Our Area Staff letter for December 2021Dear friends, As I sit writing this letter to you all I am reminded by the weather of how the seasons progress through our lives. Last night we put our clocks back an hour rising this morning in expectation of a light and bright morning. But no, it was dark and dismal until ten thirtyish. All of a sudden the sun shone brightly through the church windows dazzling everyone inside. All this helped me to focus on this December letter. As we approach the celebration of the arrival of the Christ child into our world, and probably more importantly into our lives, we spend Advent preparing ourselves to greet Christ. In preparing any letter or talk about Jesus I always try to place myself in his time so that I can attempt to understand something of what he was talking about, in the context of the world as it was then. How would the people of Jesus’ time have seen today? Would they have been able to comprehend the freedom we have? Would changing the hour on the clocks make them smile and say “you cannot change the weather or the happenings of the seasons”? Could they take on board the busyness of our lives? As the people struggled under the weight of the Roman occupation the promise from the Prophets of better things to come must have seemed like a bright beacon before their eyes something to look forward to, a promise of freedom, a promise of light and the fulfilment of God’s covenant with his people. When you read this letter will we be in similar circumstances? Listening to the experts on the news and in the papers it would appear we are heading for a time of severe shortages. With the aftereffects of the pandemic still hovering over us are we in a similar position to the people of Jesus’ time? The threat of another lockdown looming over us. The rising numbers of infections. Seeing the nurses and doctors straining to cope. The times of darkness seem to be all about us, but, as Pip says in Dickens novel, we have “great expectations” in the fact that God has never ever turned away from us and always pours out his unconditional love on us all the time, in the sending of his Son, Jesus, born in a dark and oppressed time, in a dark and dismal stable to bring us all hope and love, not just over the Christmas period but in all our lives.All God’s blessings. Chris.Revd. Chris Brown
AREA LETTER FROM THE RECTORY. 2020/2021 has been unprecedented as we have faced the uncertainty, anxiety, changes and grief caused by the Covid pandemic. Much has been lost – people, jobs, schooling, freedoms, routines and perhaps even hope. This year, the Season of Remembering, from All Souls’ to Remembrance Day, has an added poignancy and there is special need in our communities to pause, reflect and remember. What this looks like will be different in different contexts. Loss is often compounded and any specific service or activity will remind people of unresolved past or present loss and pain. There is often a need to ‘do’ something and to ‘mark’ a loss to help to bring closure and healing. This year why not take a moment to specifically think about the losses that you have had over these past couple of years. In most of our Area churches an All Souls’ Day service will be taking place on or near 2nd November, ask at your local church when theirs is. At this service we will remember those who have died at any time and in any way, especially those who have died during 2020/21. There may be a Remembrance Service around 11th November which will be specifically about people who have died in the world wars or armed service. If you are not able to go to a service there are other ways to remember someone. A virtual candle can be lit on www.churchofenglandfunerals.org/lightacandle Or you could stop for a moment somewhere and remember someone close to you and use this prayer, you may want to light a candle at home as you say it. God our Father, we thank you for the person we knew, the years we shared, the good we saw, and the love we received. Turn the darkness of death into the dawn of new life, and the sorrow of parting into the joy of heaven. Amen. Blessings Rev Margaret
