May 2012

Dear Friends

I’m confused – not an unusual occurrence, I hear you cry, but when I tell you it’s caused by the government you might sympathise.

I was touched by David Cameron’s Easter message. “This is a special time of year”, he began. “This is the time when, as Christians, we remember the life, sacrifice and living legacy of Christ. The New Testament tells us so much about the character of Jesus; a man of incomparable compassion, generosity grade, humility and love. These are values that Jesus embraced, and I believe these are values people of any faith, or no faith, can also share in, and admire. It is values like these that make our country what it is; tolerant, generous and caring”, he goes on. “In the book of Luke, we are told that Jesus said, ‘Do to others as you would have them do to you.’ – advice that when followed, makes for a happier, and better society.” Hurray, I do believe he’s got it.

On another occasion he said that he thought a ‘Christian’ fight back’ was taking place on several fronts, referring to the controversies over prayers at Council meetings and people wearing crosses at work. He thinks it a good thing that Christians are fighting back. It all seemed sensible. Now, don’t worry, I’m not getting all political and it certainly doesn’t mean that I think everything he says is sensible, but on this occasion he was talking about Christianity and its relationship with society, and this I am passionate about.

It does feel sometimes that there is an assault on Christianity; that there are certain elements that want to silence us. So this was all very helpful. At least it would have been if a couple of days later one of his own ministers hadn’t sabotaged his efforts when she declared, quite forcefully, that Christians do not automatically have the right to wear a cross at work and if their employer says they can’t they will just have to remove it or find another job. Lib Dem equalities Minister Lynne Featherstone says that Christians must be content to keep their religion for their own time. The reason for this ruling, which is being challenged in the European Court for Human Rights, is that it may cause offence to non-Christians.

Are we offended by a Muslim woman wearing a headscarf, or a Hindu woman’s bangles or a Sikh’s turban? No we are not, and in conversations with people of all groups, they aren’t concerned about us wearing a cross either. What is this all about? Is it a veiled attempt by atheists to keep all religions in the background, hoping to extinguish them completely?

As a young man said on the news this morning, “I wear the cross as a symbol that says I’m here for you if you want me to be.” There has been a Christian ‘fight back’ needless to say. There is a new campaign in the pipeline called ‘Not ashamed of the Cross’ and a Roman Catholic cardinal used his Easter address to encourage Christians to wear a symbol of their faith boldly and obviously. Rohan Williams said the other day that “the Anglican Church is bogged down in controversy. Should there be gay marriage. Or not; should women be Bishops, or not?” We all need to get back to the real message of Christianity and ditch the things that feed the atheist abuse of our faith.

God Bless

Pam

The Spring Fair is on Saturday 5 May, 10.30am – 2.30pm. There will be the following stalls:

• white elephant
• plants
• preserves
• pick-a-straw
• refreshments
• cakes
• lunches

and we need to fill them!
Any items gratefully received in advance. Cakes can be received on the evening of Friday 4 May between 6.30 and 10pm, or on the morning of Saturday 5 May.

Thank you.

The Girls’ And Boys’ Brigades are collecting Sainsburys Active Kids and Tesco Schools and Clubs vouchers. If you shop in either place, please don’t say no to the vouchers – collect them and put them in the boxes in the front vestibule and back hallway at Wesley Hall!

Thank you.

Garden update

Well here we are again, into the second full year of the Memorial Garden project. I hope you all had a good winter and didn’t feel the cold too much.

It was good to see the snowdrops back in late January/early February. They are always the first sign that the long hard winter is at long last coming to an end.

I have already been back doing the weeding & will soon be preparing the garden for the summer.

If anyone would like to donate anything towards the upkeep and maintenance of the Memorial Garden, please see me. This needn’t be money, but could be compost, plants, time or second hand tools, all of which could be useful at various times of the year.

[Steven]

Easter services

Wesley Hall welcomes everyone for the series of Easter Services, which are held in conjunction with our sister church at Forest Hill. Rev. Pam Clews will be leading all the services this year.

This year the Maundy Thursday service (5 April) will be held at Forest Hill Church at 8.00pm.

The next day, Good Friday (6 April), the service will be held at Wesley Hall, starting at 10.30am.

The celebratory Easter Sunday service (8 April) begins at 9.30am at Wesley Hall and is a service of Holy Communion, followed by a fellowship breakfast.

You can also find all these details on the online calendar.

April 2012

Dear Friends 

As we’ve travelled through Lent the days have been lengthening and the sun has been strengthening. The weather has been beautiful, the spring flowers are blooming, the birds are singing and once again we can venture out and enjoy the warmth and walk in the light. As buds burst into new leaf we find ourselves caught up in, and a part of, this newness of life and feeling of a world restored. The darkness and cold is receding and the light is returning. The circle of life is turning and creation is responding powerfully.

