St. Andrew's Church

The Reverend William Frank Burlton

Born in 1912, his twin brother George died at birth, Bill had polio as a child and his father was killed in the First World War, leaving his mother as a young widow to bring up Bill and his younger brother, Harold, alone. He recovered well from the polio but it left him with a permanent limp. These early struggles gave him great strength of mind and enormous sympathy with other people.

He worked first as a printer and then studied for the priesthood with the evacuated Kings College, London, during the Second World War, whilst also being a member of the Fire Service in Bristol and Bath. After the war he became a curate at Northleach, then priest-in-charge at Hewelsfield and curate at St Briavels before moving to Cromhall where he spent the next thirty years as the parish priest and assistant chaplain of Leyhill Prison. In addition he also became priest-incharge of Tortworth and Rural Dean.

On retirement he moved with his wife, Marjorie, to Marazion in Cornwall to be near their son Christopher and his family.

While there he took services in almost every church and chapel in the area until he was physically unable to continue.

He sat on committees, on local councils, he was a Scout Commisssioner, a governor of several schools, a church bellringer and chaplain to the local ringers guild and always, always, always, in whatever capacity, he was at the service of his fellow human beings. It did not matter to Bill whether the person he was dealing with was a roadmender, an obstreperous toddler, a juvenile delinquent, a housewife, a murderer, a duchess, a farmer, a good Christian or the village drunk – if they were a person he loved them even if he deplored what they had done, but he did not judge, simply tried to love them enough to lead them into the right path.

He was never narrow in his Christianity, taking services from behind the bar of the village pub when they wanted to celebrate harvest there and from a roundabout when a Steam Fair was held in the Rectory field. When pop music began attracting the attention of the young he did not condemn but invited them into church to play and sing during the service.

Indeed it was he who hosted the service at Tortworth at which Roy Hudd and the George Mitchell Minstrels performed.

His sermons were legendary for the singularity of both content and delivery; while the meaty Christian message was always there it was served up in a palatable and enjoyable manner. Who else, wishing to impress the virtues of perseverance on a congregation of Boy Scouts in Gloucester cathedral, would have taken “Incey Wincey Spider” as the text of the sermon?

In all this he was ably seconded by Marjorie, his wife for 63 years, who brought to their partnership the necessary practical qualities while sharing his faith and his service to anyone who needed it.

He is survived by Marjorie, his children Mary and Christopher, daughter-in-law Gill and grandchildren Naomi, Robert and Thomas.

New arrangements for information within the Benefice

WE NOW HAVE A NEW PHONE NUMBER FOR ALL BENEFICE BUSINESS: 01454 260096

Please use this unless you wish to speak to your own Warden or PCC Secretary

WE ALSO HAVE A NEW EMAIL ADDRESS to which ALL Benefice emails should be addressed and NOT to hilary_legg@yahoo.com. It is

All phone messages and emails will be dealt with on a Thursday, but if an urgent answer is required call Hilary 01454 413234 or Gill Williams: Funeral arrangements 01454 261296 or Fen Marshall: Wedding bookings 01454 260821.

Please use this for all emails to the Rev. Jenny and Benefice Secretary. These too will be dealt with on a Thursday.

You are welcome to have photocopying done, (for a small charge to cover costs) on a Thursday morning, but we would ask that you give us a call first as we will sometimes be doing long runs of printing, since we will now be printing 5Alive and will not be able to help you immediately if you just call in.

We can copy A4 or A3 and usually have coloured paper available, enlarge or reduce originals and do other clever things!

There is a letter box on the gate at Falfield Village Hall where you can leave letters for the Benefice and Rev. Jenny or articles for 5Alive, although emailed items would be much preferred. If articles are put in the box:

(a) they should be clearly labelled either Benefice Secretary OR 5 Alive
(b) the box is unlikely to be emptied on a daily basis, so bear that in mind when dropping items off.

This should begin the sorting out of administration for the Benefice, allowing Jenny and others to deal with admin. instead of only me, thus clearing my personal inbox and pc of all Benefice business, it might boot up quicker then !

We do also have a Benefice web site, which I will get to grips with when I come back from a short break 30 Sept-11th Oct. I will do a double bulletin for that period, but Jenny will pick up emails and phone calls on a Thursday as normal.

I obviously still have the same email for personal messages.

Thanks, Hilary

Bell-ringing vacancies

Would you be sad if Cromhall Church Bells no longer rang out on Sunday mornings and for weddings? Unless some new people are willing to learn to ring, this may well happen. We only have five regular ringers on a Sunday morning and one of those doesn't live in Cromhall.

There are also six bells in the tower and they sound much more tuneful if all six are rung. Cromhall ringers will re-commence the Monday evening practices at the beginning of September.

If you are interested in learning to ring and would be available on Sunday mornings to ring for most church services, either turn up on a Monday evening between 7.30 and 9pm or ring Peggy Collett on 01454 294545 for more details.

Anyone over the age of 11, until you can no longer climb stairs, is able to learn. Rising 11 year olds are not covered by insurance but are able to learn if accompanied by a parent or guardian.

Newsletter

As we join together in our new pattern of services, it is important that news is still available, so please consider receiving the Newsletter by email - just drop Hilary an email: to be added to the distribution list.

Telephone numbers

Until the Office telephone is connected, please call Hilary on 01454 413234 for any matters which cannot be dealt with by your own Wardens (if you leave a message she will endeavour to deal with it that day) or you can email, or if it cannot wait try the mobile 07767 363284.

Easyfundraising.com

St Andrew's Church has set up an online shopping facility through Easyfundraising.com, where you can generate income for the Church merely by using all the usual online stores via our Easyfundraising portal.

Click here to visit www.easyfundraising.org.uk/standrewscromhall

Julian Trust

St Andrew's Church has a box in the church porch for donations to be taken to the Julian Trust, which urgently needs tinned goods (especially meat and sausages), toiletries and toilet rolls and warm men's clothing including socks and gloves.

Several of the church members do a duty there either on an evening to prepare a meal or to supervise the guests overnight and prepare breakfast.

Anyone interested in joining the volunteers rota would be very welcome. Contact Peggy Collett on 294545.

See also:

Located inside the church grounds is Cromhall's War Memorial.

Find other churches in the area.