logs ready for hunkering down and keeping warm as the days get
cooler.
This season invites us to slow down, reflect, and give thanks—for
the harvest and supplies in shops, for the blessings of community
and friendship, and for God’s ever-present faithfulness. It’s an
ideal Dme to reconnect with one another, and to look forward to
all that this new season will bring. Some folks do find this part of
the year hard as daylight becomes less, so let’s keep a look out for
them.
We have some special gatherings and worship opportunities
coming up this autumn, including our first Pet Blessing Service
(we hope beast and fowl will get along nicely!) where we hope to
see many familiar and new faces. Whether you’ve been with us
for years or are just stopping by, you are always welcome at the
churches within our Benefice.
May this autumn be a season of joy, gratitude, and renewed hope
for you and your loved ones.
With every blessing,
Jo
Revd Jo
]]>Of course the justification for all these is that they provide an opportunity for the members of the congregations to socialise and, with the possible exception of the Thursday Club, the food is a secondary consideration. I can’t think that people turn out on a Sunday morning lured by coffee and biscuits though someone did remark to me recently that the brownies once served at St Michael’s were the best they had ever tasted and inquired whether there was any chance of them reappearing.
Of course reinforcing the ties of friendship and fellowship in this way is positive and we would all welcome any newcomers into the church activities. But I can also see that what makes the church seem more clubbable might equally make it seem more of a clique to the shy or diffident. We need to make sure that what is intended as extending a welcome to the church doesn’t end up doing the opposite. Just a thought…
Gill Salway
]]>The bible passage was Exodus ch 2 v 1 – 10
Caring for the vulnerable is everybody’s responsibility. Caring and parenting is a collective responsibility. Children and the vulnerable shouldn’t have to hide away. In fact no-one can grow up to be a full person if they need to spend their time afraid and in hiding.
Moses’ mother was faced with the worst dilemma: in order to save Moses’ life, the only way forward was to let him go, without any certainty about what would happen. She decided to trust God with her baby. Instead of trying to keep him safe by hiding him, she tried to keep him safe by sending him away, hoping and praying that someone, somewhere would look after him. Parents all over the world are faced with similar choices, even though we rarely talk about them.
Parents who risk travelling as refugees. Parents who decide that their child should be adopted or looked after by someone else because they cannot look after them for a myriad of reasons.
And even when they do not part with their children, parents often need to enlist the help of others as they raise their children. Keeping children safe, helping them to grow up into well-adjusted adults isn’t the work of just mothers and fathers; but the work and responsibility of an entire community: parents, grandparents, extended family, godparents, friends, teachers, sitters, doctors, counsellors, churches. Parents were never meant to do this alone.
The story of Moses tells us that children need an entire community, beyond the midwives, doctors and parents. We have Miriam, Moses’ sister. She’s only a child, but she follows the basket and speaks to Pharaoh’s daughter despite fear. Thanks to her, Moses’ mother could look after him a little longer, knowing that he was safe. Love doesn’t go just one way.
Just as Moses’ mother cared for her children, Miriam cared for her mother and did what she could to make her life better. This story is one of care and kindness going in multiple directions, forming a net that catches the vulnerable and holds them safe.
And think about Pharaoh’s daughter. She had incredible courage. It would have been much easier to turn aside, pretend she hadn’t seen the basket and give the baby back. But she knew what the right thing to do was. She was the only person who could keep Moses safe from her father, Pharaoh. So she did it, even though she was a stranger, even though she had a different religion.
Caring and parenting is a collective responsibility we all share, as is the responsibility to be there when others cannot be. We are not all in danger like Moses. Most of us don’t have to risk our lives for others. But all of us have a responsibility to one another, a responsibility to care for the vulnerable, for those who cannot care for themselves. And, as in our story, all adults have a responsibility towards all children.
In one of our villages we know permission is sought for a safe home for looked after children. It will be home to two children and there will be at least three staff on duty at all times. What is our responsibility towards these children, these vulnerable ones? To let them know that there are good people in the world? To help enable them to reach their full potential by including them as much as is helpful in village life? Certainly not to meet them nor treat them with disdain, but rather show them the good that lies within us. To show them the welcome they so desperately need.
The story of Moses reminds us that parenting is not the task of parents alone. It is the task of the entire communities of love, care and compassion. May we live that. May we be that.
May we show that. Together.
Rev Jo Hurst
]]>So why did Jesus perform this miracle? What was the point? It could have been simply to help the family out – to save them from the embarrassment of not having enough. I also happen to think that this was Jesus showing that he can meet us in the ordinary. He takes the ordinary – waiting staff at a wedding, water and jars – and uses them to transform the ordinary into something extraordinary. This was Jesus’ style – the feeding of the 5000 by five loaves and two fish – again the ordinary into the extraordinary.
