   Below the flame of candlelight I stood,  While scribes inked out each blessed legal phrase.  We locked eyes long enough for me to praise The wisdom demonstrated by the good.   I smell the smoke and hear the pleas of saints Arise as men return to their constraints.

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For Bernard Iddings Bell

The dean in robes put up a fight to save  the young from rising fads and crowd cultures.  The board shrugged off the words of this odd slave To votes of dead men, snagging eyes of vultures.

The birds began to circle when they heard The lawyer ask the use of learning Greek.  And when Bell quoted Plato they all jeered And burned to toss him out like an antique.

He made boys stand when he walked in the room  Like soldiers rise to keep their pride at bay.  For this offense the board winced and consumed The robes and books and dean like birds of prey.

The chairman called the members to a vote,  Bell pack his bags and dusted off his coat.

Clinton Collister

FRANCES LENMAN

During the summer, we were sad to hear of the death of Frances Lenman, who had worshipped at All Saints’ from 1994 until quite recent years. Bea Cowan, Lay Reader at St Andrew’s Church, was one of her neighbours and, when Frances became unable to make her own way here, Bea and George provided Frances with a lift to church with them at St Andrew’s.

We are grateful to Bea, who preached the address at Frances’ funeral, for prividing a copy of her address, containing this summary of Frances’ life.

Frances was born at home, on17th August 1929, to Henry known as “Harry”, a dental surgeon who was a pioneer in the reconstruction of the facial injuries of war victims, and Edith Selby-Brown, daughter of a master butcher. During the war Frances was evacuated to Barnard Castle in Yorkshire and then to near Alloa in Scotland with her family.

She used to recall rationing during the war. It obviously had an effect on her -she had a lifelong love of copious amounts of butter, due to the severe rationing; and she always used to eat the entire apple, stalk and all, as that was

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the only way she could dispose of the evidence when taking apples from their family orchard during the war, something strictly forbidden.

In 1948 Frances came up to St Andrews University and graduated in 1953 with MA Honours in History and Geography. She was a keen mountaineer and fencer at the time and almost immediately met Andrew through the St Andrews Mountaineering Society.

She and Andrew were married in 1955, and together they had four children, Elizabeth, Katherine, James and Hattie, of all of whom she had very good reason to be extremely proud.

She had a very happy marriage to Andrew; they were clearly devoted to each other. She not only worked as a full-time teacher in Special Needs but worked hard to support Andrew’s career as the only Neurologist in Dundee. She supported him while he developed all the neurology services in Tayside and Angus and created a department that flourishes today and of which he would have been immensely proud. | Hattie and James remember the extensive entertainment Frances provided for many of Andrew’s colleagues, in their home in Broughty Ferry and it was remarked by them that her hospitality was invariably exceptional.

George, my husband, remembers working for Andrew in 1964 as a House Physician in the old Dundee Royal Infirmary and, later, briefly, in 1972 when he was an Honorary Senior Registrar when on Sabbatical for the Army. He well remembers first meeting Frances at that time.

Frances had many struggles in life, first when Andrew died in 1985.

Sadly, this meant that Frances could no longer share a retired life with him and do all the things they had planned to do once they stopped working full time. However, in her efficient and organised way, she still moved, in 1994, from Dundee to St Andrews, where she and Andrew had always intended to retire. Here she soon made a good life for herself.

She was involved in many aspects of church life, first at All Saints church which she attended for many years, then here at our own Saint Andrew’s church.

She made lots of time for family and friends and for her own hobbies.

She regularly travelled to Vancouver to visit her daughter, Katherine, and granddaughter, Elizabeth. She soaked up the variety of cultures there and, typically, started taking Mandarin lessons between visits. Until she became too

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frail for the journey, she would often make long journeys to spend time with him, whatever part of the country he was in.

Unfortunately, the unthinkable occurred when she lost two of her beloved daughters, first Lizzie, in 1997, and then Katherine, in 2009.

She coped with these events with strength, dignity and courage.

Frances also had many joys: she took great delight in her granddaughter Elizabeth, Katherine’s daughter, whom she welcomed to Scotland in 2009. She was immensely proud of her and loved all the time they spent together. Among many things Elizabeth remembers with glee are the games Frances used to devise – educational, of course, but nevertheless fun. Frances also loved hearing Elizabeth play the piano and the flute

Frances was an expert gardener. She worked as a guide at the Botanic gardens, first in Dundee, then in St Andrews - She created a delightful corner at her house at Mount Melville. She had a strong interest in country houses and historic buildings, enjoying guiding at Hill of Tarvit and collating expert notes about the house, family and its contents.

