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As we enter into April, and head towards Easter, hasn’t it been wonderful to see nature just spring into life once more. Don’t our hearts leap to see those first snowdrops and crocus appear, and the laughing faces of the bright yellow daffodils. Following what may have been a long, dark winter, we are so often looking for those signs of spring and new life and Easter resonates with the joy of this new life too.
An awakening of the senses has been mirrored in my own journey of losing and regaining my sense of smell after Covid. I completely lost any sense of smell for around 8 months and the process of regaining it has felt like a rebirth in many ways. As this sense has been restored to me gradually I have been rejoicing each time I can recognise a smell that has been missing for so long.
The first aroma I could smell was when the fields had been covered with manure, but great was my delight that I could, at last, smell something again. Then followed the joy of, almost every day, having more of my sense return and smelling lemons, hyacinths and even ‘bad’ smells like bins and drains! I was so thrilled to be able to smell again that even the ‘bad’ smells were a joy to me. As we enter this Easter season again, let us rejoice when new life appears and the winter is past. Blessings Linda Joy Children and Families Worker Holyford Mission Community
I am not sure what words you use as a toast when you raise a glass of sherry in company (or a glass or something else…or as you clink your mugs of Horlicks…) but there is a wonderful old Irish toast I came across the other day: ‘As you slide down the bannisters of life, may the splinters always point in the right direction’. It made me chuckle, anyway.
During the season of Lent (which begins on Ash Wednesday and ends with Easter) we shall be focusing on Prayer in our Mission Community: encouraging one another to think about and develop our prayer lives.
What is a ‘prayer life’? It is the way you feel about God, and how you express it. Everyone at some point in their life will have prayed, or tried to pray. Everyone will have a different understanding of it. Some find prayer easy, some find it hard. Like anything, it needs a bit of attention if we are to find God in it and feel encouraged by it. It is as much about listening as it is about finding words or articulating expressions of how we feel or where we are. Whether we feel we are ‘sliding down the bannisters of life’, picking splinters out of our … or leaping up the stairs two at a time, prayer is beneficial. And there are lots of different types. ‘Arrow prayers’ (a quick prayer when you are halfway down the bannisters and you are anticipating the splinters), ‘contemplative prayer’ when you are somewhere quiet and alone, and other prayers for everywhere in between.
We often see images of saints kneeling, still, praying in heaven, hands together, eyes transfixed on higher things. This is not a bad image in itself, but it focusses too much on the individual, ‘mindfulness’ aspect of prayer, or of prayer simply as a singular activity, or mainly an act of deference to the Almighty. ‘Mindfulness’ is all the rage these days, and we are all encouraged to take time to be still and quiet as part of a good mental health regime. These things are very good and beneficial, but only part of what Christian prayer is.
The saints in heaven enjoy life to the full. In heaven, prayer is life and life is prayer. That is what prayer is: finding fullness of life and simply being with God and being part of his life, in stillness or activity.
Praying is often laying before God our lives and opening our hearts and minds—switching our radio sets from ‘transmit’ to ‘receive’. Not always an easy thing to do, but God has given us a prayer—The Lord’s Prayer—which can be used at any time, in any place, on our own, or in company. It reminds us of who God is and that he is always ready to hear us, even if at times we can’t bear that, or deal with it, or comprehend it, his huge and constant love is always there. Most importantly, it involves time. Join us to spend more time thinking about prayer this Lent. Each Thursday evening we have a Lent Course session on prayer around the churches (details in the magazine or on the website). Our speakers are our local, friendly clergy (…and me….) and no previous experience is necessary. On Wednesday 5th April the Bishop of Exeter will be with us, sharing his personal insights on prayer. I warmly commend these sessions to you, even if you can only come to one of them.
From 1st March we shall be resuming Evening Prayer around the villages. These are traditional, informal short services (about 25 minutes), 5pm at a different church on Tuesdays (Colyford), Wednesdays (Colyton), Thursdays (Branscombe), and Fridays (Northleigh).
