25 January 2021
12:17 | 
Posted by
Dr Platts |
Despite the church being closed for formal services, the childen in the Sunday School are still very active with tasks to do at home.
This week, the reading was about the miracle of turning water into wine at the wedding in Cana.
The foot prints are to remind us that we should try to walk in the footprints of Jesus.
24 January 2021
‘THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK’ FROM THE REVEREND STEPHEN GUISE, PRIEST IN CHARGE – SUNDAY, 24 JANUARY, THIRD SUNDAY OF EPIPHANY
Orthodox Icon: The Wedding at Cana
Dear Friends
On this third Sunday of Epiphany, the Gospel reading (John 2:1-11) recounts the episode in which Jesus turns the water into wine during the wedding feast held at Cana in Galilee. It is a passage which is often used during marriage services held in church and, as with all narratives within the fourth Gospel, it is theologically rich and can be read on several levels.
There is, of course, the immediate context of a first-century Jewish wedding feast. Wedding parties lasted several nights (with guests often going to work during the day) and expectations in terms of the food and drink provided were high. In this case, it appears that the host family was reasonably wealthy, since they had servants and the kind of stone water-jars which only the more prosperous could provide. To run out of wine at a wedding would have entailed at the very least social embarrassment and, at worst, could even lead to lawsuits if disgruntled guests considered that they were not receiving the kind of hospitality appropriate to the value of their wedding gifts! So this might perhaps explain why Jesus, after initial demurrals, performs what could otherwise seem a ‘non-essential’ miracle in this instance.
But there are other layers to this story. The miracle is the first of the seven ‘signs’ portrayed in this Gospel, in which Jesus’ glory as Son of the Father is revealed. Within the Jewish mind-set the words ‘marriage feast’ had immediate connotations of the longed-for messianic banquet in which God’s loving purposes for Israel – and, ultimately, for all humankind – would be made manifest. So this sign, performed in the village of Cana, points us to the lavish extravagance of God’s banquet in which the best is saved until last – the Gospel writer is letting us know that this sign demonstrates that the dawn of the messianic age has come in Jesus Christ.
How are we meant to respond to this story? We are told that, as a result of this miracle, his followers ‘believed in him’ – that is, they became committed disciples rather than just a group of friends who were accompanying Jesus out of curiosity, to see what would happen next. The words of Jesus’ mother, Mary, ‘Do whatever he tells you’, are surely significant here. Again, on one level, this is a delightfully ‘human’ response to Jesus’ insistence that his ‘hour had not yet come’ – the Jewish mother who is sure that her son can do something to rectify an awkward situation. On a deeper level, though, her words are directed to us, his latter-day disciples, to ‘do whatever he tells’, a process which involves a lifetime’s listening to his word, and responding in obedience.
Fr Stephen
Collect
Almight God,
whose Son revealed in signs and miracles
the wonder of your saving presence:
renew your people with your heavenly grace,
and in all our weakness
sustain us by your mighty power;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and forever.
Amen
Revelation 19:6-10
A reading form the book of Revelation.
I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude,
like the sound of many waters
and like the sound of mighty thunderpeals,
crying out, "Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns.
Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory,
for the marriage of the Lamb has come,
and his bride has made herself ready;
to her it has been granted to be clothed with fine linen, bright and pure"—
for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints.
And the angel said to me, "Write this:
Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb."
And he said to me, "These are true words of God."
John 2:1-11
Hear the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to John.
There was a wedding in Cana of Galilee,
and the mother of Jesus was there.
Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding.
When the wine gave out, the mother of Jesus said to him,
"They have no wine."
And Jesus said to her,
"Woman, what concern is that to you and to me?
My hour has not yet come."
His mother said to the servants,
"Do whatever he tells you."
Now standing there were six stone water jars
for the Jewish rites of purification,
each holding twenty or thirty gallons.
Jesus said to them, "Fill the jars with water."
And they filled them up to the brim.
He said to them, "Now draw some out,
and take it to the chief steward."
So they took it.
When the steward tasted the water that had become wine,
and did not know where it came from
(though the servants who had drawn the water knew),
the steward called the bridegroom and said to him,
"Everyone serves the good wine first,
and then the inferior wine after the guests have become drunk.
But you have kept the good wine until now."
Jesus did this, the first of his signs, in Cana of Galilee,
and revealed his glory;
and his disciples believed in him.
