I had not been in the parish long when it fell to me to conduct the funeral of the late Mr Berridge who would have been a neighbour had he not been in care of one sort or another during my time here. In his will, Mr Berridge generously left a large sum to the Priory Church on the condition that it be used for some purpose in the parish. The PCC has invested the money until a decision has been made about the use to which it should be put.
Those who have been in church during the recent rain will have noticed considerable entry of water through the chancel roof, and our architect's rough estimate for the cost of the substantial work to needed to rainproof this roof is just about equal to the sum Mr Berridge left us, and so the PCC is seriously considering using this generous legacy to end the leaking roof once and for all.
There are several other building works which are needed, too, with an upgrading of the electrical system and lighting, and improvements to the heating being high on the list. Following the recent visit to the Christian Resources Exhibition we are awaiting estimates for these jobs, but there is no funding available at present.
However, if we can secure substantial grant aid for the roof repairs, Mr Berridge's bequest would be available to help towards these projects, too.
No firm decisions have been made yet, nor can they be until we have all the information we need, but I hope that this little report will explain some of the background behind the decisions which I hope we shall be able to announce in the next few months. Further information will be included in Priory News as we have it.
5th July: 4th after Trinity
10am: Galatians 6: 7-16; Luke 10: 1-11, 16-20
6pm: Deuteronomy 24 10-22; Acts 28: 1-16
12th July: 5th after Trinity
Family Eucharist with Holy Baptism
10am: Colossians 1: 1-14; Luke 10: 25-37
19th July: 6th after Trinity
10am: Colossians 1: 15-28; Luke 10: 38-42
Saturday 25th July: St James the Apostle
7.30pm: Acts 11: 27 - 12: 2; Matthew 20: 20-28
26th July: 7th after Trinity
10am: Colossians 2: 6-15; Luke 11: 1-13
2nd August: 8th after Trinity
10am: Colossians 3: 1-11; Luke 12: 13-21
The Annual Patronal Festival Service will be held on Saturday 25th July at 7.30pm. when the worship will be in the form of a Sung Eucharist.
The preacher will be Reverend Mark Warrick.
Waking to Radio Lincolnshire early one Sunday morning recently I was reflecting on what I was going to say and worrying about how it all might come across. (It's not everyone who wants to hear the Bishop of Lincoln bumbling away when they're just coming to). I also reflected on the fact that we're very well served in the Diocese by our Local Radio Stations. They are, in a sense, "big business" and in my experience unfailingly supportive of what we're trying to do.
The BBC now acknowledges that "religious broadcasting on Sunday mornings is a big audience winner, capturing the biggest share of breakfast listening to BBC Local Radio across the week." Equally significant is the fact that although commercial local radio is no longer required to present religious programmes, their religious output also has risen by some 50% in the last two years. Eight out of ten commercial Stations now broadcast religion. Why is this? Well the spiritual awareness, hunger, curiosity, call it what you will is certainly there, and so are the ultimate questions about the meaning of things. People are seeking the fulfilment of those needs and answers to those questions through the broadcasting media; they are "the great church of the unchurched." Religious broadcasting itself has become much more relevant and professional.
Radio is a unique way of communicating, it is very personal and almost private; we tend to watch television together but listen to the radio alone. We can be occupied by other matters, but still absorbed by what we are hearing. We can take it almost anywhere and let our imaginations take wing. The pictures on radio are so much better than on television! Radio broadcasting is an invitation into people's homes; their kitchens, their living rooms and bedrooms; it is a privilege and an awesome responsibility. It is not an invitation to preach, except of course in the context of a service, but it is an opportunity to get alongside someone, to try to set the record straight and to suggest ways of thinking through an issue. Broadcasters can take the walls off the Church; they can enable people to tell their stories; they can help "keep the rumour of God alive."
A BBC man once described it all like this: "The gospel is a big piece of gold; our responsibility as broadcasters is to break it down into little coins and use them in everyday currency." Where those coins go, no-one can know, but if the broadcasters do their job properly they will heed God's promise that his word "will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire, and achieve the purpose for which I sent it." (Isaiah 56:11).
