Selfies in The Vestry

So with Epiphany still a very fresh memory we are now officially in Lent - so for us at AFC it was pancakes at LunchBreak on Tuesday and sharing in a Service of Ashing and Eucharist at St Michael's yesterday.

But what does it all mean? And how can we find a sense of freshness in the Church Year?

That’s why I was very grateful for the insights of two ministerial colleagues yesterday - Ash Wednesday.

Sharon, the Associate Priest at St Michael’s used a phrase in her off the cuff vestry prayer (that's the Selfie photo - even clergy can misbehave in vestries!!)  before we went into the Lady Chapel for the Eucharist that asked God to help us this Lent ‘realign’ ourselves.  She didn’t linger in guilt or try to define sin, she didn’t pray about giving up anything but chose instead having a positive view of Lent.  That in the business of life when it’s easy to get so many issues out of perspective Lent could be seen as an ideal time for realignment – actively seeking to restore the equilibrium of our faith, relationships and responsibilities.

An earlier contribution to a conversation in the day was also helpful.  I was having lunch in Ruislip with Edward and Edwin, pastors of our link church at Harlesden in North London and Edward was telling me of his recent Sabbatical.  He told me of the month he spent on St Kits, and then the month back home in Ghana and finally the four weeks with which he concluded his Sabbatical on a Silent Retreat with the Sisters of The Lamb of God just outside of Oxford.  Four weeks of silence – I gasped over the garlic mushrooms.  'How did you survive'? I asked.  He smiled and told me; 'well I only went to the 5am service twice!' He then said: 'But I actually got into the rhythm of being there and ended up loving silence so much I didn’t want to come home!' Well, just like Jesus and his 40 days, Edward seems to have been changed, or at least his faith deepened by that experience.

Wilderness and realignment - that will do me at the beginning of our Lenten pilgrimage!

Best wishes,

Ian

Of Alley?!

Having had lunch at St Martins in The Fields on Saturday we walked along to the Courtauld Institute of Art at Somerset House.  En route Rachel read out from the guide book that this whole area had been sold off by a previous Duke of Buckingham many moons ago with one proviso - that every part of his name and title should be commemorated in this area by becoming a street designation.  Hence there is a George Court (his first name), Villiers Street (his family name), Buckingham Street (that's obvious) and would you believe it Of Alley (now called York Place) because - rather pedantically - as Duke OF Buckingham he wanted every part of his title on record!

Well - what do you make of that?!! He certainly wanted history to remember him!

I suppose all of us wonder what people will remember about us when, in the words of the Salvation Army, we are 'promoted to Glory'.

The newspapers were full of very sincere and heartfelt tributes to Sir Terry Wogan on Monday.  He was a man who really seemed to 'connect' with many people.

Last Friday at AFC we held Brenda's Thanksgiving Service.  Brenda was a wonderfully warm and encouraging member of our fellowship.  In her early eighties she still had great energy and enthusiasm.  I never left the table after having a coffee with her without being uplifted.  She played a big part in our church's life as in so many other societies and clubs in Amersham and Chalfont.  Perhaps no surprise, then, that about two hundred people came to church last Friday to give thanks for this kind hearted lady.

I believe I saw something of Jesus in Brenda - something of his warmth, kindness and laughter.

Isn't there an old gospel song that goes 'Let the beauty of Jesus be seen in me...'  And that, I would suggest, is the greatest complement that anyone could ever pay us.  Although I'm not sure the Duke of Buckingham would agree?!

Best wishes,

Ian

Compassionate and Determined...

Last Saturday we took ourselves off to town and visited The Foundling Museum near Bloomsbury

It commemorates the establishment of the first dedicated children's charity in this country; a charity that came about through the drive and dedication of one Captain Thomas Coram.  Upon his return from sea in 1720 he was shocked to see how children born 'illegitamately' were left at best, in the care of the Poor House and, at worst destitute on the streets of London.

His vision was to provide a place of care and compassion yet he had neither the means or initial patronage to set up such a grand scheme.  Yet that did not deter him because Coram was a man described as both Compassionate and Determined!

He walked miles each day calling on Dukes and bankers appealing for funds.  He gained the respect of the artistic community so that Handel, Hogarth and Dickens supported his endeavours - even today the proceeds of an annual performance of Handel's Messiah goes to the present day Coram Charity.

This was not overnight work.  Captain Coram took no less than nineteen years to get his project off the ground and it was only in 1739 that George II, probably under the influence of Queen Charlotte, signed the Royal Warrant establishing the Foundling Hospital in Brunswick Square. To date the Coram Charity (although today in a different form) has helped over 25,000 children to a better life.

It's so moving to see displays of the 'tokens' that came with every child as they were admitted.  Once accepted these children were given new names so the only thing to identify them was a  'token' , maybe a cross, coin or even just a note, wrapped in paper and kept in a file so that if a parent wished to 'reclaim' their child they could do so by stating what that original token was.  All very Dickensian - indeed Coram is even mentioned in Little Dorrit!

The thing that struck me on Saturday was that phrase describing this Captain as 'Compassionate and Determined'.  Strikes me that many great things have been achieved in this world by such wonderful people - many doing them in the name of Jesus Christ.  Indeed the love of God isn't best displayed in a sentimental character but in the Compassionate and Determined entrepreneurs, 'movers and shakers' and 'dreamers' who want something of God's Kingdom of love and justice to break into our present world.  For such people, inspired by such a God, we give thanks.

Best wishes,

Ian

They say...

The week got off to a good start (and a snowy one) as we were joined at AFC by the other Clergy and Congregations of COTHA - Churches on The Hill Amersham.  Sharon preached a brilliant sermon on the Wedding Feast at Cana!

