The Priory and Parish Church of St James, Deeping
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The New Year is always a time for a new start, with the infamous "New Year's Resolutions". Having been working away at its strategy for over a year now, the Parochial Church Council will be taking stock at its next meeting and moving forward the work of the church in Deeping St James for the last year of the century. In our budget for the coming four years we promised to build on our successful children's work and on our "Ready Call" scheme which provides help for those who need jobs tackling but are unable to help themselves, and we hoped, too, to provide support for those marrying and starting families. No doubt these items will figure in our revised strategy. We shall also have to look at what might be done to improve our building and to maintain it safely for the generations to come.
As 1998 comes to a close and I ask your prayers for all who will carry on the work of the parish during the coming year, I should like to thank very sincerely those who have done so much to make the past year such a success in terms of increasing the enthusiasm and fellowship of the church and putting us at last on a firm foundation on which our future growth can depend.
3rd, The Epiphany
10am: Ephesians 3: 1 - 12; Matthew 2: 1 - 12
10th, The Baptism of Christ
Family Eucharist
10am: Acts 10: 34 - 43; Matthew 3: 13 -17
17th, 2nd of Epiphany
10am: 1 Corinthians 1: 1 - 9; John 1: 29 - 42
24th, 3rd of Epiphany
10am: 1 Corinthians 1: 10 - 18; Matthew 4: 12 - 23
31st, The Presentation of Christ in the Temple
(Candlemas)
10am: Hebrews 2: 14 - 18; Luke 2: 22 - 40
7th February, 2nd before Lent
10am: Romans 8: 18 - 25; Matthew 6: 25 - 34
6pm: Job 38: 1 -21; Colossians 1: 15 - 20
The first Sunday after Epiphany is traditionally kept as 'Plough Sunday' and celebrates the hard work that the farming community undertakes before the sowing of the seed.
The focal point of the service is the blessing of the plough prior to the beginning of the new year's cycle of work.
This year the service of hymns, music and readings for Plough Sunday will be held at 6 pm on 10th January.
The service will be followed by a Ploughman's Supper consisting of cheese, pate, pickles and home made bread will be held in the Church Hall.
The cost of the supper is £1.50. Names please to Margaret Flegg.
On Thursday 4th February at 12 noon a service of Holy Communion will be held at Sempringham Abbey.
The Celebrant and Preacher will be the Bishop of Grantham.
Please note that the Abbey is not heated and soup will be available afterwards at Billingborough Vicarage.
Please save the stamps from your Christmas mail and leave a good margin of envelope if possible. the stamp box is at the back of the church, or if more convenient, stamps may be left at 11 Broadgate Lane.
Thank you very much.
Do you remember the job description which Jesus gave himself in the Synagogue at Nazareth, recorded for us by Luke 4: 17ff: "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the Year of the Lord's favour."
The job description is an amalgam of the prophecies in Isaiah 58 and Isaiah 61 and the two dominant themes in it are Jubilee and Messiah.
Jubilee, proclaiming the Lord's year of favour is an event. It happens periodically, not all the time. It is a moment when debts are forgiven, when land is re-distributed, when exiles are allowed home, when, in short, there is an amnesty and a new beginning. We're looking for this sort of event in the Millennium, the year 2000 when we want the richer countries of our world to relieve the poorer countries of the debts which cripple them.
But equally we need to use the opportunity of the Millennium to make a new start ourselves. When Jesus speaks to the people in the synagogue he clearly offers himself as the Messiah, the Saviour. It is a highly personal affair. The Father has chosen him as the channel of sight for the blind, of freedom for the oppressed, of good news for the poor. We must therefore concentrate on him, not on mechanisms, theories or ideologies. Leadership and perfecting of faith depend on him, not on frenzied activity and we need to move from being fussed about forms of ministry to how we present and teach Jesus Christ. What do we mean and understand by our membership of Him (and of our Church) today?
