The Parish Magazine - 2018 AD - St. Peters, Bexhill
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The
Parish
Mag azine
D E C E M B E R
2018 AD
BEXHILL PARISH TEAM
MINISTRY
1
WHO’s WHO
Clergy
Revd. David Reynish, Team Rector, St. Peter’s (217203)
Revd. Dcn. Olivia Werrett, Associate Vicar (214144)
Parish Children's and Families Worker Miss Janine Scothern (539167)
Hon. Assistant Clergy Revd. Keith Williams (734093)
Revd. Canon David Knight (212120)
Revd. Stephen Huggins (07926 569152)
Revd. Simon Earl (842179)
Church Services
Readers Miss Alison Marchant (216466)
Mr Paul Abnett (213816)
St. Peter’s
Parish church wardens Sunday
Miss Cathy Gillman (224996) 8.00am Holy Eucharist
Mrs Judith Hattam (730082) 9.45am Parish Eucharist
/Time For God
St. Peter’s Wardens Miss Cathy Gillman (224996) 6.00pm Choral Evensong
Mr Chris Miles (222407)
Weekday Eucharist
St. Michael’s Wardens Mrs Ruth Gregory (218328) 9.00am Monday and Tuesday
e-mail; rumibexhill@sky.com 10.00am Wednesday
St. Peter’s Director of Music Daily Evening Prayer 5.30pm
Mr Anthony Wilson (07729 206721)
St. Peter’s Verger Mrs Helen Cunliffe (844916) St. Michael’s
St. Peter’s Sexton Mr Ken Ellis (210086) Sunday
9.30am All Age Half Hour Service
St. Michael’s Sacristan (except 1st & 3rd Sunday)
10.30am Sung Eucharist
PCC Secretary Revd. Stephanie Prosser (213360) Family Communion (1st)
Family Service (3rd)
PCC Treasurer Mr Stephen Parry
Weekday Eucharist
Electoral Roll Officer Mrs Diane Meladio (07484 265960) 11.00am Wednesday
St. Peter’s Bell Ringers Mr Roy Cox (211473)
Mr Richard Kennard (213849)
St. Peter’s Stewardship Officer: Mr Anthony Wilson
St. Peter’s Community Centre Office Warden - Mrs Heidi Miles (219908)
St. Michael’s Community Centre Bookings - Mrs Judith Hattam (730082)
NO CALLS AFTER 8:30pm
Parish Minibus Enquiries Mr Chris Miles (222407)
Parish Office - Mrs Caroline Young - Rector’s Secretary
St. Peter’s Stables, Church Street, TN40 2HE
Open Monday, Wednesday and Friday (9:00am - 1:00pm) (734438)
2
ember
Dec2018
Contents Page
Pastoral Letter ............................................................................ 4-5
Jesus the Light of the World ....................................................... 6-7
Christmas Magic ......................................................................... 7
Mantegna and Bellini .................................................................. 8-10
Do you want to help? .................................................................. 10
Library Corner ............................................................................. 11
Hadrian’s Wall ............................................................................. 12-13
The Bidding Prayer ...................................................................... 14-17
The Nine Lessons and Carols Bidding Prayer ............................... 18
Christmas Fair 2018 .................................................................... 19
The Caring and Sharing Autumn Eucharist .................................. 20
Bexhill Foodbank ......................................................................... 21
The Story of ‘Silent Night, Holy Night’ ......................................... 22-23
Diocese of Chichester ................................................................. 24-25
He Came Down to Earth from Heaven ........................................ 26-27
Christian Aid - Be a Peacemaker for Christmas Aid ..................... 28-29
St Peter’s and St Michael’s - Advent and Christmas Services ..... 30-31
St Michael’s - Christmas Crafts Workshop .................................. 32
St Michael’s - Christmas Tree Festival ......................................... 33
Return Visit after 1,302 Years! .................................................... 34-36
Time For God ............................................................................... 37
Who’s in the Pews? ..................................................................... 38-41
After School Club ......................................................................... 41
2018 Year of Encouragement ..................................................... 42
The Green Spot ........................................................................... 43
Bexhill Choral Society .................................................................. 45
Parish Diary ................................................................................. 60
Don’t forget to check out our website for St Peter’s Website
www.stpetersbexhill.org.uk
Copy for next month’s magazine by
Tuesday 4th December
please email to parish.office@stpetersbexhill.org.uk
3
Pastoral Letter
As I carried the Saturday paper into the kitchen one of the supplements fell
out onto the table. It was entitled – Christmas Unwrapped (Your festive
season starts here). Well I knew straightaway it was a collection of adverts
for expensive ‘stuff’. Browsing through it, I found it difficult to see what
anything had to do with Christmas; except in the context of being a gift for
someone. There wasn’t a single thing which had any Christian or spiritual
characteristic. I suppose the adverts for Christmas Markets and cruises got
the closest.
This newspaper supplement set me looking back, rather than forward,
especially to my childhood. In financial terms I certainly didn’t come from
an affluent family, Christmas presents were very modest. I did however
come from a family who attended church at least once every Sunday – I
have to admit at that time I didn’t appreciate that. It was something we did,
part of my life. The one thing that my mother did excel at was providing a
feast for Christmas Day, which took the best part of the previous two days
to prepare; and I certainly wasn’t welcome in the kitchen! With all this
stress of getting food cooked it often meant that by Christmas Day my
mother was worn out and a touch prickly, which didn’t make for a joyous
and fun packed day; that is of course after we had been to church. Presents
weren’t opened until about 3 o’clock, not because of due deference to the
Queen’s broadcast, no because mother had to have here post dinner cuppa
beforehand.
I guess we all have our own childhood memories of Christmas and I wonder
if we had the time over again would we change any of it. Our experiences
are what form us and the importance is how we use those experiences, and
especially how we use them bring up our own off-springs. Our two sons
were brought up whilst I was still teaching, the youngest being 16 when I
was ordained. I sometimes wonder how different Christmas for them
would have been if they had been living in a Vicarage or Rectory.
For me most of the last 22 years December has revolved around a pro-
gramme of various special services starting on Advent Sunday leading up to
4
Christmas and onto Epiphany. The whole ‘family’ life revolved around what
I was doing in church, along with the familiar ‘it’s your busy time of the
year’; a remark which annoyed my late wife as it sounded as if I did nothing
else for the rest of the year.
