Bolingbroke Deanery JANUARY 2020 ISSUE 523 Faithful, Confident, Joyful Our calling from God is to work together across the Bolingbroke Team to reconnect dispersed communities with the transforming love of Jesus through our FELLOWSHIP, INCLUSIVENESS & SERVICE Our Vision We aim to have more visible links between people of faith and our local communities by working together in a ministry of encouragement across boundaries 50p 1 READINGS AT THE EUCHARIST Principal Service th nd Sunday 5 January 2 Sunday of Christmas (White) First Reading Jeremiah 31.7-14 or Ecclesiasticus 24.1-12 Psalm/Canticle Psalm 147.13-end or Canticle: Wisdom of Solomon 10.15-end Second Reading Ephesians 1.3-14 Gospel John 1.[1-9] 10-18 Sunday 12th January 1st Sunday of Epiphany (Gold or White) Baptism of Christ First Reading Isaiah 42.1-9 Psalm/Canticle Psalm 29 Second Reading Acts 10.34-43 Gospel Matthew 3.13-end Sunday 19th January 2nd Sunday of Epiphany (White) First Reading Isaiah 49.1-7 Psalm/Canticle Psalm 40.1-12 Second Reading 1 Corinthians 1.1-9 Gospel John 1.29-42 Sunday 26th January 3rd Sunday of Epiphany (White) First Reading Isaiah 9.1-4 Psalm/Canticle Psalm 27.1,4-12 [27.1-11] Second Reading 1 Corinthians 1.10-18 Gospel Matthew 4.12-23 Wishing all our readers a very Happy New Year 2 LETTER FROM THE DIOCESE OF LINCOLN Finding God in everyday life One of my favourite things about Christmas is the evening of Christmas Day, when stepping outside into the sharp, cold air you see your breath before you and feel the deep stillness of a world at rest. No cars revving, no lorries trundling down the motorway, no aeroplanes overhead, no trains rumbling past. The busyness of the run-up to Christmas gives way to a collective sigh. It’s a moment when we allow the cosmos to breathe deeply, to rest and relax – for all God’s creation to experience the blessing of Sabbath rest, to know the still small voice of calm. In the depth of the stillness you can discern the presence of God feeding our faith, inspiring us with hope, loving us. In 1 Corinthians 13:12–13 we read: ‘For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then we will see face to face. Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known. And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love.’ (NRSV) What does it mean to live faithfully, hopefully and lovingly as a Christian today, finding and following God in the ordinary and extra-ordinary stuff of daily life? We often allow the busyness of life to push out the ‘main thing’, the gift of Jesus, Emmanuel, God with us. Being a Christian isn’t a ‘tick box’ identity nor what we do in church; as Christians we are people who choose to yield to Christ, to invite Jesus to change and shape us, to access all areas of our lives. Starting on Sunday, 12th January, we are invited to step into a 21-day journey of everyday faith, hope and love. The Church of England is launching a new resource called ‘Everyday Faith’, consisting of daily reflections and prayers to help us find and follow God in our everyday lives. It is available via emails, an app, social media, audio podcasts and can be purchased as a booklet from Church House Publishing. To sign up, go to: churchofengland.org/everydayfaith. The materials will help us find God at work in ourselves and the world around us. In 2020 we will be hosting a range of ‘Inspiring Everyday Faith’ events, with the first to be held on Monday, 13th January, at Edward King House, Lincoln from 5.30pm. If you are someone who is passionate about finding God in everyday life and wanting to encourage others to do the same, then go to eventbrite.co.uk/e/inspiring-everday-faith-tickets- 81456315031 or contact me at [email protected] or on 01522 50 40 75 for more information. 3 Prayer: Creator God, you made us all in your image: may we discern you in all that we see, and serve you in all that we do; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen Common Worship: Collects and Post Communions, material from which is included here, is copyright © The Archbishops’ Council 2000 and published by Church House Publishing. Bolingbroke Grape Vine Please can all articles be with the Editor by the 14th of the month. They can be emailed to [email protected] or posted to The Grape Vine, The Vicarage, Church Street, Spilsby, Lincs PE23 5EF If you would like to subscribe to the magazine please contact your local church rep or the Deanery