Her intellect remained sharp and there were many topics where Frances could talk eloquently and accurately - from current affairs to cricket. History was a special love but woe betide broadcasters who got this or that wrong!

Later on she took up Tai Chi and yoga and swam nearly every day until she became too frail to continue. Even in her 80’s Frances embraced technology and, even a few weeks before her death, was using her iPad to order items, check out the local and international news and play sudoku. She also regularly played online scrabble with James.

She embraced changes, doing her best to ride an electric bicycle in her 80s when she could no longer drive a car. She always tried to adapt, gracefully, even trying not to shout too loudly at Alexa, a useful electronic friend in her last months.

Her elegance and beauty throughout her life will always be remembered –

As George and I well remember, when she appeared unexpectedly soon after we first arrived here, in her familiar, stylish black at our doorstep, held court in a sitting-room full of packing cases and subsequently introduced us to other neighbours.

Frances supported all those around her, often ‘adopting’ post graduate students in St Andrews, and inviting them up for tea.

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She was very close to her daughter Hattie who lived nearby for the last two decades. They enjoyed so much together - horse riding, swimming, university lectures and, quite simply, each other’s company.

Her increasing fragility was upsetting to see, however she was allowed to die with dignity, respect and much love at home with Hattie, surrounded by her remaining family, James, Elizabeth and Gary.

Hattie, I know you owe so much to your mother but you were a wonderful companion to her. You could not have done more for her.

Frances had much support from dear friends and neighbours whom she was so pleased to see almost up to her death.

Hattie has a special word of thanks for all the helpers, carers, nurses and doctors whom helped her mother so much. The level of care Frances received at home was quite exceptional and she was made to feel very safe and loved.

Typical of Frances’ generous nature, and her devotion to the medical community throughout her life, she has donated her body to medical science; a huge commitment and one that her family were happy to support.

Frances attended St Andrews University as a student and undergraduate and now has returned ‘as a silent teacher’ to the anatomy department. The family are very proud of that.

Her generous donation will make a vital contribution to the education of the young doctors in training at the University of St Andrews where her daughter, Lizzie, also attended to study medicine.

Beatrice Cowan, St Andrew’s Church

CANON BRIAN ALBERT HARDY

Fr Brian was remembered during Evensong at St Mary’s Cathedral, Edinburgh, on Sunday 8 December. Here is the address given by the Rt Revd Richard Holloway.

When you get to my age you spend a lot of time at funerals, as friend after friend - to quote the Book of Ecclesiastes - make their last journey to their ‘long home, and the mourners go about the streets’. Often, as I listen to the story of their lives being told for the last time, I am filled with regret. But it is not just regret at their leaving us. It is regret that I realise how little I knew them, or appreciated what rich and complex lives they had led. Above all, it is

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regret that I did not tell them how much I had loved and admired them. So I am stung when I remember the poem by Bernard O’Donoghue:

Happy the man who, dying, canPlace his hand on his heart and say:‘At least I didn’t neglect to tellThe thrush how beautifully she sings.’

There are those I neglected to tell how beautifully they sang. But not Brian Hardy. Brian I told, especially in my visits to him during the last months of his life in Trinity House, where he was so lovingly cared for, and where he so contentedly settled himself to play out the last scene of his long and generous life.

Brian Hardy was born in 1931 in Heanor, Derbyshire, where his father was Minister of Heanor Baptist Church. Though Brian became a member of the Anglican Church while at Oxford in the 1950s, his admiration for and devotion to his father never varied throughout his life, and it was probably from him that he inherited the gentle modesty that was such a marked aspect of his character.

After seven years at City Boys’ Grammar School in Leicester, Brian spent his two years National Service as a Sergeant in the Army Education Corps, where he served his time in Germany, and deepened his long love affair with the German Language and the German Lutheran Church. His love of Germany became an enduring attachment, and for the rest of his life he visited it regularly, usually getting there on his beloved long-distance bike. It was on his last visit to Germany that he was first struck down with the illness that killed him last month.

