Parish monthly letter

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.

How times have changed. I often tell a story about those two black country characters, Aynuk and Ayli. One day Aynuk was driving along in his car with Ayli in the passenger seat. Suddenly Aynuk stops the car and tells Ayli to get out and check if the indicators were working. So Ayli gets out of the car, walks round to the back of the car and shouts back “Yes, No, Yes, No”. That’s the reaction of many people to Christianity – even those of us that come to church. Yes to Christmas and Easter. No to Lent and Holy Week. Yes to special occasions. No to continual commitment.

There’s a lovely spiritual hymn that we don’t often sing at St Mary’s – but we will on Easter Day – it’s the hymn “Were you there when they crucified my Lord?” It’s a hymn thatsummarises the entire story of the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus as described in the four Gospels. “Were you there when they crucified my Lord? …. Were you there when they nailed him to the tree? …. Were you there when they laid him in the tomb?” Can we say that we met together to mark His triumphal entry into Jerusalem, His Last Supper with His friends, or His crucifixion on Good Friday?

Christianity is not a spectator sport. Those of us who desire to be Christians must be actively involved in worshipping God and doing His work. Glorifying God and enjoying Him forever is not something others can do for us. And when we do meet together and know that some are missing, we’re conscious that we meet not as the whole body of Christ.

The events of Holy Week and Easter are significant events for us as individuals and as a community. I look forward to seeing you in church to commemorate the most important events in the life our Lord – events which have the capacity to change our lives, our community and the very world itself.

Yours in Christ

Fr Tim

February 2010

Liz Mills, Churchwarden, writes …

Dear Friends,

Every Sunday morning, regularly as clockwork, when I am getting ready for church, a group of athletes from Tipton Harriers run up Turls Hill Road. Undeterred that they have already run the best part of three miles uphill, they never pause for breath and indeed are usually happily laughing and chatting amongst themselves as they pass by in a flash. I often wonder how much training they do to achieve such peaks of fitness.

St. Paul in his First Letter to the Corinthians (Chapter 9) writes of athletes going into strict training. ''At the sports all the runners run the race, though only one wins the prize. Like them run to win! They do it to win a fading wreath, we a wreath that never fades.'' What encouragement this should give us as Christians, that we don't have to come in gold, silver or bronze medal position. As long as we run the race of faith and worship honourably using our gifts to further the life and outreach of the church in our day the prize of eternal life will be ours.

Graham wrote in the January magazine of the magnificent respose to our Gift Day which I readily endorse. This is a brilliant start out of the blocks but the giving needs to continue even though the finishing tape is a long way ahead. At its January meeting the PCC pledged to pay 75% of our Parish Share this year, an amount in the region of £22,500 and we need the determination and involvement of everyone to succeed. Giving of time, talents and money are of course very important but along with these we also need to consider our personal spiritual growth and what better time to take ourselves in hand than the season of Lent. Spring, a time of abundant, dazzling growth in the natural world can be a time of growth for all of us too.

The race begins on Ash Wednesday, 17th February and will continue with Monday evening services during Lent, culminating in the moving and powerful Holy Week and Easter liturgy. Make a vow to go into training EVERY Sunday during Lent. How wonderful it would be if we could have fifty communicants each Sunday morning and twenty-five or more at Evening Prayer and Mass, all our church members together in the 'stadium' week by week. And, if you haven't done so before give the Monday evening service a go.

The author of the Letter to the Hebrews (Chapter 12) gives us the incentive to dust off our trainers to get spiritually fit and active. He writes, ''.. keep running steadily in the race we have started. Let us not lose sight of Jesus, who leads us in our faith and brings it to perfection: for the joy which was still in the future, he endured the cross ... and has taken his place at the right of God's throne.'' May we all experience joy in the future of St. Mary's. and a race well run through Lent and beyond.

Liz Mills
Church-warden

January 2010

Graham Roberts, Church Warden, writes ..

