The safety and protection of children and vulnerable adults is of paramount importance to the whole of the church family and all, without exception have the right to protection from any kind of abuse.

The following link is a PDF document of our current draft Safeguarding Policy.

Please feel free to download and reads at your leisure.

safeguardingpolicy

NEWS FROM ST. ANDREW'S

  Well, the middle of July and it's raining again!! I hope the summer hasn't quite gone yet! Despite the rain on Fun Day, however, everyone seemed to have a good time and Rev. Cate in the stocks was a sight to behold!! That seemed to cause a great amount of fun in itself so well done for that!! We'll have to see what can be arranged for next year now!

  July has seen a number of things happening, not least the start of Phase 3 of the roof. We shall soon be home and dry with that at least. Also, work is due to begin shortly on the replacement drain which should help in future heavy rain storms. A new architect has now been appointed to work with us on the repairs to the church building itself so we hope to see some progress there soon.

 In the meantime, Vic Palfrey's funeral was held in the churchyard which was fitting as Vic was a regular with the Angelics until his health made that impossible. The rain held off for the service which was attended by his family and friends. Following on from that, we are due to hold a couple of Baptism services in the churchyard so let's hope the weather stays fine for them too. It does at least feel as though the church is being used again albeit in a different way.

  The Wind Quintet Concert at Escot was a great success and about £200 was raised for each church. I thought it was a quartet and so had a surprise when I found there were five musicians!!

  Looking ahead to September, the Devon Historic Churches Cycle/Drive is to take place on 12^th and Jim Pearcey and David Lanning are looking for sponsors as they are hoping to visit 80 churches on that day. Jim managed to get round 60 last year, I think, so another 20 will really be pushing it. If you would like to sponsor either or both of them, they will be pleased to hear from you. The money raised is split 50/50 between the Trust and your own church and we have been given a grant from the Trust to help with our repairs and restoration so it is a very worthwhile cause.

 Finally, I hope you all have a lovely summer when it comes back!! More next month.

                                                Gill Walker 850711

Here's an article by David Lanning about the 'green man' he found in St. Andrew's after the floods of 2008. 

"THE GREEN MAN"

It has taken me a long time to tell you about this but after the worst of the October flood water in church had subsided I was walking around the church on my own surveying the damage and feeling somewhat depressed about the whole affair.

Near the back of the church I saw on the floor, still covered in mud, a small 4cm block of wood. I picked it up without looking and put it in my pocket, thinking it had probably fallen off the screen leading into the choir vestry.

When I returned indoors I took out this piece of wood and completely to my surprise found it was a carving of a "Green Man"

So what is a Green Man, well the term was only introduced in 1939 by Lady Raglan who used the terminology in the Journal "Folk Lore". Often it's the name of a pub of the same name, or as the "Jack in the Green", or as the May King. In reality it is a carving either in stone or wood of a mans head with leaves or greenery emerging from the face. His origins are lost in the mists of time, but he appears all over the world, and so is truly one of the most powerful and enduring symbols of pagan mythology. He is always connected with greenery, and is a fusion of man and the green world of nature, of re-birth or renewal. In Christian imagery he became a symbol of Easter and resurrection. With only a few exceptions the medieval masons or wood carvers depicted him as a gentle and benevolent deity.

Try as I might I cannot find where this piece of wood came from, we have no missing pieces on any of the screens, perhaps he was hidden in the church and the flood water released him from his hiding place only to emerge as a symbol of celebration of ever- renewed life. I like to think this was the case as it has a message for me that the flood was not a disaster but a wake up call from God that we have to re-new our church and breath into it new life.

What will we do with him, I hope that we can mount him on a plaque and record the find so that we will remember the 28^th October 2008 as a night of the re-birth of St. Andrews.

Who knows, perhaps the flood did the church a favour!

David Lanning

Churchwarden

NEWS FROM ST. ANDREW'S

  My goodness, haven't we been lucky with the weather lately? Let's hope it continues a while longer!! June has been a busy month with Bishop Bob visiting our area over the last week or so. He seemed to move seamlessly from one meal to the next but when we heard how many different events he'd attended, he would have needed a lot of sustenance to keep him going!! Having been zigzagging across the county for 45 days, ending on June 21^st at the Confirmation Service in Ottery, I expect he's now ready for a day or two's rest to catch his breath before the Archbishop's visit to Exeter.

  June started for us with a very interesting talk by Rev. Cate about her Armenian Experiences. She gave us all a good insight into life in Armenia and the evening ended with refreshments made to Armenian recipes. As none of us had ever been, we could only hope that they were as they should have been but we enjoyed them nonetheless!! I was particularly intrigued by their alphabet but then I would be, wouldn't I?!

  On July 3rd, there is a course at Torrington for the Churchwardens to attend about the maintenance of churches and so on. No doubt they'll have a good day out as well! On the 12^th, there is the String Quartet concert at Escot Church in aid of their Roof Fund and our Flood Fund. This starts at 7.00p.m I think so look forward to seeing you there.

  As ever, July is an important month at the School, with Year 6 students going off to their new schools. The Leavers' Service is on July 20^th and it will be especially important this year as, of course, Graham Rowlands will also be a "Leaver". We wish all the students well in their new schools and wish Graham a very long and happy retirement.

  As you know, we have been holding a Parish Communion Service in the School for the past few months. There will be building work going on in the School over the summer so in July and August, there will be a Parish Communion Service in the Churchyard instead. If it's wet, we'll move somewhere dry, possibly the Church but that would depend on what's happening in there at the time! The first of these services is on July 26^th so we'll look forward to seeing some of you there.

 Finally for this month, very best wishes from us all to Mary Gibbins!!

           See you next month; enjoy the summer!!

                                             Gill Walker 850711