“He shall give his angels charge over you, to keep you in all your ways.
They shall bear you in their hands, lest you dash your foot against a stone.” (Psalm 91)
On a bright but windy day at St Thomas à Becket’s the vicar, the churchwardens responsible for the building project, the photographer and the stonemason scaled the scaffolding to witness the blessing of one of the new stone crosses.
The Psalmist could not have been more accurate. Even with a good-ish head for heights stepping from tall ladders on to scaffolding with sheer drop on the other side needed all the help the angels could afford! But it was worth it: what views there are from up high on the church and what skilled craftsmanship from Bill and his team of stonemasons. The addition of four new stone crosses is a fitting finishing touch to the project with all the strength shown through vulnerability and weakness in the Saviour’s Cross.
The £100,000 plus project has been ably executed by CWO Stonemasons and paid for largely by a generous legacy from the late Marion Jenkin, as well as a donation from the Friends of St Thomas à Becket’s.
Perhaps hard-hats and yellow jackets will take off as new clerical and “churchwardenly” attire, not least as walking the Christian way is a dangerous business? We were, some of us, happy however to be back on terra firma, content to press on with the spiritual challenges of parish life and leave ladders, scaffolding and stonemasonry to the experts.
