“A very warm welcome to you all” has, I’m sure everyone would agree, taken on quite a different meaning over most of July and August as we, and countless others across the country and the world, have “basked” in unprecedented temperatures. More recently it has been a real pleasure to welcome people “on this lovely cool and wet morning/evening”! Later this month we will be celebrating our annual Harvest Festival, and we will be thinking about and praying for our farming community and everything they’ve had to go through over these last few months. We will give thanks for their resilience and determination, and will be praying for all those who, across our world, are being affected by climate change in its many and different manifestations. We are also thinking in this Parish, and across the whole Church of England, about the ways in which we can play our part in reducing the effects of climate change. To this end, and as part of Eco-Church, some members of the congregation attended a workshop in August about sustainability and Church flowers – a small thing perhaps but, in the words of a well known supermarket “every little helps”. God’s world is in our hands – we are the stewards of God’s creation, and this stewardship involves responsibilities and decision making which we are all only just beginning to grapple with seriously. “Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow...........look at the birds of the air, who neither reap nor sow and yet are fed..........” asked Jesus of the crowds who came to listen to him on the mountainside beside the Sea of Galilee, and he asks the same of us today, 20 centuries later, as we consider our place and role and responsibilities within the natural world. And so as we gather across the country to give thanks this month, and next, for the work of the farming community we need also to reflect on our part in God’s creation, and to exercise wise and careful stewardship in all our dealings with the natural world – for our good but especially for the good of all those who will follow us. May God’s blessing be upon each and every one of us in this coming month. The Revd Alec Brown.
Dear friends,"Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest a while." (Mark 6:31) August has long been associated with holidays, lighter evenings, and a slightly slower pace of life. While not everyone is able to take time away, there is wisdom in recognising our God-given need for rest. In a world that often measures our worth by how busy we are, Jesus offers a different invitation: to pause, to breathe, and to be renewed in God's presence. Throughout the Gospels, we see Jesus withdrawing from the crowds to quiet places to pray. He knew that rest was not a luxury but a necessity. It was in those moments of stillness that he remained rooted in his Father's love and purpose. We, too, are invited to make space for God amid the demands of everyday life. Rest is more than simply stopping work. It is about allowing our minds, bodies, and spirits to be refreshed. Sometimes that may mean spending time with family or friends, reading a good book, sitting quietly with a cup of tea, or simply enjoying a few moments of peace without feeling guilty for doing "nothing." August also offers us the wonderful gift of God's creation. Whether we are walking through the countryside, tending a garden, sitting in a local park, or simply watching the changing skies from our window, nature has a remarkable way of drawing us closer to its Creator. The psalmist reminds us, "The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands." (Psalm 19:1) There is joy to be found in paying attention to the small things: the song of a blackbird in the early morning, the scent of lavender in bloom, the laughter of children, the beauty of a sunset, or the quiet hum of bees among the flowers. These simple gifts remind us that God's grace surrounds us every day, often in ways we can easily overlook. We can find heaven in the ordinary. Perhaps this month we might challenge ourselves to slow down just enough to notice those moments of joy. They may not solve every problem or remove every worry, but they can gently remind us that we are deeply loved by the One who created this beautiful world and called it good. As summer unfolds, may we receive God's invitation to rest—not as an escape from life, but as a way of living it more fully. May we discover fresh hope in quiet moments, renewed strength for the days ahead, and grateful hearts that delight in the beauty of God's creation. May the peace of Christ be with you all this August, and may you find rest for your soul, joy in the ordinary, and renewed wonder in the world around you. With every blessing, Christina
