As every strain of status is reversed.
With one swift look of love, your sacred face
Outfaces us. Disgrace is met with grace,
And blessings fall on those we call accursed.
But still the cup is full for those who
thirst.
And listen for your welcome, when it comes.
o focusing on our ministry to children and
families with the appointment of a Children and Families Worker
• growing in engaging with our communities
o continuing to support Leatherhead Trinity
School and the Leatherhead youth project, who undertake our youth work,
o and especially Allsaints Coffee, the social enterprise company that is
already employing four of our town's young people, three of them on an
apprenticeship scheme
Albert Einstein is quoted as saying that one definition of insanity is
doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting different
results. Broadly speaking, the Church of England has been doing things
pretty much the same way for some time with the result that overall it
is in decline. There are churches where there is growth, sometimes
spectacular growth, but they are the ones where they have dared to do
something different.
We have to do something different. As you know, my philosophy is "as
well as, not instead of" so we are focusing on offering new and exciting
things for our children and families, and for all young people, and
providing warm comfortable flexible worship space for both traditional
and modern forms of worship. The project to equip ourselves with
buildings fit for the 21st century is taking the time it needs to get it
right... but more of this in future months.
As the season of Spring rolls into the season of Summer - Season's
Greetings!
Graham Osborne
February 2015
The Rector writes ...
Most seasons in the church year are characterised by
particular, very familiar, images - cards, decorations, crosses,
poppies, robins, angels, shepherds, daffodils, bunnies, doves - all
sorts of visual clues that let us know the season that is upon us.
Lent is different. I suppose it could be characterised by
Ash. Ash Wednesday marks the start of the Lenten season, often
symbolically marked by the imposition of Ashes during a service of Holy
Communion, the ash being the result of burning last year's Palm crosses.
Lent is traditionally 40 days long, echoing the 40 days
that Jesus spent in the wilderness after his baptism. The Gospel
accounts tell us that, as soon as he had been baptised, with God's words
ringing in his ears "This is my son, in whom I am well pleased", Jesus
felt compelled to go out into the wilderness to try and work out just
how he should exercise his earthly ministry.
The idea is that Lent is a penitential season in which we
examine ourselves to identify those areas where we fall short of the
standard Jesus has set by his example. The Lenten convention is that one
observes Lent by fasting from something, be that food or drink,
television or the Internet. It can also be characterised by picking
something up - reading a Lent book, attending a Lent course, being part
of a Lent group.
Lent gives us a chance to "mend our ways", to purify
ourselves, in preparation for Easter. If you look at a calendar, it is
easy to spot that Lent is actually 46 days long - traditionally, the
Sundays of Lent are "rest days" - with the fourth Sunday of Lent being
known as Refreshment Sunday or Mothering Sunday.
The last two weeks are known as Passiontide, heralded in
by Passion Sunday, the 5th Sunday of Lent, then Palm Sunday a week
later, which marks the start of Holy Week in which, as far as possible,
we remember and re-live the events of the last week of Jesus' earthly
life.
The desolation of Good Friday, and the emptiness of Holy
Saturday, are gloriously dispelled by the Striking of the New Fire early
on Easter Day that signifies the resurrection of Jesus and ushers in the
50 day celebration of Jesus's post-resurrection appearances as we lead
up to the church's birthday at Pentecost.
May I wish you a holy, blessed and fruitful Lent.
Graham Osborne
October 2014
The Rector writes
How do we deal with murder? Or manslaughter?
The brutal beheading of David Haines by the self-styled
Islamic State follows those of James Foley and Stephen Sotloff and, God
forbid, may [Ed. - and did] precede that of Alan Henning.
And a verdict of the culpable homicide, or manslaughter,
of his girlfriend has just been passed on Oscar Pistorius who now awaits
sentencing.
How are we to respond to such horrific and shocking
events? How does the Haines family deal with this tragedy? How do Barry
and June Steenkamp deal with something much closer to home?
Jesus taught us that the Old Testament doctrine of "an eye
for an eye, a tooth for a tooth" should be replaced by "love your enemy,
pray for those who persecute you". The old way was, in fact, a way of
restricting and moderating the degree of vengeance for a wrong done - it
was to be a measured, appropriate response of equal severity rather than
what had been the norm - often the killing of the perpetrator.
However sad, there is a world of difference between the
frightened response of a disabled man to intruders in the middle of the
night (if that is what it was) and the cynical, brutal and barbaric
murder of three innocent men.
Reeva Steenkamp's mother, June, is concerned with justice;
speaking to NBC, she said: "This verdict is not justice for Reeva. I
just want the truth." A perfectly understandable need for her daughter
to be treated fairly.
To put the Haines atrocity in perspective, we must
understand that, whatever the claims, there is no religious
justification for such actions -there is merely the cynical pursuit of
power. The president of the Islamic Society of Britain, Sughra Ahmed,
said: "If someone who commits such evil and such heinous crimes calls
themselves the Islamic State, then we need to understand actually that
there's nothing Islamic and there's nothing state-like or legal about
the work that they're doing."
Whatever vengeful thoughts may be in their minds, the
Haines family has shown great moderation. In his statement on behalf of
the family, Mike Haines, David's brother, just concentrates on David's
life story. He concludes with these words: "David was most alive and
enthusiastic in his humanitarian roles. His joy and anticipation for the
work he went to do in Syria is for myself and family the most important
element of this whole sad affair. He was and is loved by all his family
and will be missed."
As Christians, the accepted attitude is "hate the sin,
love the sinner". How hard that is when faced with such cynical
indifference to the life of another. But it IS possible; it DOES happen.
Few of us, I guess, could match the attitude of forgiveness shown by
Gordon Wilson, Marie's father, after the Remembrance Day bombing in
Enniskillin: - "She held my hand tightly, and gripped me as hard as she
could. She said, 'Daddy, I love you very much.' Those were her exact
words to me, and those were the last words I ever heard her say." To the
astonishment of listeners, Wilson went on to add, "But I bear no ill
will. I bear no grudge. Dirty sort of talk is not going to bring her
back to life. She was a great wee lassie. She loved her profession. She
was a pet. She's dead. She's in heaven and we shall meet again. I will
pray for these men tonight and every night."
Let us, too, try to "pray for these men, tonight and every
night."
Graham Osborne
June 2014
The Rector writes
We have just come through two notable seasons.
One of them is absolutely central to the Christian faith -
Easter - as it re-tells the story of the last weeks in
the life of Jesus Christ, culminating in his Passion, crucifixion, death
and Resurrection.Easter is the crowning glory of the love story that is
the story of God's creation; an affirmation that God's love is stronger
than death and that there is the promise of eternal life for all to
claim.
The other season is much more mundane - the season of the
Annual Report & Accounts and the Annual Parochial Church
Meeting (APCM). The annual meeting in is two parts. In the
first part every parishioner has a vote to elect the two Churchwardens:
Dr Donald Yeates and Mrs Sue Roberts were elected.The second part is
just for those on the Electoral Roll of the parish. The meeting receives
various reports, elects members of the Parochial Church Council and of
the Deanery Synod, and appoints the Sidesmen to serve for the coming
year.
The final item gives the Rector the opportunity of
thanking all those who have contributed so much to the life of the
church over the past year, and of looking ahead to the coming year.At
this year's meeting, I set out a 5 Year Focus for our
parish - five aspects of our Key Areas of Mission on which I would like
us to focus for the next five years. They are these:
Worship
Developing our music in worship, in both traditional and
contemporary idioms, aiming for music that lifts us higher, takes us
deeper and draws us nearer to God
Growing as Disciples
Being, or becoming, intentionally prayerful, making time to spend
in God's presence.
Intentionally living out the Values that we have articulated
Evangelistic Outreach
Focusing specifically on our ministry to children and families
Community Engagement
Supporting the Leatherhead Youth Project (who do our Youth Work) in
the exciting new projects they conceive.
Continuing, under new leadership, the Community Market in the Church
Hall on a Friday morning
Resources
All of these, and many other aspects of our Mission, require us
to have buildings that are fit for the 21st Century
Concept plans have been developed for
- re-ordering the church itself, reclaiming our beautiful mediaeval
church whilst taking advantage of modern technology for
ecologically-friendly lighting, heating, and audio-visual facilities
- re-developing the church hall to provide an even betterfacility to
serve the community of which we are part.
