Parish News Holy Cross Group of Churches
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Parish News Holy Cross Group Of Churches Febr uary uary 20 20 Price: THE CHURCHES OF HOLY TRINITY, ST MARK’S AND ST LEONARD’S 50p SERVING THE COMMUNITIES OF BELBROUGHTON, FAIRFIELD AND CLENT We are an independent, family run firm of Funeral Directors under the personal attention of Stephen, Sue, William & Lucy Downing Based in Hagley, opposite the Free Church, we offer a complete funeral service. Facilities include a private Chapel of Rest, help with flowers or printing, Horse Drawn Hearse and Pre Paid Funeral plans through our association with Golden Charter. Home visits are also available on request. Tel: 01562 888041 24hr Service The Parish News February 2020 Letter from Canon Sue For me there’s always something hopeful about February. For a start, it’s the shortest month. So, by the time we’ve gotten to the end of the month, the year is well and truly up and running ……. And the days are getting noticeably a little bit longer….. the year is lightening up! Snowdrops, crocuses, catkins and pussy willows all start appearing. The garden and the lanes are waking up again. In the Church there is festival coming up ….and as the year develops, a Holy Cross pilgrimage….. This is the Feast of Candlemas on February 2nd. This celebration marks the formal end of the Nativity season, the end of Christmas and Epiphany. We have to take away all the Christmas tree and the crib. But not before lighting every candle we can find in the churches and making a great slash of light, symbolizing the light that Jesus Christ is in the world. Candlemas also commemorates the presentation of the infant Jesus in the Jerusalem Temple as was the custom in those days. When I conduct Baptisms, also known as Christenings then the parents will be giving thanks for their children in the same way as Jesus’ earthly parents, Mary and Joseph were doing. Of course not all parents do choose to baptize their children, in the same way as not all people connect with God in Church. And there is a long history of that. From early on in the history of Christianity of finding God while walking, with friends or alone, from and to sacred sites. Going on Pilgrimage, the formal name for walking with God, was discouraged from the time of the Reformation because the reformers knew it was a lot of fun and disapproved. It has taken a long time for our local churches in Worcester Diocese to grow out of all that solemnity, for which there is a time and place…… but Church should be fun too in the right way. And going on Pilgrimage is something I want to encourage and get going among these villages. There are a lot of lovely walks around the Churches of the Holy Cross Group. A group is now planning how to encourage on particular days and more generally, our churches to host tea and cakes for weary travellers between our churches, having laminated map routes, histories of all the churches in brief, giving an opportunity to encounter God in our beautiful countryside, with your dog if you want. To go on the Holy Cross Pilgrimage. You might just walk between two churches, or all eight or any other number. But all will be good fun when you join in. If you would like to be part of the planning group, please do get in touch with me. May this shortest of months also be a very good month for you and those you love Prayers and Blessings Canon Sue 1 M.A.J. 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For some of us it may be good to take up something new, like joining a Lent study group in our church, or committing to daily bible readings in one of the many excellent resources available. Others will want to fast from something for the entire season, or a day a week. This may be physical fasting from food, or alcohol or chocolate, or perhaps a lifestyle fast, cutting out social media or TV. The key thing is that all these disciplines serve to help us focus more on God, making some space in our lives to pray and listen to him. Perhaps we may simply want to do something we are already doing, but more intentionally and regularly, with more focus, giving a little more time and effort to it. Discipline is hard work! If our souls, bodies or minds are not stretched by our Lenten endeavours, we are probably not being disciplined enough. I am learning a great deal about physical discipline as I undertake training for running my first marathon at the end of April. The fact that so many lovely supporters are sponsoring me to raise funds for the Children’s Society means I have further incentive to keep going, but on a cold and wet day, getting my running shoes on is all about discipline, mind over matter, doing what I have committed to, however it feels. Sometimes it is inconvenient, sometimes it hurts, but I know that I have to keep going, or I will never complete the race before me. Often when I run, God reveals to me how spiritual disciplines can be similar to physical ones. Routine, habit, consistency are all the staples for health and fitness whether that is in our physical or spiritual life. I will be praying on my ever-longer runs, and using that space away from the phone and email to build my relationship with God, asking him to show me where I need better patterns in my spiritual disciplines to grow closer to him. My hope is that my new running regime won’t stop at the London Marathon finish line, and that (after a suitable rest!), I will maintain my new level of fitness. I hope and pray too that all of us who take up new spiritual disciplines for Lent will build healthy habits which stay with us and help us mature as followers of Jesus will beyond Holy Week. 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The national initiative involves church groups visiting their local school and bringing Bible stories to life in assemblies and acts of Collective Worship. Local adults and children who are involved often call it the highlight of their week. Three of our diocesan Mission Enablers provide support to the national and regional teams through training storytellers across the region. If your parish would like advice about setting up an Open the Book team, please get in touch with the Mission Enablers via the diocesan office. More information is also available on the Bible Society’s website: www.biblesociety.org.uk/get- involved/open-the-book/ CHURCH ACTION ON POVERTY SUNDAY Church Action on Poverty (CAP) Sunday takes place on the last Sunday before Lent, which this year is 23 February. CAP is asking churches to speak truth to power, especially when too many are struggling to make ends meet across the UK. CAP has a vision of a fairer world with a smaller gap between rich and poor and works to make that vision a reality, by empowering people in poverty to overcome the injustices they face, and equipping churches to work alongside them. Martin, a single parent from Halifax, like thousands of others, has been struggling on Universal Credit: “I just snack, I don’t eat proper meals. The children always come first and I just eat small bits here and there. If I’m in the house on my own all day, I’ll tend not to eat until 6 or 7 o’clock, if at all, and I know that I can keep food in the cupboard a bit longer, that’s another day of survival.