St Michael the Archangel Dundry Parish Magazine April 2017 CONTACT INFORMATION Rector Revd
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St Michael The Archangel Dundry Parish Magazine April 2017 CONTACT INFORMATION Rector Revd. Charles Roberts The Rectory, Tunbridge Close, Chew Magna, BS40 8SU 01275 332199 [email protected] the rector’s day off is normally wednesday Associate Priests Revd. Sandra Lovern (Thursday-Sunday) - 01275 332657 revd. lovern is the first point of contact for matters relating to dundry Revd. Sandy Munday - 01275 331060; [email protected] Readers Dr Pamela Harman - 01275 332893 Mrs Margaret Masding - 01275 835342 Parish Administrator Pam Foley (Thursday and Friday) - 01275 331061 Churchwardens Jane Lyons - 0117 964 1338 James Le Grys - 0117 964 5730 Magazine Submissions and Advertising [email protected] WEB PAGES Lakeside Group - www.lakesidegroup.org.uk Village - www.dundry.org.uk THE SACRED HEART ROMAN CATHOLIC PARISH OF THE CHEW VALLEY Priest: Father Michael Healy - 01275 792627 [email protected] Deacon: Rev. Mark Forge - 01275 472 391 [email protected] www.sacredheartchew.info SUNDAY MASS 9.00 AM Please look on notice board outside church for other times or any alterations Rector’s Letter My dear friends, Recently I attended a local Deanery gathering called by our bishops to hear more about the Diocesan Mission strategy ‘Shaping the Future’. It was an interesting afternoon of shared conversations about how we might grow in confidence to share our Jesus story. Bishop Peter told us of a comment made by the Archbishop of York at a recent Synod. “In Yorkshire the biggest topic of conversation is the weather. Where I come from (Uganda) there is no weather! If we spoke as much about Jesus as we do about the weather the whole county would be converted! Jesus is more important than the weather!” While it raised a few laughs, one has to admit he has a point. If Jesus is more important to us than the weather, then why do we not talk about Him more? This month gives us the best opportunity to expound our faith as we prepare to celebrate Easter on the 16th. Easter is what makes us who we are as Christians. Easter shows us a scene that for the first witnesses must have been one of those heart-stopping moments, a double-take, where time stands still and they have to decide – can they dare to believe? A vast stone rolled away, an empty tomb, and an encounter with the Risen Lord. Of course Jesus had told his friends this would happen, but inevitably when someone tells you a plan that is so opposed to your own thinking, you only hear half the story. And that half was probably the Good Friday bit, the bit when they thought all their dreams had collapsed and all hope had gone. But Jesus had promised a comeback, and come back he most certainly does. And the miracle of the resurrection is that Jesus comes back to us every day, every time we call on his name. Each time we invite him into our lives he is there, our companion and friend assuring us of the love of God in the hope of the resurrection life. That is the Jesus story, the Christian story, the story that sustains and encourages everyone who claims the Christian faith as their own. And the two great things about this are that Jesus is far more consistent than the weather, and he is so much more important! A very happy and blessed Easter to you all. A Word of Welcome We are delighted to welcome Revd. Sandy Munday, and her husband Chris, to the Lakeside Group. Sandy and Chris have moved into the church house at Home Orchard in Chew Stoke, and Sandy will serve as an Associate Priest to the Group with a shared responsibility for Chew Stoke and Nempnett Thrubwell. I and the Staff Team are really looking forward to working with Sandy as we share in this ministry together. While Sandy will be the first port of call for the benefice, nevertheless she will also be working half time in a secular job and that time will need to be respected. I remain your Rector with the support and ministry of Revd. Sandra, Margaret, Frank and Pam, and we will continue to offer that shared ministry across the Group, as we have done during the vacancy. Do please make Sandy and Chris feel welcome – and pray for their ministry among us. Charles Roberts Letter from Bishop Peter I was on the London Underground recently and saw an advert: ‘Personal Beauty Delivered to you at your Home’. It was advertising beauty products. It made me think however what it would be like if beauty could be ordered on the internet and delivered to the front door. Could a package that came through our letterbox really transform us? For beauty is of course much more than how we look on the outside. Beauty is a thing of the heart. True beauty comes from within. Indeed everything in God’s creation is beautiful. As Confucius said: ‘Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it.’ And the Psalmist declared that everyone is beautiful, for we are all ‘fearfully and wonderfully made’. We are all made in the image of God himself and God is the source of all beauty. So as we finish our journey through Lent we need to remember that giving up alcohol, biscuits or chocolate alone won’t make us beautiful. And as we come to Easter and the shops are filled with chicks and eggs and Easter bunnies we need to remember that it is not ultimately what we do, how we look, or what we have that makes us beautiful. Beauty, true beauty, comes through the cross and the resurrection. Our lives are changed not by what we stop eating, or what creams we might put on our faces. It is the Holy Spirit who truly transforms our lives, so that we become the people God is calling us to become. When Jesus spoke to the woman at the well he said that the water he gives is like a spring of water welling up to eternal life. Her response was to say to Jesus ‘Give me this water’. May that be our prayer too: ‘Lord, give us the water of life, that we might become more like Jesus.’ Rt Rev Peter Hancock Bishop of Bath and Wells Dundry Church Services Starting on 2nd April Dundry Church Services will be held in Dundry Baptist Chapel due to the continued closure of the church. The service times are as follows each month: 1st Sunday of the month - 9.30am - Service of the Word 3rd Sunday of the month - 9.30am - Holy Communion (Except on Easter Sunday morning 16th April when the service will begin at 9.15am) 4th Sunday of the month -11am - Joint Service We look forward to seeing you and take this opportunity to thank the Royal British Legion for their support during the last 2 years. Holy Week and Easter in the Lakeside Group Monday 10th April 7.00pm Taize Service at Chew Stoke Thursday 13th April 7.00pm ‘Last Supper’ Communion at Chew Magna and also at Chew Stoke Good Friday (14th) 9.15am Meditation at Norton Malreward 10.30am Walk of Witness at Chew Magna followed by a short outdoor service of readings and prayers 11.00am Meditation at Stanton Drew 12.00 Service at Chew Magna 2.00pm Meditation at Chew Stoke Easter Day (16th) 8.00am Holy Communion at Chew Magna 9.00am Holy Communion at Nempnett Thrubwell 9.15am Holy Communion at Norton Malreward 9.15am Holy Communion at Dundry 10.30am Parish Communion at Chew Magna 10.30am Family Worship at Chew Stoke 10.30am Parish Communion at Stanton Drew Barabbas Libation poured waits casting away of the vessel And this I know; that wine Without a vessel cannot be contained Nor a libation poured. Uncomprehendingly I gaze into the depth of me; I am the vessel – base metal only, Yet went from me a richness and a potency That I grew drunk on, and I’ll never know What fashioned me to do this service. Service I say? Freedom or service, they are the same I only know that this was done and work was wrought Through me, and through me brought to consummation. I pass from history – a vessel only, turned in relentless fingers, Yet with a halting certainty that cast away, My own gross surface will reflect The splendour of that Light, and I shall see. Joyce Williams Lent Courses DONATE TO Our Lent Course this year is entitled “Handing on the Torch” – Sacred words ST MICHAEL’S for a secular society. Dates, times and venues are as follows: Visit Session 5 – Handing on the Torch www.justgiving.com/ Tuesday 4th April stmpccd 2.30pm 15 Dairy Way, Chew Stoke 7.30pm Sacred Heart, Chew Magna or text Monday 10th April 7.30pm The Old School House, Norton DUND33 £5 to 70070 Malreward The Dundry APCM will be held on Thursday 30 March at 19:30 BARN DANCE In aid of the toilet extension at St Michael’s Church, Dundry on Saturday 3 June @ 7.30pm for 8pm start at Dundry Village Hall, Crabtree Lane, BS41 8LN Tickets £8 each incl. refreshments Available from Ann 07471 940021 Bar available Raffle Caller – Neville Higgins Dundry Baptist Church What a glorious time of year! The garden is blossoming with daffodils, crocuses and many more spring flowers. Walking through the local woods in Backwell I have noticed the green shoots of Bluebells beginning to show: Soon the wood will be a haze of blue! All from bulbs that have lay dormant since the end of springtime last year: It’s such an amazing miracle! It reminds me so much of the amazing miracle of Easter and new life that is found in Jesus through his death and resurrection over two thousand years ago.