If you are already part of our church family, I do hope
that you will do all that you can to contribute to our 5 Year Focus. If
you are not yet, we look forward to welcoming you.Compliments of the
season!
Graham Osborne
January 2014
The Rector writes ...
As is the way of publishing schedules, magazine articles
are written well ahead of publication date.
We are currently fully into the swing of the joyful
round of anticipatory Christmas celebrations – trees, tinsel, lights,
carol services, carol singing, nativity plays, school fairs, special
assemblies, Crib services – all in the middle of the church season of
Advent, a time of looking forward to the Second Coming of Jesus.
I do hope that your seasonal celebrations will have been
peaceful, joy-filled and lots of fun.
And it’s time to start thinking about our New Year
resolutions. When Archbishop Justin Welby spoke at New Wine 2013
he said that the church should focus on three priorities – becoming
communities of prayer, seeking reconciliation and making new
disciples. Addressing the first of these is what I am encouraging in
the church. We have a parish Prayer Diary that
contains an entry for each day of the month, with the names of members
of the church family, an aspect of the town and a number of roads so
that we can pray for those living and working there.
Please consider making it one of your resolutions to get
hold of a copy of the Prayer Diary and use it in your prayer life – as
well as losing weight, stopping smoking, joining a gym, and being
nicer to the dog!!
I heard a lovely story about a nativity play the other
day. The cast had behaved beautifully, the play had gone brilliantly,
the music had been faultless and the finale was going SO well – the
entire cast processing out of the hall down the centre aisle. The
angels had led the way, then came the animals, then the shepherds,
then the kings and, finally, Mary and Joseph.
The mood was shattered when, halfway down the aisle,
Mary said in a piercing wail “Oh ****, I’ve forgotten the baby!”
A cautionary tale. We would all do well not to forget
the baby – and all that He means - this Christmas and New Year.
Happy New Year!
Graham Osborne
November 2013
The Rector writes ...
So much to do with Autumn speaks of life shutting down,
of hibernation, even of decay. The leaves fall and begin to rot, trees
become more and more bare, gardens lose their vibrant colours. BUT, in
our parish, there are lots and lots of signs of new life and new
beginnings.
We have just had a re-vamped Autumn Fayre,
all the wonderful variety of stalls we have come to expect plus a
plethora of fun things for the children to do – negotiating an
electric maze, playing Hook-a-Duck, making lots of noise in Tin Can
Alley, hosing down plastic bottles – such fun! Not only that but the
Cake Stall, for example, was awash with cakes and biscuits of all
sorts – including Owls and Pussycats.
We are also just a month into our very first Alpha
Course – a ten-week exploratory course for enquirers into
the Christian faith. About 35 of us gather in the church every Monday
evening for a delicious meal – we’ve had lasagne, sausages and onions,
shepherd’s pie and curry so far (not all at once!) – sit down together
to watch a very entertaining talk on DVD and then get into small
groups to chew over what we have heard. Topics such as Who is Jesus?
Why Did Jesus Die? and How and Why Should I Pray? give us some high
fibre material to get our teeth into.
And then we have our new website: www.leatherheadparish.com
in the very capable hands of our Webmaster, Julian Rickard. Please do
have a wander around the pages and let us know whether it gives you
what you need to know, how easy it is find what you are after, and how
we might improve it. Our History website, to which
you can link direct from the new website, will continue to be
maintained and developed by our new Archivist, Frank
Haslam.
With the retirement of our Inspecting Architect, David
Jewel, after having completed our latest Quinquennial
Inspection and Report, we have had to undertake a selection
process to find and appoint a new one (churches are not permitted to
be without an Inspecting Architect). Donald Yeates conducted an
extensive research project to whittle the candidates down to a
shortlist of three, from which we finally selected one to whom we
offered the position. I am delighted to say that he accepted with
alacrity. He is John Bailey, a partner in Thomas Ford & Partners,
Chartered Architects and Surveyors, based in Sydenham. John is also
the Inspecting Architect for Guildford Cathedral, so we are in exalted
company (or is it the Dean and Chapter who are?)
And the final new beginning that we can celebrate is the
appointment of the new Archdeacon of Dorking. He is
The Revd Paul Bryer, currently Vicar of St Paul’s, Dorking and Rural
Dean of the Dorking Deanery. Before he was ordained Paul taught
Religious Studies at Therfield School here in Leatherhead, so we can
celebrate some close links, both geographical and historical. We wish
him every blessing in his new appointment.
Isn’t God amazing? As it so aptly says in Revelation
21.5 “He who was seated on the throne said, ‘Behold, I am making all
things new!’“ What a splendid way to start an Autumn.
Yours in Him,
Graham Osborne
August 2013
The Rector writes …
As this month of August gets under way, there will be a number of
people still looking forward to their holidays. Those not tied to
school holidays may well already be looking backwards.
Whichever way you may be looking, you might like to join me in
pondering about holidays. Literally “holy days”, my dictionary defines
a holiday as “a period in which a break is taken from work or studies
for rest, travel, or recreation”. Rest, travel and recreation - don’t
they sound a good combination?
Travel may or not figure in our holidays, but I guess that, for most
of us, “rest” on a holiday means not doing what we would normally be
doing. Not only that but it also means the gaps in between doing
recreational things - which might be doing all sorts of things that we
wouldn’t normally dream of doing like abseiling, paragliding or
bungee-jumping - but it probably means gentler things like
sightseeing, browsing round deliciously unfamiliar places or simply
soaking up the sun (or [sigh] dodging the raindrops).
Those are what are normally thought of as “recreation”, things done
at special times - out of working hours, at evenings and weekends or
on holiday. But rest and recreation are not just for special times,
they are for all times.
Jesus talked about rest, a very particular kind of rest: “Come to me
all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give
you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle
and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” (Matt.
11:28-29)
What a wonderful image that phrase “rest for your souls” conjures up
- tranquillity, calmness, peace – that very special quality
encapsulated in the Hebrew word Shalom. And what a wonderful promise -
that if we enlist in Christ’s service, willingly submitting to his
yoke, we will know his peace, we will know our soul’s ease.
And if you spell “recreation” slightly differently, “re-creation”, a
whole new meaning unfolds. Re-creation, being created anew, is at the
heart of the Gospel message. There has to be repentance, for sure,
before anything can happen; a turning back, a recognition that we are
not doing things the way God would have us do them, not putting others
and their interests before ourselves and our own interests.
But if that does happen, if we do repent, if we do begin to realise
that there is another way of being, a new way of living in the way
that Jesus showed us, then we have the chance of being a whole new
creation. As St Paul told the Corinthians “if anyone is in Christ,
there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see,
everything has become new!” (2 Cor 5:17)
So if you have already had your holiday, I hope you had a splendid
time. If you still plan to go but haven’t yet, I hope you will have a
splendid time. If you have decided that a holiday is not on, I hope
you enjoy staying just where you are.
Whatever your situation in the holiday stakes, I do hope that you
will take a long look at the other possibilities of rest and
re-creation - and that you will relish being rested, refreshed and
renewed.
Graham Osborne
May 2013
The Rector writes …
By one of those interesting coincidences, the ceremonial
funeral of Baroness Thatcher, with full military honours, was held in
St Paul's Cathedral on the same day that we held our Annual Parochial
Church Meeting (APCM).
Great affairs of state were laid aside for a while and
world, international and national leaders assembled to honour an
extraordinary life lived on the world's stage, whilst a grieving
family mourned the loss of a mother and grandmother. May she rest in
peace.
At a funeral, one looks back on the life that has been,
carries out the essential function of the occasion and looks ahead to
the time to come. So it is with an APCM - we look back on the past
year, transact the business of the meeting and look ahead to the year
to come. In my review of the year, the highlights included:
Kuhan's ordination as priest and subsequent
celebratory lunch.
The Summer Celebration in Gail and Roger's back garden.
Church family baptisms.
The Diamond Jubilee "bring and share" lunch.
Leatherhead Youth Project's (LYP) 7th Birthday party and its success
in ministering to the Young People of Leatherhead - about 250 young
people attend LYP each week (40-50 per day).
The Olympic Road Cycle Races on the weekend of 28-29 July which had
engendered a wonderful community spirit and had encouraged about 500
people to visit the Church or Church Hall for refreshments or to
watch the race on the big screen.
The Heritage Days and the wonderful flower arrangement.
