St. Mary's Church
News 2011

News Articles:

Regular Services At St Mary's

Sunday Services

8.00am Holy Communion [1st Sunday]
9.30am Morning Service [a modern service & family friendly] with Stay & Play crèche area every week
6.30pm Evening Service [a quieter service using the language of the 17th century]

SundayKidz Club meets during school term times in church before going out for their own activities.

Thursday Coffee Mornings 10am to 11.30am in the Old School Room
Bellringing every Thursday from 7.30pm
Choir Practice most Sundays from 7.30pm

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Winter 2011 News

The Rector

At the time of writing this, the Rector and his wife are still hors de combat following their unfortunate car accident. The busy and varied sabbatical leave announced in the last issue of Rollestonian has been delayed until at least next year and Ian will be restricted to minimal duties until after Christmas. We wish both Ian and Christine a speedy recovery and hope that they can celebrate the Christmas season with recent troubles behind them.

All at St Mary’s are most grateful to the Revd Tony Wood and others for covering for Ian’s absence and ensuring that services run normally.

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Christmas To Me

Christmas to me is nativity
And the sound of carol-singing;
But to others it is revelry
And the sound of shop tills ringing.

Christmas to me is shepherds
On a hillside attending their sheep;
And the sound of angelic voices
Over a town bathed in sleep

Christmas to me is the Magi
Who put all of their faith in a star
And in search of the little Christ child
They willingly travelled so far.

Christmas to me is worship,
Giving thanks for the Saviour’s birth;
But to many of the folk I know
Christmas has no real worth.

So what will YOU see at Christmas?
Will you think of that baby so small?
And recognise that the love of God
Came to earth that first Christmas of all?

By Colin Hammacott

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St Mary’s Events

We are now recovering from “World in Waiting” , and a big thank you to all who supported this event in any way – decorating displays, sponsoring trees, making cakes and fantastic crafts, etc.etc. and of course to all who came to visit. THANK YOU!

We are starting to plan for 2012 and already one or two events are in the pipeline, although some dates are yet to be finalised.

In February we are hoping to organise a “chocolate tasting” by a local chocalitier. This will be accompanied by appropriate liquid refreshment and there will be the chance to purchase chocolates for your Valentine – or indeed yourself!

You will have read elsewhere of the visit of Ken Rolston on March 17th and, again to be confirmed, on the same day there will be an Antiques Valuation Day in the OGSR.

Keep a look out on the village notice boards for more details of these events.

Dates definitely confirmed are a “Jubilation Concert” by Rolleston Choral society in church on Saturday June 2nd and the Grand Garage Sale Tour on Monday June 4th.

Next year Garden Sunday , July 8th ,will also see the return of the scarecrows suitably dressed for the Jubilee we hope.

Later in the year we look forward to a visit from the Derwent Singers on July 1st and next year’s Advent Festival will see a welcome return of Beatus at the opening concert.

So, plenty to be going on with for the moment, but please keep an eye on the notice boards around the village in case something else turns up!

Sylvia Martin
(for St Mary’s fund Raising Committee)

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Autumn 2011 News

Rector’s Message

By the time this Rollestonian goes to print it will nearly be time to go off on my travels. That is NOT shorthand for I am leaving Rolleston but I am simply taking three months off from Parish Duties. So what’s it about? -

Sabbatical, Study Leave Or Rectors Retreat? -

All clergy are allowed three months every 7 years to take time out for Study, Rest & Relaxation and Time to take stock of life, mission & ministry. Mine was delayed from 2007 and so four years late I am taking my Sabbatical. The word Sabbatical is taken from the word Sabbath, like the Sunday; a day of rest or a day that is different to all the rest and given over to God.

That is what I hope to get from our Sabbatical, a time given over to God away from Parish Duties. That’s the first step.

During these three months Chris will be taking time out with a Clergy Spouses Retreat. I am planning a long distance Solo Bike Ride from Barmouth in Wales to Yarmouth in East Anglia. A bike ride across the country and Bar2Yar sounds good. It’ll also give me chance to stop off in Rolleston mid-route to get my washing done! I wanted to undertake ride this as I enjoy cycling and also wanted the challenge of a solo trip as in a way to make a change to which I usually work. Most of my weeks are planned out and I know what I am doing each week, this Bike Ride will have daily aims and an objective but how I get there is anyone’s guess. I am taking a leisurely approach with an expectation of 50 miles a day.

