Dear friends, My Aunty Joyce has recently died. She used to give a talk entitled “My Rebellious Childhood” which really sums her up. One of her earliest memories was waking up to the sound of crying. She had no idea that my grandma was pregnant, so the arrival of my dad was a surprise and not a welcome one. She was told he had been found on the doorstep in a tomato box. She spent the rest of the day trying to find the box so she could leave it on someone else`s doorstep. One day she was feeding the swans with some friends, a girl was bending over the canal and my aunt could not resist putting her foot under the girls bottom and tipping her in. My grandfather dived in to save the girl and was awarded a medal for bravery!! In 1947, Northwich flooded. Aunty Joyce asked if she could go, my grandma said no, so she disobeyed and went anyway. All would have been fine, if her photo had not appeared on the front page of the Northwich Guardian. Aunty Joyce was never a rule follower. We are called to be obedient to God`s commands but like Aunty Joyce, we often don`t follow them – not just the 10 commandments but Jesus` command to love other people. My Aunt had a difficult life, her only child died in infancy, my uncle died shortly after he retired, but in the sadness, she discovered joy. My uncle died in St Luke`s and for many years Aunty Joyce volunteered there on a Saturday morning helping the staff and the patients. She also found joy through travelling abroad on Pilgrimage to the Holy Land and to the churches St Paul visited. Sometimes we are surprised by joy. At the Summer Fair and BBQ, there was so much joy – to see people`s faces as the bears and other cuddly creatures were launched from the tower – for me too, the opportunity of holding a baby hedgehog, feeling its tiny heart beating and stroking the spines was balm to my bruised heart.Sometimes we need to do activities that bring us joy, time with families, the cinema, the outdoors. A group of us had the joy of being at the Cheshire Show and explaining the wonders of Forest Church, the power of the outdoors to remedy our nature deficit disorders and to connect with God through the wonders of creation.Joy is mentioned many times in the Bible and has different words in Greek and Hebrew with different meanings. Martin Lloyd Jones, a theologian and writer defined it as the “response and the reaction of the soul to a knowledge of Jesus” Joy can provide us with an inner peace that is not affected by outward circumstances. It does not mean we will never feel, express or experience pain and loss but we choose joy because of our hope in Christ.Last month on 12th we celebrated Barnabus, he was known as an encourager and we can bring joy by being like him. This month we celebrate one of my favourite Saints, Mary Magdalene, the apostle to the apostles who showed such joy on encountering the risen Christ.On 28th June, we celebrate St Irenaeus, an early church father who said that the “glory of God is a life fully lived” That is the day of my aunt`s funeral. At 89 she had lived fully ,experienced God`s amazing grace and had chosen joyWith love, prayers and blessings Christina
I hope everyone has by now recovered from the Coronation of King Charles 111 and its many and varied celebrations, and from Eurovision as well! It was an incredible time in the life of the country, Commonwealth and wider world, and one which I’m sure we will all remember with happiness and pride – even if we did flag a bit at times! A week or so after the event we held a “mock” coronation during the fortnightly Play and Praise Service, with 19 of the Reception and Nursery schoolchildren, and they thoroughly enjoyed it, and all painted beautiful crowns to take home.Amidst all the coverage of the coronation – the pageantry, pomp and ceremony, the music and the many, many words and images – I found the newly written King’s Prayer to be one of the most profound aspects of it all, with its reference to Scripture and words from a greatly loved hymn (I vow to thee, my country), and with great relevance to each and every one of us in our own lives and journeys of faith. You may remember it, but if not, this is what His Majesty prayed towards the end of the ceremony:“God of compassion and mercy whose Son was sent not to be served but to serve, give grace that I may find in thy service perfect freedom and in that freedom knowledge of thy truth. Grant that I may be a blessing to all thy children, of every faith and conviction, that together we may discover the ways of gentleness and be led into the paths of peace, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.”It’s a beautiful prayer isn’t it, and so appropriate for all of us – King Charles has of course often spoken of his desire to be a “defender of all faiths”, and though he didn’t in the end use those words in the ceremony, the prayer above captures his wish exactly – all children, of every faith and conviction.Towards the end of May we celebrated one of the most important festivals of the Church – Pentecost – with the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the disciples gathered in Jerusalem, empowering them in their faith, their witness and their mission and service in the early Church. Twenty one centuries later that same Spirit empowers each and every one of us, and in this month of June we remember all sorts of people in the Church’s calendar who have been empowered to love and to serve God through the centuries, sometimes at great cost to themselves. Saints Peter and Paul are remembered in June, as well as Barnabas, and the memorial of Alban, the first martyr of Britain in about the year 250 A.D., and regarded by many as the true patron saint of England, falls on 22nd June. Hymn writers, deacons, bishops, abbots, social reformers and martyrs are remembered in June, including the Martyrs of Uganda (19th and 20th Centuries) and Bernard Mizeki, who became a catechist in central Africa (in what is now Zimbabwe) and was martyred for his new found faith in 1896, and whose shrine in the granite hills of central Zimbabwe I have had the privilege of visiting.Distant figures they may all be to us living in Britain in 2023 (though some of course – Peter and Paul especially – are much better known than the others) but they would all have understood implicitly the meaning and significance of the King’s Prayer – even if for some of them the paths down which they were led were far from peaceful. I take great comfort, inspiration and encouragement from their lives, and count myself truly blessed to be following in their footsteps, and of course in the footsteps of Christ himself – our true inspiration and guide, “through all the changing scenes of life.”May God bless each one of us in this coming month, in all our work and witness in His service.