After National Service there came four years at St. John’s College, Oxford, where he studied French and German, as well as fitting in a Diploma in Theology, a hint of what was to come when he started training for the Ministry of the Church of England at Westcott House in Cambridge, where the Principal was Kenneth Carey, later to become Bishop of Edinburgh, and an important influence on Brian’s life.

Ordained in 1957, Brian served a curacy in Rugely, followed by four years as Chaplain of Downing College, Cambridge. It was from Cambridge in 1966 that Kenneth Carey, now installed in Edinburgh, lured him to pioneering work as a founding member of the Livingston New Town Ecumenical Ministry. Apart from four years in Telford New Town from 1974 to 1978, the rest of Brian’s life and ministry were spent here in Scotland.

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There were four years as Chaplain in Coates Hall, followed by nine years as Rector of St Columba’s-by-the-Castle. While he was at St Columba’s he also served as Dean of the Diocese from 1986 to 1991, and it was during this period that he performed a work of reconciliation that had a major international impact. After the fall of the Berlin Wall and the reunification of Germany in 1989, Brian was called upon to help the churches from East and West Germany heal their wounds and overcome their suspicion of each other. Here the combination of his capacity for listening, his knowledge of German theology, and his linguistic genius helped to heal one of the deepest wounds of the 20th Century. His last charge was in All Saints, St Andrews, from which he retired from full-time ministry in 1996, and returned to spend his last years in Edinburgh, bringing his much-travelled bicycle with him.

As well as being an outstanding linguist, a considerable theologian with a special interest in liturgy, and a dedicated and caring parish priest and counsellor, Brian Hardy was a gifted musician. A fine pianist and organist, he also possessed a pitch-perfect singing voice. In a more assertive personality, this constellation of talents might have been overwhelming to lesser mortals. In Brian Hardy it came packed into a personality so humble and kind, that it was easy to overlook what a formidably endowed human being he was.

Part of that modesty and self-effacement was an unwillingness to let his private life hang out for others to see. He was always the man for others, the given-away man. But who was he for himself? What were his sorrows and struggles? What did it cost him to be who he was?

It was only during my last conversation with him a few weeks ago that I got a glimpse into what it must have felt like to be him. He told me about the visit he had paid with other Westcott students to the Worker-Priest movement in France, not long after the end of the war. The Worker-priests were a radical movement of Roman Catholic clergy who got out of their robes and left their parishes to work in factories and on building-sites alongside the poor, who were increasingly alienated from the Church. It was a way of life that called for sacrifice and the surrender of self-interest in the name of a greater cause. Brian quoted one of the priests as saying to him that sacrifice was ‘part of the deal’, and he told me it was the moment he realised it would be part of his deal with God as well, the kind of life he had chosen to lead. He hinted that part of the deal was the single life, but more than the single life; it was a life of self-effacement in the service of others.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, another man who knew that sacrifice was part of his deal with Christ, described this as the Cost of Discipleship. As I listened to Brian, I

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got just a hint of what it had cost him to be the kind of disciple he had committed himself to be, and the deal he had struck. And I realised there was a core of spiritual steel in this humble, unassuming man. Serving us the way he did, had cost him; but it had all been part of the deal.

That is why I am now glad that I did not neglect to tell him how much we all loved him, and how beautifully his life had sung to us.

The Rt Revd Richard Holloway

DICK CARSON

A quiet presence has been missed at church in recent years. Dick, who died on 27 November, was a friendly but very private man. His modest manner hid an illustrious career as an Astrophysicist, during which he carried out important research in stellar opacity, structure and pulsation, areas requiring great mathematical skill. His abilities led to secondments at Aldermaston, Los Alamos and NASA. He was a quiet and lucid lecturer, befriended generations of research students and was a loyal colleague. He moved to a care home in Edinburgh three years ago but had been a member of the congregation at All Saints’ since the early 1960s. Many years ago, the Rector was taught by Dick and so was invited to officiate at his funeral on 13 December in Edinburgh, at which a niece of

his delivered this eulogy, written by one of his nephews, Michael Molyneaux.

Thomas Richard Carson was born on 7 October 1930 at The Point on Inishmore Island, Upper Lough Erne, Fermanagh. The second youngest of nine to Johnston & Rebecca Carson. From a very early age he displayed a quite brilliant academic ability, with a teacher at primary school exclaiming that there was nothing more she could teach him. He won a scholarship to Portora Royal School, Enniskillen, one of the first ‘public schools’ founded by Royal Charter in 1608 by King James, and the alma mater of the playwrights Oscar Wilde & Samuel Beckett. My late mum, Eunice, recalled Dick sitting in a room at home, on a hot summer’s day, curtains closed to keep out the distraction of sunlight as he studied. He excelled academically at Portora and participated fully in sporting and extra-curricular activities.