The packed Church for the wedding of Poppy Stagg and Phil Goulding.
The second anniversary of Messy Church.
The hand-over of All Saints Church to LYP on 4 November.
The celebration of the ministry of David Ireland.
The Growing Leaders course being attended by 5 of our home group
leaders.
The Service of Nine Lessons and Carols, with the candles, LYP
lighting rigs, and refreshments (people stayed for hours!).
The MVDC Chair's Carolfest.
The churches' contribution to the Town Centre Christmas Celebrations
-the choirs, LYP band, Messy Church etc.
Christingle service and Crib service.
The appointment of Gina Eason as Organist and Choir Director.
The wedding of James Waters and Helen Warren.
The opening of All Saints Coffee - attended by the Chairs of SCC and
MVDC and a number of Councillors
The appointment of Malcolm Raby as House For Duty priest at
Mickleham.
Matthew Waters taking over as editor of the parish magazine
Trinity School's OFSTED assessment as a "Good" school.
The Burns' Night supper, especially the haggis.
The bonfire party at the Churchyard rubbish heap.
The Friends' Quiz Night and their generous donation.
Archdeacon Julian Henderson's appointment as Bishop of Blackburn
The Values Day.
After the business of the meeting - reports, accounts
and elections - we looked ahead to the year to come by our Key Areas
of Mission:
Worship
Development of the choir under Gina's guidance
Growing as Disciples
House Groups growing after the Lent Course
Alpha course - aiming for a public course in the Autumn Term
Evangelistic Outreach/Community Engagement
New Headteacher at Leatherhead Trinity School
The continued success of LYP
The "Jubilate" flower, music, art and social festival 10 to 16 June
The re-vamped Autumn Fayre
Resources
A Vision and Values Statement arising out of the Values Day
Our new website
Our New Future, with the Architect's concept drawings due to be
presented to the PCC on 22 May
PCC Training days
Ecumenical Links
Ian Howarth's departure and Lynda Russell's arrival.
We thanked Linda Hauxwell, standing down as
Churchwarden, and John Hampton, standing down as Convenor of the
Resources Key Area Working Group, together with all those who give so
selflessly of their time in serving the church family here in
Leatherhead. Many thanks again.
Graham Osborne
February 2013
The Rector writes
Ash Wednesday this year is 13th February - a matter of days away - and,
as we know, is the day after Shrove Tuesday.
For those of you of a philological bent, "shrove" is the past tense of
the verb "shrive" and to shrive someone was to grant them absolution.
Shrove Tuesday was traditionally the last day of Shrovetide, when those
preparing for the Lenten fast would make their confession and seek
absolution.
As Lent was a time of fasting, the custom developed of using up all the
rich foods in the larder so that only the penitential foods would be
consumed during the fasting time - only food sufficient to maintain
one's strength. In particular, the practice of abstention from meat,
dairy and eggs during times of fasting developed. Milk, eggs and flour
would be used to make pancakes and a period of feasting and revelry
would precede the fast - a time of Carnival (from the Latin carna
vale - "farewell meat").
Lent is intended to be a time of fasting, reflection and
self-examination in preparation for the joy of Easter.
When I worked in Bristol, I used to live in Clifton, and the Clifton
Suspension Bridge was a feature of my daily life. That bridge, with its
two magnificent towers and the curve of its suspension cables became for
me a graphic representation of the progression of our Christian faith -
the journey from the highs of Christmas, through the lows of the highs
of Easter.
I wish you a reflective Lenten journey.
Graham Osborne
January 2013
The Rector writes
As we emerge from yet another season of carol services, carol singing,
nativity plays, Crib services, trees, tinsel and lights, it would be
good to reflect on the real meaning of Christmas - the reality that God
became human to show us what love means - the sort of love that He has
for us, and longs for us to have for one another and for Him.
Love used to be the distinctive mark of a Christian. The famous quote
from the second century North African theologian, Tertullian, sums it up
- "'Look," they say, "how they love one another" (for they
themselves hate one another); "and how they are ready to die for each
other' (for they themselves are readier to kill each other)" -usually
quoted as 'See how [these Christians] love one another.' (Apologeticum
39,7)
The New Testament reading for the last Sunday of 2012 was Colossians
3.12-17. It is a chapter in which St Paul is yet again stressing the
effect of the transforming power of Jesus' death and resurrection - that
we die to our former selves and rise to be new creations. He spells out
what he means in no uncertain terms. Get rid of the old ways: -
"5 Put to death, therefore,
whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity,
lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. 6
Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. 7
You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. 8
But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these:
anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips."
and put on the new:
"12 Therefore, as God's chosen
people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion,
kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 13
Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a
grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. 14
And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together
in perfect unity. "
Over this recent Christmas period, we have experienced a wide range of
loving and inclusive worship, outreach to the town and fellowship
events. After one of our services, one lady told me that it was her
first time at our church and that she would certainly be coming again.
There is nothing more compelling than a warm, welcoming and loving
church. Let's try and continue our "Christmas spirit", so that what
Tertullian said of the North African church in the second century is
said of the church in Leatherhead in 2013 - "see how they love one
another".
Happy New Year!
Graham Osborne
November 2012
The Rector writes
November is the month when we most particularly think of, and remember,
our loved ones who have died and we see no longer. It is the month that
engenders feelings of loss and bereavement almost more than any other
and, with the shops all filling up with Christmas goods, the sadness and
heartbreak of being without our nearest and dearest at this time of year
- perhaps for the first time - can be overwhelming.
And we must not underestimate the feelings of bereavement that can be
caused by losses other than death. The people of Mickleham will be
feeling bereaved by the retirement of their much loved Parish Priest,
David, and, although he and Angela will be living in the village, their
role will have changed and the parishioners will no longer be in their
particular care, nor have unlimited access to them. We hold them all in
our thoughts and prayers as they and I discern who is called to take
them forward in their spiritual life.
For David, too, there will be feelings of loss. The loss of regularly
celebrating the Eucharist at his own altar, the loss of being one of the
first to know when somebody is in trouble, the loss of being one of the
first to know when someone has good news to share. I have greatly valued
the time I have shared with David, not least because of his wisdom,
experience and humour.
Bereavement can affect us in so many different ways. Some need to talk
and share their pain. Others need to be allowed to keep it private and
hidden. There is no right or wrong way to deal with loss. No formula to
make everything better in a certain timeframe. Grief is intensely
personal, and it takes as long as it takes. As Christians, we have the
comfort of knowing that both we and the loved one we see no longer are
held in God's loving arms - "The eternal God is your refuge, and
underneath are the everlasting arms." Deut. 33.27
In this parish we have an All Souls service on Friday 2nd November at
6.30pm. This is a quiet and reflective time to bring our loved ones to
mind and hold them in the love of God. We also have our Remembrance Day
service on Sunday November 11th, when we remember all those lost in war.
I do hope we can find comfort in the words of Jesus:
"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as
the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be
afraid." John 14.27
Graham Osborne
September 2012
The Rector writes - London 2012 - Inspire a
generation
I wonder how many of us approached the start of the
Olympic Games 2012 with some apprehension. Were the venues actually
going to be complete on time? Were there going to be security alerts and
terrorist threats? How embarrassing was the Opening Ceremony going to
be? How could we possibly match the splendour of Beijing?
We needn’t have worried. As someone observed to me “While
Beijing was all head, London was all heart”.
It was a triumph from the start. The Opening Ceremony took
the breath away – England’s rural idyll giving way to the Industrial
Revolution, with Isambard Kingdom Brunel in all his pomp, and chimneys
growing up out of nowhere; a paean of praise to the NHS and then the
forging of the Olympic Rings; the procession of athletes country by
country, each accompanied by a peculiar copper vase; and then David
Beckham on the boat bringing the Torch up the Thames, Sir Steve Redgrave
carrying it into the stadium, the seven young “athletes of tomorrow”
lighting the flame and that awesome sculpture made up of those peculiar
copper vases rising up to create the Olympic Flame. Oh wow!
And then the weekend! We opened our Church Hall to any and
everybody – free refreshments, use of loos and TV coverage of the Road
Race. Good natured crowds making their way down to the Givons Grove
roundabout and lining the barriers outside the church. The excitement of
watching the race unfolding as the riders tackled the Box Hill zig-zags.
