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Outside a Garden of Rememberance was built. Inside the pews were replaced by chairs, a new carpet was laid, storage improved, pulpit and font removed, additional lighting installed and the church redecorated. We wanted to remove the choir stalls but were prevented from doing so. The final decision was made by a Consistory Court. Taken from the Church Magazine Pews or Chairs? -Discussion at St Thomas', August 1991 (August 1991 edition of magazine) The evening was bright, the air was clear When many people came to hear What was for them, important news Shall we replace - with chairs - the pews? To start proceedings, the Sowers sang, with melody true their voices rang Throughout the church, with great aplomb Disturbed feelings were very soon gone. We started with two factions defined Those for chairs, who didn't mind The removal of our ancient boards, And those who loved them more than words can say! We talked of size, we talked of weight. We talked of shops, of money, of the fate of the carpet. The numbers we draw, each question generating more. Is the timing right, does one exclude the other, Can't we have chairs and pews together? Of the extension, where does that count In our calculations - a great amount? Rates were raised, and valuation. And what of the rest of the congregation? The many issues, great and small, too true, they must concern us all. Then David Smith, with hand on hip said "furniture doesn't make fellowship". Reminded us love not to besmirch, It's fellowship that makes the church. The Committee listened, I hope, with care to everyone assembled there. Took notes to follow up at leisure Explaining the issues, measure by measure. It was good to see all giving ground Conceding that he/she had found reasons for reflective thought. Consideration, guidance, all was sought. And at the end, our aim achieved, some were well pleased, some were relieved. Those pews or chairs are really frills. What will be, is what God wills. If change is good, then change we will But let God's guide be with us still. Keith Morgan Re-ordering at St Thomas, December 1995 (December 1995 edition of magazine) the glory, the splendour, and the majesty; for everything in heaven and earth is yours. All things come from you, and of your own do we give you." This is what we say at our communion service as our gifts are brought forward, and the plate is raised by a member of the clergy standing on two tatty staging blocks which have been man, or woman-handled into place before the service. On the staging stands a rather rickety table which is just about big enough for the chalices and platens for the bread and wine. The whole set up stands on a section of carpet that has seen better days, and we all sit in pews that seem to be designed to make anybody's backache worse! Surely we need something better! Through out the history of our church the furniture has always had to change to suit the worship. So in the 1880's we lost our box pews and gained a chancel. A hundred years later we resolved to re-order the interior once again to suit different patterns of worship. We only got as far as changing things at the back of St Thomas' which explains why we have our present temporary rickety arrangements. At our July PCC meeting the Church Council considered the results of the presentation on the Church Re-development made in May and the comments made afterwards. Reluctantly we decided that the Church was not ready or able to go forward with the full redevelopment plans. We did decide to complete the re-ordering of the church interior, which has been PCC policy for over 15 years and to go ahead on the new memorial garden as our present cremation plot is full. St Thomas' very own bush clearing and surveying party has already been at work. The survey plot has been sent to the Architect for his final drawings. On the re-ordering front, replacement of pews with chairs, permanent staging in front of the present chancel step as a focus for our worship and the clearance of the choir stalls to provide a flexible space and smaller worship area are all proposed as shown in the presentation last May. All groups using the church have been asked for their comments on points of detail. So far 14 fascinating contributions have been received. What about a quiet tea urn? How many sockets do we need? Could I get my handbag under the chair in front? What about storage space? We in the Development Committee will have met the architects again by the time this is published and the difficult task of fitting all the detail together will be in progress. Is that the most difficult task? What about the money? How easy or difficult that is depends on us. First of all we have to find enough money to run our church. Then we have to find what is needed for this project. We are talking about £70,000-£80,000 and we are talking about a gift day on 18 February 1996. Is it unrealistic to ask for this? Is it unrealistic to want to change the interior of our church to be suitable for our developing worship for another 100 years? Surely doing just this and making the sacrifices necessary is more real than saying these words of dedication over a rickety table on temporary blocks for another how ever many years. Robin Dawson, Chairman of the Development Committee Gift Day at St Thomas, March 1996 (February 1996 edition of magazine) In recent years, Gift Days have been occasions of great joy and wonderfully sacrificial giving. The prayer of many is that this year's will be just the same. The gifts will pay for the reordering and refurbishing of St Thomas, something the PCC have been planning for since before 1980. The aim of this is twofold:
