FEBRUARY 2012

Liz Mills – Churchwarden – writes

As this is the first edition of the Parish News in 2012 it is perhaps appropriate to look back to the final weeks of 2011 before continuing to move on in faith to all that might happen this year, not only the Diamond Jubilee of the Queen and the London Olympics, but also the 140th anniversary of the dedication of St. Mary's.

If you were asked to quote from the Bible any verse containing the word 'give', 'giveth', 'gave' or 'giving', you would probably come up with quite a few. The athletes who take part in the Olympic Games give up their lives, often for years, in training for medal success. At her accession the Queen gave the promise that she would dedicate her life to the service of her country and the Commonwealth and in her sixty year reign she has fulfilled that promise. So what of St. Mary's as this milestone of 140 approaches? We can look back at the lives of hundreds of souls over those years, many of them unknown to us, who have given generously and perhaps unsung of their time, gifts and money to make St. Mary's the place it is today.

The continuation of this in our time here has been very evident during Advent and Christmastide. After a gap of several years Hurst Hill Primary School held two carol services in church, the one involving the younger children was 'like old times' when there was standing room only. It was a great privilege to share the enthusiasm of the children, teachers and families as all enjoyed the joyful singing and readings. Soloist Laura returned to church the following Sunday to sing 'Silent Night' at our Christingle service when gifts were brought for the children spending their Christmas at Allen House refuge. At our Carol Service and at Midnight Mass it was good to see many people who don't normally attend church. Certainly some of these came in response to publicity leaflets detailing the times of the Christmas services arriving through their letter-boxes, delivered by an intrepid post-man from St. Mary's! As well as the numerous mince-pies and wine given for us to enjoy after our carol service, there have been several very generous donations from individuals who have used their practical skills to raise money. £333 was given in donations to the Tree of Light in memory of the faithful departed.

In spite of all of us having to make our money go further, an extra £2300 a year (more details elsewhere in the magazine) has been pledged following the 'Giving for Life' campaign and for the first time for about ten years our Parish Share has been paid in full with the help of a generous monthly donation in 2011 from the PCC and people of All Saints', Sedgley.

At this Epiphany-tide we remember the magi visiting the Holy Family bringing the child Jesus their symbolic gifts. Earlier the shepherds had visited the manger and looked in awe and wonder on the gift of God incarnate in a baby. In a few weeks time as Lent begins we shall begin the journey with our Lord towards Calvary. During that journey He gave us some of His greatest teaching, the gift of His body and blood at the Last Supper and ultimately gave the most precious gift, life itself, for our salvation. God's great generosity, even though we cannot hope to match it, encourages us to carry on, to keep faith with all who have gone before and to continue together to lay firm foundations for the future.

Liz. M.

---

DECEMBER 2011

 

Fr Tim writes …

We live in a world that is increasingly politically correct. And as such our language seems to have changed.

No longer is someone short – they’re vertically challenged; no longer do people fail at things – they achieve a deficiency; no longer is someone worst at something – they’re least best; no longer is something ugly – it’s cosmetically different; and would you believe it - no longer are we alive, we are temporarily metabolically enabled.

And as for Christmas – well that too seems to have become “politically correct”. In many places Christmas has been replaced by a Winter Celebration or Winter Fest or by something known as Winterval. And town halls - up and down the land - seem to want to wish us “seasonal greetings” rather than a happy or peaceful Christmas. The whole world seems to have gone mad – or should I say less rational in its functioning!

But there’s no political correctness in church this Christmas – there’s not even a glamorous or beautiful story. For at Christmas we come together to celebrate the birth of a baby born to an unmarried mother. We remember two young parents forced to flee as refugees and to seek asylum in another country. And then in just a few days more we will recall visitors from the east who get caught up in an assassination plot to kill the infant Jesus. No. This isn’t a particularly nice story at all. Of course Christmas carols and nativity plays might have us think differently. But the truth is that this isn’t an enchanting little story – think of those swaddling cloths soon to become grave clothes, think of those lovable shepherds – common people from the margins of society.

But I guess we could if we wanted – make the story more acceptable – more politically correct – just by tweaking one or two little bits. We could give the baby human parents – married parents. We could have him born somewhere else – perhaps in the community centre. Then when he grows up we could give him a fast car and a mobile phone – after all that would make spreading the message so much easier. We could even ask that he says nice things, things that don’t challenge – things that seem more politically acceptable.

Perhaps that’s the sort of story some might prefer. But that’s not why we come to Church at Christmas. We come for the story as it is – warts ‘n all. We come to celebrate the truth that our God came to earth and got his hands dirty. We come to remember a young baby born in a stable or cave because there was nowhere else for the Saviour of the world. We come to worship our God who loves us so much that he was willing to send his Son to live and die among us. 

John Donne, the great English cleric summed up the real meaning of Christmas when he said “Twas much that we were made like God, long before, but that God should be made like us — much more.” And the Word, took on flesh and dwelt for a while in our midst, and we have seen his glory, the glory of the only begotten Son of God. It was a strange glory, a glory in humility, a glory without royal robes, a glory without a proper bed. Nevertheless, God’s glory!

A holy, blessed and peaceful Christmas to you all.

Fr Tim

---

NOVEMBER 2011

Bishop David writes …… 'the whole company of Heaven'

Just when we were preparing to say goodbye to our curate, the vicar dropped a bombshell - he'd been asked to be the new Archdeacon. We'd been used to having several weekday Eucharists as well as the Sunday Communion. Back then I was still a student in training for the priesthood; I couldn't offer to take the services myself, but at least I knew clergy at the college and could twist a few arms.

