The Newsletter of the Parish of St Mary, East Barnet

April 2018 Issue No. 2

James’ last sermon

As many of you know our Rector, Rev James Mustard, has left East Barnet to take up his new position as Can-on Precentor at Exeter Cathedral in Devon. The following is his final sermon which he de-livered on Mothering Sunday, 11th March.

“I realised looking back through my diary and photographs that I’ve done all this be-fore. I left my previous parish to this one, St Peter’s Eaton Square, on Mothering Sunday 2012. I looked through my address that day. Then, I suggested Mothering Sunday is one of the most important days of the church’s year. Not because our mothers are important (though they are), but because it

Continued on pg. 6

In October 2016, myself and Tracy and Rod Barker walked from Wembley in NW Lon-don to Battle, East Sussex in support of the National Brain Appeal and the National Autis-tic Society. Our 87-mile trek crossed both city and country and the three of us were priv-ilaged to be joined by at least a dozen others who partici-pated in walk-ing with us along the way,

Our 85 mile charity walk

Only online

HeraldEast Barnet

pages 6-9

A tribute to James

pages 10-11

Church extension project moves into

next stage

page 5

A brief history of our church

including churchwarden, Rog-er Melling, who joined us for the last 45 miles, and former Rector, James Mustard, who joined us on the last day. The walk took 4 days in total, a lot of perseverance, strength, and foot cream but we did it. Our overnight stops were in Pimli-co, London; Continued on pg. 4

The group from

2016’s walk in

Burwash Common,

East Sussex

What’s on...

April 2018 The East Barnet Herald

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Issue No. 2

Every Easter Monday, parishes from across the Di-ocese walk to St Albans to attend a magnificant ser-vice in the Abbey at 3pm. Why not join St Mary’s this year? It’s a great 13 mile walk through the country-side with wonderful company. All ages are welcome. Don’t worry - we have a few refreshment stops along the way and a back-up vehicle for anyone is una-ble to complete the journey. For more info, contact Roger or Heather Melling (020 8449 2283) and if you’re planning on joining us, email Roger (melling@globalspirit.net). Easter Monday is 2nd April, we’ll be leaving from Brookside Methodist Church at 7:30am.

Easter Monday Pilgrimage

St Mary’s during the vacancyDuring our interrectorem (period without a Rector), St Mary’s continues to worship every week as normal. However, there will be fewer evening services so please check the worship dates on the following page. If you wish to contact a member of clergy or lay clergy, please contact the Parish Office and they will pass you on. We are very grateful to Rev Dr Jenny King, our associate minister; Rev Patrick Moriarty, our curate; and Mr Dave Griffin, our lay reader, and other visiting clergy for their support in continuing worship at St Mary’s during the vacancy. If you require pasto-ral assistance then you can contact our Pastoral Visiting Team. You can also contact our churchwardens, Roger and Chris. All contact details are on the back page.

Table Top SaleCome and grab a bargain at St Mary’s next Table Top Sale.

All sorts for sale.Saturday 28th April, 2pm to 4pm

Have some things to sell? - why not book a table for just £10? Please email us (events.smeb@gmail.com) or call the Parish Office (details on back page)

Everyone welcome!

Worship over the next few weeks...

April 2018 The East Barnet Herald

Sunday 1st AprilEaster Day10:00am All Age Eucharist followed by

Easter Egg Hunt

Monday 2nd AprilEaster Monday

7:30am Pilgrimage Walk to St Albans. Leave Brookside Methodist Church at 7:30am. Service at the Abbey at 3pm

Sunday 8th AprilSecond Sunday of Easter

10:00am Parish Eucharist

Sunday 15th AprilThird Sunday of Easter

10:00am Parish Eucharist3:00pm Concert from The String Quartet

Sunday 6th May Sixth Sunday of Easter

For the younger generation...Toddler Praise10:30-11:45am 1st and 3rd Mondays of the month at St Mary’s Church

Little Tots9:30-11:30pm every Thursday during term time at Brookside Methodist Church Hall

Sunday Club10am every Sunday (except all-age services) at Church Hill School

St Mary’s Young LeadersFor young people wishing to become more involved in the life of the churchRuns once per year