This seems a little strange, because I am writing this article a few days before Christmas and have Christmas very much in mind, whilst you will be reading it a few days into the New Year of 2010; so first of all can I say I hope you all had a most enjoyable Christmas time.

This would have hopefully included receiving some very nice gifts, but at the same time, and I believe more importantly, would have involved you in giving probably a great deal more than you receive. Giving not only in the form of presents but of your time and of yourselves. I believe this is the true spirit of Christmas, when, without hesitation, we put others before ourselves.

At Jesus' birth, we are told he received what would have been wondrous gifts in those days, gifts of great value, gifts to demonstrate the great regard with which the Kings held the baby Jesus. No doubt they would have derived a real pleasure in sharing some of their wealth, and giving to Jesus in such a generous way. Jesus of course never accumulated any wealth throughout his life to enable him to reciprocate in kind, what he gave was of himself, continually and without reward. He made no bones about telling the people of the day, through his teaching and parables, that that was the way to find contentment on earth, by putting the needs of others before ourselves, and I feel sure the great spirit of Christmas exists in the giving rather than the receiving.

We at St. Mary’s experienced this spirit directly in the weekend of 12th December, when, following an appeal led by Fr. Tim, we were wondrously rewarded by the generosity of spirit of the congregation of St. Mary’s.

A couple of weeks earlier, Fr. Tim and we church wardens decided that the financial circumstances of St. Mary’s was in such a poor state that it was necessary for us to bring it to the attention of the whole congregation, as it could be seen that our year on year losses over the last few years were continuing to worsen. We decided, although it was very close to Christmas, to make a plea to the congregation for help in offsetting those losses, which were very severe for the year of 2009. We suggested that people may wish to recognise the seriousness of the situation by giving a money Christmas gift to St. Mary’s, and an appropriate time might be over the weekend when the church was being joyously decorated in readiness for the Christmas services.

The result was absolutely wonderful, with people popping in regularly throughout Saturday lunchtime, to deliver their gifts, as the CD’s played a medley of Christmas music and the decorations took shape. The gifts continued to arrive on the Sunday and resulted in the magnificent sum of more than £1,700.

The body of the Church of St. Mary’s is extremely grateful for your generosity and if anyone wished to see the Spirit of Christmas in operation, then they should have visited St. Mary’s Church over the weekend of 12th December.

A very big thank you and a Happy New Year to you all.

Graham Roberts

Church Warden

December 2009

Fr Tim writes …

There’s a story about a certain missionary who was working in a rural African village that had no easy access to good drinking water. People walked for miles and miles to the nearest river to get water. With his encouragement the people undertook a self-help project to sink a borehole. The local government supplemented the people's efforts and a borehole was eventually sunk in the village. In the meantime the missionary had left the village. Soon the village was enjoying fresh and clean drinking water from the borehole. So they wrote to the missionary inviting him to come and see them and the great difference the borehole had made to their lives. He went back to the village and rejoiced with them for the borehole that now gave fresh, clean water on demand. Then he decided to go round and visit some of his old friends. He entered the house of an old woman and asked her to give me a cup of the borehole water to drink. To his surprise she said that there was no drinking water in the house. "But the village now has water," he said. "Yes," she replied, "but the trouble is with my grandson who lives with me. I tell him to go and get water from the borehole and he doesn't listen to me. All he does is run about and play."

It is possible for someone to die of thirst in a village that has abundant drinking water. Why? Because there is no way the water out there in the borehole can get to you on its own. You have to do something about it. So is the good news of great joy that God showers on the world at Christmas. We still need to do something, make a little effort, before we can personally experience this joy in our lives, in our families, and in our world.

The season of Advent calls us to wake up from our sleep, to put aside our indifference and apathy and to be ready to greet Christ when He comes. There is no Christmas without the preparation of Advent, no joy without placing Christ before self.

