21. FONT

The baptismal font is at the front of the nave on the left side. It was presented by Mr W. H. Brooks in 1873. The cover was presented later in 1899 by Miss Bentham in memory of Hubert Bury.

22. LECTERN

The lectern on the right side, was made and presented by Mr H. J. R. Edwards in 1884. The fall in front carries the cross and crown emblem for Christ.   INDEX

23. GRILL AND ST FRANCIS

On either side of the sanctuary arch is an attractive black wrought iron grill. Next to the grill at right is a statue of St Francis of Assisi holding a dove. It was presented to the Church of St Francis of Assisi by Mrs Vida Wintle in memory of her late husband, and transferred to St Clement’s when the Northfield Parish was amalgamated with St Clement’s in 1987.

24. VESTRY

We pay a sneak visit to the vestry! This is obviously a working area, and not for public exhibition. But there are a couple of interesting items.

25. VESTRY BENCH AND CRUCIFIX

At left, the painting of the Church was done by Marjorie Newton in 1970. Two nice little crosses stand to the right. • Shown at right is the crucifix above the work bench. This is from St Catherine’s London, and was presented in 1917 by Mr A. E. Robinson.

26. ORGAN

Back into the Church ... . Music is provided by this modern electronic organ. The organ was given as a thank offering from the parishioners for 64 years of service by Mr Sydney A. Robinson as organist st St Clement’s. The memorial to John Crowther was standing on top of the organ.

27. TWO FURTHER PLAQUES

During this visit I discovered two other plaques: • A rededication of St Clement’s Church in 2017 by Archbishop Geoffrey Smith; • a memorial to Richard James Parfitt (1931 – 2007), erected in 2017.

28. EWER

Just behind the lectern is an old ewer, made in 1920 by Mr A. E. Robinson from material donated by members of the parish in memory of Hubert Bury.

29. SANCTUARY

Finally we explore the sanctuary itself. We look at the windows, the little retable at right, and the central altar.

30. SANCTUARY WINDOWS

The sanctuary windows were a gift in 1990 to St Clement’s in memory of Mrs Joan Mary Brindal. The left window shows the crucifixion with Mary and John at the base of the Cross. Unusually the nails pierce the wrists of Jesus. The three central windows depict Jesus breaking bread, as told in the Emmaus story. The clothing is modern. The right window shows Pentecost with the Holy Spirit descending on the disciples.

31. SANCTUARY LAMP

The sanctuary lamp, presented in 1940 by Reverend C. W. Woolley, has a lot of character. There must be some history here too ... .

32. ALTAR AND RETABLE

To the right of the altar stands a small table known as a retable. This is used particularly as a place to stand Eucharist items during a service.   

33. RETABLE AND PLAQUE

The items on the retable make an attractive set.

34. ALTAR

The altar is the focal point of the Christian worship service. It is from here that the Elements of the Eucharist are distributed to members of the congregation. So it is here that we particularly remember the sacrifice of Christ. This altar has a logo of an anchor at the front.

35. ANCHOR EMBLEM

As we have seen on the Introduction, the anchor has special relevance to the death of St Clement. There are also several Scripture verses which speak of our hope in Christ, a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul (Hebrews 6:19). For this Church there is a further allusion to the Church acting as a guide to passing sailors.

This completes our visit to St Clement’s Church.