‘Having a mind to work’ and not only a mind, but heart and
hands also. Many people have had all these attributes and the culmination
of all that work has been the building of our new Church Hall: so long
a vision, now a reality. At the celebratory service prior to the opening
ceremony the Old Testament reading was from the book of Nehemiah.
It tells how Nehemiah, cup-bearer
to the Persian king, Artaxerxes, requests permission to return to
his native city of Jerusalem in order to rebuild it. The desolation
he finds on his return is worse than he had expected, but with wood
given by the king, he sets about enthusing people to share in the
great task of rebuilding the city.
The story speaks to us of vision,
generosity, despair, much labour and finally, triumph. The same may
be said of our new hall; the vision of those in the fifties who bought
‘Wayside’, the hard work of the many people who maintained
the old hall and who all the time dreamed of a time when we would
have a hall of our own adjoining the church. The vision started into
reality in the late eighties when plans were drawn up, the old hall
was sold, later ‘Wayside’ also went, land was transferred,
alterations made to the Vicarage and suddenly the whole project began
to take shape. Finally, the actual building started to rise out of
the ground. Progress was slow, the Foundation Stone, blessed by the
Bishop of London during the St. James’ Festival 1993, waited
for its final resting place. The topping-out ceremony* in December
of the same year was another milestone on the way, but it was still
another eight months before the building was eventually completed.
So it was on a sunny morning, September
the fourth, in the Year of Our Lord, Nineteen Hundred and Ninety Four
some two hundred plus people stood in the new courtyard between the
old church and the new hall to hear Mrs Vivienne Prentice, the oldest
member of the congregation, declare the hall open. In a speech before
cutting the ribbon across the doors, Mrs Prentice reminisced about
events that took place during the many years
of the old hall’s life, dances, bazaars, suppers and jumble
sales, and looked forward to a new social life for both the church
and the wider community in the near future. She spoke about the many
people who had contributed so much in earlier days and how their vision
had at last borne fruit. It was very fitting that the last hynm in
the service had been, ‘Onward, Christian Soldiers’, not
only the speaker’s favourite hymn but also one which had been
sung when the original small church was used for the first time.
In his sermon, the Vicar, the Reverend
Dr. Brian Leathard, spoke about the very attractive porch which now
joins the two buildings, somewhat in the style of a Lych-gate, as
being a bridge between the spiritual and the secular, between the
Church and the World. Now outside, he spoke again, this time to pay
tribute to all the people who had made the new building possible.
The benefactors of the past, the Fuel Allotment Charity who have been
the recent benefactors, the Architect, John Deal, Quantity Surveyors,
Builders, Stone-masons (a particular pleasure in watching him work),
Roofers, Electricians and Plumbers. The Vicar thanked in particular
two members of our own congregation who have worked unstintingly over
the years on the church and on the hall “No job too large, no
job too small”, Jack Gostling and Alan Taylor. The ribbon was
cut, and everyone trooped into the hail for refreshments, the first
of many such happy occasions.
From the porch connecting the hall
to the church, one walks down a cloister like corridor with windows
on either side. The spacious downstairs room has a beautiful wooden
strip floor and long windows at each corner. Each window gives a different
view; the churchyard, the road and the courtyard and the overall aspect
is one of light and space. Also downstairs are kitchen and toilets.
Upstairs there is a smaller, carpeted room, again with long windows
and a roof-light which is suitable for small groups of people. The
overall effect is both modern and appealing, a building for today
and for years to come.
Throughout the speeches no mention
was made of the part our Vicar has played in all this activity. When
he arrived here five years ago he realised immediately what was needed
and set about achieving his objective. With determination and, at
times, despair he gradually overcame all the obstacles that stood
in the way, and remained stoical and good-humoured through all the
inconveniences which it caused. There were alterations to the Vicarage,
a large Portacabin in the front garden for a whole year as well as
all the dust and dirt that building work always generates. We owe
our new hall as much to our present Vicar’s efforts as to his
predecessors, it will stand as a tribute to him as well as to them
and we thank him for it.
Source: The Spire Magazine - 1994
October
* In Victorian
times, ‘topping out’ marked the placing of the chimney
pots on a new house. A flag or branch was also put on the roof of
the house, and the owner would provide a firkin of ale for the men
who had built it. Nowadays, it is usually a glitzy P.R. exercise marking
the completion and handover of some prestigious commercial building,
with bubbly rather than beer. We intended ours to mark the completion
of the roof, making the building watertight, and when, due to delays,
that stage had not been reached by the programmed date of 12 December,
the impending start of Brian’s sabbatical dictated that we should
‘top out’ with only the upper roof covering in place.
Despite this, and miserable rain falling on those of us who ascended
the scaffold (including Helen as a modern day Mrs. Bligh!) with a
branch, we had a splendid ceremony, including Bucks Fizz, taking the
opportunity also to wish Brian, Ramani and Anusha ‘Bon voyage
et Bon retour!’