17 January 2021
‘THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK’ FROM THE REVEREND STEPHEN GUISE, PRIEST IN CHARGE – SUNDAY, 17 JANUARY, SECOND SUNDAY OF EPIPHANY
Greek Orthodox Icon: The Calling of Philip and Nathanael
Dear Friends
As mentioned in last Sunday’s ‘thought for the week’, we continue to explore, during Epiphany, narratives from the Gospels which encourage us to reflect upon the ‘epiphany’ (unveiling, or manifestation) of the glory of God in his Son, Jesus Christ. The Feast of Epiphany itself focuses upon the visit of the Magi to the infant Christ, and the presentation of the three symbolic gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh, as recounted by Matthew. Then, last week, the story of the baptism of Christ, which is to be found in all three synoptic Gospels, to a greater or lesser extent, depicts Jesus coming up out of the water after his baptism in the river Jordan, experiencing the Holy Spirit descend upon him, and receiving confirmation, through the ‘voice from heaven’ of his unique role as Son – it is one of the key instances in the New Testament in which the Trinity begins to be revealed (although the word ‘Trinity’ as such is not to be found within any of these documents).
This Sunday, the focus, in the narrative of the calling of Philip and Nathanael (John 1:43-51), is upon the way in which Jesus, newly anointed for his messianic role by the Spirit, begins to gather around him a group of disciples. As so often in the Scriptures, it is a story which reflects the fact that God’s choice can be unexpected and frequently rests upon those who seem least ‘worthy’. As one commentator has suggested, if you put yourself in Nathanael’s shoes, and your friend, Philip, comes to you with the outrageous suggestion that the One about whom Moses and the prophets have written is a denizen of Nazareth – a small village in the backwaters of Galilee, truly the back end of nowhere – it is perhaps not surprising that Nathanael’s reaction is at first incredulous, and even cynical: ‘Can anything good come out of Nazareth?’. It is not at all what he was expecting – Nazareth is ‘off the religious map’ and this is not what is supposed to happen when the Messiah comes! Nevertheless, he responds to the invitation to ‘come and see’, and Jesus praises him for his integrity: ‘There, truly, is an Israelite in whom there is no guile’. As a result, Nathanael finds himself the recipient of a promise that he will see God’s glory revealed in a way that will demand his lifetime commitment – God, through his Son, has made even Nazareth (and Nathanael) new.
The season of Epiphany is a time in which we, too, are especially invited – although at times we may feel as sceptical or incredulous as Nathanael – to offer our lives once more to be transformed and renewed, so that God’s glory may be revealed, even in us.
Fr Stephen
Collect
Almighty God,
in Christ you make all things new:
transform the povertyof our nature
by the riches of your grace,
and in the renewal of our lives
make known your heavenly glory;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and forever.
Amen.
1 Samuel 3:1-10
A readinf from the first book of Samuel.
The boy Samuel was ministering to the Lord under Eli.
The word of the Lord was rare in those days;
visions were not widespread.
At that time Eli,
whose eyesight had begun to grow dim so that he could not see,
was lying down in his room;
the lamp of God had not yet gone out,
and Samuel was lying down in the temple of the Lord,
where the ark of God was.
Then the Lord called, "Samuel! Samuel!"
and he said, "Here I am!"
and ran to Eli, and said,
"Here I am, for you called me."
But he said, "I did not call; lie down again."
So he went and lay down.
The Lord called again, "Samuel!"
Samuel got up and went to Eli, and said,
"Here I am, for you called me."
But he said,
"I did not call, my son; lie down again."
Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord,
and the word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him.
The Lord called Samuel again, a third time.
And he got up and went to Eli, and said,
"Here I am, for you called me."
Then Eli perceived that the Lord was calling the boy.
Therefore Eli said to Samuel,
"Go, lie down; and if he calls you, you shall say,
"Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.' "
So Samuel went and lay down in his place.
Now the Lord came and stood there,
calling as before, "Samuel! Samuel!"
And Samuel said, "Speak, for your servant is listening."
John 1:43-51
Hear the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to John.
The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee.
He found Philip and said to him,
"Follow me."
Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter.
Philip found Nathanael and said to him,
"We have found him about whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote,
Jesus son of Joseph from Nazareth."
Nathanael said to him,
"Can anything good come out of Nazareth?"
Philip said to him, "Come and see."
When Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him,
he said of him, "Here is truly an Israelite in whom there is no deceit!"
Nathanael asked him,
"Where did you get to know me?"
Jesus answered, "I saw you under the fig tree before Philip called you."
Nathanael replied,
"Rabbi, you are the Son of God!
You are the King of Israel!"
Jesus answered,
"Do you believe because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree?
You will see greater things than these."
And he said to him, "Very truly,
I tell you, you will see heaven opened
and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man."
