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

For the 10.00am Parish Eucharist  for today click here

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

Sunday 14 April                    3rd Sunday of Easter

THIS WEEK'S READINGS Please ring for support:-
The Revd Keith: 509724
Wendy: 218432

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:-
Janice, Alex, Liz, Clive,
Mo, Maureen.
The long term sick and infirm:-
George, Peter, Diana, Keith, Rob.
The Ministry Team:-
Wendy, Ruth, Fiona and Marilyn.

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. 

RECTOR’S RAMBLINGS
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.

In order to watch the livestreamed services please
‘click’ on this link to
make your way to YouTube site:
https://www.youtube.com/c/StokeDamerelChurch

Sunday 14 April            Easter 3
0800 Said Holy Eucharist
1000 Sung Parish Eucharist
Celebrant: Rev Sue Nicholas

Wednesday 17 April
1000 Morning Prayer

Sunday 21 April            Easter 4
0800 Said Holy Eucharist
Celebrant: Rev Preb Jennie Appleby
1000 Sung Parish Eucharist
Celebrant: The Ven Jane Bakker,
Archdeacon of Plymouth

WELCOME
To the Revd Sue Nicholas who will be leading our
10am Eucharist today.

From Fr Keith:
Thank you to everyone who made last Sunday so
special. So many poured into the church and then
to an excellent lunch in the Parish Centre
afterwards. Thank you to Marilyn for co-ordinating
the event; to those who set up the Parish
Centre and who cleared away on Monday. Thank
you to those who brought food and a big salute to
the Galley Slaves: Emma, Russell and Ian who
bore the heat of the day and served piping hot
food.
I wish also to say to you all a huge thank you for
your exceedingly generous gift you made to me for
appreciation of my time with you. The chair is on
order and should arrive within the next six weeks,
which I hope will be just after Steve and I have
moved into our new home. Trust me, I will enjoy
sitting back and reading the eSunday Sheet and see
with what new ventures you will engage.
Throughout the Easter Season in the readings of
scripture there are mandatory chunks from St
Luke’s Acts of the Apostles. As I was reminded at
an Induction Service for a new Incumbent at
Milber, this Book is not the Reminiscences or
Musing of the Apostles, nor are they the History or
Anecdotes of the Apostles; no, they are ACTS –
Actions of the Early Church. Invigorated by the
Resurrection; empowered by the Holy Spirit, the
Apostles and their fellow Christians boldly
proclaimed the raising from the dead of Jesus, and
as we read in Acts of the Apostles 2:47b “And day
by day the Lord added to their number those who
were being saved”.
Therefore, good people of Stoke Damerel, as the
angels said to the men and women after the
Ascension, “They said, ‘Men and women of
Galilee, why do you stand looking up towards
heaven?” This is not time for impeding the Gospel
but looking for creative ways in growing
leadership and discovering new ways to spread the
Gospel. With the election of the new Parochial
Church Council, you have the opportunity to
welcome in fresh blood, new experiences, eager
volunteers to expand the congregation and bring
new ways of fundraising. Please do listen to the
holy Spirit and be prepared to be prompted to ACT
and be prepared to grow!
Thank you from Steve and me for you all
welcoming us into your community and for giving
us the opportunity to share our life with you. We
both wish you every blessing and good fortune.
Fr Keith (and Steve).


FIONA’S FOOTNOTES
And so, Fr Keith has left us... and what a gap he
leaves! I, for one, will still be in touch with him,
because as someone who is still in training there is
so much for me to still learn, and I shall be making
use of his extensive knowledge, albeit from the
distance of Dartmouth. I was delighted to see so
many people joining us for his final Sunday
Eucharist, as I’m sure he was too. I was only sad
that I wasn’t able to join you all for his farewell
lunch afterwards. Unfortunately, I had only just
returned from a week-long residential in Salisbury
which, whilst highly enjoyable, had also taken its
toll on me and I needed to go home and rest for a
bit. As some of you will know I often suffer from
migraines (not brought on by the church, I hasten
to add!) and after a long week of early starts, late
finishes, and multiple lectures, I was a bit done in.
On the subject of my week away in Salisbury, it
was as enjoyable as last years’, with slightly less
free time. Our lectures for the week were on
bereavement, funeral ministry, and confession and
reconciliation. It was all rather deep. After arriving
on the Monday and settling in, we began with our
first lecture, which was followed by.... another
lecture. Our first day began slightly differently,
with Holy Communion from the Book of Common
Prayer; a nice change from Common Worship
which is our usual style of service. Indeed, every
day at SWMTC starts and ends in the same way,
with Holy Communion early in the morning and
Compline late at night. We are told beforehand that
the residential marches on prayer and its stomach.
The course takes care of the prayer, and the school
takes care of the food, and they do feed us most
excellently. Perhaps it wasn’t the early mornings
and late nights I needed to recover from, but the
excessive amounts of food I consumed! After
fourteen (I counted them) lectures, a visit to
Salisbury Cathedral for evening prayer, and an
afternoon spent on an interfaith visit to
Southampton, we finished the week as we began,
with Holy Communion. I then spent the next three
or so hours in traffic driving along the A303.
As a side note, the interfaith visit was hugely
enjoyable, one of the highlights of the week. We
visited a Sikh Temple and then a Hindu Temple,
where we were guided through the hallmarks of
the respective faiths and shown so much
hospitality that it was humbling. I also ate the
nicest curry I have ever tasted at the Sikh temple.
Some photographic evidence of the fun had on the
residential are attached.