As always, there is a lot going on in our six churches. Details of our services during Lent and Easter can be found on our website (Holyford.org) or contact me if you are wondering when or where the next service is. I appreciate it can be confusing…I am always having to top and think, and check when and where I am going…which is another good analogy for prayer…
At Christmas time we celebrate the birth of Emmanuel—‘God with us’. At the heart of the Christian faith is the notion that God’s greatest desire is to be with us, in all that we are and all that we do. That may sound overwhelming or daunting, but if we can spend some time getting our head around it, it becomes nothing short of miraculous and life-giving. God wishes to be with us, here and now, all the way to the other side of the grave into eternity. We know all this because of the babe born in Bethlehem.
This Christmas will be a time of great joy and fellowship for some, or will be tough for others—the trials of life often come to the fore during the festive period. The empty chair at the table, the struggle to keep up with expectations and traditions, especially during a period of financial worry.
From the accounts of Jesus’ birth in the Gospels we learn that the first Christmas was wonderful, but far from easy for the Holy Family. Yet they came through. The Angels reassured Mary and Joseph, the Wise Men brought encouragement and affirmation; they all knew that God’s desire to be with them was so strong that they could not fail. This is the same hope Christians hold to today.
In the new year we shall be organizing some groups for people to come and explore the idea of faith. We plan to follow the Being With course, devised by the Reverend Dr Sam Wells and the Reverend Sally Hitchiner from the renowned Church of St Martin-in-the-Fields, London. The title Being With may not sound like everyone’s cup of tea, but this is a good course, especially for those who have no experience of the church or are thinking of returning. The course is run over ten sessions, covering topics like essence, story, community, suffering and hope. There are no expectations, and each session is about people coming together to share their story. There is no judgement, wrong answers or prescribed path. The course is an invitation to invest in becoming the type of person who knows how to be at ease with yourself, others, the world around us and through this to be with God. It is an invitation to discover faith in the context of discovering friendship. If you are interested in joining a Being With group, or would like more information, please let me know (rector@holyford.org or 01297 553180).
Details of our Christmas services and events can be found in this magazine and online. There are lots of opportunities to join us in any of the six churches which make up our group, called the Holyford Mission Community. Please see our website (Holyford.org) Facebook page (@holyfordmission) or contact a churchwarden or me for details of the types of services there will be, and times.
On behalf of all of us at the six churches of the Holyford Mission Community, I wish you all a happy, joyful and peaceful time as you prepare for Christmas. Whether or not you are able to have ‘the perfect’ Christmas, for whatever reason, I pray that the light and peace which sustained and encouraged the Holy Family at Jesus’ arrival may find its way into your hearts and homes.
Remember, remember, the fifth of November, Gunpowder treason and plot; I see no reason why gunpowder treason Should ever be forgot.’
As we approach the colder months my thoughts turned to memories of my own childhood and the customs of 5th November or Bonfire Night. The children in our street would stuff our dad’s old clothes with straw and old newspapers and make a scarecrow. We would then plonk it into a wheelbarrow and take it down to the local parade of shops and call out ‘Penny for the Guy’.
Any money given would be spent in the shops buying sparklers for Bonfire night celebrations. Families would buy little packs of fireworks for their back garden, and our Catherine wheels almost always stopped half way through! I only recently discovered the origin of the Catherine wheel. It
It’s recorded that Saint Catherine was tortured on a wheel by the Emperor Maxentius for refusing to renounce her Christian faith. The wheel broke and Catherine was eventually beheaded instead. Her martyrdom is remembered in the firework called the ‘Catherine Wheel’.
Back to my memories….Over the preceding weeks, families would be building a communal bonfire, with all their old chairs, bits of wood, branches and anything else that would burn. Then on the 5th November the community would gather around and the effigies of Guy Fawkes would be lifted high on the bonfire and the whole thing set on fire.
People shared out bonfire toffee, which was very dark, brittle and tasted strongly of dark treacle and the children all lit their sparkles at the same time, drawing pictures into the dark night sky. I still love sparklers.
I wonder if anybody has similar memories? This was before the days of too many health and safety rules and regulations, when people were trusted to just be able to be sensible for themselves.
Times have changed and many families now visit large, organised bonfire celebrations, but something in my heart still cherishes those memories of years gone by and the fun we all had as a community on 5th November.
