FROM THE REGISTERS

Funerals.
18th February.Leake, St Mary. Interment of Ashes. June Fletcher, late of Kennel Farm, Knayton.
12th March. Darlington Crematorium. Elsie Hinds, 87, of Borrowby. She grew up in Borrowby and returned here in her later years.
13th March. Boltby, Holy Trinity. Dorothy Coldbeck, 62. Much restricted for the last 14 years, but very much part of Boltby at heart during the years when she could not be her active self.
19th March. Leake, St Mary. Lt.Col.Peter Consett, 92. Suddenly and peacefully at home. There was a very good obituary in the D&S Times on St.Patricks Day.
22nd March. Darlington Crematorium. George Robinson, 79, of Borrowby. Civil Engineer. He died at home after a recent illness.

We also record the recent death of Aileen Allison of Cotcliffe Bank Farm after a progressive illness. We wish her husband Norman, and family, well.

Nearly two decades ago Peter Consett asked me to dinner to discuss the possibility of being the incumbent in what came to be called The Hillside Parishes. His perception was that a priest was very necessary to serve the needs of the local people. In fact his early upbringing in the Royal Navy (even though most people knew him as "the Colonel") marked his spiritual upbringing for life - alongside his Roman Catholic upbringing as a child. For him, worship was a duty and a discipline. The higher call was to serve others. Peter never took communion himself, and any other service - other than those from the B.C.P. - were "mumbo jumbo".

What Peter never anticipated was the speed of change and choices in the last decade. In that decade - and by now he was an octogenarian! - he was still active in the local community and church. He did 61 years as a churchwarden and his history - i.e. the years he spanned and his local involvement - meant that he was invaluable in that role and also as Chairman of School Governors.

Since the 1960s the Church has gone some way along the line to bring about Cranmer's intention of everyone taking Communion each Sunday. Obviously this puts the priests in a particular sacramental role each Sunday, and now we are thinner on the ground it is more difficult to spread ourselves. However the pattern for the future is probably under our own eyes as we already do something similar. The only vision of the Christian church is death and resurrection so what changes take place within our lifetime take place within those two experiences.

The pattern which had been agreed at Leake P.C.C., a meeting of which I attended (along with Borrowby Show!) before I arrived as Priest-in-Charge, still holds - and probably still sets the trend to come. That is, it was decided on each of four Sundays, in any one month, to present a variety for everyone - something old, something new, something different, something blue (conservative/traditional). The change now is that others have to do the things I do not do or am not able to do - so the 4th Sunday is now c/o A.N.Other. Again, the future here could very well take in others of the local ministry team who are skilled in this area.

The Church of the pre-1980s was worship and priest and church. Nowadays, post-A.S.B. and into Common Worship (albeit perhaps rather more D.I.Y./pick n' mix), it is more the priesthood of the people - after the fashion of 1 Peter 2 v.4-10, the priesthood of all believers - while the priest is there for sacramental worship (H.C. and Baptism on Sundays) and for teaching (specific sermons, themes, festivals and weekday specials). Again, since the 50s education is generally better and expectations have changed. Communication is no longer by word of mouth by visitors - as in my grandfather's day, when he had only a quarter of the churches I look after! - the population was far smaller and more static, and each village had less than 10 'phones. (The present foot-and-mouth epidemic has meant the personal contact of farm visits are replaced by a 'phone call - here again, remember 1967 (no mobiles then!).

However, people nowadays have a lot more choice. Unless this choice is harnessed over the whole deanery it will be the downfall of the smaller rural church. There is always a self-sufficiency amongst the parishes, that can compensate for a thinner spread of priests, but perhaps the Deanery Synod should take more time to co-ordinate their respective talents more widely - while at the same time still leaving the more traditional areas of pastoral care as they are at present. [It will also mean it will have to come up with a common baptism and re-marriage policy, the more so if there is an ecumenical partnership with the Methodists.]

So, as we say our Thanks and Farewells to Peter, in the run up to Easter, we are very much aware of the passing of an era. Yet very much of what he stood for still holds true. Question things until you get the right answer. Serve each other together. Avoid mumbo-jumbo, by sticking to what you like and know and value - and make sure that you do so with others of like minds. Again, like him, we need to vote with our feet by Standing Before God .......... At the end of the day, the value of the worship stands or falls by its attendance - and we need to avoid falling into the trap that is so aptly described in the very last verse of The Book of Judges ........ I'll let you look it up!

