| Editor: Sonia Marshall | Layout: Dave Merchant | Web version: Mark Warrick |
Photographs of some parish events are available in our Photograph Album elsewhere on the site
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Scripture readings for Sunday
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Lent is a time for spring cleaning - spring cleaning of our lives. During this season before Easter we look into our whole lives to see what could be better prepared, cleaner and more fit for heaven, and we resolve to do better. We throw out the rubbish which our sin has allowed to gather in our lives so that we can better present ourselves before Christ our Lord in judgement.
We cannot do this entirely by our own efforts, of course. To see what is amiss in our lives we come to the light of the Lord in prayer and scripture, and to make the improvements we shall need the power of his Spirit, the Holy Spirit, the one who, in time, will present us spotless before the face of God.
So Lent is a time not only of self-examination, but also of greater emphasis on prayer and study, to the end that we should know God better, know ourselves better and live better lives in this world in preparation for the next.
John Fisher and the Christian Viewpoint for Men would like to thank the Deepings Churches Together for their fun evening and it was enjoyed by all who attended. Special thanks are extended for the use of the Church Hall. The sum of £39 was raised by the evening.
As mentioned last month, there is to be a change in the way we celebrate Easter this year, following the PCC's discussion about how we might make something special of this central festival of the Christian year.
Instead of lighting the Easter Candle at a separate service on Easter Eve and then having two celebrations of the Eucharist at the usual times of 8am and 10am on Easter Day, there will be just one combined service at 9am on Easter morning. We hope that all who would normally attend either the 8am service or the 10am service will be able to come at 9am and celebrate together this great festival of new life. The service will include the ceremonial lighting of the Easter Candle, the Renewal of Baptismal Promises and the Easter Communion, all with traditional Easter music and hymns.
Afterwards the PCC would be very glad to hear what you thought of the service and the timing and in the light of the comments received will decide whether to continue with this in future years or to make some other arrangement. Meanwhile do make sure that you have the service time in your diary: 20th April, Easter Service 9am.
The Church of England has rather a vague notion of membership which makes belonging hard to define, but one very real way of expressing your membership is to join the Electoral Roll, which is our legal membership base. The technical bit is that only Roll members can attend, speak and vote at the Annual Parochial Church Meeting (7th April this year), so I would encourage everyone to join the roll so that the annual meeting can be a well-attended and vibrant occasion in our life together, but there is also the practical point that the Roll is the only list of members that we have, so if you want to be sure to be included in everything we do, then it helps to be on the Roll. Psychologically, too, you will know that you belong!
The roll is being revised between 8th March and 22nd March in preparation for the annual meeting, so if you want to check your entry, please speak to Dave Merchant, Electoral Roll Officer, and if you need to add yourself to the Roll, please let Dave or myself have your application form, available from the back of church, before 22nd March.
Mark
The choices available seem to get bigger each year. Here are a few suggestions to get you started on this six week period of preparation for Easter.
Simpsons fans will be delighted with 'The Gospel according to the Simpsons'. It is split into six sections, each based on an episode from the series, encouraging readers to get to grips with topics such as prayer and morality. (Westminster/John Knox £4.99)
Film buffs may prefer 'Christ and Chocolaterie', Using the film 'Chocolat' it shows how the characters grow and change, how the cope with testing times like meeting strangers or failures. In between there are some informative sections on the 'History of Chocolate', 'The Unfair Economics of Chocolate' and - looking forward to Easter - 'Ideas for a Chocolate Feast'. A video is also available. (DLT - £2.95)
The Archbishop Rowan Williams has commissioned Leslie Griffiths to write 'Voices from the Desert' . It challenges the Church to look at the accusation that it is out of touch with contemporary culture. Can we find new points of engagement? Or is the Christian message essentially counter-cultural. (Canterbury Press £7.99)
If you are inspired by signs and symbols as a starting point for meditation try 'Signs of Your Kingdom' by Michael Perham. Taking the water of life, the fruit of the vine and oil for anointing he reveals the sacramental the significance of these images to find new ways into the passion narratives. (SPCK £4.99)
'Gardening with God' reminds us that prayer and gardening have traditionally gone together in the religious life. The daily meditations are based around a particular plant and each meditation and prayer is accompanied by cultivation notes for the gardener. (Burns and Oates £9.99)
'Faith without Hostages' by Harriet Harris challenges us to identify the injustices God is calling us to fight and to recognise Jesus at work in the world, in ways beyond our own understanding. (SPCK £7.99)
If you would like help in finding any of the above titles or would like any further suggestions for reading, Mark and Sonia would be happy to help.
