Amberley Parish Magazine April 2006 For your Cornish Holiday SOUTH TRELOWIA BARNS Peaceful location 4 miles from Looe B&B and self-catering Keith & Beverly Madley Tel: 01503 240709 Email: [email protected] www.southtrelowiabarns.co.uk 2 Services for April Sunday 2nd Apr 8 am Holy Communion 10 am Parish Eucharist 5.30 pm Choral Evensong (followed by the ACC AGM in the Parish Room at 6.30 pm) Wednesday 5th Apr 8 am Holy Communion Sunday 9th Apr 8 am Holy Communion (Methodist led) Palm Sunday 10 am Parish Eucharist Wednesday 12th Apr 8 am Holy Communion (Wednesday of Holy Week) Thursday 13th Apr 7 pm Holy Communion (Maundy Thursday) Friday 14th Apr 10 am Imagine - If you will… (Good Friday) 2 pm The Last Hour Saturday 15th Apr 8.30 pm Service of Light (Easter Eve) Sunday 16th Apr 8 am Holy Communion Easter Day 10 am Parish Eucharist Wednesday 19th Apr 8 am Holy Communion (Wednesday in Easter Week) Sunday 23rd Apr 8 am Holy Communion (1662) 10 am Family Service 5.30 pm Evening Service - “Who do you think I am?” Tuesday 25th Apr 8 am Holy Communion (Mark the Evangelist) Wednesday 26th Apr 8 am Holy Communion Sunday 30th Apr 8 am Holy Communion 10 am Service led by the Children & Young People's Ministry Group On Mondays to Saturdays during Lent we shall be “Praying Together in Lent” in the church from 5pm for about 15minutes, led by a member of the congregation. Everyone is welcome to join us on these occasions. Julian Group (Silent Prayer) from Friday, 9 am - 9.30 am in the Littleworth New Room – Everyone welcome ‘Common Worship’ Morning Prayer every weekday at 8 am. ‘Common Worship’ Evening Prayer every Thursday 5.30 pm. Both in Holy Trinity Church – Everyone welcome Traidcraft & Fairtrade goods are on sale at the back of the church following the 10 am service on the 1st Sunday of every month 3 The Reader’s Letter Dear Friends, When I write the word “Sabbath” what is your reaction? Do you think of an old fashioned family, silent and soberly clad, with a Bible open before them? Do you remember boring but compulsory Church services? Do you sigh to yourself and think “Oh, God! The Church is just so out of date!”? During this Lent period there has been a study group thinking around the subject of Sabbath using the Life Balance handbook by Robert Warren and Sue Mayfield and I think I can speak for us all and say that it has been an exhilarating and life enhancing experience – and has taken us right away from those pictures I con- jured up in the previous paragraph! The book asks us to get into our minds the deep meaning of “Sabbath” and then take that understanding out into our daily lives which have now become so rushed and full of activity as we live them against a materialistic background of seven-days-a-week availability of everything. So what is Sabbath? It comes from the Hebrew word “Shabbat”, meaning to pause, to stop and be still, to remember thankfully. Shabbat also has within it celebration, rest, playfulness and liberation. Shabbat leads us away from the pres- sures of time, acquisitiveness, cynicism, self-pity, the need to appear busy, our tendency to define ourselves in terms of what we do and our horrible desire to dominate the earth, its peoples and resources. Instead we can enjoy the moment, and the people around us, look at the bigger picture of life outside ourselves, breath deeply and relax. And we can do these things regularly, for short mo- ments, during times we set aside, even on Sunday! We can also take Shabbat atti- tudes into our hearts and live that way. We have come across some lovely quotes – I offer you a few: “The Sabbath is the first day of the week – not the ‘week end’. It is meant to sus- tain us, not reward us for working hard all week!” “Proper rest will, most likely, make our work more effective but that is not its pri- mary purpose. This runs contrary to the ‘Protestant work ethic’ that has per- vaded and shaped our culture for the past 500 years. True Sabbath elevates rest, play and celebration above work and productivity. We are human beings, not human doings.” “Children have the capacity to live in the moment and to enjoy life as a gift rather than handle it as some problem to be solved. This may well be why Christ placed a child in the middle of the disciples when he was teaching them about how to receive the kingdom” “Martin Luther encouraged clergy to spend time with little children and with ani- mals and ‘all that take life blithely’.” 