Vicar's Letter

November 2013

Dear Friends

November, when the clocks have gone back is always rather a gloomy month. December should, of course, be even gloomier, but the Christmas festivities actually mean that it isn't. The Christian church does not help the November mood by holding three commemorations of the dead in the first two weeks of the month. These are All Saints Day (on the 1st), All Souls Day (on the 2nd) and Remembrance Sunday (on the 11th).

All Saints Day (November 1), which is the day to recall the many great Christians of the past, both known and unknown. Just as a country owes a debt to those prepared to fight for it, so does a church owe remembrance to the men and women who have given their lives – either literally or in the sense of a life's choice – for Christ. All Saints Day is not intended at all as a sad occasion. A priest wears white or gold then, the colours of celebration.

All Souls Day (which is now paired with All Saints Day,) is the day when we remember all those we have loved who have died and are now in Heaven. It originally was celebrated in the Easter season, around Pentecost Sunday,

October 2013

[There was no vicars letter for October, instead this was an article  from Bible Society]

BE PART OF THE BIBLE STORY IN CHINA


27th October is Bible Sunday, and this year the focus is on Bibles for China..


Have you heard the amazing story of the Bible in China? How it’s gone from being a banned book to a bestseller? How it’s part of incredible Church growth, where around a million Chinese people come to faith every year?


And did you know that YOU – and your church – can be part of the story?
Bible Sunday, organised by Bible Society, is an annual opportunity to celebrate the blessing of owning and reading your own Bible. This year, it’s also a time to join the amazing story in China – by helping provide Bibles to

September 2013

A SPIRITUAL message

 

A FEW THOUGHTS ABOUT LOVE

 

I want to write a short piece about LOVE and the Christian faith.  Obviously, there is so much to say, I can only scratch the surface and be very selective in what I cover.

 

We are aware of a few different, major definitions of love, which highlight very different aspects of it; eg, sexual love, platonic love, a generalized love for all things ‘out there’.  We can love other people, animals, objects, experiences, art, films, music, etc.

 

The Bible has whole chapters devoted to love – Paul’s 1st Epistle to the Corinthians ch.13, and then John’s 1st Epistle ch.4.  Paul defines love – ‘love is patient; love is kind, it is not proud’ (v4).  ‘Love never fails’ (v8).  Years ago, I went to the funeral of

August 2013

Dear Friends

As the heat wave continues into the start of the school holidays, there will be many parents and children looking forward to the enjoyment of this fine weather.

Although welcomed by many people holidaying, the hot weather will, I am sure, bring with it its problems and challenges. Preparations are currently being made for

July 2013

A SPIRITUAL MESSAGE


[Our message for July has been written by Ann Collier. I would like to thank Ann for taking time and writing this article for us all to share]


Dear Friends,


I was honoured when Ruth asked me if I would write an article about Christian Aid for the Church Magazine. However I feel I should start with an apology. I normally put a little article into the May magazine, because, as you all know by now, Christian Aid Week is always the second week in May. By the way, is has been the second week in May long before any other charities even thought of having a specific week for collecting for their charity; so if it clashes with other charities’ weeks it is not the fault of Christian Aid! Unfortunately April had slipped by before I realised I had forgotten my reminder in the magazine. It therefore seems a bit passé to say much about Christian Aid except to thank-you all very much for your generosity and to thank, in particular, my dedicated band of collectors who diligently endeavour to collect from every house in the Parish. If by any chance your envelope has not been collected please could you pass it on to a church member who will make sure I will get it. It is difficult in our very busy world to catch people in their homes, so please forgive us if we have called when you were out!


We can however relate the spirit of Christian Aid to our own Parish. When we give to Christian Aid we give unconditionally and in faith and trust. We give to make other people’s lives better. We give to make others happier and joyful in their improved situations. As a church, which is of course a body of Christian people, we go to church (the building) to

June 2013

A SPIRITUAL MESSAGE

 

[For the period of our interregnum, we have a list of various people to write our leading article.  I trust you will find the articles interesting and uplifting.  Our first article is from Rev Andy Oatridge – the Curate of St John’s Chapeltown)

 

Dear Friends,

 

Change: an opportunity to clarify and clear out ...

 

As I write this article, I look out on the yellow skip parked on our drive and contemplate, again, the ups and downs of moving house!  We arrived at the vicarage three years ago and fell in love with this lovely village.  The kids settled in a great school, we have made some lovely friends and the garden centre has been a regular highlight.

 

Sadly my time is up, and we're off, not to serve in a parish, but to develop the charity work of ACORNCAMPS running teenage camps in Hungary with local churches.  The vision is exciting, the salary

May 2013

Dear Friends,

 

It is very difficult to write a letter for this magazine, knowing that it will be my last. What to say? I do not want to give a long list of 'thank yous' for the same reason that I never do this at church annual meetings, the fear (not misplaced!) that I will omit someone who may therefore feel offended. I don't want to depart having caused upset.

 

So let me content myself with a few remarks about the strengths and weaknesses of our parish. It is easy to forget, except for the few who worship there, that there are two churches in Wentworth parish, Holy Trinity of course, but also Harley Mission church. A priest who I have invited to take a service there hit it on the head when he said, “they always look after the children there”. This is Harley's

April 2013

Dear Friends,
 
Space needs to be given first to reporting back on matters raised in the last issue.  We have now begun the Start! Course as part of confirmation preparation and are grateful to Simon Brown for providing some fresh input for this. Stephen Oxer is energetically collecting names for the church Electoral Roll; a final reminder, please, that this year your entry does not 'roll over', but you need to sign a form afresh.
 
We held the Easter Messy Church meeting in school, as planned, and around 30 children attended most or all of it. They obviously enjoyed themselves and I hope both they and their parents went away knowing a little more about what happened to Jesus in Holy Week and at Easter. The church cannot, in future, rely on the old model of encouraging people 'to' church (though that does still work for some), but has also bring church 'out' in new and innovative ways. This particular event could not have happened without the enthusiastic participation of many church people, young and old, who provided lots of craft activities and a splendid tea.  I do hope someone might pick up this particular idea and take it forward for the future.
 
I am most grateful to Vanessa Coohill (Isaac's mother might help to place her for you) for offering to write up the marriage registers. Not an  exciting task, but an essential one, and if done well a beautifully inscribed certificate is a lovely souvenir of their big day for the couple concerned.
 
It is nice to be able to report that Matthew Wiles who, amongst other things supervises our

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