Andrewes' Articulations

This blog, in future...

2010-12-19T13:32:00.002Z

I shall be moving away from my work as parish priest to Rawreth at the end of January 2011. My hope is, nonetheless, that this blog may continue to serve as a useful reference guide to a number of parish-related matters and may, in due time, be re-adopted by another blogger in service of the mission of God in this place.

Watch this space!

the journey home: Ceasing blogging...

2010-12-19T13:31:00.000Z

the journey home: Ceasing blogging...: "I have always been a very occasional - and rather amateurish - blogger. So what follows is not of any earth-shattering consequence, but w..."

Booking a Baptism at St Nick's...

2010-11-30T10:55:00.003Z

Baptisms will ordinarily take place at the Holy Communion service of worship on the FIRST SUNDAY of each month. The service begins at 10.00am and lasts for between 1 hour 15 minutes and 1 hour 30 minutes.

A booking form can be obtained from the back of church or by email request and should be returned to the Rector at your earliest opportunity (and certainly not less than a month before the date arranged for the Baptism).

Joy Roussell Stone exhibition of paintings

2010-11-03T09:57:00.009Z

It was a delight - during half-term week at the end of October - to see St Nicholas' church building made use of as an exhibition space.

Joy Roussell Stone is the now-retired former Head of Art at The Plume School in Maldon and it was a great privilege to see her paintings of subjects from the Holy Land, Essex and elsewhere, along with some striking studies of found driftwood and a powerful impression of the Grand Canyon.

I am grateful to her friend, former colleague, fellow artist and one-time resident of Rawreth, Mary Keeble, for these few photographs. I am also excited to be able to report that it was Mary who sculpted the small statue of our Patron, St Nicholas, which sits in a niche above our church entrance doorway. Latterly, dear St Nicholas has been missing his hands and the three bags of gold they held - Mary has graciously offered to re-sculpt these and re-attach them! She is thus holding the commission of the Rector and PCC to do just that!

We now hope to have further art exhibitions and events in our church building, after this little beginning. Our next plan may well be for some installation art - please watch this space!...

Exhibition of artwork at St Nicholas church Rawreth

2010-10-25T13:20:00.002+01:00

Throughout this half-term week - Monday 25 October until Saturday 30 October - St Nicholas' church building is serving as a gallery for the paintings of Joy Roussell Stone.

Visitors are welcome at any time. Refreshments may be available at some times.

Much of the work on display is available for sale.

Enjoy!

‘LOVE BADE ME WELCOME’ - presented by ‘Reflection’

2010-07-17T20:49:00.001+01:00

‘LOVE BADE ME WELCOME’
presented by ‘Reflection’

St Nicholas church, Rawreth - Sunday 18 July 2010, 6.00pm

Reading First letter of St John 4 : 16b (New Revised Standard Version)

Music Ubi Caritas (Words, trans from the Latin by James Quinn; Music, Dom Gregory Murray)

Reading First letter of St John 4 : 7-12 (NRSV)

Music Psalm 90 (Setting by Christopher Walker)

Readings St John’s Gospel 14 : 15-17 (New Revised Standard Version)
St John’s Gospel 15 : 9-12 ( “ “ “ “ )

Music If ye love me, keep my commandments (Setting by Thomas Tallis)

Reading The flowing light of the Godhead (Mechtild of Magdeburg)

Music My song is love unknown (Words, Samuel Crossman; Music, John Ireland)

Reading Love bade me welcome (George Herbert)

Music Come down, O Love divine (Words, Italian trans R Littledale; Music, R Vaughan Williams)

Reading The Kitchen (Tim Marks)

Music Enfold me in your Love (Words & music, Margaret Rizza)

Reading Abou Ben Adhem (Leigh Hunt)

Music I give to you a new commandment (Words, John 13 & Liber Usualis; Music, Peter Nardone)

Reading First letter of St Paul to the Corinthians 13 : 1-8a, 13 (Revised English Bible)

Music Let love be real (Words, Michael Forster; Music, Christopher Tambling)

Readings Excerpt on Marriage, from ‘The Prophet’ (Kahlil Gibran)
He wishes for the cloths of heaven (W B Yeats)

Music Träumerei (Dreaming) (Robert Schumann) - Piano solo

Reading How do I love thee? (Elizabeth Barrett Browning)

Music My love is like a red, red rose (Words, Robert Burns; Tune, 18th century?)

Readings Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day? (William Shakespeare)
A code poem for the French Resistance (Leo Marks)

Music O make me holy (Traditional spiritual)

Readings Summer (Spike Milligan)
In a Bath teashop (John Betjeman)

Music The Lark in the Clear Air (Traditional Irish) - Descant recorder & keyboard

Reading First Meeting (A S J Tessimond)

Music Ubi Caritas (Taizé chant; Music, Jacques Berthier)
May the Lord bless you (Words, adapted from Gaelic Blessing, & music : Margaret Rizza)

Reflections - a parish event this Sunday...

2010-07-13T20:10:00.000+01:00

REFLECTIONS
‘LOVE BADE ME WELCOME’
AN EVENING OF POETRY, SONG, MUSIC, TESTIMONY ABOUT THE NATURE OF LOVE, HUMAN AND DIVINE.
ST NICHOLAS CHURCH
SUNDAY 18 JULY 2010
6.00PM
DONATIONS ON THE DOOR – ALL WELCOME

Midsummer sermon series 2010

2010-07-13T20:01:00.002+01:00

Just a reminder that recordings of all of these sermons are available for download or podcast from our podbean site...

HOW (NOT) TO BE A DISCIPLE

A SERMON SERIES FOR MIDSUMMER 2010
ST NICHOLAS RAWRETH

JUNE 27
LUKE 9:51-62
HOW (NOT) TO ACCEPT JESUS

JULY 4
LUKE 10:1-11, 16-20
HOW (NOT) TO SPREAD THE GOOD NEWS

JULY 11
LUKE 10:25-37
HOW (NOT) TO INHERIT ETERNAL LIFE

JULY 18
LUKE 10:38-42
HOW (NOT) TO GROW IN FAITH

JULY 25
LUKE 11:1-13
HOW TO BE A DISCIPLE

stnicksrawreth » Trinity 1 - Whispering and declaring God in the natural environment…

2010-06-06T17:42:00.001+01:00

stnicksrawreth » Trinity 1 - Whispering and declaring God in the natural environment…

stnicksrawreth » Trinity Sunday - Whispering and declaring…

2010-06-06T17:42:00.000+01:00

stnicksrawreth » Trinity Sunday - Whispering and declaring…

Easter 7 - "Behold, I am coming soon!"

2010-05-16T21:36:00.001+01:00

This is the sixth (and final) of a series of six sermons for Eastertide 2010, drawing on the set readings from the Book of Revelation. The title of the series is “‘Behold, I make everything new!’”

[nb This sermon was delivered as part of our All-Age worship and is largely visual and participative in nature, so less intelligible as an audio podcast!]

Easter 6 - The New Jerusalem

2010-05-09T22:16:00.002+01:00

This is the fifth in a series of six sermons for Eastertide 2010, drawing on the set readings from the Book of Revelation.

The title of the series is “‘Behold, I make everything new!’”

Easter 5 - A new heaven and a new earth

2010-05-05T23:15:00.000+01:00

This is the fourth of a series of six sermons for Eastertide 2010, drawing on the set readings from the Book of Revelation.

The title of the series is “‘Behold, I make everything new!’”

Bradwell Faith in Action: GENERAL ELECTION RESOURCES LINKS REFLECT, PRAY, ACT, VOTE

2010-04-30T13:56:00.000+01:00

Bradwell Faith in Action: GENERAL ELECTION RESOURCES LINKS REFLECT, PRAY, ACT, VOTE

Holy Baptism (Christening) Policy

2010-04-29T21:24:00.001+01:00

What is the Policy?

This policy is written in the light of Canon Law and the 39 Articles of Religion
B1 of Conformity of Worship
B21 of Holy Baptism
B22 of the Baptism of Infants
B23 of God parents and Sponsors
B24 of the Baptism of such as are of riper years.
B25 of the Sign of the Cross in baptism
Article XXVII of Baptism

This policy is open to all people who approach the Parish for Holy Baptism and gives guidance to the administration of the sacrament of Baptism within the Parish Church.

What does the policy tell us about God and our relationship with God?

We are all in a relationship with God. God, as Father, is the One who creates and sustains us. God, as Son, is the One who redeems and wins the victory for us, through the life, death, Resurrection and Ascension of Our Lord Jesus Christ. God, as Holy Spirit, lives with us, as individuals and as part of the community of God’s whole family.
Holy Baptism makes a visible beginning of this journeying into our relationship with God following the way of Christ in the power of the Spirit. Holy Baptism is a celebration of the grace of God at that moment in time.

What does the policy tell us about the Church?

The Church exists to fulfil the command of Our Lord Jesus Christ to “go and make disciples of all the nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 28:19) The Church in its local presence is here to welcome and serve all people in the local community. All people have a place in the Church and Holy Baptism is a sign of that place.

How is the policy put into practice?

• Enquirers after Holy Baptism for themselves or their children are encouraged to speak with the Parish priest, in the first instance.
• Baptisms will ordinarily take place within the context of the main Sunday act of worship on the first Sunday of each month.
• Exceptions to the above rule will be at the discretion of the Parish priest, and made for pastoral reasons.
• The offering of dates for occasions of Holy Baptism will be made in an attempt to meet enquirers’ legitimate preferences, but will, in the final analysis, be at the discretion of the Parish priest, for pastoral reasons.
• If those seeking Holy Baptism do not live within the parish - and they (or their parents) are not on the Electoral Roll of the parish - the goodwill of the minister of the parish in which they reside will be sought.
• Discretion is given to the clergy to welcome the newly-Baptised into the church at the main Sunday worship if the Baptism does take place in an afternoon service.
• The Common Worship Baptism Service will be used.
• All Godparents to young children being Baptised must be Baptised themselves and, ideally, should be Confirmed also, if Baptised as young children. It is perfectly possible for a potential Godparent to choose to be Baptised themselves, alongside their Godchild, within the same rite.
• No monetary charge will be made for Holy Baptism, but encouragement will be given to all participating in the rite to make generous and meaningful gifts towards the ministry of God in this Parish.

Easter 4 - A great multitude of martyrs

2010-04-25T22:01:00.004+01:00

This is the third of a series of six sermons for Eastertide 2010, drawing on the set readings from the Book of Revelation.

The title of the series is “‘Behold, I make everything new!’”

Easter 3 - The Worship of Heaven

2010-04-19T15:08:00.000+01:00

This is the second in a series of six sermons for Eastertide 2010, drawing on the set readings from the Book of Revelation.

