Deeping St James Parish Church Magazine
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"What did you go out to see?"
Jesus asks of those who went out to see John the Baptist what it is they went to see. What did they expect of this strange man living in the wilderness? Words of comfort? A respectable teacher? Whatever drew them to John, what they found was someone who was preparing the way for the Christ, the Christ whose life would be marked not by respectability and comfort but by divine compassion and sacrifice. Comfort for the afflicted, perhaps, but also often affliction for the comfortable! Mary expresses this (or, at least, Luke does in words he attributes to her) before her Son's birth in the song we call Magnificat.
John is long gone, beheaded by a despotic ruler, and the Christ has come and been crucified by the people's religious leaders' request and now lives and reigns as King forever. Where do the people go now to encounter the living God, and what do we expect to see when we get there? There are many answers to this question ("You're nearer to God in a garden than anywhere else on earth," being one of the most popular partial answers) but one place many still come is the Church - some regularly and many others at times of crisis. People may come to worship or may simply turn up at the Vicarage door - so the question might still be what do we come looking for, and do we find it? Or do we find something better, or not so good?
Jesus has promised that when we gather in his name he will be among us, and so when we do this, either a crowd at Christmas worship or in a one-to-one conversation we do not need to wonder whether we shall encounter Christ: we certainly shall. The issue for us is not whether he will be there but what we shall make of his presence! This is the King who gave himself up to the cross for me: how do I greet him? As a sinner there is only one way, isn't there? He is also the One who made wine from water and dined with all sorts of outcasts, so time spent with him is not going to be marked by dullness or by judgment once the ice is broken! Thus, no matter what crisis has driven us to seek the Christ, even if our lives are, for the moment, marked by sorrow, the encounter with Christ has to be filled with joy at his presence - not some surface "fun" but a deep joy which transforms our sorrow and brings comfort to our affliction.
The challenge for the local church, then, is to work with Christ to maximise the potential for these encounters to take place and for each person to make the most of them. First, in our worship and in our conversations, do we expect to meet the risen Lord? And do we treat him as the Lord of Calvary and Cana when we do? If not, there is no time too soon to change our attitudes! This Advent, let us take to heart the encouragement of the season that there is not much time left: don't wait until tomorrow - pray now that you will perceive the presence of Christ whenever you meet another in his name! Second, do we allow others who come seeking Christ to see him in worship and in conversation, or do they see only us? Love is the most important thing in this: truth matters, but loves comes first, and so there is nowhere that "What Would Jesus Do?" is more significant than it is in the welcome given to the stranger who comes out to see the Lord. This needs to permeate all that we do in church and in the street. What do we go to church to see? A robed choir? A beautiful building? A well-read piece of scripture? Perhaps you will experience all of this, but whether you do or not, what really matters is the encounter with the living God, in his word of scripture, in the fellowship of his campanions, in his Body and Blood at communion and in the joy of knowing your sins are forgiven and that you are one with the God who created and sustains you.
Readings for December
To see your reading in advance without having to mark your bible pages, you can copy your reference and paste it into the oremus Bible Browser (or type in your reference) and print out the reading. The translation used in church is the New Revised Standard Version, which is the default version on oremus.
5th November, All Saints Sunday:
- Morning: Wisdom 3: 1-9; Revelation 21: 1-6a; John 11: 32-44
- Evening: Isaiah 65: 17-end; Hebrews 11: 32 - 12: 2
12th November, 3rd Sunday before Advent:
- Morning: Jonah 3: 1-5, 10 (08:00 only); Hebrews 9: 24-end; Mark 1: 14-20
- Evening: Isaiah 10: 33 - 11: 9; John 14: 23-29
19th November, 2nd Sunday before Advent:
- Morning: Daniel 12: 1-3; Hebrews 10: 11-14, 19-25;Mark 13: 1-8
26th November, Christ the King:
- Morning: Daniel 7: 9-10, 13-14; Revelation 1: 4b-8; John 18: 33-37
Home Groups
- Bible Study: Fridays at 10 am at 91 Manor Way (not week before or after Christmas)
- Priory Prayer Group: No information available at present
- House Group: Every Wednesday, 7.30 pm at 45 Crowson Way - Everyone welcome
Notices
SERVICES FOR THE CHRISTMAS PERIOD
Lessons and Carols for Advent
Sunday 3rd December, 6pm
Christingle Celebration
in aid of The Children's Society
Sunday 10th December, 3pm
Nine Lessons and Carols for Christmas
Christmas Eve, 10am
Deepings Churches Together, Come to the Manger
our popular celebration of the Christmas Story
Wednesday 20th December 7.30pm at The Deepings School
The Kingdom of Heaven is like ..?
A Celebration of Parish Ministry
May 12th 2007 at 10:30am
Lincoln Cathedral
A date for your diary
All are welcome to attend this celebration of Parish Ministry
Further information will follow shortly
St. Thomas' Day Distribution by the Deeping St. James United Charities
Applications are invited for payment of the sum of £25 on St. Thomas' Day from all widows over 60 years of age, who have lived in the parish of Deeping St. James (to include Frognall ) for the last three years or more. The St. Thomas' Day payment will be made on Thursday 21st December , 10.30am to 11.30am, at the Institute, 38, Church Street, Deeping St. James.