For more info on children’s activities, please contact Claire Driscoll (07957 584516)

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Sunday 22nd AprilFourth Sunday of Easter

10:00am Parish Eucharist

Sunday 29th AprilFifth Sunday of Easter

10:00am Parish Eucharist

Issue No. 2

10:00am All Age Eucharist with farewell to our Curate, Rev Patrick Moriarty

6:30pm Evensong

Our series of Spring into Summer con-certs continues with ‘Pop Up Classical’ from The String Quartet on Sunday 15th April at 3pm at St Mary’s. Tickets and programme are £5 at the door. All are welcome. More details on pg.12. Other concerts in the series include:

20th May - Art Deco Orchestra17th June - The Anern String Trio15th July - Enfield Brass Band

Spring into Summer

Lent CourseOur series of talks for this Lent Course concludes with our final session after Easter entitled ‘One holy, catholic and apostolic church’ on Wednesday 18th April at 8pm and on Thursday 19th April at 2pm at Brookside Methodist Church.

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April 2018 The East Barnet Herald

Continued from front page

Halstead, Kent; and Royal Tunbridge Wells, Kent - a good bed was well deserved.

The aches and pains were well worth it - the walk was a huge success and raised over £3,600 which was split almost evenly between the two char-ities. May I add a huge thanks to all those who made it a success; all those who walked, donated, helped organise, and spread the word with others. It was a great privilage to have such a huge network of supporters.

We all joked after the walk that we’d love to do it again. We all had had so much enjoy-ment and felt a real bond and camaraderie between us. Over time with the last one being such a success, I began to plan our next walk.

For four days from 9th to 12th April 2018, myself, Tracy Barker, Stephanie Barker, Rod Barker, and John Duncan will be walking around 85 miles from Salisbury in Wiltshire to Oxford in Oxfordshire. Our walk will take us through 3 counties and right across the North Wessex Downs through some of Britain’s most scenic and historic countryside.

Our walk begins at Salis-bury Cathedral from where we head north following the Salisbury Avon, passing the ancient monuments of Old Sarum and Stonehenge before reaching our night’s rest in Amesbury. Day 2 sees us con-tinue to head north through the countryside passing two

From L to R: John Duncan, John Savage, Rod Barker, Matthew Eade, and Tracy Barker who will be joining this year’s walk. We also will be joined by Stephanie Barker and Roger Melling.

Issue No. 2

and crossing the Thames’ old-est bridge before arriving in the city famous for its spires.

Like last time, this walk is in support of two charities. I have selected to sponsor Childline, a free 24hr coun-selling service for children and young people; and The Alzheimer’s Society, one of Britain’s largest care and research charities for peo-ple with dementia and their carers.

It promises to be a great experience for those of us walking and we all are look-ing forward to the challenge.

Matthew Eade

If you would like to sponsor us, please go to bit.ly/eadewalk to donate or if you would prefer to donate cash, there will be a do-nation tin at the back of St Mary’s Church every Sunday morning after worship. A huge thank you to all those who are walk-ing and supporting our challenge.

From the Editor...

white horses and a stop for lunch in Pewsey. Our third day starts by following the River Kennet to quaint Marl-borough and then up an an-cient Roman road, crossing the M4 and passing the fa-mous Uffington white horse. We arrive for our final night’s stop just outside Faringdon. The final day is the flattest of all, following the Thames Path

April 2018 The East Barnet Herald

Possibly on an earlier Saxon site, the church was built on the brow of

a wooded hill that overlooked water-meadows. The Benedic-tine monks from the Abbey of St Albans dedicated it to St Mary the Virgin in 1080 to minister to the needs of the local villagers of Barnet.

There, swineherds and woodsmen would have lived frugal lives in simple wattle and daub cottages – maybe occasionally harassed by wild bore and wolves. The church would have been considered substantial by its parishion-ers, being of rubble-filled lime plaster walls with stone around its meagre openings – a single door and small, high windows into which glass would not be fitted for anoth-er century.

The earthen floors, the high pitched clay-tiled roof, the dark interior would be re-vered by those early villagers.

Their priests would have been the monks themselves for the Abbots were both Pa-tron and Rector of the Parish until the Reformation.

