A SURPRISE ENCOUNTER

As usual in summer, I went down to our little beach for a swim. Nobody else there yet, but what was this laying on the beach? A strongly built windsurf with an equally strong sail and equipment fixed on the surf board bearing a notice in two languages – Spanish and French - “This has not been abandoned – it is part of an Expedition”.

I went for my swim and coming out of the water saw a man munching a sandwich and talking to the only other couple arrived on the beach; German friends. They beckoned me over and the newcomer was speaking English – he was English. He said he was going round Europe on his windsurf. I asked where he had started the journey and he replied 'Norway'. 'Norway? When?'. The answer 'May 2017'. It was now 20 July 2018! I wanted to know if he was doing it for a reason, a charity, or such like. He pointed to the sail - WWF was written there. Of course I wanted to know more and he again pointed to the sail 'you can follow me on that website www.windsurfroundeurope.eu' he said. We exchanged names – his is Jono – short for Jonathan Dunnett. (It made me think of Jonah and the whale).

Jono said: “I am proud to be supporting World Wildlife Fund for this Expedition. I am looking for quiet, unspoiled, natural spaces and the message of WWF is:-

.....to stop the degradation of our planet's natural environment, and building a future in which people live in harmony with nature.”

Now of course, I think - if only I'd known, we could have welcomed him, given him some food, a bed for the night (he'd slept on the beach – being a quiet, unspoiled, natural space), but these things happen and now it's too late, except .................. ???

The last I saw of him he was on the sea going round the far headland. It all looked very hard work to me, as there was very little wind.

Do look at his website. There are photos and explanations of his experiences. When I last looked, he had arrived in the very south of Calabria, preparing to tackle the Strait of Messina. If you live on his route you, or friends, may be able to help him in some way. He expects to complete the expedition in 2019.

(Elizabeth Cordone)

HARVEST THANKSGIVING SERVICE

Our Harvest Thanksgiving Service will be on Sunday 26 September in the Chapelle Saint Roch. A retiring collection will be made after the Service and food will be bought and given to the Association 'Primo Fiore' in Sanremo, which provides a meal every day for those who are in need.

The building is in the centre of Sanremo. It was donated for use as a kitchen to serve meals to the poor and needy. Volunteers prepare the evening meal and serve them at beautifully set small tables. There is a certain dignity about the whole place, with its possibility of having a shower or wash, of entering a little chapel to pray a moment, of sitting in the library and reading a christian book, before enjoying the meal.

Chris Huband has begun reading at St. Michael's Macclesfield and has kindly written down

his thoughts on reading in church:

As readers at St. Roch, we have a certain advantage in that there are no pew bibles. This means that if we pre-read the passage we are assigned at home, then provided we make it clear from which version of the bible we are reading then, hopefully, the priest in charge will not object to us using our own bible rather than the printed sheet so kindly provided. In this way we will be potentially more comfortable with the text.....

* Think about personalizing the passage by saying what the passage is about before reading it.

* A tip I picked up on public speaking at business school was that eye contact towards the audience/congregation is vital. It is best to choose an object at the back of the chapel, such as the door, and focus on that. In order not to lose your place, try running your finger along the text so you know where to return to when you pause.

* Try to speak a little slower than you would in ordinary parlance. I find it is easy to over-run the passage, so you could place a post-note at the end to prevent this happening.

All in all I think we already do a pretty good job as readers at St. Roch. The above suggestions are just refinements which will prepare us well for when we finally return to our own church of St. John's.

Chris Huband

CHAPLAINCY for SANTIAGO PILGRIMS
Canon Barbara Moss, who was our Locum Chaplain in Menton during July and early August, writes about a new project for the Diocese in Europe.

“Where are you going next?",  I am often asked. In October, I shall be one of the first pilgrim priests working as a seasonal chaplain in Santiago de Campostela.

This ancient pilgrim destination has attracted growing numbers in the last half- century, with more than 40,000 pilgrims claiming their Campostela (certificate) in Santiago in a summer month. They will have walked at least 100 km, and often much more. Last October saw over 30,000 pilgrims claiming certificates. About 1 in 6 was from an English-speaking country, the majority from the USA.

Many, especially those who walk alone, reach the end of the journey wondering “what now?”. The chaplaincy provides a place for English-speaking pilgrims to meet, worship together, and share their experiences. In this pilot project, an Anglican priest will be available from September 2 to October 23, with Morning Prayer, Evening Prayer and refreshments Monday to Friday, and Eucharist on Sundays and Wednesdays. We shall work closely with Roman Catholic and Free Church colleagues.

The plan is to offer an extended season next year, and to add another style of pilgrim priest, those who are themselves walking part of the Camino.

This chaplaincy is based at Egeria House (http://egeria.house/chaplaincy), the home of the coordinator, Sybille Yates.

Canon Barbara Moss

Thank you Canon Barbara for the above. Hopefully, it will encourage those, who have often thought of doing the walk, to decide and perhaps meet up with you at Santiago.

The Rectory, St. James-the-Least

My dear Nephew Darren,

On war between parishes

So, now you have enjoyed your first Summer Fete, don't say I didn't warn you. It may be small consolation, but remember that they only happen once a year - although in your case, you still have another 40 to endure before retirement.

I negotiated our own last week. As usual, the band from our neighbouring parish of St. Eusebius played. There has been much bad blood in the past between our two villages. The trouble started on the day that St. James the Least of All never told St. Eusebius that the Vikings were coming up the river. We may have long since buried the hatchet, but both sides remember where they put it.

Tension between the two communities down the centuries has moved on from occasional slaughter to something a little more refined. Just as I began my opening speech to crown the Rose Queen, the band struck up with the National Anthem. When the hog roast started, they played “smoke gets in your eyes” and when it came to the necessary music for the maypole dancing, they all disappeared into the beer tent.

With great Christian charity, we shall bide our time. In September we have the annual football match between the two church's Servers. Last year, in addition to winning the match, the St. James' boys sent three of their side off with concussion. Naturally, I visited them in hospital.

Miss Prendergast, as always, played Gypsy Rose Lee. If the tall, dark, dear lady tells me one more time that I am about to find romance with a tall dark lady, while she flutters her eyelashes at me, I swear I shall throttle her with a bell rope. Besides, I already have a beautiful dark lady in my life - and my Labrador is devoted to me. The only real hiccough came when I bought 12 packets of fudge from Mrs Masheder to present to our choirboys. Yet again, she had misread salt for sugar in the recipe. After I presented the packets at Mattins the following day, a formal complaint was rapidly made by a parent to the police that the Rector was attempting to poison their son. But as I explained to the officer, if I had intended to poison anyone, I would have done it far more discreetly - and infinitely more efficiently.

I toy with that possibility for Mrs Masheder before next year's Fete.

Your loving uncle,

Eustace

is the period in the annual church calendar (from 1 September to 4 October) dedicated to God as Creator and Sustainer of all life.

On Friday, 31 August, Elizabeth Busmann-Morton will be representing the Diocese in Europe at the 'Assisi First Ecumenical Prayer for Creation Walking to COP24'. Elizabeth wishes us to pray together in our chaplaincies and during the whole Season of Creation. But perhaps particularly for those on the pilgrimage to Katowice in Poland, where COP24 will take place from 3-14 December 2018 praying particularly that at that crucial international event there will be a real upholding of the Paris Agreement and a sincere undertaking to implement that agreement.

For Anglicans Creationtide is also a time when we celebrate Harvest, give thanks for the food we have and take action for those in need