One dark and damp November night, I opened up the church, greeted the visiting priest, set up the altar, and waited. Nobody else arrived. The time for the service to begin came and went, but it was still just the two of us there. Acutely embarrassed, I apologised. "We can cancel, if you want", I said, "It's only going to be me and you". "David", he replied, "I think you have mis-counted. You've forgotten the angels, the archangels and the whole company of heaven". We held our Communion service, and though only the two of us were visible, I'd never felt part of such a large congregation.

Nowadays the part of November that falls before the start of Advent is designated by the Church as a particular season for remembering that we are part of a congregation that spans the ages. We mark the heroes of the Church on All Saints Day, our own family members and friends on All Souls Day, and those who have died in conflict on Remembrance Sunday. Almost every day of the month has some Christian saint associated with it. When we meet around the Lord's table, we do so with all who now feast in God's presence in heaven. We are their legacy, the fruits of their faithfulness and their witness.

Yet to look to the great communion of saints in November is also to be made aware that there are alive today not only more Christians than ever before, but that a greater proportion of those living are now Christian than in any previous generation. We see that most visibly through our partnerships with the rapidly growing dioceses of Morogoro and Peru. They are gathered at God's banquet with us, Eucharist by Eucharist, even though we are separated by distance, language and culture.

Remembering what a huge community we are part of, even when we seem but few gathered in our own parish churches, should be a great cause for joy and celebration, but it also reminds us of our chief challenge - the duty we owe to the future. Just as we seek to hand on our stewardship of the Earth in good order, so we must seek to hand on our stewardship of the Church. We are called to be the saints that those of our grandchildren's generations and beyond will look back to in gratitude, so that they, gathered on dark November nights, will break the bread and drink the cup that unites them with us in heaven.

+David

---

OCTOBER 2011

Fr Tim writes …

There was once a famous strong man who performed in theatres and circuses around the country. Audiences were amazed by his feats of strength and, at the end of each show, he gave the opportunity for anyone in the audience to compete with him on a single and simple proof of strength. He would take an orange and squeeze it with one hand until he had squeezed all the juice he could out of it into a glass. He would then invite anyone to try and squeeze another drop out of it. People were always up for the challenge but, at every place, no one ever squeezed out another drop from those oranges.

On one occasion, late in his career, he set the same challenge: having squeezed with all his strength, he put out the invitation. To his and the rest of audience’s surprise, a petite and elderly lady made her way through the auditorium and on to the stage. There were titters of amusement as she stood before them and took the mangled orange in her hand. Then she squeezed and, to everyone’s amazement, drops of juice clearly dropped into the glass beneath it. The strong man stood amazed, aghast and embarrassed. “How on earth did you do that?’ he asked. “Simple” the lady replied, “I’ve been a church treasurer for years!”

Two years ago we were asked to think about the serious nature of St Mary’s financial situation and to consider how we might respond. At that time we could not pay our way. Sunday collections were reducing, we could barely pay half our Parish Share (the contribution every parish makes to the Diocese) and we were in serious debt. Now the situation is somewhat different. Yes we still owe the Diocese a considerable amount of money – and other parishes across the area continue to bail us out - but this year, for the first time in a great many, we can afford to pay at least 90% of our Parish Share and we hope to pay 100% next. Sunday collections are on the increase – and in a time of recession too. The congregation of St Mary’s has responded remarkably and for this I am deeply grateful.

Nevertheless we would be negligent in our duty if we rested on our laurels and never considered our financial position again or asked ever you to review your giving again. During October we will therefore be participating in Giving for Life - a nationally devised giving programme, endorsed by our Diocesan Synod as the successor to from ‘First to he Lord'. 

Giving for Life has four key themes: generous giving is an integral part of our discipleship, that resources Godʼs mission in the world, and has an impact on our lifestyle.

Any reflection on giving must, of course, start with God. God gives to us abundantly and graciously in creation and redemption, and in sustaining life, day by day. Scripture shows that God’s giving is characterised by extravagance, both for nations and for individuals.

Many of Jesus’ parables and, indeed, his own actions involve celebrations, meals, parties and a sharing of food, financial resources and time, especially with those who might least expect to be included. We might think of the wedding at Cana in Galilee when Jesus turns more water to wine than could possibly be consumed by the wedding guests. We might ponder the significance of the provision made for an injured stranger of a different nationality in Jesusʼ story of the Good Samaritan or the reason why Zacchaeus is inspired by his encounter with Jesus to make fourfold reparation to any he has cheated, bringing this response from Jesus “Today, salvation has come to this house”.

Furthermore, the incarnation, the cross and resurrection, and the coming of the Holy Spirit reveal to us the astonishing depths of Godʼs generosity toward us all. In response, the challenge for the disciple of Jesus is to be prepared to do whatever is needed to align him or herself with ways of living and giving that release rather than obstruct the flow of Godʼs generosity.

In the two years since we last asked you to consider your giving, the congregation of St Mary’s has responded with notable generosity. We now ask you to consider your giving of money and time once again in order that we might appropriately resource our worship to God and our mission to the community and people we serve.

Without your support, our church can never be what it could be. Without your support, the vision will wither on the vine. Without your support, there will not be the resources to do what we are called to do, to be the bearers of good news in a world of bad news, to be the bringers of light in a world full of darkness, to be the bringers of joy in a world full of sadness.

What, giving again?’ I asked in dismay.

‘And must I keep giving and giving always.’

‘Oh no,’ said the angel whose gaze pierced me through.

‘Just stop when the Saviour stops giving to you!’

