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Dear Friends
Why is it that most of us find a asking for things so uncomfortable? Perhaps because we are afraid of being refused and being turned down is a great affront to our sense of self esteem, to our pride. Asking on the other hand demands humility, the recognition that we are not in control of the situation and that the wishes of others must be taken into account as well as our own.
'Petition', the prayer of asking, is said to be the most difficult prayer to offer. It is the one most prone to wrong use - the narrow pursuit of our own well being can get in the way of love, the way of concern for our fellow men and creation as a whole. Yet the Christian life is about happiness (more properly 'blessedness'); Jesus Himself told us to 'ask and it will be given' (Luke 11:v9) and to bring all our needs daily before the Father in the prayer He Himself taught us.
In our prayers at 'Rogationtide', days centered on prayers of asking, for blessing on our human work and production, we are not resorting to magic, to trying to influence God to produce spectacular results. Rather our prayers are prayers of faith, accepting our own creaturliness, respecting life as God has made it, and expressing our own readiness to take part in what God is doing, that the outcome may be for the good, not only of ourselves but for all creation.
oremus bible browser to prepare your readingThis year we celebrate the important Christian festival of Ascension on Thursday 20th May, with a Sung Eucharist at 7.30pm as well as the usual Thursday morning said service at 9.30am. The Ascension is the ultimate celebration of God's salvation of humankind, for as we see Jesus return to his throne in heaven what we are seeing is the corollary of God made man: we are seeing a man exalted as God! Hence, as St Paul assures us, he is the first-born of the new creation, the beginning of the royal priesthood to which we all, as members of his Body, belong.
It seems right that for such a wonderful cause for celebration each Christian community should gather for worship, and so in consultation with the Rector of Market Deeping it has been decided that we shall have our services in each parish church this year and, hopefully, in the future.
Let us meet and celebrate Jesus' presence among us in word and sacrament!
Our heartfelt thanks for all your loving support, through prayer and offers
of help, during Dave's recent stay in hospital.
Love, Bet
Our preparations for Easter were quite detailed this year and we spent the Sundays of Lent looking at the last week of Jesus' life. We noted how dull the Church seemed without flowers and brightly coloured robes and hangings. Even the music was sad.
On Mothering Sunday the children presented their Mothers with a card and gift which they had carefully and lovingly made. In Church our Rose Queen and her attendants distributed Simnel cake to members of the congregation to give to their Mothers, as is the custom at the Priory Church.
Easter Sunday was a lovely occasion. We watched the lighting of the Pascal Candle in the Church Porch and then made 'Resurrection Buns' out of sweet pastry wrapped round a marshmallow. After cooking, only the pastry was left, in much the same way that only the empty tomb remained on that first Easter morning. After an Easter egg hunt the Children returned to Church for the last part of the service. They were really excited to see the beautiful flowers and the Easter egg decorations which had been prepared at the Good Friday Activities, and to hear the joyful music from the organ and choir.
Explorers (7 - 11), Climbers (5 - 7) and Scramblers (under 5) meet every Sunday morning at 9.50am in the Church Hall. They join older worshippers in Church for their blessing, final hymn and refreshments. New members are always welcome. Please contact Andrea (Climbers and Scramblers) on 344926 or Alison (Explorers) on 345890 for more details.
Explorers (7 - 10, Climbers (5 - 7) and Scramblers (under 5) meet every Sunday morning at 9.50am in the Church Hall. They join older worshippers in Church for their blessing, final hymn and refreshments. New members are always welcome. Please contact Andrea (Climbers and Scramblers) on 344926 or Alison (Explorers) on 345890 for more details.
On the 30th March the ringers had the pleasure to pay tribute to Bernard Babb, the Churchwarden, for his 80th birthday when a quarter peal of Plain Bob Doubles was rung. We sincerely hope that Bernard had an enjoyable celebration.
One of the ringers attended the Good Friday's "The Way of the Cross for Children" and the activities following in the church hall. It was well attended and appeared to be enjoyed by all the children and their mothers. She was most impressed with how well it was run.(See following article by two of the children who attended)
Currently we are still able to take on board one more novice ringer. INTERESTED? Then ring Richard on 01778 343498
More than sixty children remembered the last hours of the life of Jesus by participating in a special service in Church. This was followed by a celebration of the new life of Easter via a series of craft activities in the Church Hall and seasonal refreshments. The children also worked hard to produce the colourful eggs which are part of the Easter decorations in Church.
Two of the children who attended have written an account of the morning for us:
Father Mark started the service with a hymn. Then we listened to some words
about Good Friday and said some prayers.
After a while it was time to walk around the church and stop at stations of
the cross. Volunteers carried the large wooden cross, and each time we
stopped, a chosen person said something that a character in the story would
have said. I was Simon of Cyrene. I read my piece at the font and the cross
moved on.
After this we were called into groups. We walked over to the Church Hall to
do the activities. Each time we made something we put it in our box. After a
long time my box was so full it was nearly spilling out. I had done all of
the activities.
Afterwards we enjoyed watching a Passion Play performed by the older
children in the Vicarage Garden.
The whole morning was really fun. Thank you to all of the people that
organized it and helped in the activities.
Jacob Boswall (Age 8)
We went into church. We sang songs and Alison and Father Mark talked about
Good Friday. We carried the cross around the church, swapping people as we
went.
We went to the Church Hall. We did lots of things in the Hall. I liked
making the mobiles, flower decorations, icing the biscuits and cakes and
making cards and animals.