A semi-circular chancel may have been added to the eastern end to form an apse which was later squared off to extend the length of the church in the 14th century.

The building underwent a number of improvements and enhancements over the following centuries including an improved chancel in 1632, a bell-tower in 1828 (the bells were added in 1861), a south aisle in 1868, a north transept in 1880 in which to house the organ in 1920 and a vestry block in 1911.

The graveyard was fully utilised. The ancient yews and other trees would have rained down their leaves over the centuries and the ground

The St Mary’s storyDick Selby

around the church slowly rose. The ancient headstones became covered and today only the tops of some graves can be seen. There will be many that have been buried and may never be discovered.

A number of imposing monuments dominate the churchyard and their histo-ries are well documented. The lych-gate was erected in 1872 with its distinctive stile to discourage the animals which grazed the surrounding fields from trampling the hallowed ground or eating the poison-ous yew leaves.

Internally, a gallery had-been added, the roof raised, new stained glass windows were dedicated. Heating and electric lighting were installed before the end of the 20th century but the Norman north wall remains as a reminder that this is the oldest build-ing in the London Borough of Barnet and probably one of the oldest parish churches in London.

Substantial houses were built near the church and across the meadows by wealthy Londoners who wished to live beyond the un-healthy environs of the city. Other large mansions were built in the valley at the junc-tion of two historic roadways which crossed the ‘Katbrygge’, which spanned the ‘Medeseye’ – slow meadow stream. The villagers moved down the hill to be nearer this busy com-munity leaving their church secluded in its tranquil oasis.

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Issue No. 2

St Mary’s East Barnet in c.1787

Rev James Mustard, Former Rector of East Barnet (2012-2018)

From the Pulpit...

April 2018 The East Barnet Herald

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Issue No. 2

gives us the opportunity to put aside much of the usu-al “Alpha Male” vocabulary with which we describe God: power, dominion, authority, kingdom, victory. In addi-tion, we also jettison much of the language of financial transaction with which we associate God: ransom and redemption, to name but two. Instead, this is the day when we can embrace a whole other vocabulary of God through our understanding of nurture and motherhood: God of love, care, tenderness, creator, life-giver and sustainer to name but a few.

That was then, at a church dedicated to one of Christian-ity’s alpha-males, Peter, sur-rounded by the trappings of wealth and power of a great metropolis. Reading through that address I recalled the constant edge of adrenalin in the air, the thrill of being at the heart of things, and the need to help the church and congregation look at all of that with a critical edge.

Now to St Mary’s East Barnet, and another fare-well, today, six years after my previous farewell. From Westminster, East Barnet is a Green Hill, far away, without the City Wall, or Travelcard Zone 1, at least. And what are my reflections on this Moth-ering Sunday? Broadly, they

are the same. The importance of this day is the challenge it poses to the alpha-maleness of the rest of the church and the church’s year. However here, in this parish, I am not sure that it needs to be said quite so forcefully.

I’m a big believer in patron saints of parishes. The lives of the saints inform church communities, provide a focus of faithfulness and disciple-ship and can give a church and congregation a particular “character”. Thus far, I’ve been in two churches dedicated to Peter, and I’m about to go to a cathedral dedicated to Saints Peter AND Paul – a double alpha-male whammy. So this sojourn in a parish dedicat-ed to Mary has been quite a change for me. And, all things considered, I have enjoyed it.

For this parish dedicated to Mary seems to embody many of the nurturing qualities I listed above. For sure, we could always do things better, and I hope you will be able to forgive me when I have failed you. But, overall, I think this is parish that sits lightly with the more alpha-male traits of the church and I think, gen-erally, there is a lightness of touch to the ministry that we have here. It seems to me to be a place that is more nur-turing than powerful, more sustaining than victorious.

In any case, we have today the opportunity to consider the mothering ministry of the church, and the maternal min-istry of this parish. Mothering is, of course, not confined to mothers alone. We have heard that remarkable exchange at

James (left) with former Curate, Rev Sam Korn

Continued from front page

the foot of the Cross. Jesus handing over his mother to John. Of course, the moth-ering in that situation is not one-way: John takes Mary into his home. John mothers Mary as much as Mary is a mother to John. The roles that we all have are somewhat flu-id. Carers need care, mothers need mothering and ministers need ministering unto.

