PASTORAL LETTER 3from Bishop Jonathan to the parishes and clergy of the See of Ebbsfleet2 June 2020Dear brothers and sisters, dear friends,I am glad of this opportunity to send a message to you all via your parish priest or church wardens. I hope that you find these letters helpful: they certainly give me the opportunity to assure you all that, while I cannot visit you, I am celebrating the Eucharist and praying daily for you.In the last few days we have all started becoming aware of just how complicated our return to ordinary freedom of movement will be: continuing to be careful and hygienic, maintaining distance, taking small but prudent risks, carrying with us (hopefully) new insights and good habits, shedding old thinking and bad habits. Yesterday Christians celebrated a different, far greater, new beginning: Pentecost, the day on which the age of Christian witness to Jesus began. These things feel as if they are linked, because as the churches emerge from the very difficult restrictions of the last few months, we must be ready in hope to live in a new way as witnesses to the Lord’s risen life.It seems a wonderful moment to announce a new appointment, which I hope will bring hope for the future of our Ebbsfleet communities. Yesterday I announced that Fr Gary Ecclestone, vicar of Hanslope and Castlethorpe, has accepted my invitation to become Ebbsfleet Healthy Churches Mentor. It’s a full-time, 5-year role supported by the Dioceses of Coventry and Oxford and the CofE’s Strategic Development Funding. It is the fulfilment of a vision that began at the Coventry Cathedral Lay Congress in 2016, to help Ebbsfleet parishes and our clergy to focus on growing the Church in our parishes. You can read more on the Ebbsfleet website, or ask your parish priest. As we look beyond the pandemic, it is becoming clear that whatever lies ahead in the design of God for his Church, Christian communities need to grow, in confidence and holiness as well as in number, from every age group. Remember St John Henry Newman’s dictum: ‘Growth is the only evidence of life.’ (Apologia, 1864) I look forward to making the most of the time we have with Fr Gary in this role, and thank him for taking it on. May the Virgin Mary, celebrated yesterday as mother of the Church, accompany with her prayers the Church’s mission to the people of our time.Such thoughts perhaps make us wonder about the prospects for the Church in the coming weeks while schools and a whole range of ‘non-essential’ businesses and services are permitted carefully and sensibly to begin opening up. The churches, alongside the other historic religions, have collaborated effectively and responsibly with government and health authorities to stem the physical threat of the virus. But that quite proper collaboration has not been without cost, to ourselves but also those in need whom we would want to support. If it is safe for society to open up it must be possible for the churches, with the same care and responsibility, to begin to resume their life and service. The majority of Christians – lay Christians – have struggled living without the sacraments and the Eucharist. That should not in any way surprise us. Every action in the Eucharist defines the Church: from the very act of gathering around the altar, to the sending out ‘to live and work to [the Lord’s] praise and glory’. Freedom of religion, is also freedom to minister to the spiritual, emotional and social hardships that the virus and the lockdown have created.But to do that, we must be ready, prepared. All the churches are preparing detailed guidance for that moment. It will not be simple, and we will have to manage the risks involved, as others are doing. Not every church will be able to open at first; and making churches available and usable will require volunteering and organization. Please pray for that process whenever it begins, for your clergy, and for any part you are able to take in it. And keep praying for all those who, for a while yet, will need to stay at home.However, as much as we need to try and anticipate the future, we also need to live in the present. There isn’t yet a clear way out, a definitive solution, even a reliable timetable. Young people in particular are facing greater and longer challenges than most of us older