The awe and wonder of the riders streaming up Gimcrack Hill and past the
church. The bells ringing out as they passed (despite the Tenor bell
clapper shearing in half during the ring). Then the crowds crammed into
the Hall to watch the end of the race. What a sense of unity, friendship
and common purpose.
And then the Games unfolded. What a kaledioscope of
memories – Katherine Grainger finally winning Gold, David Rudisha’s
World Record, Usain Bolt, Michael Phelps, Super Saturday with Jessica
Ennis, Greg Rutherford and Mo Farah going Gold, Nicola Adams with the
first ever Womens Boxing Gold Medal, Bradley Wiggins, Sir Chris Hoy,
Victoria Pendleton ... the list goes on and on.
17 days of pure joy … and crushing pain.
And then the Closing Ceremony with its eclectic mix of
styles, riot of colours and the handing on of the flag to Rio de
Janeiro.
It has been dubbed the “happy and glorious” Games with
high hopes for sustainability and a lasting legacy. A friend who was a
Gamesmaker – and will be again for the Paralympics – remarked that she
couldn’t travel anywhere in her uniform without people engaging her in
friendly conversation.
I hope and pray that the legacy of the Games here in
Leatherhead will be an ongoing feeling of unity, friendship and common
purpose. London 2012 set out to “inspire a generation”. As Christians,
we have Good News that has inspired generations over two millenia. Let
us not drop the baton.
Enjoy the next instalment!
Graham Osborne
June 2012
The Rector writes
As you may know, we have just started our new worship
pattern.
In beginning to address the ambitions set out in the
Parish Profile’s Statement of Needs, the Vision Process meeting in May
2010 saw nearly ninety members of the church family agree a Vision
Statement – Leatherhead Parish – Growing Disciples of Jesus Christ – and
group our Mission aspirations into seven Key Areas. The first of these
was Worship.
We decided to address one of the key ambitions in the
Statement of Needs – “support existing traditional services alongside
the continuing development of contemporary worship styles and more
accessible services” - by starting an experimental worship pattern from
1st October 2010. This pattern offered three services every Sunday
morning - a quiet, reflective Prayer Book Communion, followed by an
informal worship style, with a worship band and contemporary worship
songs, and a formal Eucharist with organ and hymns, with coffee between
the two later services. We first tried the formal service as the later
service, then swapped round after seven months.
We discovered that offering both traditional and
contemporary worship styles every week saw the total Sunday attendance
increase by over 30%, so there was clearly a desire for both styles
every Sunday.
We had committed to a 12-month experimental period so, in
December 2011, we issued a survey questionnaire to find out how people
had found the experimental pattern. The key survey results showed that:
• The congregations (and, therefore, the church) are perceived as
divided
• There is a yearning for a more cohesive church, worshipping together,
at least monthly
• There is a strong desire for “Family” worship, at least monthly
• There is a significant number of people who are nourished by Informal
Worship
• Everybody wants to have their style of service at 10am or 10.30am on a
Sunday!
The Worship Key Area Working Group then set about trying
to find a worship pattern that satisfied as many desires and aspirations
as possible.
After over 100 person-hours of prayerful reflection and
discussion, the new pattern emerged - a quiet, reflective Prayer Book
Communion at 8am, a Parish Communion with organ and hymns at 10.30am
(All Ages on the fourth Sunday of the month), with coffee in church
afterwards, then a service in an informal worship style - thesixthirty -
with Bible Study, a worship band and contemporary worship songs, in the
evening at 6.30pm, with refreshments afterwards. These will be offered
every Sunday; on a fourth Sunday, there will be Evensong in the Parish
Church with the informal New Fire service at Leatherhead Methodist
Church. The PCC resolved to introduce this pattern from 6 May 2012.
We have now enjoyed two Sundays in the new pattern, and
the response has thus far been overwhelmingly positive. We look forward
to a vibrant new future – do come and join us.
May 2012
The Rector writes
I have been reminded that this month marks the tenth
anniversary of the funeral of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth, the Queen
Mother – on 9th April 2002.
It has struck me that the most appropriate season for new
resolutions is not New Year, but Eastertide, the season of resurrection,
of new beginnings. I wonder if we could start a new tradition of Easter
Resolutions?
On Maundy Thursday we heard again the words of Jesus as he
gives his disciples a new commandment. As you may know, “Maundy” is
derived from the Latin mandatum, the first word in the famous verse John
13.34 "Mandatum novum do vobis ut diligatis invicem sicut dilexi vos"
("A new commandment I give unto you, That you love one another; as I
have loved you").
So, are we to take this mandate from our Lord and Saviour
seriously? Are we prepared actually to love one another, as he has loved
us? Not the misty-eyed glow of romantic love, but the clear-eyed
exercise of will entailed in Christian love?
My old tennis coach always used to prepare me for matches
with the words “play nicely”. And could we resolve to “play nicely”?
Thinking the best of people, instead of automatically assuming the
worst? Biting back the cutting comment and counting - at least to three
- before saying anything?
Go back to your childhood and remember. Remember Thumper
in Bambi - hands behind his back and squirming awkwardly “if you cain’t
say nuthin’ nice, don’t say nuthin’ at all”. Remember the Golden Rule –
do unto others as you would have them do unto you; treat people as you
would like to be treated. And remember Mrs Doasyouwouldbedoneby in The
Water Babies.
I was recently introduced to a book that encapsulates some
deep wisdom – written by Robert Fulghum, it is entitled All I
Really Need To Know I Learned In Kindergarten and he writes this
in the first section, that he entitles Credo:
“ALL I REALLY NEED TO KNOW about how to live and what to
do and how to be I learned in kindergarten. Wisdom was not at the top of
the graduate-school mountain, but there in the sandpit at Sunday School.
These are the things that I learned:
Share everything.
Play fair.
Don’t hit people.
Put things back where you found them.
Clean up your own mess.
Don’t take things that aren’t yours.
Say you are sorry when you hurt somebody.
Wash your hands before you eat.
Flush.
Warm cookies and cold milk are good for you.
Live a balanced life – learn some and think some and draw and paint and
sing and dance and play and work every day some.
Take a nap every afternoon.
When you go out into the world, watch out for traffic, hold hands, and
stick together.
Wonder. Remember the little seed in the Styrofoam cup: The roots go down
and the plant goes up and nobody really knows how or why, but we are all
like that.
Goldfish and hamsters and white mice and even the little seed in the
Styrofoam cup - they all die. So do we.
And then remember the Dick-and-Jane books and the first word you learned
– the biggest word of all – LOOK.
Everything you need to know is in there somewhere. The Golden Rule and
love and basic sanitation. Ecology and politics and equality and sane
living.
Take any one of those items and extrapolate it into sophisticated adult
terms and apply it to your family life or your work or your government
or your world and it holds true and clear and firm. Think what a better
world it would be if we all – the whole world – had cookies and milk
about three o’clock every afternoon and then lay down with our blankies
for a nap. Or if all governments had a basic policy to always put things
back where they found them and to clean up their own mess.
And it is still true, no matter how old you are – when you go out into
the world, it is best to hold hands and stick together.”
Amen to that.
April 2012
The Rector writes
I have been reminded that this month marks the tenth
anniversary of the funeral of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth, the Queen
Mother – on 9th April 2002.
When someone dies who has reached the age of 101, as the
Queen Mother did on Holy Saturday - the Eve of Easter - there can be no
sense of tragedy; no feeling of a life cut short. What there can, and
should, be is feeling of thanksgiving for a life lived to the full, a
sense of celebration of all that has been given and enjoyed over the
years.
There can have been little such thanksgiving and
celebration on that first Holy Saturday. The day before, a great leader,
teacher, healer, friend had been put to death in the most barbaric way,
a way reserved for the lowest of the low.
The freedom of this man Jesus Bar-Joseph - the
compassionate, servant-hearted proclaimer of God's abounding love for
his creation - had been offered by Pontius Pilate head-to-head with that
of Jesus Bar-Abbas - the lawless, murdering terrorist … and the murderer
had won the crowd's vote.
Some of the disciples - almost exclusively the women - had
loyally stayed with Jesus as he hung on the cross, naked and pierced,
and as his life ebbed away. Only "the beloved disciple" among the men
had the courage to be there too. It was into his care that Jesus
committed his mother in his last moments of life.
And it was some of those women who followed Joseph of
Arimathea as he hurriedly led the way to his own new and unused tomb in
the garden in order to get the burial completed before sundown on the
eve of that Sabbath. It was they who saw the body of Jesus laid in that
tomb, wrapped in cloths but not treated with spices as was the custom.