Hope you enjoy yours this year,
Blessings and best wishes
Linda Joy Children and Families Worker Holyford Mission Community
Autumn is always a season of change, and during September we saw a huge amount of change, with a new Prime Minister and a new King in one week. I don’t think we shall ever forget it. The death of Queen Elizabeth was not unexpected, yet, when it happened, it was a shock and great sadness. On the evening of the announcement, our tenor bell was tolled by Keith Smith, our Tower Captain. The sound of the bell drew people to church, so I quickly had to unlock, as people wished to come in to pray. It was heartening to see a steady stream of people coming into church that evening. Operation ‘London Bridge’ (the plans we had ready to follow in the event of Queen Elizabeth’s death) came into force, and the Books of Condolence were out the next day. Many pages have been filled with expressions of appreciation and love for a unique and special person. The books of condolence we have had out in the six churches of the Holyford Mission Community were taken into schools and nursing homes for people there to sign, and will now be collected and sent to the county archives, where our pages of tributes will be added to others across the region.
On Proclamation Day, Simon Richards raised the Union Flag to full mast for 26 hours, before it was lowered again. The proclamation of the new King took place in Colyton on the Tuesday after the Queen’s death outside the Feofees Town Hall and it was good to see a small crowd gather, including children from our ColyTots group and Colyton Primary School attended, together with the Headteacher of Colyton Grammar, Councilors, Feofees and townsfolk.
On the Sunday after the Queen’s death, we held special services in all six churches. It was lovely to welcome so many to St Andrew’s and St Michael’s in this parish. All through the period of mourning people came in to church to pray, light a candle and sign the book. The following Sunday Evensong at St Andrew’s was a commemorative service, and it was fitting that our eight bells rang for an hour before, half-muffled. On the day of the Queen’s funeral, we tolled the bell again, before we live-streamed the service in church. Our thanks to Simon Ford and his team who arranged the live-stream; they did an amazing job. The sound quality and picture were so good in church, it felt like we were in an extension of Westminster Abbey. Cake, sherry, tea, coffee and tissues were passed around as we watched the Queen make her final journey.
The Queen was a remarkable person, and a great lady of faith and humility. She was a lady of wonderful contrasts. She was deeply religious, but not in any pious or showy way; hers was a testament of unassuming witness, rather than an argument or apologetic of any kind. The Queen was Supreme Governor of the Church of England, yet did not push State religion, or get caught in up in some fashionable, bland moralism. She wasn’t afraid to talk about Jesus Christ, and did so often, in a real, normal way; she was never pushy or gushing. Her faith was practical, deep and secure, which made her open to other faiths. She saw the Church as a kind of umbrella, offering shelter to anyone who needed it. When all the beauty and splendour of her funeral fades, this is what we will remember of her. She has made a deep and lasting impression on us all.
Queen Elizabeth I once remarked: ‘…though after my death you may have many step-dames, yet you shall never have a more natural mother, than I mean to be unto you all.’ Whatever of Good Queen Bess we admire, Elizabeth II felt like a natural mother to millions. What an incredible and encouraging legacy.
‘I know how much I rely on my faith to guide me
through the good times and the bad.
Each day is a new beginning.
I know that the only way to live my life is
to try to do what is right, to take the long view,
The eighth month of the current (Gregorian) calendar and the sixth month of the earlier Roman Calendar (Sextillis) renamed Augustus after the first Roman emperor. The word august also means respected, distinguished or venerable as derived from its Roman origins.
For many it is the month of summer holidays; of sun, sand sea and more, especially for those with children. It also becomes an opportunity for a change of scene and routine and may bring lasting memories which endure once normal life resumes. The end of August is also the busiest time for removal companies although this may also be linked to the start of the new school year in September.
In her song, ‘August’ Taylor Swift uses the words
’Lost in the memory, August slipped away into a moment in time ‘Cause it was never mine…’
Which captures some of the ephemeral nature of the month and escapism needs no apologies if it recharges our batteries to face the challenges of everyday life.
This need for a time to pause is also reflected in the wisdom of the Fourth Commandment in that a seventh day of rest is to be set aside, not so much as a rule of religious control but rather as a source of both physical and mental health. When my life becomes more hectic than it should be, I sometimes reflect of the words of William Henry Davies,
‘What is this life if, full of care, we have no time to stand and stare…
Indeed, I believe that rest is one of God’s gifts to humankind – not so much as an opportunity to stop completely, but rather to gather the resources to continue on life’s journey, as is expressed eloquently in George Herbert’s poem, ‘The Pulley’….