And it seems to me that this shifting of roles, of identi-ties that are somewhat am-biguous, even fluid, the heart of what a church community is. It’s the place were al-pha-males can explore what it means to serve and be served. It’s the place where people can explore their gifts for leadership and grow in new and unexpected ways. It’s the place were Peters can become Marys, and Marys can have a go at being Pauls.

That is the joy and radical-ism of the Church. We are allbaptised into one body. A body that, as St Pauls reminds is neither Jew nor Greek, Slave or Free, male or female. Whatever you bring from the world outside, you can leave at the church door. Because this is the place where what-ever and whoever you are

outside this place plays sec-ond fiddle to the fact that you are a baptised member of the Body of Christ. That, above all else, in this place, is who you are.

But the really refreshing thing about ministry in this parish, is that I’ve never, in six years, felt that I’ve had to say that. It’s just how it is here. But, as I recall from ministry elsewhere, and in my experience of other par-ishes locally, by no means the case in all churches. Cer-tainly, I think the ministry of women here and elsewhere has helped enormously. But I think there is a lightness of touch, a willingness to be vul-nerable, and an openness to change that is unusual to go. here, and it is precious. It is precious, because I think it is the very essence of what the church is and should always be: a place where people are accepted as they are, and can become the people God made them to be because they are cherished as members of the diverse body of Christ.

I’m leaving you all today. That’s not easy for any of us. I’ve grown accustomed to this place and, in as much as I am very excited about my new

April 2018 The East Barnet Herald Issue No. 2

ministry, it is quite daunting. But it is the right time for me The parish has bold and excit-ing schemes in the pipeline, lay ministries that are bur-geoning, and an exceptionally capable team of clergy, min-isters and lay people. You will be fine. And, I have no doubt that you will flourish. What I will take with me is the expe-rience not only of ministering to you, but of your ministries towards each other. I will take with me the experience of ministry done in partnership with Shaun, Colin before him and our Methodist friends; of ministry through education and the dedication of Mel Ad-ams and so many at St Mary’s School. You are all fortunate: these actions, attitudes and relationships are all in place. Please don’t take them, please don’t take each other, for granted. Nurture those re-lationships: ask yourselves “what would Mary do?”

So, Mothering Sunday gives me the opportunity to that you for the ministry of moth-ering that you have in this place. Mothering each other, mothering in the wider com-munity, being flexible and confident enough to have a go at being a Mary if you’re a Pe-ter and vice versa. God bless all of you. You are unique and precious members of the Body of Christ and you are a great gift to the church and to the world. Thank you. Amen.”

Please keep the new-ly appointed, Rev Canon James Mustard in your thoughts and prayers as he begins his new ministry in Exeter.

Read more about James’ appointment on the Exeter Cathedral website, here.

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A message from JamesTo all at St Mary’s:

Thank you to all at St Mary’s Church for your extremely kind and gener-ous farewell as I moved from East Barnet. I am so grateful for your many words of thanks and encouragement. Thank you, in particular, for your gift, with which (when the weather improves!) I will be buying some gar-den furniture. As I said at my farewell lunch, it has been an immense priv-ilege to minister among you these last six years, and I have learned a great deal from you, namely how to be a caring Christian community. But you also have much to look forward to with a building project on course and, in due course, a new Rector to help you develop and extend your ministry.

Here in Devon, I have unpacked my possessions, the packing cases have been cleared, and I am reacquainting myself with the (currently very win-try!) South West. Preparations are well underway for my Installation on Palm Sunday, and I will be very grateful for the support of members of St Mary’s to Exeter at that occasion. Beyond that, should any of you find yourselves in Devon, do please feel free to get in touch or drop in on the Cathedral. Meanwhile, I wish you all the very best for your celebrations of Holy Week and Easter.

Again, thank you. Best wishes,

James

April 2018 The East Barnet Herald Issue No. 2

[Above] James rehearsing his part as Noah in St Mary’s production of Benjamin Britten’s opera,

‘Noye’s Fludde’, in October 2014 [Left] James (right) with our current curate, Rev

Patrick Moriarty at his ordination as deacon at St Alban’s Cathedral, July 2017.

