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In May's magazine:

The "glory of God is a human being fully alive", according to an early church teacher quoted in this month's foreword;

last month's annual church meeting was reported on;

one of the charities we support as a parish is Christian Solidarity Worldwide;

there were our monthly Music Notes again;

Hanna Woodall presented some Thoughts on the Exile;

and this month there was just one space-filler to tickle your funny-bone.

 

FOREWORD

I was at a meeting recently – not a church meeting, for a change – where someone described Winchcombe as the “happiest town in England”.  I wonder whether you’d agree?  Obviously there are individuals, and families, who are far from happy; my job brings me into contact with many such.  But overall the level of friendliness, courtesy, mutual support ... and happiness ... in our parish is, I would agree, second to none – and those who move into Winchcombe, perhaps on retirement, count themselves fortunate to have done so.  The beauty of our surroundings is mirrored in the pleasantness of our people.

But even in Winchcombe we cannot, and indeed we should not, insulate ourselves from the troubles around us – individuals and families who are struggling, or hurting, in our own community; people and whole communities which are kept in poverty, pain or fear elsewhere in the world.  One of the things that we try to do in our worship is to connect imaginatively with, and to pray for, such people and situations – in Iraq, Darfur, Zimbabwe ... the list is endless.  Sadly, one of Jesus’ sayings which is least controvertible is “The poor are always with you”.

How are we to think about these things, and what are we to do about them?  As Christians we celebrate two events this month which inform and inspire us in our response to the world we live in.

The first is the feast of the Ascension, on Thursday 17th.  On that day we celebrate the final part of the story of Jesus, who in the words of the Creed “ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father”.  In thinking about Jesus, we learn about ourselves – that our destiny is eternal, our home is in heaven.

The second century church teacher, St Irenæus, famously observed:  “The glory of God is a human being fully alive” – and this exuberant Christian humanism should be our motto.  Jesus himself said “I have come that you may have life ... in all its fulness”.  We may be sure that all forms of religion, all ways of living, which diminish our (or others’) humanity are false.  Christianity isn’t really a religion anyway, though many would prefer to make it one.  It’s a way of living – life-transforming, life-enhancing – which not even death can destroy.  Ascension Day reminds us of the immeasurable value of our lives:  humankind belongs in heaven.

The second is the feast of Pentecost, Sunday 27th, when God gave the Holy Spirit – the Breath of Life itself – to the first followers of Jesus.  In the Creed again, “We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life”.  If Ascension Day inspires us to see all humanity as infinitely precious, then Pentecost equips us to turn that into reality.

Early this month, on Friday 4th, six of our church-members (three adults and three teenagers) are being ‘confirmed’.  The Bishop of Gloucester, Michael Perham, will come to our church and lay his hands on their heads with the words “Confirm, O Lord, your servant with your Holy Spirit”.  They’re opening their hearts to the same power of God which raised Jesus from the dead – and who knows where that Spirit will take them, or us?

Have you read the book or seen the film, Chocolat?  Into a stuffy, censorious, rural community blows a strong wind – and gradually, in the face of prejudice and opposition, some in the town begin to live a little more.  As with Jesus, it was an unholy alliance of secular and religious authority which tried to stifle what the wind brought ... but by the end even they were beginning to be changed.

Why do people contrast Christians and Humanists?  To be the one is to be the other?  Have a good May!

John Partington

ANNUAL PAROCHIAL CHURCH MEETING

As usual this occasion gave opportunity for meeting in more ways than one.  People arrived early for refreshments, to meet and chat, and to browse round displays and tables which marketed produce and re-cycled goods.  By the time the meeting-proper commenced extra chairs were being tucked in at the back and there was an expectant air.  

Rosemary Hancock and Maurice Newman were returned to the office of churchwarden with the gratitude of the meeting.  Margaret Batterbury was elected to the Parochial Church Council for three years and Christine Lainé for one year.  This left three places available with the hope that younger members of the parish may be encouraged to fill vacancies.  

Di Hill, the new Electoral Roll Officer reported on the New Roll, which totals 259 members, including eleven non-residents.  Eleven clergy are also members of our church.  Since the closing date a further twelve persons have requested that their names be added to the Roll.  (This compares with the old roll with 311 members in 2006.)    

