Stewards Scribblings - October 2023
Hello everyone,
Have you noticed how one simple thing often leads to another? Often I see something which seems like a good idea for a quiz question, and I go to look it up, only to find the required answer so interesting that it leads to further research, a satisfyingly large pile of books, and an hour (or more) gone for ever!
A couple of Sundays ago, I went to put the collection plate away, when I thought I would take it home and give it a bit of a polish. Having polished the front, I turned it over to find an inscription I never knew was there. It read, "Presented to Christ Church, Sidley, Sussex on the sixth anniversary of its dedication. 20th March 1913 by EJJ". Who was EJJ? Out came 'The Christ Church Methodist Church: A History', to find a Rev J Johnstone who was a Bexhill minister in 1906. Was this our mysterious donor?
Of course, this led on to a tour of the church with fresh eyes, and I found the clock above the choir stalls with the inscription 'In memory of Mrs FJ Offen December 12th 1918'. I wondered who this obviously worthy and much-loved lady was. Memories came of my dear old Dad who wound her memorial clock faithfully every Sunday, a task now carried on by Clive.
Thinking of Clive, the font in the sanctuary is dedicated to his wife, Jill Lynette Loader, MBE, who died in 2008 and is still fondly remembered by many of us.
The magnificent work of art that is the set of screens dividing the body of the church from the vestibule, was lovingly executed using a dentist drill by Cedric Gillham, a past member of Christchurch. If you search diligently, you will find his initials in one of the panels.
We might not have churchwardens now, but the pew in the vestibule has a text from Hebrews 10 vv 24 and 25. It is inscribed The Churchwarden Pew. Hazel tells me her grandfather, Charles Edwin Dallaway, was a churchwarden at Christchurch!
Gazing around, my eyes lit upon the lectern fall. This was executed by Sheila Richardson, whose husband, Keith was a previous conductor of the Christchurch Singers. If you lift the corner of the fall, there is an embroidered inscription "Lectern Fall" designed by Craig Convery stitched by Sheila Richardson 2006"
Last but not least, I spotted the little font that was used before our present one. This has a brass plaque inscribed "Presented by Mrs Albert H Carey" and sits in the vestibule. There were lots of Careys at Christchurch at one time. Wilf and Beatrice were possibly the last worshipping members here, but some one of you may know differently! They ran Sidley Post Office when it was at the corner of the High Street and Sidley Street, where the Corner Café is now. The Post Office was also a small grocer's shop, and Wilf always wore a spotless white apron and operated the bacon slicer, which sliced your bacon to your required thickness.
I must end my scribblings here with a mention of the smaller of our two magnificent stained glass windows which was given by the man without whom Christchurch would have been 'The Christchurch Arms', Mr Alfred John Marshall Jay. Do read the 'History of Christchurch' to know more.
God bless
Chris
Chris Cox,
Senior Steward
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