Continuing with the theme of journeying and pilgrimages, last month we had a very important visitor to the Diocese – the Archbishop of York Stephen Cottrell – who was here to talk about Pilgrim Places in the North. Along with many others I went to an afternoon meeting with him at St Andrew’s Church in Tarvin, and others went to see him at the Cathedral in the evening. The Archbishop was very engaging and spoke about our life journeys, from birth to death and beyond, and about how these were enhanced by and through our faith. He also spoke about how we, as Christians and as members of Churches, could welcome, encourage and inspire others on their journeys (about which Christina wrote last month) and this is something we will all be thinking and praying about. As I’ve often said before, we all come from different backgrounds and with different faith journeys but, as the old saying goes, we are all in it together, and we all have different things to offer one another along the way. And, who but God alone knows just what effect our actions and words and prayers will have, and will have had, on those around us. Two recent stories of different encounters have really struck home: the first followed our last discussion group on pilgrimage where I showed the group the flattened pewter ampulla in the shape of a scallop shell which was found by a metal detectorist some years ago in the fields below the Church and dated to the 14th/15th centuries. It is the emblem of the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela in Spain (which I have started but not finished.....) but how it ended up in the field is of course a mystery – was it dropped deliberately or accidentally? On hearing this story one of the group, who had just finished the pilgrimage, spoke to me and offered to donate their scallop shell to the Church – and it can now be seen in the window of the Warburton Chapel, with an explanatory note underneath – such generosity and faith! The seconds concerns a homeless young man who was camping in the Churchyard, and who was obviously very tired and thirsty – he was about to set off and we had a brief conversation and I offered him a cup of coffee from the Pub, which he accepted very gratefully, saying to me: “Thanks Vicar, you’re a real diamond!” I’m not quite sure what he meant, but before I could say anything he was off and back on the road, and I later saw him walking along the main road with a very heavy looking pack – there but for the grace of God.......... May our journeys, wherever they take us and whoever they bring us into contact with, be always hope filled and hopeful, and may they always be made in faith and love with those around us and those we encounter along the way. May God bless each one of us in this coming month. The Revd Alec Brown.
The month before last I wrote about, amongst other things, my love of walking and the journeying, physical and spiritual, that we all undertake during the course of our lives. We began Holy Week of course with a short journey/procession on Palm Sunday, and later that week recalled the journey of Jesus to Golgotha and the cross. And following Jesus’ resurrection, which we celebrated in large numbers in Church on Easter Day, there are some wonderful accounts of journeys in the Bible, foremost amongst them that of the disciples on the road to Emmaus, where they encounter the risen Lord but don’t recognize him straight away. One journey that really struck me however during this period, and about which I preached on Palm Sunday, was the pilgrimage to Canterbury of the newly appointed and soon to be installed 106th Archbishop of Canterbury, Dame Sarah Mullally. Writing about that 87 mile journey from St Paul’s Cathedral in London to Canterbury Dame Sarah mentioned making the journey “with others and in the footsteps of the past.” Clearly referring to one of her predecessors, Thomas Beckett, she also mentioned those people who, across the world and across time, walk and have walked the pilgrim paths of faith each and every day. The installation service in Canterbury Cathedral was very striking, moving and deeply inspirational, not least at the very beginning when Dame Sarah knocked on the outer door with her staff requesting entry. On being challenged by a small group of schoolchildren as to who she was and why she was requesting entry, she replied “I am Sarah, a servant of Jesus Christ and I come as one seeking the grace of God, to travel with you in his service together.” It’s unlikely, though not impossible, that Archbishop Sarah will ever find her way to Great Budworth or Antrobus, but the shared sense of purpose and journeying that she has conveyed in only a short time is, for me, quite wonderful and truly inspirational, and I look forward with great hope and expectation to her ministry among us. Dame Sarah’s Archiepiscopal colleague the Archbishop of York will, however, be visiting our Diocese in June, promoting Pilgrim Places in the North, a venture taking place over the next year or so and celebrating the 1400th anniversary of the baptism of the pagan King of Northumbria, Edwin, by the first Bishop of York, St Paulinus, in 627 AD. As a Parish, and Deanery, we are taking part in this initiative, so please watch this space, and others, for details of local journeys, events, pilgrimages and so on. There are some Pilgrim Places leaflets and prayer cards at the back of Church. You might also be interested in watching the Celebrity Pilgrimage programme which was broadcast in the week after Easter, with an interesting group of celebrities, of all faiths and none, making their way from south of Whitby Bay to the holy island of Lindisfarne, following in the footsteps of St Cuthbert, one of the most celebrated of the northern Saints. And as we all make our Easter journeys towards Ascensiontide and Pentecost let us continue to refresh, deepen and strengthen our faith in the one who lived, died and rose again for us, and who walks before us on all our journeys, each and every day. May God bless each one of us in this coming month. Amen. The Revd Alec Brown.