Of course, even the Christmas story tells of those who weren’t ready, or prepared to greet Christ when He came. Think of the innkeeper who turned Joseph and Mary out in the cold night while he enjoyed the warmth of the inn. Think of Herod who wanted above all his job security as king to the point that he was prepared to kill Jesus and others. These people never get to experience the joy of the good news. On the other hand however, think of the shepherds who leave everything they own to go to adore Jesus. Or the magi, the wise men from the East who leave the security of their homeland and make a long and dangerous journey to Bethlehem just to worship the new-born Jesus and give him gifts. These are the one's who receive God's favour, the ones who experience in their hearts the true peace and joy of Christmas. Let us resolve to follow their good example by always placing Jesus and others before self and then the joy of Christmas will always be ours.

With every blessing

Fr Tim

November 2009

Liz Mills – Churchwarden - writes …

I always think that at this time of the year life changes down a gear, clocks are put back, hours of daylight shorten and the slow descent to winter begins. There is a change of pace in the church’s year too, the many Sundays after Trinity draw to a close and Sundays before Advent begin. The beginning of November is a solemn season too. By the time you read this we shall already have celebrated the feasts of All Saints' and All Souls', All Saints', when we commemorate not only the great saints of the Christian faith but also the numerous unnamed saints who have fought the good fight of faith. At All Souls' we remember those of our families and friends with whom we have shared our lives and love and are now 'on a farther shore and in a greater light' in God's nearer presence. This is closely followed by Remembrance Sunday and this year we need no reminders of the sacrifice made by our service men and women so that others might share the freedom we enjoy, when month by month we have seen on tv the repatriation of earthly remains to grief stricken families.

A few weeks ago I was on the metro travelling into Birmingham. At one of the stations a young Indian man got on with a little boy about four years old. They sat in the seats opposite me. We had hardly pulled out of the station when the child put his hands over his eyes, peeped through his fingers and said, 'Dad, I'm worried about the tunnel.' 'It isn't for ages yet,' the father replied. The child, pacified began to enjoy the journey pointing out other trains, parks, houses below us and huge diggers working in scrapyards alongside the track. The tram stopped at Jewellery Quarter and we looked down on St Paul's church-yard. 'Here's another park', said the boy. 'It isn't a park, it's a grave-yard,' the father said. 'What's that?' the child asked. In the split second before the father answered I wondered what he would say. 'It's a place for people who've gone to God', he replied. There were no more questions following this as we were in the tunnel. The boy put his hands over his eyes again, his father put a comforting arm around his shoulders and pulled him closer to him as the tram drew into Snow Hill. Fear was soon forgotten at the prospect of a ride up the escalator and they were soon lost to view hand in hand mingling with the crowds going into the street.

I considered these happenings as I continued my journey and decided that I had seen all of life acted out in front of me. None of us knows who we are going to travel with and who we are going to meet apart from our family members. Life will have usually have many good times, thrills, joy, pleasure, love, contentment, achievement, work and worship and much else besides. Certainly, all of us at times, like the child on the tram, will have fears about what lies ahead, we shall experience unhappiness, illness and sadness and none of us escape the tunnel which is death, but again, like the child being protected by his dad, the loving and re-assuring arms of God our Father are always close during our journey on this earth, as we pass from it and beyond into eternity to meet again those we have 'loved and lost a while', those who have gone to God, as the young Indian man put it and this holds true for saints, servicemen and women and ordinary souls like you and me.