So how are you getting on with your preparation for Christmas. Buying
presents, getting in extra food and drink, sending the usual volume of
Christmas cards etc.. One thing I hope you are all doing is giving yourselves
time to reflect on what Christmas is about. It’s so easy to lose focus on that
birth of a special baby. That gift which God sent to the world, a gift which
was to be rejected by many.
And as I see the shops full of merchandise to tempt us to buy I realise how
much Christmas has been taken over by consumerism. I think if only people
would realise that without the good news of the birth of our Saviour there
would be no celebration. If only more people would spend a few moments
– maybe an hour or so – acknowledging and thanking God for the birth of his
son. And let’s put Christ at the heart of this Christmas. However, whatever
you are doing this Christmas I pray that for you it will be enjoyable and
fulfilling.
Which just leaves me to wish you all, once more, a very Happy Christmas to
be followed hopefully by a prosperous New Year.
Simon Earl
5
JESUS THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD
The brown bear uses a tactic when seeking to prey upon its unsuspecting
victims. When out to catch fish in a river the brown bear will lope its
heavy body into the river and stir up the mud from the river bed thus
clouding the waters and confusing fish, and in their loss of direction the
bear takes full advantage of the situation and has an easy meal.
The times we live in now are getting
darker, the waters of the spirit of the
age we live in, are muddy and clouded
and many people are losing hope and a
sense of direction.
Jesus told a parable of the seed and the
sower. “Some seed” He said, “fell
among thorns which grew up with it
and choked the plants”.
Jesus explains to the disciples that the thorns stand for those who hear
but go on their way and are choked by life’s worries, riches and pleas-
ures and do not mature.
How does this equate with the bear and muddy waters?
Similarly, the devil will use tactics to cloud over true direction, anything
to draw us away from the light, to get us confused and worried.
“WALK IN THE LIGHT WHILE YOU HAVE THE LIGHT”
How may we escape the encroaching darkness, the dark news that is
constantly and subtly fed to us?
In his letter to the Ephesians, Paul says “Everything exposed to the light
becomes visible for it is light that makes everything visible” (Familiarise
6
yourself with the devil’s tactics and expose them “That is why it is said
“Wake up, O sleeper, rise from the dead and Christ will shine on you”.
Be very careful then, how you live, not as unwise but as wise, making the
most of every opportunity because the days are evil. Do not get drunk
with wine which leads to debauchery instead be filled with the Spirit.
Speak to one another with Psalms, hymns and spiritual songs and make
music in your heart to the Lord always giving thanks to God the Father
for everything in the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ
“HE IS THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD”
Marilyn Dougan
Christian Voices - December 9th 7.30pm
Christian Voices will be performing their Christmas Play in
Church. There is a warm welcome for everyone - It will be good
to see you there.
Christmas Magic
Graham Nunn is a Church Army Captain and a Magician. He was
Youth Worker in the Parish and Bexhill Youth Centre some years ago,
and will be speaking at the St Michael's Family Service, 10.30am, Dec
16th. Please bring any children you know, or just come and enjoy the
informal service yourself!
There will be coffee after the service and a bring and share lunch at
12 noon, for all, whether you remember Graham or not; to hear
about his continuing work with Church Army. An indication of num-
bers for the lunch, would be very helpful, please; to Alison: 216466.
7
MANTEGNA and BELLINI
One of the best exhibitions that I have seen in many a long year is
currently shewing at the National Gallery. Mantegna and Bellini is an
absolutely stunning display of the works of two great artists from 15th
century Italy. Bellini was born into a noble Venetian family; Mantegna’s
birth was humbler in that he was the son of a carpenter from the
outskirts of Padua. Until I visited the exhibition at the beginning of
October I had not realised that the two artists were related by marriage
in that Andrea Mantegna married Giovanni Bellini’s sister Nicolosia in
1453!
Following my viewing of this great exhibition my knowledge of the two
Italian artists has increased considerably. Prior to the visit I would have
brought to mind the two paintings they each executed of The Agony in
the Garden – but I shall save a consideration of these two great paintings
until the spring of next year but the fact that they both painted the same
Biblical scene is not without significance for, one thing that I noticed was
that they constantly both painted the same subject and often these two
representations of the same gospel story are placed in the exhibition
side by side so that one can compare and contrast the two. This remind-
ed me of nothing more than the song “Anything you can do, I can do
better, I can do anything better than you” (I recall singing this song as a
duet with Joyce Brown in a parish concert when I was Rector of Iver
Heath in Buckinghamshire – perhaps not quite up to the same standard
as Betty Hutton and Howard Keel but enjoyable, none the less).
So, the exhibition contains not only two representations of The Agony in
the Garden but two depictions of The Madonna and Child, two versions
of Saint Jerome, two portrayals of The Presentation in the Temple and
so on. In both representations of The Presentation to Simeon in the
Jerusalem Temple the Christ Child is bound in swaddling cloths as he is
presented to the aged Simeon. A foretaste of that which is to come
when the body of the adult Christ will be covered with linen cloths and
placed in the tomb in the garden of Joseph of Arimathea. In contrast to
8
this the artists when painting the Madonna and Child shew the Infant
Jesus completely naked fast asleep on Mary’s lap. The sleeping infant
Lord looks almost dead, again this anticipates the moment when Christ’s
full-grown body will again be laid across His mother’s lap following the
deposition from the cross. In Mantegna’s Madonna of the Meadow
(1500-5) there is a black bird perched ominously in a bare tree offering
a sinister undertone as to what will happen to this child who was born
to die in 30 years’ time! I was interested to see that Mantegna’s Crucifix-
ion (1456-9) with its wonderful perspective and attention to architectur-
al detail originally formed part of the reredos in St. Zeno’s church in
Verona, which I wrote about in last month’s edition of the parish maga-
zine. In several versions of the Madonna and Child the Lord’s little willie
is plain for all to see and is purposely on prominent display in order to
shew us that as well as being divine Jesus was also fully human. There is
a massive painting of Bellini’s The Drunkenness of Noah (1515) where
his three sons Ham, Shem and Japhet cover their father’s nakedness as
he lies inebriated and unconscious in the vineyard. Two of the sons look
away in embarrassment but the middle son seems to be having a fit of
the giggles!
