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A very large congregation packed St Giles’ Church on 17th October and over spilled into the Church Hall to where the Service was relayed. The Revd. Philip Robinson used his farewell sermon to call upon all in the Parish not to look back to the past but forwards to the future. “You must not become complacent”, he said. “There is much still to do to bring Christ to more people in Ickenham”.
At the start of the Service Philip took much pleasure in being able to dedicate a fine, new, oak, clergy chair given by Ron Watkins in memory of his wife Molly who died last year. It resides at the foot of the pulpit.
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The gift of an 15”LCD television, for Philip’s new Uxbridge kitchen, was presented by Brenda, and received with thanks along with an envelope containing a cheque.
A special book, with an inscription prepared by Tim Noad, was opened so that everyone could sign it. Despite this being available at the 8 a.m. and 9.45 a.m. services, and in the Hall afterwards, so many people queued to sign, it was retained for additional signatures during the following week.
Philip travelled to France on the 18th October, taking with him a large number of personal effects required for setting up home in his French apartment. He returned to Ickenham fairly quickly in order to finalise matters concerning his new Uxbridge flat.
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FROM ST GILES’ CLERGY
 No doubt the thieves who stole the monumental stones surrounding the flag pole in the churchyard are enjoying their ill-gotten gains, but it is a sad reflection on society today when a churchyard is desecrated in this way. The person or persons who took the stones obviously have no moral code by which they live their lives and sadly reflect so much of what is happening in Britain today, a society where many people put themselves first, no matter what the consequences are for their neighbour.
I have recently come back from a holiday in China and what struck me more than anything else was how clean the country was. A large number of Chinese people seem to smoke but I never saw a cigarette packet on the floor in any of the cities I visited. I was also struck by the total lack of graffiti, so much so, that I asked the Chinese guide why I hadn’t seen any. He looked at me in total bewilderment and asked why anyone would want to write on walls and spoil the environment.
Although I was on a package tour mainly seeing the major sites in China, I did manage to get away into some of the back streets of the cities during free time and I discovered a people that were living in extremely crowded conditions, but who respected each other and were very proud of the developments taking place in their country and among whom I felt very safe. They certainly reflected the exaltation found in the Book of Titus chapter 3 which we in Britain would do well to follow, namely “to be ready to do what is good, to slander no-one, to be peaceable and considerate, and to show true humility towards all people”. Perhaps if we all followed these words then St. Giles’ would still have the monumental stones around the flagpole.
Revd. Ken Tombs (Hon Curate)
Baptisms
Oct 11th Daniel John Thompson
24th Joseph William Brown
Poppy-Lee O’Farrell
Cremations at Breakspear Crematorium
Oct. 10th Alberta Smith, aged 83
25th Charles Herbert Glover, aged 87
26th Iris Beatrice Blanks, aged 76
29th James Dennis Bowen, aged 75
Doris (Dorothy) Ross, aged 90 (after a service in St Giles’ Church)
Nov. 2nd Eileen Young, aged 80
4th Peter Walter James Hodt, aged 73
Henry (Matt) Matthews, aged 84
8th Rose Davies, aged 80
10th Christopher Wheeler, aged 65
11th Joan Beatrice Thompson, aged 94 (after a service in St Giles’ Church)
16th Anna Louise Murray, aged 62 (after a service in St Giles’ Church)
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