Yours

Liz

October 2009
Fr Tim writes …

One of my favourite stories from Scripture is contained in the passage recorded for us in the fourth gospel, very early in Christ’s ministry, just after John the Baptist had baptised Jesus. Jesus is walking through Galilee and John, who is standing with two of his followers, says, “Look, there is the Lamb of God” and suddenly John’s two followers turn around and start to follow Jesus. Seeing them following, Jesus asks them “What are you looking for?” And instead of giving him an answer they ask him a question, “Where are you staying, Rabbi?” “Come and see,” Jesus says, and they go with him and stay with him the rest of the day. At the end of the day one of the two - Andrew, finds his brother Simon and tells him the most astonishing thing: “We have found the Messiah”. And he persuades Simon to come and see, and he does, and Jesus renames him Peter. They came; they saw; they remained. The Christian enterprise had begun.
In reality, faith begins not with a creed or a theological argument or a liturgical act but with an invitation. Evangelism, the sharing of the Good News about Jesus, happens not by preaching or any kind of compelling intellectual argument, but with an act of hospitality, “Come and see”. We are called to witness to our faith by our hospitality, with no strings attached, no conditions, no secondary agenda. “Come and see” that’s enough. We don’t have to do more than that.
Many of us have worked hard – over the last few weeks – to extend an invitation to “Come and see”. And all of us will have extended a warm and genuine welcome to visitors on Back to Church Sunday. At the time of writing I don’t know if there will be 70 or 100 or more people in church on 27^th September but what is important is that we have issued an invitation to “Come and see”. We have extended a gesture of hospitality. The rest is up to those who have been invited and will continue to be invited, the warmth of our hospitality and the promptings of the Spirit. Whatever the outcome of our Back to Church Sunday initiative, let us resolve and work to be a welcoming community, a community that extends acts of hospitality and whispers to many others “Come and see”.
Discipleship, the writer of the fourth Gospel tells us, is always an active engagement with Jesus. Yet it’s never just “Jesus and me.” We rely on one another to hear the gospel and to show forth the love and the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. We’re called together as a people to be the church of Jesus Christ in this time and this place, to spread the audacious claims about who he is and what he has done, and to welcome as sisters and brothers all those who want to come and see for themselves: to make them feel seen and heard and an important part of this great crowd that’s trailing after Jesus.
So let us pray that others may come, see and remain with Christ.

Yours in Christ
Fr Tim

September 2009 

GRAHAM ROBERTS - CHURCHWARDEN - WRITES ...

SECOND TIME AROUND

There’s a certain buzz about St. Mary’s at the moment, which I am enjoying enormously and makes my second stint as churchwarden even more satisfying than the last, which ended in 2007 after 7 years.

Perhaps it’s because the whole congregation is pulling together like I have not experienced before, with the vast majority responding unhesitatingly and happily to provide the support we need.

Perhaps its seeing Father Tim and Father John doing sterling work in conducting the majority of our services. (Where would we be without them?)

Perhaps it’s the assured approach and the positive spirit that is constantly displayed by all, including deanery clergy and local clergy and readers as we face this difficult and uncertain situation over the foreseeable future.

Perhaps it’s the forward-looking attitude that is clearly apparent by the appointment of a new organist after so many months with piped music.

Perhaps it’s the recent addition of three very young people from our Sunday Friendship Club, to add to our volunteers for our regular readers rota.

Perhaps it’s a combination of all this and more, but it’s all very satisfying

Liz wrote in the July / August magazine expressing our gratitude for the wonderful response we have had from everyone. Surely this is what a Church is all about, everyone pulling together to provide the best possible ambiance for the Worship of God.

Now though, we have to move on to the next stage. It is not good enough for us to build a church just for ourselves to enjoy our worship and regular social gatherings. It’s necessary, perhaps essential, for us to do all we can to welcome many more Christians from the local community into our church. I don’t profess to know how this can easily be achieved, and feel sure that it will take the will and purpose of us all to succeed, but such a positive undertaking is typical of the St. Mary’s spirit right now, and our ‘Back To Church Sunday’ on 27th September is a good start to this campaign.

I know that some members of our congregation have been worshiping at St. Mary’s since they were small children, but I feel sure that many more are much like myself, who perhaps attended Sunday school as a child and then found other things to occupy our time and our mind over our middle years. We know that most people these days lead a very full and busy life with little time to spare and my own family followed this pattern. I was 52 years old when I tentatively returned to Church and found it to be a thoroughly enjoyable and satisfying experience. At that time I new none of the congregation, but we were welcomed very warmly and soon got to know the people and the services and began to feel very much at home.

