Dear friendsI went to a 21st birthday party last weekend. It was for my friends son, who I have known for his entire life, and I know the family really well. As often happens at these kinds of events, people either remember I'm a vicar, or discover this for the first time, and conversation then changes. It can range from a preconception: "wow, you're a vicar, what a great job, you can just do whatever you like" ... interesting perspective ... to deep and meaningful: "how did you become a vicar, what's it like being a Christian" and the classic "what's it like being a female vicar" (note - I don't know the answer to this one, I've only ever been a woman so don't have an alternative frame of reference).I was challenged with one question from someone who seemed genuinely curious about why people come to church. I said that I think lots of the time people come seeking answers to questions about life, death, meaning and purpose, to which they responded "oh, so you think you've got all the answers then". What I wanted to say was "no, but I know a man who has", but that was a bit beyond where we were in the moment! I wonder how you feel about talking about your faith? People sometimes say that they are reluctant because they don't want to be asked difficult questions, they don't want to "let God down, by not saying the right thing", or because it feels intensely private. Others will say they love talking about Jesus, and find it really easy.For me, it depends on the circumstances. I love talking about our amazing God, all that I see in the world and all that I've experienced in my life, but I also feel really exposed when it's a family party and I'm there as a family friend, not as the vicar! It also becomes more difficult when faced with suffering or really hard circumstances, and people are seeking to know where God is in all they are facing.I don't know that anyone has accepted Jesus into their lives by a persuasive, theologically rich, clever statement, or even a trite Christian phrase. I think people are usually drawn to faith by being in the presence of those who know God in the everyday and ordinary aspects of life, who can tell the story of God's love for them, who can speak into when it's hard to have a faith, or hard to pray, as well as times when it is joyful. As we've explored over recent weeks, God is constantly at work in the world, and in our lives, reaching out a hand of invitation, sowing ridiculously generous and abundant seeds and in both of these, all we have to say is "yes" This Sunday we'll continue our exploration as we consider what happens when the seed grows! We meet at 8.30am for our traditional Holy Communion service, and at 10.30am for our less formal "All together Communion" service, with some great hymns as ever - you are invited.Beth is on annual leave for the next 2 weeks, so we'll have a short break from a weekly message and "Going Deeper", but in the email today you'll see all that lies ahead over the Summer, with our Summer series. This includes how each theme in the series will launch on the Sunday morning, together with the mid-week activities that will enable us to engage more fully. Again, you are invited, do please come along. In the meantime do please join me in praying for Beth and family as they take a well deserved holiday.With every blessingBecky
Dear friendsI hope this finds you well, in whatever you have been doing this week.In the "life of a vicar" it's been a full one - school assemblies, a funeral, a wedding, lots of emails and planning, a number of one to one conversations, and of course, prayer.Part of the role of being the vicar is to pray every day for the parish, in what we call the "Daily Office". Being so up to date with technology (!) I use an app on my phone which very helpfully gives the liturgy and readings for the day.Invariably those readings have something to say that ring true throughout the day, and this week was no exception. Over the course of reading St Paul for a couple of days I read the phrase "being the aroma of Christ", and "we are a letter of Christ, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the Living God". Both of these speak of our being, our presence, how we live our lives, that are not about our actions or our words, but are all about what we say, when we say nothing at all.I wonder if others would sense the aroma of Christ around you? I wonder if your life would be read as a "letter of Christ"? Because whilst I started this with news of the "life of a vicar" the reality is that St Paul is calling each of us as followers of Jesus Christ, as people of faith, to live differently, act differently, even just be different, because we follow Jesus, because we're disciples.So my invitation for you is to be intentional about what you say when you say nothing at all, and how that reflects, or reveals, or resonates, with your faith, your belief, your invitation to be a letter of Christ, written not in ink, but with the Spirit of the Living God. Last week we spoke on Sunday morning about being invited to say yes to Jesus, and this week we're going to go a bit deeper on what it is we're saying yes to - how do we know, how do we receive, and how do we reflect this to others.We're meeting to worship at 8.30am for our traditional Holy Communion service, and then at 10.30am for our Sung Eucharist, with our children's group "Sunday Spirit". It would be lovely to see you, you are invited.God blessBecky