As it is Advent and Christmas I want to conclude this article by referring
to Mantegna’s The Adoration of the Shepherds (1450-2) a representa-
tion of which you will see on the cover of this magazine. Amazingly
Mantegna painted this delightful scene when he was only 20 years of
age. The contrast between the attire of the shepherds and that of Mary
and Joseph is quite stark. The Blessed Virgin Mary is traditionally
dressed in red and blue and Joseph is adorned in red and a strikingly
bright yellow cloak. Joseph sleeps while Mary looks on tenderly at her
new-born son. The shepherds approach with an air of obeisance, almost
genuflecting before the Christ Child. They have removed their hats as a
sign of respect. The shepherd in the foreground has an almost contem-
porary look as he appears to be wearing what I believe are called
distressed jeans with large holes in the knees the kind of thing young
people pay a fortune to acquire nowadays. I adore this painting and
almost feel like one of the shepherds myself as I gaze upon its beauty.
9
The only thing I find disconcerting is the presence of the cherubim and
seraphim hovering over Mary’s head and above the infant Lord but I
suppose that the artist placed them there to shew the moment when
“the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth” ,
when heaven and earth are united as one at that highly significant
instant at Bethlehem, the city of David.
The interaction of the viewer with the viewed in this magnificent exhibi-
tion is intense and very much a spiritual experience. There is one further
painting I would like to mention in conclusion and that is an altarpiece
of the Virgin and Child with the Magdalene and John the Baptist which
is known as a sacra conversazione – a holy conversation. So, I would
encourage you to meditate upon the image of the Nativity on the front
of this magazine and in your contemplation and holy conversation may
the true meaning of Christmas take root in your heart.
NATIVITY BLESSINGS,
FATHER DAVID
DO YOU WANT TO HELP?
Do you want to know more and help with St Peter’s and St Michael’s
churches working more closely in the spiritual and outreach life of
the two churches?
Then come to an Open PCC Meeting on Wednesday 29 November
2018 at 7.00 p.m., at St Michael’s Small Hall.
This is in response to a meeting held in the spring when representa-
tives from St Michael’s and St Peter’s came together to discuss
‘growth’, ‘mission’ and ‘collaborative working together’.
Please ask the Clergy or Churchwardens if you want to know more.
So DO come to this open meeting and learn more and have your say
in the future of our two churches.
10Library Corner
For this month’s Library Corner I have chosen to look at four of our Advent
books. You might like to borrow one of these or one of the others on our
shelves at the back of the North Aisle to aid your spiritual reflection on the run
up to Christmas. These books agree that Advent and Christmas are one of the
most joyful as well as one of the most stressful times.
“Christmas is Coming” by Stephen Cottrell consists of humorous daily conversa-
tions about the stress of preparation plus a ‘to do’ list which is sometimes
practical and sometimes about recharging your spiritual batteries. The content
is gentle, thought provoking and not at all heavy. It is ideal for those who do
not need extra Bible reading and meditation but a voice of sanity when stress
levels are rising.
“Venite Adoremus” gives daily reflections with a short Bible quotation and a
prayer. It is concise and concerned with the real meaning of ‘repentance’ as in
a change of character. It aims to encourage one to grow more Christ like and
invites one to come and adore God. This book is in the catholic tradition.
“All Things New” by Gerald O’Collins is based around Isaiah 43:18-19 “Do not
remember the former things, or consider the things of old. I am about to do a
new thing.” Every season is unique and an opportunity for allowing God to
make a new person of us and teach us new spiritual truths. The book is divided
into chapters and has three sections, one each on Advent, Christmas and the
New Year. Its objective is to help the reader experience the seasons more vividly.
“Pilgrims to the Manger” by Naomi Starkey is a Bible Reading Fellowship book
of daily readings with reflections and celebrates the generosity and joy of the
adult Jesus. It reflects on a range of issues while encouraging one to imagine
being on a pilgrimage from the shopping mall to the cathedral. I found this
book very readable and informative. It is well balanced and appeals to head
and heart.
Happy Advent and Happy Reading
Debbie Beecher
11HADRIAN’S WALL
When I was Vicar of Thursby in Cumbria, just south of Carlisle Friday Days
Off were often spent visiting Hadrian’s Wall which was in easy reach of
my parish. It is an amazing structure and stretches for seventy-four miles
from Wallsend on the River Tyne in the East to the Solway Firth in the
West. Build in 122 A D by order of the new emperor Hadrian, who
originally hailed from Spain, near to the great city of Seville. If you really
want to see the Roman Wall at its best, then go to the central section
where you find settlements with romantic names such as Once Brewed
and Twice Brewed. There just to the south of the wall is Hexham Abbey
(one of St. Wilfrid’s churches, along with Ripon in North Yorkshire). In
the Abbey there is a splendid equestrian statue of a mounted Roman
centurion with a naked ancient Briton cowering under the hooves of the
horse. There’s a similar statue in Colchester Castle Museum in Essex.
Both statues have the same message – we, the Romans are in charge
now, so don’t mess with us! The artist Winifred Nicholson used to live
cheek by jowl with the wall near Lanercost, I love her paintings, there’s
something deeply spiritual about them. One of my former parishioners –
Mrs. Barbara Day used to own a couple of her paintings and was friendly
with the artist. So, like a giant snake the wall travels through Northum-
berland and Cumbria “Over hill, over dale, thorough bush, thorough
brier’, as the quotation from Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s
Dream has it.
Yet of all the romantically named places within the vicinity of the wall
none surely can beat the name of Vindolanda. I recall stopping off there
once while on a journey to visit my parents in County Durham. It was
January and very cold, if memory serves me well there was a light
covering of snow and I virtually had the place to myself. I was sorry to
read an obituary in October reporting the death of Robin Birley the
archaeologist who spent much of his life excavating the site at Vindolan-
da, Rome’s most northerly outpost There he unearthed a whole series
of letters written by Roman soldiers and their families. The scripts were
written on thin pieces of wood and it is a miracle that they survived for
122000 years. These letters give a fascinating insight into life in Roman
Britain, they often refer to commonplace everyday things – like an
Invitation to a Birthday Party or a soldier writing to his mother asking her
to send more socks and underwear or this from a Commanding Officer
“My fellow soldiers have no beer. Please order some to be sent”. This was
a letter written shortly after the time of Christ when the embryonic
Christian religion was just getting underway and was being severely
persecuted.
At the moment I am being entertained and educated by the writings of
Charlotte Higgins. I first came across her work when I discovered her
book on Labyrinths and Mazes and then moved onto her book “Under
Another Sky – Journeys in Roman Britain”. In the chapter on Hadrian’s
Wall there is a poem by W H Auden which was set to music by Benjamin
Britten, I shall conclude this short article with Auden’s words –
ROMAN WALL BLUES
Over the heather the wet wind blows
I’ve lice in my tunic and a cold in my nose
The rain comes pattering out of the sky
I’m a Wall soldier; I don’t know why
The mIst sweeps over the hard grey stone
My girl’s in Tungria; I sleep all alone.