Happy Easter,

"Our" Universe and Us
2. Genesis on genesis
Ch. 2.4 - 14

This part of the chapter relates to the world known to the community in which it arose and it is a very small one. One thinks today of some recent explorers in South America who found a community of people who knew nothing, even by hearsay, of the world beyond the bounds of their own small territory.

Genesis 2 v.4 --- is the beginning of the work of an early teller of important stories coming from a people accustomed to the desert. Rain, a quantity that one can never be certain of, brings sudden life to an apparently barren country. It is the gift of God, who has concerns that go far beyond man's needs. He has hidden underground lakes, because water, in the beginning as now, is essential for all creatures and could always take mankind by surprise - as, indeed, in this country lately.

A place of delight is already there, which is the meaning of Eden, so that when 'adam' leaves the wilderness for the good lands freshly watered, he finds earth not only ready for crops but rich also in minerals and gemstones.

Members of the human family are curious creatures. And I don't mean this in the sense of oddity - though some of us fit that description. In the Nineteenth century when my parents were children, Lewis Carrol's Alice in Wonderland finds the world down the rabbit hole in which she finds herself 'curiouser and curiouser' - but it was her curiousity that drew her into that odd country and its satirised characters. And it was the 'satiable curiousity of Kipling's elephant's child that offered an explanation for the elephant's extraordinary nose - yes, they still have them, even at the present day! These two writers reflect their extremely inquistive generation which enjoyed reading their books. (An uncle on two separate occasions gave me a copy of 'Alice' which as a child I never enjoyed - and only saw the point of it all later!)

Today the problems facing those with a vocation to describe and attempt to explain to the rest of us the results of generations of questioning need all the help the media can provide. We don't have any clue as to the remote visionary who recorded and preserved this early tradition. But there are still people like Rabbi Blue who remind us of the wonderful gift some seers possess of telling a story with a challenge for the listening ear. And the way in which we in our generation regard this planet Earth matters vitally ....... MIRIAM HANSON

"Vulcan to the Sky" - a note from Mavis Elliott.
My dear husband John has been entered into St Mary's Leake Register of Deaths and Interment, having died suddenly and unexpectedly in Thirsk on the afternoon of 23rd January. He is now resting peacefully in the older part of Leake Churchyard, just as we had hoped. I would like to thank all those who have helped me at this sad time. Our 20 years in Borrowby have been eventful and happy - we had chosen this, and Leake, as our final watering hole and resting place.

John was approached to carry on working and teaching aircraft after his due retirement at 65 years of age. He was greatly respected in the aviation arena as an engineer, lecturer, pilot, motor-biker and as an accomplished musician. He carried on working until the age of 68 and was a fortnight into full retirement when it was his time to be called upon. His greatest wish - after having instructed, been chief technician and flown on missions with the pilot in the Vulcan - was to offer voluntarily his engineering ability on the 'XH558'. This is now waiting to fly again in 2002 to coincide with The Queen's Jubilee Year.

We last saw her fly at the Battle of Britain Display at R.A.F.Finningley in September 1993 - and, to be quite honest, us and our two friends were full of tears............. As it is now not possible for John to pursue his earthly tasks, I intend, on behalf of John and of previous aviators, engineers and enthusiasts, to carry on to help to raise funds to finance her flight in the skies again: 'A Great Part of the V Force'.

Anybody wishing to advise me, help me or wish for further information may contact me:
Mrs Mavis Elliott, Clyde Cottage, Borrowby, THIRSK, Y07 4QP
Tel. 01845 537615

I am very proud to have been asked by the Campaign to act as their representative for the North East, and am searching for support. One final note - what a wonderful commemoration tribute by John's colleagues at R.A.F. Church Fenton to arrange for a fly-past of four Fire Flys over the burial ground as Toddy completed the dismissal. I look forward to hearing from you - please keep "watching this space" for an update on my progress!! Many thanks, Mavis Elliott.

(Vulcan Restoration Trust Appeal, Charity No.1058111, PO Box 3240, BH21 4YP)