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Angela
I could say that I attend our church because my
parents did, well that is partly true because if they had
attended another church, then that is where I would be going.
In the late 1940s and 1950s it was more common for you to attend
a Sunday school on a Sunday than not. At the
Congregational Church, we had two Sunday Schools and two
services every Sunday.
I would think that up until 1960 for me this was just a way of
life.
Then in February 1960, my Grandmother died, although she was
over 80 I thought she would live forever. I still attended
Sunday School and Church but things were not the same for me.
I was in an unfortunate position that I was learning the piano
and organ, but my teacher was not the organist of my church and
I was not allowed to play or even practice. I took my
organ lessons on All Saints Church organ in Campton.
In the summer of 1960, two ministers from the Pentecostal Church
in Luton held a mission in the village hall. There was
time for children and young people and in the evening s a time
for adults. It was during this mission that I realised
that the Church was to hold more for me than just going to
Sunday services. On December 2nd 1963 I was asked to play
for the morning service once a fortnight. Then on January
7th 1964 I joined the Church in full membership. I than
began to feel part of a body of people, nearly all much older
than me who through myself watching them and taking notice, I
learnt a lot.
After an illness, the organist of our church had to resign and
on November 9th 1965 I took over. Then It was choir
practice each week with a choir of about 20 people. The
Lord was giving me a job to minister to the congregation in
music and in doing this I was blessed. Many times the
older deacons disagreed with some items of music I played, but
in time they enjoyed the music even if it was different from
what they had been used to.
I have played in many different churches and
wherever it is the Lord always guides me. I cannot play
without the Lord looking after me. Worshipping in a church
such as ours the Lord always guides us in the Right Way.
To many, they just do not know what this is but if I could just
say it is a place where help is given and received and love is
always shared.
Return
Angus
'My First Picture Dictionary' was the title of
the first Sunday school prize I received when I was five years
of age. It was colourful and useful for many years and I
wish I still had it.
Sunday school, church attendance and Sunday
afternoon scriptures class as well as Saturday morning
missionary sessions all formed an early foundation in faith for
me as well as my parents' practice of their faith in the
home. It was at this early age that the call to preach
came to me. It was a child's experience of wanting to be a
preacher and fell that some great inner voice was speaking
through me. Church life was seen as very important in my
family. Ministers of religion called frequently and were
accepted as members of the wider family like other relatives
really. The Minister was looked up to and seen as a
friend.
Efforts were always made to support anything at
church and to visit and support other congregations especially
on special occasions but also at other times. This was
done even though travel by busses was not easy. My mother
and father both worked in various capacities within the church
and attended many other meetings because of this.
So much of the company I kept was linked with church people and
so much fun at times like hallowe'en and Christmas.
During my early pre-teens and beyond I found
that my own religious tradition was not seen as mainstream and
so a sense of respect for others whatever their views and a
sense of open discussion were soon learnt. I had to be
ready to give some account of what I believed in even as a
youth.
Having been given a New Testament as a present when starting
school from an aunt also stayed with me and made me feel that
this book represented an important step in life.
Having moved house about five times before I
started secondary school meant that I had met a lot of different
people both in those schools and in the different congregations
we joined. This helped me feel an untiring interest in
people and keen to find out about people's interests and ideas
throughout life.
The reputation of my old school, the Royal
Belfast Academical Institution, which had begun as a college to
train ministers of religion and where there had been theological
controversy between liberals and conservatives formed part of
the ethos of the school and its high academic achievements
allowed pupils to accept that being a minister of the church was
a noble and worthy calling. So quite a few of us did go on
to train as ministers of religion after university.
A number of teachers at the school instilled a
sense of both tolerance and spiritual inquiry into us.
My own faith seemed to grow quietly in these
teenage years and prayer especially became important to help see
me through difficult times.
Like when I had to leave family and friends to spend five years
away from home to train, it was faith that helped to build a
bridge among new friends - my first was a Sikh who was studying
chemical engineering. Then there was a Hungarian
theological student who lived in Romania and who enlisted my
help to get his wife secretly out of the country in the
Communist era.
Faith drove me to hold regular discussions and
prayer meetings with other students who claimed no religious affiliation
but who lived in the same Hall of Residence.
The faith and enthusiasm of university lecturers
gave me faith and an interest in other religions.
It was the practical, humble faith of members of
my first congregation that cemented much of my faith commitment.