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April 2018 The East Barnet Herald Issue No. 2

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Ode to JamesMargaret Cranfield

Margaret Cranfield wrote this little air for James which was sung at the end of his last worship with us on Mothering Sunday, 11th March. Enjoy...

To the tune of ‘Brother James’ Air’ by JLM Bain

From concert halls and colleges,James travelled far and nearTo Norwich and to Eaton SquareAnd then he joined us here.To Norwich and to Eaton SquareAnd then he joined us here!

The Cluedo jokes they came and wentAs James we came to know.It wasn’t dull with him around;He really helped us grow.It wasn’t dull with him around;He really helped us grow!

The Rectory, it seemed so quietSo Rocky came to stay.He loves to have a lot of fussBut sometimes ran away.He loves to have a lot of fussBut sometimes ran away!

Computers died and boilers blewAt Rectory, church, and hallBut Captain Noah stayed on courseAnd steered us through it all.But Captain Noah stayed on courseAnd steered us through it all!

It’s time to say goodbye to JamesAs he heads south and west.We’ll miss him in so many waysBut wish him all the best.We’ll miss him in so many waysBut wish him all the best!

[Above] James at his installation as Canon Precentor at Exeter Cathedral, 25th March 2018, with friends from

St Mary’s East Barnet.[Right] James’ new house in Cathedral Close, Exeter

No public objection to church extension

Following the article in the last Herald I have been asked how we were

able to design houses that fitted in so well with the sur-roundings instead of the un-attractive buildings on most sites in the area. In 2009/10, when we knew the site would have to be redeveloped, Rec-tor Richard held a series of meetings with the congre-gation, neighbours, and the community and I discussed the possibilities with EBRA and interested individuals. The big fear was that a block of flats would be proposed and there was unanimous opposition to this. The PCC agreed that we should build only traditional houses and sell the land with restrictive covenants to protect it against changes in the future. This is what has been done. The curate’s house is aesthetically linked to the other houses in Church Hill Road, while the terrace of three houses uses the same bricks and roof tiles as the house and has architec-tural links with both the existing houses and Good-win Court next door. Following discussions with the planners and tree officer, it has been noted that some trees must be removed (now on health and safety grounds), while others will need to be re-moved over the

next few years. We have, therefore, agreed that seven trees will be removed from the rear and will be replaced with seven more appropri-ate trees as agreed with the Borough. There will be a large cherry tree to the front eleva tion to complement the ma-ture tree in front of Goodwin Court. We had no objections to the proposals and five sup-portive comments.

Below is a picture of the new hall showing the east end. Opposite is another showing the view down the path to the church. To avoid deep excavations, the min-imum possible oversite soil will be removed to allow for a solid ground floor and struc-tural ring beam beneath to which pile supports will be fixed. There will be no boring out of soil to be replaced with

concrete. There will be 75mm diameter steel tubes with a series of circular plates at-tached pushed down into the ground. These will compact the soil rather than remove it. Archaeologists will keep a watching brief for any old remains or buildings although trial holes indicate this is un-likely.

The building will have a steel frame and the walls will consist of insulated cavity brickwork to complement the tower. The steel frame will be covered with oak planks to fit in with the surrounding trees and suggest an older build-ing. The vestries and new hall will have the same roof tiles. There were no objections to the planning application. One neutral technical comment and one fulsome comment of support.

We await with bated breath the decisions of the Council.

April 2018 The East Barnet Herald Issue No. 2

David Howard

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April 2018 The East Barnet Herald Issue No. 2

[Above] Proposed view of the church looking down the path towards the main entrance [Previous page] Proposed view of the east end of the church

Proverb of the Month“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of

knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.”- Proverbs 1:7 -

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April 2018 The East Barnet Herald Issue No. 2

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My hope for the HeraldMike Pearce

As founder and for 16 years editor of the Her-ald, I was absolutely

delighted to receive the first new edition put together by Matthew Eade. What a terrific job! What a splendid young man!