In presenting the accounts Sue Williams said that although planned giving last year had not met the budgeted figure nevertheless it had increased by 9%, and use of gift-aid is increasing.  Expenditure had been very close to the budgeted figure. She expressed the indebted- ness of the Parish to the Friends of St Peter’s for their generous gifts throughout the year.  Also, over half of the cost of Teacher’s House has now been raised.

This year the topic for fuller discussion was our ministry to pre-school children and their parents.  Rev Hanna Woodall spoke on the Toddler Service which is now weekly and attracts up to fourteen children.  It builds on the work of Sarah Davies and her helpers at the fortnightly ‘Minnows’ group meeting mid-week in the Methodist Church Hall.  This attracts around seventeen children up to the age of four.  Minnows is totally self-sufficient and indeed has made a donation to the church towards staffing our Sunday crèche.  Liz Partington spoke on Climbers which meets on Sunday mornings in the School.  All these groups are thriving and make effective bridges between the local community and more formal worship in the church.  

Rev John Partington highlighted the growth in breadth in the parish and paid tribute to the contribution made by Mike Capener and Hanna Woodall. He spoke of his hopes for the newly inaugurated Winchcombe Ecumenical Partnership and for the Team, and predicted that financial pressure on the parish would now gradually ease.  

From the floor warm appreciation was expressed for the work of the flower-arrangers and the choir of St Peter’s. Rev Nikki Arthy was congratulated on her appointment as Area Dean.  

Ann Sutcliffe

CHRISTIAN SOLIDARITY WORLDWIDE

One of the Lent lunches in March raised money for the work of CSW. Many people had never heard of this charity and as it’s our charity of the month here is some information about the work they do.

Christian Solidarity Worldwide is like Amnesty International but with particular interest in human-rights abuses against practising Christians. In countries like North Korea, Pakistan, Indonesia, Colombia to be a Christian is to risk personal safety as well as freedom. Christians are imprisoned, tortured and often killed. Their houses and churches are destroyed, with church leaders and their families being especially targeted. Christians are bullied into renouncing their faith or have to practise their faith in secret.

Imagine if the UK didn’t have an effective police force and the courts were corrupt. Imagine that the state objected to you being a Christian and watched your every move. Can you imagine how lonely, vulnerable and isolated you’d feel? This scenario is a stark reality for many countries.

CSW works to restore justice to situations where the basic human right of freedom of religious expression is denied. The charity is expert in advocacy and research into human rights issues. It lobbies governments and the UN to change policy. It has changed the lives of countless Christians, freeing them from prison and even from death.

Its current focus is to hold human-rights training workshops in places like Indonesia and Colombia, which hopefully will empower church leaders, human-rights defenders and victims. It is committed to give ‘voice to the voiceless’.

As free Christians we should consider ourselves fortunate. We so often take our freedoms for granted. Supporting the work of CSW is a way of holding out the hand of friendship to our persecuted brothers and sisters. We can do the usual things to support this charity; regular giving by standing order; prayer (CSW often holds prayer days for specific countries); even writing a letter to an EU minister or foreign government to lobby is a worthwhile activity. There is also a scheme which enables you to write to Christians who are imprisoned. These letters of support serve as a lifeline to those who believe they are forgotten. The charity provides model letters to copy and names and addresses of politicians to send them to.      

You can obtain more information from the CSW website www.csw.org.uk

Hanna Woodall

MUSIC NOTES

Congratulations to Lucy Newsum and Hannah Wilcock, both of whom gained their Dean’s Awards with Merit and are now sporting green ribbons.

We are indebted to Joyce Curnock for her tolerance of all the choir music in the vestry in April, and are very much looking forward to using the new cupboards in the choir area!

My husband Melvin (baritone) and I are looking forward to giving a short concert in Stanley Pontlarge on Saturday 19th at 6.30 pm.  A number of items will be familiar to most people, and there will be some audience participation! Do come and hear Melvin, and the beautiful sounds of the Robin Jennings organ (a copy of a 17th century instrument). We are so lucky to have such an instrument to grace the church there… and we need to raise the last bit of money to pay for it!

I am currently planning the Choir concert, which is to be on Saturday, 14th July at 7.00 pm in St Peter’s, Winchcombe.  Details of the programme will be in the next magazine… but do put the date in your diaries.  We missed doing the Choir concert in 2006 (because of ‘Noye’s Fludde’); it will be good to have this event again this year.