Dear friendsI wonder how easy you find it to stop and be still? To take in the moment, to be fully present, and be intentional in "noticing"?Typically in my life I have found this hard, particularly in my early career which involved lots of travel, meetings, devising and running training programmes, recruiting countless people for jobs ... even as I write this, I notice the tension in my shoulders as I remember the rush and pressure.I think I was often searching for the "next thing", and of course this continued when we had a young family, and I empathise so much with those juggling school runs, work, after school clubs, fundraisers, last minute costume requirements for dressing up days at school and the rest!I also know that "busy-ness" can become a force in its own right, and the energy that comes with this is not always healthy.I think we have to be intentional about stopping and noticing what is happening in the present, for this is where we will notice what God is already doing, without us striving and searching.This has been a week of wonderful experiences, with the ordination services at the weekend at the cathedral, where it was so good to be amongst so many people in an atmosphere of celebration, holiness, intimacy and corporate belonging. We are so delighted that Phil is with us, and you will get to know him well over the coming days, weeks and months. Do please introduce yourself to him and Abby, they are part of our church family. Phil will be helping at the Summer Fair on Saturday, and I hope you'll be able to come along to join in the festivities.I also notice an air of expectation within our church. We had a great PCC meeting where we are trying to discern our values as a church, and it was so good to stop and reflect together on what we feel St Martin's is really about as a church community. We have an exciting sermon series coming up about the building blocks of faith, with activities each week to do together as well as at home. It will be good to participate in this, to notice where others are on their journeys, to get to know each other at a deeper level - more information to come, and you are invited to be part of all of it.In the meantime, I wonder where you will be able to stop and notice what is going on around and within you? In our worship on Sunday we will hear the words of Jesus when he said "Come to me all who are burdened or heavy laden, and I will give you rest" - what will it be like for you to rest in God's presence, even if just for a moment? Perhaps even now, as you read this, you can take a pause to just be still, take some deep breaths, and be aware of the Holy Spirit with you.So we gather at 8.30am for our traditional Holy Communion service, where Phil will be preaching, and then at 10.30am where Phil and I will lead café church .. and the amazing breakfast team will be preparing bacon rolls, veggie sausages, and pastries. You are invited.God blessBecky
Dear friendsI reflected a lot last Sunday about saying "no" and saying "yes". We heard Jeremiah's lament of "it's not fair" in our Old Testament reading, and it was wonderful to explore with both congregations at 8.30 and 10.30 those areas of our lives and in our world that make us want to repeat this lament. This led to much reflection on how we might respond to those areas, in the things we ignore and collude with, or the times we might speak up and speak out - when do we say "no, I will not be part of this" or "yes, I want to live differently". The intercessions at both services gave us space to seek God's revelation of what this might look like in our lives in the days to follow.After the morning services, it was a great privilege to baptise two adults who had reached a moment where they also wanted to say "no" (and in the words of the baptism service this refers to turning away from evil and rejecting sin) and "yes" (again in the baptism, turning to Christ). We catch glimpses of those moments, don't we, where God reminds us of the invitation to <u>respond</u> to his love, once we have received it.This weekend we will be joining in the celebrations of two individuals who are saying "yes" to the call of God on the rest of their lives: with Rosemary as she is priested on Saturday, and as she continues in her curacy, and with Phil as he says "yes" for the first time in his ordination as a Deacon and joins us for the next 3 years or so to serve his curacy. <br>I know that God isn't calling everyone to be ordained, but He does call each of us into a relationship of love, and the inevitable consequence of this, once we truly and deeply know this love, is a desire to respond, to become part of the priesthood of all believers. This requires a dying to self, and a rising to new life with Jesus - again part of our baptism, but equally an ongoing part of our faith journeys.How might you respond to this? Where is your "no" and where is your "yes"? It could be something really simple, a behaviour or habit that you know is no longer a necessary part of who God is seeing when his gaze falls upon you: the "no". Equally it could be a nudge or sense that there is a deeper way of connecting with God, or with others: that conversation you're putting off, the apology you need to make, the prick of your moral compass that there is a different way to approach a decision ...: the "yes".We will only have a brief time to gather together this Sunday at St Martin's, at the 8.30am service, as we will hopefully be together at the Cathedral at 10.30am to welcome Phil. However, I would be really pleased to reflect together more on the "no" and "yes" moments that you are facing. Over the Summer we will go a bit deeper on what it is to be church, with a number of additional ways to gather, reflect and pray together in addition to Sunday mornings. I hope these will be a fruitful opportunity to consider these things more deeply then.In the meantime, you're invited to come along on Sunday - 8.30am service only this week, or at 10.30am to Bristol Cathedral.With every blessing, as everBecky