Office. Yearly subscriptions are £6 or £13.50 if you would like your copy posting to you. Group Registers: Funerals: Spilsby Cluster Kenneth Vincent Frost 62 years Halton Holegate died 11.11.19 Barry George Pogson 80 years Spilsby died 14.11.19 James Adair 82 years Spilsby died 18.11.19 Marden Hill Cluster Denise Nelson 71 years East Keal died 06.11.19 Sadie Beatrice Kennett 91 years East Keal died 08.11.19 South Ormsby Cluster Helen Clare Kinnon 60 years Tetford died 21.11.19 Colin Spurr 86 years Tetford died 27.11.19 Baptisms: Spilsby Cluster Colton Parker Spilsby 01.12.19 Chloe Louise Bryant Halton Holegate 01.12.19 Partney Cluster George Thomas Brader Sausthorpe 08.12.19 4 Dates for the Diary January 7th Little Steeping Coffee Morning at ‘The Steepings’, 10.30am 13th Spilsby PCC 14th West Keal PCC 20th Old Bolingbroke PCC 21st Little Steeping Coffee Morning at ‘The Steepings’, 10.30am 21st Stickney Old Rectory Communion 27th Rural Churches Volunteers meeting (see advert for details) 27th PAMG meeting, Spilsby Vicarage, 7pm February 3rd ‘Thy Kingdom Come’, St Mary’s Horncastle 4th Little Steeping coffee morning at ‘The Steepings’, 10.30am 4th East Keal APCM, 7pm 6th Rural Deans’ meeting 10th Hundleby APCM, 2pm 12th Marden Hill Cluster meeting, Spilsby Vicarage, 7pm 14th Toyntons APCM, 3pm 17th Deanery Synod, 7pm – venue to be confirmed 18th Little Steeping coffee morning at ‘The Steepings’, 10.30am 18th Stickney Old Rectory Communion Deanery Eucharist at St James’ Church, Spilsby th Sunday 29 December 10.00am All welcome to come along! Tradition. A shortcut to thinking? Author: Geoffrey Lowson I wonder if you ever have occasions when several trains of thought or events in life seem to come together almost by accident? Perhaps it is just me, but there was one such few days for me recently. First, I was at a church meeting – the context is not important - and one of the areas of discussion was tradition and custom. This can cover a multitude of things, but just in broad terms, is the church Catholic or 5 Evangelical or somewhere in the middle; is the music traditional or more modern; is the main service Holy Communion or a large non eucharistic family service? Is the church building an ancient one with all that means, or is it more recent? One could go on of course. Part of our conclusion was that the tradition of a church can be both a blessing a hindrance. It is a blessing that it gives the place a character, a sense of identity and rootedness, but equality it can tend to anchor the place so strongly that it cannot move forward or embrace change. Secondly, on the day of that meeting (but not related to the meeting) a friend loaned me a book called ‘Ritual Notes’; it was first published in 1894 but this edition is 1946. The title page goes on to say A Comprehensive Guide to the Rites and Ceremonies of the Book of Common Prayer. And that it what it is. Everything you need to know is explained in fine detail. For example, do you know the difference between a ‘Profound Bow’, a ‘Moderate Bow’ and a ‘Simple Bow’ and when to use which? Well it is on page 39 of the 361 pages! The book is wonderful and yet it has to be said, to most people it would read as bizarre. Does God really mind how you bow? But we come back to tradition and custom. At what point do we say that these things don’t matter and at what point does that morph into ‘anything goes’. Thirdly and quite different; recently I have been sorting out some old family photographs, a few of which go back over 100 years. One shows a family wedding in 1900. My father was born 1902 – a long time ago. In looking at the photos I was recalling some of the stories he would tell me, stories which are lost except I suppose to social historians. Again, just one example to illustrate what I mean. Dad told me that if a person in the village died, the church bell would toll, but it would toll a different number of times depending upon whether the deceased was a man, woman or child. At the funeral, the horse drawing the hearse would be dressed differently, again depending upon who was being taken on their final journey. Does it matter that these old traditions are lost forever? What are the traditions of today? Traditionally – there is that word again – at New Year we tend to do a bit of looking back and looking forward. Perhaps it is a time to reflect on what really matters and what seems to matter.