Deeping St James Parish Church Magazine
Photographs of some parish events are available in our Photograph Album elsewhere on the site
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From the Curate
The Revd Sonia Marshall
Dear Friends
'The Old Year's gone away
to nothingness and night.
We cannot find him all the day
nor hear him in the night.
He left no footstep, mark or place
in either shade or sun.
The last year he'd a neighbour's face,
in this he's known by none.'
John Clare
We welcome it with parties and jollity, but for many the New Year is a difficult time. Those lines from John Clare hint at some of the underlying reasons.
First, fear of the unknown:- 'last year he'd a neighbour's face, in this he's known by none.' Maybe you are one of those starting the New Year without the familiar face of a loved one whose departure has brought a sense of emptiness into your life. Or perhaps you are now one of the unemployed and cannot imagine what you would be doing in a few months' time.
Second, that time is passing rapidly:- 'The Old Year's gone away to nothingness and night, we cannot find him.' Even those who are most able to cope can be daunted by the rapid pace of change in technology and legislation.
Third, starting off with regrets for opportunities rejected or time misspent: 'He left no footstep, mark or place'. All of us will have things we intended to do but never quite got round to it.
With Christ, there's always hope. Human faces come and go from our sight, he is with us always, his love for us is steadfast. We need not fear past errors of judgement for he has redeened our time. We enter new year of grace in which to serve him; each day it is a fresh start, "New every morning". And the future, even if it brings frustrations and dificulties, should hold no great fear, for Jesus is Lord of Time and draws us into his future.
As the door opens on the first day of 2007, 'Common Worship' bids us greet
it with the following words:-
To a troubled world: peace from Christ.
To a searching world: love from Christ.
To a waiting world: hope from Christ.
May your new year in Christ be richly blessed and may you be assured of his presence in all your comings and goings.
Happy New Year!
Readings for January
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.
7th January, Epiphany, Plough Sunday:
- Morning: Isaiah 60: 1-6; Ephesians 3: 1-12; Matthew 2: 1-12
- Evening: Special readings for Blessing the Plough
14th January, 2nd Sunday of Epiphany:
- Morning: Isaiah 62: 1-5 (08:00 only); 1 Corinthians 12: 1-11; John 2: 1-11
- Evening: 1 Samuel 3: 1-20; John 1: 29-42
21st January, 3rd Sunday of Epiphany:
- Morning: Nehemiah 8: 1-3, 5-6, 8-10; 1 Corinthians 12: 12-31a; Luke 4: 14-21
28th January, Presentation of Christ in the Temple (Candlemas):
- Morning: Malachi 3: 1-5; Hebrews 2: 14-end; Luke 2: 22-40
Home Groups
- Bible Study: Fridays at 10 am at 91 Manor Way
- House Group: Every Wednesday, 7.30 pm at 45 Crowson Way - Everyone welcome
Notices
Thank you!
Many thanks are due to John Worthington for his work in cleaning and adjusting the chandelier, fitting it with candles and hanging it on an appropriate piece of chain. The completion of the refurbishment of this fixture in time for the Advent Carol Service made that a great occasion at which to experience the new lighting in its "candle-lit" mode, and in its new location it provides light for the choir and the lesson-readers in just the right place.
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
Now for the bad news?
Due to the inevitable rising costs of materials, the Priory News cover price increases to 30p from this issue. 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 ask for £3.50 for the year's twelve issues, a saving to our readers of a whole 10p.
News From The Tower
The annual maintenance and clean up in the tower was carried out on 4th November. Thanks are expressed to all who took part. At the same time, a Fire Risk Assessment was carried out on both the main church building and the tower. Don't panic, you're quite safe.
Your thoughts and prayers are still asked for Ron Wilson and his family although he is now receiving rehabilitation and therapy to improve his general condition. Our main thoughts are with Daphne his wife, who travels to visit him every day.
We would like to wish you all a Happy New Year
News from Explorers, Climbers and Scramblers
Our Children were very busy during Advent in their preparations for Christmas. Rehearsing for the Annual Christmas Event and practising new Carols were combined with making and decorating various Christmas shapes to hang on our tree in Church.
The Sunday School party on the 10th December went with a real swing and 50 children (not to mention quite a few others!) had a wonderful time. Many brought a friend and we were particularly pleased that our friends from the Open Door Sunday Club could join us too. Spectrum disco ensured that everyone had a super time and several children asked for special thanks go to DJ Mark and his assistant Martin who worked so hard to provide entertainment which everyone from 2 to 50 could enjoy and join in with. They in turn were impressed with the way all the children participated and encouraged each other, and how well behaved they were. Well done, everyone! Towards the end of the Party excitement was reaching fever pitch as various sighting of Santa were reported while he took a more circuitous route round the Churchyard than usual to get to the Church Hall! The children were delighted that he could start his visits so early in the season and at such an unusual time of day.
Many thanks to all those who provided the delicious refreshements and prizes and others who worked behind the scenes putting up decorations, helping Santa by wrapping presents, serving the food and tidying up afterwards.
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.
Agriculture Comes Home -
or Back to the Future!
At last the farming year, long celebrated in parish churches, is officially recognized in the Church of England's liturgy. The 1662 Book of Common Prayer made no provision at all for occasions such as Harvest Thanksgiving, even omitting Lammas, the August celebration of the first wheat harvest, although the Calendar did include it, along with Rogation (which was a time for fasting), without prayers and readings being specified. From 1980 we had Rogation and Harvest proper collects and readings provided in the Alternative Service Book and then from 2000 among the new Common Worship provision. Published in time for this year's Kingdom and Advent seasons the Common Worship "Times and Seasons" book includes a wider provision for celebrating the agricultural year, including Plough Sunday for the first time for centuries!
