BUSHEY PARISH MAGAZINE MAY 2021 60 pence Bushey pays its last respects to Prince Philip. RIP The Parish of Bushey marked the death on April 9 of HRH Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (1921-2021) in services in all three of our churches. Requiems for the repose of his soul were held in St James’s on April 15, with a further special service the following day. In addition, the three churches were opened for private prayer and condolences and dressed with tributes. Bells were tolled at St James’s and St Paul’s on Saturday April 17, prior to the funeral service in St George’s Chapel, Windsor. Tributes to Prince Philip in St Paul’s, left, and St James’s Spiritual side of a down-to-earth royal Like his namesake St Philip the apostle (see page 9), HRH Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh combined practicality and spirituality. Most people were well aware of his practical side, allied to his reputation for plain speaking. His spiritual side was less publicised, but it was there – deep, rich and, according to those who saw it, endlessly inquiring. In a sense, it was inherited. Prince Philip’s notably devout mother founded a nursing order of nuns in Greece. His great-aunt, Elizabeth Romanova, received posthumous glorification as a Russian Orthodox saint, one of the “new martyrs” acclaimed after the fall of communism. Philip was baptised in the Greek Orthodox Church shortly after he was born. He was formally received into the Church of England in 1947, just 2 before his marriage to our future Queen. One of his many biographers described him as “a very religious man”, while another noted that, in Philip’s personal library of more than 8,000 titles, some 450 works were devoted to religion. Philip himself wrote on the topic, too, for example in his book (with Michael Mann) Survival or Extinction: A Christian Attitude to the Environment and in A Question of Balance, where he says: “Religious conviction is the strongest and probably the only factor in sustaining the dignity of the individual”. However, as with St Philip, the prince’s spiritual journey also involved some very practical steps, linked, like his books, to his concern for God’s creation. In 1986, he organised a world summit on the environment, attended by leaders of all major faiths. Appropriately, it took place in St Francis’s hometown of Assisi. He helped set up the religious study centre of St George’s House in Windsor Castle and in 1995 founded the Alliance of Religions & Conservation, again reflecting his (very Orthodox) belief that worship and the protection of God’s natural world are inextricably intertwined. That belief is best expressed in a prayer Prince Philip contributed to an anthology of 1998, quoted in the Daily Telegraph shortly after his death. It begins: “O Lord, the creator of the universe and author of the laws of nature, inspire in us thy servants the will to ensure the survival of all the species of animals and plants which you have given to share this planet with us…”. – Mick Groushko Kat’s stay curtailed Our Ordinand Kat Page had originally planned to be here on placement for two years, but her husband Chris has been deployed to High Wycombe (a promotion – congratulations!). So Kat will be moving from Bushey, though still with us on Sundays until the end of June. We give thanks for Kat’s stay here among us and the blessing she has been to our congregations at a difficult time. Please pray for Kat and her family as they make this transition and as she seeks to respond to God’s call in her life. 3 Ministry Team Rector of the Parish of Bushey: The Revd Guy Edwards 0208 950 1546 [email protected] Guy’s usual rest-day is Monday (Tuesday when Monday is a Bank Holiday). Please do not contact him then except in a serious emergency. Associate Rector: Fr Tim Vickers 01923 464633 with responsibility for St James’s [email protected] Usual rest-day: Friday Parish Curate: The Revd Andy Burgess 07539 409959 Usual rest-day: Monday [email protected] Ordinand: Kat Page 07980 746243 [email protected] Lay Leader of Worship: Christine Cocks [email protected] CHURCH WARDENS [email protected] To be elected on April 25, 2021 PARISH ADMINISTRATION Parish Administrator: Jacqueline Birch 020 8421 8192 Church House, High Street, Bushey [email protected] Parish Finance Officer: Sinead English 020 8421 8192 Church House, High Street, Bushey [email protected] PCC Secretary: Martyn Lambert [email protected] The Parish Office on the first floor of St James’s Church House is open as follows: Tuesdays and Thursdays, 9.00am-3.00pm; Wednesdays, 9.00am-2.00pm. Safeguarding Officer: Fiona Gray 07902 511392 