Aulus goes hanging around her place
I don’t like his manners; I don’t like his face.
Piso’s a Christian; he worships a fish;
There’d be no kissing if he had his wish.
She gave me a ring but I diced it away;
I want my girl and I want my pay.
When I’m a veteran with only one eye
I shall do nothing but gaze at the sky.
Pater Davidis
13The Bidding Prayer
At the Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols
The famous Bidding Prayer at the Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols was
written for King’s College Cambridge by Dean Eric Milner-White in 1918;
exactly one hundred years ago. Throughout the last century it has been
used extensively in what must be millions of Carol Services all around
the world.
As it starts, the Bidding Prayer presents us with a great journey. It invites
us in heart and mind to go even to Bethlehem, and see this thing which
is come to pass.
The words are a bit indirect here - what
is this 'thing'? We begin to ponder,
wonder, even, and then … we hear the
simple phrase that puts the correct
picture in our minds– the Babe lying in
a manger.
That’s quite a phrase. Lying in a manger – lying in a feeding trough, with
scratchy hay and the various attendant insects. Sometimes people re-
write this bit and have the baby in its mother's arms. But the Babe in a
manger suggests a more rustic image of incarnation. It invites us to
believe that God didn’t come to earth in human form in order to experi-
ence cosiness, but the blunt reality of life as experienced by the poor
and vulnerable.
The prayer then goes on to say that we are going to read the Bible. And
that’s at the very core of the service. It is nine Lessons and, well, as many
or as few carols as you like. So, let us “read and mark in Holy Scripture”
Here Dean Milner-White is alluding to the Prayer Book collect for the
Second Sunday of Advent, which says that we should not only read and
14mark but also ‘learn’ and ‘inwardly digest’. But what is it that we must
thus absorb? Well, it is nothing other than the loving purposes of God.
Note this is not, 'the purposes of God'. Milner-White would not have
understood what you meant if you insisted on talking about a ‘purpose-
driven church’ or ‘purpose-driven life’ or whatever. Purpose itself is
morally and spiritually neutral; there are all sorts of purposes, some
good and many bad. But loving purposes - now we are talking! And
although the sequence of readings is dominated by Genesis Chapter
three, and the story of the Fall, Milner-White is not inclined to see this
beautifully crafted act of worship as a place for the miserable religion
that sometimes follows from a limited understanding of parts of that
passage. On the contrary, he bids worshippers make the seasonal serv-
ice glad with carols of praise.
And, of course, we look forward to doing just that, not only as we listen
to the sweet singing of the Choir but also with the great traditional
congregational carols.
But we must not rush on too quickly. First, we must pray. In three great
and sonorous paragraphs the Bidding Prayer sets out an agenda for
prayer. First, “for the needs of his whole world”. Surprisingly, perhaps,
he then keeps us close to home, praying for our nation, diocese and
locality. We might think it better to pray for others - but true prayer
often begins close to home, or even at home. Why? Because true prayer
is connected to love. You might even say that the only truly worthy
prayer is a loving prayer; just as the only worthy purpose is a loving
purpose.
The next paragraph is interesting to me because it begins and ends with
a reference to God's heart. At the beginning we hear that “this of all
things would rejoice his heart” and at the end, we are reminded of those
“who by sin have grieved his heart of love”. The paragraph is about the
poor and vulnerable, including those who, like most of us, suffer from
15self-inflicted wounds. Milner-White settles in this long litany on those
whom Jesus in the first Beatitude called the poor in spirit.
We might well note that Milner-White is comfortable about naming sin.
But in this prayer sin is not transgression, the breaking of rules, so much
as failure to love. God doesn’t grieve because we misbehave. God
grieves when we try to live without love.
Then we come to the words that of all those in this Bidding are the most
resonant and well-remembered:
“Lastly, let us remember before God all those who rejoice with us, but
upon another shore and in a greater light, that multitude which no man
can number”
Now, the very first Festival of Nine Lesson and Carols took place at King’s
College Chapel a century ago in 1918 when the College had been almost
destroyed by the loss of so many of its
members during the carnage and chaos
of the First World War. The “multitude
which no man can number” is not an
abstraction, but an evocation of the
slaughter of the innocents on the bat-
tlefields of Europe. Who would have
known in 1918 that the multitude
would have been multiplied so many
times in the violence that has erupted so often since then?
And then, after all this, the poetry of the Bidding Prayer itself melts into
the background as it invites us to offer all this not in our own words, but
in the words “which Christ himself hath taught us”.
The congregation devoutly recites “Our Father, which art in heaven”,
and, as the service is broadcast across the world millions join in whether
with their lips or in the silence of their hearts. And for a moment, a
16multitude which no one can begin to number, appreciates once again
that it was to share in our suffering, as well as to save us from our folly,
that the Word became flesh and dwelt among us; and that as we behold
his glory, a flickering light in the otherwise pervasive darkness, we are
drawn to the eternally loving purposes of God, and we are made glad as
the ancient story of Christmas unfolds once more.
CHRISTMAS BLESSINGS,
FATHER DAVID
Nativity photo of Mark &
Natalie with baby George
from last year’s Living Crib
Warming Up The Homeless Charity No:- 1180417
Hastings St Leonards on Sea Bexhill on Sea Eastbourne
We are a local charity distributing in the evenings to the homeless - clothes, sleeping bags, food and drink.
A Collection Box is in St Peter’s Community Centre. For more details on what and how you can
donate/what we do/how to become involved, please see the contact details below:-
Collections:- Queensbury House Havelock Road Hastings TN34 1BP
Email:- enquiries@warmingupthehomeless.org.uk
Website:- https://www.warmingupthehomeless.org.uk
Facebook:- https://m.facebook.com.warmingupthehomless
We couldn’t do this without you - Thank you so very much
17THE NINE LESSONS AND CAROLS BIDDING PRAYER
Beloved in Christ, be it this Christmastide our care and delight to prepare
ourselves to hear again the message of the angels, and in heart and
mind to go even unto Bethlehem and see this thing which is come to
pass, and the Babe lying in a manger.
Therefore, let us read and mark in Holy Scripture the tale of the loving
purposes of God from the first days of our disobedience unto the glori-
ous Redemption brought us by this Holy Child: and let us make this
ancient Parish Church, dedicated to St. Peter, Prince among the Apostles,
glad with our carols of praise.