A Silent Retreat will follow this for me in Whitby with the Nuns at the Sneaton Priory before the ‘Study’ bit of the three months kicks in. I am required to undertake some form of study, which then I have to present in the form of report. I will be looking at Christenings in the Church and this report will not only go to our Bishop but, because of a grant, will also have to go to the Archbishops Council, so I hope my grammar improves.

In the middle of all this, all being well, we will enjoy an extended family holiday. This will obviously mean that I will not be available for the three months of October to December. The church services will be looked after by the Church Wardens and by local clergy but just because I will not be around doesn’t mean that the church won’t still be there as usual!

I am grateful to the Lichfield Diocese for allowing me this time and also to the wonderfully supporting church family for their help. I hope to come back refreshed, tanned, informed and re-invigorated in 2012 and I’ll tell you how it all went in the Spring Edition of the Rollestonian.

Ian Whitehead, Rector

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Fabric Appeal Update

To date, of the £184,000 required to repair the South Wall, Tower and Porch of St Mary’s, we have managed to raise £80,000 in grant funding from English Heritage and Heritage Lottery Fund, Allchurches Trust Ltd, Garfield Weston Foundation and The Headley Trust. Thanks to all these grant giving organisations for their support
Public donations, as a response to the article in the Burton Mail, raised £2,500.

Through the sterling efforts of our church fundraisers with events such as the Garage Sale and Gardens Sunday another £3,300 is in the pot.

We still have a long way to go. There are more grant applications to be completed and many more events planned to help raise the money so watch this space for ways of making a difference with your giving.
Many thanks to those who have already made a big difference!

A plea remains for anyone/everyone to come up with ideas, time or expertise
Please contact us. We value any help!

Please contact: Vanessa Winstone , Rev Ian Whitehead or Ced Morgan .

Any donations by cheque can be made payable to St Mary's PCC Rolleston on Dove and sent to Rolleston Rectory, Church Rd, Rolleston on Dove, Staffs DE13 9BE. If you can Gift Aid a donation it is worth an extra 20p in the £1. Gift Aid envelopes are available from the above or in St Mary’s.

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St Mary’s Events

Our stall for the Garage Sale was situated on Ian’s drive & proved to be a very good venue, enabling the stalwarts who manned it to raise £156 to be added to the £300 made from garage registrations and £620 from refreshments, so overall the day made in excess of £1,000 for the Fabric Appeal.

The next event, organised by Beryl & James Toon was an evening meal laid on in the OGS. This was most enjoyable and enabled Beryl to complete her objective of providing cushions for all the pews in church, a big thank you to Beryl for this.

Gardens Sunday & Bloomin’ Feet was next on the agenda and proved to be another successful day despite all the competing attractions ranging from Men’s Wimbledon Finals to Tutbury Open Gardens, with all sorts in between. This raised around £2,300 and we are grateful for the support of Rollestonians in making this possible. The route this year was very compact and made the use of the Croft and OGS for stalls and refreshments very convenient. 4Cs put on a varied display of goods & we look forward to their presence at the Advent Festival. 72 pairs of “Bloomin Feet” lined the path to the OGS producing keen interest and thought in deciding where votes were to be cast. The display by the Brownies was particularly appreciated and we hope they enjoyed the challenge. Next year Gardens Sunday will be on July 8th with the welcome return of the scarecrows - we would like to see gardens towards the further end of the village, so please do think whether you would like to be involved in 2012!

Next event was a concert “In Voice & Verse” celebrating 400th anniversary of King James Bible. This was well attended and enjoyed by both Rollestonians and others from further afield, and raised a further £300 towards the Fabric Appeal.

Advent Festval - November 25th – 28th this year has the theme – “World in Waiting” and we hope participants will be inspired, using trees and garlands, to show how different countries prepare for & celebrate Christmas. A preliminary meeting is to be held in church at 7.30pm on Friday September 16th when we hope to see both representatives from local organisations and individuals who would like to take part. Thank you for all the support past events have received and we look forward to yet another successful Advent Festival.