Application forms are available from:
- Ms. J. Banks, Clerk to the Trustees, The Institute, 38, Church Street, Deeping St. James, PE6 8HD, Tel. 01778 344707
- The Priory Church, Deeping St. James
- The Post Office, Deeping St. James
- The Warden, Exeter Close, Millfield Road, Deeping St. James,
- The Warden, Benedict Court, Deeping St. James
All completed forms should be returned by 8th December 2006 to the Clerk to the Trustees at the Institute, 38, Church Street, Deeping St. James.
Assistance is also available to residents of Deeping St. James and Frognall in many other circumstances. These includehardship through unemployment, bereavement, relationship break-down and divorce and unexpected expenses whilst living on a restricted income. If you or anyone you know may need our help, please contact the Clerk for confidential advice.
The office of the Deeping St. James United Charities is open each Tuesday morning from 10.00 am - 12.00 am to personal callers and the charities' new website will soon be online at http://www.dsjunitedcharities.org.uk
Now for the bad news?
Due to the inevitable rising costs of materials, the Priory News cover price will increase to 30p from January 2007. This is the first price rise for more than 10 years and we still feel that it is value for money compared with some other parish magazines that we have seen.
To make things simple for our deliverers we will ask for £3.50 for the year's twelve issues, a saving to our readers of a whole 10p.
The Priory Project
Deeping St James Community Hall Regeneration Project
Facilities for a Vibrant Community
Many readers will by now have seen something about the project which is in hand to rebuild the Church Hall to make it more suited to the needs of the 21st century and for the much larger village that Deeping St James has become. The basic idea is to remove the existing stage extension and replace it with a higher-quality stone-built stage area with meeting room behind; to create a corridor across the back of the main hall, within the toilet/cloakroom area, to give access to new toilets and a refitted kitchen; and to create a corridor/storage area beside the main hall. All of this is alongside a total rewiring, new heating and plumbing and redecorating and the total cost, according to our quantity surveyors, is £550,000.
Although some fund-raising is being done by several organizations within the local community, and this is vital in order to demonstrate that the community really does want this facility, such a sum is clearly beyond the reach of local fund-raising alone: major grant-aid is required and to this end the steering group is applying for lottery funding via a one-off community buildings fund, among other national funding bodies. If all of the present funding applications are successful, then we should be in a position to begin building in the spring/summer of 2008. This is somewhat later than originally envisaged, but as the scale of the project has become more ambitious and as procedural issues have arisen, it has become clear that rather more time is needed.
We are hoping to publish progress reports in Priory News from time to time to enable readers to keep up with the project. Meanwhile, if you would like to drop us a line to indicate what the regenerated hall would mean for you or for a group to which you belong, then please do write to the Priory Project at 16 Church Street, Deeping St James PE6 8HD to lend your support: the more evidence we can show that the village needs this project, the more likely we shall be to attract the funding we need.
Mark Warrick
Chairman of the Steering Group
To Age
Deny us not our youth, The time will come - too fast When we, like you, with shadowed eye Will recollect the past The trembling taper burns, The soft-shod years slink by, We, too, shall know those hidden years The soul cannot deny We, too, with pleading grasp Shall tug the skirt of fate To stay her mills for just a span To bid her harvest wait Deny us not our youth, But meditate a while, Our gladness was our own, Then free from envy smile.
Betty Mates
News from Explorers, Climbers and Scramblers
Explorers, Climbers and Scramblers continued to explore what it means to be part of God's Family which is sometimes known as 'The Kingdom of God'. When we are living God's way we are lights that shine brightly and we can show people what it is like to be in God's family. We enjoyed decorating and filling shoe boxes with presents for children who are not as well off as we are as we felt this was a way we could be a light to shine for Jesus and we would like to thank the Mission Committee for organising this.
The story of Solomon and the Temple is always fun to explore with children and our 'Light' Resources from Scripture Union included plenty of construction and building play. Other activities helped the children begin to grasp the purpose of all this and to discover that Solomon wanted to do the very best for God, just as we know we should.
The children are busy preparing for Christmas by making decorations for the tree and also practising songs old and new for our annual Christmas Event. Do come and join us on Sunday 17th December at 11.30am in the Church Hall and celebrate with us. Mulled wine and mince pies will be served.
Explorers (7 - 11), Climbers (5 - 7) and Scramblers (under 5) are on holiday now but will meet again on Sunday 11th September at 9.50am in the Church Hall. New members are always welcome. Please contact Andrea (Climbers and Scramblers) on 344926 or Alison (Explorers) on 345890 for more details.
God and the Manger
The whole Christmas story, once you can disentangle it, raises the question of the way God acts in history. We all think differently about this, and if we let it the story will challenge us all, from those who see a God who "made" the world and then let it go in the manner of a child winding a clockwork toy and letting it go, to those who see God directing and controlling every little part of the world in the manner of an enormous puppeteer.
