THE PARISH CHURCH OF STOKE DAMEREL
(ST. ANDREW & ST. LUKE)

Email:   info@stokedamerel.church                                          
www.Stokedamerel.church
www.facebook.com/StokeDamerelChurch

Please note: Stoke Damerel Church does not divulge
personal information to third parties.

Sunday 30 August                13th Sunday after Trinity

  Merciful God,
we entrust to your tender care
those who are ill or in pain,
knowing that whenever danger threatens
your everlasting arms
are there to hold them safe.
Comfort and heal them,
and restore them to health and strength;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.

PLEASE PRAY FOR:-
The sick:-
Maureen, Margaret W, Graham, John S, Kathy, Mo, Matt,
Bertie, Morwenna, David J.
The long term sick and infirm:-
Diana, Liz & Keith N, Rob.
The recently departed:-
We give thanks for the life of our former choir
member, Eric Farrar. We pray for Jean, for Lucy
and Matthew, and all of his family and friends at
this sad time.
We also give thanks for the life of Ana Allen and
pray for her husband, Timothy, her sister-in-law,
Rosie, and all those who knew and loved her.
The Ministry Team:-
Ruth and Marilyn.

BLESSED SACRAMENT CANDLE

If you would like to have the candle lit for a week
for a particular prayer / thanksgiving /
commemoration, etc., please send a £5 donation to
Debbie Smith, clearly marking your donation as
being for the candle. Details of your intention can
be emailed to:- sarah.lundstrom@virginmedia.com
so that a mention of the commemoration, etc., can
appear in the Sunday Sheet.

SERVICES THIS WEEK
Stoke Damerel Parish Church is a hybrid church
open for public worship and private prayer and all
services will be live streamed.
By attending a live streamed service, you give
implied permission to have your image captured
on CCTV and to be broadcast as participant in the
liturgy.

Watch our livestreamed services
Please follow the link to make your way to our YouTube page: 

 STOKE DAMEREL YOUTUBE CHANNEL 

Sunday 30 August            13th Sunday after Trinity
0800 Holy Eucharist
Celebrant: Rev’d Sue Nicholas
1000 Sung Parish Eucharist
Celebrant: Rev’d Sue Nicholas

Wednesday 2 September
1000 Said Eucharist
Celebrant: Rev’d Brian Wood

Sunday 6 September     14th Sunday after Trinity
0800 Holy Eucharist
Celebrant: Rev’d Sue Nicholas
1000 Sung Parish Eucharist
Celebrant: Rev’d Mike Wagstaff

WELCOME BACK
To Rev’d Sue. She will return next week to take
the 8am service and Rev’d Mike Wagstaff will be
back from Torbay to take our final 10am Eucharist
before the arrival of Rev’d Fran on Monday 7th.

THANK YOU FROM JOHN AND JULIA
It was a wonderful surprise to be given such
generous presents when we celebrated our
Diamond Wedding Anniversary with our church
family last Sunday. We had taken a “Sunday off”
the previous weekend to meet up with our
daughters and their families, and came back to be
greeted so warmly. Our heartfelt thanks to you all
for the wine – three expertly selected bottles! –
and the flowers pictured here with the card full of
your lovely messages on our hallway table. Even
the flowers in church were chosen to match the
bride’s bouquet sixty years ago, and beautifully
arranged. We have so much to be grateful for.
With our love and thanks.