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Summer 2011 News

Rector’s Message


Why “You may kiss the bride”
Isn’t included in the service

We are now getting into the wedding season at St Mary’s, drifts of confetti cover the churchyard and the bells ring out regularly to announce to the world the news. A new life has begun!

This year we are hosting about 18 weddings, which is average for our church. The most in one year I have conducted is 25 although one was a ‘BOGOF’, two sisters marrying at the same service.

We are amongst the busiest churches in the Diocese for weddings and we like to think we offer a good ‘service’. Certainly we go out of our way to help couples plan and get the best out of their day. Be this through Jim our organist learning a new piece of music or the choir putting some swing into an old favourite.

I prepare with the couple how they would like the service to be; formal or informal, relaxed or solemn. On the day I try to match my clerical shirt with the colour scheme of the bridesmaids, no black shirts for me! The Verger aims to make sure everything is covered from a clean carpet to making sure guests know where the toilet is and that children get a toy-bag.

We undertake to do our best to make sure that the couple get the best wedding service they can and one that they enjoy.

I have been asked by hundreds of women to marry them, I said yes to only one of them! The rest I help marry their grooms, for I don’t marry anyone. They marry each other and I am but a ‘wedding midwife’ helping them to achieve this.

I also get to be a part of other wedding celebrations; blessing marriages after a civil wedding, celebrating wedding anniversaries and blessing new wedding rings.

This is but one aspect of the life of a local parish priest but it is a wonderful one of which to be a small part.

Want to know more? Then check out www.yourchurchwedding.org

Rev Ian Whitehead

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St Mary's Events

Easter Journey

A big thank you to all who helped us to produce this celebration of Easter. It was good to welcome help from members of Holy Trinity Church, Anslow as well as contributions from St Mary’s groups and individuals. We enjoyed, also, visits from enthusiastic children of John of Rolleston School – on their best behaviour as usual. Although this was not a money raising event we were pleased that we managed to collect nearly £300 in donation bottles which was added to the special Sunday collection and sent to Footprints Orphanage in Kenya.

Gardens Sunday July 3rd

We have, as always, a varied array of gardens open, This year we include some new venues, and it’s still not too late to be included if you find that your garden has made a recovery from the depredations of the winter!

A new feature will be “BLOOMIN’ FEET” an array of planted footwear in the churchyard – could YOU take part? We are asking villagers to plant up boot(s) /shoe(s) /sock(s) or anything else you wear on your feet! The footwear should be taken to St Mary’s between 11am and 12 noon on Gardens Sunday. You will be allocated a number and visitors will be invited to vote for the “people’s choice”. There will be adult and children’s prizes for the most popular. Please Help Us To Make This Feature A Success!

There will also be refreshments, plants, books, crafts and produce stalls. Programmes (£3) will be available from Starbuck’s prior to the event or from the church & participating gardens on the day.

St Mary’s Hosts National Touring Group

If you are interested in our heritage and the foundations of our language you should come to this

The King James Bible In Words & Music, July 31st 6.30pm.

2011 is the 400th anniversary of the publication of the King James Bible. To mark this we are hosting a performance by Lance Pierson (actor), Belinda Yates (soprano) and Heather Chamberlain (accompanist) .

This event, a journey through the Bible in words, from Genesis to Revelation, features music by Handel, Haydn and others.

The group will be performing at the Buxton Festival in July. They have also been featured at the National Gallery, St Paul’s Cathedral and Westminster Abbey - so don’t miss your chance to hear it in St Mary’s.

The performance is replacing St Mary’s Sunday evening service on July 31st and tickets£8.00 will be on sale shortly from Starbuck’s or church members.

History Day 4. Saturday 15th October

This event, run in support of St Mary’s, will be welcoming a visit and talks from Mr Ken Rolston, genealogist of the Rolleston family and researcher of our village history. See the separate notice.

