As we begin October we well and truly enter into the ‘Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness’, as the poet Keats put it. Each season has its own character. Autumn is a particularly beautiful time. Although it is sad to bid farewell to the summer, we know that a new depth of beauty will reveal itself through the bare branches as the leaves turn and fall.

            At the very end of October we begin a period of remembering and thanksgiving. Halloween has become a caricatured, pagan celebration, when we think of ghosts and ghouls, tricks and treats. This is all good fun, but it is far from what All Hallows’ Eve is really about, which is the first day of three where we celebrate and give thanks for the saints and all the faithful departed.  In the Holyford Mission Community we shall be keeping the feast of All Saints on Sunday 31^st October. There will also be services for All Souls at Colyton on the Sunday evening (6.30pm) and on Tuesday 2^nd November (All Souls’ Day), to which all are welcome. If you would like to remember someone who has died by having them named in the service at St Winifred’s on 31^st October, there will be a list in church where you can write their name, or email the office:  office@holyford.org.

            In September I was involved with the celebrations of an Anglican martyr, born and bred in Devon: Bishop John Coleridge Patteson. He founded the Church in Melanesia (Solomon Islands) and was murdered on 20^th September 1871 on Nakapu when he was mistaken for a blackbirder (slave trader).  Patteson was by all accounts well-loved by the native people of Melanesia. He brought them the benefits of education and taught them the Christian faith, and won their deep respect because he didn’t force British ways and customs on the islanders but encouraged them to keep their culture.  Patteson is still very well-known and honoured in Melanesia today. When I visited there in 2017 lots of people wore t-shirts with his name and picture on and children are often still given his name at baptism.

            The Melanesian Mission UK is a charity which supports the work of the Anglican Church in Melanesia. In September they held their annual AGM at Exeter Cathedral, attended by the Archbishop of Canterbury.  To mark the 150^th anniversary of the martyrdom of Patteson, a new pilgrimage route has been established from Feniton (where he was born) to Exeter Cathedral, which has some of his relics; the pulpit there has scenes of his martyrdom is carved on the panels around it.

            The Christian faith is very strong in Melanesia. There are several religious communities there, including the Melanesian Brotherhood, a monastic order that was founded by a Melanesian policeman, Ini Kopuria in 1925. It is a very popular community as men (there is also a separate order for women) can take vows for a few years at a time, rather than take vows for life. I was privileged to spend some time with them when I spent a few weeks in the Solomons.

Saints are not simply things of the past, and the Brotherhood has produced its own, modern-day saints. In 2003 seven members of the Melanesian Brotherhood were kidnapped as a result of ethnic conflict in the Solomon Islands. The Brotherhood had been very active, trying to persuade the various parties involved to lay down their weapons. They worked hard to restore peace and encourage disarmament. One of the Brothers went to negotiate with one of the leaders. When he did not return, six of the Brothers went out to find the one.  None of them returned alive. They are martyrs because they lost their lives for love: for love of God, truth, justice, and their neighbour.

Like leaves from a tree, they turned and fell, but new growth came and the Brotherhood is as strong as ever. The winter of conflict turned into a spring of peace, thanks to the ministry and witness of the Christians inspired by Patteson. And it all started in Devon.

This year St Andrew’s, Colyton will be hosting a meeting of the Devon Companions of the Melanesian Brotherhood on Saturday 30^th October. There will be a service at 11am followed by a picnic lunch and meeting.  If you would like to find out more, you are very welcome to come along.

As always, there is lots going on in the six churches within the Holyford Mission Community, especially in the lead-up to Advent and Christmas.  As I write, plans are coming together for the celebration of Branscombe’s Patronal Festival around St Winifred’s Day in early November—do keep an eye on our website or Facebook page for details, or the church notice board for services and events.

With every good wish and blessing,  Fr Steven.

At the time of writing this short article, the Olympic Games are in full swing in Japan and every morning I catch up with the previous night’s events on what is usually Breakfast TV on BBC. The usual presenters are there but instead of the usual diet of close analysis of what is happening with the Covid pandemic and the repercussions of Brexit, we are treated to a short news bulletin and the weather forecast and the rest of the programme is devoted to sport. I applaud this shift of emphasis because watching sport for me is more therapeutic and mood enhancing than endless debate about seemingly insoluble problems. I wonder however what has happened to all the news and views that filled the air waves for the last 16 months or so.  The truth is that something more important has come along in the view of the TV editors and so much of the news and views have simply vanished.

In life in general greater priorities push out lesser ones. Of course people vary as to what they consider to be a top priority. What are your priorities in terms of your ambitions, time, money, talents? The everyday decisions we make reflect our deeper priorities. The BBC decided that an Olympic Games that we had waited 5 years for warranted moving other material to less prominent billing, if any billing at all. Maybe they decided that the nation’s morale would benefit from some relative frivolity. How I spend my money, how I use my talents, how I make use of my time reflect what I think is ultimately important.  

The Bible talks about priorities many times. “Seek you first the kingdom of God and all these things will be added unto you.” “He who seeks to save his life will lose it”. “For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” “Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth”. “Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.”

Nigel Freathy

From the ministry team

The first of August is known as Lammas day and the word Lammas literally means ‘loaf mass’.  It is a celebration of the first fruits of the harvest which were used to bake a loaf which was brought into church to be blessed.  This tradition seems to go back to Anglo-Saxon times but more recent changes in farming practice have reduced its relevance as the harvest period in this part of the world is extended over a much longer period.

Irrespective of such practices the importance of bread in our daily lives cannot be denied and judging by the amount of supermarket shelves devoted to it we must eat quite a lot of it! I remember that when on camping holidays, especially abroad, one of the first things to identify locally was where bread could be bought and the word for it in the local language!

The word companion literally means one who shares bread and reminds us that food in general is not just about satisfying our own needs but also the importance of social contact when we perform some basic activities. Food (and drink) sharing and eating together is a means of social cohesion not only in human groups but also other social animals and it is one thing that we have lost in the current pandemic and it is not surprising that people yearn for it to return as in pre-pandemic days.  In our modern culture bread is now a very diverse product and perhaps reminds us of our own social diversity, but eating and drinking together becomes a means of laying aside our differences and appreciating what it means to be truly human.

The  New Testament records that in Jesus in his last hours before his crucifixion shared a meal with his disciples which included both bread and wine; a meal of both sorrow and reassurance of a Father’s love for his Son and each one of us too and which is still remembered in Church services today.

Charles Hill