Ken Moore

A Tribute for Ken Moore
by Phyllis Bunnett

I remember Ken as he was when he first came to a Sunday Service; his smart appearance, the spring in his step, his benign smile. He was so polite, patient, painstaking and paternal.
While all this was obvious, it was only gradually that we came to experience the hidden depths. He had, we learned, come from a very warm Christian home, he was well educated and loved projects to research; these gave him an excuse to spend hours delving into his amazing library, writing letters to authorities both church and secular, and organising his material for presentation.
But deeper than that was his love and care for people, especially young people down on their luck. He had, over the years, helped to put some people back on their feet, with great self-sacrifice, and some of his neighbours will remember him with gratitude. He was proud of being our church warden—and made a real job of it.
But in spite of these onerous and time consuming labours, I think he will be remembered by many as “The Marmalade Man” - he also excelled at jam making and many other culinary arts. All his jars and goods were labelled very precisely, even to the extent of times and natures of our services. Whilst he didn’t reach the height of “by Royal Appointment” he certainly could say “Purveyor to the Bishop” - and he did! - very proudly.
There was no aspect of Church Life in which he was not actively involved, Toddlers, Lunch Club and catering, Prayers, Lent Groups, etc, etc…
Physically he had suffered a great deal in recent years; on two occasions through accidents on his boat, which he regretfully had to relinquish.
Just a fortnight ago he chaired our AGM but he was really very unwell, he had been laid low by a severe cold and cough, but true to form, refused to give up.
However he was taken into hospital, the following day, his condition worsened and he died in the Critical Care Unit on Friday 18th April at 2:30pm.
Already today - Sunday 20th - he is much missed, there are so many gaps to fill… and although I know he suffered some disappointments due to our stubbornness, and his too, I think relationships were strengthened by the outcomes - he bore no grudges.
Our thoughts and prayers go out to his three sons and their families; to Simon and Louise, and their three daughters, to Andrew and Sarah and their two little ones and to Michael.
We would like you to know how much we appreciated him and also how proud he was of you all.
We are thankful that the end came gently and peacefully.
In loving memory,
Phyllis

Voices sprint

This month's Voices was never going to be easy, coming as it did at the end of the Easter Holidays... All three editors were due to be away which doesn't make editing very easy...
I had a short window between a busy Sunday and a busy Monday during which I could edit the magazine. I warned people about this before hand, but it was still a risk; there would be no time for chasing articles or commisioning new ones. Whatever was in my inbox by 10:00pm on Sunday night would be the magazine!
It took five hours, and a lot of juggling, and a bit of space filling, but I got there! Voices on ice! - whoosh... All done.
Not shore it's any good, but I will get it to the printers in the morning.

Back to Work

Today was my first day back after the Easter Holiday. I hope to insert some missing days soon to fill in some of the gaps...

I had to get up early for the 8 o'clock service, which turned out to be a good thing since I picked up a notice sheet which informed me that Ken had died on Friday. He will be greatly missed. It was certainly useful to know this before going to Holy Cross where he had served as church warden.

The mood was quiet and reflective at Holy Cross. I presided at the 9 o'clock communion and then preached at the 9:45. The hymns were strangely appropriate even though I'd picked them over a week ago, and the story of Stephen had wonderful resonance. Both Ken and Stephen were people who sought to serve in practical ways, reaching out to people on the edge - often with food. We gave thanks for Ken this morning.

It was a bit of a shock to the system to leave Holy Cross and go to St Mary's at 11am for a big baptism service - a high energy show! The church was packed with visitors who needed to be given a real celebration - which we seemed to deliver. At 2pm I had to do the same at All Saints - three families, four children. It was important to deliver a BIG event for the five baptism families and their friends - but a bit of an emotional rollercoaster after the two services at Holy Cross...

I had three hours at home this afternoon. We all sat down for dinner and I watched last night's Doctor Who with the girls. It was a fairly blatant story about the very human habit of slavery - in one form or another - but it worked pretty well. After all, you can't go wrong if the episode has Ood in it. We learnt today that Ood have three brains: one in their head, one in their hands and one that they share in a collective consciousness. This is a great image to play with! They must cooperate and trust each other because if you are holding your brain in your hands you are pretty vulnerable... To what extent are we like Ood? There's a question to think about...

Growing Disciples was at 6:30pm. Mike's away so I had to lead it by myself. We all missed Ken's presence. He had been really enjoying this course. We had a good discussion about the cost of discipleship and went home. It's now 10pm and I am starting work on Voices. I must finish by tomorrow morning...

Oh I am glad to be back...
(And my sabbatical starts in 11 days...)

The Lourve

Day Five: Trip to the Louvre which included the obligatory visit to that Da Vinci painting.

From a personal point of view, I was able to visit the Moabite Stone which I spent a term studying at University. It basically marks the victory of Mesha of Moab over the Israelites...

... and some of the tablets from Ugarit which contain the Baal myth. (I also studied Ugaritic for a year which was great fun).

And so it was time to go home...

