Little Milton Church

   The Parish Church of St James, Little Milton

   The Rector: Victor L. Story     01844 279 498029)

CHURCH CLEANING ROTA FOR JULY

W/E 3rd July                                         -              Mrs. G. Taylor/Mrs H Ridley

W/E 10th July                                       -              Mrs A. Hawkins/Mrs E Summers

W/E 17th July                                       -              Mrs. M. Davies/Mrs S A Dennis

W/E 24th July                                       -              Mrs L. Lovegrove/ Mrs C Coward

W/E 31st July                                       -              Mrs A Jones/ Mrs S Holifield

S. A. Dennis

We’re all fine and had a great evening out at the Lamb, during which one of the newer members of the team was heard to remark ‘I never expected the Church Cleaner’s party would be so much fun’!!!!

CHURCH FLOWER ROTA FOR JULY

W/E 4th July                                         -              Teresa Quested

W/E 11th July                                       -              Teresa Quested

W/E 18th July                                       -              Teresa Quested

W/E 25th June                                      -              Teresa Quested   

W/E 1st August                                    --            Teresa Quested

BELL RINGING PRACTICE DURING JULY

Tuesday 6th July                                 -              7.30 pm to 9.00 pm

Sunday 11th July                                -              10.30 a.m. – 11.00 a.m.

Quarter Peal 12.15p.m. – 1.15 p.m.

Tuesday 13th July                               -              7.30 pm to 9.00 pm

Tuesday 20th July                               -              7.30 pm to 9.00 pm

Sunday 25th July                                -              9.30 a.m. – 10.00 a.m.

Tuesday 27th July                               -              7.30 pm to 9.00 pm

Wednesday 28th July                           -             11.45 a.m. – 12.45 p.m. Quarter Peal by  visiting ringers

Raymond Fergusson 279150

GRASS CUTTING ROTA FOR JULY

W/E 4th July                                         --            Phil Jones

W/E 11th July                                       -              Tim Robinson

W/E 18th July                                       -              Stuart McGill

W/E 25th July                                       -              David Hawkins

W/E 1st August                                   -              Dave Arnold

W/E 8th August                                   --            Raymond Fergusson

COMMUNITY POLICING: CHALGROVE AREA NEIGHBOURHOOD TEAM

The July “Have Your Say Meetings” for the Chalgrove neighbourhood is on the following dates:

Stadhampton        The Village Green, Thame Road                        Fri     23/07/10                                                                                                                        14:00 to 15:00

Little Milton          In the post office, Thame Road                         Fri     23/07/10                                                                                                                        15:30 to 16:30

Chalgrove              outside the village shops, High Street             Sat    24/07/10                                                                                                                        10:00 to 12:00

PCSO Rebecca Freeman will be available at the Stadhampton and Little Milton meetings and PC Mel Stafford will be available at the Chalgrove meeting during these times.

These meetings are an ideal opportunity for local residents to speak to their local police officers and PCSO’s about any local issues, no appointment is necessary just turn up and speak to your local officers. Further meetings will be publicised locally and on the force website at www.thamesvalley.police.uk.

FROM THE RECTORY

LITTLE MILTON CHURCH FÊTE, 2010.

This was held in the Grounds of Little Milton Manor by very kind permission of Mr. & Mrs. Oddie on the 19^th June. All of the stalls and side shows were kept busy all of the afternoon, and people have said to me just how much they enjoyed themselves. Surely, this is most important, that we all come together to simply enjoy ourselves, and by the feel of it, enjoy ourselves we certainly did.  The total amount raised was in excess of £4000 which I think is a wonderful achievement.

A lot of people put in a lot of effort to make the day that it was. Whether you were on the Fête Committee,  whether you came along in the morning to set things up, manned a stall, ran a side show,  helped our children with their dancing, packed away at the end of the afternoon,  or came simply to enjoy yourself, you all deserve and get our heartfelt thanks.

RYCOTE CHAPEL SERVICE.

Each year, at the end of August, Mr. and Mrs. B. Taylor kindly invite us all to Rycote Chapel for our Festival Eucharist. It’s always a lovely occasion and Rycote Chapel is set in such magnificent countryside. This year the Service will be on the 29^th August, and will begin at 10.00 a.m. Please do come along if you are able. A warm welcome will await us.

RECTORY GARDEN PARTY.