When sheer weariness forced me to resign a few years ago, I felt sure that someone from the St Mary’s congregation would step into my shoes. At least two people had expressed an interest, but it came to nothing

Our curate was left holding the baby, and when he left the presses ground to a shud-dering halt and I was bitterly disappointed. Now, however, teenager Matthew has stepped into the breach. Everyone is soooo pleased, and now is the time for our sleeping army of writers to get back on parade and resume their efforts so that the new editor will have plenty of material to fill his pages. I know also that many of our advertisers are keen to join us again, so there’s anoth-er job for someone to take on.

Over the years I often finished my monthly column with a wish for “blessings galore” to be bestowed upon my readers. The words have never been more appropriate as we step, once again with-out a parish priest, into an uncertain but hopeful future. I feel sure that the Holy Spirit will pour countless blessings on young Matthew and his editorial team.

The next concert in our music festival series, Spring into Summer, is a production of Mozart’s string quintets given by the string group, ‘Pop Up Classical’

They are an ensemble formed of friends who col-lectively share over 130 years of experience in a wide range of professional groups; from symphony orchestras to small ensembles covering repertoire from Monteverdi to MacMillan on period and mod-ern instruments.

They gather to rehearse when their free-lance commitments allow, and pop up to share with audiences their love for and en-joyment of chamber works by the finest composers of the Classical and Romantic periods.

If you haven’t experienced a concert of chamber music, don’t miss this wonderful opportunity to hear first class musicians perform two contrasting string quintets KV516 and KV614 by Mozart.

Ticket and Programme: £5 at the door.Sunday 15th April, 3pm - 4.30pm.

Spring into Summer Concert Series

Follow and Like Spring into Summer...@springintosummerbarnet

April 2018 The East Barnet Herald

Puzzle Break

Sudoku

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3 2 6 4 8

5 6 7

2 9 4 6

8 5

4 2 7 9

7 9 6

4 7 8 3 1

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ACROSS3 Number of decks on the ark7 S Korean car company which produces luxury sedan named ‘Genesis’8 Vehicle produced by British manufactur- er ‘Genesis’10 Adam and Eve’s son who was killed by his brother, Cain11 Number of chapters in Genesis12 Mineral which Lot’s wife turned into after looking back at Sodom

DOWN1 Man who built the ark2 Abraham’s only son with his wife Sarah4 Surname of guitarist in British rock band ‘Genesis’5 Jacob’s twin brother6 Abraham’s grandson whose name was changed to Israel8 City where God confused languages9 US state where NASA spacecraft ‘Genesis’ crash landed in 2004

Genesis Crossword

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Print and enjoy...

Issue No. 2

Across3 - Peter5 - Purple8 - Shrove9 - Ash10 - Crucifixion11 - Fasting

Down1 - Fools2 - Gardener3 - Pullet4 - Risen6 - Cross7 - Daffodil

Answers to March’s edition

8 5 2 4 9 7 1 3 6

3 6 4 2 1 5 9 7 8

1 9 7 8 6 3 2 5 4

9 7 3 5 8 2 4 6 1

2 4 6 7 3 1 8 9 5

5 1 8 9 4 6 3 2 7

7 8 5 1 2 9 6 4 3

6 2 1 3 5 4 7 8 9

4 3 9 6 7 8 5 1 2

1

3 42

6

7

5

9

11

8

10

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Contact us...RectorVacant

CurateRev Patrick MoriartyTel: 07990 836956father.patrick@myphone.coopUntil 6th May onwards

Associate MinisterRev Dr Jenny KingContact via Parish Administrator

Reader (Lay Minister)Mr Dave GriffinContact via Parish Administrator

Pastoral Visiting TeamMrs Val SelbyTel: 020 8368 9380pastoralvisitingteam@outlook.com

Herald EditorMr Matthew EadeTel: 07958 268899eastbarnetherald@yahoo.com

ChurchwardensMr Roger Melling (PCC Chairman)Tel: 020 8449 2283Mrs Chris Mears (Safeguarding Officer)Tel: 020 8449 2285

Parish AdministratorMrs Margaret CranfieldSt Mary’s Parish Office,Brookside Methodist Church,2 Cat Hill, East Barnet, EN4 8JBTel: 020 8441 4401parishoffice.smeb@gmail.comParish office is open 10-12 weekdays

April 2018 The East Barnet Herald

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Issue No. 2

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