The choir stalls will soon be looking emptier than
usual, particularly for the next few months. It is
with a mixture of sadness for ourselves and
pleasure for Diana that we have to say Goodbye to
her. She joined the choir just before the Covid
lockdowns in early 2020 when she moved from
Weymouth to live here near her family. Work has
now taken them to York, a lovely city for Diana to
relocate to. She has been a committed chorister for
those six years, and a key member of our Altos. An
example of her commitment is that she has delayed
completion on her new home in York in order to be
able to sing for Frances French’s Installation
service. We shall miss Diana very much, and wish
her well for the next exciting phase of her life.
A temporary absence from the choir will be
Jenny’s. As a Hydrographer in the Royal Navy, she
is to be sent on deployment to the Falklands. We
do know that it will be for ten weeks – too long for
our liking, but good for her career and promotion
prospects. We’re looking forward to her return
well in time to begin practising our Christmas
music. Like Diana as an alto, Jenny is a sound
soprano singer. Lacking those two voices – albeit
temporarily in Jenny’s case – will be noticeable,
and remind us all that new choir members would
be very welcome.
John Steere

A recent photo of Stoke Damerel Choir with Diana 3rd from the left and Jenny 2nd from the right.

GREETINGS FROM AUSTRALIA
Greetings from Australia to our wonderful Church
family at Stoke Damerel.
It was not that long ago we returned for a visit in
April, but we are already missing Plymouth and
would like to plan another stay.
As much as we are pleased and delighted that we
are now to have Reverend Fran to lead our Church,
we are also disappointed we naturally are unable to
attend. Please welcome her for us. We know she
will be warmly welcomed, as we have always
been, and trust it will be a wonderful and
memorable occasion for all.
We always enjoy receiving the newsletter and look
forward to the upcoming photographs and
comments of the event.
Kind regards, and blessings to all.
Debbie and Gerry

We send our very best wishes back to Debbie and
Gerry!

MARGARET BIBBY’S FUNERAL
Wednesday 9th September, 2.00pm
at Stoke Damerel Church followed by
refreshments at Devonport Services Rugby
Club, 2nd Avenue, The Rectory.
Rev’d Sue Nicholas will conduct her service.
The family would appreciate an indication of
numbers for catering purposes. Please could
you let Emma know if you plan to attend.

MARILYN'S MEMOS
FUNERALS
Rev’d Sue is in demand right now for funeral duty:
one on Thursday morning and I imagine the family
and friends of Barbara Griggs, who was married in
our church some 60 plus years ago, would have
been delighted with the lovely service. On 9th
September at 2pm we will be celebrating the life
of Margaret Bibby, with Rev’ds Fran and Sue who
will be presiding together. On 21st September, at
12 noon, we will remember with great fondness
our former choir member Erric Farrar whom we
have missed a great deal over the last few years
along with his wife Jean, as neither of them has
been able to come to church.

IT NEVER RAINS BUT IT POURS
Yesterday there was a power cut and the church
alarm ceased to work. So this afternoon the alarm
company sorted that out: in fact it had failed
because of the power cut. Mark and Lars, our
electricians found what was causing the switch to
trip in the entrance hall: in the organ loft in the
very corner a power unit and cable had fallen
down the back of the buckets and boxes collecting
water and become water logged. The plug and
socket behind the old lectern was tripping the
system. We must remember to check it is dry
before switching on: they seemed to think it might
be connected with the speaker system...... or is it
connected to the organ blowing system?

The CLOCK and LOUVRES
The missing louvre has been located and replaced
and the tile in the boiler room roof has been
replaced. As I left Mark, Lars and John M were in
the bell tower checking out the electrics. John has
done a stalwart job and spent hours cleaning the
mess made in the tower by the contractors and
scaffolders over the 8 or so months, access has
been impossible.

BELLS
Now that we have access to the bell tower, John
Mitchelmore has been fixing new ropes on three
of our bells. After a long 9 month's absence, our
lovely ringers will be "shaking a leg" rather earlier
than usual on a Sunday! We are looking forward
to the call to church!


MORNING PRAYER GROUP

Kevin came to take photographs for our
Inauguration service booklet on Wednesday and
very kindly took one of us, as we were about to
about to sort some boxes of china, books and other
objects for our Christmas Fair donated by our
friend Graham Dear. We enjoy our morning
prayer sessions and it is a special time when we all
pray for challenges we face individually in the day,
for the world, for our country and for our church
community. We usually finish off at Amigos and
share our coffee fun with a group from the
Samaritans.