When God at first made man,
Having a glass of blessings standing by,
“Let us,” said he, “pour on him all we can.
Let the world’s riches, which dispersèd lie,
Contract into a span.”
So strength first made a way;
Then beauty flowed, then wisdom, honour, pleasure.
Of all the seasons, many people look forward to summer, with the promise of sunshine, long days and a break from school and work. After around two years of Covid restrictions, I wonder if the freedom of summer will be even more precious to us all this year. I love the song ‘Summertime and the living is easy’ written by George Gershwin and sung so beautifully and soulfully by many fine artists over the years. For me, it speaks of hazy, lazy days relaxing and ‘chilling’ as the young ones say!
What will you be doing this summer?
Perhaps you have planned a trip abroad or maybe a Staycation in our own beautiful isle, or perhaps days out to local beaches or beauty spots. The freedom that we now have to meet and enjoy picnics, parties and holidays is something to really celebrate and be thankful for. The lack of such freedoms in recent years makes this even more precious this summer. With all the platinum jubilee celebrations that were enjoyed in June, we have had much to draw us together as communities in our shared joy and celebration. For me, it has been wonderful to see all the bunting, swaying joyfully around local towns and villages and long may the summer memories last.
Whatever you are doing this summer, let’s join together in celebrating this season and being glad and grateful that we have freedom and remember those who do not.
Ecclesiastes 3: verse 1
For everything there is a season, A time for every activity under heaven.
On Sunday 5th June the Church celebrates two great events: the Platinum Jubilee of Her Majesty the Queen and the Feast of Pentecost (otherwise known as Whit Sunday). Pentecost is celebrated each year as one of the key festivals, like Christmas and Easter. It focuses our attention on the Holy Spirit—the third person of the Trinity (which is: Father, Son and Holy Spirit). Pentecost occurs fifty days after the celebration of Easter and marks the occasion, fifty days after his resurrection, when Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to accompany his disciples in their faith and assist in their ministry. It is an event recorded in the Bible (in the Book of the Acts of the Apostles, chapter 2), where the disciples—fearful about how they would keep the faith and do all the good that Jesus had asked them to do in the face of many trials and challenges—were filled with a surge of love and encouragement which drew them together to form the Church. The Holy Spirit transformed a group of fearful disciples (meaning ‘followers’) into a courageous band of apostles (‘ambassadors’). In a very short space of time, thousands learned of Jesus and were baptized. This is why Pentecost Sunday is celebrated as the birthday of the Church.
What exactly is the Holy Spirit? It is often explained as the ‘breath’ or ‘energy’ of God, but there is no single, adequate word to explain what Christians essentially understand as a mystery. It is an indescribable help and tangible power which is at work in us as a gift from God. We use many signs and symbols to help us to understand the nature of the Holy Spirit, including fire, doves, and holy oil, his is because Christians often pray to the Holy Spirit for grace, energy, power, peace and healing.
The prayer of the first followers of Christ—indeed every follower of Christ—is that God will assist us and give us everything we need to live a good and useful life, even when we fail or feel overwhelmed. This is where the Holy Spirit comes in.
Six months before her Coronation service, the Queen asked all people of the United Kingdom and Commonwealth to: ‘Pray that God may give me wisdom and strength to carry out the solemn promises I shall be making, and that I may faithfully serve Him and you, all the days of my life’. This is what we do each week at least two of our services, and shall be doing on Sunday 5th June in the Holyford Mission Community when we will celebrate the Jubilee. What has the Holy Spirit got to do with the Jubilee, or the Queen?
