Ministry Team Letters January – June 2005
This month we celebrate the feast of the Ascension, remembering the ascent of Jesus back into Heaven to be with his Father. I often think that for the disciples the ascension must have felt like a second bereavement; no sooner had they recovered from the emotional roller coaster of Jesus’ death and resurrection, than they also had to cope with his departure from their lives again, this time for good. It must have seemed to them that they would never find the strength and inspiration to continue his mission to the world and complete the work that he had started.
But history tells us that this couldn’t be further from the truth. Jesus’ departure heralded a new beginning for the disciples, and from its tentative beginnings, the young church suddenly burst into new life, and grew at an astounding rate. Jesus’ mission not only continued, but expanded beyond the confines of Judaism, and despite persecution, Christianity quickly spread throughout the known world.
How was this possible? The answer lies in the feast of Pentecost, or Whitsun (May 15th), on which we recall with thanksgiving the coming of the Holy Spirit, the advocate and comforter that Jesus had promised. The coming of the Holy Spirit brought about a miraculous gifting among the followers of Jesus. Common fishermen suddenly found that they could address large crowds with confidence and eloquence. Those who had run away in fear in the first Holy Week found a new courage and conviction that would inspire them in their mission, even if it meant suffering and death. Ordinary men and women were called out from the crowds to become ministers of the gospel: deacons and elders, missionaries and preachers.
The Holy Spirit has done the same for the church ever since, and will continue to inspire and strengthen us, if we will let him! The Holy Spirit is God’s way of being with us and acting through us, and so there is no limit to what God can accomplish here.
It so happens that Pentecost this year in Godmanchester will be a day of mixed feelings; we are celebrating one of the great feasts of the church, but we are also saying goodbye to Peter, vicar here since 2001. I won’t steal his thunder by writing too much here about his coming departure, but it’s certainly the case that the next few months will be a challenging time for all of us at St Mary’s. We will miss Peter immensely, with his energy, vision, and inspirational leadership.
But now is not a time to get stuck, or worse, to go backwards. Although we are losing our vicar, Pentecost this year is still an occasion to look forward and to seek out new opportunities for sharing the good news. For that we need the guidance, strength and inspiration of God’s Holy Spirit, so in these coming weeks and months, may the Holy Spirit fill this town and its churches and people – then anything is possible!
Yours in Christ,
Ally Barrett
Dear Friends
April is a time of new beginnings. The whole Easter season resonates with the promise of new life - brought home to us by the exciting signs of new growth in the natural world around us. For some it is a month of great joy as a new cricket season gets under way(!). But even church administrators can be heard to be talking about new beginnings! For April is (usually) the time of Annual Parochial Church Meetings. What, you might say - and with some reason - have Annual Meetings to do with new life? The answer is: quite a lot!
All Parish Churches are legally required to have an Annual Parochial Church Meeting (APCM). It's a means of letting everyone who has a share and interest in the life of their local church know what has gone on in the past year and begin to look forward to the next. But perhaps more significantly, it is the occasion when church members (that is, those on the Church Electoral Roll) have the opportunity to elect representatives to serve the Church as Churchwardens, and members of the Parochial Church Council (PCC) and Deanery Synod.
The Church of England (in contrast with some other churches in Britain) is a democratic organisation. In other words, churches make decisions not by taking a congregational vote but by electing representatives to take the decisions on behalf of everyone. The representatives' job is to listen to members of the congregation but to make decisions according to their own wisdom and conscience (in the same way that MPs do for their constituents). The added ingredient is of course that in making decisions, PCC members seek God's guidance through the working of his Holy Spirit. The responsibility of a PCC is to lead a church forward and manage its affairs in line with God's will and the values of his kingdom.
This year in Godmanchester, we are seeking candidates to fill 4 places on the PCC (to replace those standing down after their term of service) and 3 places on the Deanery Synod (the group that deals with issues across a group of local parishes). Everyone needs to be involved in this process. First, we are looking for people to stand for election. If you think that this might be you, please pray about it, find someone to propose and second you and fill out a form (available from Peter Hartwell, Trevor Weedon or Penny Jones). But even if you are not wishing to stand, everyone on the Electoral Roll has the right to vote. Please use your vote and give prayerful consideration as to where to cast them. It's vital that the elected PCC is representative of the whole congregation - so we need a good mix of younger people and older people, people who have worshipped here for a long time and relative newcomers, men and women. The year ahead will have many challenges - of that we can be certain - but God has a habit of turning challenges unto opportunities for those who seek his way.