NEXT SATURDAY CLEANING AND RUN THROUGH
I will be there at 9.30am with the service booklets,
I hope. I will prepare a list of jobs and we
anticipate running through the service order for
those who are involved. We might even have time
to set out chairs and put tables up in the parish
centre. There is a lot to do!
THANK YOU TO THOSE WHO HAVE RSVP’d
to the invitation and taken platters with specific
items to prepare ............ please be ready to take
the rest tomorrow and next Sunday as we need
everything organised for Monday week.
Marilyn

AND FINALLY.....
THANK YOU
To Rev’d Fiona.... It has been a joy to welcome
you back to Stoke Damerel as a fully ordained
member of the clergy!


And thank you also to Kevin Kelland for sharing
such beautiful photos with us. There were so many
lovely ones that I was spoilt for choice and ended
up inluding them all!
Sarah

Cheers!

ADVANCE DATES FOR YOUR DIARY
Sep 19 Devon Historic Churches Open Day
Oct 11 Harvest Thanksgiving Service
Oct 18 St. Luke’s Service
Nov 8 Remembrance Sunday
Nov 13 & 14 Christmas Fair

HAPPY BIRTHDAY IN AUGUST
Jack Price, Penny Barnard, Maureen Wilson,
Catherine Gillhespy, Emma Bell, Ann Pitt.

A special mention to Ann, who celebrates her
birthday this weekend. Here she is on the right
with Judith, Julia and John......


HAPPY BIRTHDAY IN SEPTEMBER
Jim Richmond, John Steere, Debbie Smith,
Kevin Kelland, Ian Gillhespy.

J.P. ST. AUBYN AND THE LOCAL ST. AUBYN FAMILY
Earlier this week I received an email asking
whether we had any memorial in the church to
James Piers St. Aubyn. This request started me
thinking about this church’s close relationship with
the St. Aubyn/St. Levan family over the years and
where J.P. St. Aubyn might fit into the picture.
Most will recognise the colourful stained-glass
window located in the northeast corner of Stoke
church, pictured below, dedicated to the memory
of James St. Aubyn (1783-1862), who was Lord of
the Manor of Stoke Damerel. This is not the same
person.

Elsewhere in the church a number of other
members of the St. Aubyn family are mentioned.
On the north wall is a small tablet erected to the
memory of Mary St. Aubyn, one of the three
daughters of the Lord of the Manor, who died a
few years before her father.

Three further and later members of the family are
listed amongst those who lost their lives in World
War One, as highlighted below.

Sadly, a further three members of the local family
are recorded in the World War Two Book of
Remembrance.
Finally, there are two rectors listed on the Rectors
Board, jut inside the south entrance. William John
St. Aubyn served the parish from 1828 for nearly
fifty years. He was succeeded by his son, William
St. Aubyn in 1877, who was rector until 1894.
Therefore, one can see that quite a few members of
the family are remembered within the walls of our
church, although there may be others yet to be
spotted.
Coming back to J.P. St. Aubyn, I know that he
was a prolific Victorian architect (1815-1895),
born in Worcestershire and a cousin to the then
Sir John St. Aubyn, of St. Michael’s Mount.
Many buildings were designed throughout the
country by J.P. St. Aubyn, including in the
southwest, although no part of Stoke Damerel
church can be attributed to him. However, his firm
had, in 1881, produced proposals for re-building
this church on the Paradise Road site. Two years
later he presented another proposal for a new
church building located somewhere between
Wingfield Villas and Penlee Villas, but neither
ever came to fruition.

1883 DESIGN FOR NEW
STOKE DAMEREL CHURCH
One suggestion which I have yet to confirm
is that, in 1852, he is recorded as marrying
Eliza Philpott, 35, a widow, who lived at
7 Trafalgar Row (now part of Devonport Road)
and the ceremony may have taken place at Stoke
Damerel parish church.
There is so much more about J.P. St. Aubyn that I
intend to return to his story, perhaps next week.
Tony Barnard