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Congratulations
Rector Honoured We most heartily congratulate Bishop William on receiving the OBE. There does however appear to be some disagreement about the meaning of OBE. Some say that it stands for Officer of the British Empire, others say that it means Order of the same.Quite frankly, we feel that Our Best-loved Ecclesiastic is far more appropriate. Well done Bishop William Pwaisiho OBE. Actually, OBE stands for Officer of the Order of the British Empire. In the same way, MBE stands for Member of the Order of the British Empire |
Rector: The Rt Reverend William
A Pwaisiho O.B.E.
Hon. Assistant Bishop of Chester,
The Rectory, Church Lane, Gawsworth,
Tel: 01260 223201
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Rector's Letter for January 2004
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Dear Friends, One of the great things I came to discover in this country is that everything is very tidy, mentally, physically and spiritually. Social change comes at an incredible speed wave after wave - non stop. Have a little pause and watch the different generations' skills, language and material values. Their lifestyle is moving on, and the big question for the Church is are we meeting their needs, and are we able to accommodate and adjust to these changes and challenges? The way we can tell is by looking at events in our Parish Church for which we keep records-only a human evaluation, but a reflection of the world in which we live. On 12 th December 2003, Gawsworth Primary School Infant Church Service was awesome. The Reception Class of 26, Year 1 (30) Year 2/3 (32) made a total of 88 young boys and girls, brought by their Headteacher, teachers, parents and grandparents to a wonderful treat in leading us the adults, in worship through drama, carols and scripture in their Nativity Play. It is my prayer that the School will feel most welcome and free to use the Parish Church as much as they wish, ministering to us, their parents and grandparents. Another service I was so uplifted by was the Crib Service on Christmas Eve, for children and their families. It was a full Church, and the children and some of the adults were even sitting around the Altar in the sanctuary, (perhaps the first time some had been around the Altar). The singing of Away in a Manger' was led by young Owen Stevens, and the Bible readings were done by three girls, Sophie Macfadyen, Sophie Taylor and Holly Smith. I hope that this service was an encouragement to young boys and girls, and their parents, to know that we want to involve young people as much as we can in our services, make your New Year resolution to come and use your gifts and skills to the Glory of God. I have dwelt a lot on the involvement of our young members because it is a joy to see their enthusiasm, and enjoyment in Church worship. Whatever we do in Church gives that special dimension of worship, praise, giving and thanksgiving to God Almighty. There is in Church, something of a mystery and a presence of God that we just cannot explain, yet we know that it is true, and we believe it. Epiphany this year was very special for our Parish because it saw the arrival of our new organ. It was after 4.00pm on Tuesday 6 th January when the installation was completed and we were at last able to hear its voice- and beautiful it was. Thanks go to our Organist and Choirmaster Keith Yearsley, who had made several journeys to the organ builders at High Wycombe to ensure that we have what we want and need for our Church of St James. I also want to thank on your behalf the carpenter Peter Wainwright and his labourer Ken Williams for the preparation of the flooring in readiness for the new organ, and afterwards for their work in strengthening and replacing the front pew in its original position. I also want to thank Carole Townshend for her enormous contribution over the last years to the collection and collation of material for the Church magazine. Carole is very busy now with college studies, amongst many other things, and has handed her magazine duties over to Barbara Wilson, who joins Ken Williams as the Editorial Team. Finally, thank you for all your cards and messages of congratulation, and pray we forgive Macclesfield Express for making me the Vicar of Sutton (my apology to the Vicar of Sutton, Revd Taffy Davies). I hope Macclesfield Express will get it perfect next time !!!!! Your co-worker in the Gospel William (Rector)
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A New Organ at last
At Last!!!! After many years of negotiation, soul searching, and fund raising, the new organ has been installed in our Church of St James, Gawsworth. Although it is not a traditional pipe organ, you would never know the difference, because modern digital technology enables the recorded sounds of ACTUAL pipe organs to be used in producing the beautiful sounds which you should now experience at Gawsworth. Our organ has been built in America by Allen Organs, to the specification of our own organist in consultation with other local organist and with the technical advisors at Allen Organs in High Wycombe. The tabstop console is in dark oak to match the Rood Screen and the pews, and the four external speakers, which emit the sound, are located in the Chancel you have to look to find them !! The total cost of £29,000 falls well within our budget. As the organ is basically a very advanced computer (every note has been voiced and blended to suit our own church), there will not be the expense of having the organ tuned each year. For the musically minded, the organ is a two manual Allen Renaissance digital organ. Its special features include solo voices on the swell, (Clarinet, French Horn, Cor Anglais and Orchestral Flute), a conversion to a baroque type sound on the Great, and bass and melody couplers for pianist and keyboard players. There is also a MIDI division, with additional sounds such as piano, harpsichord, Spanish trumpet, handbells, tuba ..100 in all. If all this sounds complicated, there will be a musical conducted tour round the organ, - for those interested in the near future, after a shortened evensong. Never heard of Allen Organs Most people haven't, but they have an international reputation and have been building electric/electronic and in more recent times digital organs, since 1937. If you click here you will go to www.allenorgans.com then at the bottom of the screen, click on Allen Organ Company, and explore their history, take a virtual tour of their factory in Pennsylvania, and read all about them. Warranty What happens when it all goes wrong ???? Many people are, not surprisingly, somewhat suspicious of modern technology. When things go wrong, we've all been told sorry its out of date there's nothing we can do !!! But read on .. Taken from the documentation for the new organ Both organ and speakers carry a full ten year parts warranty to which we also add ten years labour cover. At the end of this initial warranty period , both parts and labour may be renewed on an annual basis for as many years as required. No Allen organ is ever to old for this service, whose cost is the same for any Allen organ, wherever in the UK it is situated, however old it is, And whatever size of the instrument. Parts for every Allen organ ever built since the first one in 1937, are available ex-stock. In the event of a breakdown, we would pledge to have the organ working again from one Sunday to the next, and usually within 48 hours, or sooner, of notification. No regular servicing is required, and the organ is unaffected by changes in temperature or humidity. |
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