But first, let us pray for the needs of the whole world; for peace on
earth; for love and unity within the one Church he came to build; and for
respect and goodwill among all his people and especially in this town of
Bexhill-on-Sea and diocese of Chichester, and this county of East Sussex.
And because this of all things would rejoice his heart, let us remember,
in his name, the poor and helpless, the cold, the hungry, and the op-
pressed; the sick and them that mourn, the lonely and the unloved, the
aged and the little children; all those who know not the Lord Jesus, or
who love him not, or who by sin have grieved his heart of love. Lastly, let
us remember before God all those who rejoice with us, but upon anoth-
er shore, and in a greater light, that multitude which no one can number,
whose hope was in the Word made flesh, and with whom, in this Lord
Jesus, we for evermore are one.
These prayers and praises let us humbly offer up to the Throne of
Heaven, in the words which Christ himself has taught us:
Our Father……
18Christmas Fair 2018
Dec 8th 10.30am - 3.30pm
Dec 9th 11am – 2pm
In conjunction with the
Bexhill Old Town Preservation Society
Craft fair, table sale and stalls, raffle, book sale,
children’s activities, concert, Craft demonstrations,
refreshments and more.
You can still offer your help for the weekend’s events
by contacting Ruth Elias
(ruth_elias@hotmail.com or phone 211176)
19The Caring and Sharing Autumn Eucharist
The Caring and Sharing Autumn Eucharist was held at the church of St Saviour and
St Peter, Eastbourne in early October. The service was taken by Bishop Nicholas
Reade, the patron of the group, and the speaker was Laurence Parkes tom Hamlin
Fistula UK.
Laurence outlined a few details about Ethiopia; it has one of the earliest Christian
communities dating from the 4th century. The population is about 90 million, most
of whom live in poverty. There are only 7,000 midwives and 250
gynaecologists/obstetricians in the whole country.
Obstetric fistulas occur when mothers, often with poorly formed pelvises due to
childhood malnutrition, have unassisted difficult births. This leaves the women
with permanent incontinence. Due to the offensive nature of the condition the
women become outcasts from their society and their families. In Europe the
condition is virtually unknown nowadays, since the advent of midwifery and
readily available caesarians in the 19th century.
In 1974 Dr’s Reg and Catherine Hamlin came to Ethiopia and, seeing the plight of
these unfortunate women, set up the hospital to provide surgery to cure affected
women. Over the years many patients have been relieved of this distressing
affliction and, in 2007, Dr Catherine Hamlin (by now a widow) set up a college of
midwives to train more people to help in rural communities. She also set up five
regional centres of the Hamlin Fistula Hospital. Surgery is perform by volunteer
surgeons from developed counties who come for varying periods of work.
After surgery, and for those women for whom surgery has not been wholly success-
ful, there is Desta Mender. This is a farm and training facility situated near to Addis
Ababa which was given to the hospital by the Ethiopian government. Here recover-
ing and long term patients receive medical care and learn new skills to enable
them to return to society.
Caring and Sharing is a small Sussex based charity run through local churches. It
supports about fifteen varied projects throughout the developing world. If you
would like to know more about it please contact me on stephenthevet@gmail.com
or on 01424 732100. If you would like to donate please put your donation in a
clearly labelled envelope in the Sunday collection (with your name and address if
you wish us to collect gift aid).
Last year St Peter’s contributed over £6,000.
2021
The Story of 'Silent Night, Holy Night'
The Christmas Carol 'Silent Night' is very familiar. We will be celebrating
its 200 t h anniversary on December 24th 2018. The story of how the
carol came into being is less familiar.
It all started about ten miles north of Salzburg. Josef Mohr was only 24
but already a parish priest in several village churches. He was from a
very poor background, but he had a gift for writing and it was while he
was at the tiny church at Mariapharr at Christmas-time 1816 that he was
inspired to write a poem which became the words for 'Stille Nacht,
Heilige Nacht.'
Josef Mohr wrote the text 2 years earlier. Franz Gruber wrote the melody.
The schoolmaster Franz Gruber in the village of Oberndorf, also took on
the responsibility of organist and choirmaster at St Nicholas Church. On
Christmas Eve 1818, Josef Mohr had a problem;the church organ had
broken down! Josef Mohr showed Franz Gruber the poem he had
written in 1816 and asked Gruber to set the poem to music that didn't
need an organ, so Franz Gruber produced a simple melody with guitar
arrangement for the poem. Amazingly, the beautiful words were set to
music in just one day and the two men sang 'Stille Nacht' for the first
time at the Midnight Mass 1818 in St Nicholas Church, Oberndorf, while
Josef Mohr played guitar and the choir repeated the last two lines of each
Verse.
22'Silent Night, Holy Night'is by far on the
most beloved Carols in the world. It has
been translated into over 150 languag-
es. Its simple words and soft melody
touch our hearts which allows the mes-
sage of God's love through His gift of
Jesus His Son to reach into our lives.
The church at Oberndorf (a replica of the
original) where 'Stille Nacht, Heilige
Nacht' was first performed.
Eileen Ince
TFG
Faith ~ Fellowship ~ Friendship
In the Community Centre every Sunday at 9:45
Look Out For ~
1st Sunday of each Month
~ Family Worship ~
Bring all the family and add Fun to the 3 F’s!
23One of the aspects of Narnia, in C S Lewis’s novel, The Lion, the Witch
and the Wardrobe, is that it is always winter and never Christmas.
We get quite excited about the arrival of winter if it brings snow at just
the right time for enjoyment – sledging, making a snowman, snowball-
ing.
But in Narnia, seasons are suspended in the grip of a ferocious frost.
Silence is a pervading atmosphere in Narnia as it is in today’s world
where justice is denied to prisoners of conscience, and the needs of
women, children, the elderly and vulnerable are ignored.
Silence is the refuge of the deceitful, just as it can be the medium of
corporate grief and respect for our dead. It is the symbol of our sin and
our mortality.
One of the hallmarks of Christmas, however, is that the silence is broken.
It is broken by the cry of a new-born child drawing breath and needing
food – Jesus Christ, one with us. It is also broken by the song of the
angels who announce his birth to people of goodwill.
Music can plant a song in our minds, letting it inspire us, as one of God’s
gifts to us. But we can take music for granted, and too rarely appreciate
the skills and contribution of those who are our music-makers.
This Christmas, as we sing our carols, let us be grateful for musicians, as
they help us to be mindful of the silent places in our world and closer to
home, where the good news of peace and hope and justice has not yet
penetrated.
