Church Magazine February 2016 Aldermaston and Woolhampton Benefice Beenham Midgham Woolhampton From the rector... was shopping in a large supermarket the other week and I found myself in the I ‘Seasonal’ aisle. It was a hive of activity because all the left-over bits from Christmas – the decorations and cards, chocolates and crackers – were being taken off the shelves so that Easter could move in. At the point at which I walked down the aisle there was a wonderful mixture of Christmas and Easter on the shelves – fluffy chicks and Easter eggs next to snowmen and reindeer. It struck me that this mixed up Seasonal aisle provided a rather nice picture of where we find ourselves in the Church year. The celebration of Candlemas which takes place 40 days after Christmas is a kind of crossroads between Christmas and Easter and marks the beginning of the journey from the ‘crib to the cross’ as one liturgy puts it. Candlemas – or The Presentation of Christ at the Temple – recalls the moment when Mary and Joseph brought their six week old son to the temple in Jerusalem. Watching and waiting in the temple courts stand two lone figures - an elderly man, Simeon, and an even older woman, Anna. To the casual observer Mary and Joseph would look no different from the many who flocked to Jerusalem fulfilling what the law required of them as an act of purification after childbirth and to present their first-born son at the temple as the Law of Moses required. But Simeon’s eyes alight on this one family among many and these old eyes opened by a life time of prayer and trust in God recognise that this was what he had been waiting for, he recognises in the baby Mary carries, the hope of Israel, the long-awaited light. Simeon lifts the baby into his arms praising God. He can die in peace for he has now seen God’s promises fulfilled. Imagine Mary and Joseph standing there watching this old man quite overcome with emotion as he holds their child. Surely their minds would have raced back to encounters with angels, strange dreams, shepherds, wise men… But now Simeon turns to them and the mood is suddenly sombre: the salvation this child will bring is to be costly, and it will pierce Mary’s heart. Joseph stands holding the two pigeons, emblems of the sacrificial system and indeed of the temple itself. Simeon stands holding the baby – here in this child was the new temple, here was the new ‘place’ of encounter with God, and here so poignantly, was the ultimate sacrifice. It is the most bitter-sweet of moments: joy that the light has come; agony at the price to be paid. So Candlemas is the hinge between Christmas and Easter, a festival of light with churches blessing new candles and at one time lighting great bonfires to burn the Christmas foliage. It looks back to the joy and wonder of Jesus’ birth, and forward, through the days of Lent, to the passion, to holy week and the cross. It is a time to move on, a time to leave the afterglow of Christmastide and to embark on the most important journey of all - the journey with Jesus to Jerusalem, the journey from darkness to light. Revd Becky Bevan 2 From the Register: Weddings, Renewal of Vows and Blessings of Marriage 18th December Michael Patterson and Georgina Smith Wasing 20th December Matthew Gorton and Clara-Marie Byrne Wasing 21st December Darryl Taphouse and Hayley Cheesworth Wasing Funerals and Burial of Ashes 14th November Martin Brazil Midgham 4th December Peter William Broadhurst Aldermaston 15th December Cyril Ball Aldermaston 6th January Kathleen Edith Leonard Woolhampton 14th January Richard Cassan Brimpton 29th January Cyril Cooper Beenham All details correct at time of going to print. Ash Wednesday SPIRITUAL AND PASTORAL 10th February CARE Benefice Holy Communion o you feel a spiritual hole which with imposition of ashes D needs filling in your life? 7.30pm at St Peter’s Woolhampton Would you appreciate the chance to chat informally over a cup of tea and ST MATTHEW’S cake. In addition to services at our village churches on Sunday, our CAFÉ CHURCH benefice offers: Food for body and Café Church – an informal soul gathering with tea and cakes and a story on the First Thursday of the Do you fancy some company, a month at St Matthew’s Midgham chance to meet old friends and between 2.30 and 4 pm. make new friends, enjoy a slice of Communion Service – a quiet homemade cake and tea, PLUS service at Watermill Court every share stories, and more…… month followed by tea and cake Personal visits to your home to PLACE St Matthew’s Church, celebrate a home communion or Midgham, RG7 5UW TIME 2.30 to 4 pm- the