So it was they who made their way back to that tomb at dawn after that
Sabbath to perform that last service.
It was they who saw and heard the stunning fact of the
empty tomb. It was they who met the risen Christ and took the news back
to Peter and the other disciples - the glorious news of the
Resurrection.
On the night of Easter Eve 2002, Radio 4 broadcast a
programme by Colin Semper. Among other things, he said
‘I spoke a few minutes ago about the Queen Mother’s
reticence about her Christian faith and belief. She wrote about
precisely this in a foreword to a Spiritual anthology of substantial
proportions collected by her lady in waiting Lady Elizabeth Basset: "For
many of us”, she wrote “it is difficult to convey at all clearly the
faith and hope that is in us. I am sure that those who read this
anthology will find expressed, what in our hearts we believe, but find
so hard to say”. She wrote of “Having our lives rooted in truths that do
not change”
‘So it is right I think, as we celebrate a life, as we
remember those who mourn her, especially her own family, that we should
reflect on those truths which without any doubt the Queen Mother knew
not least from her very regular Church going.'
'So the Christian belief is that God brings back to life
not some disembodied echo of a human being but of a new and revised
version of what in the case of the Queen Mother made her special - her
personality - the way she looked, her laughter, her capacity for loving,
and in some way in some sense her face.'
That is the Good News we share as Christians, indeed that
is what makes us Christians - the unshakeable belief that "those who
believe in him shall not perish but have everlasting life". Let us
rejoice and give thanks … and pray for the courage to share that Good
News with others.
Happy Easter!
March 2012
The Rector writes ...
In 2 Corinthians 12, St Paul wrote about the paradox of
strength in weakness. You may remember that Paul had been granted
wonderful visions and revelations of heaven, but that his feet were kept
on the ground by his “thorn in the flesh”. When he pleaded with God
three times to be rid of his “thorn”, God’s response was this – 9
But he said to me, My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is
made perfect in weakness. Therefore I will boast all the more gladly
about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. 10
That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults,
in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak,
then I am strong.
What a salutary experience it has been to be physically
incapacitated once again. It is fourteen years since I had a hip
replacement, and five weeks since I had a new knee - and what fun it has
been discovering just how many of the church family are also bionic! I
guess we will have to be careful if those of us with internal metalwork
fly El Al on the next parish pilgrimage – their scanners may be rather
more sensitive than most.
When I went into hospital on 12 January, I was determined
that I would continue to “say my prayers”, so each night and morning I
said the Daily Office in my hospital bed. As you may know, Morning
Prayer is said daily in the parish on an Ecumenical basis – Mondays in
the Parish Church, Tuesdays at LMC, Wednesdays at The Theatre, Thursdays
at Christ Church URC and a Friday Eucharist in the Parish Church,
attended by a faithful band of prayer warriors . Kuhan and I say Evening
Prayer together, usually at All Saints, each weekday evening (other than
our Day Off on Tuesday), and we say Morning Prayer together on a
Saturday, again at All Saints.
This daily rhythm of prayer – praying for a safe night and
giving thanks in the morning – has been the practice of the church for
centuries. The Anglican Daily Office is based on the monastic daily
prayer cycle and allows us to become immersed in God’s Word – prayers
and Canticles from Scripture, and readings from both Old and New
Testaments and the Psalms.
My own preference for Lent is to take up something rather
than give up something – this year I am committed to reading the whole
Bible in a year.
If you would also like to take up something, and it has
not been your practice to pray the Daily Office, I do commend it to you
as a Lenten discipline. If you prefer books, the Common Worship Daily
Office is for you - combined with a Common Worship Lectionary to tell
you what the day’s readings are. If you are “net-savvy”, the complete
Daily Office is available online at: http://www.churchofengland.org/prayer-worship/join-us-in-daily-prayer.aspx
or, if you have an iPhone or iPad, or an Android mobile phone or tablet,
connected to a network, there is an application you can access that has
everything you need.
May I wish you a reflective, thoughful and prayerful Lent.
Graham Osborne
February 2012: The Curate writes: Rev Dr Kuhan
Satkunanayagam
January 2012: The Reader writes: Mrs Gail Partidge
December 2011
The Rector writes ...
I had one of those sharply-etched memory moments the other
day. A friend of mine was recounting the awesome experience of his first
sight of the Sea of Galilee. The wonder of seeing - for real - the site
of so many of the key events in the life of Jesus of Nazareth.
I was immediately taken back to my own experience of
Galilee. On that particular Sunday, some of our party of pilgrims had
got up at 4 o'clock in the morning to watch the sunrise. As we waited in
the pre-dawn darkness, we all had our eyes fixed on the Golan heights,
across the lake from our hotel in Tiberias. Slowly, slowly, the sun
began to peep over the hills and then - suddenly - a shaft of golden
light shone out across the face of the water and, with a thrill of
wonder, realised that Jesus himself would have been all too familiar
with the self-same sight. That was only the start of the day.
The journey across the lake in a wooden boat with its mast
in the shape of a cross, the stop in the middle of the lake, and the
almost tangible stillness are a whole story in themselves. Some of you
will no doubt have similar memories.
My memories go on to the boat's destination near Capernaum
and the journey to the church of Mensa Christi - the table of Christ -
at Tabgha. It was there that my then Vicar and I baptised my friend
Harriet, by threefold total immersion, just off the beach where Jesus
served breakfast to his disciples in John 21. The beach is at the
northern end of the lake, just where the Jordan River flows into the
lake - the same Jordan River in which Jesus himself was baptised by John
the Baptist.
These memories have been vividly recalled by that
conversation with my friend, now at the start of Advent with Christmas
not far ahead. Once more, we will re-tell the story of the growing
conviction within the Children of Israel that a Messiah was really
coming. We will re-tell the story of the annunciation to Mary and the
journey from Nazareth to Jerusalem for the census. We will re-tell the
story of the manger in the stable at Bethlehem and the birth of the
Light of the World.
Re-telling these stories will bring to vivid life the arid
expanse of the Judaean wilderness, the awesome Church of the
Annunciation in Nazareth with its great bronze doors and their
bas-relief pictures, the teeming life of Jerusalem around the vastness
of the Wailing Wall, the last remaining memory of the magnificent
Temple.
I wonder what Manger Square in Bethlehem is like in the
current troubled times? It felt dangerous then, ringed around by Tourist
Police. But that could not detract from the vastness of the Church of
the Nativity and the contrasting smallness of the winding descent to the
oh-so-small marble pavement with its silver star around a hole. A hole
through which one can feel the rock beneath - the rock where the manger
stood.
I have in my memory a picture of the twenty-one pilgrims
in our party in the long, low, narrow space in front of that marble
pavement. I can hear the story of Jesus’ birth being read to us. And I
can remember my disappointment - and the jostling and manoeuvring as we
tried to make room - when another group of pilgrims, fifty or sixty
strong, came down the stairs to join us.
But I can also recall, with absolute clarity, what it felt
like as we asked the other party if they minded if we sang. And what it
felt like as they joined in and started singing with us; singing O
Little Town of Bethlehem, in full four-part harmony, in the very place
where it all happened.
I do know how lucky I am to have been able to go to the
Holy Land - to see all those places for myself, to live through all
those amazing experiences, to walk in the footsteps of my Master. I do
realise that not many people will have had that chance … but I do hope
that, as you read these words, as you hear the stories as they are
re-told, as you sing the Christmas carols … you too will be able to
imagine the reality of those events long ago, and give thanks for the
coming of God Incarnate.
May I wish you all a very Happy Christmas and a peaceful
and blessed New Year.
November 2011: Rev Dr Kuhan Satkunanayagam
October 2011: Rev Mike Stewart
September 2011
Farewell Mike and Godspeed
Rev Graham Osborne writes:
The image of the Christian life as a journey is one that
can be over-used. On this occasion, I think it most appropriate. We have
just welcomed Kuhan as our new Curate to continue his training as an
ordained minister. The training period for someone offering for
ordination is typically six or seven years from a recommendation for
training by BAP (the Bishops' Advisory Panel on Selection for Training
for Ordained Ministry, to give it its full title). Once recommended for
training, an ordinand (one who is offering for ordination) undertakes a
course of study that will include theology, doctrine, church history,
mission and ministry. This will either be part-time and non-residential
or full-time and residential. The three Curate colleagues with whom I
have had the privilege of serving here have covered almost all the
options!