Despite the worst troubles and pain we all prayed together and
stayed together. We reached out to each other and today we
see better times.
Love and generosity in all its forms shone through in those days
and since and remains a firm rock within my memories so that I
can always see where the good life leads.
Having moved to Coventry it was a time of
testing and a new beginning for my wife and family when our
children were still very young. Faith gave us a call to
Coventry but it was through the new world of education when I
was appointed to my first teaching post.
However, we joined the local church where the minister soon
built up a fresh commitment for us and we found as a family a
reinvigorated faith. His influence was always going to
remain with me.
When two years later I was appointed to be head
of department in Manchester God called me to another church
which I had never visited before and who were wanting a
minister. So began 13 years of happy and successful
ministry combined with teaching. These friends still keep
in touch after almost twenty years.
Faith has established us as a family to make
friends across the world and I have had short-term church
exchanges in Florida and Massachusetts as well as in Colorado
with friends.
Even in Japan we were able to make contact with friends because
of our faith connections.
Faith has enabled both our family and and my
wife and I to do things that we would not have done otherwise;
in service to others; in continuing to contribute in ways beyond
church life to the wider community.
My wife and I were able to establish the first
all faiths prayer room in N. Ireland to encourage cooperation
and respect among all sections of the community.
In returning for the second time to England it
was faith and warmth of the members of Shillington Congregational
church that has enabled us to find a new place of worship and a
new group of friends.
This has given us a welcome and fellowship in an
unknown county to us that has been uplifting and
rewarding. It has opened up ways of continuing to serve
God and practice our faith in this place.
No miracles then? Well maybe more
than we realise
To be able to believe in the goodness of people
and sharing in some small way in attempting to add to the
greater good is no small miracle.
Return
John
John Andrew Corbett, originally from Wembley
Born September 1933 to Mr. and Mrs. F. W. J.
Corbett, first son, fourth child, 3 sisters (1927, 1929 &
1931) and a brother (1936).
That was my family, we all loved to walk with
our Grandad and Dad. We would make our way to Harrow on
the Hill; we would go across the fields to the Harrow School
Bridge named "Ducker Bridge" , it has since been
removed. The track went across the sports filed to a small
lane, this track let you go across the school grounds to the
main road, Harrow church was just off the lane and in to the
church yard was a small path that led to a "look out"
over the countryside. our walks would be timed to see the
sun set over Harrow on the Hill, setting over the church tower
as we walked back home. Across the Watford road we could
see the Harrow school boys coming back from swimming, walking
over the bridge to school after their swim, there was no road
for them to cross. Then we would go back home for our tea,
the last field that we crossed by the golf course has been
closed and turned into a glider school for the Air Cadets.
St. Cuthbert's Church still stands in the corner of the field at
Watford Road and Carlton Avenue . The Rev. "Gus"
Jones was our curate and clergyman from St. Andrew's Church in
Sudbury. Meeting him was one of the best things in our
lives at the time; he put us into Guides and Scouts and Sunday
School. We had a life of helping others filled with
fresh air and sunshine the War was at an end, no more
air raids and School was back to normal. School
started at East Lane and a few years on East Lane Secondary
School with Mr. Harry Wallis. He was a large man with a
"Way" as he put it with the lads that acted in any way
that would upset the school, those boys had to look out, and we
were there to do our best. The school was very music minded and
the school motto went something like this; Play up school
this is the East Lane way, play up school scorning the doubtful
deed, Into the fray with hearts all aglow, pulses bonding
forward go, Onward rejoice winning praise, good in our
way, Play up school this is the East Lane way. The
headmaster was a friend of Sir Malcolm Sergeant; he came to the
school and tried to get us keen on music, song and playing an
instrument in an orchestra for school. We had Saturday
morning trips to Westminster Hall to hear the London
Philharmonic Orchestra play and Sir Doctor Malcolm would explain
what the composer was trying to say with his music. To
work was the next step in my life, find a job. I wanted to
do something with my hands, to try woodwork. I looked at a
company making shop fittings, also print workshop on the side of
it called Clements and Newlyn. The mill was full of
timber,
the first from overseas after the War, still drying out and some