We were doing the Time Warp....

And so, I returned home and straight back to
assignment writing. I have three left before the end
of the year, which is equal to one each month. Not
wanting to wish my life away but roll on the end.
of June when I can hand in the last one and cheer.
But before we get to the end of June and my final
assignment for my second year, there is still one
more session of ‘The Bible Course’ to watch (did
you like my segue in to that...!). The Bible Course
has been such an interesting and informative, not
to mention hugely enjoyable way to learn a bit
more about the Bible. I have gone on a number of
courses and can honestly say that this is, by far, the
most enjoyable one. My thanks go to Marilyn and
Elaine who have wonderfully assisted me in
providing soups for our light lunch at our sessions.
I shall be sad to finish this course, but I have
already begun to re-watch each episode because
they are so informative. But, even though the last
session of this course will be on Thursday 25th
April at 11am, two weeks’ later we will begin
something new.
Drum roll please....

The Chosen

Should you be unaware of what ‘The Chosen’ is, it
is a serialised television show, retelling the story of
the Gospels from the perspective of the disciples of
Jesus. I have seen all of the episodes which are
available to watch in the UK, and from the first
time I watched it I was struck at just how
incredibly moving it was. The makers of the show
have really brought the life of Jesus ‘to life’. My
only recommendation is to have tissues at the
ready. When you witness Jesus performing a
miracle on the television it hits your heart. There
are currently three seasons available in the UK and
we will begin watching them in the parish centre
from the 9th of May at 11am. If you are able to
join us you will be most welcome.
Finally, this week we welcome Sue Nicholas to our
parish to celebrate Holy Communion with us. I
know you will all make her feel very welcome, and
I will do my best to ensure that everything goes
smoothly from a ‘serving’ point of view. Having
had some pointers I shall be keeping my fingers
crossed that all the IT behaves itself and the
microphones do their job well.
With love and prayers
Fiona

Readers and Intercessors
Could those who are reading the first or second
reading and the intercessions please let either
Fiona, or the priest visiting us, know that you are
there on the Sunday you are doing your reading.
Whilst Fr Keith knew everyone’s name and face,
visiting priests probably won’t (and Fiona isn’t that
good at putting faces to names!) and so identifying
yourself before the service starts will be really
helpful. Thank you all for your help.
Fiona

Annual Church Meeting and Annual Parochial
Church Meeting
Notice is hereby given that on Sunday 28 April
2024 after the 1000 Parish Eucharist will be held
the Annual Church Meeting (to elect church
wardens) and Annual Parochial Church Meeting
(to elect members of the parochial church council
{PCC}).

Electoral Roll
Notice was given on Sunday 17 March 2024 
that the roll is now open for revision and will
close on Sunday 14 April 2024 whereupon it
will be displayed from Sunday 14 April until
Sunday 28 April 2024 – the date set for the
Annual Parochial Church Meeting.

MARILYN'S MEMOS

FATHER KEITH’S CELEBRATION LUNCH

Over a period of some weeks now, we have been
“cooking up” plans for a splendid send-off for our
esteemed incumbent! A crowd of volunteers
pitched up on Saturday morning to lay tables,
decorate the room, organise the veg ( delegating
gravy making to Fr Keith). It all looked beautiful
and surprised everyone that the parish centre seats
so many people in comfort. Eleven folk
contributed cottage pie/shepherd’s pie/vegetarian
and vegan options as a main course, and a
multitude brought the most delicious array of
deserts you could imagine. We took the liberty of
keeping a selection back as there were so many:
these we will lay out on Sunday coffee time if
everyone is happy with this plan. Apple crumble
anyone? 70+ of our congregation and friends
subscribed to attending, although sadly several
were unable to come due to late commitments or
being unwell. (We missed you) Fr Keith invited Fr
David Way and his wife Sue from St Peter’s, a
friend Michael (whose mum wasn’t on top form)
and, of course, Steve. They were resplendent on
the “top table”, especially Fr Keith in his naval
regalia and medals. I believe everyone thoroughly
enjoyed the lunch and massive thanks must be
given to those who contributed to the meal, and an
even more MASSIVE thanks to the cool and calm
kitchen team of Emma, Russell and Ian, who are
stars. (Their skills have been noted for future
reference) However, there were many more who
helped clear up following the meal which almost
made the Monday volunteers redundant (we found
them jobs).
Prior to our meal, we celebrated our last Eucharist
with Fr. Keith as our incumbent. There were many
in the congregation to say farewell, in particular a
large contingent from the chapel of St Nicholas,
HMS Drake. The choir sang their best and the
whole Eucharist was splendid. Andrew Brown,
PCC chairman, presented Fr Keith with our
collection, which due to late additions amounted to
over £900 which will be a great help in purchasing
the STRESS LESS chair of choice, for Fr Keith’s
future retirement. Long may he sit in it and think
of us!

