Ministry Team Letters January – June 2004
Dear Friends
As I write this, the grass grows ever longer and the trees seem to grow ever greener. The end of May is the 'green season'. In the Church's year, we are also about to hit the 'green' season (so-called because of the colour of the vestments worn in church) or the 'Sundays after Trinity'. This is a time of year when, rather than celebrating special festivals (Christmas, Easter etc), we get on with the business of living and growing as Christians. But how should we live? The key lies in the Sunday that starts it all off - Trinity Sunday.
The Trinity isn't something we hear a lot about in everyday life. And yet it's the foundation stone of our faith. We worship a God who is not just one but also three: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit living together in a relationship - in community. What binds them together is love - which, as St John reminds us, is the best word we can use to describe what God really is.
But what has the Trinity got to do with us? Rather a lot. If God is himself a community of love, then for the Church to reflect God's nature, it, too, must be a community bound together by love. God doesn't keep his love to himself. It spills out and blesses his creation. In the same way, the Church exists, not for itself, but in order to love and serve those around it. It's vital that this is grasped, not only by the whole Church of God, but by each local church, as it seeks to be effective in making God's love known to everyone in a local community.
This month sees a number of special services which aim to flesh out that vision. On 13 June (at 3.00) we shall be hosting another service for Carers' Week. The contribution carers make to our society is immense and incalculable. Carers' Week is an opportunity to give thanks for the service of carers and to pray for and support all those who express love in this sacrificial way.
A week later, there is a real Godmanchester landmark as our Community Primary School celebrates its Golden Jubilee. At the special service of celebration (at 10.30 - please note the time!) we shall look back over 50 years of history, giving thanks for the life of the school throughout the years. We shall dedicate a time capsule which will then be buried at the school for a further 50 years! - and we shall pray for God's blessing for the future life of the school.
Then, on 27 June, the Revd Ally Barrett, our Assistant Curate, will preside at the Eucharist for the first time, following her ordination to the priesthood at Ely Cathedral on 26 June. Ally has already made a great impact upon our church and town during the past year and we rejoice with her on this historic occasion. A special service this will certainly be, but it also forms part of the ongoing round of regular worship. And it is this which sustains us in our faith and empowers us to reach out with the good news of God's love.
To God the Trinity
Be endless honours done,
The undivided three,
And the mysterious one:
Where reason fails with all her powers,
There faith prevails, and love adores.
[Isaac Watts 1674-1748]
May we all grow in faith, love and looking outward this 'green season''
Yours in Christ,
Peter Moger
The Great Commission
After the emotional and spiritual roller-coaster ride of Holy Week and Easter, we could be forgiven for thinking that we all deserve a bit of a breather, but May this year is an action-packed month in the Church’s calendar: for the few weeks we continue to celebrate the season of Easter, giving thanks for the Resurrection of Jesus; during this period the sermons at 8.00 and 9.45 continue with the theme of ‘wholeness and healing as a sign of resurrection life’. Then on 20th May we remember the ascension of Jesus into heaven, and finally ten days later we reach Pentecost, the birthday of the Church, when the Holy Spirit was given to the disciples enabling them to carry out Jesus’ Great Commission, to ‘go out and make disciples of all nations’.
We too are called to take our part in fulfilling Jesus’ Great Commission. As we look forward to the celebration of Pentecost, perhaps it is a good time for us to think about our place in the mission of the Church, and what will give us strength to be part of it. As the Bishop of Huntingdon said recently,
There is much talk of mission in the church at the moment – rightly so, in my view, in a country in which a very large number of people have no contact whatsoever with the Church. But we need to be clear that it is not that the church of God has a mission to the world but, rather, it is the God of mission who has a church in the world.
Mission belongs to God, but he graciously invites us to take part, each according to our own gifts. This May, we are reminded that the good news that we seek to share is the good news of the Resurrection and the new life that God has promised us in Jesus Christ. As we take our cue from the Great Commission that Jesus gave to his disciples before he left them to ascend to his Father, we take our strength and inspiration from the gift of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.
This month also gives us Vocations Sunday (May 2nd). This is a chance to reflect on what God is calling us to be and to do as our part in his mission in the world – everyone has a different vocation, or ‘calling’. As St Paul says, ‘Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? Do all have gifts of healing?’ Vocation can be about realizing that you are called to a particular task in the Church – perhaps you are called to be a Reader, or to be ordained; perhaps you are drawn towards the visiting team, or to serve on the PCC, or to any of the other roles within the Church. It may not be to a particular task, but to a way of living – Marriage, bringing up a family, and singleness are all vocations too. But vocation is bigger than that: it is about realising our full potential. God has a calling for each of us, and by discovering what it is, we can flourish, bear fruit, and start to become who we really are.
Not all are called to be preachers and teachers, we don’t all have skills in administration or expertise in caring for our Church buildings, and we are not all gifted in pastoral visiting. But we do all have something to offer. That’s why the mission of God’s church – both worldwide and in this parish – is something that we do together, each contributing our own spiritual gifts as we seek to live out the commission that God has given us. Through discovering the gifts that God has given each of us, we both contribute towards God’s mission in the world, and we begin to flourish and bear fruit, growing into the people God is calling us to be.