sight that was, the stacks ran the full length of the shed
floors, all were 50 feet long filled almost to the roof. Small
cross bars were placed in the stacks to help air it and help it
dry out before it could be used. There were four
other lads start at the the same time as I did and we all got on
well. Our first job was to be shown how to stack the
timber for drying and how to turn corners without hitting the
man behind you with the plank of wood you were carrying, the
trick was to "look-turn-look and look again" to make
sure you had full view in front of you and to the doors of the
mill shed. We had shoulder pads to work with and
mitts to wear to keep hands free from cuts and splinters from
the timber. We took just one plank of timber at a
time. The distance between the barge on the canal to the
sheds was about 500 yards and an 8 to 10 foot plank was a good
load for a 14 year old. You could go from job
this job to the mill cutting sheds, this was a a dusty long shed
and there really was a lot of dust in this job. A mask
would have been a great help but it was not forth coming in this
place or time. Two boys left the job, so maybe it was not
that good a job. The foreman of the carpentry shop asked
me if I would like to go cutting in the mill at 2 shillings a
day more, I said "yes please". Little did I know
it was more dust and timber lugging work than in the workshop-
taking timber from one cutting bench to another, pushing it in a
planer one end, taking it out the other, then stacking it and
then returning to the other end and load it again- then unload
the other end, with wood chips flying all over as the timber
went into the planer. The dust from this was
just too much and the next day I had a day away from it as it
was unloading day from the barges again-the fresh air was good
and we had help from the cutting team in the mill that day,
which, meant we finished unloading early-so we were told we
could go home 2 hours early-but no work meant no pay. I
decided on the way home, as it was a dry day, I would take a
ride on my bike to Harrow to look in the shops then go to North
Harrow. At Pinner Walk I looked in the bike shop
named Ivor J. Clark and saw there was a notice for a job
"shop work". This would be just a little closer
to home-and there is no dust in a shop [which meant a blow of
the nose without saw dust, that would be good] fresh air as
well, so in I walked. The lad behind the shop counter
said, "Can I help you?" I asked if they still
had a job going. "Yes was the reply. Then a head came
round the wall at the back of the shop and said, "Can you
mend punctures?" "Yes" was my reply. The
next question was, "can you be here at 8:30 each morning, 6
days a week?" Again "Yes" was my
answer. "OK then we will see you-come and mend this
puncture and get that torch to work and we will see if you can
start now or not." I asked for the tyre
removers and was told all the tools I might want would be in the
workshop at the end of the yard out at the back. The
workshop was no shed; it was about 30 foot long and had new
cycles in it at the far end and a bench just inside the door on
the left. Tools were all over the place, I found some rag
to wipe out the torch that had a leaking battery and cleaned the
bulb and its holder, then I asked for a new battery for the
torch and dropped it in and screwed on the bottom of the lamp
and switched it on. Mr. Green the manager said,
"you have done that before". "It
works", I said "and it's clean and tidy inside
now". I was told if I mended the puncture I could
have the job. So with the puncture done I felt
content, I had helped two people who had gone into the shop with
a problem but they would leave happy. "Start
Monday-OK?" said Mr. Green. "Thank you" I
said, then he added "and by the way don't be late Mr.
Clarke will want to see you sharp and on time". My
thoughts were I had helped two folk and made Mr. Green take the
"Wanted" sticker in the window down, so all was well
with my little world. Now to tell Mum and Dad I had
changed my job. Mum said that she did know that I
would change my job. She knew that dust was making me bad
at night-she could hear me coughing. So into the
cycle trade I went. A dust free "service" job
repairing cycles and who knows what next. Pushchairs
became a big thing in 1948-49 [my day]. Mr. Ivor J, Clarke
had seen me and told me that if Mr. Green was happy with my work
I would be paid a rate of £7 a week with half a day off
Wednesdays. That was good news-Mum and Dan were happy
about that. Mr. Clarke gave me a job on Saturdays
of selling pushchairs, we had a load of them from the makers and
as families grew again after the War and other things became
available again trade picked up. Twenty five
pushchairs seemed to me to be a lot but after the first 2 hours
outside the shop with them all were "sold" and that
Saturday a list was started of people waiting for more.
Then we had to try to get some more for the next week. The
list of pushchairs soon had more names and addresses on it and
Mr. Green told me that I had done well with my service skills,
helping the customers by putting them on my list. Mr.
