THE PARISH CHURCH OF STOKE                
DAMEREL (ST. ANDREW & ST. LUKE)

Email:   info@stokedamerel.church                                          
www.Stokedamerel.church
www.facebook.com/StokeDamerelChurch

Please note: Stoke Damerel Church does not divulge
personal information to third parties.

Sunday 3rd August    7th Sunday after Trinity

THIS WEEK'S READINGS Merciful God,
we entrust to your tender care
those who are ill or in pain,
knowing that whenever danger threatens
your everlasting arms
are there to hold them safe.
Comfort and heal them,
and restore them to health and strength;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.

PLEASE PRAY FOR:-
The sick:-
Maureen, John and Shirley, Margaret, Graham, Kathy.
The long term sick and infirm:-
George, Peter, Diana, Liz, Keith, Rob, Clive.
The recently departed:-
We give thanks for the lives of Vicky Springall and
Terry Brown and we pray for their families and friends
at this sad time.
The Ministry Team:-
Wendy, Ruth, Marilyn and Rhona.

BLESSED SACRAMENT CANDLE

If you would like to have the candle lit for a week
for a particular prayer / thanksgiving /
commemoration, etc., please send a £5 donation to
Debbie Smith, clearly marking your donation as
being for the candle. Details of your intention can
be emailed to:- sarah.lundstrom@virginmedia.com
so that a mention of the commemoration, etc., can
appear in the Sunday Sheet.

SERVICES THIS WEEK
Stoke Damerel Parish Church is a hybrid church
open for public worship and private prayer and all
services will be live streamed.
By attending a live streamed service, you give
implied permission to have your image captured
on CCTV and to be broadcast as participant in the
liturgy.

Watch our livestreamed services
Please follow the link to make your way to our YouTube page: 

 STOKE DAMEREL YOUTUBE CHANNEL 

Sunday 3 August            7th Sunday after Trinity
0800 Holy Eucharist
Celebrant: Rev’d Sue Nicholas
1000 Sung Parish Eucharist
Celebrant: Rev’d Sue Nicholas

Wednesday 6 August
1000 Said Eucharist
followed by parish outing – see Marilyn’s Memos
Celebrant: Rev Brian Wood

Friday 8 August
1130 Funeral of Terry Brown

Sunday 10 August        8th Sunday after Trinity
0800 Holy Eucharist
Celebrant: Rev’d Sue Nicholas
1000 Sung Parish Eucharist
Celebrant: The Ven Jane Bakker,
Archdeacon of Plymouth

WELCOME BACK
To Rev’d Sue who will be leading both services
today.
Next Sunday, Archdeacon Jane will be presiding
and preaching at 10am. It would be good if as
many people as possible could attend this service.

TERRY BROWN
Many of you will have heard by now of the death
of Terry Brown. A very faithful member of St.
Aubyn and Stoke Damerel churches who lived
with Parkinson's Disease over the last 20 years.
His funeral will take place in Stoke Damerel
church, conducted by Rev Sue, on Friday
8th August at 11.30am. All are welcome to attend.
If you would also like to attend the Crematorium
after at 1pm, please could you let Rev Sue know
on Sunday when she is presiding at the 8am and
10am services, or get a message to her - the family
would like to be able to estimate rough numbers.
Rev’d Sue

CALL ‘TWO ARMS’
Once a month a craft group have an all day
booking to use the Parish Centre providing regular
income for the Centre / Church. To support them I
attend at 09:30-09:45 and 15:30-15:45 to put out /
away tables for them to use. I will not be available
on Saturday August 30th August. Any volunteer(s)
who could provide cover on that day?
Thanks.
Ian G

BLANKETS FOR UKRAINE

A few more warm blankets sent off.
Thanks to every contributor.
Ruth J

RUTH’S REFLECTIONS
I am writing this from the CMS Conference. Here
at All Nations College, Ware in Hertfordshire,
nestled amongst green fields and on flight paths
from Heathrow and Stanstead are a group of
Mission Partners, area Hub leaders, prospective
candidates and those who are finishing their
service. For me there are many new faces, some
Mission Partners who I have never met before and
especially new members of staff. Later in the week
we will be welcoming the new CEO so much
anticipation as to what is next for CMS.

I wanted to share with you some thoughts from the
first session I attended today. The theme for the
times of reflection is “Here am I”. Many
individuals in both the Old and New Testaments
responded to God at work in their lives with this
response “Here am I”. This morning it was Mary,
and we cannot mention her without mentioning her
sister, Martha. A few verses in Luke 10 show us
that her response to Jesus was focused on His
presence. He was there with her holding her
attention. Her devotion to what he was saying
contrasted with her sister being busy serving and
doing what any host would do when visitors arrive.
But before we judge Martha and her worries and
concerns, Jesus notices her too. Her service was
important, just as any service we may offer, but all
of us need to prioritize devotion in our walk with
God.
That leads us on to the second passage we looked
at. Here we have Mary, Martha and her brother
Lazarus. Our devotion to God is often shaped with
suffering. We have a situation here where Lazarus
had died (John 11 v 17-21, 28-29) and Mary was
sitting in the house with other women whilst her
sister goes running to find Jesus as he was coming
and accusing him of just not being there when
needed. “If you had been here, my brother would
not have died”. Whilst Mary was sitting with her
grief, Martha was certainly out for finding answers
to why and what? Martha’s encounter with Jesus
led her to find her sister saying “The Teacher has
come and is calling for you”. The devotion that
Mary offered was noticed. Our encounters with
Christ often come during suffering, in this case the
death of a loved one. Perhaps our closest moment
to Jesus are the times when we are in despair or in
pain or asking questions that no on can seem to
answer. I have noticed that many very spiritual
people, saints and martyrs, have suffered much
pain and it is through that experience that God
walks alongside and reveals himself to us. Many
who show themselves to have experienced God
deeply have walked the journey of pain and
suffering.
The final example we were given, was Mary again
showing her devotion and love for Jesus. Martha
was serving as was her custom and this time
Lazarus was there sitting with Jesus at the table
and then Mary did a shocking thing. She had
brought a bottle of expensive perfume and
anointed Jesus’ feet. It was done in public, it was
an expensive gesture, and yet despite the adverse
reaction from Judas Iscariot, it was Mary’s
devotion to Jesus that was displayed. There was no
reservation or hint of embarrassment, fully devoted
to her Saviour. Truly she loved him. “Mary has
done a beautiful thing”.
To finish our session, we were challenged with
these questions - Is Christ at the centre of all that
we do? Where is our devotional heart? Can we or
do we sit at the feet of Jesus?
Just a few thoughts from All Nations at this
Summer Conference with CMS.
Ruth

