On Sunday 10th September, Chelmsford Cathedral was full for the second ordination service of the day, alongside Emma Barr, our new Curate, were 7 other new to be ordained deacons. It was a glorious sunny day, and the welcome in the Cathedral extremely warm, but a truly joyful occassion.Emma is of course well known already in the parishes having lived in Mount Bures for many years, worshipping in Mount Bures Church, and serving as churchwarden for quite some time. Parishioners have journeyed alongside Emma as she has gone through the highs and lows of theological training and on Sunday, got to celebrate in style as the Bishop laid hands on Emma and sent her out to service in the 6 parishes of which this church is just one.The party continued well into the evening, back at home on the farm.Congratulations Rev Em and Welcome!!!
Back to school No sooner have schools broken up for their summer break, than the shops begin to advertise their ‘Back to school range.’ I remember in the good old days, when there was a Woolworths on every high street, always feeling somewhat frustrated as a child, that as the holidays began, we were constantly being reminded, that in no time at all, it would be time to go back to school. Not that school is a bad thing of course, just that holidays are pretty good and important too. It seems that in life, in the constant drive that is all around us, to always be ready for the next big thing, we don’t often seem to have time to enjoy the moment in which we are actually living, the present, our precious gift for today. September marks the beginning of the new academic year. For many it will be a time when they will be starting new ventures, perhaps a first day at nursery or primary school, making the move to High school, sixth form college or university. Whether you are a tiny tot, or a young adult, these are significant moments in all of our lives, and ones that shouldn’t just be rushed by, in our quest to get to Harvest, Halloween, Remembrance Day, Advent and Christmas. Whether we go to school or not, this season of ‘Back to school’ echoes through other arenas in life too. It is often a time in the church calendar when we find ourselves thinking about how we can encourage people to come back to church, as we enter a season of opportunities for inviting people to special festival events. Of course all are welcome back to church at anytime of the year, but perhaps you might want to see what is happening in your local church this September and in the months ahead, and if you haven’t been for a while, come and give it a go. But as we enter a particularly busy time of year, a new academic year, and the myriad of festivals that the autumn and winter brings, perhaps we can spend a bit more time focused on the moment, on the present, rather than spending all our time rushing on to the next big thing. In the words of the Psalmist, words I often find myself clinging to, ‘Be still and know that I am God.’ Just be still, stop, and notice what is happening in the here and now and recognise the God who holds all things in his hands and make the most of each moment. May God bless you Reverend Heather
Trinity 14 BCP – Galatians 5:16-24 & Luke 17:11-19I say then, walk in the spirit.Our reading from Galatians this morning, contain some of the most memorable images of the fruit of the spirit, the fruit that we are to bear, the fruit that witnesses to the fact that we are walking in the Spirit.I remember a good few years ago now, a family with four children moving back, from America, into the parish in which I was then serving, and introducing us to an American childrens song, about the fruit of the spirit. To say it was an instant hit amongst the children in the church and in the local schools would be an understatement. I had to add it to the desktop of the school computer in the hall, so the school could play it whenever they wanted to, and if you ever asked what the children wanted to sing, it was always the same song.It was very lively, very bouncy, it had lots of actions, and as an adult, perhaps it was rather irritating, but actually, it was also incredibly good at helping the young people and the not so young people to remember exactly what the fruits of the spirit were and, not that this is so important, the order in which Paul lists them in our reading today.Whenever I think about the fruits of the spirit … it is this song that whether I want it to or not, comes into my head, and I hope I am not alone in that, I also hope that there are a whole group of young children, who are known grown up, gone or are going off to university, who can still remember these verses. And are using them to help them to remember what it looks like to walk in the spirit. Paul says, that when we are walking in the spirit, then we will be loving, joyful, peaceful, long suffering, gentle, good, faithful, meek and temperate – or as the song would say, picking up on the more modern language of our bibles today, the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.When we walk in the spirit then we will bear the fruit of the spirit.The challenge, we face, as Paul is at pains to remind us over and over again, is that so often, we are tempted to go our own way, to follow the desires of our sinful nature which in turn reap their own harvest, the like of which we have already heard in our reading.And so perhaps we need to be like those young children, who wanted me to play the song over and over again, perhaps we need to be constantly reminded, as Paul does, again and again, of our need to walk in the spirit, because sad as it is, and much as we would want it to, it doesn’t come naturally to us. It needs to be intentional, it needs to be worked at, it is sadly all to easy to stumble and slip into old patterns. But it is only by walking in the spirit, that we will bear the fruit of the spirit and live the lives that we were created to live, following in the footsteps of our Lord Jesus Christ. So let us walk in the Spirit Amen
