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September 2022 September 2022

BERE REGIS HISTORY SOCIETY OTHER CHURCHES NEWS

Cardinal Morton’s 500th. BERE REGIS CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH

Thirty Three years ago, about half of the church choir
ascended the 64 foot, 19.5 metre, tall church tower, built Sundays 10.30am Morning Service, Taken by visiting preachers, or our full
500 years previously. John Morton, who rose to the top of time Youth Worker, John Williams.
power in England, was born at Milborne Stileham, then
part of Bere Regis. In a small humble cottage according Our services also go out live on You Tube
to contemporary reports, but actually part of a large property owning family
already established in Dorset. Mondays at 7pm STS (Search the Scriptures) Youth meeting, via zoom.
John Morton was a substantial beneficiary of Bere church in particular, partly Tuesdays at 7.30pm Bible Study and Prayer, meeting on zoom.
funding and encouraging others to pay for the replacement church roof which
was destroyed by fire at that time. The Morton chapel, inside the church, at the
east end of the north aisle, was formalised in the 1960s, by local crafts men and After a break from some usual activities over the summer, we are looking forward
women. to getting back into a normal routine. We will be resuming our usual weekly
meetings and activities and are hoping to branch out and launch some new
These skills involved woodwork, metalworking and new embroidered kneelers with projects as well.
special monograms. It was established as such after the organ was dismantled,
serviced and moved to its current position. Wooden panels dating to the 17th At the time of writing, we are experiencing the second significant heatwave of the
century were re-cut to form a new freeze, with some of these having to be cut to summer. After the driest July in many years, the middle of August also had a spurt
fit. There was a fair amount of sniggering when one of the woodwork is cutting of days where the mercury tipped well over the 30°C mark. With this came health
these panels was struggling with the oak and complained that it was still green. warnings and hosepipe bans in several areas of the country. I have even read this
morning about a potential mass loss of Brussel Sprout crops, which would be a
T h e c h o i r disaster to me personally this Christmas!
contingent sang
several mediaeval This reminds me of an incident in the life of Elijah, which can be found in 1 Kings
themed songs and chapter 17&18. He was a prophet to Israel at a time when they experienced a
a few modern great drought. There had been no rain for three and a half years. We in Britain are
pieces of music on struggling with two dry months, but this would pale in comparison to 42
the 24th of June consecutive dry months in an already arid middle eastern climate. The lack of
1989 on a fine water would have been a threat to a society that relied on agriculture and thus
summer day. Some was a very real threat to the lives of plants, animals and humans.
of those involved Elijah is one of my favourite figures in the Bible and there are several recorded
are no longer with events in his life which were miraculous. Yet for me, what I like most about him is
us: perhaps you not the spectacular and the wonderful, but the very real and human side to his
can recognise character. In James 5:17-18 we read:
some familiar faces
in the photograph ‘Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not
alongside rain, and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months. And he
prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit.’
John Pitfield,
project secretary. Elijah had a nature like ours. In other words, in himself he was not special or
extraordinary. Instead, he was like you and me. He had struggles and doubts.
Scripture records that he had issues regarding mental health and depression that

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