Please stand for election, please use your vote and please come to the meeting. It is on Sunday 24 April. After the 9.45 service we shall take a parish photograph in the Vicarage garden (the first for 4 years!), then return to church for coffee and the meeting, beginning at around 11.30. Child care will be provided in the Church hall during the meeting.
I look forward to a positive gathering as we enter a new phase in the life of our parish.
Yours in Christ,
Peter Moger
Dear Friends
Easter is early this year – almost as early as it can be. As the days get longer (and, dare I say it, warmer and sunnier), and the crocuses and daffodils begin to venture above the earth, there is no shortage of signs that spring is on the way. I shall be looking forward to my favourite day of the year – the first day on which it’s warm enough to wear short sleeves outdoors, and feel the breeze and the sun-warmth on arms that have spent all winter in woolly jumpers.
Last spring was our first in Godmanchester, and I particularly enjoyed discovering what wonderful treats were in store for us in the garden. It was at Easter time last year that one of the flower beds suddenly erupted in an explosion of red and yellow tulips, their waxy petals almost glowing with an intensity of colour that could never be produced artificially. What a miracle it is that something so alive and so beautiful can grow from dry and lifeless-looking bulbs.
This month the Church celebrates once again the greatest ever miracle of life over death. On that first Good Friday all seemed lost: Jesus had died hanging on a cross, his friends and disciples had run away in fear, and the very sky turned dark. But three days later the tomb where Jesus had been laid was empty, and he appeared to his disciples again, not as a ghost, but as a living, breathing person. In Jesus, God had shown that he is willing to be alongside us even in the very worst of human suffering, and that he is stronger even than death itself.
Each year at this time the Church recalls Jesus Christ’s journey through suffering and death to his triumphant resurrection from the dead. If you are able, why not join us for some of our Holy Week services? • On Monday 21st, Tuesday 22nd and Wednesday 23rd there is a quiet evening service at 8.30pm; • on Thursday 24th we recall the Last Supper at our Maundy Thursday service; • come and follow the way of the cross on Good Friday, together with the other Godmanchester Churches in our united Walk of Witness; • hear again the story of the Passion on Good Friday afternoon; • then on Easter Sunday join in the celebrations of Jesus’ resurrection – there are services at 5.30am (followed by breakfast), 8am, 9.45am and 6.30pm on this most special day.
Easter is all about life, and the new life in Jesus Christ is a gift that God longs to give to all of us. As we look around us this springtime for all the signs of life, growth and blossoming, let us also ask God to take all that is stale, sad, or wintry in our own hearts and lives, and renew us by the resurrection of his Son.
Yours in Christ,
Ally Barrett
Dear Friends
Sitting down to the cold turkey on Boxing Day we were all hit with a shock that no one had expected. On our TV screens, amidst the usual adverts for half-price sofas came footage of the tsunami flattening homes and claiming lives. The disaster of the great wave - which the insurers like to call an 'act of God' - has stunned us all, and made us think again about place of faith within our world. Sceptics say that the disaster disproves the notion of a loving God and the most devout Christians have felt their faith under fire.
The Bible and Christian tradition cannot and must not give a glib answer. Our forebears had a realistic view of the potential dangers of the natural world. It is not for nothing that the Old Testament writers saw the sea as the abode of chaos and that the writer of Revelation says of the world to come that there will be 'no more sea.' A balanced faith has always taken seriously the fact that there is much that remains unexplained: that good people suffer and that suffering appears to be totally meaningless.
As Christmas fades into the background, and our memory of it is overlaid with those chilling images of destruction, we must not allow ourselves to forget the central point of Christmas: that God, in Jesus, took human flesh in order to be with all those for whom life has become hopeless and meaningless. This truth still stands today, as it has through centuries of disaster and suffering. Although we probably feel better about our faith when everything is going well, we do not believe in a 'fair weather God'. With this in mind, we have to get on with the business of being (both individually and as the Church) agents of God's healing in the world.
One of the priorities set by the PCC at its awayday in the Autumn was to move forward the ministry of healing within the parish. Much work is already done in this area - and the subject was given a raised profile last year with a series of sermons in Eastertide. This year we shall be taking healing as the theme of our Lent course, which we shall follow over 5 weeks. The course - from the Acorn Christian Foundation - renowned for a broad and commonsense approach to healing - will enable us to think about the nature of healing ministry and about practical issues that affect us as a local church.
We shall be holding a day-time meeting, on Fridays from 1.30-3.00 at 59 London Road, and an evening meeting, on Mondays from 8.00 at the Quaker Centre on Post Street. All are welcome.
Yours in Christ,
Peter Moger