24Those who are frozen in silent poverty and despair, await more than a
seasonal hand-out. They look for a melting of hearts and minds that will
bring social and material release and encourage them to join the angel
song of peace that we are still trying to learn.
Bishop Martin
A big thank you to everyone who came along and supported
the Barn Dance - Caroline Cox, St Peter’s Church Army Rep.
25HE CAME DOWN TO EARTH FROM HEAVEN
John 1:1-12
Christmas is, of course, an enduringly popular festival. A recent poll in
England suggests that a very large percentage of the population will
attend a Christmas service of some sort and many more, of course, will sit
down to a festive meal and exchange presents. This is not the time to get
cynical about the commercial elements of all this. It’s not that I don’t think
there’s an issue to be addressed, but it seems to me that every level of our
celebrations captures something very close to the spiritual heart of Christ-
mas. There is an abundance, a generosity, and basic accessibility of the
Christmas message: God is with us, God is for us, God, comes into the
most ordinary human situations. God is child, God is near, God’s very
being is love. It is in the human spirit to celebrate, both ritually and
spontaneously, and what better occasion than Christmas so to do. We
give gifts to remind us of the greatest Gift, we feast in celebration of the
birth of hope and we do what we can to bridge our gaps and bury grudges.
Even in these strapped for cash recessionary days with an enormous
national debt there is a pretty sound case to be made for a bit of excess,
during this season of goodwill to all - so that we too may reflect something
of that uncontainable, magnanimous heart of the Creator.
And yet, in the midst of this celebrating comes a strange, awkward note;
not the predictable note of the humbug merchants and party-poopers,
but a rather different note of surprising sadness and rejection. In the
Christmas Gospel from St. John’s prologue, we hear ‘He came unto his
own, and his own received him not’. Alongside the public, up-front, open-
to-all – character of Christmas, we must also recognise a hidden, unfath-
omable and fragile character to the feast. So, what is the reason for the
rejection and hiddenness we see in the gospel accounts of the incarna-
tion? What earthly reason could there be for rejection such abundant,
tender generosity? What earthly preoccupation could possibly bury the
clear message of peace and reconciliation?
Well, let me venture a suggestion. Might it be that the generosity itself is
threatening to some? Might there be, deep within us, a reluctance to see
26Christmas as good news for all if the ‘all’ includes our enemy or the one
who has wounded us? Might it be that the vulnerable openness of God is
just too dangerous? To look on the child in the manger is to look upon
something very beautiful and very powerful. It is to look on the irresistible
attractiveness of our fragile shared humanity. It is to find ourselves
thrown into a mystical connection with all that lives and loves and
breathes and dies.
Sometimes that vision feels threatening because it can undermine our
sense of solid independence. Quite understandably, we want to feel
separate from all that seems vulnerable and weak, we want to put dis-
tance between us and our mortality. And yet, the Word made flesh
inhabits that mortality and graces that vulnerability. So do not fear: the
darkness cannot, ultimately, overcome that light. Do not fear the hidden-
ness, the vulnerability of God’s coming, for in it is the very gift of life itself.
‘But to all who received him he gave power to become children of God.’ If
we embrace the radical openness of God’s welcome to us in the Christ-
Child, we may find that things take on a different light. Our future is not
under threat from our enemy, but from our isolation from our enemy. Our
security is not compromised by our open doors, but by the battlements.
And our humanity is not jeopardised by our dependence on one another,
but by our self-centredness.
There is, in all love stories, a sadness born of risk. God risks all to be among
us in love, and if crazy, generous love is sometimes rejected, it will always
come back with the same offer: Open your heart! Know that, if you
become my child you will be the inheritor of very many brothers and
sisters. They need you, and you need them, and among them, you will find
one little brother who will give you much cause for celebration. In his light,
all your darkness will lose its menace, in his house, there is room for
everyone this Christmas.
CHRISTMAS BLESSINGS,
Father David
27Be a peacemaker for Christmas Aid
At Christmas time, we celebrate the birth of Jesus, given to bring hope,
love, peace and justice to a broken world. We get the chance to spend
time with our loved ones celebrating the Prince of Peace, but for mil-
lions of people this Christmas, peace seems like an impossible dream.
Violence and conflict remains the norm for many across the globe, from
South Sudan to Colombia. In 2016, more countries experienced violent
conflict than at any time in nearly 30 years. If current trends persist, by
2030 more than half of the world’s poorest people will be living in
countries affected by high levels of violence.
But while peace is broken every day, it is also built every day through the
tireless work of peacemakers. This Christmas, Christian Aid is calling for
you to stand together with peacemakers around the world who are
working tirelessly to bring hope to seemingly hopeless situations.
In South Sudan, Bishop Paride Taban is relentless in working for peace in
his country where millions of citizens are suffering from hunger caused
by years of civil war. Now in his eighties, he believes that peace is
something you practice and every day he repeats 28 words and phrases
for peace: love, joy, peace, patience, compassion, sympathy, kindness,
truthfulness, gentleness, self-control, humility, poverty, forgiveness,
mercy, friendship, trust, unity, purity, faith, hope. I love you, I miss you,
I thank you, I forgive, we forget, together, I am wrong, I am sorry. He
says, ‘If all put these 28 words into their hearts, and every day they
repeat them, there will be no war in South Sudan, there will be perma-
nent peace in South Sudan.’
Elsewhere in the shadow of violence and conflict, Diana Abbas sows the
seeds of peace through counselling and therapy. She is the only psychol-
ogist at a children’s centre run by Association Najdeh, Christian Aid’s
partner in Lebanon. Through psychotherapy, literacy classes and art
28therapy, the centre gives young Palestinian refugees the chance to
overcome the violence they have witnessed. Thanks to Diana and others
at the centre, more children can find peace.
Now more than ever, we need peace. With your support, peace is
possible this Christmas. Matthew 5:9 shows the blessings lie within
peacemaking – in this world it is up to us to do what we can in our daily
lives to help frontline peacemakers like Diana and Bishop Paride.
You can be a peacemaker with your donation to Christmas Aid – an
appeal to raise vital funds for Christian Aid’s work.
It costs just £10 to pay for three young women to attend a community
dialogue event that will help them learn about effective ways of reduc-
ing crime. £130 could pay for a psychologist to provide one week’s
worth of counselling and therapy to young refugees in Lebanon.
Will you stand with the peacemakers this Christmas?