ones – a fearful wilderness in which all their expectationsof work and security are evaporating. Similarly, those whose working future looks dangerously uncertain are having to live with the sense that they can do nothing to protect themselves from the looming threat of unemployment when restrictions begin to be lifted.The pain of these kinds of insecurity is very real. So at the moment heroism is found mainly in the little things: the daily rhythm, the small differences you can make, at home, online, on the phone, wherever. These are the small kindnesses, the small assurances to others that they are not alone. ‘Stay kind, stay attentive, stay willing’ wouldn’t make a great slogan; but it amounts for each of us to a grace we might all very reasonably pray for. And when we see quiet unfussy generosity and self-sacrifice in our neighbours, it’s a gift we might well give thanks for.When we started to get used to physical distancing, I tried to remind as many as would listen that ‘God is not distant; God is nearer to us than our inner most parts.’ For two weeks now in the church’s calendar we’ve been celebrating Jesus himself saying as much: ‘I am with you always, to the very end of the age.’ In every moment, every encounter, when you are bored, angry or anxious, Jesus is present and offering himself to us, saying, ‘This moment matters: it is a moment in which you can grow a bit – or unwind a bit – as a human being. It is a moment in which my love is there for you, and my invitation is before you. Your precious humanity is in my hands, and I am ready to give you what is needed to assure you of your dignity and beauty and worth.’ Of course, believing this becomes challenging when the sky is overcast, the temperature is low, and the future obscure. But ‘All times belong to him’ as we say when we bless the Easter candle. In truth, the living Jesus is present and active wherever we turn. If we recall that fact in the course of our daily life, however briefly, we shall have recognised that the times we’re living through are accompanied by our Creator and Redeemer. When you’re tempted to think about the worries and muddles of the public situation, or the divisions and dramas of the church, remember instead that the Body of Christ is rooted much deeper, in a divine presence that never keeps his distance, and that ‘our times are in his hand.’ (Ps.31.15)Sarah joins me in sending the assurance of prayer for you and yours, every day+ JonathanDAILY GOSPEL PASSAGES FOR JUNEThese are the daily Gospels for the Eucharist, which you can make the centre of your daily prayer.1 M Mary Mother of the Church John 19.25–34 2 T Mark 12.13–17 3 W Mark 12.18–27 [and possibly 28–34] 4 T Christ the High Priest Matt 26.36–42 5 F Mark 12.35–7 6 S Mark 12.38–44 7 Sun Trinity Sunday John 3.16–18 8 M Matthew 5.1–129 T Matthew 5.13–1610 W Matthew 5.17–1911 T Matthew 5.20–2612 F Matthew 5.27–3213 S Matthew 5.33–3714 Sun Corpus Christi John 6.51–5815 M Matthew 5.38–4216 T Matthew 5.43–end17 W Matthew 6.1–6, 16–1818 T Matthew 6.7–15 [and possibly 19–23]19 F Sacred Heart of Jesus Matthew 11.25–3020 S Matthew 6.24–end21 Sun 2nd after Trinity Matthew 10.26–33 22 M Matthew 7.1–5 23 T Matthew 7.6, 12–14 24 W Birth of the Baptist Luke 1.57–66, 80 25 T Matthew 7.21–9 26 F Matthew 8.1–4 27 S Matthew 8.5–17 28 Sun 3rd after Trinity Matthew 10.37–42 29 M Sts Peter and Paul Matthew 16.13–19 30 T Matthew 8.23–27Alternatively, during this month, following Pentecost, you might focus each day on just a single ‘word’ from the Lord’s final teaching. They are words for all Christians. Perhaps begin each day with a time of quiet and prayer (say 15 minutes) contemplating just one verse. Open your mind and your heart; ask the Spirit to open Jesus’s words to you, and to suggest ways of acting upon it in your daily living.Sunday ‘I am with you always, to the end of time.’ Monday ‘You will be baptised with the Holy Spirit.’ Tuesday ‘You are not to know times and dates decided by the Father.’ Wednesday ‘You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you.’ Thursday ‘You will be my witnesses to the end of the earth.’ Friday ‘You are to go and make disciples, baptising in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.’ Saturday ‘You are to teach them to observe all my commandments.’
