August 2012

Dear Friends,

Wentworth (New) Holy Trinity was dedicated on 31 July 1877, or so according to Roy Young, the village's historian. I hope it was actually consecrated (meaning formally blessed by a bishop) for if not, all our brides today are being married, if not illegally, then at least irregularly. A church which is unconsecrated (like Harley) cannot be used for weddings. If any brides are reading this, please don't concern yourselves! I'm sure all is well.

The village the church was designed to serve may well have had a larger population than today. Few new houses have been built – an almost unique distinction and part of its charm – but families were probably larger. Virtually all of them would have gone no further than they could have walked, apart from a few farmers who owned a horse and, of course, the inhabitants of the 'big house'. As late as the 1960s, Gordon Scott tells me, estate officials such as the surveyor had to draw a car from a pool and return it by nightfall. No private jaunts were allowed! Church-wise, the result would be that the parish church functioned much as its medieval predecessor had done, as the church for the villagers. They had the advantage of a church and a vicar who knew them; and the church, in a way, had the benefit of the fact that the parishioners couldn't 'shop around' and go to another church which suited them better.

All that has changed with the general ownership of motor vehicles. People can vote with their feet (or rather wheels) and worship where they please. And the social pressures (strongly applied by the Earl himself), which enforced church attendance at least occasionally during the year, have gone. It would take some research to find out the proportion of villagers who attended church in 1877, but it would undoubtedly have been higher than now. Where Holy Trinity has benefitted is by the fact that some of those who vote with their wheels choose to come to us. Without you, the church would be a poorer place.

Because our church was built by the Fitzwilliam’s, one of if not the wealthiest noble families in late Victorian England, it is far larger and grander than the size of the village would normally merit. Over the years, I have been struck again and again by the reason people most often offer for coming, whether it be for a wedding or to worship regularly. “There is such a sense of peace here,” they say. The architect, J. L. Pearson, must take much of the credit for this. When challenged about his design for Truro Cathedral he said, “My business is to think what will bring people soonest to their knees.” Let is thank God that this still happens, and that inanimate stone is, for us, a genuine aid to mission.

Lots of churches also put their successes down to being friendly. I know we say that! And, to a degree, it is true (I'm not going to give you 100%! No point inducing complacency!). One way in which this is shown is the way everyone works together for 'efforts', things like the Garden Party. It really was noticeable this year how many people volunteered to help, how many stalls there were, and what a quantity of new ideas were contributed. And there was very little sense of 'Mrs X always does that, keep off', but a genuine welcome to new people. Some churches rely totally on congregational giving, which is fine in theory, but I think we would lose something if that ever came to pass.

Put these two things together, money and buildings, and you get ….. gutters! How dull, you might say. But if gutters fail, damage to the stonework will soon follow. So preparations are now in hand to find the finance and to get the necessary permissions to replace our wooden gutters with aluminium ones (they won't be shiny, in case you wondered, just more long-lasting). This will be a longish process, but it is important to make a start now, so as to preserve one of our best missionary assets for the next 135 years.

Our sympathy goes to Adrian, David and Jeanette Lill following the death of their father, Tom. The same sympathy is extended to Dorothy, Tom's sister, who has suffered the pain of so many bereavements in recent years. There were such a lot of people at his funeral that it was hardly possible to get everyone in, showing what a popular person he was in the village. Clearly, he will be much missed well beyond the bounds of his family. And thanks to Redz Fingado for leading the ceremony. He has lived here for so long (even though he hasn't lost his American accent!) that he knows everyone in Wentworth and has an obvious concern for all the residents, which was why the family asked for him to take the service. It is at times like these that one can be glad to live in a village where people look out for each other so well.

With best wishes,

Richard