-
Mary Cruddas undertook a "mixed mode" training at St
John's, Nottingham, spending most of her time in the parish with
periods of residential study at St John's
-
Mike Stewart undertook undergraduate and post-graduate
theological studies prior to his BAP, then spent a year weekly
boarding at Ripon College, Cuddesdon (Oxford)
-
Kuhan spent two years studying at Cranmer Hall,
Durham.
Provided that the Bishop accepts the course or college
recommendation of a candidate for ordination, the ordinand is then
ordained Deacon to a parish to "serve their title" (in their "Title
Parish") for between three and four years. If the Deacon is then
recommended for ordination as a Priest, this will typically happen after
a year in the parish.
As an aside, there are three Orders of Ministry – Deacon,
Priest and Bishop – with a distinct ordination or consecration into each
order. The jobs that a Deacon, Priest or Bishop may do are many and
varied, from Chaplaincy in the Armed Forces, Industry, School, College
or University through various forms of parish ministry, to all sorts of
teaching, or indeed continuing with secular employment (unusual for a
Bishop!). Whatever they move on to, all ordinands complete a period of
training in their Title Parish.
We said our goodbyes to Mary last January as she completed
her training and moved on to pastures new. Mike will complete his four
years in his Title Parish of Leatherhead and Mickleham at the end of
September, so it is now time to say "farewell and Godspeed".
We have been privileged to have benefitted from Mike's
considerable scholarship in his preaching and teaching. His love of
traditional liturgy, and his musical (and acting) talents have also
given us great joy. The contribution of both Mike and Carol to the Choir
and to our Children's work has been much appreciated, not to mention
Mike's wisdom in financial matters from his former life as a Chartered
Accountant.
The life of an ordained minister is essentially a
peripatetic one – we only serve in any one place for a period of time
before moving on to whatever next the Lord has in store for us.
I know that you will join me in wishing Mike well in the
next stage of his journey as he leaves with our love and prayers.
July 2011
Vocation
"Vocation" - what a wonderfully rich word that is. It is
all too often interpreted in a very limited way - as a calling to the
ordained ministry. Calling - yes; ordained ministry - only sometimes.
We have recently elected John Hampton and Linda Hauxwell
as our Churchwardens - now there's a vocation if ever there was one. And
Donald Yeates has joined Martin Cole and Sheila Sutherland as Assistant
Churchwardens. Their combined life experience, and their individual
gifts and skills, will be invaluable as we continue on our journey to
grow into the church we aspire to be.
Graham Davies's vocation is to a music ministry. Graham
has recently joined us as our new Organist and Choirmaster, having held
a number of similar posts as well as teaching and performing. He comes
with a sense of calling to a ministry that seeks to discern, grow and
develop the musical talents of our congregation and use our musical
resources to the full. He also shares my excitement at the possibilities
there are for taking our music to new heights in our worship.
The culmination of Kuhan Satkunanayagam's journey in
response to his calling to the ordained ministry will be on Sunday 3rd
July. He and his fellow ordinands will be ordained Deacon by Bishop
Christopher in Guildford Cathedral. Kuhan will then take up his Title
Post as Curate of Leatherhead and Mickleham, and I know that we will
give Kuhan, Christine and Theo the warmest of welcomes and enfold them
in the Lord's family here.
The Diocese gives the following advice to a new Curate:
"SERVING YOUR TITLE
The purpose of your Title is to enable you to find your feet in parish
work, and to translate the training which you have received into the
practical realities of parish life. Because the Title is a training
post you will be expected to work under the supervision and guidance
of your incumbent.
Many areas of work will claim your time and attention,
among them:
• the conduct of worship and the occasional offices
• preaching and teaching
• the pastoral care of a wide variety of people, including hospital
visiting and work in schools & with young people
• parish administration
• general involvement in the wider community
• involvement with the wider Church of England (e.g. Deanery Chapter
and Synod), and with other churches' mission and evangelistic
enterprises
• continuing personal study, including the Diocesan programme of
Continuing Ministerial Education
• attention to your own physical, emotional and spiritual well-being,
and that of your family. How you tackle these areas will be very much
for you and your incumbent to decide. It will be important for you
both to make time to talk about your work, the practical aspects of it
and your feelings about it, so that you gradually gain confidence and
expertise.
Some aspects of the job will come easily to you –
perhaps they will draw on you, previous work experience. But there arE
bound to be other areas where you fee less confident, or which you
finc uncongenial. These are the areas to which you will do well to
devote special time and attention: there are no "no-go areas" in
parish ministry.
The effort of establishing at least a basic competence
in all aspects of the job now, will be abundantly rewarded in years to
come. But please don't feel that you've got to struggle alone: your
incumbent will be there to help you, and beyond him/her there are
considerable resources within the diocese which you can call upon at
any time."
My Spiritual Director recently reminded me that the
average amount of work achieved by a Training Incumbent and his or her
Curate is not 200% or anything like it – it is more like 100% in the
first year of the Title Post, 125% in the second year and 150% in the
third! I know that this parish has a lot of experience in living out its
own vocation to nurture and develop new Curates – the parish has had a
number of Curates over the years. I know, too, that you will all do your
best to help Kuhan and me in this vitally important undertaking.
As ever, I trust that you will all be holding in your
prayers all of these Christian disciples, from many and varied walks of
life, as they seek to use their God-given talents in living out their
vocations in response to God's call on their lives.
Yours in the living God
June 2011
Looking Forwards
Isn’t it good to have the opportunity to reflect on a past
year? It is the season of the Annual Report and Accounts and the Annual
Parochial Church Meeting (APCM) – a time for reflecting on the calendar
year just passed, receiving formal reports from various Officers, and
for electing Churchwardens and PCC members.
This year marks a change of Churchwarden – Navin Mehta
retires as warden after four years’ service. Our grateful thanks go to
him for all the work he has done – a lot of it unseen and unsung. He has
been a great source of wisdom and help for me personally, and I hope
that he will savour and enjoy the gifts that we presented to him. I am
delighted to say that John Hampton allowed himself to be nominated to
join Linda Hauxwell as our new Churchwarden. I am delighted to record
that Sheila Sutherland and Martin Cole are happy to continue to act as
Assistant Churchwardens, and they have been joined by Donald Yeates,
thereby further strengthening our Wardens team.
Our PCC members retire in rotation once they have served
three years. This year, four members retired – Alison Draper and Anne
Warren did not stand for re-election, so we thank them for the valuable
contributions they have made to the life of our church family; Anne
Thomson, Alan Fleming and Edith Wright have offered to continue as
Secretary, Treasurer and Child Protection Officer respectively, so we
record our thanks for all that they have done, and now will continue to
do, in the service of our Lord.
Andrew Chastney, Roger Lynch and Sheila Cole have
represented our parish on Deanery Synod over the past year. Andrew has
decided not to stand again, but to concentrate on his very valuable
contributions as one of our Small Group Leaders and as our Bible Society
representative. Our thanks go to them for their willingness to serve.
The Annual Report and Accounts essentially look backwards,
but one of the most rewarding aspects of the APCM is that it gives us an
opportunity to look forwards. It looks like an exciting year:
-
Our life of worship will, I hope, be significantly
enhanced by the appointment of a new Organist and Choirmaster;
Graham Davies is a very talented musician and an experienced
choirmaster. As a solo organist Graham has benefited from master
classes and internationally respected teachers over many years,
especially with Margaret Phillips, Catherine Ennis and Daniel Moult.
