St. Nicholas Church

A Panorama showing the interior of St. Nicholas Church

A larger movie file can be downloaded here (note quicktime required to view)

Annual General Meeting

'Tis the season of Annual General Meetings, when once again we meet together to review the past year and look ahead. At each of the AGMs the Annual Report, and the Accounts for 2007 will be presented, the membership of the PCC for the coming year will be selected, and sides-persons appointed.

It is also the opportunity for church members to ask any questions which they may wish to do, perhaps especially important in this year when for the first time in over a quarter of a century there will be an interregnum in the benefice.

The dates are:
Sydling St. Nicholas Tuesday 15th April (in the Village Hall)

Church members - please be with us if you can. Remember, to be able to vote at the AGM you need to be on your church's electoral roll. Application forms are in each church.

The Future of the Benefice

When an incumbent resigns and leaves there is always a period of time before a new incumbent is appointed or other arrangements are made by the Diocese. This is known as an interregnum. In order for PCC members to have the opportunity to ask any questions they may wish to about the future of the benefice from the diocesan point of view, I have arranged a meeting with Archdeacon Paul Taylor for Friday 4th January at 7.30pm in Frampton Village Hall. It would be good, though not compulsory, for all PCC members to be there. Any other church members who would like to come along to listen would be very welcome.
KEN SCOTT

looking ahead

SUNDAY SERVICES

As you will have read in the Editorial, Helen and I expect to be departing to Suffolk next July. This will obviously mean a number of changes so let me deal first church with the Sunday services.

In fact, Pat Stear reaches 'retirement age' next June and several months ago expressed a wish to do less around the parish, so a certain amount of thinking had taken place long before we found a house to buy. In essence the plan agreed by the clergy and churchwardens is to reduce the number of Holy Communion services in a month so that each church has only one. There will therefore be a Communion service each week, one per church in the course of a month. All these services will be at 9.30am, which will hopefully make life easier in terms of remembering what is on when and means that older people who find an 8.15am start impossible will be able to attend more frequently.

The changes to the pattern of Communion has had a knock-on effect on other services, so please take careful note of the new rota, which begins in January, and which is detailed on the coloured page in the magazine. These changes have been carefully talked through and agreed by the PCCs.

THE CHURCHES NEED YOU

From him (Christ) the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.
(EPHESIANS 4:16)

The other major area of change will be in terms of the practical 'administration' of the churches.

Of necessity the equipment for the benefice, such as the photocopier and duplicator, is housed in The Rectory. Therefore it has always been simplest for us to use it rather than expect someone else to come to the house to do so. Such equipment is always best operated by no more than a couple of people who become thoroughly familiar with it, rather than having a larger number of people who only use it infrequently, and potentially forget how to use it, or even inadvertently damage it.

So the benefice needs a couple of volunteers to be trained and to take over this aspect of church life. It does not involve a huge amount of work!

It would also be good to have someone trained to use the PA equipment. This has proved to be enormously useful over the years. Again because it lives with me and I transport it everywhere I have always been the one person who knows (to some extent) how it all works. Could you do that?

Helen has regularly produced the weekly notice sheet and if that is to continue there needs to be one or more people (say, four taking one week each in a month?).

And we have also acted as a central 'purchasing department' for the benefice, and we ideally need someone who can look after that side of things. That involves very little work.

There are also likely to be other little tasks that come to mind over the next few months.

However, having said all of that if you could help out in any way within your church please have a word with a churchwarden. And if you could take on a more central role please contact Helen or myself.

We are an 'equal-opportunity' benefice so both sexes can apply for all jobs! Indeed Helen has commented that some might be done better by men!

Our plan is that we hand over every task we do at the end of March so that there can be three months when any problems can be ironed out before we finally disappear in a removal van.