Clarke came into the shop at 10:00 a.m. that Monday and said
well done to all of us-he then got on the phone and later told
us that "Triang" would be delivering more pushchairs
in a few days. Mon Wednesday morning the van was outside
as I pulled up at the shop on my bike, out got the driver and
his mate and started to unload and before Mr. Green could open
the shop doors they had ten or twenty off the van and placed by
the shop front. Soon we had people asking "can you
put one by I'll be back after work or at lunch time?"
So with their name and address written on a label that was the
start of our day, that delivery if I remember right was 35
pushchairs, Mr. Clark's face that day was one big smile.
It was at that time that mother was going up and down to
Bournemouth to look after our Aunt Alice. Mother was
coming home at weekends and at any time she would check up on
us, my sisters Ann and Amy were doing the cooking and helping
out at home. In 1949 great Aunt Alice was very unwell but
mother managed to come home fro Christmas, she said that Aunty
was very ill and would not be about for much longer, this meant
we would have to manage a little longer without mother as she
would be going down to Bournemouth again. It was not long
before we heard that great Aunty had passed on and all the
things had to be done were done and mother came home
again. With two sisters married now and just Rose at home
with John working and younger brother Walter at school Mum and
Dad sat down and asked us if we wanted to move to Bournemouth or stay
in London? Aunty had left her house to mother, it
was a four bedroomed house but no car space, but it did have a
fair sized back garden. The house in Wembley was sold to
Amy and Doug and one more step was taken by the Corbett
family. The house in Bournemouth still had gas lights, it
also had two toilets, one outside and the other with a bathroom
upstairs, the house seed so big. So off we all
went to Bournemouth. Return
Pat
What does the Congregational church mean to you?
It is a place where we were married, prior to
that I had not been a regular church goer for a number of years.
After our children were born I started to attend
various Sunday School events and special services i.e. Easter,
Harvest Festival, Christmas and other social functions.
As years passed I just grew into a church life.
I have found it a support in difficult times, a
place where I feel safe and comfortable. Return
Peter
I am a Congregationalist mainly because I was
born of a mother whose family devoted their lives to the Congregational
church.
My father died when I was very young so my
mother and her family had the most influence on my formative
years.
I didn't undergo a dramatic life changing
conversion that many people would testify to, but over the years
I felt the need increasingly to be able to worship freely and
express my faith in a fellowship of like minded people.
Having said that, I became involved in the
leadership of the church in a strange or on reflection - special
way.
Having left the church for a few years, I had started to attend
evening worship once again in about 1963.
I wasn't sure what I wanted but something was missing. It was at
this time the church secretary and most of the deacons resigned
after a dispute with the minister. A special church
meeting was called.
I wasn't a church member at that time and
although I was concerned, I was not expected to attend this
meeting, although it had played on my mind.
Just before the meeting was due to start, quite
unexpectedly a church member knocked on my door and said he felt
he had been called to come and invite me to the special meeting.
Reluctantly I went along and came out of the
meeting having been appointed Church secretary, a position I
held for 25 years.
I was very young, totally inexperienced but I
was quickly reassured by an elderly deacon-who reminded me that
I had not chosen God but he had chosen me.
I can now testify how true those words have been
as I have developed my faith in the Congregational fellowship.
It hasn't been an easy path.
Jesus didn't promise it would be easy but I
believe my life has been the better for it. Return
Sandra
My early memories of church life were as an
irregular Sunday school attender and whenever I stayed with my
Nan. I would go to church with her.
She was a very active member of the local Methodist church and
to me seemed to belong to all the groups that were connected to
the church
When I attended Sunday School we started the
service in church, all the children sat together in two or three
pews.
Then after the minister had talked to us we left for Sunday
School.
At the end of the service we would be collected and sometimes we
would stay for refreshments.
If it was a communion service at the end of the
normal service we would be asked to leave [those not taking
communion]. I would then wait outside for my Nan thinking
that Communion must be a very 'strange and secret act'.
This is the way I remember church in my
childhood, early memories. This is not necessarily how it
was [asking people and especially the children to leave].
I remember one Sunday the minister talked mainly
about football before we left fo Sunday School, a subject that
did not interest me at all but I still remember him talking to
us about it. That Sunday School session we made 'Running
Disciples'. I think that's why I remember the minister's
talk, because the boys decided the disciples weren't walking or
running but playing football.
As my Nan was a church goer and really involved
in church life I went with her to many church events, most of
the summer was spent attending a garden party or church sale
somewhere.
