Dear Friends,

Brother Roger, the founder and head of the Taizé community in south eastern France, was stabbed to death as he sat, surrounded by children, at the back of an evening congregation of two thousand young people.  At ninety years of age, Brother Roger was about to pass on the leadership of this unique community to Brother Aloïs; Roger founded this thoroughly ecumenical religious group in 1940, as a place of healing and reconciliation - and, initially, of refuge from the Nazis, but the Gestapo put a stop to that !

He has been an inspiration to countless thousands of (mainly) young people over several decades, and the simple lifestyle, prayer and music of Taizé have spread - particularly the music - to influence many churches of all denominations.  Pope Jean Paul II once greeted Brother Roger with the words: "Ah, Taizé. That little springtime!"; groups have gone out, year after year, from countless parishes and dioceses of the Church of England; indeed, one of the marks of the place was the complete mix of nationalities and denominations.

Brother Roger was himself a Swiss Reformed theologian, but the community he founded, and led for so long, might well have appeared Catholic in its worship to the casual observer - yet it has always been thoroughly ecumenical and open.  The activities, like the worship, are simple: the teaching of scripture, communal eating (and clearing up afterwards!), and worship.  The worship, with its distinctive musical chants, mostly based on simple phrases from scripture, and sung in canon to aid meditation, has become a staple diet of many British and Irish churches. Many have also found Taizé's use of silence, candles and icons most helpful.

Because Brother Roger was not a catholic he will not be a candidate for canonical sainthood (unlike Jean Paul II, or Mother Teresa), but in the eyes of many I am sure he will be - an American bishop, Dr Pierre Whalon, said of him that he was "one of the finest men on the planet, who did more for reconciliation among Christians than anyone else I know. May he rest in peace and rise in glory".  Amen to that.

William Lang.

Our Churchyard Wall

I continue to receive appreciative comments from all sorts of people - quite a few of them complete strangers - on the completion of the restoration work to our churchyard wall and gates.  It has been (and obviously continues to be!) a source of considerable admiration, not least for the craftsmanship involved.

Unfortunately, the final cost of the gates is also currently the source of some embarrassment to the PCC financially, as we find ourselves faced with the necessity of selling investments (and we don't have a lot) to pay all the bills.  If your admiration moves you sufficiently to help us out here - and we need about £1,000 - we would be very grateful.

(There are some pictures and information on the internet at:http://elstead.org.uk/anglican/wall.htm about the new gate and the rebuilding of the wall .  Editor)

Harvest Appeal

Our Harvest Appeal this year is to be for planting olive trees in Palestine. The East Jerusalem YMCA and the YWCA of Palestine have initiated a campaign to replant olive trees in areas where they have been uprooted and destroyed, or in areas where the fields are threatened by land confiscation by the Israeli occupation army or settlers.
The campaign goal is to replant 50,000 olive trees in the Palestinian Territories. Through replanting olive trees, Palestinians are being encouraged to keep hope alive and to reaffirm their commitment to work constructively toward peace-building.

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