A Trip to Mells Group

Martin Weymont responded straight away when I asked if I could have dates for possible visits to share worship with the different congregations on the FACT area. He sent me a plan for Mells Group ( which in itself is a feet of organisation, allowing through use of lay readers, retired clergy and visiting leaders, a service every Sunday in each of the 5 Churches of the group ) and I found that yesterday they were holding a group united service called "Five Alive". So, as it fitted with my plans and committments, off I went !

Martin and the churchwarden gave me a warm welcome at the lovely church of St Mary Magdelene, Great Elm ( more on the building in a few weeks time ) and I found my place in the Jacobean pews.

The service was Holy Communion according to the Book of Common Prayer. Martin wore an alb, cincture and stole and the altar was set up with a veiled chalice and burse. The actual Communion rite was conducted facing East at the wall mounted altar.

The hymn book used was the New Anglican Hymns Old and New.

A congregation of about 40 gathered to the sound of the church bell peeling and the first hymn was When Morning gilds the Skies ( it was followed by Lord of All Hopefullness, Be Still for the Presence and Now Thank We All Our God ) The readings were from the lectionary and Martin used them as the basis for his sermon. He began by saying that he didn't agree with Martin Luther's opinion that the Epistle of St James was "strawy" Using the idea of this passage from St James, being about "doing good deeds" for the Lord, Martin focussed skillfully and engagingly on the exact opposite, on what we call "sins of ommission". He focussed on his own sins of omission rather than pointing out the congregation's failings ! These included "passing by on the other side" when passing someone who had broken down on the roadside, using "everyone's got a mobile" as a justification.

The prayers took a delightful form, when three ladies from the choir came to the front and did actions as Martin read St Patrick's breastplate.

Two notable members of the congregation stayed in the porch, and remained impeccably behaved. They were Martin's dog and the dog of the congregation members who live next door !

Martin said at the end of the service that he felt that the group was starting to really come together when they met for united worship and from what I saw yesterday, I agree.

It was great to see in the notices that the Group has organised a service on Thursday Morning to commemerate the evacuees who arrived in the area, 70 years ago this week.

Afterwards, there was coffee and homemade biscuits in the churchyard, in the light drizzle.

I thoroughly enjoyed my trip to Mells Group. I look forward to seeing you at your church in the near future.

Sunday Spotlight - August 30th 2009

Roman Catholic/Methodist/URC - 22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time
Anglican - Thirteenth Sunday After Pentecost, Proper 17

Song of Solomon 2:8-13 or Deuteronomy 4:1-2, 6-9 * Psalm 45:1-2, 6-9 or Psalm 15 * James 1:17-27 * Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23

Today we get back to the Year of Mark, after our Summer detour into John ( what a pity that this fantastic passage and one of the few which is read year in year out in the cycle, ends up in the Summer hols when we know our congregations are lower ! )
The Pharisees are out to trick Jesus again but as usual he is too wise for them and refuses to fall into their trap. His swift answer must have surely sent them away thinking "foiled again !"

The passage from Deuteronomy has something to say to us as an ecumenical grouping, about tradition and custom, again something which can get us in knots in ecumenical discussions. We often look at the traditions which another denomination has and don't quite understand them and where they came from. There is always the temptation to think that another Christian group has "added" to what was given by God in terms of customs. However, the adding and taking away of customs, especially in the liturgy is something which has been going on since the start of the Church. If a First Century Christian attended any of our Sunday services then they would see some elements they recognised, but others they wouldn't. Liturgy is constantly evolving and that in no way is a contradiction to Moses' command to the people of God. If we don't understand why another denomination's worship developed in the way it did, the best way is to go and see and ask ! ( I'm off to Mells Group today )

What is important though in the context of liturgy is what Jesus quotes from Isaiah. There is always the risk that our liturgy is "lip service", that we get so hung up on tradition and custom ( and don't get me wrong they are important! ) that we loose sight of what our Sunday liturgies are. They are not only our weekly act of worship of God Almighty, but also the public expression of all that goes on in our Christian lives for the rest of the week. If we leave the building and the liturgy has no effect on us, then we have offered "worthless" worship. Sunday worship is the celebration and thanksgiving for the week past and the thing which sets us up for the week ahead. It should encourage us to live publicly all week, what we do behind closed doors for an hour on Sunday.