He has given many recitals in cathedrals and churches throughout the
UK and in Switzerland. In July this year Graham will give a recital
at St. Paul’s Cathedral, London
-
With the experience of the ecumenical Lent Groups, I
hope that our Growing as Disciples will continue and develop with
more people joining our Small Groups
-
Our Evangelistic Outreach takes on an added dimension
this year as we commit three years’ support for Christopher and
Veronica Padayachee as they prepare for, and undertake, life as CMS
missionaries in Spain
-
We will try to undertake as much as possible of our
Community Engagement with our Covenant partners in the Uniting
Churches (Methodist and URC) and this will continue to develop as
part of Churches Together in Leatherhead
-
We are restructuring our Key Area of Pastoral Care,
seeking to grow our fellowship as a church family
-
We eagerly anticipate the arrival of our new Curate
this Summer – Kuhan Satkunanayagam, currently studying at Cranmer
Hall, Durham. He and Christine will be moving into the Curate’s
house in Woodbridge Avenue in mid-June in preparation for his
Ordination as Deacon on 3 Jul
-
The New Future for the Parish Church was presented at
the APCM, together with its spiritual, physical and behavioural
implications - the facilities we will need, what we will look like,
what we will be in the years to come
-
The Leatherhead Uniting Churches Council and Churches
Together in Leatherhead will be the focus of our Ecumenical Links
and finally …
… none of these will be of much value if our own journeys of
discipleship are not progressing. At whatever stage we are, there is
growth to be enjoyed – in Bible Study, in prayer and worship, in
understanding what our Lord has done for us, why, and what difference
that makes to our own lives. I am convinced that this sort of growth is
best nurtured in small groups – places where we can feel safe, free to
ask questions, free to be who we really are. Please try and find a
suitable small group … and join in the fun!
Here’s to a joyful and blessed Pentecost!
May 2011
God so loved the world …
The Gospel reading for the Second Sunday in Lent was John
3.1-17. This passage tells the story of a night-time visit to Jesus by
one of the Pharisees, Nicodemus, and contains two well-known bits - the
phrase "born again" and what is probably the most famous Bible verse in
the world, John 3.16 "For God so loved the world that he gave his only
Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have
eternal life."
Those of you who have had time on your hands in a hospital
bed, a hotel room or anywhere else you might find one, may have leafed
through a Gideon Bible. One Bible that I found had page after page of
the verse John 3.16 in more languages than I could name - Gujurati,
Tamil, Sri Lankan, not to mention Latvian, Russian and Greek, even
Pidgin English. It is claimed that John 3.16 is the most translated
verse in the Bible, even where there is no full version of the Bible
text as yet. Given a little thought, it is easy to understand why.
This verse encapsulates virtually the whole of the message
of the Bible:
God loves the world - a message that runs throughout the
Hebrew Scriptures, what Christians know as the Old Testament. That
Testament attests to the first covenant agreement - God's deal with the
Hebrews to be his special people. The idea was that the Hebrews would
make known to the whole world that God had created the world, had set
out some simple rules for living as He wants us to and, by living it, by
following those rules of love and mutual respect, show what it would be
like to live in a loving relationship with Him.
Unfortunately, being all too human, those who were
guardians of that agreement got rather bound up in the legalities of the
rules and regulations. By doing so, they got into a mindset that focused
on observing the letter of the Law, rather than its spirit.
To show what He had meant it to be like, God sent his son,
Jesus, to show by example what the message really was. By preaching,
teaching and healing - and by living out - those Kingdom values
enshrined in the Hebrew Scriptures, Jesus became the Way, the Truth and
the Life.
"For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so
that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal
life."
And when Nicodemus, the faithful follower of the Law,
comes to Jesus in the dark to ask what he really means, Jesus flummoxes
him with this conundrum about being "born again" or "born from above"
(the Greek can mean either). The message is the same, however. In
physical birth (and in John's baptism by water) we are given new life in
water. In spiritual birth, we are given new life by the Holy Spirit.
I guess it is quite hard to resist being born; it is quite
easy as an adult to resist being baptised, either by water or by the
Spirit. A number of people I know are absolutely determined that the
Holy Spirit is not going to get them. Unfortunately, many of us will
have experienced, or read stories about, "born again Christians" being
really quite unbearable with their insistence that they have the only
answer.
Canon Robert Warren told me about a session he was running
with a group of church leaders. He had asked them which verse of
Scripture motivated their church. The leader of a very successful,
fast-growing Evangelical church was looking rather worried. When Robert
asked him whether he was having difficulty finding one, he replied "Oh,
no. Our Scripture is John 8.31-32 Then Jesus said to the Jews who had
believed in him, "If you continue in my word, you are truly my
disciples; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you
free." The only trouble is that the interpretation we live by actually
ends … and the truth shall make you right. We have a lot of work to do!"
The Holy Spirit works in different ways in different
people. I hope that you have been able to use the Lent just passed as a
time to prepare to let
God work in you as he wants to. As Jesus said in the
Garden of Gethsemane "yet not my will but yours be done".
As we continue to celebrate this Easter season, and strive to discern
God’s call to us as His church in this place at this time, we could do
worse than reflect on our own responses to the Lord’s call on us. We are
called to be disciples of Jesus Christ - the corner-stone on which God
is building His church here in Leatherhead.
We have just celebrated the amazing events of Easter. If
you have travelled through Passiontide, Holy Week and Easter with us,
you will have re-heard the story of that first Easter once more. History
attests to the existence of an itinerant preacher, teacher and healer
from Nazareth called Jesus, son of Joseph and Mary, his arrest, trial
and death by crucifixion. However, Christians believe that God then did
a mighty, cataclysmic act in the Resurrection of Jesus – the creation of
a new order of being. It is all too easy to focus entirely on the cross
at Easter but the cross has no point in and of itself. Only the
Resurrection gives the cross meaning.
As a Christian church we are called “to proclaim the
gospel afresh in each generation”. This is our generation. This is our
church. This is our gospel. Please join me in proclaiming the Good News
of God’s love for us, His creation.
Once again - Happy Easter!
Apr 2011
The New Future
As I write, the Annual Parochial Church Meeting (APCM) is
approaching - it will have happened by the time you read this. All sorts
of preparations have to be made for this important meeting in the life
of the parish - the Annual Report and Accounts, the Electoral Roll
report, parish activities reports, to name a few. Lots of people work
hard to get things in order.
In my own preparations for the APCM, I have been
reflecting on the year we have shared since the last APCM. It has been a
year of prayer, reflection, collaborative decision-making and action.
Discernment of what God is calling us to has led to a new Vision and
Mission Statement, a new Organisation Structure and an experimental
worship pattern in the Parish Church.
If you attended the APCM you will have heard a much fuller
story, and will have your own copy of the New Future document developed
by the PCC. If you did not manage to get a copy, please see one of the
Churchwardens or Ministry Team to get hold of one.
As you are probably aware, we have discerned that our
principal calling from God is to grow as his disciples and, in the
fullness of time, to grow new disciples. It is, therefore, a joy that,
in parallel with all the hard work being done for the APCM, there is
work being done by the 125 members of the Ecumenical Lent Groups -
eleven groups, each one with a host and a leader, with a group on every
weekday - working through the material in the York Course Rich
Inheritance - Jesus' legacy
of love.
The purpose of the season of Lent is to take a good long
look at ourselves, mirroring the 40 days and nights that Jesus spent in
the wilderness wrestling with how he should exercise his ministry. 10th
April is the Fourth Sunday of Lent - Mothering Sunday or Refreshment
Sunday - when we take a breather before the next Sunday - Passion Sunday
- when our minds turn to the Passion of Jesus and we begin the walk with
him to Jerusalem, through Holy Week to Good Friday and then ...
... Happy Easter!
Mar 2011
We Are Family
"We Are Family". These are words of a song by Sister Sledge. I have
been pondering on how our expectations so often colour our experiences -
all too often we get into the realm of self-fulfilling prophecies. We do
need to think about our expectations of church - and about the
expectations of those who do not come. If we were taught to expect
church to be deadly serious, absolutely quiet and very pious, that will
be how we will behave ... and expect others to behave.
On the other hand, if we were taught that church was about fun,
friendship, fellowship and joyful singing we will behave and respond
quite differently. Of course there are different ways for different
occasions. There are times for quiet reflection and prayer and times for
silence, but there are also times for over-brimming joy and loud praise.
But what is absolutely vital is that we behave and respond as is right
for us as we are now, not what was right for our parents and teachers.
It is also vital to understand that church is done together. Church is
not a ME thing, it's a WE thing.
We need to think of ourselves as the body of Christ in this place - a
community, a family. A family coming to worship together as we would to
a family gathering. Naturally there will be some serious moments but we
gather in the church building to rejoice in the wonder of being loved by
the most wonderful Father of all.
Paul was making a similar point when he was writing to the Corinthian
Christians and writing about the church as the Body of Christ. The
Corinthians had made no attempt to foster a sense of community. Social
status was rife and there was a general carelessness of each other.