Emily Boswall (Age 5)
Many thanks to all those members of The Priory Church who helped prepare for a stall and/or man one on the day, provide and serve refreshments, and contribute greenery, braid etc for the activities.
Dear Friends
You may be aware that an interdenominational "Church survey" has been launched in the press and media to identify why church-going is declining in Britain and Ireland. The response to this survey has been phenomenal with literally hundreds of letters pouring in every week from people anxious to have their say.( In fact so many are keen to express their views that there were over a thousand replies alone to just one mention of it in the Daily Mail, January 29th 2004). Our original budget has now been increased to £10,000 in order to cope with the work load generated. The survey has been deliberately timed to try and counteract some of the bad publicity' the Church' has been experiencing over the past few years. It is hoped that the results of the survey will form a working document, the purpose being to enable ministers and congregations of all denominations to better respond to the spiritual needs of those around them. The "church" is very much in the news at the moment so a survey of this nature, coming at this present time has sparked an interest in church matters which is rarely seen, and upon which we can build.
With church attendance across the mainstream denominations at an time low and getting worse by the year, this project is of VITAL IMPORTANCE. We all get asked to do many things and there is a constant call upon our time, however, we would earnestly ask you to spend a few moments circulating the following item amongst those you feel may be interested; eg committees, house groups, youth groups etc. It would be useful to have the survey published in any religious/secular magazine you might be responsible for, so as to reach as many people as possible.
The purpose of the survey is to identify why church-going is on the decline throughout the British Isles. Attendance has been in steady decline in mainstream denominations since the 1960's making Britain and Ireland strangely differentfrom most of the rest of the world where church attendance has continued to grow.
It may be a surprise, but no satisfactory answer has been found to explain this religious trend in Britain and Ireland. For example, the idea that church attendance declines when scientific knowledge increases has been made invalid by American statistics. The US is the most advanced scientific nation on earth, and yet in some States, almost 50% of the population attend church regularly.(science and religious belief are seen as compatible, hence the high numbers of scientists involved with NASA who are also church-goers).
The suggestion that the decline is the inevitable result of growing wealth, has also been disproven by these statistics because America is the richest country in the world. Then again, the idea that increasing awareness about "world suffering" was putting people off "the church", failed to explain why church-going is often strongest in those parts of the world where major suffering is a daily fact of life.
Until recently, "church" was an integral part of "British and Irish culture". Now it's just hanging on. Why?
The survey invites people to both give their answers to the following questions and to circulate these questions amongst others who might be interested. Clergy and pastors are being encouraged to place it in parish magazines. The questions have been deliberately kept to a minimum and worded loosely so as to leave people open to fully express their thoughts.
1) If you attend church regularly, what are the main things which encourage you to attend? If your attendance is merely out of a "sense of duty", what could be changed so as to make it more appealing? 2) If you were a church-goer, but now attend infrequently or not at all, what were the main things which led to this decline? What could be changed in order for you to attend regularly again? 3) If you have never been a church-goer what things would encourage you to begin? 4) The traditional custom of "clergy visiting" has steadily declined in spite of the maxim, "a house-going minister makes a church-going people". Although a combination of factors will have led to dwindling congregations, do you think the demise of this customary role is significant?
The survey has been timed to counterbalance the terrible publicity churches are receiving at the moment and when the results are published in the late autumn they will take the form of a working document assisting churches to provide a better response to the needs of both church-goers and non-church-goers alike.
Those replying are asked to send their views to the above address, marking their envelope "Church Survey UK".Or alternatively email us christian.survey@virgin.net, Thank you for your valued time.
The deadline for replies is 31st August 2004.
Yours sincerely,
Rev. Jonathan Willans
(Chairman of Church Survey UK)
Following the successes of "First Easter" and "First Christmas" last year, A.C.T.S., the Church's Drama Group, will be presenting another evening of drama and music on May 7th. and 8th.
"Easter Two" has two plays looking at different aspects of events surrounding the Crucifixion interspersed with music for the Easter period. Again, it should be a thought-provoking and enjoyable evening.
Tickets @ £4 each can be reserved in advance by telephoning Linda Moment on 01778 344179 or purchased at the door.
Adrian Browne
This sounds acceptable to vegetarians
Lightly grease a shallow baking dish. Cut the potatoes into thin slices. Preheat oven to 220°C/425°F/Gas 7.
Put the potatoes in a pan with the milk. Season and sprinkle over the grated nutmeg. Bring to boil. Simmer gently for 10-15 minutes, or until tender.
Rub the cut sides of the garlic hard against the inside of the baking dish. Transfer the potato slices into the dish and pour ¼ pint of the previously used milk over the top.
Sprinkle grated cheese over the top of the potatoes. Dot the surface with butter. Bake for 20 minutes, or until the cheese melts and the crust is crisp and golden brown.
For added flavour mix diced ham and/or lightly fried onions into the potato when you transfer it to the baking dish.
Over the last few year Margaret Flegg has contributed a lot of recipes to this magazine, all of them very attractive. Whether you have carefully filed them or not, it is possible to find Margaret's recipes using the archived Internet edition of Priory News and searching for a recipe name or an ingredient. If you look at the left-hand side of this page you will see the Priory News Archive with a simple search engine: type in what you're looking for and click "Go". You will be presented with a list of the issues that mention that word, with the context in which it is mentioned.
This is only an extract from some of our magazine. Residents of Deeping St James can subscribe to the printed version.
Copyright © 2004 Deeping St James PCC