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At a service on Sunday 8th March 2020, at Perranzabuloe Parish Church, St Piran, people from across the Diocese of Truro were awarded the St Piran Cross. Among them was Roger Sullivan, a member at St Anta Church; his wife, Doreen, was also awarded a St Piran Cross just one year ago!

The citation for Roger’s award is given in full, below:

Roger Sullivan learnt to ring bells at St Anta and All Saints Church in Carbis Bay in 1952 as a 12 year old boy. In 1974 he became the steeple keeper and from then has spent time caring for the bells, teaching people to ring with some coming to faith as a result.

Roger was made Deanery Steward in 1982 for Penwith Deanery which involved visiting as many towers as possible, giving support, assistance and encouragement, being out bellringing 5 or 6 times a week. He stood down from this role in 1999; however, until recently, he has continued supporting other towers many evenings a week. Due to health reasons he stood down from steeple keeper in 2019 but continued as tower co-ordinator, meeting, greeting and hosting visiting ringers.

Roger has also set up the 8 a.m. communion service at St Anta for the past 17 years. He helps to clean the church and support his wife, Doreen, in her church ministry.

In the past he has visited Marie Therèse House in Hayle weekly and helped with fundraising for Parkinson’s and MS charities. He is a much loved character both locally and further afield. He would go that extra mile to give assistance and encouragement to anyone when needed.

“Out of the mouths of babes…….”

The TIDDLER FUND at St Uny

John Culver, August 2019

During the August 2019 Café Church at St Uny I found myself pondering on the history of the “Tiddler Collection” (a regular feature of Café Church at St Uny, Lelant – first Sunday each month – Ed.). Probably because I was remembering one of its founders, Beverly Wills.

In 1983 we needed £3,000 to repair one of the bells. Appeals went out for donations and loans. Within three months the funds were in and repairs could begin.

At the same time Ethiopia had a terrible famine and every night the television showed heart-breaking footage of starving and dying children.

Beverly wrote: “The young people in our Sunday School were horrified and moved. They were also highly indignant that we should be spending so much money on a bell when children were suffering. We had a long discussion about this and also what they should do. It was decided that each month at the Family Service we would bring our jam-jars with all the odd ‘tiddlers’, (half-pennies to the very young), and empty them into a tin. The tin was important because the more noise it made, the more money we had collected! Save the Children was chosen as it gave more of each pound raised to the child than any other charity and I believe this is still true.

“Sarah Jewell, then a committee member of Save the Children, came to talk to us …..and so the Tiddler Fund was born. The first month we hoped for £2 or £3 pounds. Instead we got £41.88!

“The Tiddler Fund is now over 35 years old and all those young people have ‘growd up’ and many have children of their own but it’s thanks to Sarah, Tim, George, Daniel, Nikki, Velisa, Mark, Matthew, Joff, Clare, Izzie and all the other young people that it is still supporting the work of the Save the Children.

“A friend of mine knowing how indignant I was at the spending of money on a bell said, ‘But we all need bells, Bev’. Well that bell, or its repair certainly rang for us and maybe the noise of those coins cascading into an old tin was like the chime of a bell for our Lord as it meant children caring for children. We now use a basket which is far less intrusive!

“Since the start of the fund we have far exceeded the £3000 but I hope that as long as there are children who are suffering the Tiddler fund will continue.”

The above was adapted from Bev Wills’ 2011 article in New Contact

In 1989 we were very thrilled to be presented with the Princess Anne award because of the Tiddler Fund at a special fun day at Saltram House. Alison Sanders collected the award accompanied by Sandy Dee-Shapland and Emily Wills.

If anyone would like to join in – all you need is a jam-jar! Empty in to it all your odd coins and bring it along to Café Church. You will be very, very welcome and you can enjoy a coffee and croissant!

Total given to Save The Children from Tiddler collections up to the end of 2018 amounted to £6,857.62.

Jesus said: ‘I have come so everyone may live and enjoy life to the full.’ – John 10.10

Please allow me to introduce myself and my family to you and share some of my hopes and prayers for us here in Carbis Bay, Lelant and the wider community.

