The Parish of Kidmore End & Sonning Common the Lamb and Flag St
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
JUNE 2020 The Parish of Kidmore End & Sonning Common The Lamb and Flag The parish magazine of St John the Baptist Church, Kidmore End and Christ the King Church, Sonning Common 50p CONTACTING THE CLERGY OR CHURCH OFFICERS Rector Revd James Stickings Telephone 0118 972 1459 Email [email protected]. James will normally take Monday as a ‘day off’ so if you need advice or support that day, please leave a message, or contact one of the churchwardens. Associate Priest Revd Sheila Walker Telephone 0118 972 4861 Email [email protected] Churchwardens Robert Lynch Telephone 0118 972 4699 Email [email protected] Karen Broadbent Telephone 0118 972 4606 Email [email protected] Musical Director – St. John’s Frances Brewitt-Taylor Telephone 0118 948 2743 Email [email protected] PCC Treasurer Nick Room Telephone 0118 972 2258 Email [email protected] PCC Secretary Jenny MacGregor Telephone 0118 947 2855 Email [email protected] Parish website: https://www.achurchnearyou.com/church/166/ FROM THE RECTORY Dear Friends There are several possible ways of describing what’s going on at the moment. A scientific term is “[global] pandemic”. But other phrases are in use, such as “unprecedented situation”; “difficult/strange/extraordinary times”; “current crisis”. Each of these is true to an extent. And yet, somehow, they don’t fully describe things. Yes, what we’re living through is unprecedented – but isn’t that true of every single moment, in that it’s unique and has not happened before? Sure, times are difficult and strange, but does that really capture the essence of current events? Admittedly, it is a crisis – but we’ve got used to those (political, environmental, social, educational, health, religious – take your pick). There comes a point when language fails us. As the expression has it, we are “lost for words”. Our collective concern and anxiety at the suffering caused by the virus and its wider impact on our nation, and the world, can’t be summed up adequately in a single term or phrase. The Bible, despite being full of words – unsurprisingly for a whole library of books – offers us an insight into the way that words in the end fall short. St Paul in Romans talks about every mouth being stopped when confronted with the righteousness of God. And in the Old Testament we hear of the prophet Elijah encountering the Lord in a “still small voice” – another translation being, a “sound of sheer silence”. Much later, the sixteenth century writer St John of the Cross talked paradoxically of silence being God’s “first language”. Recently I have been thinking a lot about the vocation of the Church in this present moment. Clearly, we are called to pray. But that needn’t be with words. We can let go of trying to define and describe, and just “be” in the presence of God, in silence and stillness. Try it – it requires no special aptitude, equipment, or training. All it needs is a willingness to seek God, who is beyond all words and phrases. In these “difficult times”, it may be just what is needed. God bless James 1 DAILY HOPE – 0800 804 8044 The Church of England has launched a free telephone service which offers listeners hymns, reflections and prayers. The service recognises that there are many online services and prayer groups whilst public worship remains suspended there are many unable to access this provision. The Office for National Statistics believes that there are at least 2.5 million elderly people who have never accessed the internet. Moreover, many people suffer from loneliness during social distancing and self-isolation measures. In the first 48 hours of the service there were over 6000 callers and this should gather momentum as awareness of this service is made known more widely. The Archbishop of Canterbury speaking at the launch of this service said, “With many in our country on lockdown, it’s important that we support those who are feeling lonely and isolated, whatever age they are. The Daily Hope service will allow people to hear hymns, prayers and words that offer comfort and hope, especially in this Easter season. I want to urge people to spread the news about this service. If there is someone you know who is particularly struggling, give them a call and let them know about the Daily Hope. I’m going to phone a friend; will you join me?” Callers to the telephone service hear a greeting from the Archbishop and can then select several options to hear the resources which include the weekly national online service, hymns and prayers as well as Coronavirus advice. Those with online access can find the national weekly service on the Church of England website - https://www.churchofengland.org/more/media-centre/church- online. It is streamed at 9am. CHOIR MAKES HYMNS AVAILABLE EACH WEEK FOR DIGITAL SERVICES Clergy and other users of the A Church Near You website can now download a selection of hymns for use with digital services. The pieces are being made available by 10 Choral Scholars of St Martin’s-in-the-Fields. The Royal School of Church Music (RSCM) is supporting the venture with assistance over the choice of hymns. A prerequisite for churches who use these works is a ‘streaming addition’ to their Christian Copyright Licensing International (CCLI) licence. 