Unsurprisingly, the Corona virus is dominating headlines and conversations at the moment. I hope you’re managing to walk the line between taking the concerns seriously, whilst not becoming unduly anxious.
It’s all too easy to become pre-occupied with our own affairs in these circumstances. It’s good that churches deliberate over matters such as the best way to administer Communion, but let’s be honest, there are bigger issues: keeping foodbanks stocked, how people will manage childcare in the event of closure, food for kids who have free school dinners, care for the most vulnerable…
Our local foodbanks have already put out a plea for help, indicating a 30% drop in incoming supplies, at a time when demand is anticipated to increase (please see inside for details of the goods they would like). The coming weeks will present a moment when we can show people what ‘Christian concern’ can really look like. God Bless.
Spreading Hope At Easter
The Churches across West Wickham are joining together in Holy Week to produce a produce a goodie bag to bless commuters as they head off to work on Maundy Thursday morning.
It was a venture that West Wickham & Shirley Baptist ran last year with success, so we are joining together to cast the net a bit wider. The idea is that we get a production line going on the morning of Tuesday 7 April to assemble the bags, which will contain a bottle of water, some chocolate eggs, an energy bar, and a booklet with some Easter reflections.
We’ll then distribute these in a very light touch fashion on Thursday morning, offering them to people with a simple ‘Have a Happy Easter’. If you are interested in being part of the ‘production team’, or available to help on Maundy Thursday morning (from 6:30am!), then please let Jon know as soon as possible. Thanks.
Saying Yes To Life
Yes, we’re doing a plug for more Lent resources.
‘Saying Yes to Life’ is the title of a book by Ruth Valerio and it’s the Archbishop
of Canterbury’s Lent book for 2020. Ruth Valerio is Global Advocacy and
Influencing Director at Tearfund, described as an environmentalist, theologian
and social activist.
It’s a book that you can read by yourself or is equally suitable for groups to
mull over together and be challenged by the issues it raises. It encourages us
all to lift our focus from natural, everyday concerns to issues that have an
impact on millions of lives around the world. It draws on some strong biblical
themes to help us all consider matters of environmental, ethical and social
concern.
In short, the golden thread is what it means to be human and a follower of
Jesus. Not a bad thing to contemplate during Lent.
Lent Dilemma
Dan writes:
At this time of year, I have a dilemma. Not being raised in a church tradition that “did Lent” the thought of giving something up still seems… odd; and I struggle to participate.
I see the biblical merits and good intentions. Sacrificing something of value to try and identify with Jesus in the desert. However, Luke 4 says “Jesus returned… in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread through the whole countryside.”
My dilemma lies in our method, not the intention. Often, we go for a minor-substitution approach. A pseudo New Year’s resolution. Sugar for sweetener. Chocolate for fruit. Caffeine for decaff. TV for books. Smoking for vaping. Swearing for “Dag-nam-it!”
All great ideas, but do these types of substitution help draw us closer to God? Do we finish 40 days full of the Spirit? Does news about Jesus spread as a consequence?
This year, as we pursue God together, consider making a swap that answers with a resounding “Yes. Amen and Hallelujah!”.
The Lent Locker
The season of lent can offer a great storehouse of opportunities to ready ourselves for Easter. Here are a few things in the Lenten pipeline:
Ash Wednesday, 26th February, 8pm @ St John’s
Jesus Christ has died; Jesus Christ is risen; Jesus Christ will come again.’ The Prayer and Worship Teams invite you to mark the start of Lent with an evening of prayer and worship. If you can’t make this time, there is a Communion Service with ashing at St Francis at 10:45am.
Quiet Day, 7 March, 10:30am-3:30pm @ St John’s
Organised jointly by St Francis, St Mary's and St John's. It will focus on the “I am” sayings of Jesus. Please join us when you can.
New Teaching Series
Building on our ‘Pursuit of God’ series, we’ll flip the focus and start a new series called ‘God’s Pursuit of Us’, thinking about the extraordinary lengths to which God goes to bring us back to himself.
Vocations Explorations
Southwark Diocese are increasingly inviting people to explore different expressions of ‘lay ministry’. In March, there are a couple of opportunities to consider this in more detail:
i) Vocations Fair – 19 March, 6:30-8:30pm at St Mary’s Church, Lewisham High Street, SE13 6NX; and
ii) Vocations to Lay Ministry: Residential Conference – Friday 6 March – Sunday 8 March, Wychcroft Retreat Centre, Redhill, Surrey, RH1 4NE.
You can register for both of these at southwarkvocations.eventbrite.com
There are also details about ‘Lay Pioneer Ministry’ in the leaflet on the Welcomers’ Table, or via the Southwark Diocese Website.
