Wooden screen - Teaching of Jesus 2
“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. “Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.
Below the glazed arch is an arts and crafts wooden screen dating from the beginning of the twentieth century. Erected ‘To the Glory of God by J Vesey Vicar and W H Robson and J Brown Church Wardens in 1907.’ Rev J Veysey was Vicar of St Mary’s Church for 38 years from 1878.
Anecdote
For a long time, the West Door was used as the main entrance to the Church. Until the 2020 Renewal the Font was at the west end of the Nave, at the main entrance in the traditional way. Then at some point in the twentieth century, the room to the west of the wooden screen became a Choir Vestry where the choir robed before processing down the Nave at the beginning of services. At the same time, the main entrance to the Church must have switched to the South Door, as now. However, the West Door has continued to be used for weddings, for the bride to enter the Church and for the newly wedded couple to leave.
Bible Reading
