THE P
RTAL The LOGS Report
“ Two big fat parcels have arrived ,” announced Father . “ Is it going on like this ? If it is ... I ’ ll need to get a bigger letterbox ”. And indeed it did go on like that , with our Secretary having to scurry round to the Post Office at one stage to collect another enormous batch of post that was too large to squeeze through the slot in the door .
April 2013 Page 6
Auntie
Joanna
an ecumenical venture
It ’ s the LOGS . Or , to be more specific , it ’ s the Schools Project run by the Ladies ’ Ordinariate Group . We launched it when we were ourselves launched , in November of last year . It ’ s an ecumenical venture , the Schools Handwriting and Artwork Project , and every Anglican and Catholic primary school in Greater London was invited to take part .
a one-page leaflet
The success lies in its simplicity : a one-page leaflet sent to schools listed four psalms , which the children , under the direction of their teachers , were invited to read . Then each child had to choose some lines from a psalm – minimum of four lines , maximum of six – and copy them out adding illustrations and decorations with whatever materials seemed attractive . Then in a short paragraph , give reasons for the choice of psalm .
beauty and importance of the Psalms
We have been overwhelmed by the charm and – truly – the beauty of some of the work sent in to us . We stipulated that the work must include nothing downloaded from the internet – all artwork and handwriting must be done by hand . And this was not a calligraphy competition – the handwriting must be good and clear , but a few small errors and crossingsout would not matter . What we were seeking was that children would grasp something of the beauty and importance of the Psalms .
the children ’ s work
As I write this , a team of judges is about to begin the task of reading each entry , and awarding prizes . We have been given a modest grant from an ecumenical Christian group and will be sending out a good number of book prizes . In a future issue of The Portal I hope to reproduce some of the children ’ s work . It is truly heartening .
Beautiful drawings of a deer drinking at a river (“ As pants the hart for cooling streams ..”) of Christ the Good Shepherd with a flock of lambs (“ The Lord is my writes shepherd …”), and thoughtful writing from the children : ” I chose this bit because it tells me that God always looks after you , especially when you feel lonely ”; “ I like this because it tells me that God is very strong and that he loves us ”.
a bunfight afterwards
The LOGS , based at Precious Blood Church , London Bridge , is a lively group and our meetings are enjoyable , talkative , and fun . The Schools Project looks set to keep us busy through April and May , and we plan a special Prizegiving event with a service at Precious Blood Church , children singing hymns and psalms , prizes presented and a bunfight afterwards in the Parish Rooms . May will also see another special event : a public illustrated lecture about Blessed John Henry Newman : book the date now : May 20 th , 6.30pm at Precious Blood Church – come and hear about the Ordinariate ’ s special patron .
Joanna Bogle
Following the King
Fr David Mawson writes :
Following the somewhat flattering review in The Portal Magazine of my latest book - “ Following the King ” ( Thoughts and Meditations on the Sundays of Year C ) - several people have asked me about getting hold of a copy .
The best and most convenient way is to see more details and order on my publishing webpage :
www . mawson . me . uk / jacquedaw . htm
Details of Years A and B will follow nearer the time . I ’ m not sure yet about a Weekday version !