March 2017

March 24, 2017

In this newsletter:

• Journeying through Easter
• PMC – The spiritual journey ahead
• PMC – Challenge for Lent
• Annual Parochial Church Meeting
• Dates for your diary

Journeying through Easter

So we’re heading towards Easter, with most of Lent behind us. We’ll soon be into the high intensity of Passiontide and Holy Week, and Easter itself. Those of us who are closely involved with what happens in church will be very, and probably living with heightened emotions, as the story of betrayal and sacrifice, death, mourning, and resurrection swirls around us once more.

And then what?

Perhaps we can use what remains of Lent to get ourselves in the right frame of mind – and attitude of heart – not just for Easter, but for what lies beyond.

There can be a danger, in a church that emphasises the seasons, of disconnecting them rather than connecting them. With Lent this can be particularly the case, maybe because of the word we use: Lent. It’s not a word that really says what it means, because it isn’t at heart a religious word. It simply indicates the lengthening of days, the spring. In other languages, the word used tends either to come from ‘forty’, for the forty days of the fast, or from ‘fast’ itself: other languages are more direct about what it is. We, on the other hand, have to make the mental leap from a word that doesn’t really have an obvious meaning to giving it a meaning. This can then make us more inclined to make it a ‘thing’ of its own, rather than ‘the fast which prepares us for Easter’.

Being aware of this may make it easier to start to make the connections between Lent and Easter and then beyond. Otherwise, we can default to thinking in terms of ‘finishing’ Lent before moving on to the next ‘thing’, Easter, and then perhaps a bit of an anti-climax before the next ‘things’, which are Ascension and Pentecost – and then what?

For Christians, it doesn’t make sense to think like this, or indeed to think in linear time when it comes to salvation. True, we do live in linear time, so seasons which teach us through linear time are extremely important to us. But the God who made us and loves and saves us made even that time itself, and what Jesus has accomplished has been accomplished. It makes no sense to go through Lent as though Easter hasn’t already happened, or to go through Easter as though the Ascension and Pentecost haven’t already happened. Without the whole of this story, the different parts would have no meaning. They are inseparable. When we go through the different seasons, we learn to understand the different parts more; but they only make sense as a whole.

This whole includes an ongoing story, of which we are part, followers of Christ who have received the Spirit of Pentecost and carry the gospel of Jesus Christ to the world. We don’t need to wait till Pentecost for this to happen; we can live it now, in Lent, through Passiontide and Holy Week, at the foot of the cross, when we rejoice at the empty tomb, and beyond. Easter, the reminder of the Resurrection, should then give us the energy to live more faithfully and fervently thereafter. If it is an anti-climax, something has gone wrong. So if we prepare ourselves during what remains of Lent by living it as the Church of Pentecost, we can be ready to carry the joy of Easter into the year ahead and the world around.

Judith

PMC – The spiritual journey ahead

Over the last year, Partnership for Missional Church has asked “What is God up to in our parish?” For the next year, we would like to introduce six practices or ‘Holy Habits’ that work together to help us form Christian Community within God’s mission in and for the world. Some may be familiar to you, others less so. Together we can explore and practise these habits, outlined below, to seek where God is leading us.

1. Dwelling in the Word

We want the Word, the living text of the Bible, to shape our imaginations, intentions and actions. Joining God’s transforming mission is a spiritual journey shaped by God’s Word, so, when we meet in pairs and groups, we dwell in the Word to be shaped by God’s Word as heard through one another.

2. Dwelling in the World

God sent his Son; together, they send the Spirit; as the Trinity, they send the Church. As the Church, we want to be alert and observant of the people of peace in the world where God has sent us. So, we interact in our wider communities, looking for the people of peace God sends to us joining in community where God is at work.

3. Announcing the Kingdom of God

Jesus told the disciples to be his witnesses. We practise noticing Jesus at work in the world and telling the story so that, when we see the Kingdom of God near, we are confident to point it out to others.

4. Hospitality

We want to create safe space for forming Christian community. So, we practise both receiving the gracious welcome of people of peace and giving a gracious welcome to people of peace to build bridges within God’s mission in and for the world.

5. Spiritual Discernment

Learning a process to help make spiritual decisions together, rather than taking the ‘path of least resistance’ or a purely pragmatic approach. We recognise where we are and how the Holy Spirit is in us in the formation of Christian community within God’s mission. We dwell in the Word and listen to one another and to the Spirit to discover how we are moving towards God’s preferred and promised future.

6. Focus for Missional Action

In a world full of possibilities, it is easy to dissipate energy by pursuing too many things. Focusing energy and attention on actions that move us further into God’s mission in the world is central to fulfilling a missional life.

In all of this, it is God who is forming our community and shaping our shared mission. Our energy and attention in all of these is to love and trust in God above all others.

PMC – Challenge for Lent

Last year, Partnership for Missional Church focused on listening; listening to people within the parish and wider community. This year, the focus shifts to welcome and hospitality. Before we can welcome or show hospitality, however, we need to build trust and relationships with strangers.

This challenge, should you accept it (apologies to Mission Impossible, ed.) uses the sunburst worksheets to trust in the Holy Spirit and reach out. Jesus told the disciples to look for ‘persons of peace’ in the towns and places he sent them (Luke Ch 10) to start to build bridges with the population. Looking for ‘persons of peace’ around us in Caversham and Mapledurham, we, too, can build new bridges. These may be strangers in our church, people we see regularly but never speak to, or people at work, at the shops or the school gate: people we could get to know better.

The sunburst worksheets, in a pile at the back of church, help us recognise ‘persons of peace’, people who may be receptive in some way to God’s mission. Use them to reflect on new contacts and discern who God may be leading us to get to know better. Could God be sending you or us as a congregation to a new place; calling us to be part of building new bridges within our community here in Caversham and Mapledurham?

The aim is to ‘intentionally notice’, think about, the people you meet; not just greet them with a nod and pass on by, but talk to them, start a conversation. Using a Sunburst sheet, make a note of those people or groups who stood out for you, who might be a ‘person of peace’, what bridges might you build together. There are instructions on the sheets for guidance or just see where the Spirit leads you.

Sunbursts can be found at the back of church – or you can draw your own

Sunburst Worksheet Instructions:

1. Take a moment to prayerfully review the day or the week in your mind.

2. On each line of the sunray write the name of a person you meet.

3. Pray about which of those might be a ‘person of peace’ who may open the door of their life to you. Circle those names.

4. In the space at the bottom of the image, make a note of how you might follow-up on that opening to build a relationship with that person.

If we pray and trust in God, he will not let us down, we will be amazed at what He can achieve through us!

Annual Parochial Church Meeting

Please don’t forget that our annual parochial church meeting takes place during a combined service at St John’s church on 2nd April at 9.30am. Replacing the sermon we will have the meeting, where we will elect Churchwardens, PCC members and representatives of the Deanery Synod, as well as appoint Sides people and receive the annual report. We will also have chance for a discussion together on some of the priorities facing us as a parish in the next year. Do try to support this opportunity, as your chance to elect those who you wish to represent you and ensure your voice is heard in our discussion.

Mike

Dates for your diary

Events are also listed on the Forthcoming Events page and the Parish Calendar – website editor.

 
Other newsletters are in the newsletter archive