You can make a donation by visiting caid.org.uk/christmas-appeal or
calling 0845 700 0300.
Christian Aid envelopes will be in the pews at St Peter’s at
every service over the Christmas period. Please leave
filled envelopes in the basket at the back of church.
Please Gift Aid your donation if you are a UK taxpayer.
29Advent, Christmas, New Year & Epiphany at St Peter’s
Sunday 2ⁿ� December - Advent Sunday
6.00 pm Advent Procession with Carols
Saturday 8�� December
10.30 am to 3.30 pm St Peters Christmas Fair
10.45 am Christmas Coffee Concert
4.00 pm Carols at the Manor Barn
Sunday 9�� December - The Second Sunday in Advent
9.45 am Fr Keith Williams celebrates his Ruby
Anniversary of priesting. Congratulations on 40
years in the priesthood
11.00 am to 2.00pm St Peter’s Christmas Fair
5.00 pm Festival of St. Lucia & Christingle
7.30 pm Christian Voices Christmas Production
Sunday 16�� December - The Third Sunday in Advent
10.30 am Nativity for All @ TFG
6.00 pm Carols for All
Sunday 23�� December - The Fourth Sunday in Advent
6.00 pm Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols
Monday 24�� December - Christmas Eve
4.00 pm Crib Service “Let’s all go Christmas Crackers”
11.30 pm Midnight Mass of the Nativity
Tuesday 25�� December - Christmas Day
8.00 am Christmas Morning Communion
10.00 am Christmas Morning Family Eucharist
Monday 31�� December - New Years Eve
11.45 pm Watchnight Service to see in the New Year, with
the ringing of the St Peter’s bells welcoming
2019 and refreshments
Sunday 6�� January - The First Sunday of Epiphany
8.00 am Epiphany Communion
9.45 am Epiphany Eucharist
NEW FOR 2019
Friday 25�� & Saturday 26�� January
Pantomime The Nativity
30Advent, Christmas & Epiphany at St Michael’s
Saturday 1�� December
10.00 am - 12.00 pm Children’s Christmas Crafts
Sunday 2ⁿ� December - Advent Sunday
10.30 am Family Communion
3.00 pm A Service to Welcome St Nicholas to Bexhill
Sunday 9�� December - The Second Sunday in Advent
9.30 am All Age God’s Half Hour Service
10.30 am Sung Eucharist
3.00 pm Carols for All (refreshments served after)
Sunday 16�� December - The Third Sunday in Advent
10.30 am Family Service - Church Army speaker
Monday 17�� December
10.00 am Pebsham School Carol Service
Wednesday 19�� December
10.00 am Glyne Gap School Carol Service
12.00 pm Said Eucharist
Sunday 23�� December - The Fourth Sunday in Advent
10.30 am Sung Eucharist
5.00 pm Crib and Christingle Service
Monday 24�� December - Christmas Eve
9.00 pm First Eucharist of Christmas
Tuesday 25�� December - Christmas Day
Church closed, we will celebrating at St Peter’s Church
Sunday 30�� December - The First Sunday of Epiphany
9.30 am All Age God’s Half Hour Service
10.30 am Sund Eucharist
3132
Saturday 1st December to Friday 7th December
Saturday 1st December 10.00 am - 5.00 pm
Sunday 2nd December 12.00 pm - 5.00 pm
at 3.00pm A Service for St Nicholas
Monday 3rd December 10.30 am - 5.00 pm
Tuesday 4th December 10.30 am - 5.00 pm
Wednesday 5th December 12.00 am - 5.00 pm
Thursday 6th December 10.30 am - 5.00 pm
Friday 7th December 10.30 am - 5.00 pm
7.00 pm - 9.00 pm with Mulled Wine and Mince Pies
Tea & coffee served all day
Light lunches - Saturday and Sunday 12.00 pm - 2.00 pm
www.stmichaelsbexhill.org
33
Visit: www.christmastreefestivals.orgReturn Visit after 1,302 Years!
The Anglo Saxons Kingdoms Exhibition currently at the British Library
contains many priceless treasures; rare and unique documents of many
kinds, artefacts, including the recently discovered Staffordshire hoard
and the jewel of Alfred the Great, but for me the greatest jewel of them
all is the Codex Amiatinus, the oldest entire latin Bible in existence,
produced over 1,300 years ago. This massive volume weighs more than
75Ib, is nearly a half metre in depth, and its pages were made from the
skins of about 600 animals. It contains the most accurate copy of Jer-
ome’s Vulgate, transmitted from a monastery in Southern Italy. It is so
special for me because it was written in the monastery of Wearmouth-
Jarrow, and Wearmouth is now part of my home town, Sunderland,
situated on the banks of the River Wear.
The great Codex Amiatinus dates from the cultural golden age of the
Saxon Kingdom of Northumbria, stretching from the Humber to the Forth,
at the height of its power and wealth. The monastery,
the largest and most notable in England in the 7th
century, was built on lands donated to the church by
a king, much as our church was built on lands donated
by Offa of Mercia. The two monastic churches still
remain, St Peter at Wearmouth built in 673 and St Paul
at Jarrow in 681, but it was always one monastery on
two sites. It was founded by Benedict Biscop who
made the first of his five visits to Rome with St Wilfrid.
The latter, of course, visited Sussex, and converted the
last pagan Saxons. The two churches were built in
stone, as on the continent, and glaziers came from
Gaul to teach the art of glassmaking. Archcantor John
of St Peter’s in Rome even made the arduous journey
to train the Northumbrian monks to sing the liturgy in the correct Roman
style, there being no way of writing music at this time. Others visited from
other English monasteries and so we hear in Bede’s Ecclesiastical History
of the very beginnings of church music in England, a tradition which our
St Peter’s continues.
34Benedict was concerned to equip his monastery with panel paintings,
relics, vestments and books, and the library became one of the most
magnificent in Europe. Some books from its scriptorium still survive and
display influences from the Mediterranean, Ireland and Northern Europe.
Wonderful examples are in the exhibition together with the great Lindis-
farne Gospels, their contemporary. The great Codex displays the techni-
cal skills of its 7 writers writing in the difficult but very clear uncial Italian
script and is another example of the links which this remote monastery
had with western Christendom.
The renowned scholar the Venerable Bede was entrusted first to Benedict
and then to the second abbot, Ceolfrith for his education from the age of
seven. He wrote many varied books, including his Ecclesiastical History of
the English Church and People, still the most important source for that
early period – and a reliable one, as Bede’s care as a historian, unusual for
the time, is shown in his meticulous accumulation of sources. He writes
‘while I have observed the regular discipline and sung the choir offices
daily in church, my chief delight has always been in study, teaching and
writing’.