In my own Catholic tradition, Mass does not end ( there is no Amen at the end ! ) but is a beginning, and as Deacon I send the congregation out "To love and serve the Lord". Today, I encourage you as you leave worship, to make a conscious effort to do that. Sign up for one of the FACT activities going on in the coming months ( or if you're reading this later get in touch with someone and sign up the contacts are on this site ) If you do you won't be falling into the same trap that the Pharisees did.

Maximilian Kolbe and Manche Masemola

Maximilian Kolbe - Roman Catholic, Priest - born 8th January 1894, died in Auschwitz Concentration Camp 14th August 1941

Maximilian Kolbe was a Polish priest who was ordained in 1918. He spent time working in the newly independent Poland after ordination. Between 1930 and 1936 he worked as a missionary in Nagasaki, Japan. He built a monastery on a mountainside. He choose ( against advice ) a side of the mountain which wasn't considered in harmony with nature. Ironically it was this choice which saved the building and the friars when the atomic bomb fell on the city, as the other side of the mountain took the full force.

On his return to Poland he lived in the friary at Niepokalanow and here he sheltered up to 2000 Jews during the early days of the Nazi occupation. He then began amateur radio broadcasts against the Nazis and inevitably he found himself arrested by the Gestapo in February 1941. In the May he was transferred to Auschwitz.

In July, someone escaped from the block that Kolbe was held in and there were to be deaths of prisoners as a reprisal. One of the 10 men chosen, was a married man with children and Maximilian stepped forward to take his place. His offer was accepted. After surviving 3 weeks in a starvation and dehydration cell, he was finally executed by lethal injection.

He was canonised in 1981 in the presence of the man whose life he had saved.


Manche Masemola - Anglican, catechumen - Born 1913 Died 1928


A member of the Pedi tribe in South Africa, she came from the Transvaal. There was already a small Christian minority within the tribe and against the wishes of her parents, Manche attended preparation classes for Baptism. Each time she returned home from a class, she was beaten by her parents. They practised traditional religion and believed their daughter to be possessed by evil spirits. She died after such a beating and before Baptism. Her mother was Baptised 40 years later.

Heroes

When I was growing up, there was a programme ( I believe it was only shown in North-East England ) presented by Eric Robson ( of Gardener's Question Time, when he was a local news journalist ) called "Heroes". In it local celebrities talked about their heroes and why they were important to them.

The Christian Community has always had ways of celebrating its own heroes. The early church soon began to celebrate and venerate those who had died as martyrs or who lived lives which were good examples for the faithful. This developed across the centuries into the formal canonisation rite. Today the church is no different. Of course the Roman Catholic and Orthodox Churches have maintained this formal process but others maintain the memory of influential members in their own ways. It is a way of demonstrating to a new generation how to live lives consistent with the Gospel.

Recently, I came across the Anglican Calendar of Holy Days to be used in conjunction with Common Worship. Its a great document in ecumenical terms as celebrated there are not just the great saints of the Pre-Reformation era but also many others who have lived since. These are drawn from a whole raft of denominations, chosen for their relevance and example to today's Church. There are Anglicans, Roman Catholics, Lutherans, Salvationists, Methodists, and Quakers. To this list could be added many more, who are our heroes of today, people who worked hard in the ecumenical field as well as their own denomination for example Basil Hume, Michael Ramsay or Donald Soper.

So that we can all celebrate these figures I intend to include biographies of these people, who should be our heroes whatever denomination we come from, in this blog, on Saturdays Choosing who gets into any hagiographical calendar is difficult and I hope to strike a balance across the denominations

To start with I will look over the next few weeks at the men and women, imortalised in stone on the West Front of Westminster Abbey, the 20th Century martyrs. Coming for many different denominations they symbolise the thousands who died for their faith in what has rightly been referred to as the "Martyrs Century"

Remember to Sign Up !

