Holy Communion, Book of Common Prayer
9.00 am (said)
10.00 am (sung)

"Come to me now,disguised as everything.”

This is the contemporary poet and Anglican priest Malcolm Guite talking of God, in his sonnet O Sapientia (latin for ‘wisdom’) which he wrote for Advent, which of course means ‘coming’; but that’s basically December, and we’re in Spring. Don’t worry, there is a link.

It’s the Son for Whom we wait at Advent. For 50 days we waited for the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. Today we consider God as three persons; three persons one God; everything and more: Father, Son and Holy Spirit

Guite takes inspiration for his sonnet The Trinity from another Anglican priest from 400 years earlier, George Herbert, and his sonnet The Windows, how they are formed and work, a metaphor for the way God forms us. We are made and marked, not by a percussive, or beating force, but by love which is linked poetically to heat which, carefully applied, alters the structure of a substance, glass in this case, so that it can be changed in form and appearance, and beautified without breaking. This is perhaps more true of metals, but you get the point.

A similar idea is Aesop’s fable of the sun and wind, who have a competition to see who is the quicker in causing someone to remove their cloak. Both elements have tremendous power, but it’s how they apply themselves which makes the critical difference: gentleness and kind persuasion are more effective than brute force and bluster. The effect of God’s gentle fire and wind, expressed through the Persons of the Holy Trinity is infinitely more profound upon us.

Fr A

Music before the service

Allein Gott in der Höh' sei Ehr' BWV 711 JS Bach
To God alone on high be glory

We stand to sing

Thou, whose almighty Word
Chaos and darkness heard,
And took their flight;
Hear us, we humbly pray,
And, where the Gospel’s day
Sheds not its glorious ray,
Let there be light!

Thou, who didst come to bring
On Thy redeeming wing
Healing and sight,
Health to the sick in mind,
Sight to the inly blind,
O now, to all mankind,
Let there be light!

Spirit of truth and love,
Life giving, holy Dove,
Speed forth Thy flight;
Move on the water’s face
Bearing the lamp of grace,
And, in earth’s darkest place,
Let there be light!

Blessèd and holy Three,
Glorious Trinity,
Wisdom, love, might!
Boundless as ocean’s tide,
Rolling in fullest pride,
Through the world far and wide,
Let there be light.
John Mariott

The Collect

Almighty and everlasting God, who hast given unto us thy servants grace, by the confession of a true faith to acknowledge the glory of the eternal Trinity, and in the power of the Divine Majesty to worship the Unity: We beseech thee, that thou wouldest keep us stedfast in this faith, and evermore defend us from all adversities, who livest and reignest, one God, world without end. Amen.

The Epistle

2 Corinthians 13.11-13

11 Finally, brethren, farewell. Be perfect, be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace; and the God of love and peace shall be with you.
12 Greet one another with an holy kiss.
13 All the saints salute you.

Gospel

Matthew 28.16-20

16 Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, into a mountain where Jesus had appointed them.
17 And when they saw him, they worshipped him: but some doubted.
18 And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.
19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.

Cycle of Prayer
Our bishops: David, Mark and Matthew
The Anglican Communion
L’Eglise Anglican du Rwanda
Porvoo Communion
The Diocese of Hereford
The Lusitanian Church (Portugal)
The Latvian Evangelical Lutheran Church Worldwide
Schools and Colleges
All Saints; St Wilfrid’s; Briscoe Lane Academy; Christ the King;
Co-op Academy Broadhurst; Oldham Blue Coat; Trinity High School; Bowdoin College, Maine; Churchill College, Cambridge;
University of Coventry; Edge Hill University; University of Leeds; Loretto Sixth Form College; Oldham Sixth Form College.
Parish
Irvin Street, James Bentley Walk, Jessie Street, Kealey Close,
Kennington Avenue, Kings Garden.
Book of Remembrance
George Harrison; Lee Turner; David Webb; Florence Crompton; Lewis Priest

Music after Communion

(Remain seated)

God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoso believeth in him should not perish but may have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved.
John 3.16-17
Music: Sir John Stainer

Hymn

Let all the world in every corner sing:
My God and King!
The heavens are not too high,
his praise may thither fly;
the earth is not too low,
his praises there may grow.
Let all the world in every corner sing:
My God and King!

Let all the world in every corner sing:
My God and King!
The church with psalms must shout,
no door can keep them out;
but above all, the heart
must bear the longest part.
Let all the world in every corner sing:
My God and King!

Voluntary

Nun danket alle Gott Op 65 Karg-Elert
(Now thank we all our God)

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