We all wish him a very successful and happy year
at Britannia Royal Naval College. Our
appreciation of his ministry, leadership, sense of
humour and joie de vivre is boundless. Profound
thanks from us all. We are missing you already!

Monday clear up
Well on Monday morning a crowd of volunteers
arrived to clear tables and attack the washing up
but.............the bulk of the chores had been done
by the equally willing volunteers on Sunday!!!
So nothing else to be done but to get the gas oven
vent filter in the dishwasher and clean the
surrounding stainless steel coated in grease ( thank
the Mick: see what ace RM training does for
you...... lucky Sue, your kitchen filters must be
immaculate).

Trevor was hard at it clearing the blocked drain
with his magic machine, working splendidly at
first but slowing considerably. More to come. John
did an amazing job with Henry Hoover as Rosie
swept the very dirty church floor. So much footfall
on Sunday!

Too many tasks completed to be mentioned.

DAMAGED WALL IN LOWER STOKE
DAMEREL CHURCH YARD
A letter has been received from the Parks
Department to report that the offending wall below
the pre-school boundary will be inspected and on
the strength of the inspection, repairs will be
carried out.
Any extraneous items found around this area
which might have fallen from above must be
reclaimed, or risk being labelled as fly tipping
which is an fineable offence.




HAPPY BIRTHDAY IN APRIL
Chris Tozer, Jenny Storey, Matt Forster.

DATES FOR YOUR DIARY
Apr 28 APCM
Jul 13 Summer Fair
Sep 7 Devon Historic Churches Open Day
Oct 13 Harvest Thanksgiving
Oct 20 St. Luke’s Thanksgiving
Nov 22/23 Christmas Fair

BACK INTO THE GARDEN
For a number of weeks now we have somewhat
neglected the garden down in Cornwall. If truth be
known, we do have a few excuses. Firstly, the
weather. There has been an excess of rainy days
which means that the ground is waterlogged most
of the time. The grassed areas are in need of a trim,
but not yet dry enough to mow with the lawn
mower. I might need to get out the garden shears,
just to shorten the grass enough before mowing
when drier weather arrives. There were also a few
days back in March when we felt too cold to
venture out. Throughout this period, we have also
experienced more than enough days with very
strong winds. One evening, earlier this week we
could hear a great roaring sound, even through the
double-glazed patio door. Opening the door, we
could see that the cause of the sound was the, not-
too-distant, line of Aspen trees swaying drunkenly
in all directions. Thankfully none were brought
down by the wind.
Earlier on the afternoon of the same day, we had
driven through Perranarworthal, noticing that the
river level on the other side of the bank was almost
at the same level as the road. That evening the
local television news showed film of cars on the
same road, travelling through water up to their
axles. We had made it just before the Spring Tide
reached its peak and flooded the road. That same
night, the local news also showed beach huts, at
Falmouth’s Castle Beach, floating out to sea. The
next day many local people turned up to help with
the clearing up – very heartening in the
circumstances.
Added to the weather, Stoke church has been very
busy with all of the annual Easter services. Then,
Easter was quickly followed by everyone willingly
working towards the wish to give Father Keith a
suitable celebratory farewell, giving him thanks for
all of his hard work over the last five years. From
his reaction I think we succeeded. I am sure we
would all rather see him staying at Stoke.
However, with the uncertain future of some
international relations, his return to Britannia
Royal Naval College, Dartmouth will no doubt be
of value to the nation.
So, back to the garden. Over the winter we had left
many areas alone, following the guidance to allow
local wildlife some areas in which to survive
through the worst weather. We actually
experienced one sunny day earlier this week, so we
started to catch up with all of the garden jobs that
should already have been undertaken.
We did manage to sow some Sweet Pea seeds
earlier which, having grown tall, have now finally
been potted on. We have now managed to sow a
few more vegetable and flower seeds, which,
hopefully, will now catch up with where they
should be.
However, looking around the garden, it is
heartening to see that, even without any attention
from us, many flowers are appearing as usual. The
Daffodils and Narcissi have come and gone, as has
the Forsythia and Magnolia. Some of the Camelias
have finished flowering but others are only now
starting to flower, as are the two Lilac trees and
many colourful Tulips.

Most of the large Rose bushes were pruned-back
earlier in the year and are now showing the first
small buds. However, just noticed in a planting
box near to the bungalow, a small Patio Rose
already has two very small dark red (and a bit
dampened) blooms. So cheering.

Hoping now for more warmer and drier weather so
that we can do more catching up and see the
garden quickly come to life again.
Tony Barnard