At the time of writing, and with the country’s lockdown having been extended for a further three weeks till 7th May, it clearly won’t be possible to come together, in Church, or in the community, to celebrate and give thanks for VE Day on 8th May. This is a great shame of course, but what we’ve begun to learn from this unprecedented time (did you know, for example, that the last time Easter Services were “suspended” was in 1213, under King John!) is that with imagination and creativity (both human and technological) there are still so many ways in which we can all come together. This ranges from the communal joining together of hands every Thursday evening, for NHS, Social Care and key workers, to the recording of Services for Facebook and the live-streaming of Services, as well as the use of whatsapp groups and video conferencing for keeping in touch and for meetings. Not to forget as well the wonderful and individual artistic talents of some members of our communities, whose NHS “rainbows” of thanks and hope adorn so many of our windows. There is much to give thanks for, especially in the quiet acts of helpfulness and kindness to those in need, even as we lament not being able to gather together, for services in Church and community events. In the fullness of time though I look forward greatly to a Service of Thanksgiving in Church and a “real” rather than a virtual party! During this month of May we celebrate two of the most important festivals in the Church – the Ascension of Jesus and the descent of the Holy Spirit on the apostles at Pentecost: “I am with you always, even to the end of the age” said Jesus to those first believers, and He says the same to us today, gathered as we will be in our homes rather than in church. And so, for the time being, as I said in my Easter sermon, and have touched on in some of the poems I’ve recently been inspired to write, we need to persevere and to look with hope to the future – for this marathon will come to an end!May God bless each one of us in this coming month.The Revd Alec Brown.
Last month, on St Patrick’s Day, I met with colleagues from the Deanery to talk through lots of issues following the announcements by the Prime Minister, and then the Archbishops of Canterbury and York, concerning the Coronavirus outbreak. I began the meeting by reading Psalm 46 – “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble......” – and I offer those profoundly reassuring and comforting words to everyone now, as we continue to try to make sense of what is happening in our world, and to respond to this global calamity.The following day I met with members of our own Ministry Team and we agreed on a number of actions, taking very much to heart the words of the Archbishops in their letter to all the clergy: “This does not mean that the Church of England has shut up shop. Far from it. We need to look at new ways of serving everybody.......” and “Being a part of the Church of England is going to look very different in the days ahead”. The Archbishops concluded their letter by saying that this was a “defining moment for the Church of England” and I have no doubt that this is absolutely true.The word “unprecedented” has been used many times over the last few weeks to describe the times we are living through now and, when this is all over, we will look back on these times with, I imagine, sheer incredulity and amazement. How could this happen to us in the 21st Century? Some of you may have seen the news piece a few weeks ago about the Derbyshire village of Eyam, which “self-isolated” itself in the 17th Century to better protect its villagers against the plague which was ravaging the whole country at the time. It made for salutory viewing and the interview with the local Vicar, whose 17th Century predecessor had spearheaded those quarantine efforts, was truly poignant, conducted as it was by the reporter with a microphone on a long pole because the Vicar was self-isolating as a result of his wife developing coronavirus like symptoms!For me, and I’m sure I speak for all clergy and ministers of all denominations, the thought of not being able to celebrate with you all the events of Palm Sunday, Holy Week and Easter dispirits me greatly. This is truly an unprecedented situation in any of our lifetimes – but our shared faith and our love and care for one another is what truly counts and really matters in the midst of such uncertainty, fear and anxiety and upheaval. On Easter Day I shall be offering praise and thanks to God for the joy and hope of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour, and prayers for every parishioner. We may even have something to live stream on YouTube and Facebook thanks to the technological knowledge and skills of members of the Ministry Team and others (not me I hasten to add!) We have travelled so far, in so many ways, since the plague of the 17th Century and the self-isolation of the village of Eyam – but in the most profound and fundamental ways we are the same as our ancestors, living our lives in faith, hope and love.May God’s richest blessing be with you all.Alleluia. Christ is Risen! He is Risen indeed. Alleluia!The Revd Alec Brown.