2 Hugh Morris of RSCM said, “We are delighted to be able to resource this project, supporting the church through these challenging times. We know that our Sunday by Sunday planning resource is used by thousands of churches to shape and select the music and hymns used in services across the country each week, and it is good to nourish that sense of shared approach even in our current dispersal. Music is such an important way of enriching and developing worship, and this contribution will surely help to sustain all those who look forward to experiencing live music and worship in church again in the future.” THE BIGGEST SCHOOL ASSEMBLY ADDRESSED BY THE ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY On 30 April the Archbishop gave a short address to what is believed to be the biggest ever school assembly. His audience was the Oak National Academy, a free online school set up to support youngsters studying at home. Lessons were accessed by two million viewers during its first week. The Archbishop’s theme was hope. "Hope means the certain expectation of something you don't have yet, but you will have in the future because it's been promised by God," said the archbishop. "Hope is hope of life, hope of purpose, hope of peace, hope of justice, equality and a good future," he said, talking from his kitchen, as he did when he delivered his sermon on Easter Sunday. This was echoed by two of the pupils who introduced the archbishop, Eternity Carter and Marvellous Matthew-Okoromi. "Hope is something that's in my heart to let me have strength," said Eternity from Sneinton primary school in Nottingham. So what examples do you use in a modern assembly, to an audience of many faiths and none? There were not going to be any clunky sporting metaphors, nothing along the lines of "in a way Jesus is like a goalkeeper". Instead there was a big visual clue in the book standing beside him on the kitchen table, Nelson Mandela's autobiography, Long Walk to Freedom. "May your choices reflect your hopes not your fears," said Archbishop Welby, quoting the former South African president and drawing on his perseverance through long years of imprisonment. 3 50TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION AT SONNING COMMON HEALTH CENTRE Unsurprisingly we are sadly postponing this special event on the 28 June. We hope it may be possible to rearrange this for Sunday 13 September when we will hopefully be able to celebrate the end of social isolation as well as 50th Anniversary. If that is not possible we will organise a double celebration in June/July 2021 to celebrate the end of COVID too. Please save the date for September; we will give more information when the situation with Covid-19 becomes clear. Take care, stay well from the SCHC team. TWO NEW SUFFRAGAN BISHOPS IN THE DIOCESE OF CHICHESTER On 29 April the Bishop of Chichester was pleased to announce that Downing Street had approved the nominations of the next bishops of Horsham and Lewes. Taking on the Horsham area is the Revd Ruth Bushyager. Ruth is a married with two children and she is currently vicar of St Paul’s, Dorking and Area Dean, Dorking. Ruth was ordained in 2006 and after serving in the Southwell and Oxford dioceses, she became Area Missioner in Kensington, London. Her incumbency in Dorking started in 2014. The Lewes area will be headed by the Revd William Hazlewood, currently the incumbent of the Dartmouth and Dittisham benefice in Devon. He has been a priest since 2002. He served his curacy in Bristol before moving to Iver Heath near Slough. In 2011 he took on his current benefice and in 2017 was made a Prebendary of Exeter Cathedral. He is married with two children. BARNABAS – ST PAUL’S FIRST MISSIONARY COMPANION – 11 JUNE Would you have liked to go to Cyprus on holiday this year? If so, spare a thought for the Cypriot who played such a key role in the New Testament. He was Joseph, a Jewish Cypriot and a Levite, who is first mentioned in Acts 4:36, when the Early Church was sharing a communal lifestyle. Joseph sold a field and gave the money to the apostles. His support so touched them that they gave him the nickname of Barnabas, ‘Son of Encouragement’.