12 January 2021
As we are in Lockdown at the moment the Sunday School is not meeting, but the learning goes on! The team of Sunday School leaders prepare work for the children to do and parents and grandparents have been helping and encouraging the youngsters with the tasks.
Here are some pictures of the work underway and a lovely picture of John the Baptist baptising Our Lord.
Many thanks to all the team and all the youngsters and their families for keeping going during the pandemic!
The Sunday School will be sharing more of their activities with us in weeks to come!
10 January 2021
THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK’ FROM THE REVEREND STEPHEN GUISE, PRIEST IN CHARGE – SUNDAY, 10 JANUARY, THE BAPTISM OF THE LORD
Piero della Francesca, ‘The Baptism of Christ’, National Gallery, London
Dear Friends
We have now reached the second week of Epiphany. ‘Epiphany’, of course, means ‘manifestation’ – in this case, the manifestation of Christ’s glory - and the theologically rich and complex themes of this time of year are explored through three discrete but interlinked episodes from the Gospels. On the first Sunday of Epiphany we tend to focus on the visit of the Magi to the child Jesus, and the presentation of their gifts. Today, we join with other Christian churches in reflecting upon the manifestation of Christ ‘in Jordan’s stream’ – ie at this baptism, when his divine Sonship is revealed. Subsequently, we shall be celebrating the way in which Christ’s glory was first disclosed to his disciples at the miracle of the transformation of water into wine during the wedding feast at Cana – a pivotal moment, as recounted in the Gospel of John, in which his disciples began to ‘believe in him’.
All three manifestations are covered in the Sundays of Epiphany-tide, which continues until the Feast of the Presentation at Candlemass, and all three include the imperative for us, as Christian disciples, not only to believe, but also to obey the Lord’s call to spread the word – to evangelize, in other words. This is something which we Anglicans can be hesitant about, but we can, at least, recognize situations when a ‘word in season’ could help others to make a step towards their own discipleship. Of course, this is not easy during the current lockdown situation, but I can’t help thinking that there are many ‘out there’ who might be just waiting for us to share the joy and hope we derive, during dark times such as these, from being followers of Christ.
A little later this month, between 18 and 25 January, we shall be observing the week of prayer for Christian unity, during which the Collect for the Confession of St Peter is often used. The Collect recalls the incident at Caesarea Philippi when Peter was inspired to confess Jesus as the Son of God (Matthew 16:13-20) and perhaps helps us to reflect upon our own role, as disciples, in mission and evangelism:-
‘Almighty God, who inspired your Apostle Saint Peter to confess Jesus as Christ and Son of the living God: build up your Church upon this rock, that in unity and peace it may proclaim one truth and follow one Lord, your Son our Saviour, Jesus Christ, who is alive and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
Fr Stephen
Collect
Eternal Father,
who at the baptism of Jesus
revealed him to be your son,
annointing him with the Holy Spirit:
grant to us, who are born again by water and the Spirit,
that we may be faithful to our calling
as your adopted children;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive with you, in the unityof the Holy Spirit,
one Gos, now and forever.
Amen
Acts 19:1-7
A reading from the Acts of the Apostles.
While Apollos was in Corinth,
Paul passed through the interior regions and came to Ephesus,
where he found some disciples.
He said to them,
"Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you became believers?"
They replied, "No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit."
Then he said, "Into what then were you baptized?"
They answered, "Into John's baptism."
Paul said, "John baptized with the baptism of repentance,
telling the people to believe in the one who was to come after him,
that is, in Jesus."
On hearing this,
they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.
When Paul had laid his hands on them,
the Holy Spirit came upon them,
and they spoke in tongues and prophesied—
altogether there were about twelve of them.
Mark 1:4-11
Hear the gospel o our Lord Jesus Christ according to Mark.
John the baptizer appeared in the wilderness,
proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.
And people from the whole Judean countryside
and all the people of Jerusalem were going out to him,
and were baptized by him in the river Jordan,
confessing their sins.
Now John was clothed with camel's hair,
with a leather belt around his waist,
and he ate locusts and wild honey.
He proclaimed,
"The one who is more powerful than I is coming after me;
I am not worthy to stoop down
and untie the thong of his sandals.
I have baptized you with water;
but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit."
In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee
and was baptized by John in the Jordan.
And just as he was coming up out of the water,
he saw the heavens torn apart
and the Spirit descending like a dove on him.
And a voice came from heaven,
"You are my Son, the Beloved;
with you I am well pleased."
03 January 2021
This sunday we had a Family Eucharistic, at which we celebrated the Epiphany. We would normally have a procession of the Maji by the sunday school children, but this was not allowed with Covid 19 restrictions, and Mrs Field gave a talk instead of the children. The celebrant was Father Roger as Father Stephen is shielding. We had no choir but Joanna chose some lovely recorded mudic for us.