Each Sunday the Church meets to celebrate what God has done for us in creation, in the work of Christ, and in granting us his Spirit to dwell in us. Sunday is an appropriate day for this. According to Genesis, Sunday was the first day in creation, and according to the Gospel it was the day of the discovery of the Risen Christ and the day when the Holy Spirit came upon the disciples and created the Church.
Sunday is our regular day of celebration, but there are other days, too, which we keep as important festivals and on which worship together is especially appropriate. Christmas is clearly the most popular of these, and people will turn up in the middle of the night to celebrate Christ's birth what ever day of the week it happens to be. Our other weekday feasts and fasts are less well-attended, though, and I'd like to suggest are just as important to our understanding and our celebration of what God has done for us in Christ. The only "holy day of obligation" that the Church of England recognises is Easter itself, but there are other Principal Holy Days which are highly recommended, and I write here about a few of them, all of which are coming up in the near future, and would encourage you to come along and worship as we recall events in the Good News of Jesus Christ.
Ash Wednesday (5th March this year) is the first day of the season of Lent, and on that day we remember that our Lord himself faced temptation just as we do and overcame it. Thus we remember his humanity and his sinlessness - it is very much a continuation of what we remember at Christmas, that God became human in Jesus. The church service is Holy Communion but with a special emphasis on the confession and includes the option of receiving a cross of ash on the forehead as a mark of penitence.
Lent ends with Holy Week and Easter and a number of special services to recall the final days of Jesus' earthly ministry and the momentous events they brought. Palm Sunday's services recall Jesus' final entry into Jerusalem as the humble King - again recalling his humility, and we generally have a celebration of Holy Communion on the Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday of Holy Week at which the readings prepare us for what is to come. The first major weekday service of Holy Week is that on Maundy Thursday evening (17th April this year) when we celebrate the Last Supper and recall Jesus' commandment to his disciples to love one another as he has loved them and then go on the recall his painful time of prayer just before he was arrested, by means of a watch of prayer kept until midnight.
The following morning on Good Friday we gather to recall the trial and crucifixion of Jesus by prayer, music and readings in a church building stripped of all its decorations. Although we remember a desperately sorrowful event, the service is tinged with the sure knowledge of the resurrection which followed it and the joy to come on Sunday!
The day of resurrection, Easter Day, is the Sunday of Sundays and this year we are holding just one morning Communion service for everyone, and there is a separate article about this. It is one day in the year when confirmed members of the Church of England are expected to make their Communion.
During the fifty days which follow, the celebration goes on, ending at Pentecost with the great celebration of the coming of the Spirit and including Ascension Day (always a Thursday) when we celebrate Jesus' humanity taken up into the life of God. Jesus is Lord and God, and also Lord and Man! An evening Eucharist celebrates this amazing truth, and we have usually shared this celebration with Market Deeping Parish Church in recent years, taking it in turns to host the service.
I do urge you to come along and make these celebrations and commemorations lively and meaningful for you and for each other, that together we may enjoy what God has done for us and may show our thanks to him as we express this joy together.
Mark
The Ringers held their annual dinner on 24 January with friends and relatives and all said that they enjoyed the evening. New lighting has been purchased for the ringing chamber and emergency lighting has already been installed. This has been spoken about for some considerable time, but now has become a reality. The emergency lighting, with the power failures experienced recently, was essential for health and safety reasons.
Got an hour or so to spare on Friday evenings? Would like to ring church bells and are over 11 years old? Want to help preserve an ancient English tradition? Can already ring would like to ring again. Expert tuition and assistance are available. Then why not join our lively team of ringers on Fridays from 7.30 to 9.00pm.
