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 1 March                Second Sunday of Lent
 

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, Wendy.
The long term sick and infirm:-
George, Peter, Diana, Liz & Keith N, Rob, John and Shirley.
The Ministry Team:-
Wendy, Ruth, Marilyn and Rhona.

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 1 March                Second Sunday of Lent
0800 Holy Eucharist
Celebrant: Rev’d Sue Nicholas
1000 Sung Parish Eucharist
Celebrant: Rev’d Sue Nicholas

Wednesday 4 March
1000 Said Eucharist
Celebrant: Rev Brian Wood

Sunday 8 March                Third Sunday of Lent
0800 Holy Eucharist
Celebrant: Rev’d Mike Harman
1000 Sung Parish Eucharist
Celebrant: Rev’d Mike Harman

WELCOME BACK
To Rev’d Sue.

UKRAINE
Great News! Five hundred blanket packs are
on their way to Ukraine. Thanks to everyone
for knitting dozens of six inch squares.
Our 40th lorry left on Tuesday night.
Ruth

MARILYN'S MEMOS

WENDY IS HOME
I am very pleased to say that Wendy has been
released from Derriford and arrived home
yesterday. I dropped off some flowers from us all
and can report she sends good wishes to everyone
and would like us to know she is making good
progress after her lengthy series of tests. However,
she will need a little time to get back on her feet
again and will come to church when she is feeling
a bit stronger.

LENT WISE, Spiritual Essentials for Real Life
Following Morning Prayer on Wednesday, we
started our 5 week lent course under the direction
of Paula Gooder, Cannon Chancellor of St. Paul’s
Cathedral. The course focuses on John’s gospel
and explores themes of direction and wisdom for
Lent, and features leader notes and personal
reflection.
Our first study topic was “Compass, finding
direction”, which is based on John 14.1-7.
Jesus talks about trusting God and trusting in Him,
assuring us that there is room for all of us in His
Father’s house and that He will collect us and
show us the way. Thomas, ever doubtful, does not
understand where Jesus might be going and thus
will not know the way to get there.
Essentially the rather abstract message is that God
is our destination and Jesus is our direction.
Various quotations help the discussion along:
I seldom end up where I wanted to go, but almost
always end up where I need to be. (Douglas
Adams)
I can’t change the direction of the wind, but I can
adjust my sails to always reach my destination.
(Jimmy Dean)
Next week, we will be looking at Nourishment:
looking at the sustenance Jesus gives us for
keeping going in our everyday lives.
You are welcome to join us any Wednesday, either
at 10 am or at 10.30/45. Unfortunately, the
publishers have run out of copies and are awaiting
a delivery but are not definite about the date of
availability. However, you can download the book
onto Kindle/I-Pad, via Amazon.

ELECTORAL ROLL
The Electoral Roll has to be revised each year and
you will find notices to this effect on our entrance
doors. If you are NOT on our current roll and
would like to be (please check eligibility) there are
forms to submit which can be found on the table at
the back of the church. Please could you give the
forms to Ruth, Sarah or me.
Marilyn

ADVANCE NOTICE
Annual Church Meeting and
Annual Parochial Church Meeting 2026
On Sunday 19 April after the 1000 Parish
Eucharist we will hold our annual two meetings to
elect Churchwardens and then Parochial Church
Council members, plus receive the church
accounts and other reports. After those meetings
there will be a brief meeting of the newly elected
PCC to elect Officers.
Electoral Roll Revision timetable
The proposed timetable for the revision of our
Electoral Roll is as follows:

1 March       Notice given that Electoral Roll is to be revised on...
15 March    Revision of Electoral Roll opens
29 March   Revision of Electoral Roll closes
5 April        Revised Electoral Roll published
19 April      APCM Electoral Roll presented to the meeting.

Ruth Jordan and Wendy Pezzey are our Electoral
Roll officers if you have any questions.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY IN MARCH
Geoff Bersey, Jenny Whalley, Ellie Brown,
Katie Armstrong, Jean Farrar, Jackie Richmond.

