February 2019
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
THE POCKLINGTON PARISH MAGAZINE WELCOME TO All SAINTS CHURCH, POCKLINGTON February 2019 £1 THE POCKLINGTON GROUP OF PARISHES The Combined Benefices of Pocklington Wold and Londesborough Wold Ministry Team Clergy Vicar-vacancy - with welcome assistance from the following retired clergy who have the Archbishop’s Permission to Officiate (PTO) Revd Shelagh Jones 01430 871612 Revd Les Slow 303888 Revd Tony Burdon 304290 Revd Pam Burdon 304290 Revd Canon Rodney Nicholson 01430 650271 Deacon Revd Bronnie Broadhurst 307479 Readers Mr Mike Bailey 01430 873318 Mr David Rumbelow 306056 Mr Brian Snelson 302206 Mrs Pam Dean 303278 Mrs Barbara Myerscough (in training) 303331 Mrs Annie Harrison (in training) 01377 288070 Recognised Parish Assistants W = Worship P= Pastoral Dr Brian James 01377 288148 W Mrs Joy Hadley 306655 W/P Mrs Annie Harrison 01377 288070 W Mrs Freda Bailey 01430 873318 W/P Mrs Lyn Stanton 302073 P Pastoral Team: Coordinator: Revd Bronnie Broadhurst tel 307479 Mrs Lyn Stanton, Mr David Rumbelow, Mrs Joy Hadley, Revd Canon Rodney Nicholson Revd Shelagh Jones, Mrs Pam Dean Parish Visitors: Pat Herbert, Sheila Waller, Annie Harrison, Louis Taylor, Frankie Taylor, Peter Brooke Group Safeguarding Representative: Revd Les Slow 303888 2 Pocklington Deanery Synod Representatives: Revd Bronnie Broadhurst Members of the Pocklington Parochial Church Council: Hilary Slow, Nigel Laws, David Brown, Ian Ryder, Julie Ryder, Sue Currier, Louis Taylor, John Douglas, Kath Gilbank, Lyn Stanton, Carol Taylor, Karen Hoop Pocklington Group of Churches Pastoral Team The Pastoral Team is available to visit the bereaved, those who are ill, the housebound, or anyone who would like someone to talk to .This is an important part of the Church’s ministry and mission but we can only visit those we know about. So if you, or anyone you know, would welcome a visit from a member of the church family, please contact us and we will arrange for a member of the Pastoral Team to visit. Church Wardens: St Giles, Burnby Mr C Soukup 306154 Mr J Hewitt 302622 St Ethelburga, Gt Givendale Mr J Goodhart 368817 Mrs M Stephens 01262 678153 St Martin, Hayton Mrs E Thackray 304317 St Mary, Huggate Mrs R Braithwaite 01377 288422 Mrs S Dale 01377 288233 All Saints, Londesborough Mrs J Fletcher 01430 873554 St Margaret, Millington Mrs S Sheard 304783 St James, Nunburnholme Dr A Henworth 302156 All Saints, Pocklington Mr N Laws 304307 Mrs H Slow 303888 All Saints, Shiptonthorpe Mr S Jones 01430 871612 Mrs F Bailey 01430 873318 3 Candlemas next week by Rodney Nicholson February starts with Candlemas – or the Presentation of Christ in the Temple – when we celebrate Jesus, the light of the world. Simeon in the temple called him “a light to reveal you to the Gentiles”. Here at All Saints, Pam and Tony Burdon with Bronnie Broadhurst are leading a special Candlemas service, which looks back to the birth of Jesus 40 days earlier but now looks forward to his passion and death. The service will end with a Candlemas procession proclaiming that Jesus is indeed “a Light to lighten the nations”. After this we shall probably sing Timothy Dudley-Smith’s hymn, “Faithful vigil ended”, which recalls Simeon’s part in the Christian story. It too speaks of Christ, a light for the nations. “The Church exists by mission, as fire exists by burning”, said the Swiss theologian, Emil Brunner. Candlemas can also make us think of the great Anglican mission societies like CMS and USPG, formed in the 19th and 18th centuries to bring the light of Christ to the earth’s farthest regions. Today mission is a two-way process, so that Great Britain welcomes missionaries from overseas, including our own Archbishop. China, it is estimated, will have 247 million Christians - the biggest Christian population in the world - by 2030 because, in spite of persecution, the Church keeps growing. It is the 27th worst country in which to be a Christian – the worst being North Korea and the 10th worst, India. This brings us to another side of Candlemas. Simeon did not tell Mary and Joseph that everything would go well with their baby. Rather he warned that Jesus would be “a sword to pierce your own soul”. The joy and victory of Easter, crowned by the promise of a new world, would come via the pain of rejection and the agony of Good Friday. Simeon, in his vision of the future, did not promise a trouble-free life. His song, called the Nunc Dimittis, is not a spiritual sleeping-tablet, only giving us rest at the end of the day, but rather a wake-up call to adventurous discipleship. In some cultures candles have been blessed