Yours in Christ

Fr Tim

---

SEPTEMBER 2011

 

Bishop David's Letter

 

At the point when I was first seeking to respond to God's calling me to ordained ministry a wise priest said to me, "David, clergy are like horse manure - spread thinly they get the garden growing, but piled up all together they just make a stink!" It was an old joke even thirty years ago, but it's one I remember whenever I'm off to attend the House of Bishops or General Synod, and it has come to mind again as we get ready this month for the first Diocesan Clergy Conference we have had in my time in Worcester.

Like most of the jokes that pass the test of time, it has a grain of truth in it. The Church's licensed and ordained ministers are called to spend the vast majority of their time in their parishes and chaplaincies, growing the Church and Kingdom through their distinctive contribution to the ministry of all the baptised that is God's mission. And I've spent more hours of my life than I care to recall in clergy meetings that have descended into either competitive bragging, "my ministry is more fruitful than yours", or communal whinging about difficult funeral directors, over-demanding bishops and the intricacies of the Faculty system.

Also, like most good jokes, it's an exaggeration.

I'll be packing my bags later this month with a real sense of excitement and expectation. I'm looking forward to spending several days in the company of a large body of people deeply committed to living and proclaiming the Christian Faith and to responding to what the Holy Spirit is up to in the Diocese of Worcester. As we share our individual stories, I'll be looking to recognise the common themes and patterns that are the clues to where the most significant opportunities and challenges are arising, and hence where a Bishop's contribution can be most effective. I'll be enjoying praying with a body of people who, more commonly, I am praying for. And whilst the formal sessions and worship will be vital ingredients of the event, I'll also be looking forward to the informal chats and socialising that strengthen the friendships among us and so underpin the more formal occasions when I meet with our clergy and lay workers back in the Diocese.

So please pray for the Conference, for all who will be attending it, that we will be inspired both by God and each other, and return to Worcester strengthened for the time ahead.

---

JULY & AUGUST 2011

 

Bishop John's letter

The fact that this year is the 400th anniversary of the publication of the ‘Authorised' or ‘King James Version' of the Bible has been well publicised. And rightly so. No book has had more effect on our culture. It changed the way we think and speak.

The King James Bible is not just a literary masterpiece, though, it is the Word of God. For the Old Testament writers, the word of God is both a word and an action. God's words actually do something. The first mention of God speaking in the Bible comes right at the beginning of the Book of Genesis ‘Then God said "Let there be light" and there was light. So God spoke and a universe came into being. As the psalmist put it ‘By the word of the Lord were the heavens made; he spoke and it came to be.' The Word of the Lord still does remarkable things.

Robert Hicks was born tongue-tied and dyslexic. He was abandoned by his mother, beaten by his father and spent his childhood in and out of children's homes. He left school illiterate and worked as an errand boy for a local grocery shop where one of the staff, an ex-nurse, realised that he was physically tongue-tied. He had an operation, after which the surgeon recommended that he should copy words out from a book and practise reading them as he did so. The only book he could find was a battered King James Bible so he used that. For two years he copied and read it, slowly and painfully, and it was an exercise that changed his life. He found faith and a new determination to succeed. He joined a rising new company called Tesco, then became marketing director for the Co-op and opened the first hypermarket. Later he took over Scripture Union and within a year turned it around. He is best known for founding Back to Church Sunday. He was once interviewed by Esther Rantzen who said afterwards: ‘During all the years I've spent making programmes I've been particularly interested in the stories of people who've had very tough childhoods ...,of all these stories the most inspirational was the story of Robert Hicks.'

The Word of God changes lives. I pray that it will go on changing mine, and yours, and many, many others.

+John

---

JUNE 2011

 

From Fr Stephen

FEED ON ME

One of my favourite TV programmes was Red Dwarf. For those of you who are not familiar with it, let me explain. It ran throughout the ninties and was a comedy series set on a spaceship with four main characters: Rimmer, a hologram of his former self; Lister, the last human being alive, Cat, who has evolved over one million years from the ships moggie and a very human robot called Kryten. I was delighted to discover recently that it is being repeated on the freeview channel Dave, and I heartily recommend it to you. In a recently repeated episode the crew encounters a creature that lives on negative emotions. It attacks them, and “sucks out” Rimmer’s bitterness, Lister’s fear, Cat’s vanity and Kryten’s guilt. The more the creature devours the more powerful it becomes, and the characters become quite different. (The monster eventually gets zapped, and they all go safely back to the personalities we know and laugh at.)

Without trying to read too much into a comedy programme, it seems to me that this has some bearing on the theme of Pentecost; the coming of the Holy Spirit and what Paul says about the gifts of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, fidelity, gentleness and self-control. They are all positive aspects of human personality that enrich us, individually and communally. Paul contrasts these gifts of the Spirit with the negative emotions of anger, selfishness, greed, ambition, envy and jealousy.

Now, we have to admit that we are all a mixture of positive and negative emotions; that we very often swing from one to the other. James reminds us of this when he writes, “Out of the same mouth comes praise and curses.” And again Paul writes, “The good which I want to do I fail to do, but what I do is the wrong which is against my will.” Both writers realistically face up to the fact that left to our own devices it is so often the negative side of our nature which predominates. We stoke up the fire of our anger, nurture our jealousy, and justify our ambition and selfishness. And the more we feed on them the more powerful they become. And if not kept in check they eventually destroy us both as individuals and communities.

The message of Pentecost is that this need not be the case, our plight is not hopeless. With the coming of the Spirit, God gives us the power to confront the negative aspects of our lives, certain that there is love and forgiveness for all those who try to follow him. We need those gifts of the Spirit to nourish us as the body of Christ if we are to be effective witnesses to the power of God to renew and transform through his Holy Spirit.