The group, appointed by Bishop's Council to propose a method of allocating historic (glebe) income and apportioning the central costs of the Diocese, has had its first go at thinking through this subject. It identified some issues, which it will need to address and on which it seeks your comments:
members were reminded of evidence to the effect that churches grow when the whole people of God in that place take responsibility and where the church, they are, evolves to speak to the particular culture in which they live.
the proposed new Areas therefore need to be given responsibility for planning the mission and ministry that is right for their area. The Pastoral Committee of each deanery is putting forward proposals for what the areas should be to the May meeting of the Diocesan Pastoral Committee. What are your views on the appropriate size of area?
now some £3.5 million, was given before the churches evolved their current denominational structure. The money should therefore be seen as available for grants to support mission, rather than subsidy. Is this right?
if these were added to the historic income there would be £4 million available for support Should it be added?
because this is what the Church of England is, it is appropriate to use historic resources for diocesan wide tasks as well as for parochial ministry. Thus it is suggested that the income should be divided as follows:
Episcopal mission fund - 15% of historic income could be allocated to provide and resource Archdeacons and area leaders and to make available a number of 'strategic posts' for areas of mission need.
Common mission fund - 10% could be applied to resource chaplaincy in industry and further education., (see Bishop's page in the February Magazine)
Deanery mission fund - the remaining 75% would be available for allocation to areas using the following possible criteria:
- Geographical area
- Adult population
- Number of church buildings
- An index of comparative social and economic deprivation
What weighting should apply to each criterion and are there others? Is the overall split appropriate?
for each post an area would need to be charged all related costs. Thus the direct costs of parochial ministry (stipend or salary, pension and national insurance contributions, housing) but also indirect costs - a share of support costs, training and diocesan and national administration and, importantly, the cost of curates and their training to provide for the future. Should the 'indirect costs' be charged per post or on some other basis, if so what?
each area would need to seek from its parishes a promise of the share of the net area cost, which each parish will undertake to pay. Church House will be able to provide statistics and administrative support, but agreeing the basis of the contributions will be up to each area. What support would areas need in doing this? What provision should be made for parish who fnd they cannot meet their promised contribution?
The responses to the Bishop's consultation were opposed to the delegation of administration to areas and favoured administration from Church House supporting management in areas. Therefore it is not suggested that areas would need their own bank accounts. Church House would:
The chairman and members of the group would be happy to hear your comments as soon as possible, preferably before the end of March, on these or any other related points. The membership was self-selected in response to the request in the January Bulletin. The chairman, a member of the Board of Finance and former professor of civil engineering at Manchester University was appointed by the Bishops Council.
The group is supported in its work by the diocesan accountant Peter Gaskell and by me. The group is aware that as currently made up it is representative neither of women nor of the south of the diocese. (Initial estimates indicate that the south would receive a lower share of historic income than the north). With the help of Rural Deans and Lay Chairs I am seeking to fill these gaps.
Phil Hamlyn Williams
Diocesan Secretary
The Coffee Group was formed in 1972 to raise money to buy carpets for the Church, and since its formation the Group continues to raise funds for the Church and also gives help to local good causes.
The Group hold four events a year and monies raised are allocated at the AGM. If anybody would like to join a very friendly Group then you would be most welcome at the Church Hall at 10-15 on 13th March for the AGM.
For further information call Margaret on 347197 or Carole on 342251.
As a result of the plate collection made on the occasion of the 50th Anniversary of Leprosy Sunday we are able to send them £70.73. We wish to thank everyone for their generous support towards the work of the Leprosy Mission.
Bernard and Sybil
Well, I didn't realise that folks would bake a cake for my day! Dave
Sift flour and salt into a basin. Rub in butter. Add sugar and currants and mix to a consistency of pastry dough with beaten egg and milk.
Roll out on a floured board to approximately ¼ inch thick. Cut with a 2½ inch plain or fluted scone cutter.
Heat griddle or heavy frying pan and brush it lightly with oil. It is wise to test heat by cooking one cake on its own. If it is too hot cakes will burn before the inside is cooked. Cook cakes on both sides until just golden. Oil pan very lightly between batches.
Put on wire rack to cool. Store in a tin or plastic box. Traditionally eaten cold, but they are hard to resist straight from the pan. They are never buttered.
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