Seventy years ago, on 2nd June 1953 the Coronation was televised—all apart from one moment, which was deemed too sacred to be shown on television. It is where, after a prayer to the Holy Spirit is sung (the Veni creator), the Queen was anointed with holy oil—a symbol of the Holy Spirit coming upon her in affirmation and to assist her in her life’s work. As Handel’s majestic anthem, Zadok the Priest echoed around Westminster Abbey, the cameras turned away as a canopy was brought to cover the Queen to enable her some privacy. This is because at this point in the service some of her clothing was removed. All the symbols of her earthly status were shed—the crimson velvet robe she was wearing, her diamond diadem and the coronation necklace—leaving her in a simple white dress. At that point the Archbishop anointed the Queen with oil (poured over her hands, chest and head). This oil was a symbol of God’s grace and the Holy Spirit. It was used at this point as she was set apart to serve and love her people, vowing to do so through all her actions, with all her heart and with all her mind. The meaning of the ceremony is based on an understanding that the Holy Spirit is called to witness and hallow the oath of her office, and empower the Queen herself to fulfill it.
At her coronation, Elizabeth II promised to follow Christ’s example, to be set apart to serve, not simply to be served. After the anointing, St Edward’s Crown of solid gold was placed on her head. This is how the Holy Spirit was called upon to be there at the birth of a new reign. A Royal biographer, William Shawcross, said that the Queen found this intimate and profound moment to be not only the most significant part of the service, but ‘…the most solemn and important moment of her entire life.’
It is very appropriate, then, that we should celebrating and honouring that oath—the birth of the longest reigns in British history—on Pentecost Sunday. It is a well-known fact that the Queen is a lady of deep faith. That moment, when the Holy Spirit was asked through prayer to assist the Queen, has proven to be a source of strength and inspiration to her for over 70 years, through all the ups and downs of her reign.
The Queen is special, of course, but each one of us is equally important and loved in the sight of God. The Queen, as a committed Christian, knows this, which is why she takes her job so seriously. It is not only the Queen who has been anointed by the Holy Spirit or has access to God’s grace; all baptized Christians are anointed by the same spirit, to draw on God’s presence and grace to strengthen our faith and service to others. This is what the Queen does, it is what the first disciples and apostles did, and what generations of Christians have been called to do for over 2000 years.
On Sunday 5th June we shall be celebrating two events in which the Holy Spirit played a key role: the birthday of the Church, and the birth of the longest and most successful reign in British history.
Each church in the Holyford Mission Community will be holding a special Jubilee service on Sunday 5th June. Join us wherever you can and celebrate with us. There will be services at 8am and 10am at St Andrew’s, Colyton; 10am at St Michael’s, Musbury; 11.15am at St Giles’s, Northleigh and St Lawrence’s, Southleigh; at 3pm at St Winifred’s, Branscombe, and at 3.30pm at St Michael’s, Colyford. All are welcome.
The number 40 is significant for a number of reasons. In scripture it often precedes a notable event, such as the end of the flood after 40 days, Israel entering the promised land after 40 years in the wilderness; Jesus in the wilderness for 40 days before starting his ministry and 40 days between his Resurrection and Ascension. The 40th Wedding Anniversary is called the Ruby as the red colour of the stone is symbolic of romance and heartfelt love.
40 years ago in May 1982 I was licensed in Norwich Cathedral as a Lay Reader by the then Bishop of Norwich, Maurice Wood, so the number 40 has a particular significance for me at a personal level. Over those 40 years the World has changed, the Church has changed and I have changed.
Whilst change is not always helpful and can be threatening, it may bring new opportunities. When we are tested it can bring an appreciation of qualities we already possess but have remained hidden. It can bring a renewed appreciation of those around us who befriend us and support us and are sometimes taken for granted.
During May, Churches often hold rogation services which often focus on the world around us. Traditionally it has been a time to ask God’s blessing on newly planted crops but often the focus is widened to a thanksgiving for all of God’s creation which feeds us, encourages us and heals us both in body and spirit. As in William Henry Davies poem ‘What is life if, full of care, we have no time to stand and stare’ sometimes we need to stop and reflect thankfully on all that is around us.
I am often reminded of God’s love for each one of us which remains steadfast, generous and unconditional and I hope I have been able to share that with others effectively in a variety of ways through my 40 years of varying ministry. I have enjoyed working with a whole variety of people in terms of age and background and an immense sense of privilege of being able to share at least a small part of their life’s journey as it comes into contact with mine.