The title of the series is “‘Behold, I make everything new!’”

[The preacher for this sermon is Pat Clarke, Churchwarden of St Nick’s, and at present an independent student with St Mellitus College, pursuing a BA (Hons) study in Contextual Theology.]

Easter 2 sermon - Building the Kingdom

2010-04-11T22:56:00.003+01:00

This is the first in a series of six sermons for Eastertide 2010, drawing on the set readings from the Book of Revelation.

The title of the series is “‘Behold, I make everything new!’”

“BEHOLD, I MAKE ALL THINGS NEW!”

2010-04-07T09:12:00.000+01:00

EASTERTIDE SERMON SERIES

SUNDAY 11 APRIL
BUILDING THE KINGDOM

SUNDAY 18 APRIL
THE WORSHIP OF HEAVEN

SUNDAY 25 APRIL
A GREAT MULTITUDE OF MARTYRS

SUNDAY 2 MAY
A NEW HEAVEN & A NEW EARTH

SUNDAY 9 MAY
THE NEW JERUSALEM

SUNDAY 16 MAY
“BEHOLD, I AM COMING SOON!”

ALL OF THESE SERMONS WILL BE PREACHED AT THE 10.00AM SERVICE OF WORSHIP ON THE GIVEN SUNDAY. COPIES WILL BE POSTED ON THE PARISH BLOG, FOR REFERENCE.
(DISCUSSIONS OF THE SERMONS ON THE BLOG WILL BE WELCOME)

ANDREWES’ ARTICULATIONS

HTTP://STNICKSRAWRETH.BLOGSPOT.COM/

Mozart's Requiem - performance in Rawreth

2010-03-15T22:04:00.003Z

Mozart’s Requiem

Performed by
The Eastwood Chorale accompanied by Glenys Penton

Wednesday 17th March
7.45 pm

THE PARISH CHURCH OF
ST NICHOLAS RAWRETH

The Rector’s thoughts for 2010… address to Annual Parochial Church Meeting

2010-02-19T11:33:00.001Z

Giving thanks for all that God has blessed us with in our common life during 2009, we take a few moments to hear fresh invitations of grace from Him for the present and future…

Visitors from the East came looking for Jesus in a palace but found him in a manger. They looked for him at the heart of privileges won through personal power but found him in a place of poverty and dispossession. The visitors from the East looked for a King according to their understanding of kingship but only found Jesus when they left that understanding of political power and rule behind to encounter a King whose every breath is service of his subjects.

The slogan of the Early Church was that Christ is Lord. This was a direct political challenge to the Roman Emperor, to the Caesars who were worshipped as gods and whose personal and political power extended across the known world. However, by saying that Christ was Lord, the Early Church was not seeking to set up Christ as an alternative Emperor instead they were seeking to say that there is a different conception of power, of kingship and of rule, exemplified in the loving service and sacrifice of Christ and standing in stark contrast to the selfish exercise of personal power exemplified in human rulers and empires. By living out the statement that Christ is Lord they were living in the truth of Jesus’ words when he stood in front of Pilate and said that his kingdom is not the kingdom of top-down power and control that Pilate exemplified.

Tom Wright, the Bishop of Durham, puts it like this:

“… the whole point of the Gospels is that the coming of God's kingdom on earth as in heaven is precisely not the imposition of an alien and dehumanizing tyranny, but rather the confrontation of alien and dehumanizing tyrannies with the news of a God — the God recognized in Jesus — who is radically different from them all, and whose inbreaking justice aims at rescuing and restoring genuine humanness.”

This is an understanding of politics, power and kingship that was lost, in part, for a large period of the history of the Church beginning with the adoption, by the Emperor Constantine, of Christianity as the religion of the Roman Empire. There were long periods of the history of the Church where Patriarchs and Popes held political power over large parts of the then known world and periods where alliances between Church and State gave Christianity huge power and influence within society. These periods of Church history are known as Christendom and we now live in a period after Christendom while often still remembering the final days of Christendom through which many of us have lived. Days when legislation was generally rooted in the Christian scriptures, the Church was the dominant and determining voice within our society, the nation was generally considered a “Christian” country, and levels of churchgoing were higher than now.

These changes have had increasingly significant implications for churches in this Deanery, and more widely as we struggle with changing patterns of churchgoing, less people with free time for volunteering, and the financial demands of maintaining old buildings through the generous giving of local congregations. These are all issues that we have grappled with at St Nicholas’ Rawreth over these past few years, seeing us starting to make some significant changes to the way that we respond to these challenges, though but baby steps, yet.

What of the next steps? Well, we need to be aware of the secular agenda which has been seeking these last 40 years or so to drive Christianity to the margins of public life by arguing that religion was entirely a matter of private faith, but not least because that agenda is now being robustly-challenged. In part, that drive has been counter-balanced by recognition of the diversity of faiths that now exist within the UK. We still see the secularising agenda in the militant atheism of people like Richard Dawkins and Polly Toynbee but what has been enshrined in law is an equality of religions and beliefs, not the eradication of religion for which the militant atheists have argued. So, in the Post-Christendom world, Christianity is losing most of the privileges that it previously possessed in order that it receives equal treatment from the State to that of other religions and beliefs.

Many still yearn for the Christendom period to return but the reality of today is that we are in a Post-Christendom period and we have to deal with the reality of where we are, not yearn for the supposed ‘Golden Age’ of the past. The reality of being in a Post-Christendom period also means that we are actually much closer to the situation of the Early Church than was the case when the Church had political power and influence.

I wish to suggest a scripture text for us for 2010 - “Be alert, stand firm in the faith, be brave, be strong. Do all your work in love” is taken from 1 Corinthians 16: 13&14 and is how St Paul ends his first letter to the church in Corinth. Corinth was a great cosmopolitan Greek city, the capital of the Roman province of Achaia. It was noted for its thriving commerce, proud culture, widespread immorality, and variety of religions. Not so different from our own culture and our capital city on our doorstep, then!

Being church in that kind of city and culture was no easy task and so Paul’s letter shows how the Good News speaks to the questions and issues faced by that church. By doing so, Paul was declaring the lordship of Christ over those issues and the culture and city in which the Corinthians lived. Once he had addressed those issues that were contemporary for the Corinthian church, he ended with the exhortation which is our text for 2010, “Be alert, stand firm in the faith, be brave, be strong. Do all your work in love.”

This is why, I believe, these verses to be a relevant message for us at St Nicholas’, and also for Christians more widely, in 2010. We need to increase our involvement in our local community – and not just as a kind of club for those who already share some social mores together, already; rather, as a group who speak and act through involvement in community campaigns to improve facilities in the area, both using our own buildings (church and school) and other places.

Tom Wright writes of the Church “doing to the rulers of the world what Jesus did to Pilate ... confronting him with the news of the kingdom and of truth, deeply unwelcome and indeed incomprehensible though both of them were.” Part of the way, he writes, “in which the church will do this is by getting on with, and setting forward, those works of justice and mercy, of beauty and relationship, that the rulers know ought to be flourishing but which they seem powerless to bring about.”

When we argue publicly for improved community facilities in the parish and provide through our remodelled parish church building and our new school places within which our local community can come together then, we are doing what Jesus did when he stood before Pilate demonstrating a different kind of kingship and what the Early Church did when they declared Jesus Christ to be Lord rather than Caesar. By “doing God in public” we declare the Lordship of Christ over our community and create signs of the kingdom of Christ that we know in part but which is still to come in full.

Again, Tom Wright puts it well when he writes:

“… it is vital that the church learn to critique the present workings of democracy itself … we should take seriously the fact that our present glorification of democracy emerged precisely from Enlightenment dualism — the banishing of God from the public square and the elevation of vox populi [‘voice of the people’] to fill the vacuum, which we have seen to be profoundly inadequate when faced with the publicness of the kingdom of God.”

None of this is easy but these verses from 1 Corinthians exhort us to stand firm. Dealing with the challenges faced by the 21st Century Church in a Post-Christendom period requires the alertness, bravery and strength about which Paul writes. As we take forward in 2010 the decisions and changes we have made in these last few years, we will need the same alertness, bravery and strength.

Alertness involves being aware of the real issues that we face, bravery is needed to face them fully, and strength is needed to persevere with the direction we have taken.

We can be encouraged with new members, and an increased community profile; we can be encouraged with the development of our job clubs as we start into 2010; we can also be encouraged with developments in our school; there is much, though, to do with regard to building a realistic, shared sense of how we are to steward our resources and each play our part in this work of God. Some of us are still living in a Christendom fantasy-land, and some of us in a financial fantasy-land.

Most of all, we need to continue living out St Paul’s final exhortation to do all our work in love. It is love that needs to underpin all we do and which will continue to hold us together. Love for each other needs to characterise every action, interaction and decision. Love needs to be at the forefront of our vision, our relationships and our mission. Love is how we stand firm in our faith. Paul writes in his letter to the Corinthians that love is the best of God’s gifts to his people. God is love and when we live in love we live in God.

So, as we move forward in 2010, let us be alert, stand firm in the faith, be brave, be strong, and do all our work in love.