The RectoryOctober 2021I have an old apple tree in the rectory garden. Since we arrived in July 2016 we have had a crop each year to harvest, with last year's being a bumper crop. This year however, there are very little, if any, apples. We have harvested a large amount of tomatoes – thank you to the kind generosity of those of you who brought me the baby tomato plants during my confinement due to the heel injury! Potatoes and cabbages we have also grown this year – cabbages for the first time. We’re having a competition with the caterpillars as to who gets them first! We have much to celebrate as we eat another meal with our harvested home grown produce.Celebrating harvest goes very deep in us – it seems to stir in us a sense of our country roots, memories of a land that lived by agriculture before the Industrial revolution. Harvest marks the end of a sequence in the church/country calendar. Plough Sunday in January, when the farm implements were blessed; Rogation Days just before Ascension Day in May, when prayers were made for favourable weather for the growing crops; Lammas Day (not when we celebrate Lamas!) at the beginning of August, when the first loaf made with flour from the new crop was offered in token thanks, and coming full circle, (though it was introduced much later on the liturgical scene, in the 19th Century) Harvest. Time for a pause before it all starts again. Time to be thankful, to remember God’s mercy and goodness, enjoying the sight of full storehouses and barns, pantry shelves and freezers. Time to feel secure against the coming winter. It is good to be thankful, and we come gladly, enjoying the colour, the smells and sometimes gathering together for a Harvest meal.But there is something uncomfortable about Harvest, too, especially now that we can see on our television and computer screens that there are people who haven’t got a harvest to celebrate, some who haven’t had a harvest for years, perhaps because the rains have failed, perhaps because civil war have made it impossible to cultivate the land. The Jewish people faced the same situation on a smaller scale. Reading the instructions in Deuteronomy we are reminded that God’s people have always been told to be generous and help the poor to share our good fortune. Deuteronomy speaks of very different farming methods, but the message is clear: don’t keep it all to yourself, leave something for those in need.And the New Testament warns us against taking things for granted, being pleased with our achievement. That man who pulled down his barn and built a bigger one, stuffed it full sat back feeling pleased with himself got a sharp reminder – ‘You fool! This very night your life is being demanded of you. And the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’(Luke 12:16-21) That’s the question Harvest asks us too.In the Bible, harvest and judgement go together – the parable of the wheat and the tares puts the point very starkly (Matthew 13:24-30). So it’s right and good to be thankful, but we have to ask ourselves how our thankfulness can find expression in making it possible for all humankind to be thankful. We can’t ever sit back and say we’ve done enough – not while there are those children with stick limbs and swollen bellies looking at us hopelessly from our screens.Imagine if my apple crop this year was a year in year out event and it was what I relied on for food for myself, my family and community. We need to support our local food banks and ‘Helping Hands’ and support those in need. We also need to support the agencies who work to improve farming methods, but also with those who challenge the leaders around the world to remove world debt. We must keep asking the questions and seeking action. Harvest is the point where, far from sitting back and thinking how fortunate we are, we have to prepare to sow the seeds and encourage the growth for the harvest to come, when the will of God will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.Rev Margaret SherwinArea Rector
GRATWICH NEWSLETTERSeptember 2021 For further information about anything in the newsletter, please contact:Rev. Charles Dale 01889 500428: email: revcharles.dale@btinternet.comJenny Talbot: 01889 50241 email: jenny477@btinternet.comFacebook: St. Mary’s Church Gratwich GRATWICH SERVICES IN SEPTEMBER SUNDAY 12th 11.15am Holy Communion IN CHURCH SUNDAY 26th 7.00pm Evening Prayer IN CHURCHNo need to book a seat now We are still keeping social distancing and hand sanitising September already, schools back and looking more like autumn now. <span style="font-size: 1rem;">Lots to look forward to in the next few months (not even going to mention Christmas!). </span><span style="font-size: 1rem;">Harvest Festivals galore – unfortunately most of them seem to be on the same day but I think you could get to at least two of them on the 26th – and the fashion show in Bramshall is always a good evening for a bargain.