Even during the pandemic the seasons continued. Who can forget the wonderful sound of Spring 2020? Against the backcloth of isolation, lockdown, illness, fear and the absence of motor noise from our roads, the birds seemed to sing louder than ever on our daily exercise walks. The bluebells seemed more abundant and more vividly blue. There wasn’t much to be positive about but the emergence of Spring was one. Then Spring gave way to summer and eventually more relaxed restrictions. By Christmas, against the backcloth this time of ice, frost and cold, we shivered in gardens treasuring moments with families but oh so missing the warm glow of the lounge fire.
In the church another set of seasons rotates round each year even in times of pandemic – Christmas preceded by Advent gives way to Christmas and then through to Epiphany and Candlemas. After a pause we have Ash Wednesday, Lent, Passiontide, Holy Week, Good Friday, Easter, Ascension Day, Pentecost and Trinity. A longer pause then before we start all over again.
Each year I value and appreciate the joys of each weather season – the new life of Spring, the warmth of summer, the golden colours of autumn and the crisp frosts of short December days. Each year too I value the repeated cycle of the Christian story centring on the birth, life, death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus. Such a cycle makes sure that we miss none of the vital ingredients.
This month sees us observe Ash Wednesday and Lent which is a marvellous time to reflect on our sinfulness and need for salvation so that when April comes and we celebrate Easter, we really do appreciate what we are celebrating – victory over sin and death.
Keep your eyes skinned for details of all that is planned in this Mission Community for Lent so that you can join in and grow closer to God.
At the same time rejoice in the new life that is in our gardens, by the roadside, in the fields and the woods as yet another year moves forward under the direction of our almighty God.
This year, perhaps, February brings fewer notable dates as the lateness of Easter moves Shrove Tuesday and Ash Wednesday into March so the romantics will be left with St Valentine and in the Church calendar with 2nd February as Candlemas or the Presentation of Christ in the Temple, 40 days after his birth; perhaps the latter is why February is derived from the Latin word for Purify. 2nd February is also known as Groundhog Day particularly in North America and the date also is associated with weather lore such as ‘if Candlemas be fair and bright winter shall have another flight’. Although some weather lore is based more on superstition than fact this particular statement has a basis in the statistic that February can be a less changeable month than other winter months although the impact of climate change and its unpredictability are only too evident nowadays and even the sentiment from Flanders and Swann ‘February’s ice and sleet, Freeze the toes right off your feet’ may seem somewhat dated.
Deep down, many of us are creatures of habit and routine and can be challenged by anything that brings uncertainty and it is a particularly English quirk to talk about the weather and its uncertainty allows a little more to discuss!! The epidemic of the past 2 years or so has indeed been challenging and many have found hidden resources as they take on new tasks and lifestyle changes as well as coping with sadness and loss. I once came across that statement that change may improve things, have no effect or make things worse which is 2 to 1 against change!! But sometimes it is possible to look back on coping well with times of change with a sense of strength and achievement.
The reality is of course we live in a changing world and it is up to each one of us to do what we can, however little, to direct such change in a positive direction, sometimes to bring improvement for others rather than for ourselves. It may affect our financial resources, our energy use or the way we choose what we buy, reuse and recycle. Even the smallest changes when multiplied by the same mind in others can make a significant difference to improve the world which we all share.
In my early days of involvement with the Christian church, the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity in January each year was a fairly major event, involving the breakthrough development at that time of Christians of one denomination actually attending and worshipping in a church of a different denomination. Prior to this, the divisions between let us say the Baptists and the Church of England were so pronounced that any sharing of worship, resources, personnel etc would have been considered inappropriate.
Things are now very different for which we thank God. Christians will regularly work and worship together and will sometimes switch denominations during their lifetime without a second thought. Of course there are still different ways of worshipping and different emphases between denominations but fundamentally we know now that “we are the Body of Christ and by one Spirit we were all baptised into one Body”, irrespective of whether that baptism was within the Church of England or the United Reformed Church for example.
I only wish that the spirit of tolerance and generosity that largely exists now within the wider church was reflected in the whole of society which seems to be tragically divided and where intolerance, bigotry, prejudice and rudeness pervade and do so most particularly in the world of social media where people write things to each other which one would hope that they would be embarrassed to say face to face. Let us pray for respect, tolerance, forgiveness, humility, courtesy and kindness to be more obvious in all our dealings one with another.