Your priest, pastor and friend,

Paul

SERMON @ MASS SUNDAY NEXT BEFORE LENT SUNDAY 14 FEBRUARY 2010 – YEAR C

2010-02-13T20:46:00.000Z

EXODUS 34:29-END
2 CORINTHIANS 3:12 – 4:2
LUKE 9:28-43A

 Our mind is on the heavenly meeting and gathering up the earthly today – what we pray for every time we say the prayer Jesus taught his friends: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as in heaven”…
 We hear again, before we embark upon the season of Lent, the story of the Transfiguration of Our Lord Jesus…
 Today, I want to do some fairly rigorous Biblical exegesis with you, exploring the layers and allusions of what St Luke gives us to read and reflect upon…
 All 3 Synoptic Gospels create a link between Peter’s confession of Jesus as Christ and the Transfiguration
 A measure of time – cf Matthew & Mark, six days; Luke “about 8 days after these sayings” (9:28)
 Issue is the divinity of Jesus, as the Son; more, though, is relationship to the Passion….that’s why we encounter it here, as we prepare to enter Lent once again and to travel into Our Lord’s Passion
 Jesus’ divinity belongs with the Cross – only when we put the two together do we recognize Jesus correctly…
 2 different interpretations of this time reference:
 (i) Yom Kippur to Sukkoh – six days – latter Feast of Tabernacles, recalling tents in the desert during the Exodus to freedom;
 or Sukkoh itself – eight days…
 in first suggestion, Peter’s confession of Jesus as the Son of God parallels and fulfils the Yom Kippur moment when the High Priest would pronounce the name YHWH in the Temple’s Holy of Holies; Transfiguration then relates directly to Sukkoh…more about which in a moment
 second suggestion sees the period from Peter’s confession to the Transfiguration as the week of Sukkoh itself, with the Transfiguration as the completion and high point, and the synthesis of its inner meaning
 (ii) alternatively, read this against background of Exodus 24, Moses’ ascent of Mount Sinai;
 God sealing Covenant with Israel – (Ex. 24:16) “The glory of the LORD dwelt on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days. And on the seventh day he called to Moses out of the midst of the cloud.”
 …and then we have the other story of Moses meeting with God at the Tent of Meeting, which we heard in our first reading from Exodus 34, and emerging with his face shining from the Glory…
 both tracks have merit, and I want to suggest that each of the Gospel writers recognized these patterns and synergies – certainly, the compilers of our lectionary have felt so, and have offered us the Moses strand
 not wishing to be perverse, but I am going to concentrate on the other strand this morning, regarding the Feast of Tabernacles, not least to help us in our exploration of Temple Theology, as I mooted I would be doing a few weeks ago…
 so, to the details of the Transfiguration:
 Jesus took Peter, James and John and led them up a high mountain – nb we will see this three again as the Passion reaches towards its climax, in the Garden of Gethsemene , on another mountain, the Mount of Olives – this is the counterimage of the Transfiguration
 Nb mountain is always a significant feature in scripture – where God is seen to be doing business – and of course, Jerusalem sits atop seven hills, and the Temple itself, sits on a mount, the Temple Mount –all of this is significant
 Jesus is Transfigured before the three; and is seen shining – Mark 9:2-3 “And his clothes became radiant, intensely white, as no one on earth could bleach them.” Matthew 17:2 “His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light.” Luke is the only one to note the fuller context, though – 9:28 He “went up on the mountain to pray”… and it is in the context of Jesus’ prayer that he now explains the event that the three disciples are to witness: (9:29)“And as he was praying, the appearance of his face was altered, and his clothing became dazzling white.”
 The Transfiguration is a PRAYER EVENT; as Pope Benedict XVI has put it in his recent book Jesus of Nazareth, “it displays visibly what happens when Jesus talks with his Father; the profound interpenetration of his being with God, which then becomes pure light”
 This is what we are referring to, each Sunday, when we state in the Creed that Jesus as the Son of God is “Light from Light”
 [This might be a good point to let Moses back in again, actually, since we note that when Moses had spoken with God his skin shone (Ex 34:29ff) – he reflects back the light; but with Jesus, the light comes from within…he IS THE LIGHT!]
 [and this does point to our future, too….in the apocalyptic literature, white garments are an expression of heavenly beings – the garments of angels and of the elect. In this vein, St John writes in his book of Revelation of the vision of the white garments of those who have been saved, the garments having been washed in the blood of the Lamb (Rev 7:14); this means that through Baptism they have been united with Jesus’ Passion; and his Passion is the purification that restores to us the original garment lost through our sin (cf Lk 15:22). Through Baptism we are clothed with Jesus in light and we ourselves become light.]
 There is plenty, plenty more I would want to say about the detail and resonance about this passage, not least about what happens when the disciples come back down the mountain and start the journey towards Jerusalem with Jesus – indeed, I intend saying a little about this in my reflection on Ash Wednesday – may I remind you that you are directed by the prayer book to come to receive Holy Communion then and to receive also the sign of ashes on your forehead – 10.00am here in St Nicholas’, this Wednesday…
 But I wish to fold this sermon up with a last set of reflections on the response of Peter to this experience of the Transfiguration, and suggest the parameters that we are to set for our expectation about how God will work in our midst, and through time and space…
 On the Mount of Transfiguration, Peter and his two companions are “weighed down with sleep”; just as they are on that occasion soon to come on the Mount of Olives, during the hour of Jesus’ agony before his arrest, torture and crucifixion. Yet, unlike on that occasion, when they fall asleep and cannot stay awake with their suffering Lord, on this occasion, Luke tells us, “since they had stayed awake, they saw his glory and the two men who stood with him”
 The challenge for us is, will we, despite our tiredness, stay awake enough to be alert to see the glory of God, and particularly to see who Jesus is already walking and talking with? Our Archbishop Rowan – and I feel sure I have cited this in sermons before – says memorably that the task of followers of Jesus in pursuing the mission dei (the mission of God) is “to see where God is already at work, and to join in”…
 But then, looking at Peter’s next response, there is more to learn for our own growth and discipleship. Peter says to Jesus, “Master, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” Luke comments, “Peter did not know what he said.” (v33)
 Some have asserted here that Peter remembers the Feast of Tabernacles, remembers the story that inspired it, the making of tents during the long journey of the Exodus from slavery in Egypt to freedom in the Promised Land, and that in offering to make each of the figures from that time a tent, and also to make one for Jesus, he is both attempting to honour the three, but in a significant way to limit Jesus, placing him as no greater than Moses or Elijah, perhaps even being stuck in his own imagination in the work of God in the past, in history, rather than in the present or the future.
 I think this is a little harsh, for there is a consistent progression in the shape of Israelite religion to use symbols which derive from creation and natural religion (eg. tents/booths, made from tree bracnhes), to progress to linking this to thanksgiving and recitation of God’s powerful saving work in history (eg. the stories from the Exodus), but ALSO to make this as part of an eschatological expression, that is to say, to intimate God’s purposes for the future – so, I read Peter’s wish as wishing to recognise that the Messianic moment has arrived and that creation, history and hope for the future are interlinked
 In this, Peter acts well. He has, at least, been awake enough to act at all! But we are told that he doesn’t understand fully and that, immediately following this suggestion, the shekinah, the cloud of God’s glory, descends on the disciples and, in the midst of their terror, they hear a voice speaking from the cloud which says “This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!” (v35) And when the cloud is lifted away, only Jesus remains of the three who had been there.
 Jesus is the Son of God. More than simply Elijah returned – that honour goes to John the Baptist, we learn elsewhere – and more than simply one who shines like Moses with reflected light. He is The Light.
 And this stuns them into silence. And should we react any differently?...
 Let us reflect deeply on Jesus the Son of the Most High God, incarnate amongst us, during this Lent. Let us reflect afresh upon the mystery that St John gives us in the prologue to his gospel in that tantalising phrase (Jn 1:14) “And the Word became Flesh and pitched his tent among us” – yes, it is exactly the same Greek word used for Jesus’ life as for that used when describing erecting your tabernacle tent…
 And I leave with you this wonderful line of thought from Gregory of Nyssa, one of the Cappadocian Fathers living in the third century after Our Lord. Reflecting on the connection between the Feast of Tabernacles and the Incarnation, he says that the Feast of Tabernacles, though constantly celebrated, remained unfulfilled. “For the true Feast of Tabernacles had not yet come. According to the words of the Prophet, however, God, the Lord of all things, has revealed himself to us in order to complete the construction of the tabernacle of our ruined habitation, human nature.” (De Anima, PG 46, 132B)
 We are, in Jesus, being remade as properly and fully human – what a promise and hope for our time of Lent, or for anytime!!!...
 +In the most holy name of God, who is Father, Son and Holy Spirit. AMEN

Getting married?

2010-02-03T14:38:00.003Z

I love marrying people! It is a great privilege of priestly-ministry to share in a significant moment of commitment between a man and a woman as they pledge before God and their friends and family to share married life together.

I would gladly marry all those who request marriage at St Nicholas Rawreth!

Regrettably, there are some legal and boundary directions about who may marry, where. This post is about helping you to navigate those initial enquiries...

So, if you are preparing for getting married and wondering about how you go about it, do please check out this, on the Diocesan website. Particularly useful is the 'parish finder' app, which will enable you to discover quickly which parish you live in (nb you have an automatic right to request marriage in your resident parish, so long as you are presently single and have not been married or in a civil partnership before.)
Do check these out!

If you find that you are not resident in Rawreth parish, there may be another qualification which you can demonstrate to have St Nicholas regarded as 'your' church. Details of these are here.

If, after this initial factfind, you need a further conversation with the priest, here or elsewhere, get on the telephone!

Every blessing,

Paul

SERMON @ MASS THE FOURTH SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY SUNDAY 31 JANUARY 2010 – YEAR C

2010-01-30T15:10:00.000Z

Ezekiel 43:27 – 44:4
1 Corinthians 13:1-13
Luke 2:22-40

 The stories in today’s selection of scriptures are glimpses of what God would have us offer in His Temple
 From Ezekiel, the end of an era of Exile is marked by the work of the Temple being re-established on a firm footing
 There is a promise that God IS there
 …and then there is the story of the Presentation of Jesus in Temple
 Noticing what God has done in fulfilment of his promise
 Both the expected – the very Jewish expectations of a Messiah fulfilled - and the surprising – that he is to be ‘a light to lighten the Gentiles’!
 Jason and I have been thinking a great deal about Temple Theology during our discussions in Beer’n’Cigars’n’Theology during December and January
 This is the careful exposition of a thesis that holds that much of what the Apostles and other early Christians said and wrote about Jesus and His significance makes best sense if we realise that those first Christians remembered the worship of the First Temple, constructed under King Solomon and – despite having suffered under the Puritanism and neutering of much of this richness of understanding and experience in the previous 7 centuries (since the purges of King Josiah) – recognised Jesus as the Son of God, according to many of the practices and meanings of that early Jewish worship.
 Another time – or times – will have to serve to explore properly the resonances of how that Temple worship echo down through the pages of the New Testament scriptures, and of many other early Christian writings, too. Suffice at this junction to say that, in telling the story of Jesus being Presented in the Temple, and in old Simeon and Anna recognising Him as the Glory of the LORD once again in the Temple, Luke signals a time of restoration of what has been lost AND an anticipation of new possibilities in God’s mission to the world.