Yours in Christ,
Ally Barrett
Dear Friends,
After leading an Assembly recently at the Community School, a young boy – probably no older than six – came up to me and asked where I kept God. I could tell from the serious expression on his face that for him this was no idle enquiry but before I could begin to answer, there was a supplementary question “Do you keep him locked up in church?”
Firstly I should explain that I have found increasingly that as I am out and about, children that I have met in one of our schools, ask me questions they have clearly been pondering on or impart items of information which they feel it is essential I should know.
One such discussion took place recently as I travelled on a train to London much to the amusement and delight of my fellow passengers, who clearly found a discussion on favourite Teddy Bears (visual aids as a recent assembly) a far greater source of entertainment than the alternative of having to listen to other people’s incessant conversations on mobile phones.
Reverting to the young boy – he went on to tell me that he needed to speak to God about his mum and dad. We chatted and during the course of our talk I explained that God is to be found everywhere if we just look and listen.
Following this conversation I reflected upon the concept that we keep God locked up in our church. I recalled that when I was accepted for training for the Ordained Ministry I had an expectation that for me in future I could look forward to most of my opportunities to encounter God taking place in Church. How wrong this was to prove to be. Naturally Holy Communion offers the opportunity to meet the living Christ and our worship gives an opportunity to give thanks for all God’s gifts to us. I also value those opportunities to sit alone quietly in church following the example of the Desert Fathers (and the all too often overlooked Desert Mothers) in seeking to find that quiet place deep inside ourselves which enables us to be at peace with ourselves and feel close to God.
Contrary to what I imagined, I have discovered Christ so often in people I have met and in places I would never have previously dreamt of looking.
It can be all too easy in our hectic lives to allot God a slot on Sunday morning and perhaps a few minutes each day when we speak to him in prayer. If those of us who make up the Christian Community are not sending out a message that God is so great we encounter him every minute of the day in all we see and do, it is perhaps not surprising that we are in danger of giving the impression that God is just for Sundays and Holy Days.
Lent and Holy week provide a really good opportunity as we stand at the foot of the cross and experience the love which enabled Christ to die for us, to re-assess our lives and to reflect on whether unintentionally we have allowed ourselves to slip into locking God up in our church building.
May you have a truly Holy and Blessed Easter.
Brian Atling
Something to look forward to…
February is one of those months in which winter sometimes seems to drag on for ever. It can often seem, now all the excitement of Christmas is over, that for those of us who don’t really ‘look forward’ to Lent, there isn’t much to look forward to at all!
But this month we have something wonderful to celebrate. It is a great joy and privilege that we will be hosting a confirmation service at which several members of our congregation and also a number of people from other churches in our Deanery will be confirmed by the Bishop of Huntingdon. Several of the candidates will also be baptised at the same service.
You are all very welcome - and encouraged - to attend the confirmation service, which takes place at 6.30pm on 8th February. The candidates will appreciate your support, your presence, and your prayers, as they take this important step in their journey of faith.
The promises made in baptism and confirmation are demanding ones, and God knows that we have no hope of keeping them just in our own strength. But the good news is that God does not leave us on our own; at baptism and confirmation, God pours out his Holy Spirit upon us, to strengthen us in his service, and to inspire us to become the people he means us to be. The Holy Spirit is God’s way of remaining fully part of our lives, and enabling us to grow in relationship with him day by day.
And because baptism and confirmation are also about membership of the Church family, they are a means for God to bestow his grace on the whole worshipping community, and that is surely something for us all to celebrate.
All of the confirmation candidates from our own parish have come through one of our groups – either through the Youth Group, or through one of the Enquirers’ Groups. Small groups are an excellent forum for sharing our experiences of God, for learning more about our faith, for asking the questions we don’t dare ask in front of everyone else, and for enjoying fellowship and building friendships. There will be a new Enquirers’ Group starting up after Easter, again using some of the material from the acclaimed ‘Alpha’ course. If you would be interested in joining that group, or if you would like to know more, please speak to one of the clergy team.
This baptism and confirmation service is not just for those who are being confirmed this month. It is a great opportunity for each of us to reflect on our own life of discipleship. Whether or not you’ve been confirmed, or no matter how long ago or how recent your confirmation was, this service is a chance to revisit your commitment to God. It’s a chance for all of us to take stock, to re-affirm our faith, and to listen attentively to any new directions in which God might be calling us. If you are already confirmed, but would like to be part of one of the small groups, you might like to consider joining one of the Emmaus Groups – again, please contact one of the clergy if you would like to know more.
We pray that God will richly bless all those to be confirmed. And may we all take this opportunity to revisit our own commitment to that journey, and to pray, in the words of the confirmation collect, ‘that God will stir up in us the gifts of his Holy Spirit and make us worthy of our calling, that we may bring forth the fruit of the Spirit in love and joy and peace.’
