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
Dear friendsTwice a year I sit on a national selection panel as part of the discernment process for those feeling called to ordination. I was on one of these panels this week, and having met some wonderful candidates, of all ages, I feel confident that the future of the Church of England is in safe hands!!I heard stories of people involved in their local churches, some doing simple and loving acts of service to the community or in their places of work, some creating spaces for conversation for those with faith as well as those with none, some preaching for the first time and feeling terrified, yet certain it was the right thing to do; all of whom had deep loving relationships with God in Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit.It can be easy to hear these stories and think "well yes, this is because they are called to be vicars", but of course the reality is that every person who chooses to say "yes" to the invitation to follow Jesus (and I would hope that means every person who comes to church) has a vocation, even if it doesn't have a capital "V" and involve wearing some kind of robe!I wonder when the last time you thought about your vocation was? This doesn't mean the things you do for the church, although that is wonderful. I suggest it means the response to live your life as a result of accepting God's love fully into your life, every day, every moment, in every encounter. It means seeing the world as God sees it - fairly easy perhaps: taking seriously a love of creation, sharing in the care of the planet... It also means seeing others as God sees them - perhaps more difficult? Seeing everyone as made in the image of Jesus; not thinking less of ourselves, but thinking about ourselves less as we consider those around us and make decisions about how we live; being prepared to compromise, to make room for others point of view, to bend towards the needs of other ... This is much more tricky isn't it! And then of course, the final part of the puzzle of discerning our vocation, seeing ourselves as God sees us: beloved, chosen, precious, salt and light for the world, loved as we are but loved too much to be left where we are!I wonder if this week you can find space to be still and offer those three elements to God in a time of prayer - "God help me to see the world as you see it, God help me to see others as you see them, God help me to see myself as you see me". I hope if you are able to do that (and I would put aside at least 15 minutes of quiet time, perhaps with a lit candle, to do this), that it will be such a special time for you, and that God might even reveal something to you in this. I would love to hear about it.This weekend there is lots going on! Hopefully the balloon launch will happen at Redcatch Park - I'll be there on Saturday evening. Then some of you are going to Lincoln to share in Susanna's ordination service, otherwise we will gather as always at 8.30am for our traditional service of Holy Communion, and then at 10.30am for our all age "All Together" communion service. You're invited, it would be great to see you.And just another reminder, that next week (2 July) there will be just one service at 8.30am as we will be at the Cathedral at 10.30am for the ordination of our new curate Phil.With every blessing, as everBecky