First Thursday simply chat. of each month. For more information: NEXT MEETING : 4th February. Contact: Rev. Pat Bhutta – 0118 971 For more information and transport: 0124 E:mail: Tel: Pat Bhutta 0118 971 0124 e-mail: [email protected]. [email protected] Welcome If you have recently moved into our community, we hope that you settle into your new home and surroundings quickly. Hopefully this magazine will help you to discover what’s going on in the area. You are especially welcome to come to any of the church services as listed in the magazine, and do please contact our rector if you want to find out more 3 SERVICES FOR FEBRUARY 7th February Sunday next before Lent Aldermaston 8:00 AM Holy Communion BCP Aldermaston 10:45 AM Family Service Beenham 9:15 AM Holy Communion Brimpton 9:15 AM Holy Communion Midgham 9:15 AM Morning Worship Woolhampton 11:00 AM Morning Worship 10th February Ash Wednesday Woolhampton 7:30 PM Holy Communion 14th February Lent 1 Aldermaston 10:45 AM Holy Communion Beenham 9:15 AM Family Communion Midgham 9:15 AM Family Communion Woolhampton 11:00 AM Holy Communion 21st February Lent 2 Cedars School 10:45 AM Family Communion Beenham 9:15 AM Holy Communion BCP Brimpton 10:45 AM Morning Worship Midgham 9:15 AM Holy Communion Woolhampton 11:00 AM Family Communion 25th February Midgham 11:30 AM Monthly Communion 28th February Lent 3 Beenham 9:15 AM Holy Communion Midgham 9:15 AM Morning Worship Wasing 10:45 AM Family Communion Woolhampton 11:00 AM Family Service 6th March Lent 4 - Mothering Sunday Aldermaston 8:00 AM Holy Communion BCP Aldermaston 10:45 AM Family Service Beenham 9:15 AM Family Service Brimpton 9:15 AM Family Communion Midgham 9:15 AM Family Service Woolhampton 11:00 AM Mothering Sunday Service 4 BENEFICE NEWS Lent groups - start during the week beginning 15 February. See website or Weekly Notes for more details, or phone Revd Becky 0118 9712281 GOOD FRIDAY ‘MESSY CHURCH’ FOR CHILDREN On FRIDAY 25th March 10.30am – 12pm Things to make and do for all ages Songs and the Easter story Hot-cross buns Due to our previous year's success of Good Friday Messy Church, and the growing number of younger children, this year's Messy Church will be held at Aldermaston Parish Hall and be teamed with Noah's Ark. Suitable for all ages, children please bring an adult. No need to book, just turn up – or phone Revd Becky for more details on 0118 9712281 SHROVE TUESDAY BENEFICE PANCAKE PARTY 9th FEBRUARY, 7PM THE VICTORY HALL, BEENHAM Pancakes and party games for the young (and young at heart) BRING YOUR OWN DRINK AND GLASSES BRING YOUR PALM CROSS (if you have one) from last year to make some ash for Ash Wednesday No charge – but we would like donations to raise some money for Christian Aid… Sign-up sheets at church soon or email Brenda [email protected] 5 HAPPY BIRTHDAY NOAH'S ARK!! e are pleased to announce that W our baby and toddler group, Noah's Ark, will have its 1st birthday on Friday 4th March. We are celebrating a year that's been filled with new friends, laughter, play, craft, singing, children learning to sit, crawl, walk and run, and some of our favourite bible stories brought to life. Please come along with your little one, whether you've been before or it's your first time, to Aldermaston Parish Hall, 10-11am, 4th March and join the party! Let’s talk theology The Ethics of the Bible NEW TERM Divine and Human Justice An opportunity to explore in the Old Testament theological questions in an A talk by John Barton informal way HERESIES of the early church and what we can learn from them... MARCION WHY BOTHER WITH Thursday 11 February THE OLD TESTAMENT? 8pm at Bradfield College (RG7 6BZ) ARIUS HOW COULD GOD BE The Warden’s Room HUMAN? John Barton is Oriel and Laing PELAGIUS CAN WE MAKE IT ON Professor of the OUR OWN? Interpretation of Holy Scripture at the 27 January, 24 February and 27 April University of Oxford. 8pm, at the Parish Room, St Mary’s, Sulhamstead RG7 4ED His recent books Include What is the Facilitated by Derek Spears Bible?, The Nature of Biblical ([email protected]) Criticism, Ethics and the Old and Hugh Boulter Testament. He is also joint editor of ([email protected]) The Oxford Bible Commentary. Spiritual Development Group John is an Anglican priest and former BRADFIELD DEANERY Canon Theologian of Winchester cathedral. 6 MIDGHAM MIDGHAM PARISH COUNCIL Can you help? WANTED : Photos of Midgham School in the 1950s have recently had a request from Mr Rodger Bradley who was a pupil at I Midgham School in the 1950s, when Mrs Johnson was the Headmistress, and Miss Maskell looked after the infants.