ONE FAMILY NEWS FROM GREYFRIARS AND NEW HOPE · ISSUE 05 · SPRING 2020 IN THIS ISSUE LIFE IN LOCKDOWN · REDEVELOPMENT SUNDAY ONLINE · CIRDIC · AT HOME RESOURCES ONE FAMILY SPRING 2020 1 Greyfriars Church New Hope Community Church Friar Street York Road RG1 1EH RG1 8DU 0118 951 6700 0118 959 6534 greyfriars.org.uk nhccreading.org.uk [email protected] [email protected] @greyfriarslive @nhccreading @greyfriarslive @nhccreading @greyfriarslive One Family Magazine Contributors: Jonny Alden, Alice Alesi, Issue 05 · May 2020 Mabel Boyd, Sam Brown, Amy Cavender, Penny Cuthbert, John Freeman, Heather Harper, John Hudson, Harvey Jessop, Katherine Shepherd, Jonathan Thatcher, David Walker, Pete Willmot Design: Simon Baker, Thirteen Creative 2 NEW HOPE · GREYFRIARS WELCOME TO ONE FAMILY! IN THIS ISSUE Welcome to our spring edition of One Family! We 04 Scattered but active couldn’t have imagined last time we produced this mag- 06 Surrender, trust and love azine that most of the world would now be in lockdown. 07 #Loveyourneighbour As I was reading through the book of Lamentations, 08 Small is beautiful I was struck by its opening line, “how deserted lies 09 At home resources the city, once so full of people”. In many ways the world has fallen silent – streets in Reading are empty, schools are closed and human contact is limited to online gatherings. The book of Lamentations has much wisdom for us now. It teaches how to express grief and sorrow before God, knowing that He is able to cope with our 10 Building for the future frustration, sadness and confusion. These strange times find us caught between a 13 Learning together sense of lament and hope in Christ. I am convinced 14 CIRDIC that God will use this time of lockdown to wake His 16 Meet the wardens people, to grow His people and to refine His church. 17 Family snapshot We are called to be attentive to His voice and to draw close to Him in prayer. For this reason, we are joining millions of believers around the world through the UNITE714 movement, praying twice a day in line with the words of 2 Chronicles 7:14. As we also respond to the call of Jesus to love our neighbours, we are seeing hundreds of people, across 18 Baptisms all denominations of church in Reading, feeding the hungry, contacting the lonely, serving the poor and 20 Life at home goes on helping those who are unable to leave home under 22 Sunday online the banner #loveyourneighbour. 26 Family around the world The COVID-19 pandemic will pass and we will 28 Disagreeing well gather again as One Family. In the meantime, let us 30 What’s in the Bookshop? remember that the Lord reigns forever and His throne endures from generation to generation. May our gen- eration be remembered for fervently praying, seeking God and loving our neighbours, as He revives His church during this time of shaking. 32 News from across the river David Walker Vicar of Greyfriars and New Hope ONE FAMILY SPRING 2020 3 T R S A T E C E D B U T A C T I V E David Walker on church life in lockdown “Covid-19”, “social distancing”, “personal protective equipment” and “flatten the ‘Not only has our curve” have all been added to the Oxford vocabulary changed, Dictionary in recent weeks. Not only has our vocabulary changed, but our entire lives but our entire lives have have been transformed, for better and for been transformed’ worse. For some of us, this is a time of total isolation without any face-to-face contact Since then, we have adapted as a com- with friends or family. For others, it is a test munity. Small groups have wrestled with of juggling home working and home school- Zoom and begun to meet online, with more ing. For many it will be a time of grieving the people gathering midweek than before loss of lifestyle and the loss of life due to lockdown! Many of you have volunteered COVID-19. to help as we partner with Reading Borough Within a period of one week, in early Council and Reading Voluntary Action to March, we were forced to re-imagine church feed the hungry, make contact with the gatherings and turn to online services. In lonely and serve the poor. The ministry of those early days of organising the technical churches up and down this land, to help side of our services, it was such a gift to the most vulnerable and needy, has been have a group of people who could help edit recognised by the government and comes and stream the services. under the banner of #loveyourneighbour, the second greatest commandment. In 4 NEW HOPE · GREYFRIARS