As always, Christmas has come upon me suddenly and unawares. No sooner is Remembrance Sunday out of the way, we inevitably seem to skip Advent, the Christmas marketing shifts up a gear, and I am already panicking about posting my Christmas cards in time and wondering what on earth to buy for my wife.
It can be easy to feel out-of-step with things and generally behind at this time of year, until we remember that, despite the advertising campaigns and even the early Carol Services in church, Christmas doesn’t officially begin until 25th December. Not only that, the Christmas season proper lasts well beyond the Twelfth Night, until the feast of Candlemas (2nd February). Yet we invariably celebrate it early and by the time New Year comes we are itching to pack away the decorations and put Christmas behind us, even though it has really only just begun.
As we shift Christmas back a month and begin the familiar celebrations early, we can often take the extraordinary story of Christmas for granted. At Christmas we celebrate the fact that God saw a world which is out-of-step with his loving and generous purposes and so he sent his Son, a tiny and vulnerable baby, to redeem creation. All of that took preparation, and a journey.
As they travelled along, Mary and Joseph, as they prepared for the coming of Christ in the stable at Bethlehem that first Christmas Day, must have felt under-prepared and anxious about the huge responsibility placed upon them. The lead-up to Christ’s birth would have been difficult and challenging and very hard to prepare for. Yet they managed, and the Saviour of the World was born in an inadequate, temporary home in Bethlehem, a somewhat disheveled and unglamorous city south of Jerusalem. Despite that inauspicious start, Mary and Joseph trusted in the message of God delivered by the angels—‘fear not’—and the angels continued to attend and reassure them, shepherds and kings drew close, and the baby grew out of human obscurity to reveal the fullness of God’s love. A love to conquer all fear; a love stronger than death.
The lead-up to Christmas should not be a time of anxiety or worry, but a time of fruitful preparation and expectation. The angels gave to Mary and Joseph the most often-repeated message of the Bible as they prepared for the birth: ‘fear not’. The message occurs 365 or more times (in one way or another) in the text of the Bible—that’s one ‘fear not’ or ‘do not be afraid’ for every day of the year.
However out-of-step or underprepared we may feel, there is plenty of time before Christmas. Fear not. The full effect of God’s love will arrive with us on 25th December and will stay with us: God did not send Jesus as a temporary decoration, but to be with us in all seasons, our saviour and friend forever.
Come and celebrate this with us this year. Details of our Christmas services and events can be found in this magazine and online. There are lots of opportunities to join us in any of the six churches which make up our group, called the Holyford Mission Community. The full pattern of services has been up and running for most of the year now and at Christmas there will be all the usual services at Colyton and Colyford, Branscombe, Musbury, Southleigh and Northleigh, plus other events. If you are still worried about attending busier services because of the threat of Covid, you may wish to consider coming along to one of the smaller churches to celebrate the festive season, or attend our outdoor crib service at Colyton on Christmas Eve (indoors if wet). Please see our website (Holyford.org) Facebook page (@holyfordmission) or contact a churchwarden or me for details of the types of services there will be, and times.
On behalf of all of us at the six churches of the Holyford Mission Community, I wish you all a happy, joyful and peaceful time as you prepare for Christmas.
Rise to the Moment relay – Same storm, different boats. Christian Aid.
As I write this piece it is still October, with the leaves just changing colour in all their glory, and the evenings getting shorter and cooler. It is a time of year when we think of harvest with it’s all its abundance of fruits and vegetable for us all to enjoy.
When I give children’s harvest talks and assemblies at this time of year, I often mention how we can cultivate the soil, plant the seeds, and water them, but we rely on the sunshine and the rain to be provided. For this we need to be grateful and thankful. We need to be mindful of how we can do our part in caring for this wonderful planet that has been entrusted to us to care for.
When I last wrote for the magazine, I mentioned the Waves of Hope that children all across the UK had produced with conjunction with Christian Aid. This was intended to draw attention to the climate summits to be held in the UK with year, with the Cop 26 due this November.