There are lots of chances to volunteer to help with inter-church projects in the months ahead, and quite a few of them need you to sign up during the next month. Please, please look at the list and then choose one or more to sign up for. Your help is really needed and the more people who offer their services, the less work there is for everyone. If you don't know who to contact with regard to any of the projects, drop me a line and I will pass your offer on :

September 12th - Cheese Show Refreshment tent - 1 Hour serving teas or helping with children's corner ( see Church reps listed in earlier post )

September 26th - Carnival - programme sellers in afternoon and evening, collectors and marshalls in evening
( see Janet Caudwell or your HOPEFrome rep )

October 10th - HOPEFrome Litter Pick at River - 2 hours litter picking around the River Frome ( see your HOPEFrome rep )

October 8-11th Bible Reading Marathon - 15 minutes reading aloud from The Bible, stewards and refreshment helpers also needed ( see me or your clergy or Exec rep )

Ongoing - HOPEFrome Tea Caravan- 1 to 6 hours serving teas and offereing talk to those out on the town on a Friday and Saturday night ( see Gary Lee of HT or your HOPEFrome rep )

Remember that all these activities are our way of working in and with our community. They show the outside world that Christianity isn't just about being in a building for an hour on a Sunday praying and that when we do go outside it's not just to raise money ! You might not think of yourself as an evangelist, but we are all called to be that ( "Go out into the world and preach the Good News to all nations" ) and these activities are all chances to do that in an easy way.

FACT Leaders' Social

Many of the FACT leadership team got together last night for a social evening at mine. It was a chance for us to get together as clergy/leaders and socialise, without a business agenda to do ! It was also good to do it with our spouses and families, when they do so much for us in practical and support terms. We often forget that behind our leaders are often families and spouses who are doing lots of practical things at home and in church, to allow us to do the work we were ordained to do. This was a chance to say thank you to them. It was also Sam and I's way of saying thank you to all the FACT clergy for their support and prayers during what has not been an easy year for us personally.

In case you don't already know, the leaders meet together a business lunch every two months and this is a good chance for us to talk honestly and frankly with each other, knowing that it is a completely confidential forum. There are many issues which are thrashed out here before coming to Exec meetings, but we also discuss deeper issues ( usually over the lunch. ) Last time we met, we ended up discussing how we went about preaching on the previous Sunday's reading. When we talk like this it gives us an opportunity to share which is not always available to us in the other contexts in which we meet up. It allows us find out more about each other and our denominations. A real chance to experience "Unitas cum Diversitate". The old term for this was a clergy fraternal, but of course its an outdated phrase given that four of our members are women.

One little funny story from the last meeting - Being a Monday, I was looking after Tabitha so she shared lunch with us. She was sat quietly at the other end of the table from me next to Nick Cooper, the Baptist Pastor. Nick did an excellent job of entertaining Tabi and she really warmed to him. Then out of the blue she pulls the crucifix necklace she was wearing, out of her dress and asks Nick "Do you like my necklace?" I don't think poor Nick knew what to say, I am sure that a Baptist official view would have been different from his "That's nice" and shows how much more comfortable we are all becoming with each other and our ways.

Please remember the leadership group in your prayers, its not always easy and we really do tackle some extremely difficult issues at times.

St Giles Anglican Church Leigh on Mendip

The first thing which strikes you as you come towards the village of Leigh on Mendip ( from some distance in fact ) is the unusual Church tower. It rises 91 feet up above the village and has a decorated facade. Contained within it are 6 bells ( first hung 1757) and these form part of the unusual feature of a faceless clock. No dial is visible and the only indication of the time is the striking of the bells. This clock was restored as part of the village's Millenium celebrations.

The Church dates from the 15th Century and the tower with its intriquet decoration and 20 pinnacles, dates from the reign of Henry vIIth. The nave benches inside were carved during the reign of Richard II, although the greater number of the pews date from the early 15th Century. The font is early Norman.

Unusually the steps of the chancel go down not up, as the Chancel floor is at the original level set in Anglo-Saxon times.

The West window contains symbols of the Passion, while the East window has M's in it to commerate their installation in the reign of Mary Tudor.

Address : Leigh on Mendip, Radstock, Bath, BA3 5QP

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