Dear friendsMay is going to be a momentous month. The Coronation will be a historic moment in the life of our nation and we are asked to reflect on our history, celebrate who we are and look to the future.With the Coronation Service His Majesty will be anointed as King. It will be rooted in tradition and be steeped in Christian Symbolism.The Archbishops of Canterbury and York have asked us to pray that this might be a moment for the nation and many others round the world to encounter the person of Jesus Christ, the servant King and to hear His call to each of us to serve othersAs we prepare for the King`s Coronation we are asked to serve others, connect with our neighbours and give thanks to god for the wonderful unity we find in the great diversity of our nation The weekend is built on the themes of community, faith and service.If you have not received a copy of the “Daily Prayers for the Coronation” prepared by the Church of England, there are a few copies left, either pop into St Mary`s or get in touch and we will send one to you. Within this, there have been prayers about service, dedication, religious freedom and the environment.On the Coronation weekend, there will be a vigil at 6pm at St Mary`s on the 5th which will be a reflective service and the church will be open until 9.30 for private prayer and then on Sunday 7th May there will be a service of celebration followed by fizz. Then from the 9th to the 13th May, Eurovision comes to Liverpool – love it or hate it – it is a time for Nations to come together and for us to pray. There is an art installation at Liverpool Cathedral called “Izyum to Liverpool” which is a multi channel video installation showing the experience of many as they escaped from Ukraine (1-19 May).On 18th May we celebrate Ascension Day (Acts 1 6-11) Before Jesus ascended, he told his disciples that they would receive power from the Holy Spirit and would be witnesses to the ends of the earth. Sometimes we are so concerned with mundane things that we fail to grasp God`s loving purpose for the whole of creation. Sometimes we need to grow into a new expanded vision of God. Then ten days later we celebrate Pentecost, the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Between those two dates there is “Thy Kingdom Come” which is a global prayer network. The theme this year is “Praying and living the Kingdom” Prayer makes such an enormous difference and often it is how we love and act, that shows people about Jesus. God, send your Holy Spirit, restore our faith, renew our vision, redirect our action, that we may follow you into new adventures and know your blessing. Amen Love Christina
At the most recent meeting of the Chester Diocesan Synod, of which I am one of the four elected clerical representatives from Great Budworth Deanery, the short act of worship prior to the meeting took the question of sacrifice as its theme. This was looked at from three faith perspectives – Judaism, Islam and Christianity. It was very interesting and moving and of course very appropriate time wise given the Jewish and Muslim religious calendars and with the festivals and seasons of Passover and Ramadan. Sacrifice features in all three faiths of course, though from different perspectives, and as I write this letter in the approach to Palm Sunday, Holy Week and Easter it is the supreme sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross that is uppermost in my heart and mind and soul. Over the weeks of Lent this has been teased out in the readings, prayers and hymns, including the incredibly moving Stations of the Cross Service held on the afternoon of Passion Sunday, but Palm Sunday, Holy Week and Easter confront us with the overwhelming enormity and significance of that sacrifice – for Jesus and those around him, and for all those who over the succeeding centuries would come to know, believe in and follow him, including of course us. Easter is such a significant event – so full of pain and sorrow and seemingly dashed hopes and expectations, and yet at the same time so full also of joy and hope and triumph and new life.A few weeks ago we reflected on the encounter between Jesus and his friend Lazarus, with Jesus’ humanity so wonderfully captured in the shortest sentence in the Bible – “Jesus wept”. And at Easter we reflect not only on that true humanity and identity with all humankind but also on Jesus’ divinity, so wonderfully and joyfully captured as well in a few words – “He is risen”.In the face of all the pain and suffering in our troubled world, from which as Christians we are not immune even if we are not present in the midst of it all, those three words and everything behind and in front of them mean so very, very much to so many, many people throughout our world, including ourselves.“Alleluia! Christ is Risen! He is Risen indeed – Alleluia!”With best wishes for a very happy, peaceful and blessed Easter.The Revd Alec Brown.
