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Annual Church Service and Court of Livery Dinner – Thursday 22 July 2010
On Thursday 22 May 2010, the Liverymen of the Worshipful Company of Joiners and Ceilers assembled at Vintner’s Hall following the Court of Livery meeting and then processed to the steps of our Guild Church, St James Garlickhythe, where we were met by the Rector, the Reverend Dr Alan Griffin, our own Chaplain, the Reverend Paul Hunt, the Select Preacher, the Reverend Canon John de Sausmarez, and the Rt Reverend Graeme Knowles, Dean of St Pauls. The Dean had, at the prior Court of Livery meeting, been clothed as an Honorary Liverymen. The Liverymen processed in to Prelude and Fugue in E flat major "St. Anne" by J S Bach. The Master had chosen some stirring hymns including “Glorious Things of Thee are Spoken”, “The Church’s One Foundation”, “Tell Out my Soul” and “Be Thou My Vision”. In addition to hearing the Master read from Deuteronomy 34, we had the pleasure of hearing his daughter, Apprentice Jessica de Sausmarez read from the First letter of Paul to the Corinthians.
The Select Preacher, who is the Master’s Father, preached on the importance of belonging. There are many examples in history of those who suffered by belonging and he drew particular attention to Moses who was not allowed to enter the Promised Land because of the sins of the Israelites in the wilderness. The human being is a social animal and we belong to clubs forging allegiances such as the Joiners and Ceilers Company. The deepest sense of belonging was family and this brought with it responsibilities and duties whether we liked it or not. So it was with the Church where we are all called as part of that great family to strive to be saints however difficult that may be and to contribute all we can to the renewal and revitalisation of the Church in the world. Prayers were led by the Chaplain and the Dean of St Paul’s decalared the absolution and pronounced the blessing. The choir of St James was in fine voice singing “O come, ye servants of the Lord”, “Rejoice in the Lord Always” and excelled themselves in singing the Master’s favourite anthem, John Rutter’s “May the Lord Bless you and Keep You. After three verses of the National Anthem (with the third verse’s reference to family tying in nicely with the sermon) we all left the Church to William Boyce’s (Past Master 1755) Symphony No 5 with our hearts uplifted.
The Master kept up his high standard of fare at the dinner with a delicious meal of a Trio of Prawns followed by Roast Duck Breast and finished with individual vanilla and passion fruit cassonades. The meal was washed down with a Macon Villages, a superb Cotes du Rhone and finally Fonseca Terra Prima Organic Port. Past Master John Corp was first on his feet to propose a toast to the Church of St James Garlickhythe, the Chaplain and the Preacher, which he did in his usual succinct and stylish way. The Dean of St Paul’s responded to the toast by explaining that he had known the Master for over 35 years and proceeded to embarrass him with stories of his youth before finishing by emphasising the importance of the Livery companies to the Church.
This was followed by the presentation of the prizes for the 2010 Joiners and Ceilers Award for excellence in the craft of joinery. The National Joiners and Ceilers Craft competition attracts apprentices or newly qualified candidates from both the Craft colleges and Industry. He explained that our competition is gaining momentum in the Industry and its standards are being recognised as commensurate with other National competitions. The test piece that candidates are challenged to make enables them to demonstrate their ability to carry out joinery commissions to good commercial standards, with emphasis on the interpretation of drawings, setting out and marking out of work and the skilled use of hand tools. The Master also formally recorded the enormous gratitude of all our Company to our sponsors Kilby & Gayford Limited, for making our competition possible by providing the venue for the practical competition, helping with the advanced preparations for the test and for the time and effort put in by the ladies who gave up their day to provide drinks and refreshments for the hard working candidates as well as a bean counter of a Master who could only marvel at the talent on show. He therefore said what a very great pleasure it had been earlier in the evening to clothe the Chief Executive of Kilby and Gayford, Chris Chivers, in the Livery of our Company. He also thanked Liveryman Doug Philips and the other members of our Craft Committee for managing the process so well making the whole event such a success, particularly Liveryman Simon Ward, who managed the actual day, the Renter Warden Clive Turrell, who acted as examiner, and Past Master Roy Peppiatt, who “exuded more enthusiasm than all the youngsters put together and who remains a constant source of inspiration for all craft matters within the Company” The Winner of the Joiners & Ceilers' Award who will received a Certificate, the Joiners & Ceilers' inscribed Silver and Rosewood Presentation Square, a cheque for £1000 and the grant of the Freedom of the Worshipful Company of Joiners & Ceilers was Mr Christopher Haydn Ward of Denne Joinery. Denne Joinery, the employer of Christopher, received a certificate of recognition. The second Award which comprises a Certificate and a cheque for £500 went to Mr Keith Gibbons, who is currently studying at the London Building Crafts College.
The Master’s Lady, Gerri de Sausmarez passed on the Mistress’ brooch to the new Mistress, Kathy Ridout, stressing the wonderful year that awaited her and urging her to attend everything she could.
Liveryman Carolyn Ponder then proposed the toast to the Master with a very generous summary of his achievements over the year and the way in which he had sought to go the extra mile for the Company. In response the Master expressed his grateful thanks for the generous toast and to Dr Griffin, the Select Preacher and the other speakers. In drawing attention to the Dean’s position as the first Honorary Liveryman, he announced the exciting news that HRH the Duchess of Cornwall had accepted his invitation to become an Honorary Liveryman of the Company. This was greeted with loud applause and cheers by all present. He explained that a special event was being planned for her clothing as a Liveryman and he hoped that representatives of HMS Astute, of which she was sponsor, would also be able to join us. Further applause followed as he announced that it was Past Master Snelling and his wife, Sheila’s Golden Wedding Anniversary and he wished them many more happy years together. After reviewing a few of the highlights of his year, he said that if success was a journey and not a destination then it had been a wonderful journey. If it had been a successful journey then he owed it to all the Livery for accompanying him on the journey and for their wonderful support. He stressed that he would continue with the journey looking always to take our great and ancient company onwards and upwards. He finished by saying that he would shortly be making way for an older man and in proposing his health and that of the Renter Warden his message to them and all those that follow him is to remember that success does not come to you, you must go for it.
Another wonderful Joiners evening ended with a convivial stirrup cup.