Parc Asterix

Day Four: Family trip to Parc Asterix. A great day out. It was actually fairly quiet with very few brits arround (They're all in Disney I guess). The girls had a wonderful time. Isla and Iona went on all the big rides - although Isla considered eight loop-the-loops less terrifying than the Paris ringroad... The big highlight for me was a live show with legionnaries recruiting the gaulish spy, Nitro Gliserene. All good fun.

Versailles

Day Three: Trip to Versailles. More struggles with Paris ringroad! Parking a nightmare!

Paris

Day two of the holiday. Trip into Paris. We visited the Eifel Tower and the Muse D'Orse. (Sorry, can't work out how to add accents...)

Off to France

We set off bright and eary for France, catching an early ferry. The drive down was OK but a little wet. We arrived in Maisons Lafitte by mid afternoon which gave us time to check out the local shops (expensive) and settle into our caravan, on an island in the Siene. Here's the view from our bedroom window...

Annual Meeting and Away...

Today was an interesting day. I attended the AGM at All Saints' which included a discussion of the new Servant Leadership Team and the buidling plans... All we need is 100K and we're there.

After church we headed up the road to Kent to stay overnight at grandma's.

Thursday

Worked during the morning while girls were at a fun day.
Went to see Jessie's family this afternoon. We reflected on the changes that she had seen in her long life, particularly in Shenley. It feels like the end of an era.
Stewart rang this evening to say that Ken had been taken ill. Went to see him in hospital.
Am having an interesting break...

Wednesday

Jessie Dundas died today.

Oxford

Took girls to Oxford. We did the Ashmolean and the History of Science Museums.
Worked in the evening.

Easter Holiday

And finally the actual Easter holiday starts...
Iona and Izzy are on holiday. Isla is still at work. I'm (officially) taking my post Easter break-ish - but will probably do some quiet catching up...

We went to see Nanny and Grandad in Nottingham today. Grandad has been doing some research for me in New Zealand where he had a meeting with Barbara Weseldene, who is the coordinator of Local Shared Ministry in Auckland Diocese. It was good to get his feedback from this visit, since it confirmed some of our observations in the Project Group.

Went to see Jessie Dundas this evening.

Sunday

Another Sunday in the snow! The world was completely white when we got up but began to melt later.
I was at Holy Cross for communion first, followed by their AGM. Zipped across the St Mary's to lead them in communion after their AGM. Finished the morning (at 2:00pm) with a lunch time meeting with the St Mary's 11 O'clock team...
Took girls for an afternoon walk...
Managed to finish the Watling Valley AGM video in the evening...

Recognition

Jeff preached a great sermon at Holy Cross today. He spoke about the disciples on the road to Emmaus and about how they failed to recognise Jesus until he did his thing... To demonstrate this he preached with a paper bag on his head - we knew it was him!

Saturday

Spent most of the day working on my fees and expenses. I need to tie these off for the end of the financial year. Various people hastling me for information. I'm hastling various others. I'll be glad when it's done...
Lunch with the Solloways - good pie!
Wedding in the afternoon. We had the reading from the Song of Solomon about the rain being past - and it was by the time the bride left the church. "Many waters cannot quench love, nor the floods drown it" - never have these words felt more true!
Family treat in the evening: Doctor Who is back!

Friday

Very long day! We had an informal visit from a potential URC SCM minister for Christ the Sower. By "informal" read "significant discernment process".
It seemed to go very well and I'm greatly encouraged.
(Went for short run with Isla)
I didn't get back until quite late. Izzy didn't want to settle down until half way through the final episode of Torchwood. The beer was alcohol free - and someone rang for pastoral advice. All on my day off... I'm not popular. The pile of work to be finished before my sabatical starts continues to grow...

Thursday

Plans for the morning had changed serveral times during the week, so a number of potential events were cancelled. I went for a short run with Isla and then strated tackling some of my big jobs...
We had a very good Local Shared Ministry Project Group session in the afternoon as which we reflected on some of the things going on and (I think) made some really significant steps forward in thinking about how a process-based approach could work. I think I'm finally beginning to see how we could move beyond the highly structural approach offered to us from Auckland.
In the evening I managed to see half an hour of Izzy's ballet lesson before rushing off to the two-for to get a table for our evening session with a potential candidate for the URC chaplain at Christ the Sower. Good evening.

Interview Day One

The first big day long interview of the week: deputy head at Christ the Sower. Long day. Sadly no appointment was made.

How to be in three places at once

9:00am Team Meeting (Two Hours)
10:00am Ecumenical Oversight Group (Hour and a half)
11:15am Ministers West (Hour and a half)
1:00pm off to shops to get lunch and tea for Isla (ill) and girls...
2:15pm Start my work for the day...
2:30pm Finish work. Go get girls...
4:00pm Music Centre Concert at Cornerstone
6:00pm Iona due at school for Gospel Show
6:16pm Left Cornerstone (with 20 minutes still to go) to Iona to School for the Gospel Show...
6:30pm Dropped Iona at school
6:45pm Got to St Mary's for Wedding Rehersal
7:00pm Wedding family arrived for rehersal
7:30pm Finished rehearsing procession... WVEC members begin to arrive...
7:45pm Finish rehersal...
8:00pm Ecumenical Council
11:00pm Tea...

Am I an April fool?