As it now transpires this is the last service we can hold for the time being. We pray that every one can keep safe and healthy in these terrible times. We will continue to post the set readings for each week, and any news that we have. God Bless every one and we look forward to every one being vaccinated and safe from the Corona virus.
Matthew 2:1-12
Hear the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Matthew.
In the time of King Herod,
after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea,
wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, asking,
"Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews?
For we observed his star at its rising,
and have come to pay him homage."
When King Herod heard this, he was frightened,
and all Jerusalem with him;
and calling together
all the chief priests and scribes of the people,
he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born.
They told him, "In Bethlehem of Judea;
for so it has been written by the prophet:
"And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
for from you shall come a ruler
who is to shepherd my people Israel.' "
Then Herod secretly called for the wise men
and learned from them the exact time
when the star had appeared.
Then he sent them to Bethlehem, saying,
"Go and search diligently for the child;
and when you have found him,
bring me word so that I may also go and pay him homage."
When they had heard the king, they set out;
and there, ahead of them,
went the star that they had seen at its rising,
until it stopped over the place where the child was.
When they saw that the star had stopped,
they were overwhelmed with joy.
On entering the house,
they saw the child with Mary his mother;
and they knelt down and paid him homage.
Then, opening their treasure chests,
they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod,
they left for their own country by another road.
27 December 2020
This morning we celebrated a Eucharist for the feast of St John the Evangelist, and the celebrant was Father Roger. This was a said service, as the choir is not in session until after the new year. After being battered through the night by storm Bella, it was a clear cold winters day and the service was a moment of calm after the wild weather. We were not entirely without music, as Joanna played a recessional piece at the end of the service.
 |
| Visitors from a strange land are approaching the Manger |
Fr Roger's address
St John’s Day
The feast of St John the Apostle and Evangelist, who – like some other worthies - is honoured with a day close to Christmas. Jesus came into a difficult world. Straight after Christmas we remember Stephen the first Christian martyr. Tomorrow, the babies Herod murdered, and baby Jesus’ escape to Egypt. Archbishop Becket got murdered on 29th. Immediately after Christmas Day we are reminded of uneasy realities.
Today we are thinking of John the fisherman, one of Jesus’ 12 apostles, the brother of James, and of our sophisticated John’s Gospel. That is complex and well-organised. Published perhaps 60,70,80 years after the resurrection, apparently having been developed and refined by an ongoing group of followers. The gospel is built around seven ‘signs’ – significant actions of Jesus – which point to his stature – things like changing water to wine, feeding 5000, raising Lazarus. There are also 7 prominent ‘I am’ sayings. I am the true vine. I am the good shepherd, and so on. Sayings made weighty because ‘I am’ was the name of God himself given to Moses long ago. The followers of John who finalised the Gospel were reflective and well-organised, and would doubtless hope our church would be too, and united. For it is in John’s Gospel, chapter 17, that Jesus prays so movingly, and at length, on the night before he dies, for the unity of his followers. Maybe Church organisation and unity are the uneasy themes that St John will point us to today.
So often people might focus on what they would like their local church to be like, or what it will be convenient and possible for their local church to do. But the church is not ‘theirs’, and not merely something parochial. it is the household of God. Indeed, we are only allowed to meet here during the pandemic because we are not a normal household, and not just a social club. Our calling is not to do our own thing, but to be a genuine local manifestation of the whole wider church, preferably at its best, looking to God and to what he seems to want of us! Things which might not appear comfortable, or easy to achieve, or to our liking. The whole church will include especially the ancient churches, Orthodox and Roman, besides the strong points of the many offshoots. One thing we usefully do now, is to use the same Sunday readings as many other churches, week by week, and the same calendar and festivals as much of the wider church. And we should do that with a sense of discipline and commitment, to keep in step, and not mess about with those things too casually at parish level.
As for our Anglican part of the whole Church, the best model for that, I believe, is one which has never been made very official, but which seems right. The model of a rope made of three strands: Scripture, Tradition and Reason. In a rope, the three strands have to work seriously together in a balanced way. Scripture, Tradition and Reason.
Firstly, Scripture, which must always have a central place. But how we achieve that is not always clear. Some will want weird and wonderful interpretations of the Scriptures, and some will want virtually no interpretation, taking things too literally. “It says here in plain English”, - never mind that it is actually written by ancient people living far away, with different cultures and no plain English, but rather in various styles of Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek. “No need to study all that stuff,” some think, “we know what it says.” That is how the creationists are, especially in America, picking a quite inappropriate fight with decent science, concerning evolution.