4 “A folk tale tells of two men who chopped wood for a whole day. One man chopped constantly without a break. The second rested for ten minutes in every hour. At the end of the day it was the second man who had chopped more wood. Puzzled by this, the first man asked his colleague how this could be. ‘It’s simple,’ said the second man. ‘Whenever I rested, I sharpened my axe’.”. At the present time, as I write this, we on the course are still considering what God meant when he said “Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy…”, and trying to make meaning out of it all for us in the twenty first century. Although we all love our Sundays we don’t think the Sabbath has to be confined to that day only. Nor do we have to do nothing. Flying down hill on a bike, a ski or a skateboard might be a Sabbath for us. So too might quietly contemplating the wonderful views we have all around us in Amberley, or sitting round the meal table with our families. We do think it means thankfully savouring the moment and sharing it with those around us. The whole idea of Sabbath – rest for everyone including animals and the land it- self – must have been a unique and totally new idea to the ancient peoples of Old Testament times. But it is an idea that we have always lived with and taken for granted, so much so that its meaning has almost been lost in our post-modern western culture. But the Sabbath is a wonderful gift from God. And if we find the ideas of Sabbath difficult to accept and take into our lives then certainly the one to listen to is Jesus himself who said “Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest”. May I wish us all Joyous Sabbath Keeping, Anne Seymour Church Spring Clean It is again time for the annual church spring clean when we are able to give par- ticular attention to areas not managed at the weekly cleanings. Can you spare 45 minutes on Monday 10th April, in the morning, to come and help? It would be particularly good if we could have some volunteers in addition to those who are already part of a cleaning team. If you can help, please sign the list at the back of the church indicating which time slot you can manage – and please bring some cleaning aids (eg polish, dusters, etc) with you. I look forward to seeing you on 10th April. Sarah Goodwin 873381 5 Parish Walk The Social Committee invite you to join in the annual Parish Walk. This year the walk is on Sunday, 21st May starting at 2.30pm from Chavenage Green and end- ing at the nearby Chavenage House for tea and cakes. These are being supplied by the House at £2.50 per head. Everyone is welcome to join us on this scenically beautiful walk, which will take around an hour and a half and is mainly flat. Why not come with us on an event which in previous years has always been very en- joyable? So that numbers may be known for catering purposes, please put your name on the list at the back of the church. You will than be given more detailed informa- tion about where we shall meet. On the list is a space to indicate whether you are prepared to drive or whether you require a lift. The Social Committee Auction of Promises Amberley Parochial School is having an Auction of Promises in the school hall, on Friday 5th May (date changed from 12th May). Viewing will start at 7 p.m.. A list of promises will be available in the school office. Please come along and support your local school. Amberley School P.T.A. Young People’s Diary Quest dates (6.45 – 8pm): 23rd April, 21st May, 18th June Youth Group dates: Junior (6.30 – 8pm): 8th& 22nd May, 12th & 26th June, 3rd July (joint outing to ‘Cattle Country’), 17th July Senior (7 – 8.30pm): 24th April, 15th May, 5th & 19th June, 3rd July (joint outing to ‘Cattle Country’), 10th July 6 Parish Outing To Bibury Are You Coming? Our parish outing this year, on Tuesday 30th May, is to Bibury. We shall meet in the Café Bar of the Swan Hotel opposite the Bibury Trout Farm at 12noon. We will have lunch together in the Hotel, and then visit the Trout Farm for a guided tour at 2pm. The cost of the tour is £3.50 per head, which includes feed for the fish. Tea and refreshments are available at the Trout Farm after the tour, and there will also be the opportunity to visit the Bibury Museum next door and the picturesque Arlington Row of National Trust cottages nearby.