Dear friends, As we continue through both spring and Eastertide, we continue to think about new life, rebirth and resurrection. I wonder how you feel about these words? Perhaps they fill you with hope and expectation. Alternatively, they might sound daunting, intimidating or exhausting. For many of us we feel both a pull towards the idea of a new, better way of being but an equal draw towards the stability and safety of routine and things that are known. I wonder if any of you relate to the feeling that somewhere inside each of us there is an identity, a being that we might call our soul or spirit, that is somehow who we truly are? In the times when we feel most alive, or most connected to other people, the things around us speak more clearly to that part of us. Or perhaps something, such as a song or a beautiful landscape calls to us so strongly we allow that part of us to rise closer to the surface. We glimpse the potential of our true self, feel the strength and joy that we carry within us. Yet, much of the me we feel we must limit ourselves both for protection and to fit in better. We must be “professional” and “appropriate”. We try to fit in, to look and sound like those around us. And so, over me that part of us can become pushed down and confined. We can keep it, locked safely in the dark of our hearts and minds, safe from harm and derision, presenting to the world a version of ourselves that is acceptable and palatable. I wonder how much Jesus would have felt these things? How much he felt able to “be himself and relax”. I love the gospels of Mark and John because of the way they focus on the revealing of Jesus’ identity. The 12 disciples and the others that follow, slowly discover more of who Jesus is, as a human and a friend but also as a teacher and a guide. Ultimately, they discover his divinity. I wonder how hard it was for Jesus to keep those parts of himself hidden. Or perhaps, like we may feel, he was quite content keeping the core of who he was secret and the difficulty came as he saw the need to be vulnerable and reveal parts of himself that un l now were unseen. Either way, this Easter season presents us with the imagery of Jesus’ resurrection to a human body that was the same and yet changed – transformed. This week at St Martin’s we will read three wonderful passages of scripture and ask ourselves what they mean for us today. We will think about these ideas of transformation as we imagine with St John the new heavens and new earth that are to come. We will contemplate how we might be in a similar situation to St Peter who was convinced that they should find belonging alongside people who were different to themselves. And finally, as we read the gospel we will ask how this transformation of our being, this drawing to the surface of all that we truly are created to be, might enable us to follow Jesus’ commandment to love one another. Hope to see you soon, either at a service on Sunday or during the week at Café Reconnect or Morning Prayer. Blessings, Rev’d Phil
Dear friends, We have now entered the season of Passion tide and Easter is just around the corner. Between now and Easter Sunday, we have so many wonderful opportunities to engage with the story behind it all, from Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem through to the events of Good Friday and the cross. It is one of the most important times of the year for us as a church and when we participate in the journey, it can be extremely helpful to us on our walk of faith and for reflection on our daily lives and current world situation. It is a journey into darkness and back out again. It is one which carries themes of friendship, loyalty, justice, mob mentality and so much more. In the story of Holy Week we discover the roots of our practice of Holy Communion, something that is now at the heart of the way we worship together as a church community. Since many of you will not be familiar with the additional services we hold in Holy Week I thought I would use this space to give an overview and description of them. Have a think about what you and your family might like to come to as we each ask ourselves where we will find the good news this Easter. Maundy Thursday (Not at St Martin’s) The clergy and licenced lay ministers of the diocese join together at Bristol Cathedral at this me of year. The Bishop blesses oils which are distributed to the local churches and are used throughout the year. This is a symbol of unity and a reminder of our call and vocation. At St Martin’s our Maundy Thursday service centres around the Last Supper – that final meal which Jesus shared with his friends and followers. Here we receive our tradition of Holy Communion, eating and drinking to remember Christ. This is also a famous moment because Jesus showed us what true leadership is all about, serving your community, by washing the feet of his disciples. At St Martin’s one of the most powerful moments is the stripping of the altar, leaving it bare and empty. We then hold vigil in a representation of the Garden of Gethsemane in the Lady Chapel, remembering how Jesus’ disciples attempted to be there for Jesus in that painful time of prayer. Good Friday As with many things at St Martin’s, our Good Friday services offer two very different opportunities to reflect on the last moments of Jesus’ life. In the morning we move around the church, using all our senses to think about what went on and what it might say to us today. It is perfect for the whole family as it is interactive and engaging throughout. For some, our traditional service at 2pm is the service not to be missed. We consume the last of the reserve sacrament (the bread set aside in the Lady Chapel) as we engage in the desolation felt at the death of Christ. Service of the Light (Easter Saturday) Following the darkness of the previous two days, both literally and metaphorically, we finally arrive at the Good News of the Easter story! Our service begins outside in the glow of a fire. Our Pascal candle (large candle by the font) is lit and light returns to our church. As we celebrate the joy of the resurrection and the new light that enters our lives we remember the commitments we make to Christ in baptism and in prayer to follow him and take this light with us through life. It is another service filled with rich symbolism and ancient words, something worth experiencing at least once. Easter Sunday On Easter morning we continue the celebrations begun the night before with two Holy Communions, one at 8:30 the other at 10:30. There are so many elements to the Good News of Jesus’ resurrection from the dead and in this event we find hope, joy and courage but also perhaps a feeling of uncertainty and questioning. We join with the disciples who wonder if it could be true, perhaps joining with Thomas in his doubt or with Mary Magdelene in her grief. As we unpack the story of the resurrection we see that even though life and death are not simple, tidy things, God worked in amongst them and still can today. Expect a beautiful Easter garden, a little bit of incense and lots of Easter eggs to find around the church after the service. Whatever your past experience of Holy Week and Easter, whatever your faith journey looks like, no matter what doubts you carry into this space, know that you are welcome to come and explore. To explore the story and its message, to ask questions and raise eyebrows, but also to celebrate and find hope as we journey with Jesus into the dark and back out again. Blessings, Rev’d Phil