Dear friendsI have decided to move to Ambridge as it appears the only place where there is no worry about Corona virus. I had my April musings written in my head but life has changed so much since my initial thoughts.I feel like my heart is breaking. As humans we are social animals and this need to self isolate feels so hard. I love to hug and avoiding any type of physical contact is incredibly difficult. I see my parents every day and communicating through the sitting room window is just not the same.As a priest, I love leading worship and presiding at Holy Communion – neither of which is possible at the moment within the church building. Another love of mine is to meet people and walk alongside them on the journey we call life, My School has closed and we cannot meet in church. I can no longer visit hospitals or care homes. These activities feed my soul and give me joy. To me there is no greater privilege than to hold someone`s hand and to pray with them. We may become more technologically adept over the next few months but I miss being physically present.If there is ever a moment that you want to chat – please call me. I can pray, listen or just talk. <span style="font-size: 1rem;">We are people of faith. Let us not forget that we are Easter people. There was the utter darkness of Good Friday when the world could not have been darker but that darkness was transformed on Easter Day.</span>Jesus told us over 100 times not to be afraid. Go on You tube and listen to Nadia Bolz Weber speak about this. She says that the opposite of fear is not bravery but love. We need to follow the advice to self isolate but we should still try and squeeze every drop of living out of life and appreciate the good things and people around us. My prayer for everyone is from 1 John 4 v 18 - Perfect love casts out all fear.When the world looks hopeless we are to be hope filled.Look at Psalm 23, Hebrews 13v 8. Romans 8 to name but 3 passages.In the dark of the night meditate on these things.I pray that each of us can find joy this Easter.All my love Christina
Last month one of the regular bi-monthly Play and Praise Services coincided with St Valentine’s Day, so the theme, unsurprisingly, was love! Margaret Cross (who wasn’t able to be there that day) had prepared all the craft materials – heart shaped cards to be coloured in and with “jewels” to be stuck on them, along with the names of those chosen by the children. The children loved it, and worked very well together, some even choosing the names of their friends to go on the hearts.As part of the service I walked around the church with the children, showing them some of the stained glass windows and asking them if there was anything about love in the pictures and scenes depicted in the windows. It turned out to be a very interesting exercise, and if you haven’t had a close look at the very beautiful, and varied, windows in the church I would thoroughly recommend it.The very modernistic “creation” window, based on the first Chapter of the Book of Genesis, by Linda Walton above the South Porch evoked an almost unanimous response from the children – no love there – but one child disagreed and, nodding her head vigorously, said the creation of the world by God was all about love – “like a mummy and daddy”.The Leigh family window provoked mixed responses, but some of the children were agreed that the scenes of Jesus’ healing various people were about love.The beautiful window in the Arley Chapel of Mary and the baby Jesus was a very definite yes – a mummy and her baby – all love! But it was the main East window, above the altar, by Charles Kempe, that provoked the strongest reaction – looking at the stark details of the crucifixion portrayed in the window a lot of the children grimaced and turned their heads away – no love there. Again however one child nodded their head hesitantly while fixing her gaze on the crucified Christ and said yes, there was love there, for Jesus to die for us, but she didn’t really know how or why – out of the mouths of babes! I could have wept!This Lent we will be thinking a lot about love, and there will be a number of occasions (Ash Wednesday, The Stations of the Cross, Palm Sunday and Holy Week to name but a few, as well as the weekly Compline Service and ecumenical Lent Group) to reflect on that child’s poignant and profound observation as we read and pray about both the creation and the crucifixion: “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life” (John 3:16) – the how and the why! And, given the discussions and the decisions made in General Synod last month, we might also want to be thinking and praying about how we, as individuals and as a church community, can play our part in the continuing care of God’s creation, which is so necessary and so urgent.May God bless each one of us richly in this season of Lent.The Revd Alec Brown.