We move towards the great celebration of Easter and the promise that life is eternal and hope is re-awakened. Personally I would hate to live in perpetual winter – like in C.S Lewis’ book ‘The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe’ where it is always winter but never Christmas. There is something very symbolic about spring isn’t there? Without spring we would remain in the darkness of winter. Without the resurrection we would remain in the hopeless darkness of Good Friday. It is a sign that we are to seek out God and make room in our lives for his Spirit. We need God’s presence and power – without which we would perish.

At Easter there is a turning point for all humankind, for a new order begins. God has conquered the power of death and sin, we are set free from their captivity. Light shines in the darkness and in Christ we are offered life eternal. This should be a season of rejoicing.

Gerard Manley Hopkins wrote ‘Let him Easter in us, be a dayspring to the dimness of us’. We should truly take to heart the words of St Augustine: ‘We are Easter people: Alleluia is our song.’ The stone has been moved away and the light of hope shines in resurrection.

Sometimes our lives can be difficult and our outlook dark and bleak. We can get caught up in our inner world where we can find pain and sadness. It’s hard to escape from our inner selves and look outside and beyond; it can be like a prison. But that is what the life story of Jesus of Nazareth shows us – it involves us in a bigger picture, a much bigger picture. It takes us out of ourselves and encourages us to believe that there is light at the end of the tunnel, that there is hope, that things can change in unexpected ways and that we are not alone – even in the tunnel.

We approach our Easter Celebrations via a route that seems bleak and unrelenting and yet on Easter morning we are faced with something so surprising and life giving that hope is re-awakened. The crown of thorns is transformed and adorns the head of the Son of God, the Lord of life, the Lord of peace, and the Lord of love (see hymn 255: Crown him with many crowns) There are many things which we don’t understand intellectually but that doesn’t mean we can’t know them in our hearts. We may never know how it happened on that morning so long ago but we can know that it did happened and take heart.

I look forward to sharing Easter with you this year – but don’t forget that our Easter Morning Celebration service starts at 9.30am! (all Easter service details are on the online calendar)

Shalom my friends.

With love,

Pam

March 2012

Dear Friends,

The gap between Christmas and Lent never seems to be very long: we barely have time to get over our Christmas celebrations before we are preparing for Lent and Easter. There’s hardly time to draw breath.

The church calendar guides us gently through the various phases of the Christian year. Advent, Christmas, Lent, Easter and Pentecost are all important points in the year and they gradually building up the Christian story on which our faith is based.

We are firmly in the season of Lent. The Mardi Gras is behind us and we’re encouraged to remember, and enter into another phase of the story. This time is a gift. It gives us the opportunity to reflect on life and its realities as we leave the vulnerable baby firmly behind in the stable and see Jesus fully involved in the human struggle where there is no hiding place. The drama is played out in full view.

Lent encourages us to think about our lives realistically. Not something we necessarily enjoy because it involves being honest about ourselves. We know we aren’t perfect (if we’re lucky) and Paul makes it clear when he reminds us that ‘all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God’. These words surely put us all in the same boat, but, rather than beating ourselves up over our failings Lent encourages us to resolve to put things right and turn our lives round, accepting that God forgives even if we find it difficult.

One of my favourite New Testament stories is that of the women caught in adultery. There is no doubt that she was guilty as she was ‘caught in the act’. The powers that be decided to use her as a test case. They desperately wanted to catch Jesus out and to gather evidence against him, so they brought her to him, dragging her along the dusty road and flinging her on the floor of the temple before Jesus. “What do you say about this?” they asked him. Jesus knew that the Law of Moses required her to be stoned and yet he took his time before answering. Eventually he looked up at them. He didn’t deny the teachings of Moses instead he said, “Let anyone who has committed no sin cast the first stone.” These men must have been stunned as Jesus lowered his head once more. Gradually one by one, the oldest first, they2 sloped off and by the time Jesus lifted his head again he and the woman were alone. Where are they?” He asked her, “is there no one left to condemn you? Then neither will I. Go, but don’t do it again.”

Jesus was realistic about human nature, however, the Jewish leaders in their zealous righteousness had forgotten that they too were human – they hadn’t understood this Rabbi.

Here is the man who as he hung on the cross, taking all the destructive forces that the human race could throw at him, was honestly able to pray, “Father forgive them for they know not what they do”. He forgave us and he died that we might be reconciled with the God who loves us. The question is, should we then not forgive ourselves and others? Lent gives us a chance to lay down those painful, damaged parts of ourselves at the foot of the cross and resolve not to pick them up again.

This year we started Lent with a reflective Ash Wednesday Communion on 22 February. This was a service of preparation and we looked again at the story of the woman caught in adultery. There was also the opportunity to be anointed with ash from last years palm crosses.

Have you thought about coming to the midweek service in Holy Week? It’s difficult to appreciate the full impact of Easter Morning if you haven’t been in the upper room on Maundy Thursday (this happens at Forest Hill Church) or stood at the foot of the cross on Good Friday. I invite you to ‘come and see that the Lord is good’.

May God Bless you richly,
Pam