The Codex Amiatinus was one of three giant Bibles produced here at the
same time; two for each church ‘so that all who wished to read a chapter
could quickly find what they wanted’ - so a tangible link with Bede’s daily
life. The third was eventually taken by Ceolfrith, to Rome as a gift to the
shrine of St Peter. In Bede’s Lives of the Abbots of Wearmouth and Jarrow
we have a detailed eyewitness account of Ceolfrith’s leave-taking of
about 6oo grieving monks, for, as an old man, he hoped to die in Rome.
Ceolfrith’s group of 80 monks, after mass at St Peter’s went down to the
River Wear and crossed it by boat, near where a bridge stands today.
Sadly he died in Burgundy, but some monks continued with the Codex
and presented it to the Pope. Later given to an abbey at Monte Abiata in
Tuscany, from the 18th century it found a safe home in the beautiful
Renaissance Laurentian Library, built by the Medici in Florence. I visited
the library in April but the Codex is not on public view, so I never ever
expected to see it. Of the other two Bibles one has vanished and only a
35few leaves of the third remain, found as wrapping paper probably as a
result of the Reformation!
The Codex was open at the page containing the dedication from Ceolfrith
‘abbot from the furthest ends of England’ to ‘the body of sublime Peter,
justly venerated, which ancient faith declares to be head of the church’.
Opposite was a large, beautiful full page illumination of a scribe at work.
Some other pages are written on gold in purple parchment. The extensive
exhibition contained many more interesting objects up to the census of
the final days of Saxon England, as represented by the Domesday Book.
But finally there are some links between early 8th century Northumbria
and our St Peter’s built in 772 about 50 years after the Codex set off on
its eventful journey. Our church has the same dedication to St Peter as
the church at Wearmouth, no coincidence as ties with Rome were grow-
ing stronger in the 8th century, as an increasing number of English pilgrims
visited St Peter’s tomb. Above all we have the Bexhill stone, mounted on
a tower wall and acknowledged to be of 8th century Northumbrian work-
manship with its distinctive interlaced carving and thought to be the lid
of a reliquary. Both it and the Codex are products of the so called Dark
Ages when the Church managed to keep education, art and learning alive
despite invasions and battles.
Judith Platt
Sewing Guild
@ St Peter’s Community Centre
every Wednesday
9:30am to 12 noon
36Time For God
Founded Sept. 2000
~ One of the many Services offered for you at St Peter’s ~
~ Held in the Community Centre every Sunday at 9:45am ~
We certainly had some special Services in November with the Remem-
brance Day Service and Confirmation Service. And what a wonderful All
Age Praise at the beginning of the month. We were learning how to
make our corner of the world shine and we certainly did that!
Well Christmas is upon us and do look out in this
edition of the Mag to find out more about the
wonderful Services and events being held over the
Christmas period.
For TFG we have our All Age Praise on 2 December
which Janine will be leading and on the 16 Decem-
ber will be our Nativity led by Deacon Olivia. Don’t
forget to dress up in your favourite Nativity outfit
and bring all the family and your friends for what
will be another great TFG Nativity!
A very Happy Christmas and Peaceful New Year to you all.
TFG every Sunday in the Community Centre at 9:45am
Come and join us for a coffee and chat after.
Look forward to seeing you there!
37This month:
Mark and Natalie Stevens
Mark and Natalie, together with
their children, Ava and Edward, are
very much part of St Peter's family,
and are regular worshippers at both
the 9.45 Eucharist and TFG's month-
ly All-Age Praise.
Mark was born in Bexhill, the eldest son of Alan and Marian Stevens. He
has a younger brother, Robert, and younger sister, Sian. It was when he
was a pupil at St Peter and St Paul School that Mark joined the church
choir and began a life-long love of music. It was this decision that
brought the rest of the family into the church as well and they have been
active in many roles over the years. When he was 8, Mark moved on to
Claremont School where he gained a music scholarship. He played the
piano and continued singing. His secondary education was at Seaford
College near Petworth where he was a boarder from the age of thirteen
until he left school at 16. Mark thoroughly enjoyed the freedom and
independence that boarding gave him. He belonged to the CCF (Com-
bined Cadet Force) and enjoyed the sporting opportunities especially
cricket, but it was music that remained his first love. The College's choir
was, at the time, the Queen Mother's official choir and Mark took part
in visits to Russia, Finland and Paris, as well as performing at Clarence
House and The Royal Albert Hall.
After completing GCSEs, Mark moved on to the Sussex Academy of
Music in Lewes where he took a double A level in music. This could have
38led on to studying music at a conservatoire or music college but, on his
own admission, he lacked self-motivation, and, preferring the perform-
ance aspect of music to the academic side, he instead studied for an
HND in Performing Arts in Amersham. In 1997 he won a place at Trinity
College of Music but dropped out after 2 terms, unable to cope with
studying during the day and working nights at Sainsburys to finance the
course fees and travelling expenses into London.
During the next few years, Mark admits he was "muddled" about life. He
had continued singing in St Peter's Church choir from time to time while
at school and college and had been confirmed in Chichester Cathedral
while at Seaford College, but his faith was not strong and for a few years
as a young adult he rarely attended church. By 2001, Mark had lived in
Ireland for a while and also travelled round the world, visiting among
other places, New York, Los Angeles, New Zealand, Australia, Thailand
and Cambodia. On several occasions he had to be bailed out by Alan and
Marian when his money ran out!
Returning to the UK, he moved back in with his parents and worked at a
pub before securing a job in 2002 as a salesman with Toyota. It was in
the same year that he met Natalie.
Natalie was born in Portsmouth where her father was a Chief Petty
Officer in the Navy. His particular role was as a diver in the Bomb Squad.
When she was 3, Natalie's brother was born and the family moved to
Bexhill where her maternal grandparents were already living. Natalie
attended Down Infants School, moving on to King Offa at the age of
seven. She attended Sunday School at St Stephen's Church, later joining
the choir. She remained in the choir when she moved on to St Richard's
School. She had been dancing from the age of five, but it was when she
went to St Richard's that her passion for dance really took off and
demands on her time led to her giving up the choir.
In 1999 the family moved to Gibraltar. Natalie's brother was young
enough to go to a Force's school but Natalie, at thirteen, had to go to a
Gibraltarian School. After six months the decision was made to send her
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