Advent 2011

Just a very early note for your diaries. We shall be holding our Trees & Garlands Festival again this year from Friday 25th – Monday 28th November. This time our theme will feature celebrations from different countries. Invitations will be sent to organisations for a preliminary meeting in July, and we very much hope that you will all support this event - more details in Autumn Rollestonian, in the meantime get your thinking caps on!

All St Mary’s Event enquiries or offers of help to Mrs Sylvia Martin, 43 The Lawns, Tel: 813320

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Spring 2011 News

Lent 2011

Lent will soon be upon us and the planning of what is happening over this period is underway.

Sunday 3rd April 9.30am Mothering Sunday Service at St Mary’s
Friday, 22nd April 10am Joint Methodist/St Mary’s Good Friday Service in the Methodist Chapel.
Friday, 22nd April 2pm Good Friday Remembrance of the Cross of Christ at St Mary’s Church

Sunday 24th April Easter Day Services:
8.00am Early Holy Communion
9.30am Family Communion
6.30pm Evensong Celebration of the Resurrection of Christ

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Rector’s Message

It never fails to amaze me about how many people in Rolleston are prepared to get involved with the community. I wrote this back in January 2001 and the same is still true today, 10 years on!

This coming year once more seems filled with activity and community involvement. No doubt elsewhere in this magazine there will be many of the different groups advertising their activities over the coming months.

It is great to see so much happening from the Civic Trust, RODSEC, WI’s, Church & Chapel, Choral Society, Parish Council, Allotments, Classic cars, Royal British Legion, John of Rolleston School, Playgroup, Uniformed Organisation & the new Youth Club and no doubt others I have failed to mention!

All this builds community and even if you personally don’t get involved in any of the activities you will still feel their effect. It shows that cause and effect that these different groups and events can have, the far-reaching possibilities beyond any hopes or talk about the Big Society.

The things that we do as a Church affect you. The things of God will also affect you even if you are not actively involved. Such is our God who we at St Mary’s worship each Sunday, a God of action and involvement, and who I pray will touch your lives each day whether in the village or elsewhere.

Celebrate all that this coming year offers and enjoy all that our community organises and celebrates not just for what we might get out of it but also for the good of our community to which we all are a part.

Rev Ian Whitehead.

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St Mary's Church Events

“Easter Journey”
As a reminder that Easter is not just about eggs and bunnies, St Mary’s invites you to share our Easter Journey. From Maundy Thursday (April 21st), until the following Thursday (April 28th) the church will be decorated to illustrate the Bible story from Palm Sunday to Easter Day. You will be invited to stop at various points along the way to think, and maybe take part in some activity showing different aspects of the story.
The church will be open daily during the afternoons (no entry charge) with tea/coffee available in church l. More details will be on the posters nearer the time and we do hope that many Rollestonians will come and share this celebration.

Fund Raising
A number of events are planned over the coming months to help raise funds for St Mary’s.

On April 9th we welcome Beatus who will be giving a concert in aid of our church and their choir funds. The first part of the concert will be a Requiem written by their musical director and the second a lighter selection of songs suitable for the spring season. Tickets (£6 to include refreshments) will be on sale shortly from church, Starbuck’s or choral members.

Grand Garage Sale Tour May 30th
We are again taking part in Transport Day with our Garage Sale Tour. You can read elsewhere about how to use this opportunity to “declutter!” and we look forward to many entries for the map.

Gardens Sunday & Bloomin’ Feet July 3rd
The harsh winter may well have set fresh challenges in finding new Open Gardens this year! As always we would be very pleased to hear from anyone who would like to open their garden. Rolleston has always been noted for the variety of different types of gardens on show and we hope this year will be no exception. People, when asked, have a tendency to be very modest, but gardens do not have to be absolutely immaculate, our visitors are much more interested in sharing problems & solutions and simply enjoying a day out. If you think you could open your garden, or would simply like to find out more about what is involved please give Sylvia a ring on 813320.

We are giving the scarecrows a rest this year, (although rumour has it that one or two may refuse to be retired), and instead looking for Bloomin’ Feet. We would love to have a host of old boots/shoes/socks used as planted containers along the churchyard path, so don’t throw away old footwear & get those seeds growing. More details in the next Rollestonian.

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© Richard Bush

Last updated: 2 January 2012