Gift Day is a wonderful opportunity to show God how thankful we are for all that has given us and how much we love Him. Gift Day -a Wonderful Response (June 1996 edition of magazine) It was held back on March 17, just missing our last issue. The amount given for the new Garden of Remembrance and the re-ordering of St Thomas' was £43,479 (including tax refunds). A further £24,339 has been pledged (again including tax refunds), making a total of £67,818. Praise God! St Thomas' Development Update (April 1997 edition of magazine) Garden of Remembrance The design for the Garden of Remembrance is now complete. By the time Ploughshare is published four contractors will have been asked to tender for the work. They will have been asked to consider an offer from Touchstone to do the site clearance work. If all goes to plan the first stage of the work consisting of new paths, a lawn for the interment of ashes, a low wall to bear the names of those whose ashes are interred, a fenced play area outside the meeting room and planting will be completed in the spring. A second stage is likely in the autumn when the memorial stones will be moved to their new position and the hedge planted around them. Some minor finishing work to one of the paths will also be required. This phasing of the work will allow interested parties to have an idea of where the stones are going before they are moved. We are writing to all these people to explain the details. Re-ordering of the Interior The Diocesan Advisory Committee responded fairly positively to our architects proposals with the exception of those concerning the font. Here the DAC is at variance with what we take to be the general preference of the church. We have written more fully to the DAC explaining how we view baptism and its place in the life of our church. Meanwhile the architects have completed their design which will be considered at the March DAC meeting. Hopefully we can still complete the formalities in time to do the work in the autumn. Garden of Rememberance (June 1997 edition of magazine) Work on the new Garden of Remembrance at St Thomas, and a safe play-area outside the Meeting Room for small children will be carried out during June. When it is more or less complete, those waiting to have cremated remains of loved one buried in the Garden can do so, before the grass is sown. All those known to be waiting will be contacted when the time comes. Progress on St. Thomas Memorial Garden (August 1997 edition of magazine) The Contractor has finished the first stage; the paths and wall on which memorial tablets will be fixed in future. When the soil has had a chance to dry out after the recent wet spell, he will prepare and sow the lawn. He is responsible for looking after the lawn until it is established and has had three cuts. To give it a suitable setting, the lawn will have a screen of shrubs behind it. The Contractor has to look after these and the hedges until they too are established and so planting of the shrubs and hedges will wait until the Autumn. Also in the Autumn when approval has been obtained from the Diocese, the existing memorial stones will be moved to their new position in the area now laid out as loose gravel. This gravel will be used as a surround to the repositioned stones and a hedge will be planted to screen them. When complete, it is intended that the garden will be a place for remembrance and contemplation. Please treat it with respect. The wall is not for sitting on and children should be discouraged from running around the paths. Robin Dawson Garden of Remembrance Progress and Re-development Update (1998) (October 1998 edition of magazine) As this edition of Ploughshare goes to press, the new Garden of Remembrance is nearly complete. The men from Pople Landscapes have worked hard and approached a difficult task with great sensitivity. Each morning, the Rector has held a short service on the site and several affected relatives have attended. It has been good to have many expressions of appreciation of what is being done. Our prayer is that the Garden will provide many with the opportunity for treasuring memories and praying peacefully. The Re-ordering of St Thomas' is now scheduled to take place in the Spring. The PCC are making final decisions about the seating, carpets and colour schemes. This follows work by the Development Committee and our architects, adapting the plans in the light of the Chancellor's Consistory Court decision that the Chancel must remain untouched. Our prayer for the re-ordering is that it will encourage the renewal of St. Thomas' worship and provide many opportunities for varied activities right through the week. As this edition of Ploughshare goes to press, the new Garden of Remembrance is nearly complete. The men from Pople Landscapes have worked hard and approached a difficult task with great sensitivity. Each morning, the Rector has held a short service on the site and several affected relatives have attended. It has been good to have many expressions of appreciation of what is being done. Our prayer is that the Garden will provide many with the opportunity for treasuring memories and praying peacefully. The Re-ordering of St Thomas' is now scheduled to take place in the Spring. The PCC are making final decisions about the seating, carpets and colour schemes. This follows work by the Development Committee and our architects, adapting the plans in the light of the Chancellor's Consistory Court decision that the Chancel must remain untouched. Our prayer for the re-ordering is that it will encourage the renewal of St. Thomas' worship and provide many opportunities for varied activities right through the week. The Consistory Court (1998) (June 1998 edition of magazine) Impressions written as it took place, by Keith Morgan If anyone watched Kavannagh QC on television a few weeks ago, they would have seen the televised mysteries of a Consistory Court, into which was drawn the subject of marital infidelity. Although the setting was not as grand as an Oxford College, nor the subject as sensational, the court at