Unity, Prayer & Mission
As we draw near to the end of our ‘Week of Prayer for Christian Unity’ it’s worth reminding ourselves that our ‘togetherness’ and the prayer that fuels it, isn’t just something that we pay lip service to in a programmed week of the year. The three components of the heading – unity, prayer and mission – are inextricably
connected. This is no better exemplified than by Jesus’ own prayer that his followers would be completely in step with one another so that the world would recognise that God sent Him for their sake:
“I am not just praying for these followers. I am also praying for everyone else who have faith because of what
my followers will say about me. I want all of them to be one with each other, just as I am one with you and you are one with me. I also want them to be one with us. Then the people of this world will believe that you sent me.” (John 17: 20-21)
Our Churches Together Service at Emmanuel on Saturday starts at 10am, with a focus on prayer – which seems to fit quite well with some things we’ve been talking about recently…
The Pursuit of God
If you don’t like being challenged then don’t pick up Tozer’s book, ‘The Pursuit
of God’ – the title of our current teaching series. He wasn’t one to mince his
words, but written in the late 1940s, many parts have a surprisingly
contemporary ring:
“We have been trying to apply
machine-age methods to our relations with God. We read our chapter, have our
short devotions and rush away, hoping to make up for our deep inward bankruptcy
by attending another gospel meeting or listening to another thrilling story
told by a religious adventurer lately returned from afar. The tragic results of
this spirit are all about us. Shallow lives, hollow religious philosophies, the
preponderance of the element of fun in gospel meetings, the glorification of
men, trust in religious externalities, quasi-religious fellowships,
salesmanship methods, the mistaking of dynamic personality for the power of the
Spirit: these and such as these are the symptoms of an evil disease, a deep and
serious malady of the soul.”
Don’t say I didn’t warn you!
Happy Christmas and a Peaceful Rest of 2019
You might be seeing
this a little early, but the message for the coming days is a simple one:
HAPPY
CHRISTMAS
&
A
PEACEFUL REST
OF 2019
Working Those Kneelers...
It’s been amusing to witness some of the baffled responses to the invitation to grab a kneeler from the church and take it home…‘Does Jon want us to bring them back next week?’…‘Is this his way of getting rid of the kneelers on the sly?’… ‘will the pews for the log burning stove be next?’
It really is as simple as encouraging you to press into prayer this advent.
It’s surprising how a physical, visual prompt can be more helpful than we might imagine. Some people have said they put it in their bedroom and it’s caused them to kickstart the day in prayer.
Fix it to your wall, put it in your fridge, use it as your bed pillow – however it will best serve as a disruption to your everyday. The power is not in the kneeler, but in engagement with the One who longs to break into our every waking moment. Happy praying.
Christmas Charities
We like to give you advance notice of some of the charities we will be looking to support over the Christmas season. They will be as follows:
Christingles Services – As always, we’ll be taking a collection for the Children’s Society, which seems particularly poignant this year in light of some of the political ‘discussions’ over the true level of child poverty and homelessness in our country.
Carol, Midnight & Christmas Day Services – (i) The Bromley Homeless Shelter support the homeless by providing a Winter Night Shelter. Further information can be found on www.bromleyshelter.org.uk. (ii) ‘There is Hope Malawi’, an organisation who work with refugees in Malawi, where it is particularly hard to be in that desperate situation.
Please pray for all these organisations and the people they are trying to help.
Follow Up ...
TEAMS
We hope that you’ve had some space to pray and reflect on the things that were raised at our time in the Assembly Rooms last week. Take the opportunity in the coming weeks to open conversations with our new Team Leaders as to what possible involvement in a Team might look like.
If you were unable to make it last week, then head to the website for the Team Profiles (which includes contact details for the leaders). They will give you a good start, but nothing quite replaces a face to face chat to get a feel for what we are trying to achieve.
CHURCHSUITE
Last Sunday, we also launched ChurchSuite, our new church communication tool. Please remember to create a login password if you received an email invitation so to do. If you didn’t receive an invitation, please check your junk or spam folders in case it is there. Otherwise please contact Margaret in the Parish Office (parishadmin@stjohnsww.com) for a GDPR form or download one from our website under ‘About/ Forms’. There is an information sheet on the parish website under ‘Blog’ which gives more information.
Advent Approaches
I’m sure none of you need any reminding that Christmas looms on the horizon!
You might require more of a nudge to register that the season of advent begins next Sunday. And I wonder what message you would expect to hear from ‘your vicar’ about advent and what it represents? I equally wonder, if you’re really honest, how impervious to that message you might be, and why?
I’m not going to give you any leads as to what engagement with advent might offer – but I encourage you to reflect on those questions, and see if God might be calling you to approach the run to Christmas differently this year.
Next Sunday, we’ll start an advent series called ‘Christmas Playlist’, looking at some of the most popular songs of Christmas – ‘Last Christmas’, ‘All I want for Christmas’, etc – to see what nostalgia and desires they tap into, and compare that with what the nature of God’s promises to us.