Stephen Buckley

---

MAY 2011

From Fr Tim

Easter Silence!

So they went out and fled from the tomb, for terror and amazement had seized them; and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.

I don’t know about you but every time I study the passion and resurrection stories I find something new. If you were in Church on Good Friday you would have heard me preach about Pilate’s question “What is truth?” And though I’ve read the account of Christ’s trials many times before I’ve never really considered that question until now. That was my Good Friday sermon.

Similarly, I’ve also found the closing verses of the second gospel to be of special significance this year. “So they went out and fled from the tomb, for terror and amazement had seized them; and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.”

That's the way the Easter story closes in Mark's Gospel - the first and oldest Gospel. "They said nothing." There is only silence. Easter silence. So in the face of God's most outrageous, unbelievable action what do we find - but silence? Life walks out of death and what do we find - but silence? Does it not take your breath and words away? As in Mark's Gospel, maybe we Easter 2011 disciples should flee to our churches, our empty tombs, and sit for an hour in silence.

Yet of course Easter is a time of choirs, trumpets, hymns and alleluias. It’s the time of "He is risen!" and the corresponding response: "The Lord is risen indeed." It seems at Easter we want to shout from the roof tops – and there’s nothing wrong with that.

But there is of course a place of silence and so often we neglect the opportunities silence can bring. All our Holy Week services began in silence this year and though that was difficult for some many have commented positively on the space and time to reflect, ponder and pray. But of course on Holy Saturday the Church itself fell silent. This was the day that Jesus lay in the tomb. His followers were in hiding, their faith shaken to the core. His enemies were rejoicing, convinced they had defeated a most troublesome foe. And from God, silence.

On one level, we might assume that God was waiting until Sunday to raise Jesus from the dead in order to prove that He really was dead. That extra day solidified the argument. Or, perhaps it was the issue of the calendar. He needed to be the Passover Lamb on Friday, honour the Sabbath on Saturday, then rise. Or, perhaps God was teaching us to wait on Him.

It’s always worth waiting on the Lord. It’s always good to silently listen for his His voice. It’s always helpful to pause amid the noise of life to reflect, ponder and pray.

It is worth a silent thought. Blessed Easter.

Yours in Christ

Fr Tim

---

APRIL 2011

From Fr Stephen

EASTER FAITH

‘When you die, that's it. Nothing. Out like a light.’ That's what the man in the pub said, and his mates all nodded, though the one whose mother had died the week before wasn't really quite so certain. Still, it seemed to make sense. After all, we know what ‘dead’ means: dead leaves, dead batteries, dead fish, dead pets... and dead people, to be honest. While we recognise that it's all too easy to go from alive to dead, we've got serious doubts about the possibility of any return journeys.

Which is why Christians have an uphill task at Easter. Jesus was a great man, and people want to remember how he died. Fair enough. But it starts getting complicated when Christians insist that Jesus died but didn't stay dead - in fact, that he's alive now. That ‘return journey’ has happened, they say. That's the problem about Easter, Christians persisting in what sounds like a ridiculous belief. If they just dropped the resurrection bit, and concentrated on the wonderful teaching of Jesus and his example of generosity, compassion and love then everybody would find Christianity much more believable. Wouldn't that make sense? And wouldn't that fill the churches again?

Well it might (or, more likely, it might not). But in any case, the trouble is that it wouldn't be Christianity at all. The faith of Christians actually depends on the resurrection of Jesus, and always has done, right from the earliest days. After the crucifixion the body of Jesus was taken down from the cross by some of his friends and put in a rock tomb with a heavy stone rolled across the doorway. Yet the following Sunday, the third day after his death, his followers claimed that they had met him, seen him, talked with him. So certain was their belief that nothing could make them deny it. Not ridicule, not torture, not even death itself. They couldn't do it because they were absolutely convinced that it had happened. Plenty of clever and powerful people at the time had a vested interest in proving them wrong. It shouldn't have been difficult to prove that a dead man had stayed dead, especially when you have at your disposal the resources of the greatest empire in history. Yet they didn't do it, because it couldn't be done.

Still today millions of people all over the world believe that Jesus did in fact rise from the dead. They include brilliant scientists and philosophers as well as plenty of 'ordinary' men and women of all ages. They believe it because they respect the witness of those first Christians, and because in many cases their own lives have been transformed by a relationship with Jesus - a relationship that wouldn't make sense if He were dead!

Christians don't put their faith in a dead hero from the past, but in someone who is alive and active in their own lives and in the world. That, in a nutshell, is the real message of Easter.

Stephen Buckley

---

MARCH 2011

From Bishop John

When Jesus' disciples asked him to teach them to pray, he gave them the prayer which is so well known to us which begins with the words ‘Our father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come.' The prayer is so familiar to us that there is a danger that it may well just wash over us. If that happens we shall miss a great deal: the heart of our faith is packed into those first few words of the Lord's prayer and we would do well to reflect on them anew this Lent.

They first remind us that through Jesus we have been adopted as God's sons and daughters and can call him our Father. That's an awesome thing if you stop to think about it, and is the best piece of news we shall ever have: the God who created the heavens and earth is our loving Father. Second, we are reminded that our response to this great good news, in gratitude, should be to hallow God's name. That means putting our relationship with God first in our life and doing all that we can to encourage others to do so, too. Then, finally, we are to await, and pray for, and seek to bring about the advent of God's Kingdom.