Whither the Church 2As I mentioned in last week’s consideration of the matter, the Church is living in very strange and difficult times, as are we all. We are having to adapt to new circumstances for which we have had no training and very little psychological or spiritual preparation. It is, of course, something to which we are having to adapt quickly and, no doubt, it will take us time to learn the new skills and approaches and there will doubtless be many mistakes made. However, it is God’s work in which we are engaged and we must trust that he will provide the support necessary.One of the great changes to our life as the Church has been the impossibility of continuing pastoral visits. Funerals have to be arranged by phone, Skype or Zoom (or another such platform), the clergy may no longer visit their flock nor even take Holy Communion to them in their homes and the hearing of Confessions has become very difficult indeed. Our whole pattern of life has been thrown into the air and, at present, we have very little idea of where or how it will all land.One of the ways in which pastoral care may be carried forward is through the creation of small hub groups. These would be made up of fixed groups of people who could keep in touch be phone or by any other means with which members of the hub are comfortable, with a co-ordinator for each who could involve the parish priest when needed and keep him informed of any needs which might arise. This would be a variation of the face-to-face visiting groups which we experimented with a few years ago. Ideas such as this are not unfamiliar to the parishes and can be readily utilized.Also, although it would not be possible for confidential matters, a visit to someone’s garden, maintaining appropriate distancing, is always possible and, in fact, can already be done at any time.Certainly, there are also opportunities. The present crisis has caused us to re-examine ways of doing certain things, of how we reach out to proclaim the Gospel and how we educate people. Also, we have been finding that many people have engaged with the local church online from their own homes and have not had to make that daunting journey through our front door but can engage with us from familiar surroundings and anonymously, should they so wish. We have had to learn new skills, new ways of doing things and some of these are, no doubt, highly beneficial. Certainly, whatever happens, there will be no going back to exactly how things were before the virus came.At the end of the day, we will find ways of overcoming the present difficulties, even if it means having to wait until an effective vaccine becomes available or until the virus burns itself out. However, it is much better to be proactive! We must never forget that it is our mission – the mission of the Church – to go out into the world and make new disciples for Christ, however we have to do it, whilst at the same time ensuring that the existing sheep are fed! Christ has overcome the world (John 16:33), including whatever viruses there may be, so our ultimate victory is assured.I wish you all the very best at this time and pray that you are keeping well, safe and positively engaged.Father David
Whither the Church?One of the great shocks to the system that the Corona Virus Pandemic and its consequent ‘lockdown’ has produced has been, for the first time in history, the inability of the Church to meet for the worship of God. Even in times of violent persecution, the Christian community has managed to gather, albeit in secret and in mortal peril, to celebrate the sacraments and to come together as a People, to recognize and identify with one another.Although this time, when all but a few of us are deprived of the sacraments, has been a difficult and trying period, we have been heartened by the conviction that it will come to an end in due course and we will be able to resume life as normal. A vaccine will be found and, with it, a solution to our woes. Once more, we will be able to gather together in our churches.However, the unpleasant suspicion remains that things may not be so easy. In the first place, it is by no means certain that a vaccine will be found. Even if it is, there is no consensus as to how long it may provide protection or as to how long it will take to achieve near-universal protection. And that is without even considering the moral dimension, for vaccines may well have ethical problems associated with them.In both the Church and secular press, questions are being asked as to what this pandemic and its consequences will mean for the future life of the Church. If we can no longer gather together in ‘safety’ (always a relative term) for worship and the celebration of the sacraments, how will we be able to continue our Christian lives? It is not enough to say that we can all just stay at home and pray and read our bibles as individuals, for the Church has always known that, except in the rarest and most extreme of cases, this is never an acceptable solution, either practically or theologically. Nor, in the long term, is it a solution to hold that whilst we may attend worship in sanitized buildings, suitably socially distanced, only the celebrating priest will ever receive Holy Communion. In John 6, Christ makes it absolutely clear that we must receive his Body and Blood if we are to have life in us. Annual Communion, at the very least, is the non-negotiable privilege and duty of the Christian. Moreover, whilst it is conceivable that a valid baptism could be administered by properly trained lay people, what of the sacraments of confirmation and anointing of the sick? These absolutely require a bishop or a priest. Ordination likewise demands the ministry of a bishop.There are suggestions, even being seriously broached by some priests, that the Church could effectively move on-line. During the present crisis, live-streamed and Zoom-based services have attracted large numbers and some are promoting such offerings as the way ahead for the Church in the future. Of course, such suggestions immediately raise all sorts of questions, not least of which is the question of accessibility. The average age of a member of the Church of England is approaching seventy and, although many people in that age group are both familiar and comfortable with technology, a great many are not and perhaps do not wish to become so, especially when the issue of cost is considered. On-line services are, by their very nature, exclusionary, ageist and elitist. They are also the antithesis of the Christian understanding of sacramentality and the nature of the human person – and indeed, of God. It may be that, for a short period of time and in emergency situation, they may be forced upon us, but this can surely only be until the Church gets its head round the new situation and gets its collective act together!One of the reasons for which some may positively welcome the new situation is that it provides both the excuse and the opportunity to rid the Church of some, or even most, of its buildings. For some leaders, the ideal solution would be to retain a relatively few large buildings and close the rest, with the majority of worshippers either travelling from some distance to these ‘hub’ churches or choosing to join in worship and teaching online, with ever more slick presentation and televisual skills making up for the absence, for the majority, of a living communal experience. Lest those without technological skills are to be totally excluded, provision of more television-based services might become essential. It is suggested that, with the Church no longer having responsibility for a large number of historic buildings, a great deal of money could be saved and this could be invested in ‘modernizing’ the way the Church conducts its mission in the contemporary world. There are, however, considerable issues with this model of Church life and I will raise these in the continuation of this reflection.Father David
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