A Couple of Opportunities
Below are some positions in two different organisations, both of whom are doing great work:
Amber CPC are looking to appoint someone as a Centre Administrator for one day a week (7.5 hours), starting in the next couple of months, on an initial 18 month contract. Please see the Job Description on the Welcomers’ Table for further details, and contact Susannah Davis at susannah@amberpregnancy.com to make enquiries, or apply.
St Christopher’s Croydon Community Project is looking for volunteers to join the team. Once trained, volunteers help empower Croydon communities to hold important conversations around dying and bereavement, and offer support around those discussions. For more information contact Carol Trower, the project lead, on c.trower@stchristophers.org.uk or begin the application proceed with this link: https://www.stchristophers.org.uk/volunteer_role/creating-conversations-volunteer/
Remembrance Sunday
Some things stand the test of time for good reason and ‘The Fallen’ is one such example’:
They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old;
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.
They mingle not with laughing comrades again;
They sit no more at familiar tables of home;
They have no lot in our labour of the day-time;
They sleep beyond England’s foam.
But where our desires are and our hopes profound,
Felt as a well-spring that is hidden from sight,
To the innermost heart of their own land they are known
As the stars are known to the Night;
As the stars that shall be bright when we are dust,
Moving in marches upon the heavenly plain,
As the stars that are starry in the time of our darkness,
To the end, to the end, they remain.
Date for the Diary
On Sunday 24 November, we will be meeting in the Assembly Rooms for our 10am service. We will use the time for a couple of things:
i) Showcase our fresh Team structure and the leaders of those teams. We will provide the specifics of each team’s remit and the different ways people can be involved in them.
ii) Introduce the church to our new communication tool – Church Suite. We will walk everyone through the basic use of it and explain how we hope to develop it in the future
Our Teams are intended to be a significant way in which you can be involved in our mission as a church, so we hope that you can make the date and discover some new ways to join in.
When did You first Hear?
I honestly don’t remember the first time I heard “the Gospel”, one day it just clicked.
I’m sure the foundations set by years of church kids clubs, prayer and then the work of the Holy Spirit is what set my heart alight.
And, just like in the beginning, God is still speaking light into the darkest places. This Thursday is Light the Night, one of our most visible expressions of displaying the light of Jesus to our community.
So on Thursday wake up in the morning and pray for Light The Night, have a coffee, and pray again, invite friends to come, pray, tun up to participate, pray, cook the sausages, pray, sweep up the glitter and you guessed it... pray again.
Kids events aren’t just fun and sparkles… they are the foundations being laid, through service, prayer and the presence of the Holy Spirit to speak true “light” into the hearts of those yet to find it.
Parenting for Faith
This is an 8 week course that we are really excited to be running in the New Year for the first time at St John’s. It’s a little different to other parenting courses – the clue is in the title, but it’s specifically focused on how we nurture a close walk with God in our children, rather than looking at parenting more generally.
It’s doesn’t matter the age of your kids, and it’s also a great course if you’re a grandparent, godparent, aunt or uncle. Grab the insert for more details of dates and timings, but we will provide a meal, and aim to offer people who can babysit to allow couples to come together. If that’s not going to work for you, the course is still effective if you have to mix and match, say alternate weeks between you.
There will be limited places, and we anticipate they will go fast, so let Amber know as soon as possible if you want to book a spot.
Harvest Celebration
This weekend we mark Harvest with our Uniformed Groups in an ‘All Together’ service. Don’t forget that Tea & Coffee will come before the service, starting at about 9:45am.
Harvest is a great opportunity to express our thanks to God for so many things that we often take for granted. It’s also a time to extend generosity to others and remember our collective responsibility to care for this amazing world which God has given us. During the service, we’ll be taking a couple of collections:
· Food for the Bromley Foodbank; and
· A money collection for Link to Hope and their project the ‘Inn of Love’ – details of which we will profile during the service.
We look forward to seeing you there to celebrate God’s goodness.
Feeling Connected?
There has been some recent global research amongst the 18-35 age group around how they navigate church, faith and life in general. They called these millennials the ‘connected generation’ in recognition of their incredible ability to utilise technology to connect with others. At the same time, it was noted that alarming numbers expressed feeling ‘relationally disconnected’.
In old fashion terms – lonely.
The need to feel supported, experience face to face contact with others, be part of a loving community isn’t just a millennial thing, it’s a human thing. We’ve always said that it’s hard to fully experience that on a Sunday morning, so we encourage people to join a home group. That’s simply a smaller group of people who meet at someone’s home during the week, to encourage each another, explore matters of faith and spur one another on to pursue our vision of ‘doing life with Jesus’. Philippa Tagg has oversight of these groups and has included a message inside about leadership of these groups. But more generally, have a chat with her if you would like to find out more.