How can we hallow God's name and work for the coming of the kingdom? The best way to start is surely to do all we can to ensure that God rules in our own hearts and lives. As the old song puts it, ‘Let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me.' To that we might add, let there be justice and mercy and compassion and kindness and truth and love and freedom and goodness and truth on earth and let them begin with me. In other words, let all the characteristics of God's reign be manifest in me. May God's Kingdom come in me.

Most Loving God,

I thank you that in your wonderful love

you have adopted me as your child.

In the power of your Spirit,

Give me a thankful heart and help me properly

To hallow your name.

May your Kingdom come in me.

---

FEBRUARY 2011

Fr Tim writes …

Many years ago a young man living in China wondered about the stories concerning Jesus. He’d heard people speak of this man. They said he was the Son of one true God who came down to earth, born as a baby, died as a man. They said that after he was crucified he came to life again on the third day and that now he has returned to his Father. Even more amazing was the idea that it was possible to know him as a friend, not just for now, but for eternity. "Just ask", they said.

The young man was troubled. How wonderful it would be to know Jesus, to meet him, to see his face. But then, it could all be jut a story - how could anyone know? The young man wasn't sure; it was all a mystery to him.

One day he went walking in the hills that surrounded his village. It was toward the end of winter; the snow had begun to melt. Large blotches of brown earth began to peek through the white snow. The cold of winter was passing. He had taken his camera to catch the beauty of the spring thaw. As he walked he wondered about this Jesus. If only he could see his face, then he could believe.

His heart was heavy, his head hung low. Beside the pathway he noticed a pattern in the snow. It was as if the snow stood out from the patches of brown earth beneath. He stopped and looked again. Suddenly, a face appeared in the snow as if from nowhere. Blind one minute and seeing the next. Was this the face of Jesus, he thought. He took out his camera and photographed the melting snow. Maybe it was and maybe it wasn't.

Earlier this month the Church celebrated the Feast of Candlemass or the Presentation of Christ in the Temple. In the Greek-speaking world the feast is called hypapante (the encounter). Joseph and Mary had gone to the Temple to offer a sacrifice in recognition of the fact that they were offering their son for the service of God. A wealthy couple would have taken a lamb and a turtle-dove to be sacrificed, or if doves were not available pigeons would be offered in their place. To the rest of the onlookers in the Temple on that day, Mary and Joseph were just another provincial couple, who had come to Jerusalem to keep the Jewish religious law. They were not doing anything remarkable. Yet Simeon, through the eyes of faith saw something extraordinary going on which everyone else was missing. He knew he was seeing the face of the Son of God. And with a heart full of joy he cries out with the words of the canticle that many of us know as ‘Nunc Dimittis’. “Now Lord I am ready to die in peace, your word has been fulfilled right here in front of me.”

Few, if any of us, can claim to have seen Jesus in the way that Simeon saw Jesus. Indeed how often do we recognise the presence of God in our lives? Most of the time life seems like a meaningless pattern without purpose. Random shades devoid of meaning. We rarely see God’s face. Or do we?

Christ is the Light of the whole World – he has gone before us into all the world - and his presence always becomes real to those of us who look for him. We know that his presence can be found in the quietness of worship. We know that he can be found in the wonder of his Word, by simply reading the Bible. He is to be experienced as we come together to break bread and to drink wine. He can be encountered in the love of his people, in the gentle touch of compassion. He can be experienced in the keeping of his promises; like a good friend he does what he says he will do. He can be experienced in the gift of his inner peace. He can be seen in the glory of his creation.

Yet how often do we look for him in other places - at work, at home, in our community, in the lives of those around us, in the situation in which we find ourselves? If we look carefully enough the meaningless shades have form. They actually form his presence. If we look, the face of Jesus can be seen in the places where we live and move and have our being.

Yours in Christ

Fr Tim

---

January 2011

Fr Stephen writes …

“THE BIG SOCIETY”

Some years ago the Times newspaper printed a cartoon showing a man looking dubiously at an unopened, gift-wrapped parcel labelled 2005 and saying, “If it’s from the same people who gave us 2004 I’ll send it back!” Of course the man could not know what was in the New Year parcel. He could only find out by starting to open it.

Both as a nation and as individuals we begin this year uncertain of what the “parcel” labled 2011 will contain as we face large cuts in many essential services. These may well be necessary, but in his sermon on Christmas Day the Archbishop of Canterbury spoke of a breakdown of mutual trust and a “lasting sense that the most prosperous have yet to shoulder their load". I think many of us would agree with that, and if history teaches us anything it is that it is all too likely that the heaviest burden will be born by the poor and disadvantaged.

Archbishop Rowan went on to say, “If we are ready, if we are all ready, to meet the challenge represented by the language of the 'big society', we may yet restore some mutual trust. It's no use being cynical about this; whatever we call the enterprise, the challenge is the same – creating confidence by sharing the burden of constructive work together.”

A recent survey of the Black Country showed that members of the “faith communities” put in thousands of hours of voluntary work each week, In addition churches make their premises available to a large number of community groups, and at a national level the Children’s Society, has been helping children in need since 1882, and the Church Urban Fund provides money for community projects in areas of social deprivation.

So in many ways the phrase “the Big Society” defines what the church at its best has alwaysbeen, but the outgoing chairman of the Children’s Society, the Rt Revd Tim Stevens, said in his farewell lecture in September, “Simply hoping that the Big Society emerges from the space left by a contracting state is not good enough. It's going to need high quality leadership, especially in the voluntary sector, and especially from those parts of the voluntary sector which can mobilise partners who are steeped in a religious tradition and understand something of the values which that tradition speaks of."