For in the stories (it has to be plural: Matthew and Luke tell quite different tales, and neither Mark nor John tell the story at all!) we are presented with chance circumstance in, for example, there being no room at the inn, and divine intervention in, for example, the angels' message to the shepherds. We see the pagan astrologers (the "wise men") discerning the action of the one true God through their star-gazing, and Mary and Joseph receiving messages through angels.
No matter how much of this you can take in, how much you put down to cultural influemces we may now feel free to discard, behind it all is the God who not only made the world and in some sense directs its history even though he has set us free to sin, but also affirms it by having come to live as one of us in the very world he has made. He was born a vulnerable infant at a vulnerable time and lived and died among ordinary people. This is our God - and if we truly want to follow him, then the common lot will be ours, too, from cradle, if we're luckier than he, to grave (and perhaps ours may not have to be borrowed), and if we believe the Good News, into eternity after that!
Merry Christmas!
Mark Warrick
New Archdeacon For The North Of The Diocese
The Bishop of Lincoln has appointed Canon Jane Sinclair as Archdeacon of Stow and Lindsey. Jane (50), who is Vicar of Rotherham, will take up the post after Easter 2007, and will become the most senior clergywoman to work in the Diocese.
She joins us after working for the nearly fourteen years in the Diocese of Sheffield, first as Residentiary Canon and Precentor at Sheffield Cathedral, and more recently at Rotherham Minster. Jane became a deaconess in 1983, and served her curacy in Herne Hill, London. She then moved to St John's College, Nottingham, where she lectured in Liturgy and Pastoral Studies before moving to Sheffield.
Jane was among the first group of women to be ordained to the priesthood in 1994. She is a member of the General Synod of the Church of England and has particular interests in liturgy, music and the development of women's ministry. In her spare time Jane loves walking, birdwatching, cooking, listening to music and spending time in Orkney.
"I am delighted to be given the opportunity to come to Lincolnshire, and to work among the very varied communities which form the Archdeaconry of Stow and Lindsey," said Jane.
"The long and rich traditions of Lincolnshire and its churches are ones which continue to develop in the face of new challenges today. I am very much looking forward to working with churches and their local communities as we face these challenges together in the service of Christ."
The Bishop of Lincoln, the Right Revd Dr John Saxbee said: "This appointment is very good news for Lincolnshire and the Lincoln Diocese.
"Jane is an experienced and gifted priest who will bring a range of relevant skills to our ministry and mission here. We look forward to her enriching our Christian work and witness when she joins us after Easter."
Bishop's Letter
Future Proof? Some Hope!
A recent TV ad for a new range of computers declares that they are "Future Proof". In other words, whereas most computers are almost immediately rendered obsolete by the on-rush of new technology, this range is so advanced it will not fall foul of progress. So it is future proof. Some hope, say most of us. Built-in obsolescence seems to be a characteristic of all new IT equipment and we seriously doubt the claim that this range will be any different.
So is anything future-proof?
For Christians, the answer is definitely yes. Faith is future proof. That is the message of Advent, the four weeks in December leading up to Christmas. These weeks focus our minds on the future when God's purposes will be fulfilled, and God will make all things new. The world as it is gives way to a new order and in the end there will be a new beginning.
The Bible begins with the words: "In the beginning, God " and the Book of Revelation can be summed up with the words: "In the end, God". Faith in a future proofed against ultimate obsolescence and decay is at the heart of the Christian Hope founded upon the birth into our world of God in Christ promising to be with us even to the end of time.
Perhaps many this Christmas will receive as a present the computer that claims to be future proof. If so, may they not be disappointed as its new and improved successor hits the High Street.
The sure way to avoid such disappointment is to embrace the greatest Christmas gift of all the gift of faith in God incarnate guaranteed future proof and good for all time, and then some!
Bishops David and Tim join with me in wishing all of you a Hope-filled Advent and a truly Blessed Christmas.
+ John Lincoln
COOKING WITH MARGARET
COLD CHRISTMAS PUDDING
A tried and tasted seasonal recipe
- 3oz Mixed dried fruit,
- 3oz Glaze Cherries,
- 1oz Mixed peel,
- 1tbs Brown sugar,
- ½ tsp mixed spice,
- 1-2 tablespoons Rum or Brandy.
Mix all the ingredients together, cover and leave to stand for 24 hours. Add 1 tablespoon of Cocoa powder then mix well.
Whip ½ pint double cream, then fold in to mixture, put into basin and leave to stand for a further 12 hours.
Keeps for 3-5 days, not too sweet and a nice flavour.
Registers for October 2006
HOLY BAPTISM
We welcome to the Lord's family:
- 8th: Keiran James Southwell 37 Buttercup Court
- and: Owen William Scutt 9 Crowfields
- 29th: Jonathan William Green 6 Somes Close, Uffington
FUNERALS
We commend to God's keeping:
- 24th: Alice Louise Roots (81)
This is only an extract from some of our magazine. Residents of Deeping St James can subscribe to the printed version.