Dear friends, As we continue through the year we continue to read surprising and often worrying news stories from around our country and the world. Some of us have also been reading reflections as part of our Stations of the Cross Lent practice and so often they speak to our current situation and offer us fresh perspective, more on that shortly. This week has been a good one with flowers featuring in church twice – first as part of our Mothering Sunday services and then again on Wednesday when the Sunshine Preschool came to visit. They brought with them a lovely Easter garden as a gift for St Martin’s. This can be seen on the right hand side at the front of church over the next few days. Hopefully the flowers which were lovingly added by the children, will survive for those of you who can’t make it until Sunday. The children sang songs, listened to the Easter story (complete with early palm crosses) and enjoyed seeing some of the smaller details of the lady chapel with me. We thought about all the signs of new life we see around us in Spring and I told them about how the church celebrates new life every Easter. Whether it is through something like Stations of the Cross, a daily Bible reading or me of prayer, our spirituality and faith based practices, should encourage us to have a new perspective on things. Sometimes what we read may inspire us to action or to speak differently about someone. We may find that a passage of the Bible has wisdom to offer us. Or it could be that we take comfort in a sense or a feeling of continuity or God’s sovereignty. Certainly for me, as I looked at the image of Jesus speaking to the women of Jerusalem, I was struck by how these events that unfold on the global stage can feel overwhelming and unprecedented and yet, we see evidence in history of how crisis happens but then things normalise. Often there is a birthing that happens on the other side of the pain. The recent news of a police raid on a Quaker meeting house will have shocked and appalled many of us. Regardless of our view on how the police should deal with significant disruption to our capital city by peaceful protest, the feeling of violation of a sacred place of worship catches our attention. In reality the acts relating to policing of peaceful protest passed in 2022 & 2023 have led to many similar incidents with people even being jailed for talking about a planned action. These are the types of real-life situations that our faith in Jesus should help us to navigate. The cliché Christian mantra What would Jesus do? comes to my mind. How would Jesus respond to this? Perhaps with silence as he did at his own unjust trial? Or perhaps with anger as he did in the temple courts? I would be interested to hear how you feel your spiritual practices equip you to make decisions and to hear how your faith has an impact on your everyday life. This Sunday Rev’d Simon will take both our services of Holy Communion, at 8:30 & 10:30. The la er will include hymns and Sunday Spirit. Hope to see you soon, Rev’d Phil
Dear friends, I hope you are well and enjoying engaging with this Lenten season. We are just over halfway and the anticipation of Easter is growing. There are always lots of ways to engage with the message of Easter at St Martin’s and this year each of our licenced ministers will be taking a service along with myself and Rev’d Simon. As you might imagine the flavour of each will be slightly different as we follow the journey Jesus made to new life via the cross and the tomb. Details of all our services in Holy week can be found in the long, Lent & Easter booklets as well as on our emails. I will also include a brief description along with a few reflections in my next Friday message. With all this rich symbolism and ritual to engage with I hope that many of you can find me during Holy Week and on Easter weekend to join us at church. Several people come to each of these services as they all offer something different, a different part of the story and journey. Those that have engaged with it in this way find that there is a richness and depth to their experience of Easter. Perhaps consider putting some dates in your diary now for you and your family to come along to something you have not seen before? This Sunday we celebrate Mothering Sunday, a day which marks a variety of things for a variety of people. For many the celebration of mothers and caregivers will be central as we acknowledge the hard work, sacrifice and dedication of people who care for others all year round. There is also room for us to contemplate our heavenly parent, God, asking ourselves how God is a mother to us all. Finally, the traditional roots of the day are in the middle ages as people visited the church where they had been baptised, acknowledging its part in their life and faith. For many it is a day of celebration and joy but we also acknowledge that, as with many celebrations, it has difficulties for some in our community. Whether it is because they have been unable to become a mother, did not have a good relationship with their mother or child or because they have lost a family member recently, there are many reasons it might not feel like a celebration for some. Therefore, as we gather on Sunday to reflect on all of these things, as we give flowers and celebrate let’s also pray for those who might be struggling. If you would like to talk with someone, do find myself or one of our ministry team after the service and we would be happy to chat, pray and light a candle with you. As it is a fifth Sunday (a rare occasion), our 8:30 service will be a service of morning prayer led by our licenced lay ministers. At 10:30 we will have a service of Holy Communion which I will take at the Nave altar with hymns and an activity for children and young people. Every blessing, Phil