St. Thomas' on May 9th to determine the rightfulness in Ecclesiastical law of the reordering for the church was indeed very unusual. St Thomas' Church sits very well in May sunshine on Chatsworth Road. May 9th was no different. In bright sunshine, thirty to forty congregational members took their places for what was to become a significant moment in the history of this church. The congregation were instructed by the Chancellor not to shout, boo or clap. The solicitors, architects and supporters of the development sat on the north side of church, those opposed, the Victorian Society and Chesterfield Borough Council representatives, on the south. Judge Bullimore, the Chancellor, and James Battie, the registrar, occupied the centre below the chancel arch, where, ironically, we are expecting to be allowed to place the Holy Table. The parties both for and against the development were very well prepared. Karen Riley, solicitor, called Nicholas Rank as her first witness. He represented Buttress, Fuller, Alsop, Williams, the church architects. The Chancellor's sense of humour showed in little asides. The old font outside the west door of the church was being discussed, and it was pointed out that a faculty had been obtained to put it there. "It wasn't approved by me" said the Chancellor, as nowadays banishment of fonts to churchyards is frowned upon. Mr Rank stated that architecturally the building is of lowest grade listing and that internal modifications had been ongoing since the dedication of the church some one hundred and seventy years ago. The use of space for worship needs to be maximised, and he argued that the internal furniture is neither unique nor of outstanding character in need of preservation for posterity. The only structures left from the original architect are the shell (the walls) and the tower. All internal decoration and/or furniture is of a modified kind. It was made clear that the reredos, oak panelling and mosaic floor would not be removed, although the floor would be covered, possibly by wooden block flooring. The internal fittings are not coherent or unique and removing the choirstalls, it was argued, would not detract from a coherent whole. Amid the seriousness of the court, there were little points of humour usually prompted unintentionally by the Chancellor. The architects were warned, when the ceiling was commented upon, "keep your hands off that!", to the amusement of the assembled congregation. This humour continued when the Chancellor introduced a softly spoken lady, Margaret Goodall, from the Victorian Society, to speak against the proposal. Chancellor: "Can you hear at the back?" Voices from the back: "No, not really" Chancellor: "That's your fault then! You Anglicans always move to the back". There followed a very orderly, polite questioning from the Victorian Society, where it did transpire that the choirstalls were installed in 1891. Mr Rank, while appreciating the heritage issue, did point out that it could be constricting and that this building is still being used for the purposes for which it was originally instigated 170 years ago. This has only been possible, he argued, because the building has changed within to accommodate the changing needs of congregations. The questions from Miss Goodall were apt and searching, one question asked for architectural 'symmetry' considerations to be taken into account if the re-ordering went ahead in the Nave but not the Chancel. It was made very clear to the court that reordering one without the other would be inconsistent. The second witness for the development side was the Chair of the Development Committee, Robin Dawson. The evidence from Mr Dawson focused more on the needs of the church, rather than architecture. From this it emerged that the Diocesan Advisory Committee although concerned about the position of the Font and the Holy Table, decided not to object to the removal of the choirstalls as although seemly, they were not readily adaptable to modern forms of worship. The D.A.C. suggested that extraneous furniture should be removed. The third witness for the re-ordering proposals was Christopher Frith. His evidence, as Rector, focused on the varied nature of services over a month and the different kinds of services provided every Sunday. It was very reassuring that the Chancellor demanded considerable detail from the Rector on these points. It was impossible to miss the diverse nature of the monthly calendar or the different kinds of worship within a Sunday in this testimony. Karen Riley drew out well the present use of the church for important community events such as Holiday Clubs, Agape and Youth Groups and the proposal to extend such events if redevelopment goes ahead. She also focused on the Chancel and the need for flexibility there. Once all witness accounts had been heard the opponents to the development began their summing up procedure. Much of this information had been laid out in written testimony, but during this delivery, Miss Goodall referred to precedent and legal practice, which, she argued, supported the case of the Victorian Society. Miss Goodall was "cross-examined" by Mrs Riley very effectively, and the point well drawn out here was that in the listing of the building in 1968, the ceiling and oriel window were included but not the choirstalls and Chancel seating. Mr Staniforth, C.B.C., then gave his evidence against the development. It should be pointed out here that the C.B.C. objection, on the officer's advice was only carried by a majority of one at a C.B.C. planning committee. Again Mrs Riley crossexamined effectively. The council case did not hold up very well; it was demonstrated by Mrs Riley that the report to committee represented mainly one viewpoint, that the committee made its decision without visiting the Church and the implication was very strong that a decision was made "in the dark". At 12.45pm it