So part of what our 2011 parcel contains is a challenge, not to try and replace the services which national and local government may no longer provide, there will always be things that only statutory bodies will be able to do, but to work alongside other voluntary organistions to support our local communities, and to hold our elected representatives to account if they do not ensure that the burden is fairly born by all sectors of society.

The circumstances we find ourselves faced with at the beginning of this new year also provide us with a great opportunity, an opportunity to break away from the narrow agenda of internal church politics, and to use another politicians phrase, “to get back to basics” which for us means putting Jesus’ great commandment to love God and to love our neigbours as ourselves at the heart of what it means to be a “Big Society.”

Stephen Buckley

---

December 2010

Fr Tim writes…

Advent, as you know, is a time of preparation, renewal and refreshment. And although it occurs in the heart of the winter, Mother Teresa aptly described it thus:

The season of Advent is like springtime in nature, when everything is renewed and so is fresh and healthy. Advent is meant to do this to us — to refresh us and make us healthy, to be able to receive Christ in whatever form he may come to us.'

In common with many of Mother Teresa's sayings, the simplicity of language belies the great depth of meaning. Indeed our personal encounters with Christ may take many forms. At Christmastide, he is made manifest to us as a helpless babe, utterly dependent on the tenderness of a mother's love. We also see his coming in poverty and humility, a state with which Jesus would continue to identify throughout his life. In this form, in the person of those who are poor or disadvantaged, we may meet Jesus daily, as Mother Teresa herself did.

During Advent we wait – we wait for the birth of Jesus – for his coming into our lives in so many ways. The Bibles speaks of a people waiting, indeed longing for something that would change everything, and yet at the same time not quite knowing what that something would be.

It’s still much the same for us. We know that Christ’s coming into our world and our lives is something that is overwhelming, something that makes a colossal difference. We long for it and yet we don't quite know what it's going to involve. But surely Jesus has already come into the world – you might say - and by now we ought to know what sort of difference he's made. The truth is that we don't yet know the difference Jesus might make. We know some of the difference he's made to our lives as individuals, to the life of the Christian community, the Church, to the whole world. And yet there's more. We're still waiting to see what might happen if Jesus was allowed into our lives that bit more fully; that bit more radically.

During Advent, we ought to try to get ourselves a bit more used to the truth - the truth about ourselves, which is not always very encouraging, but also the truth about God above all which is always encouraging. The One who comes will come with a great challenge. It will be like fire on the earth as the Bible says. And yet the One who comes is coming in love. He's coming to set us free. And that's something well worth waiting for, something well worth preparing for.

With every blessing

---

November 2010

Fr Stephen writes…

“REMEMBER, REMEMBER”

For many people November is the month when memories come to the fore. On Tuesday 2nd November the church celebrates the Feast of All Souls. On Remembrance Sunday we shall recall those who died in the great wars of the last century; and in many other conflicts. 

There is one other act of remembrance which many people will also join in this month. It has nothing to do with church services, and many of those attending will not think of the event as being linked with remembrance. I’m talking of course of Bonfire Night’; “Remember, remember the 5th of November…”. This provides an opportunity for people old and young to come together to enjoy themselves, and to be wowed by the excitement of a fireworks display. But we are remembering an event from our history. What is being recalled is nothing less than an act of political terrorism; an attempt to kill the king and members of the government by blowing up the Houses of Parliament, during the state opening on the 5th November 1605. 

I mention this episode from the past as it is so redolent of far more recent acts. We have been particularly reminded of those killed in the London bombings as details of that dreadful day were made public at the inquest held this month. In countries like Iraq and Pakistan suicide bombings are an almost daily occurrence. The tragedy is that religious belief is so often used to justify these terrible acts. 

But at the heart of all the great faiths there is the same teaching which gives the lie to such claims. We are all familiar with Jesus’ command to love God and our neighbours as we love ourselves. However, a similar phrase is found in the Jewish Talmud, “What is hateful to you do not do to your neighbour.” Muslims also find this in the Koran, “Repay evil with good, then you will find your enemy has become your affectionate friend”, and St Paul writes in his letter to the Christian community in Rome, “Never pay back evil for evil … do not let evil conquer you, but use good to conquer evil.”

The truth is that if people lived according to these basic tenets then violence between nations and individuals would become a thing of the past, and we could look forward to the fulfilment of that great vision of the prophet Isaiah: “They shall beat their swords into plougshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.”

Stephen Buckley

---

October 2010

Fr Tim writes …

The new leader of Labour Party certainly seems to have his work cut out. During the earlier leadership campaign Ed Miliband was dubbed "Red Ed" by many of the right-of-centre tabloids when it was revealed more trade union bosses backed him than any other candidate. Some in the New Labour establishment whispered that he could be another Neil Kinnock - doomed to be a great Labour opposition leader, but not trusted by voters to become prime minister. Some were even more openly critical. Lord Mandelson described the manifesto that Ed Miliband had written as failing to address the concerns of people who are not natural or "automatic" Labour voters. And even his own brother suggested his manifesto failed to inspire.

The new leader’s first task however has been to seek to unite his movement by declaring that the past is another country and resolving to use talents from across his party. Nevertheless his task will undoubtedly be a difficult one – one that will require much skill, wisdom and bridge building in bringing diverse activists together. But a call to unite must surely be a good place to start.