The Archbishop of Canterbury has invited Bishops from around the world to gather in Conference in Canterbury from 18 July to 9 August The purpose of the Conference is for Bishops to learn from each other's experiences; to study together; to pray, worship and praise God in the unique heritage that belongs to our parish community.
The Conference will be studying Paul's Second Letter to the Corinthians, and will deal with its business under four main headings:
What does it mean to be truly human, as individuals and in community?
What are the faces which enhance and which threaten our humanity?
The work of this section seeks to help Bishops to share their experience of hearing, speaking and enabling the proclamation of God's kingdom through evangelism, and through the building up of just and faithful community life.
This section seeks to draw out the implications of pluralism within each region for the life of the Church. How in that context can the Church be a sign of God's rule?
This section will focus on the commitments made in our ecumenical journeys. It will report on progress made in many areas of ecumenism and seek to understand the sense of unity that God intended for the whole of humanity and creation.
Lambeth Conference began some 130 years ago when Archbishop Longley called together all the Bishops of the Anglican Communion for consultation. Now, as a Communion, the Anglican Church has some 36 Provinces with some 750 Bishops. The Conference is, thus, a massive undertaking, with the Church of England very much in a minority.
Please remember the Conference in your prayers. You may care to use the one below:
Living God, you meet us in the presence of Jesus the Christ Bless the meeting of the Lambeth Conference.
Make it a base for mission and ministry
Make it a base for peace and unity Make it a base for grace and generosity
Make it a base for holiness and hospitality
for your beloved Son's sake.
Amen.
Sea Sunday, traditionally always the second Sunday in July, is the day when Church members are asked to remember seafarers in their prayers, to pray for their families and for the Church's ministry to them. For over twenty years congregations and clergy have responded generously to this request, often holding special collections for The Missions to Seamen
This year, Sea Sunday falls within World Church Weekend with its pre-Lambeth Conference emphasis on the Church's world-wide mission. The Missions to Seamen is truly a world-wide ministry to seafarers, working ecumenically to show God's love to them. In 300 ports around the world their staff and volunteers visit ships, welcome seafarers and offer them practical and spiritual support.
First I look for a community committed to the daily offering of worship and prayer: that at the heart of my diocese there is an engine of prayer beating steadily away, and making an offering of worship which both covers the poverty of my own, and focuses the prayers and praises of God's people in Lincolnshire.
Second, I look for a place where all sorts and conditions of people can meet God and begin to explore him in their own way - it may be through the beauty of worship; it may be through the Cathedral's life and activities, its challenge to conscience, and its responses to human need and hunger. 'Whatever, the opportunity is important, and is not readily matched elsewhere.
Third. I look to the Cathedral as a strategic and vital player in the strategy and witness of the diocese. As I go about the Diocese of Lincoln I find great warmth and kindliness towards myself as Bishop, but all this is nothing compared to the devotion and regard that most people have towards the Cathedral. Lincoln Cathedral is a far more potent symbol to the people of Lincolnshire - and to the world beyond - than either its Bishop or his diocese. It's important, then, that this particular devotion is harnessed to the strategy we are seeking to follow as a Church in Lincolnshire. And it's vital, in these times of threat to faith, that people's spontaneous feeling is both gathered and focused towards a common end.
And last, I look to the Cathedral as a place where I can he at home and where I, and my family, can feel supported and understood. It's hard to preserve one's own soul and devotion as a Bishop, you know, and, like any other Christian, I need the encouragement and care of others to help me persevere. The Cathedral in my judgement, is one place supremely where I seek this, and I need to know that I'll he accepted, understood, and fed.
Continued next month
The Committee would Like to thank everyone who supported the Fellowship lunch on June 11th.
The event raised £79.10 and this will form part of our donation to the Deepings Mens Group on September 3rd.
"I remember you in my prayers constantly night and day"
Many have found enrichment in their prayer lives by joining a small group who together bring the concerns of both individuals and the world to God.
For some time now a group has beem meeting twice a month in the morning, there is also now a second group which meets once a month in the evening. The next meeting of this group will be at 7.30pm on Wednesday, July 22nd at 138 Eastgate. New members are always welcome.
For further details please phone Sonial Marshall on 346420 (evening group) or Bernard Babb on 343956 (day group).
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.