Dick studied Mathematics & Physics at Queen’s University, Belfast, graduating with a double first, and went on to complete a PhD, a document that he

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brought with him to the Elms Care Home, here in Edinburgh. In the mid 1950s, he worked at Aldermaston, long associated with nuclear power, and often talked about its mainframe computer which was reputedly the largest of its kind in the UK: a far cry from the laptop and iPad with which we are all familiar today. In 1960 he took up a lecturing position at St Andrews University, in Astronomy, and he spent his entire academic career there until retirement in 1995.

Dick never forgot his roots in Fermanagh. He kept in touch with family by phone, and wherever he travelled around the world, working with NASA, or delivering a paper at an international conference, you could be sure that a postcard would arrive. He welcomed family to St Andrews and we have wonderful memories of holidays spent there in the 1960s, travelling all around Scotland, to Dundee, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aviemore; these remain vivid in the memory. On a visit to St Andrews about 10 years ago we had a game of putting at the Old Course and, even in his late 70s as he was at that time, he was competitive and came from behind to win the game! And of course it should be remembered he was still playing tennis in his 70s and was the Secretary of his local club. On that same trip he took us on a tour of the University, and even in retirement he was passionate about it as a centre of learning, and regaled us with stories of regularly meeting up with former colleagues for coffee. He also spoke about writing to The Times newspaper and the former Prime Minister, Tony Blair, about issues that concerned him. It was also a memorable trip because we had lunch with Dick & Ursula at the Old Course and that was a particular joy.

The Carson family will remember Uncle Dick with great love and affection, as someone who positively embraced every opportunity that life gave him, and for whom learning, like the air we breathe, was an everyday necessity. When we were children he would often ask ‘What did you learn today at school?’ It was always a joy when he was able to attend the family reunions in Fermanagh, he really enjoyed catching up with everyone and what they were doing. Trips home would involve visits to the family graves, and the church where he had donated new doors in the early 1960s in memory of his mother and father. He always remained close to his siblings, and though in many ways he was a quiet, reserved, private man, he loved his family and was so very kind and generous.

On behalf of the Carson family in Northern Ireland and beyond, may I pay tribute to David and Hayley for the loving care and attention they gave Uncle Dick as his health declined. It was a great comfort to us that he was safe and secure in the Elms Care Home and that David and Hayley were close by to

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give him loving support. David arranged for his Dad to move here to Edinburgh to a specialised dementia home, and regularly sent photographs and updates on his condition. It was a joy to ring and talk to Uncle Dick before his condition deteriorated to a point where it was no longer possible to do that. He was very proud of David and delighted that he had found a wonderful partner in Hayley.

As a family we mourn the passing of Uncle Dick, and extend our heartfelt sympathy to David and Hayley on their loss. But I will leave the final word to the late Harold Montgomery, a neighbour and friend of the Carson family from childhood, someone who remembered my mum, Eunice, being born in 1929. At a family reunion he referred to Uncle Dick as ‘Dickie Carson, the wee boy from Fermanagh who helped put the man on the moon’. In a way it was an amusing and affectionate comment, but in a few words it demonstrated the respect, love and affection, and high esteem in which he was held by his contemporaries.

In his 90th year Uncle Dick has now passed to Glory. May he rest in peace. God bless!

STATISTICAL RETURNS

The Physicist, Lord Rutherford, once commented, ‘If your experiment needs a statistician, you need a better experiment.’ Sound advice!

At the start of each liturgical year, the incumbents of all charges in the Scottish Episcopal Church are required to send statistical information for collation by the Diocese and General Synod Office. For most charges, this is a moderately tiresome if not particularly complex task comprised of reviewing the Membership Roll and the service register for the year, even including estimates (with greater or lesser creativity) for the genders of those attending and receiving Communion on Advent Sunday.

For All Saints’, this takes a bit longer since we have so many services. Although it takes a couple of hours’ mental arithmetic (preferably with no disturbances) the results are fairly accurate and revealing. For while it is far from easy to keep written record of all the people who habitually attend All Saints’ - or who have done so in the past and still consider themselves members - the total number of those attending each Eucharist through the year is recorded at the

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end of each service. And here are the numbers of communicants each year in a chart.