There was much controversy surrounding the visit of Pope Benedict XVI to Britain in September. At one stage, it looked as if his visit would attract more protesters than worshipers. The protesters had diverse motives, as their various placards testified: opposition to the undermining of the human rights; the refusal of the Pope to ordain women; the concealment of child abuse and frustration of justice. In the end, however the sheer volume of people on the streets in Edinburgh, London and Birmingham meant that more than half a million people saw the Pope in person. The Pope’s visit was certainly an historic event and perhaps one that, for Christians, reminds us that there is more that unites us than divides us.

Liz Mills writes elsewhere in this magazine of our Patronal Festival - an occasion that saw much celebration and coming together. Indeed our celebrations were much enriched by the presence of friends from the Sedgley and Gornal Team. At Mass on that Patronal Sunday morning we came together from different places, from different churches and from slightly different traditions - yet we were united in our common faith.

There is so much in our world – and indeed in our Church - that creates division. Yet for those of us who call ourselves Christian there is so much that unites us and there are so many reasons to be united. 

The new leader of the Labour party may seek to unite his party. The Pope’s visit may well have pointed to much that unites the Church. Indeed the call for all Christians is to unite - to work together, to come together, to be as one. This is a call that comes from Christ himself. Clearly that doesn’t mean that we all have to think the same, be the same, talk the same and worship the same. We have all been created different and unique human beings, but we are called to be united in our mission. For we exist to reveal Christ to the world and to help bring about transformation in the lives of people and communities. If we are not united, then Jesus strongly implies that the world will not believe! In word and deed, spirit and truth we are to be people of One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism. Let us therefore celebrate our God-given diversity, but let us use that diversity to be united in the mission of Jesus Christ! How better to be equipped to do this than by coming together to celebrate the Lord’s Supper Sunday by Sunday.

Yours in Christ

Fr Tim

---

September 2010

Stephen Buckley - Priest in Charge - writes ...

Mary “Mother of God”

On the 12th September, we celebrate our Patronal Festival, and I’m pleased to say that the churches in the Gornal & Sedgley Team will be joining us for our service on that Sunday. It’s an indication of the veneration of Mary that there are more churches dedicated to her than any other dedication in England.

But attitudes to Mary have also been a cause of deep division. At one extreme Mary was held to be sinless, to have ascended bodily into heaven, given the title “Mary, Queen of Heaven”, and spoken of as “co-redeemer.” Such an unbalanced adoration of Mary led to an equally extreme reaction amongst many Protestant churches where Mary was completely ignored, and any mention of her treated as idolatry. Somewhere between these two extremes is the flesh and blood woman chosen by God for the great task of being the mother of Jesus. So we need to peal away the accretions, and prejudices of the centuries, and get back to what the New Testament has to say about Mary. 

Firstly we know from the stories of Jesus’ birth in the Gospels of Luke and Matthew that she came from Nazareth, and was betrothed to Joseph. It is Luke who records the words of Gabriel to Mary, “Hail, O favoured one, the Lord is with you.” We are not told why this should be, but as the conversation develops it becomes clear why Mary has been chosen. She has the attributes necessary to the task before her, courage, faith and trust. She says “Yes” to God when it would have been so much easier and safer to “No”. That “Yes” reverberates down through the centuries, and we must be eternally grateful because without the willing co-operation of Mary the coming of Jesus into the world would not have happened. 

Mary does not play a prominent part in the rest of the Gospel story, but she is there in the background, and has come down to us as the epitome of the caring and compassionate mother. She is also the only person who is present at the birth and the death of Jesus. So she knows the joy of giving birth to a child and the heartbreak of witnessing that child’s death. But she also experiences with the disciples the joy of his resurrection, as all that was told her by Gabriel so many years before is shown to be true. 

Mary’s courage, her faith, her trust in God’s promise is vindicated. We have no need to invent stories about her as the Mary we meet in the Gospels is remarkable enough to merit the title given to her by the Orthodox Church: “Theotokos”, literally “God-bearer.” 

Stephen Buckley

---

July / August 2010

Fr Tim writes … 

The Gospel reading for the first Sunday in July spoke about Christ sending seventy individuals on an assignment. These were the ones who had heard Jesus preach and for some reason had decided to follow Him. These were the ones who found in Christ something new, something stimulating and something that spoke to their hearts. Suddenly they discover that Jesus was sending them on a mission. And even though they weren't apostles, even though they weren't part of the central core, even though they were ordinary disciples – people like us – the person in the pew - Jesus sent them anyway. They hadn't taken any vows, they hadn't signed up to be evangelists, they hadn't expected to be knocking doors – but Jesus sent them nonetheless.

Jesus told them that their mission was urgent. He told them not to stop and pass the time of day on the road. He said, "The harvest is plentiful, but the labourers are few."

So how does that compare with the way that we, as a congregation and Christian community, treat evangelism? What, if anything, is important about telling others about Jesus? Are lives at stake? If not, what is at stake? If telling people about Jesus is not important, why bother? If it is urgent, why is it urgent and how do we respond to that urgency? These questions go to the heart of our Christian faith. They make us uncomfortable.

But scripture that makes us uncomfortable always challenges us. It points to the place where we are furthest from the kingdom. It also hides veins of gold that can make us rich – spiritually rich. This story – the story of Jesus sending out the seventy – is one of those uncomfortable scriptures!

Listen to the urgency in the rest of Jesus' instructions to the seventy: "Go on your way …. Carry no purse …. Greet no one on the road …. Do not move about from house to house …. Eat what is set before you …. Cure the sick … and say to them, 'The kingdom of God has come near to you.'"

Do you hear the urgency in those instructions? Do you feel the same urgency about telling people of Jesus? Do we as a Christian community feel that kind of urgency? Or are we just trying to keep the doors open? Are we just trying to balance the budget? Are we just trying to keep things ticking over? And if we are just trying to keep the doors open, what difference would it make if they were shut? 

