Dear FriendsLast Sunday was Advent Sunday which begins a period of reflection and thought beforethe celebration of the Birth of our Lord Jesus Christ. Each Sunday, we light another AdventCandle as we hear the ancient prophecies speaking of God’s special person who wouldcome with salvation and blessing.It’s important to keep Advent so that we can appreciate the full meaning of Christmas asbeing God’s final utterance to the world in the Word made Flesh. In their own way, thePatriarchs, the Prophets, John The Baptist and the Virgin Mary, all prepared the world forJesus Christ. Hearing about their diverse witness to God’s purposes, we can all the betterappreciate God’s final word to us in his Son, born in Bethlehem. So please don’t skipAdvent, but stay with the unfolding drama week by week.During this time we welcome the Shipley Scouts at their annual Christingle service, joinedthis year by pupils from Shipley Primary School, on Friday 8th December at 6pm. This is agreat parish occasion and once again it will be wonderful to have a full church.Sunday 17th December sees our annual Parish Carol Service at 7pm. The Choir havealready been practising for some weeks for this service which again reviews, in words andmusic, the expectations surrounding the birth of the long- expected and hoped forMessiah. This service is one of the highlights of our year and not one to miss!As the weather gets colder, please make an extra effort to contribute to the foodbank. Thisis something practical we can do to love our neighbour and to mirror God’s own love andgenerosity to us.Christmas will come this year with added urgency to our prayers for peace, in particular, inthe land of Christ’s birth. Christmas services are timed as last year, with the Crib Service at5pm on Christmas Eve, and Midnight Mass at 11pm. Christmas Morning sees a SungEucharist at the usual time of 10am. These services are our celebration of the Birth of ourSaviour and we look forward to seeing many of you on these occasions.Preparations will soon be in full swing. The sheep are already being trained for theirappearance at the stable during the Crib Service, while others will be setting up theChristmas tree and decorating it.The world around us has a tendency to start Christmas too early and finish it too early.This can lead to a sense of an anticlimax and a feeling of being fed up, in January,leading to the so called Blue Monday. The remedy is to stick to the Church calendar whichhas a Christmas season extending into January with the Naming Of Jesus on 1st Januaryand the Epiphany a few days later. In this way we continue to contemplate the fullmeaning of “The Word was made flesh” well into the New Year.Wishing you all a very Happy Christmas and a New Year full of peace for you and thewhole world.Your friend and parish priest,Chris
Dear Friends,Puzzled by Halloween? Why not make contact with the day that started it all-All Saints’Day, 1st November? All Saints’ , often called All Hallows in days gone by, is the origin ofHalloween as the Eve of All Hallows. There will be a Eucharist in Church on Wednesday1st November at the usual time of 10.30am to observe a major day in the ChristianCalendar. It’s a feast of not of darkness and fear, but a day to celebrate all the good peoplewho have lived who have been burning and shining lights reflecting the light of the RisenChrist in their lives. Why not bring a pumpkin with a cross cut into it, or a smiling, kindlyface, to witness to the real meaning of this time?Most of us are simply saints in the making. There’s a long way to go before we get there.That’s why the following day is so comforting-All Souls’. That day we pray, knowing thatour journey and the journey taken by those we have loved and lost, continues beyond thislife, as Christ’s power to save is not thwarted by death, his own human death, or ours. Hisnew life of Easter can bring us all to the mansions of the Father’s House. Eucharist onThursday 2nd November at 10.30am.Remembrance Sunday is 12th. November. This annual event is well attended and includesa two- minutes silence and a special anthem by the choir. We welcome the First ShipleyScout Group each year as they observe one of their biggest events in the year, and we arevery pleased to have the youngsters, their leaders and parents with us. It remainsimportant to acknowledge the contribution of those who fought and died in two WorldWars, and in wars since then, and to acknowledge the ongoing grief of so many who overthe years continue to feel the loss of someone close. As the names are read out, weremember the losses sustained by so many local families, and also pray for peace, whichseems as elusive as ever.The following Sunday, 19th November, is a Family Service Sunday. The Family Servicewas revived after Covid in January. One of the aims is that it is a service to which familiescan be invited, and in particular, families with no existing Church connection can beinvited, as a way of beginning to grow the Church. So have a think about which familiesyou could invite to come on 19th November, usual time, 10am. Later that day, at 6pm, wewill have Sung Evensong to round off the day of worship, and indeed to round off thewhole series of Ordinary Sundays, before Christ the King on Sunday 26th November,followed by Advent which begins a new Church Year.Your friend and parish priestChris
Shipley Church Self-ServiceThird Sunday of Easter 18th April 2021Thought for the Week – Jesus appears to the disciplesJesus appears again to the disciples, after encountering some of his followers travelling on a road to the village of Emmaus a few kilometres from Jerusalem. At first they’re terrified at the sight of him, and need convincing that Jesus isn’t a ghost. But they have a meal together – an understandably civilised thing to do, often alluded to during Jesus’ life – and are persuaded that he is who he is. In his presence, they begin to grasp the deep truths about his fulfillment of scripture, and with joy and enthusiasm begin preparing themselves to become witnesses to their Messiah, and to focus on their new calling. (Luke 24: 36-48) It’s still quite hard to believe, isn’t it, that the only man in the world ever to rise from the dead invites us to come to him just as we are, and in the simplest of ways, to gather in Communion with him at his table. We take bread, and eat, and give thanks for everything we can’t quite comprehend about Easter. We share in it, and follow in the footsteps of those first disciples in making Jesus known to the world. Hymn for the Day Be still, for the presence of the Lord, The Holy One is here; Come, bow before him now, With reverence and fear. In him no sin is found, we stand on holy ground. Be still, for the presence of the Lord, The Holy One is here. Prayer for TodayGive unto us, O Lord, that quietness of mind in which we can hear you speaking to us, for your own name’s sake, that we may glorify you both in speech and in silence through Jesus Christ our Lord. Note: The Gospel and Readings set for today can be downloaded from the top right of this page.