Paul makes two points very forcibly. First, it is no use being envious
of the gifts somebody else has got - they are somebody else, not you -
or arrogant about your own - they are gifts. Second, it takes all sorts
of gifts and talents to make a human body work; likewise, it takes all
sorts of gifts and talents to make the body of Christ - the church -
work.
The message is a comparatively simple one - unity in diversity: we all
make our individual contributions, different as they are, to make up the
whole - one single body, not a collection of disparate units. We are
called to exercise our gifts to develop and enhance our church, our
community, our family and we need to strive to understand how our
gifting can be of service to others. We are called to discover where our
passion is, what stimulates our creative energy – because that is where
God is calling us to exercise those gifts.
Going back to expectations, if we can think of ourselves as a community
- a church family within the wider community - we will begin to expect
the things we expect in families. When we "do family", we typically do
two things. We let the other members get close and we care about them.
So we should when we "do church".
We should be getting to know those with whom we worship, not just as
acquaintances but as brothers and sisters in Christ. And we should be
praying for them - intercessory prayer by name. Michael Ramsey described
intercessory prayer as "Being with God with the people on our hearts".
This is a central part of what we are called to as Christians.
"We Are Family".
We are a Christian family.
Let's do it!
Feb 2011
No letter
Jan 2011
The Promise of Epiphany
A Happy and Peaceful New Year to Everyone
I've been musing about endings and 'beginnings. This month
of January marks the ending of Mary Cruddas' time with us in
Leatherhead. Mary has been serving here as Assistant Curate for the last
five years. She has accepted the post of Team Vicar in the Parish of
Waddesdon with Over Winchendon and Fleet based in Waddesdon, near
Aylesbury, in the Diocese of Oxford. Her last Sunday with us will be 23
January and we will mark that in style.
It has been a pleasure and a privilege to serve with Mary
and we will all miss her creativity, her zest for life and her loving
pastoral care. Please pray for Mary and Tony as they prepare for this
next stage in their ministry.
Twenty-eleven will also mark the beginning of a new
ordained ministry. Dr Kuhan Satkunanayagam will be ordained Deacon to
serve as Assistant Curate in the United Benefice of Leatherhead and
Mickleham at Petertide (3 July) in Guildford Cathedral. He is currently
studying at Cranmer Hall, Durham. Please see his brief biography.
The parish has also made a new beginning. In this past
year, we have undertaken our Vision Process, seeking to discern what God
would have us be and do in order to live out his kingdom in this place
at this time. And as we understand more about the disparate culture that
comprises "this
place and this time", so we will understand more about which medium (or,
rather, media) will best communicate the eternal message of God's
enduring love for his creation.
As the Key Area Working Groups in our seven Key Areas of
Mission have started up and begun to form, plans and budgets have been
developing, and the PCC has drafted a document setting out a New Future
for the Parish Church, building on our wonderful heritage. More of this
anon.
And, as we have experienced the daily round of parish
life, with its baptisms, weddings and funerals, so we have lived
through, and been a part of, the endings and beginnings inherent in the
great circle of life. Even now, in the depths of a dank, damp, dark -
even snowbound - winter, we can see the glimmers of the new life promise
of Spring - the joyful eruption of new life from the old and,
apparently, dead.
That is the wonderful message of resurrection which we see
in the everyday cycle of nature - plants and trees dying to produce
vibrant new growth, grains of wheat dying to produce the harvest - that
message writ large in the glorious resurrection of our Lord Jesus.
That is the promise of God's love for his creation. That
is the promise of the Epiphany - the revelation of God in the baby
Jesus. That is the promise we claim as Followers of The Way.
That is why I rejoice in wishing you all a joyful,
peaceful and blessed New Year.
Dec 2010
What is Really Important!
A young teenager falls pregnant ...
An unmarried mother gives birth ...
A refugee family fleeing persecution becomes another "asylum-seeker"
statistic ...
Yet another set of run-of-the-mill newspaper headlines
in our enlightened century?
No. This is our story; this is our song. This is the
best news the world has ever had. This is the story of the Incarnation
of our Lord God ... in a manger in Bethlehem. God resolved to become
one of us – a human being – to show us a glimpse of His face, to show
us how he had designed us to be: loving, compassionate,
servant-hearted, worshipful people, living out the fullness of our
humanity.
I know that many people lament the way that Christmas
has become yet another excuse for consumer excess – shopping till we
drop, eating and drinking more than we would normally do, watching any
and every sort of televised extravaganza. But that is the world in
which we now live. That is the reality of the lives of most of our
fellow human beings.
As Christians, we make a different statement. We believe
that the events of 2,000 years ago have changed life fundamentally. We
believe in the First Corning of our Lord. We believe that we are
called by God to live out the Good News of His love. And, as we start
this Advent season, we also affirm that we believe in the Second
Coming – that Christ will come again in glory to signal the end of
time.
I heard a wonderful recipe for living the other day –
Live your life as if Jesus rose from the dead yesterday, and is coming
back tomorrow. Wouldn't that sharpen our focus on what is really
important?
May I wish you all a very Happy Christmas and a peaceful
and blessed New Year.
Graham Osborne
Nov 2010
Bible Heroes and Heroines
Rev Graham Osborne writes
As the cycle of the church year comes full circle, we
move from the "green fields" of the Sundays after Trinity, the joy of
Harvest celebrations, and our Autumn Fair into a time of remembrance –
All Saints and All Souls and Remembrance Sunday.
Then we enjoy the run up to Advent, which culminates in
the Feast of Christ the King on the Sunday before Advent.
One important landmark at this time in the church's year
is Bible Sunday, which we celebrated on 24 October – a day for giving
thanks to God for inspiring those who wrote the Bible. It is also a
day for giving thanks for all those who, over the centuries, have used
their time, their talents and their money to translate the Bible from
its original Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek into languages that everybody
could understand.
Our history books tell us of the Hebrew Scriptures
translated into Greek for Greek-speaking Jews – the Septuagint –
translated by seventy scholars all producing identical translations.
Great names resound – Jerome, Erasmus, Martin Luther, William Tyndale
and Miles Coverdale.
Different versions live in our memories – first Jerome's
Latin version, the Vulgate, then the English versions – the Great
Bible, the Geneva Bible (the "Breeches Bible" from its translation of.
Genesis 3.7), the Bishops' Bible, the Douai-Rheims Bible (the first
Roman Catholic version in English). Of the versions still in use
today, the Authorised Version (the AV or King James Bible) is probably
the most famous, and the most enduring.
New versions became more and more prevalent in the
Twentieth Century. In the AV tradition, revision of the AV led to the
Revised Version (RV) and the American Standard Version (ASV). Revision
of the ASV gave us the Revised Standard Version (RSV), subsequently
revised to the New Revised Standard version (NRSV).
Translators trying to produce versions intelligible to
"the common man" included J. Moffatt, J.B. Phillips and Eugene
Peterson. Versions trying to do so included The Good News Bible,
Today's English Version (GNB or TEV), the Living Bible (LB) and The
Message.
Completely new translations, using the best available
texts of the original languages include the New English Bible (NEB),
revised to become the Revised English Bible (REB), the Roman Catholic
Jerusalem Bible (JB), revised to become the New Jerusalem Bible (NJB),
the New Living Translation (NLT) and the New International Version
(NIV), revised for inclusivity to become Today's New International
Version (TNIV). The AV has even been recast into modern English as the
New King James Version (NKJV).
So there is a huge variety of versions of the Bible –
the story of the salvation history of the Jews and the revelation of
God in Jesus of Nazareth. But is there a corresponding hunger to read
it?
When I was a Curate in Cirencester, one member of my
congregation was a lady of a certain age who had, in her earlier years
(not so very long before) been a Bible Smuggler. She had some
wonderful, hair-raising stories of slipping into Far Eastern countries
with a stack of Bibles secreted about her. And the joy in the faces of
those Christians, existing on Bible stories by word of mouth and
memory, who were finally able to read the Bible in their own language,
was almost tangible in the telling. Only made possible by her courage
and the courage of those like her.
My prayer is that each of us will be encouraged and
challenged – by the rich variety of versions available to us, by the
dedication and courage of my Cirencesterheroine and her like, and by
the wonder and joy of those finally able to read God's story in their
own language. Encouraged and challenged to immerse ourselves in the
riches and wonders of the Bible – and to experience the joy of a
personal encounter with the living God.
Yours in Him
Oct 2010
Is there not a better way?