Secndly,Tradition. That is something serious. Not simply, ‘we’ve a wonderful tradition here, we clean the church on the second Wednesday of the month at 5.30 and then eat cup cakes’. Christian tradition is more serious. It’s about what’s been handed on to us from earlier centuries, the approaches which God seems to have led his people into, over many years. Things like having sacraments, bishops, priests and deacons, clergy vestments attending to the Bible together - celebrating the Eucharist as a priority on a Sunday, and doing it in certain ways. We are under an obligation to take tradition of that sort very seriously. But, the question is, how do we best do that?
The conservative catholic Anglicans tend to say, something like, ‘whatever happened in the 3rd century is ‘it’’. Nothing can ever change. So women priests and bishops can never be. Others will say, we have a living
God, and the very Bible promises that God’s Spirit will lead his people to new things in new days. Tradition is something living which will gradually evolve under the living God. Others seem to suggest that we need not bother very much with the old ways at all. Some evangelical groups have lively services but never a Eucharist. I’ve known an Anglican Church not always bother with a gospel reading at the Eucharist. Parts of the Church do, surely, treat central parts of our tradition too lightly.
Scripture, Tradition and Reason. Reason. God gave us brains, it seems rude not to use them in his service. Use our brains together, not least about how we should best use Scripture, and how we should best be true to tradition.
Painfully, the C of E has effectively splintered into disparate groups – on one side, conservative Catholics, strong in this part of the country, like Bishops Martin and Will, and our Archdeacon, and on the other hand, there are conservative evangelicals, like the last Vicar of Hunston. None of whom really seems to accept our numerous women clergy. The conservative Catholics don’t, because women aren’t in the most ancient tradition, and the conservative Evangelicals don’t because that doesn’t fit with their particular view of how the Bible should be read.
Then, beside the two conservative wings, we have a central group in the C of E, who do accept and include women priests and bishops. But the central group has its own spectrum, from a catholic end, good on tradition but not necessarily keen on Bible, to an evangelical end keen on Bible and probably weak on tradition. Bishop Ruth is on the Evangelical side of the centre. It works rather quaintly, and we might think, sadly. Conservative evangelicals will not be keen about an evangelical bishop, - if she is a woman, like Ruth. The conservative catholic end of our church will not be keen about a catholic-minded bishop - if she is a woman.
But if, like me, you are in the central group, you may feel that there are good and proper ways of embracing both bible and tradition. Without that, our very many female clergy remain unacceptable to large conservative groups, and will feel unwelcome inside many parish churches, as will some male clergy like me, who support them. That is an issue: I can try to contribute here only because Fr Stephen is friendly and tolerant, even though we have different stances.
Our Church’s unity has been concerning for a long while. Our Archbishops, who should surely be the centre of our unity, oddly, no longer ordain our new bishops, many of whom would not want them involved. New bishops, now, are ordained by three bishops of their own tribe within our Church, so that the separate tribes can continue, separately. That is our official system, that we’re supposed to commit to, but is it really the best that can be done about unity and love? I suspect that those who finally produced John’s Gospel would have things to say to us about it! Not to mention he whose life inspired the gospel.
1 John 1
A reading from the first letter of John.
We declare to you what was from the beginning,
what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes,
what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the word of life—
this life was revealed,
and we have seen it and testify to it,
and declare to you the eternal life that was with the Father and was revealed to us—
we declare to you what we have seen and heard
so that you also may have fellowship with us;
and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ.
We are writing these things so that our joy may be complete.
This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you,
that God is light and in him there is no darkness at all.
If we say that we have fellowship with him while we are walking in darkness,
we lie and do not do what is true;
but if we walk in the light as he himself is in the light,
we have fellowship with one another,
and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.
If we say that we have no sin,
we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
If we confess our sins,
he who is faithful and just will forgive us our sins
and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
If we say that we have not sinned,
we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.
John 21:19b-end
Hear the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to John.
After this Jesus said to Peter, "Follow me."
Peter turned and saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following them;
he was the one who had reclined next to Jesus at the supper and had said,
"Lord, who is it that is going to betray you?"
When Peter saw him, he said to Jesus,
"Lord, what about him?"
Jesus said to him,
"If it is my will that he remain until I come,
what is that to you? Follow me!"
So the rumor spread in the community that this disciple would not die.
Yet Jesus did not say to him that he would not die, but,
"If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you?"
This is the disciple who is testifying to these things and has written them,
and we know that his testimony is true.
But there are also many other things that Jesus did;
if every one of them were written down,
I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written.
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