• Abstract and Figures
• Public Full-text

‘From the Vicarage’ February 2021 ‘My mom always said life was like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get.’ That famous quote is of course from Forrest Gump in the eponymous film from 1994 (yes it really is 27 years old this year!) and it is true, life is full of surprises and often doesn’t pan out the way we would expect. I certainly get that sense as I look at the over-wintering broad bean plants that I sowed in November. All the books say that if you sow the right variety the fledgling plants will survive the frosts and produce a bumper and pest-free crop in the Spring. Well, this chocolate from the box has been rather a disappointment (a bit like pulling out the only toffee in a tin of lovely soft-centred chocolates) because the plants seem to have been decimated by the recent frosts. Life rarely turns out as we expect. Maybe in a way God doesn’t always ‘turn out’ or act as we expect, and that is certainly something we might be feeling at the moment as we enter yet another phase in this dreadful pandemic. As you will read later in the magazine, it has been a hard decision whether to maintain services in church or close on grounds of safety and move entirely online. God though is a ‘God of Surprises’ as in the title of Gerard W. Hughes’ wonderfully spiritual book. There is almost a paradox in the title in that whilst we may feel in the midst of this pandemic and of grief, suffering, confusion that God is a God of Surprises whose nature confounds and surprises us, the very opposite is true. God is entirely predictable, constant, unchanging and eternal because the true surprise is God is found in the grief, suffering, confusion and messiness of life. As Hughes says in the preface to the second edition of his book… ‘we can knead the yeast (of the Kingdom of God) into the messy everyday events of our lives to work its transforming power.’ In other words, whatever the chocolate is we draw out the box, at heart it will always have God, and that is the true surprise. In the love that unites us Every Blessing Andy The Revd Andy Muckle Worship in Church An update 21st January 2021 So as ever, as fast as I write something, the situation changes! Which echoes the sentiment of my ‘From the Vicarage’ article this month! Early in January the Bishop wrote to all Incumbents and Churchwardens to advise us that the decision whether to remain open or for churches to close was delegated to the individual parishes. The Standing Committee met (virtually of course!) and we discussed at length what was the right thing to do in terms of safety, physical, spiritual and mental well-being for the whole church community, given that cases in the local area were rising. At that point we decided to stay open but with increased risk mitigation measures and reduced capacity. However, we would review the position in two weeks. This we did and we discussed what was the right thing to do in terms of your safety and especially with the national and local situation not seemingly to be improving in terms of cases and deaths. We were also very mindful that the majority of churches have now closed to public worship. I am so grateful for the diligence and support of the Standing Committee in approaching these discussions with openness and honesty. This was an incredibly hard decision because we believe our risk assessment and Covid-safety in church is good and as robust as we can make it. However, we hold everyone’s safety as a paramount concern and are extremely conscious of our responsibility to keep everyone as safe as possible. So reluctantly but unanimously we have decided to suspend public worship in church. We will review the situation at the end of the national lockdown. To that end I have written to Bishop Karen, which by doing so gave the authority to dispense with Canon B14 (requirement to hold a service of Holy Communion in church on a Sunday and Principal Holy Day). My dear friends, I realise that this news will have been extremely disappointing to you all. Some of you have quite rightly been shielding and watching online, but many others of you have rejoiced in the opportunity to worship in church, and I thank you from the bottom of my heart for your forbearance with all the rules and regulations as we have tried to keep our church building open. Now though, we move completely online again, and not in some form of retreat mode, but walking forwards on the way of the cross, and not alone either, but together as one body of Christ. To that end I hope many of you will be able to join on Facebook on a Sunday at 10am and on Thursday mornings at 9am on Zoom, and with the other services that will be taking place on Facebook and Zoom. I will, as before, send out details of how we can worship in these days. However, we worship though, through the power of the internet or in the quiet of our hearts, I believe we are united in the Holy Spirit and in prayer. Before the Standing Committee met, I prayed a prayer that gave me a sense of strength and peace. I hope it does the same for you. O Holy Spirit, Giver of light and life, impart to us thoughts higher than our own thoughts, and prayers better than our own prayers, and powers beyond own powers, that we may spend and be spent in the ways of love and goodness, after the perfect image of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen. Thank you for your support and love, it is always much appreciated. Pray for each other, love one another and stay safe With my love and prayers as always God Bless Andy Lectionary Readings for February 2021 Sunday 7th February 2nd Sunday before Lent Colossians 1:15-20 John 1:1-14 Sunday 14th February Sunday next before Lent 2 Corinthians 4:3-6 Mark 9:2-9 Wednesday 17th Feb Ash Wednesday Isaiah 58:1-12 2 Corinthians 5:20b-6:10 Matthew 6:1-6 or John 8:1-11 Sunday 21st February 1st Sunday of Lent 1 Peter 3:18-end Mark 1:9-15 Sunday 28th February 2nd Sunday of Lent Romans 4:13-end Mark 8:31-end ‘Living in Love and Faith’ Lent 2021 Despite the restrictions we will be having a Sunday Lent Study Course and this year we will be engaging with the material ‘Living in Love and Faith’ (LLF). You might wonder what is Living in Love and Faith? The LLF Co-ordinating group write this: The Church of England is keenly aware that issues of gender and sexuality are intrinsic to people’s experience; their sense of identity; their lives and the loving relationships that shape and sustain them. We also know that the life and mission of our Church – and of the worldwide Anglican Communion – are affected by the deep, and sometimes painful, disagreements among us which have been debated and discussed on many occasions over the years. These divisions have come into sharper focus because of society’s changing perspectives, especially in relation to lesbian, gay, transgender, bisexual and intersex people. The Church wants to understand what it means to follow Christ in love and faith given the questions about human identity and the variety of patterns of relationship emerging in our society, including marriage, civil partnership, cohabitation, celibacy and friendship. The LLF project is led by the Bishops of the Church of England because of their particular responsibility for upholding and teaching the Christian faith. However, the production of the resources has involved a large and diverse group of people. These include the members of the LLF Coordinating Group, chaired by the Bishop of Coventry, and the members of the four working groups focusing on the Bible, theology, history and the social and biological sciences. In addition, a much larger and even more diverse group of people have contributed to the resources by sharing their stories. The LLF course explore these matters by studying what the Bible, theology, history and the social and biological sciences have to say, and by telling the real-life stories of followers of Christ with diverse experiences and convictions. Personally, I think as Christians we have a duty to engage with this material in an open, honest and loving way where we share our own thoughts yet are open to each other’s perspectives and experiences and hold all these views in love and faith. With the current restrictions we have no choice but to hold the Lent Course via the Zoom platform and the course will be held on five Sundays at 4pm on Zoom (lasting for about an hour) and the schedule is below: Sunday 21st February 4pm Learning together 28th February 4pm Identity 7th March 4pm Relationships 21st March 4pm Sex 28th March 4pm Life together Each session is a mixture of video, Bible Study and discussion. If you are unable to access Zoom. I would encourage you to try and read the material which can be downloaded free from https://www.churchofengland.org/resources/living-love-and- faith/living-love-and-faith-book There is no doubt that engaging with such material may bring some degree of anxiety as we discuss difficult issues where we hold deep-seated and personal viewpoints.

Load more

  28

Copy Link