Membership has remained fairly constant for the last five years, moving gently upwards between 230 and 250. But the significant increase in those receiving Communion is heartening and reflects my own awareness of being with more brothers and sisters in Christ each day in prayer; it’s very rare that I am alone now at either the daily Office or Mass.

We would expect a significant increase after a vacanct incumbency, when some weekday services had to be suspended; this movement would be amplified by the increase in the number of celebrations of Mass with the return of some weekday festivals, previously transferred to Sundays. However, the movement since those adjustments in 2016 shows, I believe, a growing awareness within the congregation of the benefit of coming to church to pray in the Offices and staying to receive Holy Communion - to be fed by hearing God’s word and being embraced by his sacramental presence that binds us within the communion of the saints.

Fr Alasdair

UPDATE FROM THE TREASURERDear All

It was a pleasure to see so many at the AGM when the accounts for the year were reported upon but if you were not there or would like a refresher of the key points from a detailed report this is a short summary.

The annual accounts have been independently examined with no matters of concern or recommendations resulting. They can now be viewed on the OSCR website if you enter our charity number SC013161

The management accounts for the year reflect the statutory accounts and are enclosed with this newsletter. They provide a detailed summary of the

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0

1,750

3,500

5,250

7,000

2015 2016 2017 2018 2019

many activities and work of so many for our Church as well as the generosity of so many in enabling us to not just maintain our Church but also to improve it.

The General fund reflected a surplus of £10,682 for the year which was achieved after incurring around £18,000 of expense resolving a dampness issue in Castle Wynd House and addressing matters in the HMO renewal. This result is not out of line with last year if the exceptional income of the Trust grant and national insurance repayment last year are excluded from the comparative.

The contract for the restoration was signed on 21st November with a start date of March 2nd and all external matters affecting the roofs, walls and windows of the Church, halls and Vestry block will be addressed. The work is schedules to take 20 weeks and the main contractor is Stuart Niven & Sons of St Andrews.

Details of the Heritage fund are provided in the management accounts but great thanks are due to all who helped with the fundraising at our various events and our monthly produce stalls. The fund enabled the restoration of the golden dossal now magnificently adorning the chapel and a new organist’s bench to be obtained. If all goes well with the restoration it is hoped to upgrade the church lighting and sound systems in 2020.

The Choral Scholarships fund supported three scholarships again this year and the fund has sufficient to meet three scholarships in 2020.

The Rectory Restoration fund will finally be concluded with the installation of a new log burner which those of you who have visited may already have appreciated.

The year ahead will be challenging as the cost of the restoration has risen to almost £232,000. Several grants and recovery of VAT await receipted invoices so there will be a pressure on cashflow as the work nears completion. If all goes well however our Church will be wind and weathertight. We can then aim to improve the internal condition commencing with light and sound and subsequently redecoration.After all of that, guess what? … Quinquennial review time again! Any volunteers for Fabric & Finance?

Ian Palfrey  

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CONTACTS

All Saints’ postal address is the Rectory. As well as the Rector, the Administrator, members of Vestry (Trustees) and the Director of Music can be contacted here:

All Saints’ Rectory, 39 North Street, St Andrews, KY16 9AQ

Rector:The Revd Canon Alasdair Coles 01334 473193

07729 [email protected]

The Rector’s normal day off is Tuesday - please kindly avoid calling if possible.

Church Wardens:Frances Spencer 07931 [email protected] Seenan 01334 [email protected]

Vestry Treasurer:Ian Palfrey 01334 [email protected]

Other Members of Vestry John Beaton, Donald Duval, Val Gardner, Alastair Graham, Euan Grant, Tig Lang, Becky Walker, Campbell Watterson.

Vestry Secretary & Admin Assistant:Sarah Moerman 07498 [email protected]@allsaints-standrews.org.uk

Honorary Assistant Clergy:The Revd Malcolm Aldcroft 01334 650264The Revd Canon David Day 01334 476991 The Revd Anne Haselhurst 01334 209068 The Revd Canon Dr Ian Michael 01334 473901The Revd Gareth Saunders 01333 451369

Director of Music:Andrew Macintosh 01382 668911 [email protected]@allsaints-standrews.org.uk

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Newsletter - All Saints' Church, St Andrews...God Jul | Wesołych Świąt | Счастливого...

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