This month I was again drawn to what young people and children were doing to care for our beautiful world, and I discovered that a group of young people were carrying a boat in relay, between Cornwall and Glasgow, the places of the two UK summits this year. The aim is to highlight the climate crisis as part of the Rise to the Moment relay, in collaboration with the YCCN (Young Christian Climate Network).
Locally, we created some boats out of windfall apples, and discovered a little more about the small changes that we can all make to care for our planet.
We do need to be grateful and thankful for all we have and look to the example of some of these young people and children, as we strive to care for our world.
The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. Psalm 19 v 1
Best wishes
Linda Joy – Children & Families Worker – Holyford Mission Community
As we begin October we well and truly enter into the ‘Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness’, as the poet Keats put it. Each season has its own character. Autumn is a particularly beautiful time. Although it is sad to bid farewell to the summer, we know that a new depth of beauty will reveal itself through the bare branches as the leaves turn and fall.
At the very end of October we begin a period of remembering and thanksgiving. Halloween has become a caricatured, pagan celebration, when we think of ghosts and ghouls, tricks and treats. This is all good fun, but it is far from what All Hallows’ Eve is really about, which is the first day of three where we celebrate and give thanks for the saints and all the faithful departed. In the Holyford Mission Community we shall be keeping the feast of All Saints on Sunday 31st October. There will also be services for All Souls at Colyton on the Sunday evening (6.30pm) and on Tuesday 2nd November (All Souls’ Day), to which all are welcome. If you would like to remember someone who has died by having them named in the service at St Winifred’s on 31st October, there will be a list in church where you can write their name, or email the office: office@holyford.org.
In September I was involved with the celebrations of an Anglican martyr, born and bred in Devon: Bishop John Coleridge Patteson. He founded the Church in Melanesia (Solomon Islands) and was murdered on 20th September 1871 on Nakapu when he was mistaken for a blackbirder (slave trader). Patteson was by all accounts well-loved by the native people of Melanesia. He brought them the benefits of education and taught them the Christian faith, and won their deep respect because he didn’t force British ways and customs on the islanders but encouraged them to keep their culture. Patteson is still very well-known and honoured in Melanesia today. When I visited there in 2017 lots of people wore t-shirts with his name and picture on and children are often still given his name at baptism.
The Melanesian Mission UK is a charity which supports the work of the Anglican Church in Melanesia. In September they held their annual AGM at Exeter Cathedral, attended by the Archbishop of Canterbury. To mark the 150th anniversary of the martyrdom of Patteson, a new pilgrimage route has been established from Feniton (where he was born) to Exeter Cathedral, which has some of his relics; the pulpit there has scenes of his martyrdom is carved on the panels around it.
The Christian faith is very strong in Melanesia. There are several religious communities there, including the Melanesian Brotherhood, a monastic order that was founded by a Melanesian policeman, Ini Kopuria in 1925. It is a very popular community as men (there is also a separate order for women) can take vows for a few years at a time, rather than take vows for life. I was privileged to spend some time with them when I spent a few weeks in the Solomons.
Saints are not simply things of the past, and the Brotherhood has produced its own, modern-day saints. In 2003 seven members of the Melanesian Brotherhood were kidnapped as a result of ethnic conflict in the Solomon Islands. The Brotherhood had been very active, trying to persuade the various parties involved to lay down their weapons. They worked hard to restore peace and encourage disarmament. One of the Brothers went to negotiate with one of the leaders. When he did not return, six of the Brothers went out to find the one. None of them returned alive. They are martyrs because they lost their lives for love: for love of God, truth, justice, and their neighbour.
Like leaves from a tree, they turned and fell, but new growth came and the Brotherhood is as strong as ever. The winter of conflict turned into a spring of peace, thanks to the ministry and witness of the Christians inspired by Patteson. And it all started in Devon.
This year St Andrew’s, Colyton will be hosting a meeting of the Devon Companions of the Melanesian Brotherhood on Saturday 30th October. There will be a service at 11am followed by a picnic lunch and meeting. If you would like to find out more, you are very welcome to come along.
As always, there is lots going on in the six churches within the Holyford Mission Community, especially in the lead-up to Advent and Christmas. As I write, plans are coming together for the celebration of Branscombe’s Patronal Festival around St Winifred’s Day in early November—do keep an eye on our website or Facebook page for details, or the church notice board for services and events.
