We are pleased to announce that we will be re-opening for public worship from Sunday 28 March 2021, Palm Sunday. This follows the Government's further easing of lockdown measures. Social distancing measures will be in place and booking will be required. For further details, please see our Public Worship page.The church will be open for Private Prayer on Wednesday afternoons between 1 and 3pm from Wednesday 7 April.
The Harvest Service reminded us of the things for which we might want to give thanks. We thought about the Cornucopia, or Horn of Plenty and encouraged people to make one at home and send a photo in. The picture on this story shows three.We also collected for the Foodbank, remembering those who have not enough to eat.What words can you make from the word HARVEST (watch out - there are a couple of rude ones!!)
40 years ago, a young student from Birmingham University auditioned for the role of Director of Music at the Church. Simon is still active and engaged in ministry within the church encouraging the use of music in worship and developing the skills of many. So many young people have passed through our choir and many have gone on to significant engagement with music in their adult lives.In her Sermon the Vicar Rev'd Canon Priscilla White paid tribute to the place of music in worship and to Simon in particular. (this is an extract).Today we celebrate and give thanks for Simon’s ministry here. We give thanks that music is such an important part of our life as a church, lifting us from the mundanity of life. George Eliot said“Life seems to go on without effort when I am filled with music.”And Leonard Bernstein,“Music can name the unnameable and communicate the unknowable.”We are lifted by music, and, although, at present, we cannot sing ourselves, it is wonderful to be able to hear and to be moved by music in our services. As we listen, we can find God speaking to us in new ways and offering us new insight and understanding. In Colossians Paul reminds his readers to sing Psalms. Hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in our hearts to God. If we think of an orchestra, we may know that at times the line a particular instrument plays may be quite boring both to play and to hear on its own. But when that line of music is brought together with the other lines something wonderful happens. The full music, the full harmony is so much greater than the sum of its parts. The interconnectedness of the orchestra, the way that the composer has mingled together disparate sounds to create a musical landscape is really powerful. Each instrument, each line of music, is drawn together in a way that offers a powerful experience both to listener and participant. Music offers us something so important in worship. It offers us the chance to go beyond words, to respond to Luther’s concept“When I sing, I pray twice”It brings us together even when we ourselves cannot join in the singing. Simon, we are grateful for your work and for all that you enable us to be.Simon is pictured here with his wife, Susannah.
The appalling and unacceptable murder of George Floyd, in the United States of America, has highlighted the need for further visible and decisive responses to profound injustice, both in Minneapolis and within our own English culture. I endorse wholeheartedly the joint statement issued today by the Archbishops of York and Canterbury.I appreciate, at this time, people will want to make their feelings known, as I do, for example by standing together and socially distanced on Thursday in Birmingham city centre. Peaceful protest and transparent solidarity have always been a significant part of the witness of the church.I expect that Christians, including the clergy, will want to be firmly alongside our neighbours and we may do so significantly by prayer, at home, on-line, on social media, in private outdoor spaces in our permitted groups and where it is safe to do so individually in public.During this intense period of the Covid-19 pandemic, we will do this making personal choices, to keep everyone safe.We have before us the daunting task of eradicating personal and institutional racism. With Lord Jesus’ humbling, forgiving power, we can each be transformed and so be part of making a truly diverse, free, and reconciled society.Echoing the prayer of our Archbishops, I too pray ‘that God’s abounding wisdom, compassion and love will guide us’.