BERYL COOK AND SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS
Last week was the first time that we managed to
visit The Box since it opened back in the latter part
of 2020. This may seem to be rather a long time,
but it is not a long period when compared to my
determination to attend a concert at Symphony
Hall in Birmingham which, when it opened, was
hailed as having almost perfect acoustics. We
eventually made it up there to a Winton Marsalis
concert 25 years after that venue had opened.
The reason for our visit to The Box was to attend
the two special exhibitions currently on display.
The most popular of the two is to be found in the
former church of St. Luke the Evangelist opposite
the rear of The Box, where an exhibition entitled
‘Pride and Joy’ celebrates the centenary of the
birth of Beryl Cook, with over 80 of her works
of art on display. This is billed as the largest
collection of her work to be put on display and
runs until 26th. May. Not having booked in
advance we had to wait outside for a few minutes
before being allowed in. We could see why. The
control of numbers entering meant that everyone
had space and time to view the artwork. Her work
has certainly always been considered to be
cheerful and humorous. Those who have lived in
Plymouth can certainly relate to locations and
people within her work. As a young student I can
remember lunchtimes at the Art Centre in Looe
Street, where the director, Bernard Samuels, staged
Beryl’s first exhibition. Later, I worked in the
Civic Centre, and the Lockyer Tavern was one of
our lunchtime ‘watering holes.’ Down on the
Barbican, she spent many hours watching the
clientele in the Dolphin and produced many works
of art related to her observations. This is certainly
an exhibition where you want to linger as long as
you are able to. When you come away, you feel
uplifted by the joy that was Beryl Cook. She did
not seem to have any prejudices, accepted
everyone for what they were, and her paintings
have left us all with much happiness.
The other exhibition, entitled ‘Journeys with Mai’
and on display on the first floor of the main
building until 14th. June, has far fewer visitors
attending but has great relevance to Stoke Damerel
church. Mai, or Omai, came from an island now
known as French Polynesia and was probably the
first Pacific Islander to visit this country. In 1773
he requested that Captain Cook (no known
relationship to Beryl!) transport him over to this
country. Cook agreed to his request and Mai
boarded HMS Adventure for the journey. The ship
was captained by Tobias Furneux, whose tomb can
still be seen opposite the north porch of Stoke
church. I have read that, although Furneaux was a
well-respected navigator, he was not very
gregarious. The famous botanist, Joseph Banks,
was also on board the ship and he befriended Mai.
When the journey ended, Banks is known to have
shown Mai the sights of London and introduced
him to many prominent people, including King
George III. Mai returned to the Pacific on Cook’s
third voyage in 1776.
I have written about Mai previously and never
found any more about anywhere else that he
visited whilst in this country. The exhibition at The
Box reports that he came to this area in 1774 and
1775 and, amongst other activities, travelled up the
Tamar, visiting the small chapel close to Cotehele
House, as well as attending the theatre that used to
be in Frankfurt Gate. If that was the case, surely,
he would have met up again with Furneaux and, as
Furneaux was a churchwarden at Stoke Damerel
church, Mai might well have set foot into our
building. More research might confirm this.
The exhibition is set around the Joshua Reynolds
painting of Mai which was purchased in 2023 by
the National Portrait Gallery, and the J. Paul Getty
Museum in USA, for £50,000,000. This was a
huge sum of money. Many consider the portrait to
be one of Reynolds best works.
Whilst talking to one of the attendants at the
exhibition, I was shocked to discover that
Reynolds was not very good at depicting
landscape, or the folds in clothing. Nor was he
very good at painting hands. Looking at the
painting afresh, the right hand is well depicted, so
did Reynolds only execute the face of Mai as well
as the lesser quality left hand, which might be
compared to one of Beryl Cook’s exaggerated
hands, but worth much more?
Tony Barnard