When Bishop John Fisher was being taken to his execution on Tower Green, the little party paused for a moment at the door of the Tower so that responsibility for the prisoner could be handed over from Governor to Sheriff. Fisher took out his bible and read from John 17:2. "This is eternal life, that they should know you, the one true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent." He put the book away and said "This contains enough doctrine to last me for the rest of my life.
Beneath the wry joke was a profound truth. Knowing Jesus opens the channel, and external life flows into the world: not knowing about him but knowing him. That is the real challenge for Christians in 1999. More than that, is the challenge to present him in a world and society which is so often preoccupied and indifferent. It would be good if we could concentrate on that task in 1999, 50 that in the Millennium year we could truly proclaim a year of the Lord's favour.
The Church is not a business, even though many of us spend a good deal of time in its activity. It is the body of Christ. It has had, is having, and will have its times of dereliction and suffering. But ultimately it will be revealed as the new Jerusalem: this is its destiny, and each of us makes a particular contribution to it.
Taxus baccata, the churchyard Yew has many links with Christmas, perhaps the most obvious being that it stands beside so many of our parish churches. Among the other common names for this tree is palm and palm tree, for its fronds have been used in religious festivals up until recent times.
Many of these churchyard Yews are venerable specimens and research over the past 15 years have shown that a number of them predate not only the church but Christianity itself.
Yes some of these trees were alive in our green and pleasant land while Christ lived out His life upon this earth.
This longevity and the fact that they could be cut again and again re-sprouting strong new shoots were the stuff of parables signifying resurrection and rebirth, Little wonder then that they were linked to many stories both true and untrue. Whether the cross on which Jesus died was made of Yew is still a matter of conjecture, however in olden times the traditional Yule log was yew, a timber slow to burn and so in great demand for legend has it that as long as the log still burned the servants could drink the master's best ale or cider or whatever was on offer.
Many of the most ancient wooden artefacts found in the peat bogs of Europe are made of yew. These range from implements belonging to the recently found ice man to wonderful drinking cups and objects of votive significance.
Of Saint Columba who founded a settlement on lona (the Yew Isle) from which he set forth to evangelise the mainland, it is written, "though he feared death and hell the sound of the axe in the grove of Derry frightened him still more".
The Derry to which he referred is in Ireland where he had built an oratory of wood, facing not east but north toward Caer Arianshod and its Yew trees.
Yews, there is no getting away from the fact that yews are very much tied up with Christianity, the Life of Christ and so with Christmas.
So as we approach the celebration of 2000 years since His Birth, the Conservation Foundation has taken cuttings from yew trees that we believe to be at least 2000 years old and they are on offer to all parishes who would like to celebrate the bi-millennium of their faith by planting one in their churchyard or some other appropriate place.
Already 5000 parishes have reserved their tree. Each parish can have one free, but a 'limited edition' tree will be for sale to those who would like to celebrate the Millennium in private gardens, farms or private woodlands. The income raised will enable the Conservation Foundation to continue protecting and recording the country's ancient Yew's and will also set up a fund to help churches unable to afford the proper care these ancient trees deserve, so safeguarding their unique place in history - a living link across 2000 years.
The Priory Church has reserved a tree, its location will be decided at a later date.
The Vicarage now has a separate number for facsimile transmissions, so the sending of faxes will be very much simpler in future, not depending upon someone being there to receive them manually.
The new number is 345877, and should only be used for fax, please. The telephone number continues to be 345890 and should only be used for telephone calls.
Envelopes for 1999 are now available in church. It would be a great help if they can be collected from church or perhaps you may be able to arrange for someone to collect them for you.
If you would like a set of envelopes or further information, please contact the Vicar, Simon Marshall or Peter Wilde.
to Margaret Flegg: A large, round, flat bottomed basket with handle. This was sold in error with produce at the Harvest Festival Auction. Thank you.
We welcome into the Lord's family:
8th
This is only an extract from some of our magazine. Residents of Deeping St James can subscribe to the printed version.
Back issues are available on line as follows:
November 1997;
December 1997;
January 1998;
February 1998;
March 1998;
April 1998;
May 1998;
June 1998;
July 1998;
August 1998;
September 1998;
October 1998;
November 1998;
December 1998.