The PCC's Worship Committee still has to give full consideration to the contents of Times and Seasons, which supersedes the seasonal books published as supplements to the ASB 1980, but you may be confident that special and seasonal services for this year will begin to include the Church's official liturgy in place of or alongside the unofficial or borrowed texts we have been using , starting on Plough Sunday, the First Sunday of Epiphany (7th January this year).
The Plough Sunday celebration goes back only to Victorian times, although its origin is probably in an older marking of the resumption of work after the twelve days of Christmas. In modern times it is used as a new year service, asking for God's blessing on all our work in the coming year (while retaining an emphasis on the special need for his blessing on our work with all creation to ensure that we are fed and sustained), and we have recently included an element of rededication of our lives be reaffirmation of our baptismal promise.
The new liturgical provision includes prayers and readings for Rogation, Lammas and Harvest as well as creation in general and times of agricultural crisis. Future articles will deal with these times of year as they occur.
Church Ladies Fellowship
During this past year we have lost two valued members of the fellowship.
In June I attended the funeral of Joyce Knowles, and then again in November when Edith Rimmer passed away.
Both Edith and Joyce welcomed me when I joined the Fellowship in 1996, they were both looking after the register at the door, their smiles always welcomed members as they arrived.
Both ladies were responsible for our annual dinner and to make sure they had selected the right venue they took their husbands Colin and Ken along as chief tasters, naturally we always had a fabulous meal.
When they left the committee they were both given a Parker pen in gratitude of their work.
Our thoughts and prayers are with Colin and Ken and their families at this time .
Margaret Flegg
Chairman Church Ladies Fellowship
Bishop's Letter
The Year of Our Lord: 2007
Every year is a year of Our Lord,
Every year we mark the major festivals celebrating the birth, life, death, resurrection and ascension of Our Lord. Every year we tread again the path He trod, and every year we come 365 (or 366!) days nearer to the Day of the Lord when all things will be gathered into God who is Lord of time and space, the beginning and the end.
But if every year is a Year of Our Lord, yet no two years are the same. Each brings its own sequence of events and experiences to form its own unique kaleidoscopic pattern never seen before and never to be repeated. As we stand at the threshold of another Year of Our Lord, we realise that amidst all that is new and unpredictable, He remains as a constant companion and guide.
So we embark on this brand new adventure which we call the Year of Our Lord 2007. God knows what it holds in store and God knows where it will leave us at journey's end. But in addition to the usual landmarks, I can put down two or three other markers to help us on our way all on Saturdays and all in the Cathedral.
Saturday 31st March 2007. Fresh expressions of Church are now in evidence right across our Diocese and further afield. This day will bring together local leaders of fresh expressions initiatives, and members of the national Fresh Expressions Team, to show what can be done in all sorts of places and so sharpen our vision for new ways of being Church alongside traditional patterns of worship and witness. Talks, displays, workshops and worship will all combine to inspire and encourage us.
Saturday 21st April 2007. On this day the Cathedral will be the venue for a celebration of our environment entitled Earth Our Home. Here is an opportunity to learn more about how each one of us can make a difference when it comes to conserving energy and preserving our planet for our children's children. Again talks, displays, workshops and creative worship will all feature in the mix. This will follow up the Radio Lincolnshire Lent Course on Christianity and the Environment.
Saturday 27th October 2007. Another in our very successful series of Prayer and Spirituality days in the Cathedral. This time we will focus on how people can pray at home be it individually or as part of a household. We will also have an eye on Hallowe'en and offering Christian alternatives to the prevailing customs.
All these events start at 10.30 a.m. and will finish mid-afternoon. All are welcome, so please put these dates in your diary for the Year of Our Lord 2007.
May Our Lord bless us all as we journey into His future.
+ John Lincoln
COOKING WITH MARGARET
ORANGE & CINNAMON MUFFINS
- 175g (6oz) Plain flour,
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon,
- 1½ teaspoons baking powder,
- 50g (2oz) caster sugar,
- Grated zest of 1 orange,
- 1 egg beaten,
- 125ml (4½ fl oz) milk,
- 50g (2oz) butter, melted.
Preheat the oven to Gas 5/ 190°C/375°F. Place 12 small muffin cases into muffin tins. Sift the flour, cinnamon and baking powder into a mixing bowl. Stir in the sugar, orange zest, egg, milk and melted butter, until just mixed.
Divide the mixture between the paper cases. Bake for 10 15 minutes. Press the top of one muffin lightly with your fingertip; if it feels springy, the muffins are cooked. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.
Registers for November 2006
HOLY BAPTISM
We welcome to the Lord's family:
- 12th Leigh Warren Sharp 7 Allen Close
- and Evie Jane Spittlehouse 7 Allen Close
- and James Graham Money 13 Old Priory Farm
- and Lilley Florence Kate McCann 60 Church Street, Market Deeping
MARRIAGE
We congratulate:
- 25th Vasanthakumar Rajasooriyar and Jennifer Mary Halley
FUNERALS
We commend to God's keeping:
- 14th Edith Marian Rimmer (73)
This is only an extract from some of our magazine. Residents of Deeping St James can subscribe to the printed version.