Parish website: www.busheyparish.org webmaster@busheyparish 4 ‘Give Thanks’ appeal helps the vulnerable Christian Aid’s latest appeal, which invites people to give thanks for their Covid-19 vaccinations and help others in crisis across the world, has raised £130,000 to date. Many of us in the UK are feeling a sense of relief as loved ones receive their vaccines. Christian Aid’s “Give Thanks” appeal encourages us to pass on the blessing by helping others who have little protection from the pandemic. Funds from the appeal are enabling vulnerable communities around the world to obtain soap, water, food and vital health information as Covid -19 continues to destroy lives and livelihoods. Christian Aid partners have so far directly helped more than 500,000 people in 27 countries. * Christian Aid Week in 2021 is May 10-16. This year is also Christian Aid’s 75th anniversary (see page 17). Where to find us online Parish of Bushey website: www.busheyparish.org Parish of Bushey Livestream Facebook page (FB): https://www.facebook.com/busheyparishlive YouTube channel We have a YouTube channel for our services and reflections. Search for "The Parish of Bushey" and subscribe. It's free. St James’s FB www.facebook.com/st.jameschurchbushey Holy Trinity FB www.facebook.com/HolyTrinityBushey St Paul's FB: https://www.facebook.com/StPaulsBushey/ Dial a Sermon: The Parish has a phone number where people can listen to a sermon each week: 0208 0162 445. Please pass it on to anyone you know who does not have internet access. 5 From the Rector ‘Simpler, humbler, bolder’ I recognise that, after the trials of this past year, many of us will need a considerable amount of tenderness, room to breathe and opportunities to find healing. We are a little like hedgehogs coming out of hibernation or, more grimly, like a bruised prisoner who has come out of solitary confinement. The clergy team and others are drawing up plans for a series of events that will enable people to meet, relax, have fun and begin to share their experiences of the last 12 months or so. Please look out for details in our emails, weekly pew-sheets and social media posts. As we start to put church life back on the road, there are some more- rigorous things to which we will also need to pay attention - among them the discerning of vision. Bushey Parish was in its own local process of vision discernment when that was rudely interrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic and replaced by the restructuring discussion that has been proceeding since November. As we come to the concluding stages of that process, the need for vision is more and not less. We need to know what the church will look like post-Covid – what will be the “new normal” after the restructuring of our parish life? As we do so, we know we are not alone. Many parishes will be going through the same process, as is the national Church. Christians come in two types. There are those who enjoy meetings, who find it easy to read closely argued papers and follow accounts, who have a natural feel for organisation, vision and strategy. And there are those who don’t. Confessing myself to be in the second category, I was pleased to see the results of a vision process in the Church of England nationally. The conversation resulted in a simple diagram (see page 7), a short video and a readable, passionately argued statement from Stephen Cottrell, Archbishop of York. You can find them here: https://www.churchofengland.org/about/leadership-and-governance/emerging-church- england/vision-church-england-2020s 6 Of course, any vision from the Church of England needs to recognise that the purpose of the Church and the basics of commitment to Jesus are not “up for grabs”. They are determined by Jesus and articulated in the letters of Paul. We are “One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church” and the Gospel is “proclaimed afresh, in every generation”. In one sense the Church does change - as a living organism, it must. But its roots, the place from which it gets its energy and identity, are never fundamentally altered. Hence the report reminds the Church that it needs to be centred on Christ – rooted in the teaching, life, death and resurrection of Jesus. It needs to practise and be shaped by the Five Marks of Mission (see table, page 8). It needs to be a Church of “missionary disciples”. Not “loyal supporters” or even “committed worshippers”, but disciples who make disciples. This will be much less static and comfortable and much more exciting and fulfilling. Furthermore, any vision needs to address present issues, but also to 7 The Five Marks of Mission: A reminder 1.