“Lord, now you let your servant depart in peace according to your word.
For my eyes have seen your salvation,
which you have prepared before the face of all people,
a light to lighten the Gentiles and the glory of your people Israel.”
 What I wish to do today - as I approach the completion this week of my third year serving as your priest in this parish – is to share some of my reflections about what has been, what has been lost and is being rediscovered, and what I dream of which is yet to be…
 Many commentators have said that they view the Church (and the public expression of Xtn faith) as having been in Exile these past 35-40 years
 (in fact, many say that this period of postmodernism can be dated to have begun just about the time I was born – though not caused by me, I hasten to add (!?!) – at the end of the 1960s and the beginning of the 1970s)
 this Exile has been God’s judgment on a Church that was often complacent, collusive with vested interests, and increasingly disengaged from the social and judicial fabric of our British and Western societies during the generation or two prior to my own – ie. the 20th Century, taken as a whole…
 somehow, the Church that I have grown up in has, oftentimes & in largest part, been content (too much) to merely sing songs on Sunday and to make church buildings into a cross between holy clubs for the like-minded and heritage centres
 I will speak frankly and say that I have struggled to remain a part of this Church, and to recognize there an authentic, prophetic voice, as the wider society has decided that it speaks with an inward-looking and outdated irrelevance
 There have been plenty of times during my life when I felt that the project was over, and that I was signed up to the wrong band…
 But, I am glad to say that I think we are turning the corner
 I think, hope, pray, that we are beginning to return from Exile, to discover that we are to re-order the Temple again – to rediscover who we are called to be, as people of faith, as people of the promise…
 What is happening?...
 I think that as the great project of the 20th century, Modernism, has lost confidence, at first the Church has faltered, as it had bought so much into the language and habits of the wider society
 But now the invitation to people of faith to play a transforming role in society is suddenly here again, and the big debates are raging…
 Government at all levels is wanting to seek ‘community partners’ and is looking to communities of faith to articulate and advocate these new arrangements; as a ‘for instance’, my own work this past week has included my work as Interim Chair of the embryonic Basildon Forum of Faiths, an attempt to bring a grassroots community group of people of faith together with the District Council and other public bodies – please pray for this work…
 Theologians are winning the arguments, as the anti-theists and the scientists of the Richard Dawkins’ ilk are sounding panicked and defensive, on the run! – just this week, some of you may have read a letter sent to the papers from the good professor which sounded rather more like a hysterical shriek than any kind of argument…
 Churches are starting to remember that Jesus nowhere sanctioned congregationalism, but rather commanded the formation of missional communities – just what we are doing here when we resource our school through the work of teachers and governors, take our food and blanket gifts each week down to the homeless project in Southend, or sit with the unemployed here in our job club on a cold Wednesday evening, and witness new confidence replace anxious looks…
 I honestly believe that we stand today at the threshold of a huge moment of opportunity – an opportunity which promises not less than a whole-hearted revival of Christianity but which, if missed, will signal a huge tragedy for a needy and increasingly-divided world…
 As I perform my other work on the Bishop’s resource team for the Area, to advise and encourage Christians across south and east Essex to put their Faith into Action, I am confident that I am pushing at an open door. God is at work and waiting for His people to join in…
 I am delighted that councillors and officers at all levels of local and central government want to book me into their diaries, as the existence of this post is, for many of them, a timely intervention to help in the conversations and strategic plans they wish to work on…
 I am delighted that Christians in our region are already considering their responsibility towards neighbours and towards the global communities of which we are all, now, a part. That they are starting to campaign and agitate for social justice, for the refugee, for the establishment of fair trade rules, for a less war-mongering future, for care for the most vulnerable in our society, for a rebalancing of our relationship with our ecological settings…
 I am not quite there, yet, with old Simeon or Anna, seeing the fulfilment of that which I long for, or with Ezekiel, seeing the very Glory of God, yet I am excited about these years to come, and I want to publically thank all of you who have been part of God’s family here in Rawreth for your inspiration, love and, occasionally, irritation!
 Please continue to pray for me, as I shall pray for you…

Wedding Preparation Policy

2010-01-27T09:59:00.000Z

What is the Policy?

This policy is open to all people who approach seeking a Wedding in the parish church of St Nicholas and gives guidance to the administration of the sacrament of Holy Matrimony.

What does the policy tell us about God and our relationship with God?

It is in liminal, or key transition, points of our life journey that we may feel most keenly our sense of awareness of God and our relationship with Him. The policy reminds us, in practical ways, of means towards the realisation of God’s grace through the sacrament of marriage.

What does the policy tell us about the Church?

Preparation for marriage is necessary because - as the Church is the visible life of the People of God trying to work out the consequences of loving obedience to God - affirming the love at work in Christian marriage is one expression of our life together. As husband and wife promise to work hard to build each other up in their married life together, so the wider Church promises to work hard to build up all its members.

How is the policy put into practice?

The couple will:

• be asked to have an initial discussion with the parish priest with enquiries about weddings. Questions asked there will relate to the legal preliminaries necessary to establish that we are able to solemnize the marriage as asked. A proforma will be given out to record legally-required personal information.
• set a date and time for a wedding through booking with the parish priest after these preliminaries have been completed.
• be written to and encouraged to participate in marriage preparation classes,
• Attend a wedding service practice in the few days prior to the celebration of the wedding ceremony.

Marriage Preparation consists:

 2 or 3 discussion meetings, which will be conducted by the parish priest or another person trained to do so by the parish priest.
• an occasion, during these preparations, to book an agreed, mutually-convenient time and date for a wedding rehearsal – this will usually take place in the week prior to the wedding service itself.
• at the discretion of the parish priest, other preparations for the wedding, made on a visiting or hospitality basis.
Note that the Common Worship Marriage Service (modern language) will be used, unless a specific request is made to use the Service of Holy Matrimony from the Book of Common Prayer (traditional language).

Parish policies at St Nicholas, Rawreth

2010-01-23T15:00:00.000Z

An increasing number of people are making approaches to this parish church with regard to the 'Ocassional Offices' (of baptism, marriage and funeral) and in regard to other matters.
This is good news, and indicates that our church is serving its community well in its pastoral work.
Our PCC (church council) issues and reviews a number of policies for our common life, which are available for all to see and read, when needed.
However, getting me on the telephone - and having me mail these policy documents via snail-mail - is not always the best way of getting this information. So, I have decided to make better use of this parish blog, by posting these pieces of reference material on here.
In the future, please just scroll down the subject label list until you find the label 'parish policies' or the subject matter to which you wish to refer, and you should be directed to the information you require.
As ever, I hope that you will then use this blogsite as a means of further communication with me, in addition to the telephone, mail, email, and the old-fashioned 'turning-up-to-church-and-talking-to-the-priest-about-it' methods!...

Remarriage Policy

2010-01-23T14:59:00.000Z

What is the Policy?

This policy is for all who apply for remarriage after divorce in the Parish Church of St Nicholas, Rawreth.

What does the policy tell us about God and our relationship with God?

The God that we worship is a God of forgiveness; we acknowledge that people make mistakes and that they need to be learned from. We do not believe in condemnation and will always endeavour to show the love and compassion of God to all who come to us.

What does the policy tell us about the Church?

The Church of England maintains a strong and consistent witness to marriage as a lifelong partnership, and asks people to make vows "till death us do part”. We also recognise, however, that for various reasons some marriages break down. Often the most loving and healing thing is for divorced people to have the opportunity of a fresh start, and to have the full support of the church in such a marriage.

How is the policy put into practice?

A couple would normally approach the parish priest to request marriage. Once the form is completed and it is established that either or both are divorced the Policy Document will then be given to the couple.

The parish priest would then go to visit the couple (or have them visit at The Rectory) to establish the background to the divorce and to hear the stories of both partners. No decision is taken or communicated to the couple at this point.

The Priest would then bring the form to a meeting of the Standing Committee of the Parochial Church Council, whereat the background to the request is related to and a decision is reached.

The decision is relayed to the couple by letter or by a follow up visit to discuss any concerns that were raised in the discussion.

Some broad guidelines are:

In Rawreth, a divorced person (with a former partner still living) may be married in church at the discretion of the parish priest and the Standing Committee of the PCC, provided:

• There has been an appropriate acknowledgement by the divorced person of such failure as there may have been on their part.
• There is clear evidence that all legal and other reasonable obligations from an earlier marriage have been discharged, especially as regards any children.
• There are grounds for confidence that the couple may in good conscience make their marriage promises before God and his church, along with a recognition of their need for God's grace in and through their marriage.
• No open scandal has been caused by, or is likely to be caused by, the situation.
• The proposed "second" marriage has not been in any direct and unmistakable sense a reason for the breakdown of the earlier marriage.
• The couple are aware of the need for sufficient time for the parish priest and the Standing Committee of the PCC to reach an appropriate decision before any booking can be made. Hence, no form of pressure or unjustifiable hurry connected with the proposed "second" marriage will be acceptable.

In addition, it should be noted that:

• Such "second" marriages will usually be conducted after Banns have been called, and so the usual residence or electoral roll membership requirements will be required.
• Some “second” marriages may, under exceptional circumstances, need to be conducted after the granting of a Licence. In these cases the final decision lies with the Diocesan Bishop.
• A third marriage, following the breakdown of two former marriages, is unlikely to be acceptable under these criteria.

SERMON @ MASS THE THIRD SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY SUNDAY 24 JANUARY 2010 – YEAR C

2010-01-22T15:30:00.000Z

NEHEMIAH 8:1-3, 5-6, 8-10
1 CORINTHIANS 12:12-31A
LUKE 4:14-21

During the middle of the first century AD, Corinth was a rich trading city. One of the wealthiest in the Near Eastern world. A major trading crossroads on a narrow isthmus of land between continents. A vibrant, go-getting sort of place. A place to make your fortune.
Or that at least was the image the wealthiest liked to present to the wider world. In actual fact, wealth was polarised between the ‘have-plenties’ and the ‘have-barely-anythings’. And wiser heads might ask critical questions of the dynamics and the virtues of the place, a place which exemplified a society which was seeing a growing phenomenon, not of simple wealth-creation, but of a gaping and expanding chasm between the filthy rich and the desperately poor.
Take a walk with me down onto the docks of Corinth, where trading ships from across the known world are berthed. All around us, we can see activity. The sound of hammers striking, of saws buzzing like bees, of winches creaking and groaning like gasps from tired workers, exhausted in the heat and sweat.
And then notice all those busy bodies at work. People unloading and discharging cargoes from ships’ hulls onto crowded wharfs. And yet other frenetic people hard at work loading empty bulkheads with goods for transport to the furthest corners of the Roman Empire.
And now notice some other people, the ones barking the orders. The ones not nearly so sweaty, but rather parading their sense of their own natural superiority. And let’s listen in to what they are saying…
“Move along there! Get this cargo off this pallet, here. I’m not paying you to stand around in the sun all day, you know. This stuff has got to be shifted, and shifted now. No slacking…Oh, and know your place, you insolent slave. The city is a body, don’t you know – that’s what the gods have said. We work for the city. Some of us have been born to be the heads, to do the thinking; you lot are the feet and the hands. So, get on with it!