</span>CondolencesWe send our love and prayers to the family of David BebbingtonDavid and his parents lived in Gratwich for many years and his father was also churchwarden at St. Mary’s Church – there is a plaque in his memory in the church.100 CLUB – August – drawn at the Evening Service on 22nd August1st Alfie Cotton 2nd Sophia Capewell 3rd Ian CottonThe next draw will be at the evening service on 26th September in church .GRATWICH HARVEST FESTIVAL SERVICE AND LUNCHSunday 10th OctoberService 12.00noon followed by lunch in ChurchLunch tickets: Adults £6Children (Under 13 years) £4Contact Jenny for tickets (01889 502471)Lunch spaces limited to 36 so book earlyEVENTS IN OTHER PARISHES10th September 7.00pm FASHION SHOW Bramshall Parish Hall – chance to buy high street fashion items as a good price. (Contact SallyAnne for more details 01889 565228)17th September 10.00am -12 MACMILLAN COFFEE MORNING in St. Mary’s Uttoxeter26th September 12.30pm HARVEST LUNCH - St. Peter’s Marchington (lunch tickets from: Mrs Halcrow 01283 820346)26th 11.00am HARVEST FESTIVAL & LUNCH St. Lawrence’s Bramshall (lunch tickets: SallyAnne 01889 565228)26th September 3.00pm HARVEST FESTIVAL SERVICE St. John’s Marchington Woodlands2nd October 10.00am – 12 AUTUMN FAIR in St. Mary’s, Uttoxeter2nd October 7.00pm St. John’s Marchington Woodlands HARVEST SUPPER (supper tickets from: G Salt 01283 821587)3rd October 12.30pm onwards HARVEST FESTIVAL & LUNCH in St. Mary’s Uttoxeter (contact: Dianne office.uttoxetercof@gmail.com for more details & lunch tickets) Bible Bookclub – Thursday 30th September, 7.30pmThe next meeting of the Zoom Bible Bookclub will be discussing 1 Timothy and 2 Timothy.If you would like to join please contact Lesley at the Area Office either by phone – 01889 562915 or email – uttoxeterareaparish@outlook.comArea Letter from one of our Area Staff Team - September 2021Dear friends,I write this letter after returning from a lovely day spent with my daughter and granddaughters, both of whom are flourishing at school and delighting in all that life offers them. As I looked at the fourteen-year-old, my mind cast me back to the images witnessed this week on our television screens of those trying to flee Afghanistan and the horror stories emerging of actions waged against some of those who have been enjoying roles which women never had until fairly recently. Fifteen-year-olds are now being forced into marriage by Taliban fighters whom they have never known.The Taliban vowed in a press conference yesterday to forgive those who fought them and to respect women’s rights within Islamic law. Yet a group of female special- forces soldiers trained by the British said that they had been forced into hiding and stopped from getting to a visa- processing centre. Only time will tell how things progress. Yet in every horror story there are rays of hope as military flights escort as many as possible to safety. An American plane intended to hold one hundred and thirty four soldiers sitting on either side of the plane, took off with six hundred and forty men, women and children crammed onto the floor of the plane and it landed safely in Qatar. The pilot decided not to remove any of the passengers and took off when air traffic control gave the green light. Christians both inside and outside the United States disagree on what the US government and military should have done. But they are trying to apply their faith to help them understand how to best advocate for justice in the aftermath. Mark Tooley, the editor of Providence: Journal of Christianity & American Foreign Policy and the president of the Institute on Religion and Democracy says. “This war like all wars reflects human depravity. It’s inevitable and inescapable. And yet we can admire the sacrifice and courage of all—American, Afghan, and various NATO personnel, who laboured and sacrificed that Afghanistan might escape the ravages of the past. There have been many successes: longer lives, greater health, more education, more freedoms—across 20 years. These victories will not be entirely smothered by the Taliban. And we can assume that the church in Afghanistan, however small, has planted seeds whose fruit will be harvested across future generations in ways we cannot imagine.”We pray that Afghanistan will rise up like a phoenix from the ashes, this time stronger and wiser. May the Holy Spirit touch the Taliban so that they remain soft-hearted and recognize the human rights of all the people. The global body of Christ needs to express Christian love and compassion to the Taliban and share the blessing and joy that God has given us. We pray for Afghanistan - that the Taliban stick to their promises of a freer society with women participating in all aspects of life and girls/women in school and that followers of Jesus in that country will grow in number and maturity and bless it with transforming deeds and words for we are called to build God’s kingdom “on earth as it is in heaven.”Yours in ChristIreneThe Rev’d Irene Smith, OLM at Checkley.