From Monday to Wednesday the Baptist Union Retreat Group committee received the warmest of welcomes from Sarum College located on the Cathedral Green at Salisbury.  What a great place to be - for us it was a comfortable base to hold our meetings, for others in residence it was a place to go for their own conference or to take part in the various excellent courses Sarum provides.

Room with a View!!  It was in this room that we held the BURG Committee meetings - sometimes my mind wandered from the agenda (nothing unusual about that really!) as I looked out of the window.  We learnt that the tower at Salisbury is not strong enough to house bells - just the solitary chime of the hour bell.  Sad in a way to think that such a splendid building - at least on the outside - can't sing.  Must be a metaphor in there somewhere!

The sun shone during our time in Salisbury and on the second day we had a day of Silent Retreat ourselves - practising what we preach.  I read, wrote a journal and walked (I hope 'prayerfully') around this beautiful city - Tuesday felt like a real gift! Oh and the lemon drizzle cake in the Cathedral Refrectory was wonderful too!

Relaxing with members of The Baptist Union Retreat Group committee at the Red Lion! - an inspirational group to be around, committed and faithful to the idea of seeking God in all sorts of ways, especially in quiet prayer, retreats and Spiritual Direction.

Church - A Family?

This coming Sunday at Amersham Free Church we are really looking forward to welcoming friends from St John's Methodist and St Michael's Anglican churches as they join us for a service of Holy Communion - especially as our heating has now been fixed!  Hooray!!

These three congregations are in 'covenant' with each other and collectively we make up COTHA - Churches on The Hill Amersham and twice a year we hold united morning service.

Our preacher on Sunday is The Revd Sharon Roberts, an assistant priest from St Michael's - my colleague Erna helpfully pointed out, as she proof read the draft order of service, that I had put down 'Our preacher this morning is Sharon Stone'!! I do get my Hollywood actresses and vicars mixed up occasionally!

Churches share many of the same characteristics of family - whether that's the relationships in a local congregation or between a collection of congregations. Like any family the dynamic in and between churches goes up and down.  The important thing is never to loose sight of the intrinsic relationship between us in that we are all God's children and brothers and sisters to each other.

I love this drawing of a church because it emphasises that we are made up of people - and we all come in different shapes and sizes with different personalities and preferences. Yet St Paul refers to us as 'The Household of Faith' - his way of saying 'we are family and community'.

Our three communities have ebbed and flowed since last we met.  At St Michael's a much loved Vicar, Diana retired after ten years of much appreciated service amongst us and on March 15th her successor, The Revd Debbie will be welcomed.  At St John's David moved on to pastures new in Romford and The Revd Anne now serves as Superintendent Minister. In all of this we seek to prayerfully support each other and lend a hand whenever possible.

I came across this quote about family and community life this week which I rather like:
Family isn't always blood.  It's the people in your life who want you in theirs.  The ones who accept you for who you are.  The ones who would do anything to see you smile, and who love you no matter what.
I've met people in both my family and the church family who care for me just like that.

On Sunday we celebrate COTHA and what it means for our three churches to be in covenant together.

I think Mother Theresa put it rather well when she said: What can you do to promote world peace?  Go home and love your family.

With best wishes,

Ian

Wise Men? Well - not always!

So it's the season of Epiphany and after Christmas comes the visit of the Magi from the East.

For a few years the Baptist Union Retreat Group met at Burford Priory, a Benedictine House in the Cotswolds.  We usually gathered just before Epiphany and couldn't help but notice that the beautiful models of the three kings would start the week at the top of the Priory staircase yet each day, as we got closer to January 6th, they mysteriously managed to descend yet another another flight of stairs so that by the day itself they ended up outside the chapel doors.  I have a suspicion those nuaghty monks moved them every day on the stroke of midnight!!

This year to help me get a different take on the season I read The First Christmas by Borg and Crossan - it was great! One of the things I learnt was that the Magi were probably the descendants of the magicians in the story of Daniel.  In that narrative these Wise Men were the 'baddies' and stood in opposition to God.  In the story we have been celebrating this week the Magi are positive 'instruments' for and even of God; they serve his purposes and are on the 'good' side.

There is surely a glorious irony there.  That God can 'redeem' us all for the better.  A story of transformation.
A story of how even the foolish can become wise.

Happy Epiphany!

Ian

Wisdom for a New Year

I’ve always looked forward to starting a new diary at the turn of the year.  January 1^st feels like no other date in the calendar; it’s full of promise becoming, perhaps, the most ‘hope-filled’ day of the year.  On this day many make a personal resolution that things will never be the same again.  In the words of Sydney Carter’s hymn it’s from ‘the old we travel to the new...’

Yet like all dates and anniversaries a new page in the diary, even a first one, doesn’t have the power to change us.  For like the Roman god Janus, after whom this month is named, we face two directions at once, both the past and future.  We bring yesterday into today for we can never truly leave our past because, in part, it has both made and shaped us into the people we are today.

So what then can we hope for on January 1^st?

I think we can hope for ‘wisdom’.

I long to live 2016 having learnt from 2015.  Last year I had joys and sorrows, successes and failures.  I received love yet sometimes showed indifference.  Although I suspect 2016 will be similar to the year we’ve just left, I hope I’ve learnt some lessons about myself, my community and God.  My prayer is that such life experiences from the last twelve months will inform those that commence on that fresh first page of my 2016 diary.

So along with the greeting Happy New Year may I also wish you wisdom – the sort that looks back to the old year and then guides us into the new.

Best wishes,

Ian