significant. The list of questions grows week ‘Alongside the by week. questions, we hold Alongside the questions, we hold on to the truth, which remains unchanged. Jesus on to the truth, which tells us “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the remains unchanged’ First and the Last, the Beginning and the End” (Revelation 22:13). God is sovereign. As the words of Lamentations remind us, many ways, the church is now closer to its God reigns forever and His throne endures biblical mandate than in previous years, as from generation to generation. Only the we meet in homes, love our neighbours and Lord God Almighty knows how this story of slow down to pray and seek God together. COVID-19 will end. And only He is able to The full implications of the COVID-19 lock- work through it, in ways which are majestic down may not be truly understood for years and miraculous, bringing good out of the to come. In the short term, many businesses horror of this pandemic. have been forced to close and put staff on As Jesus was speaking to his disciples furlough, including the Greyfriars Nursery. about their worries, he told them to “seek Greyfriars and New Hope have also placed first his kingdom and his righteousness” eight members of staff on furlough in order (Matthew 6:33). Part of what God is teaching to avoid redundancies in the longer term. us through this time of isolation and pan- Many of you will face decreases in salary demic is to trust Him, to call out to Him in and greater uncertainty over job security. prayer and to thank Him for our daily bread. For others, this is a time of great sacrifice as Each day does indeed have enough trouble NHS workers, supermarket staff, teachers of its own and it may be that, through this and care workers continue to serve and time of crisis, we finally heed Jesus’ words keep the country going. to trust God’s care for us and His awareness This time of crisis has given us a more of our needs. Our God is a God of resurrec- acute sense of what is known and what is tion and He is able to do more than we ask unknown in our lives. We are still counting or imagine, as we slow down and entrust it the tragic loss of life in our country, and all to Him in prayer. around the world, and we don’t yet know what the full impact will be. We continue to have many questions about what the “new normal” might look like. There is no clarity on when we will be able to gather again in our church buildings at Greyfriars and New Hope. We are unsure what the financial impact of this crisis will be on our lives and on the church, though we know it will be ONE FAMILY SPRING 2020 5 prayer beyond words: in secret, “not bab- bling as the Gentiles do”. Can we sit with God as a close friend, open to his love? Your Father knows what you need before you ask. Trusting him opens a flowing union with his presence. I decided I needed to learn “surrender” for this quest to live by abiding love. I started clearing out the dusty cupboards of my heart ready for a new kind of internal resting prayer. I lifted the lid on insecurities and discovered their origins, pride in achievements, pain and grief - all shrouded in an unhealthy layer of guilt and shame. Dislodging the log from my eye that I might be clearer of the love offered. As I struggle, I look to ancient paths, The dance discovering people who have found ways to commune with God: St John of the Cross, between Julian of Norwich, St Francis of Assisi – surrender, people who found prayer through solitude, community and through simple ways of trust and love seeking God’s presence in every moment, in every thing. The early church withdrew to Amy Cavender gives a contemplate deeper loving encounter. personal perspective Perhaps as we sit in quarantine (etymol- on prayer ogy: 40 days), we too are offered simple paths. “Come follow me,” says Jesus, to a place where prayer and life are one. A Prayer for me used to feel like something renewed trust can lead us there, to surren- very human. I used to be uncertain of God’s der to him regardless of circumstance, to love and therefore felt judgement as I learn to abide in his delight for who we are prayed. I wanted to witness a more divine because of who he is. dimension. The choice to be disciplined in surrender- The first disciples, despite hanging out ing to love remains ours. The freedom we with Jesus, seeing him in quiet places discover when we choose to trust carries us communing in God, didn’t know much of his through the seasons.