MARILYN'S MEMOS
FELLOWSHIP DAY OUT TO BUCKFAST ABBEY
On Wednesday 6th August, we will be visiting
Buckfast Abbey for our annual fellowship day.
We have a Eucharist with Rev. Brian at 10 am and
will be leaving at 10.45 am. Please let us know on
Sunday if you would like to join us as we are
filling individual cars and sharing petrol/diesel so
£5 each to the driver. As we will have celebrated
before our visit, we will not be holding a service at
Buckfast but might join together before departing
to offer a prayer of thanks and supplication for
peace. We will return by 5pm. There is plenty to
do at the Abbey: shopping, visiting the amazing
worship space, admiring the massive stained glass
window, the gardens and the café!

HELP NEEDED WITH DISPOSAL OF ITEMS AND BLACK BAGS
There are boxes of unwanted bric-a-brac in the rear
porch. PLEASE could anyone take them to a
charity shop? They have been there since the
summer fair. Similarly, if you see any black bags
near the entrance, could you take them home.
Father Keith used to take them but since he left,
the recycling is not removed. We do not pay for a
recycling bin. Many thanks.

Marilyn

HAPPY BIRTHDAY IN AUGUST
Jack Price, Penny Barnard, Maureen Wilson,
Catherine Gillhespy, Emma Bell, Ann Pitt.

HEDGEHOGS
Time was, only a few years ago, when especially
from dusk onwards, it was not uncommon to see at
least one hedgehog, either in the garden or slowly
trundling along a quiet street. Records indicate that
about 60 years ago, there were in the region of 36
million in the UK. Since then, the numbers thought
to exist in this country have dropped to below 1
million. The species could now be getting close to
extinction. It would be a tragedy to lose an animal
that has existed on this planet for so much longer
than we have - in the region of 15 million years.
Loss of habitat is thought to be one of the
problems. Although numbers are well down in
rural areas, more are being spotted in urban
settings. Maybe this is because more gardens are
becoming accessible to them. In our case, they can
certainly gain access from all sides, with gaps
under fences being large enough. There are areas
which we have left to go wild, with rotting logs
and suitable nesting material. We are certainly glad
to see them, hopefully reducing the population of
slugs and snails that we always seem to have.
Late one night, earlier this year there were loud
snuffling sounds from two hedgehogs that seemed
to be circling each other on the grass. Apparently,
this is part of their courtship. Since then, we have
frequently heard them rustling in the undergrowth
and regularly find droppings on the garden paths.
Then, just before dusk, one recent evening, we
witnessed one hedgehog boldly moving along a
path very close to where we were gardening.
Grabbing my camera, I followed the hedgehog
along the path, snuffling through an area of
brambles and wildflowers. Freezing at my
approach, the photograph below was the best I
could manage, a small eye looking up at me,
towards the right of the photograph.

Quite often, we close the toolshed door after all the
tools have been put away and darkness has fallen.
One morning last week, I opened the shed door
and commented that, seeing droppings on the
doormat, a hedgehog must have visited the
previous day. Then I noticed a familiar shape
sticking out of an almost empty seedcompost bag.
It was a young hedgehog, which must have been
the shed when I had closed the door the night
before.

The sun was shining in and warming up the
sleeping creature, so I found a garden umbrella to
provide some shade. Eventually, it moved deep
into the bag. As I stood in the doorway, I heard
rustling coming from another larger compost bag
on the other side of the shed, tucked in behind a
folding garden table. On investigation this bag
contained a larger adult hedgehog, also still fast
asleep, but in a shady and cooler area of the shed.

Not sure what to do, I placed a bowl of water near
to the doorway and, following a search of the web,
a saucer of damp Weetabix, along with a couple of
Banana slices and a few Blueberries. Throughout
the rest of the day, both ‘hogs’ did not move,
presumably enjoying their slumbers, after the
stress of being locked in the night before, when
they should have been out foraging. Come the
evening, I sat on the nearby bench, with camera,
awaiting their departure, but with no success. I
eventually decided to investigate. Food and water
both undisturbed but both compost sacks now
without occupants. They must have escaped during
the day when we were elsewhere. So, having failed
to snap them on departure, I persuaded our stone
doorstop to stand in, exiting past the shed door

I fear that I have upset our visitors, they seem to be
giving our garden a wide berth now, fearful of
being ‘held hostage’ again. Hopefully, they will
return in the not-too-distant future. Meanwhile, I
will now check the shed for visitors before shutting
up each evening!
Tony Barnard