I, Etienne, was born in South Africa and had the privilege of growing up within a loving and supportive Christian family. I served God as ordained minister for the best part of a decade in the Middle East. This is where I also met my wife, Hanan. We both lived and worked together in Lebanon and Jordan before coming to England seventeen years ago – we were accompanied by our firstborn daughter, Kay, who is now studying Fine Arts at Leeds Arts University. Julia, who has just finished her GCSE’s, will be completing her A-level Studies at Penwith College, in Penzance, and is passionate about baking. Steffan is looking forward to entering Year Nine at St Ives School and is a keen footballer. Hanan has more recently worked as a hospitality assistant in our church, and we love making new friends and welcoming them into our lives and home. Of course, Micky, our eight year old Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, is also very much part of the family.

Before moving to Carbis Bay, we lived and worked in Lancashire, where I was School Chaplain, Teacher of Art and serving in our local Deanery. Before that, I was working for the Church of England in Oxfordshire and was Head of Art at an independent school. We are blessed, honoured and humbled by God’s calling to serve the Churches of St Anta and St Uny, including St Uny Church of England Academy and the communities of Carbis Bay and Lelant. We are very much looking forward to getting to know everyone in the Church Family and wider community and becoming part of the people of Cornwall.

Ultimately, I would like to support people in discovering and enjoying an abundant life in Christ through life-long and eternal fellowship with Him and his followers, both as disciples and as part of Christ’s body, the Church. I have an irrevocable calling to serve alongside others, as ordained Anglican priest, and to share in the life of a congregation through prayer, preaching, teaching, leading worship, pastoral care, and leadership, as well as motivating the church community to share in mission and nurturing fellowship at the same time.

When Jesus said in John 10, ‘I have come so everyone may live and enjoy life to the full’, He had us all and all those who were not yet part of his flock, in mind. As Good Shepherd, he was not only willing to lay down his life so we can live, but also do everything else necessary to guide, feed, protect and enable us to come to our full potential in Him. He called himself ‘the gate’ through whom we need to enter to live with Him, and all his followers, and we learned to know his voice to follow Him. Christ cares for and looks after his church and He calls us to love and forgive and look after one another too. This is our inward responsibility.

However, Jesus also said, ‘I have other sheep that are not of this sheepfold. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd.’ He is always willing to leave the ninety-nine to go and find that one individual to come and be part of his flock, so this should also be our approach, reaching outward to all who don’t yet know his voice so He can bring them also in – ‘one flock and one shepherd’. In my view, looking outward, or having mission-hearts, is one of the most important diagnostic signs of whether a church is alive and healthy, along with accessible worship, having a clear, growing and prayerful vision, supporting and collaborating with one another, investing in an applied discipleship, and having a strong ownership of creating and being an united community.

I hope and pray, as Priest-in-Charge of Carbis Bay and Lelant, that I will be able to serve God and others with all my heart, mind and strength, by being a leader who listens and learn before leading. So, I would like to take ample time to get to know everyone first, as we serve alongside one another. I would like to see us spend time in prayer, corporately and individually, and encourage one another to be true and faithful followers of Christ – his disciples making disciples. I would like us to ensure we invest in ‘all-age ministry’, where the young people and children are welcomed and served, just as much as we would like to accommodate and celebrate the presence of adults, including men, women, families, and the elderly, whatever our background, gender, ability or age may be. I would like to see us encourage and enable an ‘all-member-ministry’, where we value everyone’s ministry, and where young and old may contribute to the life and service of the Church.  I would like us to plan and pioneer and actively reach out and serve everyone in our Community with the love and Good News of Jesus Christ. May his Kingdom come, and his Church grow!

Saying all of this, I would like to conclude by quoting from Philippians 3:

“We put no confidence in human effort, though I could have confidence in my own effort if anyone could…I once thought these things were valuable, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done. Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord…that I could gain Christ and become one with him…For God’s way of making us right with himself depends on faith. I want to know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised him from the dead…No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.”