What does it mean to be a member of the Body of Christ?
That's been a question of crucial importance ever since St. Paul took a metaphor previously used to tell striking dock workers to accept their poor treatment and get back to work. (The argument went along the lines of "a body has many parts that must all work together for the health of the body, on which the health of the members depend; you lot are the feet, so you belong in the muck, while others belong in more honoured places higher up".) St Paul – in the reading we have heard this morning from his letter to the Corinthian Christians - used it instead in a wonderfully subversive manner to argue the reverse - that the health and honour of all of us hinges upon honouring and caring for the weakest.
So, what does it mean to be the Body of Christ? Well, I sort of just answered the question, or started to. The thrust of the metaphor for Paul includes a number of points central to what it means to be God's church. It means that we are linked with one another in a relationship that we can't dissolve any more than we could have launched it on our own. How could an organ choose to become my liver? Does it have to fill out an application? Go on some Liver Idol television competition? Prove itself as a particularly good and loyal liver to rise through the ranks of mammals judged less worthy? It's a rather silly question. My body, being relatively healthy, had a liver develop as part of my body in the womb. It was there when I was born; it's part of God's creating me. And what could my liver do to become not a part of my body? Nothing whatsoever. If it could and did issue some kind of declaration of independence from my pancreas, that would do nothing to change the status of either as part of my body; it would just make a little meaningless noise (like the noise of a clanging gong, even).
I want to emphasize something else that Paul uses that metaphor for, though - something that's something of a hot word in Anglican circles these days. I'm talking about interdependence. Paul is saying that we need one another. He is NOT saying merely that the poor need the rich, the sick need the healthy, and the weak need the strong to protect or rescue them; he's saying that we ALL need one another. There is no one to whom the Spirit has not given gifts that are needed by all of us.
These are gifts that are needed for our health as a body and as members of it, to be sure, but they are needed for more besides. They are needed because, in Paul's terms, we're not just parts of *a* body; we're members of the Body of Christ. God has made us one Body of Christ, a sign - a living sacrament - for the world of what God in God's grace is doing in the world. St. Teresa of Avila puts it something like this:
Christ has no body on earth but ours, no hands but ours, no feet but ours. Ours are the eyes through which the compassion of Christ looks out upon the world. Ours are the feet with which he goes about doing good. Ours are the hands with which he blesses his people now.
We experience what it means to be Christ's Body as we engage in Christ's mission in the world. And if we want to know more about what that means, we have an excellent starting point in our gospel reading for this Sunday. In it, Luke portrays Jesus at the start of his public ministry claiming a combination of passages as his mission; and in claiming this as his mission, Jesus offers himself and his life as a prophetic sign that "today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing."
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to bring good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives
and recovery of sight to the blind,
to let the oppressed go free,
to proclaim the year of the Lord's favour.
These are inspiring words. But they're not just words -- not by a long shot.
What would it mean if we really believed that in Jesus, the words are being fulfilled today? How would we respond?
For once, I find that the epistle reading is perfectly paired with the gospel. Our gospel reading shows Luke's version of Jesus, the Christ, saying clearly what his programme , his mission is. If we who seek to follow Jesus are the Body of Christ, it's the mission we're called to engage.
If I may, this Sunday, I'd like to take the opportunity provided by these readings to invite you all to take that in, deeply and repeatedly. If we who seek to follow Jesus are the Body of Christ, it's the mission we're called to engage.
And I would like to invite you, during the Peace (which was never meant to be a kind of mini-coffee-hour for socializing) to commission one another. Each one of you here is a member of the Body of Christ. I invite you to use the Peace to say to one or two people near to you, prayerfully and with eye contact, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon you, because God has anointed you to bring good news to the poor."
Let’s just practice that, shall we?... [ ]
And as I bless and dismiss you at the end of our Holy Communion this morning, I want to include in that an invitation to you to own your role in the world as Christ's feet, eyes, and hands personally as well as understanding it corporately: "The Spirit of the Lord is upon you, because God has anointed you to bring good news to the poor. He has sent you to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim the year of the Lord's favour."
Most of you will know that I have a job outside of my responsibilities in this parish, working as an Advisor within the Bradwell Episcopal Area, as part of a team of resource-people working alongside our Bishop across our churches and our community partners throughout the 161 parishes of south and east Essex. The task is to be encouraging, resourcing, networking, finding out and informing Christians and others to see afresh the task and honour of this mission to the world. Helping often small groups of Christians to hear again this mandate – in all its huge, earth-shattering, global, even cosmic, scope – and to be released to step out in new acts of generosity and faith towards those around us who are poor, captive, blind, oppressed.
Because that's what I draw from this passage. I'm not Jesus, and I can't save the world. But we are the Body of Christ - here and now, not contingent on us winning some kind of pageant or getting our act wholly together, but by God's action, with Jesus having done all of the groundwork necessary. We are called to live into that identity, and to engage the mission that comes with it - not later, when we've got our act together, or when it's more convenient, or once the kids are in college, or after some kind of cosmic sign. We have our cosmic sign. We have the life, the teaching and healing, the confronting and defeating of worldly powers, the death on a cross and the resurrection by God's action of Jesus, the Christ.
The Spirit of God was upon him, because God anointed him to bring good news to the poor, release to the captives, recovery of sight to the blind, and the year of the Lord's favour. And here and now, we are the Body of the Christ, the Anointed. It's true. It's powerful. And this scripture is fulfilled in our hearing - and in our doing.
Thanks be to God! AMEN +

WEDDING FEES 2010

2010-01-14T09:18:00.001Z

£570 TOTAL FEE

FROM WHICH DISBURSEMENTS TO INCLUDE:

ORGANIST FEE £52

VERGER FEE £26

CLERK FEE £15

BELLS £20

SUMS TO BE ASSIGNED TO DIOCESE:

PUBLICATION OF BANNS £15.00

MARRIAGE SERVICE £126.00

TOTAL PAID TO PCC: £316

A NON-RETURNABLE DEPOSIT OF £50 TO BE PAID AT THE TIME OF BOOKING THE WEDDING. THE REMAINDER OF THE FEE IS TO BE PAID NOT LESS THAN A FORTNIGHT BEFORE THE DATE OF THE WEDDING CEREMONY.

ADDITIONAL ITEMS, AS PER OUT-OF-PARISH WEDDINGS:

PUBLICATION OF BANNS £22 (£15 ASSIGNED, £7 TO PCC)

CERTIFICATE OF BANNS £12 (ASSIGNED)

St Nick's Job Clubs now up and running!...a reminder!

2010-01-13T19:14:00.000Z

The Parish Church of St Nicholas, Rawreth, is pleased to be able to serve our community by offering two kinds of Job Clubs during this New Year 2010.

Space@StNick’s

Have you just spent a long, frustrating week at home, because you have lost your job? Have you found it a lonely experience, cut off from your familiar world of work and colleagues and purpose? Could you do with a chance to get out of the house, to clear your head, and perhaps to ‘chew the fat’ with others who are trying to deal with similar situations of unemployment?

Well, if so, Space@StNick’s is there for you!

The church building will be open on Fridays from noon until 2.00pm. Tea, coffee and light snacks will be available, free of charge. If you need someone to talk to – in confidence, if you want – there will be someone available for you. If you just want to chat with others there, that’s fine, too. It’s your space…

Skills@StNick’s

Perhaps the thing you really need as you process your unemployment situation is a bit of a helping hand to get back on the hunt for a job? Perhaps it has been many years since you had to update your CV? Maybe you have never had to do it before? Or, maybe it is the application forms that bamboozle you, or the job interviews that make you so nervous, or….whatever the skill you might want some help with as you search for new work, we want to help you with it.

The church building will be open on Wednesdays from 8.00pm until 9.30pm for Skills@StNick’s. Refreshments and a warm welcome will await you there, alongside training and advice from some church members who have experience in recruitment, writing CVs, interview-technique, and a number of other areas. All to help you a little at a difficult time…

So, if either – or both! – of these Job Clubs could be for you, or someone you know, then please come along and make use of them! You will be made most welcome!

[St Nick’s Job Clubs will keep running, twice each week, for as long as there is a need.]

In Dulci Jubilo

2009-12-09T17:19:00.000Z

This is the standard we should be aiming at for ASDA performace....

...and this is me, approaching 40, coming over all nostalgic for childhood memories of the same tune! I thought this was very cool back in the day!...is it?!?...

HSE Guidance for the singing of 'Festive Songs'

2009-12-09T10:03:00.000Z

You are all warmly welcome to be a part of the choirs that we shall form to sing carols in the porch of our ASDA store, 3.00-5.00pm Saturday 19 December, and again 7.30-9.30pm Tuesday 22 December. Come and make a joyful noise to the Lord!

In the meanwhile, do please take due notice of these directives from the Health and Safety Executive....

The Rocking Song
Little Jesus, sweetly sleep, do not stir;
We will lend a coat of fur,
We will rock you, rock you, rock you,
We will rock you, rock you, rock you:

Fur is no longer appropriate wear for small infants, both due to risk of allergy to animal fur, and for ethical reasons. Therefore faux fur, a nice cellular blanket or perhaps micro-fleece material should be considered a suitable alternative.

Please note, only persons who have been subject to a Criminal Records Bureau check and have Enhanced clearance will be permitted to rock baby Jesus. Persons must carry their CRB Disclosure with them at all times and be prepared to provide three forms of identification before rocking commences.

Jingle Bells
Dashing through the snow
In a one horse open sleigh
O'er the fields we go
Laughing all the way

A risk assessment must be submitted before an open sleigh is considered safe for members of the public to travel on. The risk assessment must also consider whether it is appropriate to use only one horse for such a venture, particularly if passengers are of larger proportions. Please note, permission must be gained from landowners before entering their fields. To avoid offending those not participating in celebrations, we would request that laughter is moderate only and not loud enough to be considered a noise nuisance.

While Shepherds Watched
While shepherds watched
Their flocks by night
All seated on the ground
The angel of the Lord came down
And glory shone around

The union of Shepherds has complained that it breaches health and safety regulations to insist that shepherds watch their flocks without appropriate seating arrangements being provided, therefore benches, stools and orthopaedic chairs are now available. Shepherds have also requested that due to the inclement weather conditions at this time of year that they should watch their flocks via CCTV cameras from centrally-heated shepherd observation-huts.
Please note, the angel of the Lord is reminded that before shining his / her glory all around she / he must ascertain that all shepherds have been issued with glasses capable of filtering out the harmful effects of UVA, UVB and Glory.

Little Donkey
Little donkey, little donkey on the dusty road
Got to keep on plodding onwards with your precious load

The RSPCA have issued strict guidelines with regard to how heavy a load a donkey of small stature is permitted to carry; also included in the guidelines is guidance regarding how often to feed the donkey and how many rest breaks are required over a four hour plodding period. Please note that due to the increased risk of pollution from the dusty road, Mary and Joseph are required to wear face masks to prevent inhalation of any airborne particles. The donkey has expressed his discomfort at being labelled 'little' and would prefer just to be simply referred to as Mr. Donkey. To comment upon his height or lack thereof may be considered an infringement of his equine rights.