Each year I have warmly invited everybody in our three parishes to the Rectory for a Garden Party, and this year will be no exception. The most probable date this year is Saturday 21^st August, from 3.00 p.m., but I shall be writing to you all to confirm this.

May the Summer holiday bring rest, relaxation, and refreshment to you all.

Victor Story

01844 279498

JOURNEYING TO HEAVEN

In my experience standing on platforms in railway stations in this country, is not the most exciting of occupations to be undertaken. But on the continent it’s different.

A couple of years back, I happened to have just arrived in Cologne in Germany, and looking for the exit, I happened to glance up at the destination board, and there I discovered or rediscovered that I could get a train to almost all of Europe’s capital cities and many places in between. Moscow, Berlin, Copenhagen, Warsaw, Rome, Paris, they were all there as well as all points in between. In that I found excitement, and a little adventure. If I got on the wrong train, easily done, I could wake up in a distant land, far from my intended destination.

On Cologne station that day, there were crowds of people moving about in all directions, and I was one of them. At that moment, in pulled another train. This time full of people returning from a pilgrimage to Rome, and Cologne was their last stop before going to somewhere I couldn’t remember. They were certainly happy and cheerful and singing joyful songs. Clearly their pilgrimage was for them exhilarating.

They like me were tourists, and they, also like me, were visiting the city on that day.

It was a long while since I was in Cologne, and despite the devastation of the last war, it has never lost its charm. A wonderful cathedral, narrow lanes, beautiful shops, a colourful market, and a river which can take you all over Europe as far as the Black Sea.

It wasn’t long before we were outside the cathedral, and there was a huge poster advertising a concert for the following Saturday, and the Concert was of Bach’s ‘Heavenly’ Organ music, in celebration of All Saints Day which fell at that weekend. I wish I could have gone. Strange to say, we found ourselves sitting outside a cafe by the river, having something to eat, and then along came a man giving out leaflets, and the leaflets were invitations to go to a Club called ‘Heaven’. On enquiring of the man I found out that Heaven was a very well respected Café, with a fine reputation for meeting people, getting to know them, making friends, eating with them.  Enjoying the companionship of others.

That posed a question for me, How does heaven relate to all that. It’s got something to do with meeting our deepest needs, as well as our surface ones, as well as our ultimate destination: heaven. But also whilst sitting there in the autumn sun, I thought and pondered on that phrase ‘invitation to heaven’. An invitation to heaven, a beckoning to heaven. A calling to heaven, an invitation to journey to heaven.

We are all invited to journey to heaven, All of us, that includes all those on that pilgrimage, the man giving out the leaflets, though their invitation to heaven may be coming to them a different way from mine, or for that matter yours. Remember Walter Raleigh’s words, “Everyone comes to God by his secret stair”. And it makes me want to add another word to the list of words that cluster around invitation to heaven, and calling and vocation, and that word is journey. I started on a railway platform, reminding me that we are all on a journey, through this world.

There is Pilgrims’ way, running all along the North Downs from Winchester to Canterbury, and if you follow that route, you come upon stones, marking the way, so that the pilgrims didn’t stray off course.

I re-read the book called Markings written by Dag Hammarskjold recently, the Swedish secretary general of the United Nations in the late 50’s. He wrote:” The longest journey is the journey inwards”. Dag Hammarskjold discovered that, and all of us have to discover that.

We have all received our invitation to heaven; we are all called to journey on to heaven. And that involves the journey inwards. What that means is that we are to examine ourselves, forget ourselves, ‘dying to self, living and loving for others. Seeing what we have in common with Jesus and what separates us from him. What comes along and squeezes him out, how can we resolve that conflict? What are my true motives? .Are they me, or Jesus?

But we Christian people are called as Paul puts it, to   put on the new man in Christ. Rejecting earthly ways and irrelevant things, and put on the values and norms and ways of heaven.  Jesus reminds as to look towards heaven, and to seek after the things that belong to heaven.

We all need constantly to look at those things which impede our inward journey to heaven, and see those things which have caused us to stray off course, miss a stone on the pilgrim way, and to seek after the sometimes painful way back.

Pray god, that as we journey on, we may be at all times, in all places, worthy of our calling, worthy of our invitation to our ultimate destination. HEAVEN.

Victor Story

GREAT MILTON METHODIST CHURCH Minister:  Revd. Derick Chambers Tel: 212019

SUNDAY SERVICES IN JULY

BENEFICE SERVICES FOR JULY