I think there may be many more like me in the community who have reached a time in their lives when Church attendance, perhaps just once a month for starters, would be of very real benefit to them. If they are grand parents then perhaps they may be enticed to bring along the children to join our Sunday Friendship Club.

I look forward to this new phase in the life of St. Mary’s.

Peace be with you

Graham Roberts

JULY / AUGUST 2009

Liz Mills - Churchwarden - writes....

Dear Friends,

In 1995 I retired from an eight year term as church-warden. Never did I think that fourteen years on, older, much more forgetful and I hope, a little wiser, that I would be taking office again. How the church has changed in those intervening years! In 1992 when Fr. Stephen was appointed as our parish priest the decision was virtually entirely with the church-wardens. By the time that Mother Elizabeth came in 2000 the selection committee was headed by the diocesan bishop with diocesan and deanery representatives as well as the wardens. Now we find ourselves in a completely new situation where there are insufficient clergy in the Kingswinford deanery for each parish church to have its own priest and the future oversight and care of our parish continues to be in a fluid situation.

During the last interregnum we were fortunate to have Fr. John, Fr. Tim., Captain Andrew Knight and a Reader to lead worship and provide pastoral care. Now only Fr. John and Fr. Tim. remain and we should all count our blessings for their ministry. (I always think when I read on our Parish News cover 'Clergy. Fr. J. Watts . Retired' the addition 'not that you'd notice' would be appropriate!)

One thing that I have already become aware of since becoming warden is the thanks that we owe also to other deanery clergy. Most of them are 'stretched' with retiring priests not being replaced, but our Area Dean, Rev. Garth Nathaniel is doing his utmost to ensure that our Wednesday morning Mass is celebrated and that local clergy and readers are available to officiate at funerals. This adds appreciably to their work-load. Please remember them all in your prayers.

I must also mention the enormous amount of time and effort many members of our congregation put in to keep St. Mary's going in numerous ways. You are the unsung heroes and heroines of our church and continue to be an immense support and encouragement. It is greatly to our credit that a vast amount of Mother Elizabeth's former work is being done by congregation members. There is a good spirit abroad with people willingly volunteering to undertake jobs and we must continue this.Three people have recently volunteered to become servers and there have been faces that we have not seen for a while at Sunday Evensong/ Mass. We must together build up the body of Christ by being prepared to take on more and sacrifice our precious time and, dare I say, by coming into the worshipping fold more regularly.

We also hope to make a real effort to improve the appearance of the Activity Centre and church grounds. This has already begun by the the lawns being regularly cut and soon the Community Services Group will be painting the outside of the Centre.The lamps at the bottom of the church drive have been repaired and painted and we will have a new notice board in the not too distant future.The hope is that if the church and grounds look well cared for and attractive that the hundreds of people who pass St. Mary's every day will know that we are a going concern and might even like to join us but this will only happen if everyone plays their part. Can we do it? In the words of President Barack Obama, 'Yes, we can!'

Yours in Christ,

Liz. Mills.     

June 2009

Fr Tim writes …

I write at the time of a new beginning for us all.

Only two or three weeks ago we said “farewell” to Mother Elizabeth and we thanked her for her priestly ministry in this place. The last few months have seen a significant deterioration in Mother Elizabeth’s health and we pray that she may find peace, strength and God’s abiding presence in her retirement. It seems likely that Mother Elizabeth has been the last vicar of St Mary’s and we now wait for a vicar to be appointed to St Peter’s Upper Gornal who is likely to also have pastoral oversight and responsibility for us here at St Mary’s as Priest in Charge. But more on that in the coming weeks.