We Three Kings
We three kings of Orient are
Bearing gifts we traverse afar
Field and fountain, moor and mountain
Following yonder star

Whilst the gift of gold is still considered acceptable - as it may be redeemed at a later date through such organisations as 'cash for gold' etc, gifts of frankincense and myrrh are not appropriate due to the potential risk of oils and fragrances causing allergic reactions. A suggested gift alternative would be to make a donation to a worthy cause in the recipient's name or perhaps give a gift voucher.
We would not advise that the traversing kings rely on navigation by stars in order to reach their destinations and suggest the use of RAC routefinder or satellite navigation, which will provide the quickest route and advice regarding fuel consumption. Please note as per the guidelines from the RSPCA for Mr Donkey, the camels carrying the three kings of Orient will require regular food and rest breaks. Facemasks for the three kings are also advisable due to the likelihood of dust from the camels' hooves.

Rudolph the red nosed reindeer
Rudolph, the red-nosed reindeer
had a very shiny nose.
And if you ever saw him,
you would even say it glows.

You are advised that under the Equal Opportunities for All policy, it is inappropriate for persons to make comment with regard to the ruddiness of any part of Mr. R. Reindeer. Further to this, exclusion of Mr R Reindeer from the Reindeer Games will be considered discriminatory and disciplinary action will be taken against those found guilty of this offence. A full investigation will be implemented and sanctions - including suspension on full pay - will be considered whilst this investigation takes place.

St Nick's Job Clubs

2009-11-04T10:34:00.000Z

The Parish Church of St Nicholas, Rawreth, is pleased to be able to serve our community by offering two kinds of Job Clubs from the New Year 2010.

Space@StNick’s

Have you just spent a long, frustrating week at home, because you have lost your job? Have you found it a lonely experience, cut off from your familiar world of work and colleagues and purpose? Could you do with a chance to get out of the house, to clear your head, and perhaps to ‘chew the fat’ with others who are trying to deal with similar situations of unemployment?

Well, if so, Space@StNick’s is there for you!

The church building will be open on Fridays from noon until 2.00pm. Tea, coffee and light snacks will be available, free of charge. If you need someone to talk to – in confidence, if you want – there will be someone available for you. If you just want to chat with others there, that’s fine, too. It’s your space…

Skills@StNick’s

Perhaps the thing you really need as you process your unemployment situation is a bit of a helping hand to get back on the hunt for a job? Perhaps it has been many years since you had to update your CV? Maybe you have never had to do it before? Or, maybe it is the application forms that bamboozle you, or the job interviews that make you so nervous, or….whatever the skill you might want some help with as you search for new work, we want to help you with it.

The church building will be open on Wednesdays from 8.00pm until 9.30pm for Skills@StNick’s. Refreshments and a warm welcome will await you there, alongside training and advice from some church members who have experience in recruitment, writing CVs, interview-technique, and a number of other areas. All to help you a little at a difficult time…

So, if either – or both! – of these Job Clubs could be for you, or someone you know, then please come along and make use of them! You will be made most welcome!

[St Nick’s Job Clubs will start in January 2010, and will keep running, twice each week, for as long as there is a need.]

Faure's Requiem

2009-10-01T20:34:00.000+01:00

This wonderful choral masterpiece will be performed by the Eastwood Chorale at St Nicholas', this coming Wednesday, 7th October, 8.00pm start.

Do come along!

(£5.00 suggested minimum donation, towards defraying choir's costs and church funds)

Why 'Andrewes' Articulations'?...

2009-09-25T13:10:00.000+01:00

When I started this parish blog up, I promised to elaborate on the choice of title for it...ANDREWES' ARTICULATIONS

Well, today seems like an appropriate occasion to feel prompted to be good to that promise.

For, today is the Festival Day in the Church of England Kalendar of Saints when we remember and give thanks to God for the witness of LANCELOT ANDREWES.

It is he after whom this blog is named.

A truly remarkable man, Lancelot Andrewes, he died on this day in 1626 - which is to say, 383 years ago today - after a full life in which his pastoral, scholarly and many other exceptional gifts were all deployed in humble and gracious service of God and His world.

There are many good biographies of Lancelot Andrewes, but I would intially commend that written within a generation of his life, by Henry Isaacson, and which can be linked to, here.

The principle things to know about Andrewes?...

-he was the chief translator of what we now know as the Authorised Version of the Bible;

-he was a polyglot, mastering 24 languages, and able to preach with such power and precision that he was the preacher-of-choice to both Kings Charles;

-he was a great benefactor, giving generously of both private estate and income and the livings of the Church, entrusted to him during his times as Bishop of Chichester, Ely and Winchester;

-and his life as a scholar saw him build up and endow Pembroke College, Cambridge, who will, doubtless, also be remembering him today in chapel...

..and there is a connection to St Nicholas Rawreth? Yes, indeed.

-at the bottom of the hill that runs down from the churchyard of St Nicholas, lies the Chichester Hotel. During the 16th century the hall was the home of the Andrewes family; Lancelot was made Bishop of Chichester from 1605 until 1607, and it is to be considered likely that the hall was named by him for the eponymous city.
[The preacher at his funeral is recorded to have said of Lancelot Andrewes: "He was born in this city of London of honest and godly parents, who besides his breeding in learning left him a sufficient patrimony and inheritance, which is descended to his heir at Rawreth in Essex."];

-it is, further, likely that, because of the family having lived here for a period, the parish living of St Nicholas, Rawreth, remained in Lancelot's private gift of patronage in his later life;

-this would appear borne out by the fact that he passed along this patronage - known as the advowson - to his alma mater college, Pembroke College, Cambridge, upon his death.
[A history of the College records that "When he died he left money for [...]the advowson of Rawreth (Essex)"]
[The Will itself talks of "the perpetual advowson of the Rectory of Rawreth in Essex"]

[Declared in his Will - if you want it in full - it reads:
"I give and bequeath to the Master, Fellowes and Schollers of the Colledge or
Hall of Mary Valence, commonly called Pembrooke Hall, in Cambridge,
the some of one thousand poundes, to the end to purchase therewith
landes and tenements to the cleare yerely value of fiftie pounds ouer
and above all reprises to the founding of two Fellowships therein for
euer and to other vses specified more at large in a Codicill to this my
Will annexed ; if I shall not in my lifetime assure them lands of such
value, w ch I much desire. I further give and bequeath to the said Master,
Fellowes and Schollers and their Successors for ever, the perpetual
advowson, donacon, nominacon, free disposicon and right of patronage of
the Uectory or Parish Church of Rawreth in the Countie of Essex, w th
all the writings, evidences and muniments therevnto belonging, one only
grant of the first or next advowson thereof excepted, w ch my will is
should first take place. And that for ever after y e disposeinge thereof
to bee in the free election of the said Master, Fellowes, and Schollars,
Yet w th this condicon, that if either of y e two Fellowes of my foundacon
shall at the tyme of any vacancy of the said Parsonage falling void bee
a person capable thereof, then he the said Fellowe of my foundacon, or
the Senior of them if both be capable, to haue the preferment therevnto
for his sake that gave it."]

It is on this basis that I was appointed the latest Rector! (ie. Appointed by the Master and Fellows of the College). And why I still travel up to Cambridge from time to time to meet the Dean and preach in the Chapel, there at Pembroke College!

I am delighted and honoured that Rawreth is associated with this wonderful, saintly man, and I will write more about him as the weeks and months and years progress, God willing.

For today, though, I want to give simply give thanks for Lancelot Andrewes and relay this prayer of his for the Church, which we will shortly be putting up on longterm display on our main church noticeboard (you may want to watch out for it!?!):

For the Catholic Church:
for the churches throughout the world:
their truth, unity and stability to wit:
in all let charity thrive, truth live:
for our own church:
that the things that are wanting therein be supplied,
that are not right be set in order.
+AMEN

onlineFOCUS - News and Stuff For Rochford District » LDF Plan Approved by District Council 23-4

2009-09-10T11:21:00.000+01:00

onlineFOCUS - News and Stuff For Rochford District » LDF Plan Approved by District Council 23-4

It would appear that - unless the inspector should take a very different view - Rawreth is going to look like a very different place in a few years' time, with many hundreds of new houses in the geographical middle of the parish.

The challenge now is to manage this development with wisdom and a view to developing a sustainable, human community...

CREATION IN CRISIS: A TIME FOR PRAYER & ACTION

2009-08-17T14:30:00.000+01:00

During Creation Season 2009, we will be exploring a number of creation-related themes both in the context of Sunday worship preaching and in discussion groups over lunch. Either or both are open to all, including those who ordinarily worship almighty God as part of other church families in Rochford Deanery, or indeed within other denominations...

SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 6
DISCRIMINATION, JUSTICE & LOVE
10.00AM HOLY COMMUNION WITH HOLY BAPTISM
12.00PM DISCUSSION: ‘AN ACCUMULATING SET OF CRISES…’

SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 13
THE CHALLENGE OF WISDOM
10.00AM HOLY COMMUNION
12.00PM DISCUSSION: ‘IDOLATRY, SCIENCE & ECONOMICS…’

SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 20
THE TWO WISDOMS
10.00AM HOLY COMMUNION WITH THE RENEWAL OF WEDDING VOWS
12.00PM DISCUSSION: ‘TWO MORE THEOLOGICAL TOOLS – WRATH & KINGDOM…’

SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 27
CHRISTIAN COMMITMENT & ECOLOGICAL RESPONSIBILITY
10.00AM HOLY COMMUNION WITH THE OFFERING OF HARVEST GIFTS
12.00PM DISCUSSION: ‘…AND NOW SOME APPLICATION!...’

SUNDAY OCTOBER 4
CHRIST, CREATION & HUMANITY
10.00AM HOLY COMMUNION WITH HOLY BAPTISM & THE BLESSING OF ANIMALS
12.00PM DISCUSSION: ‘…THE EUCHARIST RESTORES THE WORLD!’

ALL ARE WELCOME TO PARTICIPATE IN OUR DISCUSSIONS FOLLOWING OUR SERVICE OF WORSHIP. PLEASE BRING SOME LUNCH, A NOTEBOOK, AND AN OPEN MIND & HEART!

St Nicholas' school website

2009-08-06T13:17:00.001+01:00

The excellent new website is now up and running, and can be found here.

Do pay it returning visits!

(I shall embed a link on the sidebar of this blog, for future ease of use.)