You might well be asking ‘where is Jesus showing the extraordinary in my ordinary?’ If we can’t see it, maybe we are holding on to unhelpful images of a god far away, who is disinterested and uninvolved. God isn’t a party trick God whose job it is to entertain us.
Maybe we don’t expect to see God at work in the mundane everyday.
Mary, his mother, expected Jesus to do something. She had seen something extraordinary in the ordinary – her elderly cousin falling pregnant; shepherds; angels; visitors from far away. Mary had become a seasoned spotter of the extraordinary. The images we have of God will influence our expectations which will influence what we see. If I think that God is far away, disinterested and mostly grumpy, then I have no expectation of seeing God in the ordinary.
If I have learned anything from Mary’s experiences and Jesus’ life it surely is that God is with us in the weft and weave of life. And then I begin to see the extraordinary in the ordinary – the unexpected encounter; encouragements coming from different sources at the same time; unexpected provisions; someone leans in at the right time offering support and kindness; the lightness of heart that skips as you see light bursting from the clouds into the gloom; a shooting star against a background of twinkling constellations; the song of the blackbird that sounds like hope as spring approaches. Then I will know that Jesus is God in flesh, God with fingerprints, God in the midst of us: shoulder to shoulder, cheek by jowl, heart to heart. This is God who transforms the ordinary.
Every. Single. Day.
Jo Hurst
]]>We do not live in a society where you often see service people out on the streets. Did you know that when the police service was formed in Britain in the C19th, it was established as a civilian force, not a branch of the armed services? I don’t know about you, but I always feel a bit uneasy when I see police officers armed with guns, even though I know they are there to protect me.
Of course, in New Testament times it would be commonplace to see soldiers. John the Baptist preached to them and told them to be fair, and not to take advantage of the public. Some service people supported synagogues and even became followers of Jesus. Jesus had a good encounter with a Centurion.
St Paul also would have been familiar with the military. There was often public disorder which the troops dealt with, and of course he himself was under house arrest and in prison. While in prison, he prayed for the prison guards. Paul knew the importance of establishing peace.
On a recent visit to the cinema, we watched “The Great Escaper’ – a true story about an elderly veteran (Bernie who escaped from his care home on the south coast and managed to get to France in time for the 704 Anniversary of the D-Day Landings in Normandy. During his trip he visits the grave of a young soldier he served with. As Bernie surveys the seemingly never-ending rows of headstones at the cemetery he says “What a waste… what a waste” A moving moment when you definitely need a tissue to catch the tears.
It is good to pray for our police, our soldiers and all those in the forces. They have devoted their lives to doing a very difficult job, in often tremendously challenging circumstances. This month we come together around the world to remember those who gave their lives so that we have our freedom; we also remember those who continue to serve and for those who lives have been forever changed by the horrors of war.
St Paul reminds us in the third chapter of the book of Colossians that we are to be clothed in love, to bear with one another and to live lives of peace. So let us do just that – remembering that our freedom came at a great cost. In honour of those who gave their lives – that they did not do so in vain – that their deaths were not a waste.
Revd Jo.
]]>We can be creatures of habit, especially in matters of faith and worship. That applies whether we love the BCP or singing modern worship songs. We find what works for us and hold on to it tightly. Words from the Old Testament Prophet Isaiah that God is “..
.. doing a new thing! Now it springs up, do you not perceive it,” can cut little ice. But God’s new thing is always rooted in his past dealings with us. He doesn’t change, but our context and culture does. If he encourages us to change, it is not for the sake of novelty, but to ensure that the timeless message of the Gospel can be heard afresh by each new generation. The glory of the church is that it looks very different according to the culture in which it is placed. One only has to travel to different parts of the world to witness this.
We recently had our very first Beer Festival at St Michael’s. This wasn’t an initiative to ‘spread the gospel,’ it was primarily about both raising money and holding a fantastic community event. I had countless conversations about life (and some about faith) both with familiar faces and completely new. It was a tremendous success thanks to the sheer hard work of all the volunteers involved – especially Caroline Wheatley whose idea it was in the first place, and who gave incredibly generously of her time and organisational skills to put it together.
Being a part of the Beer Festival was a joy – from conversations to pulling pints (and maybe drinking one or two!), to listening to great music by local bands it struck me afresh how important it is for us to be willing to think outside the box of what we think church is. Our buildings are a heritage – we are custodians of these incredible spaces; but they will one day crumble to the ground. God’s love will never pass away – his truths are everlasting. Seeing the glory of the church continue may require new prescription lenses. What might we need to change so that the Gospel can be heard afresh?
We don’t want to see our church buildings purely as good venues (even if they are), but as places of welcome where community is built and people hear about God’s incredible love.
I know I don’t have all the answers, but I am wondering what this might look like for our Benefice.
As we enter this new season, may we be willing to let go of any traditions we might be holding on to too tightly, and be open to any new thing that God might be doing.
With every blessing, Revd Jo
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