Dear Friends,

First, a few 'thank yous'. The church's Art Festival, held this year over the Jubilee weekend, made a total profit of around £1800, subject to a few further expenses. We should be grateful to all those who worked so hard, in particular the organiser, Ernest Bradley, the 'tea lady' Tyrrel Bingham, and Jules Shaw, who brought together all the outside attractions. There were many others in what was very much a team effort. It was particularly gratifying to see a lot more people helping with the mammoth task of hanging the more than 500 pictures. And Winne Weldon has decided to retire as a sidesperson after many years in post, so thank you to her.

Sylvia and I have just begun this year's Start! or 'new Christians' Course, meeting on Sunday evenings at 7.30pm at our home, 2 Kirkstead Abbey Mews, Thorpe Hesley. Most people today, at best, have only a 'Sunday School' knowledge of Christianity, the majority far less than that. The aim of the evenings is to learn a little more of the basics of Christian belief and to discuss this is in a non-judgemental setting. That is, no particular level of commitment or of knowledge is assumed, either at the beginning or the end.

Dear Friends,

Newspapers do not usually print anonymous letters but in one recent instance the 'Church Times' did. One can understand that the writer might not have wanted his Vicar to associate the sentiments expressed with him or her! Here is part of what was said.

“The Church of England operates a two-tiered society where clergy and their concerns take precedence over anyone else. This does not communicate an affirmation of the many volunteers who keep the Church of England going

 

The Church is in crisis over the future of its ministry. We are becoming an increasingly volunteer-led organisation, and it is imperative that the Church grasps the implications of this change in terms of pastoral support and inclusive affirmation of the laity . . . There is a lot of fawning and flattery over those who are ordained, as though their very status made them a cut above us all. Now that we are in crisis over ministry numbers, we cannot afford to maintain this attitude.

Peter tells us that we are all a holy priesthood and that we are all able to offer sacrifices acceptable to God (I Peter 2: 5).”

Unsurprisingly, perhaps, I didn't like the phrase about 'fawning and flattery'. But this was not because it isn't true, but because, to an extent, it is. Vicars are treated, most of the time, with a degree of

Dear Friends,

First of all, many thanks to all those who shared our 45th wedding anniversary with us on Palm Sunday morning. It made a lovely occasion. And thank you too for the flowers and gifts. The rose has gone into the garden this afternoon.

I am writing this well in advance due to holidays. I know Jim thinks I am away far too much already! But current clergy now have six Sundays off a year, more than I have ever had. Soft, the younger generation! Anyway, this will account for the fact that anything that has happened since Easter won't have registered with me.

For Christians, what happens after Easter is the hard slog of being a believer in the world. One version of our Lord's final words to his disciples (in Acts chapter 1) is this: “you will receive

Dear Friends,

Why are you a Christian? There are many possible answers to that question. But one, surely, has to be that Jesus is alive and, in one way or another, a present reality to you. If he is merely a dead prophet – like Mohammed, incidentally – then he may be revered as a wise teacher, but you cannot believe in him, you cannot find him a present help. There are at least two reasons for accepting that Christ is alive. One is implied in what I have just said, our personal experience of him through prayer, worship etc. The other, however, is objective. Quite obviously, someone who 

Dear Friends,

Lent is nearly upon us. The days when it was observed by strict fasting are long gone. And, I must admit, I find it hard to stick to miserable hymns for the necessary five weeks! It is much more sense to make positive use of the season. I heard on the radio today an interesting physiological explanation for why diets never work. Perhaps a more obvious reason is that we can't stick to them very well. The same is true of New Year's resolutions. Remember yours? They are probably history. Well, Lent can be a sort of Christian New Year, but with the advantage that it's only a few

Dear Friends,

On Christmas Eve Wentworth Church has held a carol procession by candlelight ever since I started it way back in 1992. In that year 110 people came and, evidently, enjoyed the experience because they have kept coming back, year after year. The general trend since then (except when snow and ice have intervened) has been upwards and in 2010 the attendance was 275. But this last Christmas there was an exponential jump in numbers and the church was absolutely packed (and that is not an exaggeration! We actually ended up with families turning away at the door). We counted the candles we gave out, and there were 425. Amazing! And a record for an act of worship here, surely? As well as a wonderful start for Christmas for those who came, especially for the children. £550 was donated afterwards and this was given away, as it always is, this time split 50/50 between Crisis at Christmas (who work with the homeless) and Bluebell Wood Hospice. Mark Wigglesworth, the Bishop's Evangelism Officer, says that

Dear Friends,

It is really illogical to regard a single date as a new start, but we do, most of us, think of New Year in that way. The church's calendar supports this as, during the first few months of the year, we shall be recalling our Lord's baptism and then his presentation in the Temple. The latter was rather more like the way families use baptism today, the time when parents brought their babies to church in an act of thanksgiving.

What will 2012 bring? We think we know and may already have booked things like holidays. But in fact, of course, we don't know if we shall be doing any of the things we imagine we will. Even in the 21^st Century, life is uncertain. I am sure you know the lines which follow, though perhaps not the

Dear Friends,

An encouraging discussion was held at Harley Mission (the church's proper name) last month. Of course there were one or two items of business to dispose of, such as what to do about the sycamore trees growing near the building, but most of the time was spent talking about how to reach out to the community and to make our worship more attractive. One or two conclusions were that:

• coffee will be served after all services, not just once a month, giving an opportunity to chat and get to know each other better;
• whenever there is a 5th Sunday in the month, as there is in January, we shall have informal worship in the church room;
• we may try to vary the communion service more, as the book ours is based on has lots of choices;
• Corinne, one of our Sunday School teachers, would like to explore starting a village choir for young people.

You may wonder what does go on inside a church. Well, come and find out, and give us your opinion about how we could do things better.