Her faith showed through all aspects of her life. At this
point in my life my faith was there but not in a major
way. I knew the 'stories' and had a good grounding but no
strong faith.
Much later in my late teens then my faith made a
difference in my life
My mother had been ill for some time with a
heart problem, then when I was 15 years old she was given the
'all clear'.
This encouraged my faith that yes all things were in God's hands
and if he wanted things to happen they would.
Unfortunately a few years later Mum developed
cancer and died within a few months.
Then my faith went away, lost to me.
Obviously I refound my faith but not till after
many years had passed. [about 6 years]
Now my faith is what sustains me not just in
times of struggle but at good times as well.
Many things have happened in my life, at times
it has felt like a roller -coaster ride.
I experienced times of waiting for the next 'slap in the face'
then decided my faith would lift me and take me forward, so I
should make the most of the quiet periods of no disasters. Now
when something comes along to give me a 'slap' I'm ready with
the 'other cheek'. Comfort can be found through
faith, passages in the Bible-could have been written yesterday
or even today because they express an emotion or relay an event
that we can relate to. My faith has been
strengthened by my experiences even if it was tucked away for
many years; it was still in existence, and it is my faith and
God that have made me what I am.
Return
Tom
As a child I was taught to say my prayers each
night. I went to Sunday school each Sunday afternoon at
St. John's Church in Hove where I lived.
I didn't much care for Sunday school because I lacked
concentration, I didn't really understand the purpose of what
was going on. I disliked dressing up in Sunday best
clothes because my grey flannel trousers pricked my legs,
However, I did enjoy singing the hymns and also collecting
religious stamps that I stuck into my Sunday school stamp
book, If I missed a Sunday school, my stamp book showed a
blank space, however, provided that I attended Sunday school on
the following two Sundays that missing stamp was made up to me.
At the age of eight I went to boarding school. I remember
at first feeling rather homesick and lonely, I'm sure I was not
the only one who felt this way, but then boys don't really admit
these things to one another.
I believe it was at this school that I realised that I need not
be alone. At night I would say my prayers, asking for
help. But this time my prayers came from my heart and were
not simply the prayers I had learnt by heart. Now my
prayers were real. I remember the hymn from Sunday school
and how reassuring these words were;
"There's a Friend for little children above the bright
blue sky.
A Friend who never changes,
Whose love will never die".
I soon discovered that my prayers were helping and I was no
longer alone. I believe my life started to change from
this time.
Although throughout my working days and when we
were bringing up our family I did not attend church on a regular
basis, but I have always prayed no matter where I might be; on
the golf course, on the allotment, on the motorway; in the
shower, while cooking a meal in the kitchen, wherever I happen
to be. It's like having and 'open line' and talking to a
friend. There are so many times that my faith has
made a difference. It has been the foundation and the
purpose of my life.
Like any 'friendship', the relationship must work two ways and
so my initial prayer is always to thank God for everything that
I have and to thank Him for always being there. We
all know that there are two certainties in life, one is being
born and the other that we shall die. None of us know when
we shall be called, but I surely want to be able to give a good
account of my life and mostly to please God at the end.
After many years of roving from one church to another or even
not attending any church I have now discovered the Congregational
Church in Shillington where I have found true friendship, truth,
comfort and love.
I am so grateful to God for this. Return
Yvonne
FAITH
Where do I start, how do I express what I feel
and what exactly does it mean to me?
To make sure that I understand academic meaning of the word I
referred to the dictionary where it is said: religious
belief-belief in God but also confidence, trust, reliance,
dependence, assurance.
From the very first years of my life I was
taught Jesus, his family and his life on earth. I was
attending church classes once a week and church services twice a
week. I spoke to God every morning and every evening,
asking for his umbrella to be always above my head and telling
him about my day. Somewhere after my teenage
years were gone I lost touch with the church but never stopped
telling God about events in my life-thanking Him for all the
goodness that came my way and asking for strength to handle
disappointments in my life. Many moons were gone before I
started feeling again a need to worship God in a church. I
believe that God knew it and this is why my life took such an
unexpected turn and brought me to the point in my life where I
stand now-circumstances in which I feel happy and fulfilled. The
faith represents to me the feeling that all good and bad moments
in my life were/are planned by God and by it I will be a better
person. Also, that God's umbrella is always open and there
is a small place under it for me to seek in moments of need in
my life. This is how I feel at this point in my
life. Return
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