Welcome
to the May edition of our monthly newsletter. I hope you enjoy reading it. Do let me know of ideas of how to improve it as it is fast becoming one of our best tools for internal communication across the parish.
On Sunday 22nd April, Rabbi Lionel Blue came to St Peter’s to talk to us about our Parish Values.
Born in 1930, he described losing his faith as a 5 year old when his fervent prayers for the speedy demise of Adolf Hitler and Oswald Mosley were not heard, in spite of his Russian grandmother’s assurances that sincere prayers intending for the good of others would be answered. He “marched with the Reds” and his Marxist Uncle for some years thereafter, although he had a brush with Christianity when he was evacuated.
After the War, he went up to Baliol and there found himself in a Quaker Meeting when he was struggling with depression and the problems of being gay at a time when that was illegal. The Quaker Meeting turned his life around and made him see that his problems could become opportunities. Subsequently, a teacher at the Leo Baeck Rabbinical College told him, “Rabbi Blue, your successes may make you rich, but only your failures will make you wise”.
Later, when visiting Germany, he found himself shouting at God who hadn’t intervened to answer the prayers of Jews on their way to the Concentration Camps. Eventually he realised that God can only work through us, his people; we are his hands on Earth.
Since then, he has worked with people of all faiths (and none); he goes on Christian Retreats, and loves Evensong, Compline and the quiet of Christian Churches (Synagogues tend to be noisy places). He is well known to many of us through his “God Slot” on Thought for the Day, when he feels he has to give us enough courage and strength to get out of bed on dark Monday mornings with his gentle insights and Jewish humour.
Rabbi Leo Baeck, leader of the remnants of the Jewish Community in Germany during the War once told him: “Rabbi Blue, I hope Judaism will always be your religious home, but never your religious prison”.
A good thought to take away from his talk.
Heather Gale
Rector’s Report to the Annual Parochial Church Meeting
We are now two years into our new parish and much has been achieved. However, a lot of what has been done has been behind the scenes: we have structures in place for the governance of the parish and the churches to provide as light a touch as possible; we are developing groups and teams with clear terms of reference about what we are hoping they will achieve; the legal policies we must have are being talked about and set in place. None of this is very sexy stuff, but it is all foundational is we are bring about our main aim of three thriving and growing churches.
Now the next phase of development is under way. The Mission Action Plan is bringing our thoughts together from across the three churches. The Plan will ask how we, as a parish, can best support the churches so that they can thrive even more. Underneath that lies a more fundamental question: what is the parish (rather than the churches) for; what do we want this overarching structure to be doing? This new plan should be complete by the summer and will outline our hopes for the next five years.
Alongside this work things are developing and we have begun to get greater clarity about the distinctive nature of each of our three churches. St John’s is a neighbourhood church, focussing on its local community and seeking to grow by engaging with people in the area. St Peter’s is a gathered church, focussing on liturgy and learning and seeing to grow by offering hospitality to those who cross the threshold. And St Margaret’s is a pilgrim church, focussing on companionship and seeking to grow by embracing others along the journey of faith. Of course, this does not mean that you only get companionship at St Margaret’s or engagement with the local community at St John’s. All of our churches are working on many different levels to build the kingdom of God, but it is becoming clear that these three elements mark a distinctiveness for each church which enables us to talk about the three churches to our friends and helps us paint a clearer picture of each church on the website.
Alongside this our mission activity continues to grow. The church was packed on Easter Day at St Margaret’s, Keith & John’s H+ course was the only course that happened in Lent and relations with Mapledurham House continue to improve. St Peter’s had a fabulous week in the lead up to Christmas and the Three Hours on Good Friday was extraordinary. St John’s is continuing to see a growth in its Sunday Club and is working at different service styles for different occasions.
And that’s not all. Church House has had a significant upgrade and decoration; REinspired Caversham is growing by leaps and bounds; and the Lower Caversham Community Partnership is exploring the possibility of opening a community café in St John’s church. Then across the parish more good things are happening: a concentration of pastoral care is being much appreciated; the day trip to Westminster Abbey was a huge success; and the Sunday Supplement series has had a great start with Lionel Blue.
There are, nonetheless, continued challenges that we (as all churches) face: society is very different to 20 years ago, even 10 years ago; people are more likely to make ‘friends’ on Facebook then in person; people exercise choice much more readily; and fewer people are in the habit of attending church.
But there is a real spiritual hunger out there as well: there is an every increasing general interest in spirituality; and we are seeing a rise in the numbers of weddings and baptisms, but more importantly I am struck by the number of people who come for weddings and baptisms who are clearly looking for meaning in life and searching for a place to belong. Alongside that we are getting an increasing number of people who are just starting to come to church: “Today was the day I just had to come.”
I think sometimes we can feel that all our effort is going into the structures of the parish – devising a new group – setting up a new team. And whilst those things are important, because they provide the necessary support to the churches, it is important to remember that those groups only exist to help the churches grow and thrive.
But growth is not just about numbers, either figures in the bank account or bums on pews. Growth is about confidence in our faith, in our churches and in ourselves as disciples of Jesus. Growth is about an increasing spark of intrigue in what it means to be a follower of Christ and wanting to learn more. Growth is about developing networks of companionship within the churches and beyond that enable others to see something of Christ in us. Growth is about increasing the engagement of our churches with other people and with groups & institutions so that we can love and serve our neighbours following the example of Christ.
