Following the retirement of our Team Rector, I find myself readjusting to leading church services, starting with the Remembrance Sunday service at St Bartholomew's Church today. This was a well attended service as usual, with plenty of military uniforms in sight, and Padre Andrew Cooper preached an impressive sermon. It was moving to see the number of wreaths laid at the war memorial by various local groups.
One of my daily readings this morning (from Celtic Daily Prayer) coincidentally spoke of the "worst curse" in some cultures of not being remembered, of having one's name struck out. This reinforced for me the importance of just the act of remembering, whatever else may take place.
On the other hand I'm interested in the construction of the word remember. Member. I think of this as a word for parts of the body. Re-member. Remembering must have something to do with putting things back together. What action flows from our acts of remembering? I'm reminded that in the Old Testament when God "remembers" this is not a reference to some thoughts He has, but a reference to action that He takes.
Roger Clifton, Team Rector for Corsham and neighbouring parishes, held his last services in St Bartholomew's Church today.
The church was full for the main service at 10:00 this morning. The uplifiting worship for the festival of All Saints, with an excellent choice of music and hymns and a great sermon by Roger, was followed by refreshments and speeches in the Town Hall.
A moving morning. We wish him well, and shall miss him.
Three years ago, following growing and enjoyable participation with Bristol Anglican Cursillo, the Bishop of Bristol appointed me as the clergy rep to be part of the leadership team (so a trustee and Spiritual Director) of this growing Christian community.
I've decided to step down from this role, but hope to continue to be actively involved in this valuable ministry. I value the ongoing fellowship and support, and the way people are encouraged to look at their life with God through the three lenses of piety (that is prayer, or devotion), study, and action.
Apart from our regular renewal events (Three Day Weekends) the life of the community centres around regular small group meetings. I was pleased tonight that we held the first meeting of a new group, after rearranging the groups to include the record number of people who joined at our weekend earlier this year.
Logos Hope is the latest ship in Operation Mobilisation'sfleet. Renamed and commissioned at the end of last year, she replaces their ship Logos. A former car ferry from Scandinavia, she is the first of their ships to be refitted for purpose rather than used "as is."
I spent a few hours in London seeing her, having an on-board tour, and viewing the extraordinary vast bookshop on board. Along with her sister ship Doulos she tours the world seeking to bring something of the Christian message through word and action at every port. Her schedule is such that it may be another ten or twenty years before she visits the UK again, and it is a strange sight to see her moored alongside modern office buildings in Canary Wharf.
She is crewed entirely by volunteers. The refit has been good: although the ship still feels like a car ferry in places, she is far more comfortable and homely.
Last night was interesting, as it turned out to be my first experience of the fast-growing city churches founded by Australian Phil Pringle.
I attended an event in Bath that a friend and colleague had invited me to. It was a rare opportunity to listen to founder pastor Phil, and people had gathered from the UK and Europe and people who felt called to found new churches were commissioned during the worship.
I was impressed that the style of the service worked in attracting young people, and that Phil had a real vision for reaching Europe with the gospel in a way that works for the changing balance of people groups in the continent.
Easter is a time when it is easier to be cheerful, with the arrival of primroses, daffodils, and other spring flowers and sunnier weather (in the northern hemisphere anyway).
There is also the message of the church of the gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ, which I enjoyed hearing afresh this morning.
"Eternal life" is a phrase that we can underestimate, because arguably we cannot understand it anyway. It conveys the meaning of life outside of, unconstrained by, time - not just an everlasting life that goes on forever. If God created, then he also created time, and somehow exists outside it as well as within it - being both the beginning and the end (as the Bible puts it) but more than that. So the gift of eternal life is the invitation to be with him in this way.
Julian of Norwich is famously quoted as saying that "All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of things shall be well." This leads to a Christian hope that even if things do not seem well now, it will be O.K. This was one of her "revelations." However if our life is eternal, then what is a future hope can also be recognised as (present) reality.
So (as Christian writers such as Anthony de Mello put it) not just "all shall be well," but "all is well", and we are able to discover this. Such a fresh way of seeing life and experiencing life must be good news, whatever situation we are in.
Here are the related quotes from the Bible. God has given us eternal life... (1 John 5:11) Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. (John 17:3)
It is with some sadness that I record that our Team Rector's wife Janet died yesterday morning after being ill for some while. She was gently competent and always keenly interested in people and will be greatly missed.
I find myself leading more worship services in church, to provide cover, and it is a privilege to do so.
Does God appear when you want Him to or, to put it another way, how do you authentically celebrate the Epiphany?
In our local churches we celebrated the feast of the Epiphany today (6th January). This festival celebrates the appearance of God, or his "shining forth," or his glory. In the western church the event usually associated is the visit of the Magi to the baby Jesus bringing gifts.
On this Sunday so soon after Christmas it often seems to be a challenge for those constructing worship and choosing hymns to know whether to retain the feel of Christmas or to try to do something different. Most of the hymns seemed to conjure up an image of trudging slowly through snow, and the sermon sought to encourage us to set New Year's Resolutions to do with being more environmentally responsible (too late, I'd done mine, but I do hope that they are responsible). So the set of compromises used this time round didn't seem to lift me to a sense of the presence of God's glory... until we got to the middle of the service.
At the customary handshake called "The Peace" everybody seemed to come alive and it struck me that (as well as everything else it means) the image of the baby Jesus speaks of the presence of the glory of God in each one of us - people - how special we are!
This morning I joined St Peter's Church, Chippenham, for their morning family service. There were three baptisms taking place, two of those being a mother and her son. I enjoyed the lively worship in a different church, and I enjoyed their competent band too.
I went along to give feedback to a friend who was giving a talk in church only for the second time. She did very well, with a bold start for Advent: when called on by the minister to give her talk she cried out "I'm not ready!"
I've enjoyed the last weekend helping to run a Cursillo Weekend locally - leadership development for Christians. Lots of participants, and we had lots of laughter as well as the joy of seeing people grow in their relationship with God.
I spent today in these gorgeous surroundings enjoying a day of quiet. I have been doing a lot of networking lately, so amongst other things, it was an opportunity to reflect on what I have been Discovering.
I was impressed by John Wraw, Archdeacon of Salisbury, who led the short afternoon meditation. Although a senior leader in the church he came across very much as a pastor. Sometimes who we are says more than the words we speak.
In the church we tend not to ask the question: "Does it work?" Perhaps this is because we imagine that then we should need to have measurable goals: opposed to a preference just to enjoy one another's company, or to do the things that we have always done.
So I was surprised when I read this morning's Bible reading (for the festival of St Mark, from Ephesians ch4 vv7-16 - Revised Standard Version).
The author compares the church to a human body, and writes that "when each part is working properly" the church will build itself up in love. The idea, from earlier in the passage, is that God has placed his gifts, or grace, inside us so that we may do this useful work of building up God's people. So hand in hand Christians need to expect to make a difference, and trust that God has given the ability to do so.