It’s easy to think of Mother Elizabeth’s leaving as “an ending” – and in many ways it is. For the disciples too, the events of Good Friday marked an ending – but not the kind of ending they imagined. They thought that Christ had failed, that he had left them, that he had died a painful and humiliating death on the cross. This of course is most apparent in the story the two disciples who journeyed to Emmaus. I must admit that this is perhaps my most favorite story in the gospel – a story that speaks vividly of Christ’s abiding presence with us. But those two disciples were downcast, disappointed and probably in despair. Their hopes had come to nothing. Yet when they realized that Christ was still with them – that he had not only gone through death but had been resurrected they were absolutely overcome with joy. And so great was their joy that they ran all the way back to Jerusalem. For them this was no ending – but a beginning of the work for which they had been called. And later when the Spirit came at Pentecost these men and women were transformed to go out and proclaim the gospel with boldness, courage and conviction.

For us, this could be a time for despair, a time for throwing in the towel, a time for giving up. On the other hand, with the presence of Christ with us it could be a new beginning. There’s a phrase that is repeated again and again in the New Testament – it’s the phrase that Jesus utters to his disciples “Do not be afraid”. And perhaps that’s something he says to us now.

Of course some things will be different. Already we have had to reduce our Sunday services and many of us have had to take on additional duties - for there’s much for all of us to do. But rather than being afraid of the future we ought to be able to look forward to very many things - worshipping together and being part of a continuing Christian community, participating in the mission of the Church which is the call of baptism and fully realizing our part in the wider church.

So let’s continue to pray for Mother Elizabeth as she begins her retirement and let us also pray for ourselves and each other as we continue our work to serve Christ in this community. And let us remember that our ministry begins - and has its substance - as we gather round the Altar to celebrate the Eucharist and His continuing presence with us. That’s how and where the two disciples recongnised Christ – not on the road, not in conversation, not in the warmth of hospitality but in the breaking of bread. May it be so for us.

See you in Church.

Yours in Christ

Fr Tim

MAY 2009

FROM THE VICAR

After his resurrection, the risen Lord appeared to various disciples, sometimes recognised, but often not.
My favourite of these is to be found in St. Luke’s Gospel Chapter 24, where two unknown disciples are travelling the seven miles from Jerusalem to Emmaus, when they are joined by a stranger.

From then on they make their journey together. The two disciples are sad because of the recent events in Jerusalem – the crucifixion of Jesus and the strange news of the empty tomb and the women’s testimony that the angels there said he was alive. This is the evening of that same day. The stranger speaks to them and rebukes them for being so slow to believe that all this had been foretold in the scriptures. When they reach Emmaus, the invite the stranger to join them for a meal. When he breaks the bread and gives it to them, “then their eyes we opened and they recognised him and he vanishes from their sight”.

We too have been walking along a road together, sharing our journey during these last nine years I have been at St Mary’s as your Vicar. Together we have shared the word of God in scripture; together we have met the Lord in the bread and wine or the Holy Eucharist and it is Christ who has shared the journey with us. Now the time has come for us to make that journey separately, but always united in our faith in the risen Lord. So it is very fitting that this farewell to you takes place in the Easter season.

My farewell Mass will be on 3rd May – just four days after my 15th anniversary of ordination as Priest. After this, I will be preparing to move at the end of the month as my retirement begins. As many of you know, I am moving to Leeds where I have a number of friends from the past.

In retirement I hope to have a different kind of priestly ministry – once a priest, always a priest. This will not be parish work, but will be about helping people through spiritual direction and maybe some hospital chaplaincy work or similar. I am sure God will show me what is right for me to do and will be with me on my journey, just as he will be with all of you on your own pilgrimage through life.

So I wish you all every blessing, thanks for our time together and my prayer for St Mary’s parish and congregation is that you may always be open to God’s grace, always willing to recognise Christ in friend and stranger, always ready to say Yes to God – just as Mary did.

