Newsletter: July, 2006

Good News

Jesus said, “Believe in the good news.” (Mark 1:15)

In the film Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, our hero is on a quest to find the Holy Grail. This quest is also a rescue mission; his father, who is a specialist in Grail studies, has been captured by the forces of evil who are also after the Grail, and Indiana must rescue him. The climax of the film takes place in a cave complex. Professor Jones Senior has been shot. He will die unless he can drink water from the Grail, the cup used by Jesus at the Last Supper, which is able to restore and prolong life. So Indiana must fetch the Grail, and save his father. The Grail is protected by a series of traps, which Indiana narrowly evades. Eventually, he finds himself on a rocky outcrop overhanging a deep chasm, thousands of feet deep. On the other side is the path he needs to take. There is no bridge — or is there? Indiana takes one tentative step, and finds himself not plummeting to his death, but on a narrow bridge. The bridge is invisible, but it is there for those who have the courage to step out into the void and walk as if it is there, believing against the evidence of their eyes.

Of course, Indiana finds the Grail and saves his father. And if you want to know where the Grail went after that, you will have to watch the film.

“Believe the good news,” Jesus exhorts his earliest listeners, according to Mark. The good news is that the kingdom of God is close at hand. In the rest of the first chapter of Mark’s Gospel we follow Jesus as he demonstrates what that means. He calls followers; he teaches with authority; he casts out demons; he heals the sick; he gathers crowds. The kingdom of God is a place where people are drawn to listen to the truth proclaimed; it is a place where the sick find healing; it is a place where evil has no power. This is the place where God is in charge, and Jesus proclaims that it is here, now. Not in the far distant future; not somewhere above the clouds; but here, now, among ordinary people in Galilee.

But of course Mark knows that it is not that simple. At the end of the chapter we find Jesus telling people not to tell others about him. Mark knows that Jesus was not the runaway success that one might have expected. Mark knows that Jesus’ influence seemed minimal, that the crowds were fickle, that the authorities were quick to act, and that Jesus was arrested, tried and executed. He also knows that the kingdom did not die with Jesus, that the power of evil proved ultimately ineffective, that there was new life for Jesus the other side of death. He is writing for people who know that too. He is also writing for people who know only too well that evil is still around, and still powerful. If the kingdom of God arrived with Jesus, how come worship in Jerusalem was under attack, the Temple perhaps already destroyed by the time Mark wrote his Gospel? How come Christians were being victimised? How come illness and death were an ever-present reality?

“Believe in the good news,” Mark has Jesus say. See it, hear it, and also believe in it. Take the step out over the chasm, walk forwards as if it were true, and you will find you are stepping onto the bridge leading to the kingdom of God. There is an act of will involved here, as there was for Indiana Jones in the film. Mark’s readers have to care enough, to want to follow Jesus enough, to take that step into the unknown and believe that they are in the kingdom of God, even when the evidence of their own eyes suggests otherwise.

Mark’s message is no less relevant for us. There is plenty of evidence that God does not rule in our world. If the kingdom of God drew near in Jesus’ time, it is tempting to suppose that it has gone far away again now. Sometimes it can feel as though lies and evil and sickness and death are winning. But like Mark’s first readers, we know that is not so. We know that although Jesus’ ministry was, on the surface, a failure, he won the most important victory of all, the victory over death. In the end, evil cannot win. In the end, we will see God’s kingdom for ourselves. Even now, we see signs, in acts of kindness and goodness, in situations where the truth is told, at times when we see wholeness restored. So we step into the void, and beneath our feet is the bridge, which takes us to God.

NEWS IN BRIEF
The musical Godspell will be performed at Staines Methodist Church from 12th to 15th July 2006. Anyone who is able to sing and read music who would like to be in the chorus should ring Ray Noble on 01784 459825 as soon as possible.

NEW VICAR
At the 9.30am service on Sunday 18th June, the Right Revd Ian Brackley, Bishop of Dorking, announced that an appointment has been made for the post of incumbent of the Parish of Englefield Green.

The Revd Mark Ewbank, currently working in the Parish of Chalfont St Peter in the Diocese of Oxford will take up the post following his Induction and Institution probably some time in the first half of September.

Mark was educated at Queen’s Oxford and Heythrop, London followed by Westcott House, Cambridge. In the late 1970s he was an Infantry Medic in the Rhodesian army. Following his ordination he worked in parishes in Bulawayo and for the last 6 years has been senior curate in Chalfont St Peter.

Mark is 47, married to Vanessa and has two children, Rosemary aged 18 and Robert aged 14.

We are delighted to hear of the appointment and look forward to his arrival with his family.

THE TOWER CLOCK
The Church bell should soon be ringing out again on the hour every hour as the final paperwork for the faculty application for the repairs to the tower clock has at last been submitted. This repair is a costly business and, although we had had one or two donations, more would be greatly appreciated. We have decided that the proceeds of the Summer Fair will help towards this repair so any way that you can support the Fair would help.

The Summer Fair is on the grass areas immediately around the Church on Saturday 8th July from 1.30 to 5.00pm.

BRIGHT HOUR
The Bright Hour will be on holiday for July and August and will resume in September.

SATURDAY AFTERNOONS
As you may know, we keep St Jude’s Church open for visitors each Saturday afternoon between 2.00 and 4.00pm. To do this safely and adequately requires at least 3 people at all times. To keep this running, we must have a rota of people who would take a turn — obviously the more offers we have, the less often each one would have to do. If you can help with this, say, once every two months, please contact the Churchwardens (telephone numbers are shown above) or by email to saturdays@stjudeschurch.info. Your help would be appreciated.

FROM THE REGISTERS
Holy Matrimony:
(10th June) Edward Kidson and Melissa Saunders.

Funeral:
(12th June) Gladys Nash, (13th) Peter Hales, (15th) Robert Smith.

FORTHCOMING EVENTS

COFFEE MORNINGS
There will be a Coffee morning in the Methodist Church porch on Saturday 1st July from 10.00am.

EVERY TIME I SEE THE SEA — life after the tsunami
Every time I see the sea… is Christian Aid's highly acclaimed art exhibition that goes beyond the who, where, when of journalism to explore the experiences of the tsunami's survivors - through photography, video, children's art and personal testimonies. The exhibition draws on the experience of Christian Aid's partner organisations in India, Indonesia and Sri Lanka, and the people with whom they work.

18th–28th July
The exhibition will be in Guildford Cathedral as part of a national tour. An online version of the original exhibition is at: http://www.christianaid.org.uk/ tsunami. One of the pictures commissioned by Christian Aid has been chosen by Time Magazine as one of the best photos of the year. The photograph, taken by Tim Hetherington, shows Muslim schoolgirls playing in the sea in Colombo, Sri Lanka, ten months after the tsunami. http://www.christian-aid.org.uk /news/media/pressrel/051220p.htm. For information contact: Becky Rust, Christian Aid rrust@christian-aid.org.

CALENDAR FOR JULY 2006