was agreed to continue to the end of the case rather than to adjourn the court for lunch. The Archdeacon was invited to speak in summing up, and explained how his views had been continually changing. He did, indeed, come down on the side of the church redevelopment, and Mrs Riley thanked him for that. Revd John Drackley, for the D.A.C., represented the committee as sympathetic to the needs of the church, but having some reservations from the conservation point of view. On balance, they were prepared to go along with the development. The proposers and opponents of the development gave their summings up, which were skilled on both parts, yet I observed a wry smile pass between Mr Rank and Miss Goodall while Mrs Riley summed up on behalf of the church. It was as if the Victorian Society had accepted defeat and as I close this article as an informed account of what happened at the first Consistory Court in St Thomas', I do indeed see, shining through the windows on the south side of the church, glorious sunshine! At the time of going to press we are still awaiting the Chancellor's written decision on the matter before the Consistory Court. Keith Morgan St Thomas' Re-ordering Gets Underway (1999) (February 1999 edition of magazine) After many years of frustrating delay, St. Thomas' Church is now to be re-ordered and re-decorated. Sunday 7 February will be the last Sunday in the old St. Thomas'. It will then be closed for seven weeks while all the work is carried out. The re-opening will, appropriately, be on Easter Day and the Bishop of Derby is coming to re-dedicate St. Thomas' at a 6.30 p.m. service. What is to be done
St. Thomas' are going "into exile." Each congregation will be meeting together in St. John's Church at 3.30pm, starting on Sunday 14 February and continuing until Palm Sunday, 28 March. There will be facilities for children - sometimes all-age services and sometimes with children's activities in the church, the Waddington Lounge, the office and Walton Village Hall. The theme for the seven weeks: FOCUS ON GOD. The Rector sees this as a big opportunity for St. Thomas' people, He writes: "Our time 'in exile' at St. John's will give us the chance to come together, to do things differently, to see God afresh, to repent of wrong attitudes and to find different perspectives. We must aim to have better attitudes and better structures, to make growth more likely and to seek to glorify God more. It will be a time to `celebrate our diversity' while at the same time becoming much more deeply united." Details of the return to St. Thomas' on Easter Day and thereafter will be published later after prayer and reflection. Financial Arrangements
"Unless the Lord builds the house, its builders labour in vain." Psalm 127:1 So, we must pray. A prayer card is available to assist private prayer. There will be a Prayer Meeting in St. Thomas' between 9 am and 11 am on Saturday 6 February. "Glorify the Lord with me, let us exalt His name together." Psalm 34:3 Christopher Frith St Thomas' Organ Cleaning and Overhaul (December 2001 edition of magazine) People often wonder what it is about church organs that they need to have so much money spent on them. After all, it still plays and sounds all right, doesn't it? Well yes... and no. Like any machine it requires maintenance and there comes a time in any machine's life when major work has to be done. If not it will collapse in a heap. A few months ago it was decided that St Thomas's organ had reached that point. Outwardly the organ still plays and can produce a sound, but ask anyone who has played it and they will give the same opinion - it is in need of drastic life support It's a bit like playing a guitar with a string or two missing, or playing a piano with a few sticking or missing notes. The church was faced with some choices: do we spend money giving it a major overhaul or forego the pipe organ altogether? Faced with several choices the PCC has decided to go ahead with investing in the pipe organ. It is one of the largest (it contains over 1,500 pipes) and best examples of its type in Derbyshire, allowing a wide range of repertoire to be played from J.S.Bach (writing in the 18th century) to the present day. As well as an overhaul we are also taking the opportunity to improve the playability of the instrument and rearranging the pipe layout so that there is better sound projection into the body of the church. The order for the work has now been placed with Henry Groves and Son of Nottingham who are particularly experienced in restoring our type of organ. The work is due to start in May 2002 and will take about four months to complete. The cost of the job amounts to about £35,000 including VAT. Taking account of the money already invested in the Organ Fund and the pledges that were made a couple of years ago we still need to find another £10,000 or so. Every bit of support would be very welcome! Music is an integral part of Christian worship, and for many the organ has an almost unique status amongst all the instruments used in church. St. Thomas prides itself on the variety of musical styles used in its worship, and invests a lot of time and money in ensuring that the music enriches church life at every level. We have, I believe, an obligation to those who have invested in this instrument in the past - it is nearly 100 years old - as well as to those whom it will inspire in the future. It is a resource to the community at large. As well as Sunday worship it is used for weddings and funerals, and in concert work. This is the first major expenditure on the instrument for many years and by investing now, it should last another 100 years. Apart from regular tuning, there need be no further major expenditure for a generation or more. Your support in the coming months for our "King of Instruments" would be very much appreciated. Andrew Travis Note: the work has been completed. |