Yours in Christ

Mother Elizabeth

March 2009

THIS MONTH THE VICAR'S LETTER IS REPLACED BY A MESSAGE FROM BISHOP JOHN  

Since arriving in the Diocese just over a year ago I have emphasised that my priorities are mission, mission, mission (with apologies to Tony Blair). I have spoken at deaneries about the fact that you and I, as Christians, have the amazing privilege of participating in God’s mission, which is nothing less than to reconcile the whole creation to himself in Christ.

Mission, as the Archbishop of Canterbury expressed it, is about ‘finding out what God is doing and joining in.’ That’s why prayer and mission are so inextricably linked: it is by prayerful reflection that we shall be able to discern what God is up to in the world and so be able to join in. That’s why I asked that this year’s Diocesan Lent Course, which I hope you might follow, should focus upon both the deepening of spirituality and the sharing of faith: the two belong together. Unless we seek constantly to deepen our own faith we shall not have anything of any worth to share with others. Nor shall we be able effectively to be the Church for those who are not – or not yet – our members.

This year we enter Lent facing a more uncertain future than any time for a generation. For some of us, the next few months will bring the loss of our jobs as the world faces an appallingly severe recession. Even those of us who are fortunate enough to have more secure jobs or pensions will nevertheless feel the breeze as the recession bites. My hope and prayer is that, despite the pain that will be felt to a greater or lesser extent by everyone in our society, that good will come out of what is happening.

Good will come of it if we are able, by what we say and what we are, to articulate a vision which will bring hope. Good will come of it if we are able to live and speak of values more enduring and deeper than the market, than that materialism to which our society has become addicted. People are looking to us, to the church and there is unprecedented opportunity. But words are of no use unless they are rooted in a relationship with the living God and we are ‘living the life’.

During the year it has been a great joy for me to see people throughout the Diocese ‘living the life’ and fulfilling their calling to proclaim the love of Christ in many and varied settings. That phrase, ‘Living the Life’ was the title of last year’s memorable Diocesan Conference and I was heartened both that so many people attended that conference, and that a common commitment to deepening our faith and sharing it was expressed, not only there but has been similarly expressed in many settings since.

I was delighted that, in committing itself to mission, the Bishop’s Council at a recent meeting came up with three priorities: renewing our relationship with God in prayer, renewing worship within our churches and renewing our service to those outside them. Prayer – which is essentially relationship with God – must be the beginning and the end of this and I hope that we shall all renew our commitment to it this Lent.

Lent is a time for taking stock, for looking at our lives. How much are they focussed on Christ? I have been haunted in the last few weeks by someone telling me of a confirmation sermon (not in this Diocese, I’m pleased to say) in which the Bishop took as his text ‘I preach not myself but Christ crucified.’ My informant told me that by the end of the sermon, he knew a great deal about the bishop’s CV but precious little more about Christ crucified. May that not be so of any of us.

My prayer for us is that, just as it was said of Jesus Christ ‘What sort of man is this?’ but said of us, his followers, ‘What sort of people are they? Their gracious actions and lives, and the language on their lips is of God’s goodness and love. Let us get to know them. There is something wonderful about them.’ It was people like that who drew me to the Christian faith and it is still going on all over the world. A missionary friend in Malawi told me a few months back of the manner in which she had taken two boys from the school at which she teaches, one a Christian and one a Muslim, to an Imam who was visiting the school to ask whether some of the financial support he was distributing might be made available to them. The Imam explained that it would only be possible for him to support the Muslim. A little while later the Muslim boy and his brother appeared on my friend’s doorstep saying that they wanted to become Christians. Why? Because in the name of the God she served this Christian missionary helped everyone, not just Christians, whereas the Imam would only help Muslims. Those two boys are now alive with Christian faith.

I hope and pray that Christ may similarly be alive in us and proclaimed through us. St Paul, in his second letter to the Corinthians, tells us that we should be ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal though us (2 Corinthians 5.20). May our relationship with the Living God in Christ be so deepened that God may make his appeal through everything that we say, everything that we do and everything that we are and may God bless you richly in your Christian life and witness, this Lent and always.

+John