Fiona Brown

THOUGHTS ON THE EXILE

The two things that shaped the life of God’s people in the Old Testament are the Exodus and the Exile. If we don’t have a basic understanding of the significance of these two historical events much of the Old Testament will be hard to connect with. The exodus (the freeing of Israelite slaves and their development into a nation under Moses) gets quite good coverage, but the exile and what it meant for the Israelite nation is not so often emphasised. How this people reacted to the crisis of the exile may teach us something about how to think about God in times of tragedy.

So why was the exile such a crisis?  In the 6th Century BC, Jerusalem, the centre of Israelite religious life, fell to the Babylonians. The holy temple was destroyed and all the movers and shakers, the religious, political leaders, artisans, the royal family were taken into captivity – exiled to Babylon. Psalm 137 captures the heartache of a people suffering a crisis of identity.

By the rivers of Babylon –
there we sat down and there we wept
when we remembered Zion.
…How could we sing the Lord’s song
in a foreign land?

How could the Israelites trust the God who broke all his promises and allowed such a catastrophe to happen?  God had promised three things to his people. First, Israel would have a land of her own. Second, the people of Israel would have descendants, and so the continuation of the nation would be secure. Third, God would always have a special relationship with them; they would be his people, and he would be their God, they’d be protected. Imagine then what the exile represented.

The land was plundered, the Israelites were dispossessed, their traditions in jeopardy; where was God’s protection in all this? People had to do radical theology to answer such questions. Was there ever a covenant? Did they ever have a special relationship with Almighty God?  Was there a future?  

Trying to answer some of these questions is how the Old Testament came to be written at all. The ultimate test was how faith could survive in a context of senseless tragedy. And it’s an eternal question, isn’t it? As people reflected on and wrote down their history and traditions, they reached new conclusions about the God they thought they knew. These new awful circumstances gave the Israelites an opportunity to understand God and his purposes more fully.

Their understanding of God developed in four major ways.

·       First, they came to an awareness that their God (‘Yahweh’ the One Who Is) wasn’t just one god among many national gods. By the end of the exile the idea of monotheism crystallises. God isn’t just the best god of many gods, he is the only God. And if God is the only God then he is the God of all creation. This growing awareness of God’s magnitude as divine creator, maker of heaven and earth probably inspired the book of Genesis.

·       Secondly the Israelites came to understand that God is the God of all history. As God had designed the natural world so he designed history, and if this is the case then all things happen for a purpose.

·       Thirdly this one God must be the God of all peoples. This means a re-thinking of the Israelites’ relationships with other peoples and a new understanding of their place in God’s purposes. Isaiah recasts Israel as a people who may need to suffer in order to serve.  God had always called them to bless other nations - maybe this came at a price?

·       Fourthly they began to experience God as Redeemer. Good things could come out of terrible circumstances. They survived the exile and grew stronger because of it.

As the Israelites eventually returned to their land under a new Persian power, they returned with a new awareness of lessons learnt. They became a community who sustained themselves with stories that told of who they were: a people in special relationship with the one true God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

The exile experience of the Israelites has much to teach us. What do we do as a Christian community when all sense of meaning and purpose is shattered? During wartime, natural disasters, personal tragedies. Most of us will have some sort of exile experience when we feel that God has abandoned us. The psychological state of exile is an overwhelming sense of loss, a longing to return to the homeland, to things as they were.

We do our theology as we react to life’s circumstances as the Israelites did. We know that many of our conclusions are only provisional. We live with the questions about justice and forgiveness. We wrestle with the fact that the problem of evil hasn’t been resolved. But through being in an ‘exile’ experience we may get a new sense of the unimagined possibility of God’s activity in our lives.

The first disciples experienced the ultimate exile experience on Good Friday. God seemed to have abandoned them, all they had lived for was destroyed. There seemed to be no hope. We know how this exilic experience ended – it ended in the resurrection.

And there is a sense that all true believers are living in exile from their true homeland, sojourners until we come to our eternal home – but while we wait for that we are called to transform the world. Jeremiah’s words to his exiled brothers and sisters are relevant to all exiles:

‘Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat what they produce… multiply there and do not decrease. But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.’ (Jeremiah 29:5-7).  

[Some of the ideas in this article come from John Holdsworth’s book ‘Dwelling in a strange land’.]

Hanna Woodall

... AND FINALLY

Reading while sunbathing makes you well red!

 

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