From Our Rector
Father Martyn Griffiths is Rector of St Mary's church, and of our sister church of St Nicholas, Remenham. Fr Martyn and his wife Anne moved to Henley in 2005.
Each month, Fr Martyn writes a letter for our Parish Magazine. Here is the current article.
July 2010
From the Rectory
We are surrounded in Henley by reminders of the past, some of which are quite unexpected. The other day our two greyhounds were having a race around the garden - it's not quite as big as Reading Greyhound Stadium used to be, but being very long down one side with a conveniently sited tree at either end, it does very well as a makeshift track for greyhounds who are, shall we say, past their prime.
Now it is an interesting fact that the Rectory for Henley was on much the same site in the Middle Ages - I believe that a mini archaeological dig was done some years ago across the lawn of the Old Rectory which showed up the old foundations. So now whilst gardening it is not uncommon to dig up a bit of mediaeval brick. The greyhound track gets rather dug up at the corners so it wasn't all that surprising to find a bit of carved stone which was obviously part of a doorway or something similar, starting to protrude from the lawn, and threatening the lawn mower next time it comes out of the shed. I find it quite sad that many people these days have little sense of history. I know that various populist programmes on TV may tell us intersting things about dug up lawns in the middle of York or of the daring-dos and daring-don'ts of various members or aspiring members of the Royal Family! But the idea that this is something which has deeply affected our lives in all sorts of different ways seems never to cross people's minds.
We have long since known that to say that "we are what we eat" may be true, but it is only a fraction of the truth. And the same can be said for life in the Church too. Members of the Church of England are really quite bad when it comes to knowing our real history, rather than the one peddled by those who only tell you half the story, and that only when pushed.
We stand at the end of 2000 years of Church teaching and experience. The saints and all those who went before us are part of our story, of our Family History. So perhaps this summer's reading could be something along these lines - there are many books which are not only entertaining and easily read, but are also educational in the best sense of the word. So go on, have a go and find out what makes you tick! You may be surprised that there are not only skeletons in that particular cupboard.
With my love and prayers
Fr Martyn