SERMON @ MASS THE EIGHTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY– YEAR B (PROPER 13) SUNDAY 2 AUGUST 2009

2009-08-01T11:50:00.000+01:00

EXODUS 16:2-4, 9-15; EPHESIANS 4:1-16; JOHN 6:24-35

Two of my worlds collided this past week. One world I live in is the slightly-obsessive world of Facebook, the social-networking site on the world-wide-web. There, I indulge my idle curiosity about what my friends and acquaintances are up to, day-by-day, and pretend to myself that others really care about the minutiae of my life. It is a funny exchange – if you are on Facebook, perhaps we can have a little confessional time after this morning’s worship. For those of you still uninfected, I am not sure what to advise, but, as with swine flu, probably best to fall on the side of caution and avoid unwitting exposure! The other world I live in - back in ‘non-virtual reality’ – is that of small children and their stories and fantasy worlds. The tea, bathtime and bedtime shift in our house takes Heather and I around 3 hours of intense action each day, and a good part of that is shot through with their interaction with, and reflections on, the stories they are reading and watching and listening to. If you can keep up, it is great fun! Now, occasionally on Facebook, folk create these little quizzes to do, which help you (sort of, sometimes!) to say a little about your character, strengths and weaknesses, preferences, and so on. And this is where my two worlds collided this week: someone on Facebook had created a quiz to help you identify yourself with one of the characters from the Winnie the Pooh stories… So, you answered some questions on this quiz and it told you whether you most identified with [Q. “You help me out, here?...”] Pooh, Christopher Robin, Piglet, Kanga, Roo, Tigger, Eeyore, Rabbit….. (I might tell you after worship which I came out as, if you ask nicely!) Well, I shall say at least that it happened not to be Eeyore – and that in spite of the fact that he is one of my favourite characters in literature. I love Eeyore with his "O, Bother!" and his sense that no matter what happened, that whatever he wanted to happen would go wrong and he could count on it. I love the truthfulness of how this familiar character is drawn by the writer. Eeyore lives his life with his head down and his tail bedraggled because that is what he expects out of life. Similarly, C. S. Lewis has a wonderful character, the Marshwiggle. In his story called The Silver Chair – one of his Narnian chronicles - the Marshwiggle sets out with the two children on a great adventure to rescue a lost prince, an adventure of faith. But the Marshwiggle says, "We can count on it. We will get lost. We will start to attack each other. We will probably end up killing each other. There is no way we can succeed in this venture anyway." Both characters serve to illustrate well the habit of grumbling. And it is this that our scripture readings this morning direct us to reflect upon and learn some wisdom about. The habit of grumbling is one that can infect the soul. And it does so in a number of ways… In our ongoing reading from the letter to the Ephesians, St Paul – or at least his tutee who most likely wrote this letter – focuses on the positive nature of the authentically Christian life, a life lived in gracious acceptance of the gifts God gives us, and in generous offering of them to others. He asserts that God equips the saints for the work of ministry. We have a God who provides what is needed. Elsewhere in the Blessed Apostle’s writings, he speaks about different aspects of the failure of faith which crushes or denies this God-given life and grace. And grumbling is certainly an area that concerns him greatly. When he reflects on the experience of the people of God down through the centuries, he says: "Do not grumble. Do not complain. Do not murmur. Do not fill your life with grumbling against God." He is reflecting on the account of the Exodus experience, including that part we have heard read this morning – and the four other instances of such grumbling detailed in the scripture! He is reflecting on event after event after event where the Israelites experience in the wilderness their need for God—their dependence upon God—but respond to their circumstances with what is called, in differing translations, murmuring or complaining or grumbling. Grumbling. If we had only died in Egypt where we had everything we had ever wanted, but you, Moses, brought us out into this desert to starve us to death. The Apostle says, "Do not grumble." Well, what is so wrong with grumbling? Sometimes I think it is one of my favourite activities. In some churches that I have been a part of, I think it is what we most loved to do on our breaks between services! In our culture, to grumble or complain or to criticize sometimes seems an act that is valued and seems very minimally dangerous to us. But it is not. There are problems with grumbling. First, we need to define it. To grumble is not to acknowledge difficulty or pain or suffering. That is real and part of the human experience. But grumbling is to have an habitual mind-set that assumes the absolute worst, that when something happens, the mind immediately goes to the negative consequences and focuses on the expected negative outcome. Grumbling does several things. Grumbling catches us up in a mood, in a spirit, in an attitude which tends to cause us to focus on unbelief instead of on belief, to see what is negative instead of seeing the possibilities for good that exist in the present. Another thing that grumbling does is to falsify the past. When you look at what Israel did when she grumbled in the wilderness, she managed to ‘conveniently forget’ that in Egypt she was in slavery, in bondage, under oppression. She falsified the past by saying, “There in Egypt, we sat around pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted." But it wasn't true. Sometimes we are tempted to live in the past and think that those good old days were better than anything that is going on now or anything that might come in the future. Grumbling falsifies the past. Grumbling also teaches us to distrust God. It is a denial that God is good and that God means good for us, that even in difficult and hard circumstances, the loving God is compassionately reaching out that we might know that we are loved, redeemed, called out of bondage into freedom. Grumbling denies the goodness of God. And behind all of this comes a wider setting of mind and heart. If we grumble, if we are in the habit of selective remembering and expecting the worst, then we become both terribly defensive, oftentimes rather aggressive and unreasonable, and driven by a very narrow, selfish agenda. As we continue to read in John’s gospel, chapter 6 – we started into this last Sunday and will plough our way through it right through August – Jesus and His disciples found themselves playing a bit of a cat-and-mouse game around Capernaum and the See of Galilee. People flocked to see Jesus as he taught and healed and cast out demons and the disciples kept being a bit freaked out at the aggressive demands of the people – thus trying to get some space from them by hopping into their fishing boats and getting away from the crowds a number of times! Jesus has compassion on the people, and still welcomes them. But – and this is a big but – he has them check their attitude and motivation carefully. Reading in verse 25, we hear that some of the crowd jump into their own boats, head across the lake, and track Jesus down. When they find him, in Capernaum, his home village, they demand to know “Rabbi, when did you come here?” It is not an innocuous question! In the context, the subtext is, “Come on! Justify yourself! Why weren’t we informed? Why weren’t you available EXACTLY as we wanted you? How DARE you not do precisely what we want, when we want it?!?” In short, it is a bit of a threat, and behind it lies a whole journey’s worth of good grumbling! I imagine Jesus departing from his last period of teaching – and feeding the 5 thousand, if you recall – and heading off in his disciples’ boat, and the crowd left behind immediately start into some good end-of-church-service-grumbling! They grumbled for a bit on land; then - with a shared sense of purpose and a grievance to nurse – they went into ‘grumbling super-mode’ as they made common cause on the journey across the lake. And it is in this next encounter with Jesus that they complain of, and to, Jesus, just as the wandering Israelites had done to Moses. And Jesus, in his response to this grumbling and its importunate outburst, sees right to the heart of their motivations and attitude, and rebukes them. “Very truly, I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves.” (v.26) And then he goes on: “Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For it is on him that God the Father has set his seal.” (v.27) This is the theme of John 6 – Jesus’ teaching about the living bread that satisfies and endures. And, given that we have the rest of August to pursue the thought – and the Archdeacon will doubtless have a good crack at it when he leads our worship here next Sunday – pray for me and the family in a caravan in wet Wales, please! – I shall leave the hint hanging…. For now, my prayer for us all, brothers and sisters, is that we allow God to rebuke and correct our grumbling tendencies, and to open ourselves up to His better and more life-giving way… Let’s commit to doing some good self-examination and prayer this week, in Jesus’ name…+

On a lighter note than swine flu!...

2009-07-24T13:02:00.000+01:00

The Church of England is thinking more flexibly about weddings.

This is good news.

I await the likes of this at St Nick's!...(Any dancers out there?!?)...

H/T Phil Ritchie!

Swine Flu - some thoughts...

2009-07-24T12:11:00.000+01:00

Dear brothers and sisters,

I have placed some thoughts about swine flu and our practice of Holy Communion over at my personal blog. Do please go and have a read, here.

2009-07-20T23:02:00.000+01:00

Fun and fellowship on Sunday, with hog roast and the Deanery Lay Chair's very goood homebrew wine to follow! Here's the sermon, as requested by a handful...

