North Chippenham
Group of Churches
RECTOR’S
RAMBLINGS
LAST MONTH–THIS MONTH -
sorry, we did not manage to produce a copy of the February CLARION (due
to some technical difficulties) but I am glad we are back for March!
WHERE THERE IS NO VISION ..... -
Proverbs 29:18 is a verse of the Bible which was introduced to me when I
was working for CMS some 20 years ago.
Until then I was not aware of its existance. It is one of those verses that speaks
profound truth in both a religious and every other context. It talks of vision and the vision for a group
of people working together. Clearly it
has real implications for church life.
As you will probably know there are many different
translations of the Bible (from the original Hebrew & NT Greek and into
English) and you may be aware of a variety of versions of the Bible – often
know by their initials – KJB (King James Bible – also known as the Authorized
Bible); NIV (New International Version); CEV (Contemporary English Version);
GNB (Good News Bible); JB (Jerusalem Bible) and there are many more. Each one translates Proverbs 29:18 slightly
differently.
Where there is no vision .....the people perish
(KJB). Where there is no
vision......the people cast off restraint (NIV). Where there is no vision...the people get out
of hand (JB).
In February we took the theme of vision and using
this verse as a jumping off point to consider what vision God has given our
churches at this time. I am sure each
preacher and in each church in our Group different points were made. But, and of this I am sure, we know that
without vision we lose our way ('perish') and I know that if the leadership
does not demonstrate vision the church members can become restless ('get out of
hand'). And we would not want that! Would we?
My prayer is that the sermons helped us all to play
our part in shaping and living the vision God has for our Church life and
community at this time.
REV MIKE WATKINS
- as you might have noticed Mike
and family have arrived amongst us and are settling in well. It is great to have them here!
BACK TO CHURCH TRAINING - on
Saturday 28 March Mike Watkins will be leading people from the deanery in some
preparation for BACK TO CHURCH SUNDAY (27 Sept). It is at St Peter's Frogwell and lasts from
9.30-1.00 and is open to all. Please
come along and see how your church could get involved in this national mission
initiative.
CONFIRMATION
- will take place on Wednesday 6
May at 7.30pm at Box with both Bishop John Neale and Bishop Paul Kizito (of
Mukono, Uganda) which should be lovely.
If you are interested please talk to me.
The adult confirmation preparation dates are: Wed 11, Wed 18, Mon 23 March and Wed 1, Tues
28 April. Please put these dates in your
diary!
WORSHIP @ LANGLEY BURRELL - from
March we are moving the Holy Communion service to the later time of 10am. This means that all morning services at St
Peters will now be at 10am. And, also we
have a new (bright) service order for the other weeks – combing both
traditional and contemporary words which should be well appreciated and used!
NEW CHURCH WARDENS & PCC MEMBERS WANTED! - as
we come towards the annual meetings please think and pray about who we can
invite to stand for these important posts.
The AGM dates are:
Sunday 29 March 11.15am Langley Burrell
Monday 30 March 7.30pm
Kington St Michael
Monday 20 April 7.30pm St Pauls with Langley Burrell
Wed 22 April 7.15pm Hardenhuish
and all take place in the churches. Please come and be part of what your church is
doing!
ST PAUL'S GENDER BALANCE -
sitting at a recent PCC meeting (11 men & one lady) and thinking
about who leads our worship and music (ie nearly all men) and then who leads
our work with children and youth (ie nearly all women) I have realised we have
a lack of balance and are in danger in stereotyping who does what in
church. I am concerned about this but am
unsure what solution there is at the moment.
Any ideas? Please help me (us!)
think about what needs to be done!
DIOCESAN NEWS - can now be found on the internet with interesting news from around the Diocese of Bristol on www.bristol.anglican.org/news/local
SERVICE TIMES AT ST PAULS - after some discussion and prayer it looks
likely we shall keep the 8.30am and 10.00am service times for Sunday mornings
as they are!
WWW.WelcomeWorshipWholeness
- also at St Pauls it looks like
we are going to change what we call our services – no longer Come &
Worship, Morning Praise and Holy Communion ...but rather focus on having
services of Welcome (eg at festivals, Back to Church Sunday, with guests, for
baptisms etc) or Worship either in Song or Word (with greater emphasis on
either singing or listening to preaching and teaching) or Wholeness (services
with Communion, prayer ministry, anointing with oil etc). Watch this space but I think this could be a
really helpful way for us to focus on the main purpose of each service – so
that we don't try to do everything in every service. Comments, discussion and thoughts would be
most appreciated!
FAIRTRADE SUNDAY
- on Sunday 1 March at St Paul's
church we are going to celebrate and mark the work of FAIRTRADE and so the
service at 10am will focus on this important issue and then there will be a
Lunch together in the Hall. It's for
everyone!
GROUP SERVICE - is
on Sunday 1 March at 6.30pm at St Pauls.
All welcome!
OPEN TO GOD -
we are wanting to change the format and find a way of being open to God
...but the time will be 7pm on Sunday 15 March.
Come along!
LENT STARTS
- soon! In fact it was on Wed 25 February with Ash
Wednesday. What are you going to do
(give up?) for Lent this year? We are
holding evening worship (Compline) on Tuesdays
3,17 & 24 March at 7.30pm at Hardenhuish church. Do come and experience the quiet and peace.
HOLY WEEK
- will see a 24 HOURS OF PRAYER
(from 10am on Tuesday 7 to 10am Wednesday 8 April) at St Pauls – details will
follow so you can sign up and join in and we will hold special services on
Maundy Thursday and Good Friday.
THEMES
& READINGS - will be as follows at the morning services
during March
1 A testing time Matthew 4:1-11
FAIRTRADE
Sunday (St Pauls)
8 An hospitable church! Hebrews 13:1-3
15 A welcoming church! Mark 10:13-16
22 Mothering Sunday (10.30am) Exodus
2:1-10
29 Jesus' passion Mark 14:1-15:47
MIDWEEK BIBLE READINGS - at our midweek services of Holy Communion (10am on Wednesdays at St Pauls – and 10am Thursdays at Kington St Michael) we are starting a series called PASSOVER & DELIVERANCE.
March 4&5 Passover instructions Exodus 12:1-13
March 11&12 Future passovers Exodus 12:14-28
March 18&19 Israelites escape Exodus 12:29-42
March 25&26 Pharoah's pusuit Exodus 13:17-14:12
PRAYER FOR THE MONTH – is more a statement of our intent to share our lives, joys and sorrows in the context of the Gospel, aware of the part we play and of God's role in it all.
The cross, we will take it.
The bread, we will break it.
The pain, we will bear it.
The joy, we will share it.
The Gospel, we will live it.
The love, we will give it.
The light, we will cherish it.
The darkness, God shall perish it.
SIMON TYNDALL