During the months of July and August many of us will be taking holidays. And it’s right and good that we pause to find rest and relaxation. But the urgency of our task still remains. If we are to witness for Christ - which is our calling, if we are to build up the Church of God - a responsibility in which we all share, we will need faith, commitment, vision and energy. We will need the encouragement and support of those around us.

May we use these coming weeks to find peace and relaxation, space and stillness before we return to our common task – which is to build up the kingdom of God in the places in which we have already been sent.

The harvest is plentiful, but the labourers are few. We are the labourers.

Yours in Christ

Fr Tim

 

 

---

June 2010

The Reverend Stephen Buckley – our new Priest in Charge - writes ...

As I write this letter I am, as you are all aware, preparing to be appointed as Priest-in-Charge of St Mary’s. I have always thought of the arrival of a new priest in a parish as akin to an arranged marriage. The two parties involved hardly know each other, and must now get used to living together. Well, it’s not quite like that on this occasion as I have been your next door neighbour for 10 years, so we are acquainted! But naturally our relationship will change when I take on formal responsibility for the parish of Hurst Hill. Being close by I have witnessed at first hand over the past months the stirling work done by your wardens Liz and Graham and by Father Tim and Father John during the interregnum, and I look forward to working with them and all of you.

Much is changing in the Church of England, and our deanery has certainly been affected. We have had to commit ourselves to a deanery plan which will mean the loss of 4 full-time posts, one of course that of vicar of St Mary’s, Hurst Hill. The days of one priest for each parish are in the past, and clergy are having to learn to work more collaboratively to provide the pastoral care expected of us, and we are fortunate in this deanery that we have clergy who are prepared to work together across parish boundaries. But it’s not just the clergy who are affected; we are all part of the body of Christ, all called in our different ways to further the mission of the Church. Change can be disconcerting, but it is inevitable, and we can be certain of one thing; if we do not equip ourselves to manage that change it will manage us.

In addition to my new role at St Mary’s I have of course my responsibilities as Rector in the Gornal & Sedgley Team. One of the strengths of a Team Ministry at its best is that it provides mutual support for the individual churches within Team and enables the sharing of talents and resources. Under the new arrangements St Mary’s will remain a separate parish with its own PCC, but my hope is that you will become informally part of the Team Ministry so that we can support one another in the years ahead. Having had a long conversation with Tim, and attended your AGM it’s clear to me that as a congregation you are looking forward to a new chapter in the life of St Mary’s, and I’m pleased to be part of that as together we seek to discern God’s will for the future of our church.

Shortly after the Second World War, the Cunard shipping line developed the slogan “Getting there is half the fun”. And that slogan was carefully designed to capture the spirit and feeling of the post-war traveller who was then beginning to travel less for the sake of transportation and more for entertainment and tourism.

I suspect we’ve all enjoyed the “getting there” - whether that be a journey to a holiday destination, the preparation for a special event or an achievement for which we’ve worked long and hard.

Our journey towards Easter has been part of our “getting there” together. It began several weeks ago on a cold dark night in February when many of us met together to begin the Lenten journey “of self-examination and repentance; by prayer, fasting, and self-denial”. Then on Monday evenings we’ve continued our Lenten discipline and we’ve come together to share the Eucharist, to think about the Five Marks of Mission and to say Night Prayer together. This has been part of our individual and corporate “getting there”.

I’ve spoken many times recently about our need to “get there” together. Indeed, last month I wrote: “it’s been said that Christianity is not a spectator sport; all are called onto the pitch”. The Lenten discipline should not have been a discipline for the few, but for us all; the journey of Holy Week is not a journey for the minority but for the whole Body of Christ.

It may be difficult to describe our Lenten “getting there” as “fun”, but it has been rewarding and worthwhile. If Lent has served any purpose we’ve prayed and shared together; we’ve grown as a community and we’ve developed a more intimate relationship with God and Christ. I firmly believe that our experience of Easter will be so much better for our “getting there” together.

“Getting there” might be half the fun – but surely the best is reaching the end of our journey. For some Easter might speak of such an ending and in a way it is. It’s been the object of our journeying, the purpose of our discipline. Yet for those of us who call ourselves Christian, Easter is really only the beginning - a new beginning, a new and different kind of journey. The resurrected Jesus is not static, but a Lord who continually calls us to moves on in our thinking, in our experiences and in our relationship with Him and eachother. This is the dynamic of following Jesus. After the resurrection, the writer of the first gospel says “Then Jesus said to them, ‘Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me’”. The call is always to move on, to follow Christ as he goes ahead of us, to move beyond where we are now to new dimensions of faith and living.

May the joy and peace of the resurrection be ours and may we continually move on with Christ and one another into a world where Jesus has gone before.

Yours in Christ

Fr Tim

---

March 2010

Fr Tim writes…

It’s been said that Christianity is not a spectator sport; all are called onto the pitch. And that’s so true. That’s why Scripture portrays the church as a body - an organism with many organs, where each member has a unique role and all contribute something important to the life of the body. 

The early church knew this only too well. Indeed to be a member of the early church – to be a Christian – involved playing a full role, living the Christian life and meeting together regularly for prayer and worship. For them, Christianity was no spectator sport – all were called onto the pitch. 

Egeria (see later article) writes about the events of Holy Week and Easter for members of the early church. The whole body of Christ both recognized and participated in the re-enactment of events that marked Christ’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem, the Last Supper, Christ’s death on the cross and then his mighty resurrection. For them their faith was not a spectator sport – all were called to be involved.