The Shepherd, May 2009
GIFTS TO THE BROTHERHOOD
A PAINTING of the Church, the Old Mortuary and the Monastic House at Brookwood, very similar to the picture on the Synod in Resistance website, has been painted by artist Martin Swan of Newport, Isle of Wight (google him), and kindly donated as an Easter gift to us by his wife, Melanie, one of our parishioners at Saint Boniface Mission on the island. The painting has been on display in the hall of the Old Mortuary, and we hope in the near future to make greeting card copies of it, and perhaps larger prints, which we can sell to support the Roofing Fund. Martin asked whether we wanted figures of the monks included, but we thought it would be prettier instead to include the dogs, and so the picture has Perkin and Albert prominently in the foreground.
RECENTLY a friend of our community, local historian Pat Macklin died in her mid-nineties. She had taken a degree in Byzantine history in her mid-sixties, and on several occasions brought groups of visitors to Saint Edward’s Church. She had a number of icons in her possession, which her niece, Pam Bartlett, kindly brought and donated to us in her memory.
CHURCH ROOF PROJECT
AS WE GO to press, we are just preparing for the work on the church roof to begin. The contractors, Marshels Roofing Contractors Limited, of Runfold, Farnham, are due to begin work on 18th May, n.s. This necessarily means that we shall have to empty the church, and for a three month period celebrate the services in the hall of the Old Mortuary. We apologize to all our parishioners and visitors for the inevitable disruption in our normal schedule, but hope you will bear with us. Once the work is completed, not only will we at last have a weather-proof church, but it should be warmer in Winter and cooler in Summer, as we will for the first time have roof insulation. Furthermore it should be quieter with less noise heard from the aircraft and the local shooting site. More importantly, Bishop Ambrose is anxious that, after the completion of the roof, the church should be properly consecrated. So far it has only received a simple blessing when on 2nd/15th and 3rd/16th September, 1984, His Grace Bishop Gregory of Washington received the sacred relics of Saint Edward and enshrined then here.
On 2nd April n.s., we issued an Appeal by E-mail, which we included in the last issue of “The Shepherd” to raise the shortfall needed to complete the roofing project. The shortfall then was £47,500. Now after exactly one calendar month, on 2nd May n.s., we have raised £11,105.12 and the shortfall has fallen to £36,394.88. This is an excellent response, and we are truly thankful for it, but we still need to raise the remainder by September. Usually there is an initial enthusiasm for an appeal and then response drops off - please ensure this does not happen in this case. Please give as generously as you can, and if you feel unable to make an outright donation, please consider giving us an interest free loan, that we may repay as we receive monies. Without any prompting one of our supporters immediately doubled their monthly contribution to the fund by banker’s order, and we ask all of you who have been supporting the building fund in this way, to also renew your bankers’orders and if possible to increase them. If just seventy people could see their way to giving £500, the shortfall would almost be wiped out. Please consider doing so. May God, through the prayers of Saint Edward, grant all who help in this effort many mercies. Pictures of the roofing process will soon be posted on our website: <www.saintedwardbrotherhood.org> Please make donations (except US $) payable to King Edward Orthodox Trust Co Ltd.
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