 My family and I are much encouraged by and very grateful for your warm welcome and the kind commitment of support, especially in prayer, for our future ministry together with you here, taking part in God’s work. The ecumenical body’s support and collaboration are also reasons to thank and praise God. We are committed to love and serve God and you and everyone in the community with all we’ve received so freely from God ourselves thorough-out our lives.

May the Lord bless us and protect us.

May the Lord smile on us and be gracious to us.

May the Lord show us his favour and give us his peace;

and may the blessing of God almighty,

the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit,

be among us and remain with us all always.

 

Etienne with Hanan, Kay, Julia and Steffan

ADDENDUM – Mike was confirmed by the Bishop of Truro, Rt Revd Philip Mounstephen, at Pendeen Church, Cornwall, on Sunday 24th November 2019.

On Saturday 20th April 2019 (Easter Saturday), at St Anta Church, Carbis Bay, Mike Laramy was baptised by immersion in water. What an occasion! Mike asserts that, on that date, he was baptised not only in water but also in the Holy Spirit.

For more information on being baptised as an adult, please visit the Church of England Adult Baptism web page at: https://www.churchofengland.org/life-events/adult-baptism

Here is Mike’s story, in his own words:

Why, after 50+ years, I chose to be baptised

I’ve had this same neighbour for many years. At first he was just a passing acquaintance, a nod of acknowledgement on my part as our paths crossed. When I met my wife Liz, it turned out that she knew this neighbour much better than I did. When we were preparing to get married we went to this neighbour’s house and met some of his friends

– he has a lot of friends –

The neighbour was at our wedding, 1^stof September 1984 in St. Uny Church, Lelant: a lovely and very special day. After we were married we didn’t see the neighbour so much, but, when I started teaching in Torrington in 1989 I needed somewhere to stay whilst we sorted out more permanent accommodation. This neighbour helped us out,

I know someone you can stay with; he’s a good friend of mine

And so I stayed for a while with the Reverend Jeremy Hummerstone and his lovely wife Clarissa and their family. The neighbour was often there and I sometimes went around to his place and met some more of his friends – did I mention he has lots of friends? – He would say,

Hi Mike you alright?

I’d reply – “yeah I’m fine thank you” and I’d leave it at that.

Eventually I got a teaching job in Cornwall – Redruth School. Then we were able to move to Carbis Bay. It turned out this neighbour had a nice house here and Liz started to visit him regularly – sometimes more than twice a week. I used to go around for special occasions: Christmas, harvest festival, and he’d say

Hi Mike, nice to see you, you alright?

I’d say – “yeah I’m fine thanks”, and I’d leave it at that. This went on for twenty years.

Then Liz became ill. On the 6^th of February 2018 at 11:30 pm her little body finally gave up on her and let her go. The neighbour was there and I said to Him.

“Dear God – take Liz, look after her, keep her safe for me.”

And I know that he did take her and that she is with him now, safe in God’s keeping.

The next morning I was completely lost. Liz had been my guide, my compass for over 34 years. What was I to do without her? – What would Liz do? A good walk was needed, so we walked across the golf course to St Uny church and I found myself sat in the same pew I’d sat in 34½  years ago waiting for Liz – waiting for Liz.

Liz didn’t come, but my neighbour – God – was there,

You alright Mike?

“No”- I said

It’s OK! I’m here! I’ll be your guide and compass, I’ll show you the way,
just follow me.

So God, through His son Jesus Christ, has come to be with me to walk along side of me and to help and guide me. He has put His friends along my path to encourage and support me, now they are my friends. A friendship I am truly thankful for.

But God wants more. He wants his spirit to come and live with me, to be with me always, and I want this as well. But God has told me;

There’s not enough room, too much clutter taking up space, a lot of stuff that I need to get rid of.

So on April 20^th 2019 I asked God for forgiveness – for what is past, for not knowing Him sooner. To make more room for Him, so that his Holy Spirit can come and live in me forever.   Amen

Mike Laramy – Baptised in the Holy Spirit 20^thApril 2019