at Candlemas for the year ahead. Candles are popular today for all sorts of occasions but, for Christians, they represent the light of Christ. That light means hope and peace and love. It can also be a symbol of our struggling on, faithfully believing even when belief is hard. Apparently C.S. Lewis said after his wife died of cancer: “Talk to me about the truth of religion and I’ll listen gladly. Talk to me about the duty of religion and I’ll listen submissively. But don’t talk to me about the consolations of religion, or I shall suspect that you don’t understand.” Yes, faith can console. It can also disturb. Always, however, our faith is placed in Christ who shines in our hearts and shines through his people. He is indeed the light of the world. Yours in Christ Rodney Nicholson A changing way of shopping Rodney Nicholson We hear a lot about town centre shops closing, partly through on-line competition. The bible has things to say about thriving cities. Jeremiah, for example, urges the people of Israel to seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which they have been exiled. The bible begins with a garden but ends with a city, the new Jerusalem, which shines with the glory of God. Our rural places and also our towns and cities matter to God. Towns and cities have been much improved by pedestrianised areas, cafe-style refreshments and information about local history. Closed-up shops, signs of ugliness and, in cities, heavily polluted air spoil the beauty which God wants for his creation. Shops are important but we cannot disinvent the internet. Like marriage, motor cars and education, the internet and social media have a capacity for both good and harm. The internet will inevitably damage businesses, except those which can buy into the on-line market. A week before Christmas I bought a second candle-bridge in a charity shop in Driffield. Happening to be in York the following Friday, 21st December, I tried to buy a spare bulb but gave up after the second of two shops assured me that I wouldn’t get one anywhere in York. Kathleen ordered on-line that evening, and two bulbs came through the post on 28th December. They were probably cheaper than in the shops. When the Church’s housing department was getting our home ready for us in the summer of 2014, we needed to choose an oven for the fitted kitchen. We tried to use a local electrical store but they told us that we would have to wait 2 or 3 weeks for the oven of our choice to be delivered to them. That was far too long because the workmen were wanting it as soon as possible. We went on-line, and the oven was delivered in under a week. Many people could give similar examples of buying on-line being the best option. Some, ourselves not included, get their groceries that way and reckon to save money. Another consideration is that the internet allows you to review an article you plan to buy. You can read on-line what others’ experience has been. Anything, including restaurants and churches, will have a few bad reviews, but if 80% of reviews are positive, then you can safely go ahead and order. So, the internet is here to stay. Must retailers, other than coffee shops and charity shops simply close down? There are no easy answers. In spite of what I have just said, we can try, where practicable to use our local shops. A butcher, for example, may have locally sourced meat, unlike the supermarket. Shops with an “individual” or unique look do a good service. We can hope and indeed press to keep our libraries open. Here in Pocklington Burnby Hall is a great facility, and I for one am glad to buy a year’s membership, gift-aiding the payment. It’s also important that companies such as Amazon pay their due taxes. 5 Christianity is an incarnational religion, caring about this world and not just the next. Our church has good community links, which are important, for the church should primarily serve the community, rather than the other way round. How exactly this is best done may be subject for thought, discussion and prayer. Our prayers should not just focus on the church, but on the world outside too, including the town or village where we live. “The earth is that Lord’s, and all that it contains”. Welcoming Canon Charlie Reduced congregations may be expected on the Sunday after Christmas Day but that was hardly the case at All Saints on December30th. A large congregation attended the group service, including family and friends of Canon Charlie Allen, whose parents Alec and Chris Ramsden, were celebrating their silver wedding. Charlie led them at the end of the service in the renewal of their wedding vows, with all the family gathering round.