Then, hopefully, not only will everything be running smoothly from the practical point of view, but the whole interregnum can prove a positive growth time for the life and work of the churches.
KEN

About the church

Views of the Church and Grounds

church grounds

In Sydling we are blessed with a beautiful and historic parish church. It stands on the site of at least two previous buildings, ‘believed to date from the earliest Christian times in this part of our land’[1]. It carries on the tradition of extending a warm welcome to all who may wish to become involved with the life of the church in our village.

The building

A large part of the church dates from the fifteenth century, with the tower being the oldest part of the building. It is remarkable for the fact that there is a fireplace in the porch, some beautiful memorials, many in memory of members of the Smith family who lived at Sydling Court, and an ancient font. Unusually, there is very little stained glass in the church, probably because of the ravages of Cromwell’s soldiers, but what remains has been restored and mounted in a frame above the entrance to the tower. We have been left with the most glorious view through the East window up to the hills above Sydling, a sight more glorious than any stained glass.

One of the most interesting items in the church is the clock, which is faceless, and was built in the late sixteenth century, possibly by the local blacksmith. It is the second oldest church clock in the diocese, only outdone by the clock in Salisbury Cathedral itself.

The people

Our parish is part of the benefice of Bradford Peverell, Frampton, Stratton and Sydling St Nicholas. We are delighted to welcome newcomers to our services, which should appeal to all tastes, from Family Services which are especially geared towards the younger members of the congregation, Holy Communion, which follows Common Worship, and Evensong which follows the Book of Common Prayer.

Below is a monthly timetable of services in our church:

Memorial to Elizabeth Lady Smith

First Sunday	Family Service	11.00am
Second Sunday	Holy Communion	9.30am
Third Sunday	Evening Prayer	6.30pm
Fourth Sunday	Evening Prayer	6.30pm

The Parochial Church Council is responsible for the running of the church and meets about four times every year.

Members of the PCC are listed below:

Rev Ken Scott. The Rectory, Frampton, 320429
Mrs Angela Shaw (Churchwarden)City Farmhouse, 341593
Mr Nigel Shaw (Churchwarden)   City Farmhouse, 341593
Mr Tony Briggs
Mr Charles Cordy
Mrs Suzanne Legg (Secretary)
Mr Graham Millard
Mrs Margaret Millard
Mr Andy Moore (Treasurer)
Mrs Mary Penfold
Mr Tim Stiles
Mrs Mary Wellspring

Enquiries

If you would like to enquire about thanksgiving for a baby’s birth, Baptism, Confirmation or Weddings, please contact the Rector, Ken Scott, at the above number, or email him at: kjs@framptonrectory.wanadoo.co.uk

If you wish to find information on ancestors, please refer to the list of graves and gravestones compiled by the Dorset and Somerset Family History Society and held in the church. For old parish registers of marriages and funerals, please apply to the Dorset History Centre (formerly the Dorset County Archives), Bridport Road, Dorchester, telephone 01305-250550. You may also find the Dorset OPC site useful.

Finances

The church has an annual expenditure of about £18,000. Of this, over £13,000 is paid to the Salisbury Diocese as our Parish Share, and the rest goes towards insurance, heat and light, and other expenses. At the current time our annual income does not meet our expenditure, and we therefore welcome all donations to our funds. A scheme of regular giving by means of envelopes, which are covered by Gift Aid, is popular. Please apply to any member of the PCC if you would like to give by this method. Regular giving by Banker’s Standing Order is extremely valuable to us – please apply to either of the Churchwardens if you would like to set up a Standing Order in favour of the church, or email: angela.shaw10@btinternet.com

Support

The PCC is grateful for the support of many villagers in all types of roles, from bell-ringing, churchyard mowing, flower arranging, unlocking of the church, cleaning, fund-raising, and many other tasks. We welcome offers of new volunteers to help in these roles.

The Mighty Organ and Ken's view from the Pulpit

[1]From ‘An Introduction to the History of Sydling St Nicholas in Dorset’, LWG and GM Hudson, 1973 (copies available for sale in the church).