Yours in Christ,
Ally Barrett
Dear friends
Probably by the time you settle down to read this, the wonderful and mysterious Festival of Christmas will have been celebrated, the Christmas decorations packed away and Christmas tree dismantled, boxed and returned to the loft or taken to be recycled – depending on whether you favour the needle–free or the ‘real’ variety.
What I hope will not have been stored away or forgotten until next Christmas, is the ‘real spirit’ of Christmas: the giving with a generous heart, the warm welcome given to friends, neighbours, family and the stranger alike. It is my hope and prayer that all who read this will have taken the opportunity of this wonderful season to open their hearts to allow Christ to be born again in them, so that the Christ mas message of hope and peace lives in each one of us – not just for a few days at this time but throughout the New Year.
So, here we are at the beginning of a New Year and what was it that the essayist Charles Lamb said:
‘Every first of January that we arrive at is an imaginary milestone on the track of human life – at once a testing place for thought and meditation, and a starting point for fresh exertion in the performance of our journey.’
Although he wrote this about two hundred years ago, it seems to me to be such an appropriate description of where we are in the life of St Mary’s. Godmanchester.
Looking back at our journey together through2003, we appear to have been greatly blessed. Of course one of the highlights which all those involved will remember for many years to come, was the recording and broadcast of Songs of Praise. I am sure it is the same for my colleagues and many of you – the feedback has been tremendous, not only from within the town, but nationally.
On the people front, we have said goodbye to some very good friends of St Mary’s. Some have moved away and some sadly have died. We shall of course miss them and always be grateful for what they have contributed to the family life of our Church.
Much has been happening on the wider staff team. Linda Watson has completed her Bishop’s Certificate and embarked on Bereavement Training. Pat Saunders, after her attachment to Hemingford Grey for several months, is nearing the end of her training as a Reader and we all look forward to her Licensing by the Bishop in April. We all pray that God will continue to bless her ministry among us.
Our services have been enhanced by the contributions of the Ordinands and Reader in Training who have been attached to us – David Wakefield, Liz Pinnock and more recently Michael Ward.
This year will certainly be an important one for them all as it should see both David and Michael ordained as Deacons and Liz licensed as a Reader.
I doubt anyone is not aware that in the summer we were joined by Ally Barrett as an Assistant Curate. Her wealth of talent – not only musically but pastorally – has greatly enriched our life in the parish. Her wood with our young people, the community at Woodley Court and the group who meet in her home on Tuesday mornings twice monthly for Bible study and fellowship, has meant we have been able to grow and develop in new and different areas.
Peter, our Vicar, contributes boundless energy, working days which are far too long, real support to his colleagues and the wider team who administer our Church. He also of course contributes his own personal musical and liturgical skills. When you add to this the contributions made by our ‘retired’ ? priests – Jerry Craddock and John Morgan – we must consider ourselves to be truly blessed.
Reflecting upon the growth and progress during 2003, it is difficult not to come to a diagnosis of a healthy Church life. We have seen our Youth Group re–commence and an expansion in the number of people of all ages contributing to our music for worship. We also have a new and exciting service once a month which we have called GRASSROOTS. The numbers seeking to learn more about our faith through the variety of study groups we now run have seen a significant increase with a wide age range of candidates looking to be confirmed when the Bishop visits on 8 February.
We have strengthened and developed out links with our Baptist, Quaker and Salvation Army neighbours, coming together for joint worship and working together on events such as the Holiday Club and Gala Weekend. More recently, as many of you will be aware, we have been giving thought and planning as to how the Anglican parishes south of the river Ouse can share resources – physical and human – and develop a close working relationship. We have begun a programme of pulpit exchanges and intend to widen the initiative to include more events involving lay as well as clergy, particularly where one of the participants has a proven strength, e.g. Hemingford Grey in the area of Youth Work.
Sadly the health of our church building has not been so encouraging. After treating much of our roof structure to eradicate beetle infestation, just as we were feeling confident that the worst was over, we discovered a problem with the bell ringing chamber floor, which ha silenced our bells for several months. The problem has now been diagnosed and, although the cost will be many thousands of pounds, nevertheless it looks as if it will still be significantly lower than our initial estimate. That said, we still need to find the money to finance the project, although we are hopeful that, supported by loans, we can shortly commence the work.
Now would seem to be a timely point to return to what Lamb had to say. It is right and proper that we reflect on what has happened and the stage we have reached. However, there is no scope for complacency; we need to see the beginning of this New Year ‘as a starting place for fresh exertion’.
A small group has been meeting to develop ’a vision’ and identify what additional resources we need to develop and acquire, to make this ‘vision’ a reality. Some of the findings have already been considered by the Parochial Church Council; others have yet to be outlined. Whatever we decide to do, it must be the result of developing a shared vision and one that ensures we are positioned to deepen our faith, to develop the Christian community here in Godmanchester and to continue to ensure that our Church stands as a welcome beacon to all who live, work or have cause to visit our town.
The year 2004 promises to be an exciting and challenging one. I wish you all every blessing.
Yours in Christ,
Brian Atling