SUNDAY 19 JULY 2009
JOB 13:13 – 14:6
HEBREWS 2:5-18

• There is a wonderful story told by the great St Athanasius, and retold here in this wonderful book, A Generous Orthodoxy, by the pastor and Christian writer Brian McLaren
• READ STORY (nb I shall fill this in, shortly!)
• It is, of course, a death-dealing thing to seek to unpack and ‘explain’ a story too much to others – the story speaks for itself as only it can do; but I wanted to draw our attention to one feature, which relates to the scripture passages we have heard, and to what our God might have us hear afresh on an occasion when we gather together to sing His praises and to share in Christian fellowship together, as we do today…
• Athanasius stood contra mundum ("against the world") in defense of the biblical doctrine of Christ. He opposed Arius when it seemed all the world would follow Arius's heresy. Arius’ heresy being to say that Jesus was not both fully God and fully man. Athanasius's work De Incarnatione Verbi Dei ‘On the Incarnation of the Word of God’ remains even today one of the definitive statements of orthodox Trinitarianism…
• For an excellent twentieth century English translation made by Sr Penelope Lawson, CS Lewis gladly wrote an introduction. Those of you who more regularly hear me preach will now know that I am therefore likely to be quoting dear old Jack at some point in the coming minutes, as well as dear old Athanasius…
• First, though, I want to speak about dear old Job!!!... Our first reading this afternoon comes from chapters 13 & 14 of this intriguing book of the Old Testament, so about a third of the way through this extended conversation between Job and his friends, or counsellors. The whole thing, as most of you will know, of course, is a meditation, reflection and robust argument about God and suffering and grace…
• By the end of chapter 11, we have learnt of Job – successful and wealthy man with a lively family – being stripped of his health, his wealth and his children. It has all gone. Disappeared. All three counsellors have had their say about this turn of events. Then, as we pick up at chapter 12, Job answers them sarcastically: “I realize you know everything!”, he opines in verse 2. Swiftly followed by a bit of boasting in verse 3, “I know a few things myself – you are no better than I am.” But then – quick mood swings! – he lapses back into self-pity in verse 4: “I am one mocked.”
• Later on in chapter 12, Job repeats what the friends have been saying about God. Essentially that God only punishes the wicked, so he had better get on with some repenting, doublequick! For our purposes, I want us simply to note that there is not a question here of Job ceasing to believe in God – that is not his problem…
• Rather, because he doesn’t really doubt God’s presence or power, therefore he gets on with laying out his views of God. And so, at the beginning of chapter 13, we read of Job defending himself against God: “I am not inferior to you” (v.2)
• Then, next, he turns his attention to God – verses 13 through 28, which we have heard – and makes a proper faith-statement: “Though he slay me, yet will I trust Him. Even so, I will defend my own ways before Him.” (v.15)
• And then comes what I would regard as the punch. At verse 20, having said that he has prepared his piece, his defence, he sets a couple of conditions on God prior to entering into this exchange:
• “Only grant two things to me, then I will not hide myself from your face: withdraw your hand far from me, and do not let dread of you terrify me. Then call, and I will answer; or let me speak, and you reply to me.” (vv.20-22)
• So here’s the deal Job wants to strike with God: he will deign to deliver his carefully-prepared, scripted defence statement, if God will promise to back off, keep his distance – and all because, at heart, Job’s foundational expectation of God is that he will terrify him!
• God is an ogre, who can only be approached with a bit of safe distance!
• Is this our foundational feeling, sense, about our God? Is God a figure we can deal with only at a distance, because he is fundamentally dreadful, frightening, intimidating? When we gather to sing his praise, is it with a background fear in our hearts, and a sense that we are shoring up our defenses against His anger at us?
• Well, the letter to the early Jewish Christians knew all about power and presence and position, and the writer of it wanted to share word about a stunningly-different conception of God and us human beings! This letter to the Hebrews attempts to say that – because we want to keep God at a distance – God takes the initiative and comes close to us!
• In fact, I want to call this sermon – and the theme of this songs of praise worship – “Jesus – higher than the angels and closer than our own skin!”…
• As the writer to the Hebrews develops his contention, he recalls the wonderful, reflective words of Psalm 8: “What are human beings that you are mindful of them, or mortals, that you care for them? You have made them for a little while lower than the angels”. Here is the core testimony of the Old Testament scriptures – refuting Job’s self-aggrandizing counter-testimony and charge against God. God DOES take close notice of human beings, even cares for them. In fact, he has made them a key part of the creation…
• …and He has unlocked this key role in the created order by changing the order! God has acted, decisively and definitively, in the Incarnation, in coming in the person of Jesus to enter fully into our human life, to come close to us, closer than our own skin! To our desire to keep God at a safe distance - this fearsome God of our worst imagination – God has Himself answered by entering in humility into a fully human life, that of the man Jesus, the carpenter’s son, from Nazareth…
• And St Athanasius has it right when he reflects and contends:
• “What, then, was God to do? What else could He possibly do, being God, but renew His Image in mankind, so that through it men might once more come to know Him? And how could this be done save by the coming of the very Image Himself, our Saviour Jesus Christ? Men could not have done it, for they are only made after the Image; nor could angels have done it, for they are not the images of God. The Word of God came in His own Person, because it was He alone, the Image of the Father Who could recreate man made after the Image.”
• God has come close to us, right into our human experience. He has gotten ‘under the skin’ of our reality in order to call it higher than the angels’, to call us home to the glory of His divine image for all eternity…
• That is what we are doing when we gather together and sing his praise, my brothers and sisters in Christ. We are, in the words of the letter to the Hebrews, itself citing Psalm 22, proclaiming “in the midst of the congregation” the name of the one who has become one of us, so, so close to us.
• And as He is close, so we need to be close to one another, not permitting division and disunity to mar our testimony and experience of this intimate love of God. We have somewhat different emphases of worship and church order, of hermeneutic and style, across our Deanery of church families. Yet, we are so very close, as He is close to us, and the world needs to see and remark upon this closeness, this intimacy, more and more. And I leave a last comment, on that subject, to CS Lewis. He writes this, in his aforementioned introduction to the translation of Athanasius’ De Incarnatione:
• “We are all rightly distressed, and ashamed also, at the divisions of Christendom. But those who have always lived within the Christian fold may be too easily dispirited by them. They are bad, but such people do not know what it looks like from without. Seen from there, what is left intact despite all the divisions, still appears (as it truly is) an immensely formidable unity. I know, for I saw it; and well our enemies know it. That unity any of us can find by going out of his own age. It is not enough, but it is more than you had thought till then. Once you are well soaked in it, if you then venture to speak, you will have an amusing experience. You will be thought a Papist when you are actually reproducing Bunyan, a Pantheist when you are quoting Aquinas, and so forth. For you have now got on to the great level viaduct which crosses the ages and which looks so high from the valleys, so low from the mountains, so narrow compared with the swamps, and so broad compared with the sheep-tracks.”
• My brothers and sisters, we sing our praises to the One who has drawn so near to us in Jesus. Let our fellowship together also be likewise close. +

Songs of praise @ St Nick's

2009-07-17T21:46:00.000+01:00

This coming Sunday - 19 July - St Nick's is delighted to play host to the other church families of our Deanery of Rochford for a joyous time of song and fellowship. You are all most welcome to join us!

Responding to the Bible readings set for Evening Prayer for this given Sunday - from the Book of Job and the Letter to the Hebrews - we shall be singing around the theme of

"Jesus - higher than the angels and closer than our own skin!"

Now, just to whet your appetite, some of the hymns and songs...

Tell out my soul!
Come down, O Love Divine
Let all mortal flesh keep silence

....and six more!....

Songs of Praise starts at 5.00pm...

After our singing and praying, we will retire to the sunny churchyard to enjoy a HOG ROAST and all the trimmings....so bring an appetite!

Enjoy!

FOLK GIG NIGHT @ ST NICHOLAS’

2009-05-21T12:49:00.000+01:00

Just a further reminder that we are privileged to be able to once again play host to a tremendous folk singer/songwriter for a night of songs and stories during the early summer, and that this is now only a little over a week away!

Tim Chesterton
will be playing a gig here on
Saturday 30 May 2009, at 8.00pm

As some will already know from his visit to us in summer 2007, Tim plays his guitar and sings, both classic folk compositions and his own works, and it is still a rare treat to catch him in the UK, as he is usually resident in one of the great global homes of folk music, Edmonton, in Alberta, Canada! If you have access to the internet, do check out some of his recordings on any of the following websites:

http://www.myspace.com/timchesterton
http://ezfolk.com/audio/bands/1834/
http://www.reverbnation.com/timchesterton

Just let me know that you want to come along (via phone/email/this blog, or the Churchwardens or the school office).
Suggested minimum donation £5.00, receipts to benefit church ministry funds and a charity nominated by the PCC, at Tim's agreement.
Bring your own bottle and snacks for a relaxing and fun evening – and bring plenty of friends!

...and here's a gratuitous shot of Tim and the rather-flushed-looking parish priest last time he played at St Nicholas'!...

Pastoral letter to Rawreth parish in the run up to local and European elections

2009-05-09T08:23:00.000+01:00

Dear friends

In one of the Gospel accounts of the life and teaching of Jesus of Nazareth, St Luke recalls one of Jesus’ parables, simple stories drawn on situations from everyday life that serve to illustrate profound truths about people and God.

This particular parable features a corrupt middle-manager who has mishandled credit arrangements for his employer’s business – on top of already punitive loans, he has been extracting his own bribes and ‘commission’. He is discovered and given the sack. But before he goes down, he makes an effort to re-contact his former network and to renegotiate the deals with them all, in order to, shrewdly, make himself some possible-friends out of his former dupes…

Jesus presents this fictitious figure as someone – whilst not virtuous by any stretch of the imagination – as being at least practical and adaptable in a crisis, and able to recognise that – even if only to save his own bacon – a network of friendship and trust is a crucial part of the just and sustainable life.

You can read the story for yourself – The Parable of the Dishonest Manager - in Luke 16:1-13.

For our context, we need to recognise, brothers and sisters, that the value and importance of local communities is resurging in a similar sort of response to some of the frightening impacts of globalisation, climate change and growing concerns about future energy security. For us all, supporting businesses and friendships and activities that build the landscape of our lives, locally, needs to be of increasing focus.

The role of local politics has never been so important as it is now going to be over the coming few years. Good local politics will help our journey together – even if we do it at first only as reaction and self-interest – to define and develop and properly represent our communities.

We live in dramatic and climactic times and there is much to do to build a strong, just and hopeful community in this locality of Rawreth, so I urge you to use your vote wisely on election day, June 4^th 2009, as we vote for our representatives on Essex County Council and in the European Parliament.

Go well. Your friend, pastor and priest,

Paul

The great novelist, poet and short story writer Thomas Hardy once wrote that:

“If way to the better there be, it exacts a full look at the worst.”

Girly music in church!?!...

2009-05-07T23:30:00.000+01:00

Some fascinating discussions going on over at +Nick Baines' place about worship songs and music.

I am firmly of the opinion that much of what characterises evangelical sub-culture is a rather sub-Christian exercise in narcissism - certainly, it engages relatively little with either doctrine (the great strength of classic Anglican and Methodist hymnody in the 18th and 19th centuries) or an honest and exposing range of experiences of God's presence, seeming absence and working, which is the great feature of the Psalms..

So much of the richness and integrity of all this is lost in 20th and early-21st century Anglican practice - at least as far as Sunday worship goes in many parish churches. For my money, we need more loud 'beer and hymns' for big gatherings and more Christians steadily saying, singing (or even chanting) their way through the Psalter....

At St Nicholas', our Sunday fare is a relatively-narrow range of hymnody of a Sunday, but at least it is largely doctrinal, adding to the refrains and phrases and metaphors that help in the teaching each week. The 'love songs to Jesus' are generally reserved for the Communion devotional material...

...and during the week, the Office is said (and,occasionally, sung), allowing us to learn (or relearn) the Psalms. If you have not come along to say your Morning or Evening Prayer before, why not start doing so!?!...

Quiz Aid night - Saturday 9 May 2009, 8.00pm

2009-05-05T22:39:00.000+01:00

Just a reminder that we kickstart Christian Aid Week 2009 with our quiz night this Saturday.

Teams of 8-10 people. Form up in advance or find team-members when you get here. Suggested entry £5 per head. Bring your own bottle and snacks... and enjoy!

Let me or the Churchwardens or the school office know if you are hoping to come!...

Welcome to the blog @ St Nick's!

2009-05-04T14:05:00.001+01:00

Hi there!

Some of you will have occasionally dipped into a blog called the journey home where I have blogged on an (increasingly) occasional basis, and where I have, from time to time, posted items concerning the life of the parish church of Rawreth, St Nicholas.

This blog is now the place to link to for such items...

Here you will find information about our worship and fellowship together as a church family, and about the life of the whole parish of Rawreth. This is intended to be a useful resource for all who live, work or are otherwise connected to this little corner of God's good creation.

Please bear with me as I build up this work-in-progress blog! Meanwhile, stick us in your web bookmarks!...

Go well,

Paul

...and if you are intrigued by the blog's name, watch this space and all will be revealed in time!