These are the activities that are happening in our churches. These are the signs of the Kingdom in our parish. These are the signs of God’s generous, inclusive and life-giving love for all his people. Let us thank God for all that is good here in our parish; and let us thank one another for making it happen.
Dan Tyndall
Tom Heffer RIP
You probably don’t know Tom ; he’s not the kind of person that many people know, and is certainly not a household name. If you saw him in a room, whether it be a bar, a church, a shop, you’d likely have walked past him. He was very ordinary to look at; but that is often the way with extraordinary people.
The first time I met Tom, I really disliked him. Actually, that’s not true; the first time I heard his name, I really disliked him. I was on my gap year in Singapore, working for The Mission to Seafarers. He had been out there just before me as a student assistant. After his year out there, he became a legend: nobody, not even the full-time Chaplain, visited ships and made things happen for seafarers in need like Tom. He just seemed to instinctively know how to do the job: knew what it meant for the crew to have a visit from the ‘Flying Angel’ (as the Mission is often known), knew who needed to be called in times when the seafarers were in danger or being treated poorly by the Officers (which is not uncommon), knew how to be a champion for a huge group of people about whom many of us never give a thought.
My dislike for him melted away after our first encounter: here was an unassuming, caring, extraordinarily funny man who had a very focussed concern for those in peril on the sea. Even though I struggled with the job, never being particularly good at it, I could not help but be inspired by Tom’s words; when I didn’t understand why I should bother going on yet another ship, Tom’s commitment would chivvy me into getting over my own Eeyore-like ways and climbing up that gangplank. And I was always glad that I did: it is a very necessary work, more now than ever before.
After training at Cuddesdon, finishing his title post and a short spell as a Bishop’s Chaplain, it should be of no surprise that the Rev’d Tom Heffer wasted no time in going off to work for The Missions to Seafarers. So obvious to everyone were his skills and calling that, in 2009, at the age of 40, he was made the General Secretary of the entire operation. In these days of Credit Crunches and global debt, Tom didn’t merely want to keep The Mission afloat (if you’ll pardon the pun) but see it continue to meet the needs of seafarers across the world in dynamic and Gospel-inspired ways; which he did expertly.
A couple of weeks ago, Tom died very suddenly and unexpectedly. He leaves behind a wife and children. He leaves behind an enormous gap in the tiny world of those who work for the needs of seafarers. To many, he was just an anonymous priest; an object of mockery and scorn. But to the seafarers for whom he worked, he was a champion for their causes and a priest of extraordinary integrity. Do spare a moment to pray for his family, as well as for the work of The Missions to Seafarers who will all be asking how they will navigate the ways of the world without Tom.
Rest eternal grant to Tom, O Lord, and let light perpetual shine upon him.
Graeme Fancourt
JEREMY’S JOTTINGS
For those of you not at the recent Annual Parochial Church Meeting, I thought I would take the opportunity to update you about the developments concerning ‘Fresh Expressions’ in the parish. The classic definition of a Fresh Expression of Church is that it is a church primarily set up for the benefit of those who are not yet members of any church. Part of my brief here as the community priest is to help set up a fresh expression within the St.John’s part of the parish, recognising that around 90% of our people in our area will have no regular contact with any Christian church at all. To that end, I set about conducting a mission audit in 2010, identifying what is going on where and what needs there were in the in the community which the church might be able to respond to. I have been helped in this process by a small team of people drawn from St.John’s (David Salisbury), St.Peter’s (Sylvia Chumbley and Sue Jenkins) and both of the Methodist Churches (Revds. Becky Lovatt and Jenny Dowding). After quite a long period of prayer and reflection, we felt that God was guiding us to work on the Amersham Road estate, an area which includes some high social needs and where the churches had little current impact.
In spring 2011, we were presented with the opportunity to work in partnership with Reading Borough Council, Catalyst Housing Association, and local residents to provide a cooking club for children aged 7-11, a group for whom there was no provision on the estate at the time, and some of whose members had expressed an interest in this type of activity. So in May that year, the ARCC (Amersham Road Cooking Club) was born. This has since been meeting termly at the Youth and Community Centre, offering a variety of cooking, crafts and games. Through this encounter with the young people, we have developed relationships and in the process been able to share something of our faith on an ad-hoc basis and at particular times, like Christmas, Lent and Easter. We have had a lot of fun as a team; it’s also been hard work at times; but through it also there has also been satisfaction in knowing that we have had the opportunity to influence young lives for good. We’re still on a journey; we are not there yet, but we are hoping and praying that a worshipping community will develop in due course.
So how might you help? Firstly, by continuing to pray for the ARCC and our work on the estate, not just in the Sunday intercessions but also in your personal prayer times. Secondly, by perhaps coming along to get involved in helping out at one or more of our regular sessions. We start meeting again this term on Wednesday 16th May (the core times being 4.45-6.45 p.m., though with setting up and packing up, this is more like 4.15 -7.00 p.m.). We try to theme our sessions, so this term will include a focus on the Queen’s Jubilee, Wimbledon, Euro 2012, and an end of term barbecue. Interested? Please speak to me or one of the core team for further information.
Jeremy Tear
N.B. The next More Than Gold (Olympics) prayer meeting is at St.John’s on Tuesday 15th May at 8 p.m. If you would like to be involved in stewarding for a session at the Caversham festival on July 8th or helping at the holiday club for one or more sessions between July 23rd-July 27th, do get in touch.