Newsletter: January, 2007

Journey of Faith

“And all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers.” (Luke 2:47) )

Imagine that you are in a great cathedral, like Canterbury, admiring the architecture, reading about its history and soaking in the atmosphere of prayer, which has evolved over centuries. Suddenly you come across a group of people obviously having a lively debate. You want to find out who they are and what they’re talking about. You recognise the Dean of the Cathedral; the man in the purple shirt and dog collar is clearly a bishop and all the others look very wise and knowing and, look, is that the Archbishop himself approaching with speed and great excitement? At the centre is a boy, about twelve years old, firing questions at the older men and women about deep theological issues and the exact translation of a hard passage in the Bible. You realise this is no ordinary twelve-year-old, but who is he?

Who is this boy? Jesus, aged twelve, is in the Temple in Jerusalem discussing religion with Jewish leaders and showing such knowledge and understanding that all who hear him are amazed. Later the question will be “who is this man?” as all who hear Jesus continue to be amazed at his knowledge and authority. In the second chapter of St Luke’s Gospel we hear about Jesus at the age of twelve. It seems that Jesus has been developing a sense of who he is and of his special relationship with the God he will call “Abba”. He has been acquiring knowledge and understanding of the scriptures. And now he’s enjoying this opportunity to learn from others and discuss his own ideas and ask questions.

Just as we know so little about his first twelve, years, so too we have very little information about the next eighteen years until he is thirty and embarks on his public ministry. What was happening during those years? We are told that he grew in wisdom and perhaps he used this time to work out his own interpretation of the Law until he had a solid foundation on which to build that public life and ministry. The foundation that Jesus laid for himself was perhaps the summary of the Law, which we hear him declare in the Gospels: “Hear O Israel, the Lord our God is the only Lord. You shall love the Lord our God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.” and “Love your neighbour as yourself.” “There is no other commandment greater than these”, says Jesus. “On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.”

This is a time of resolutions and new beginnings: a chance to reflect on what it means for us to live out our faith. Paul too thought through his faith and what it meant to live it out in the world. When he wrote to the Colossians he suggested ways in which we would live if we truly loved our neighbour as ourselves.

Loving our neighbour may sound straightforward, but the illustrations Paul offers show that it presents a challenge to us to rethink how we relate to people. Loving our neighbour means showing compassion — compassion to people suffering through their own fault or who have shown no compassion for others. It means being kind — kind to everyone, not just those who are grateful and appreciative. It means being patient — patient when every fibre of your being is screaming out for action or change. It means forgiving others — forgiving even those we said we would never forgive.

Living out the commandments is not easy. Living the Christian faith requires commitment, discipline and a willingness to learn and grow. It may sound daunting, but we are not required to do this on our own. As we seek to love God and our neighbour (and perhaps ourselves) we are in fellowship with others on the journey. It is the great journey of faith.

FROM THE VICAR

January brings us to the start of a new year, when we begin to move away from the tumultuous international events of 2006. At a local level, there is much to look forward to in the coming year. A new initiative on the church extension is taking shape, and later in the year, I hope to invite Tony Hennessey-Brown, from Diocesan House, into the parish to give us all some inspirational guidance about a vision for the future and financing it. There will also be three solemn eucharists in the parish. The first is the transferred feast of the Epiphany on Thursday January 11th at 7.30pm when a group from the college will be lead by Sam Rathbone our organist to sing the setting. The other two will be Corpus Christi and, like last year, All Souls. These are the additions to the busy life of the parish which is repeated every year in the annual cycle. There are seven weddings booked in the church with more in the college chapel. There are two baptisms booked already and no doubt there will be more. There will also be funerals both in the church and the local crematoria. So St Jude’s will continue to play an active and visible part in the life of the village. May it be a blessed and peaceful year for us all.
Mark Ewbank

NEWS IN BRIEF
We were very pleased to welcome the staff and children from St Jude’s School to their Carol Services in Church on 11th and 12th December.

ALPHA COURSE
It was good to see those who turned up for the Alpha taster session in December.

The Alpha course begins on Tuesday 9th of January (7-9pm) for 10 weeks in St Jude’s C of E School Hall, Bagshot Road.

Each week includes a supper, video, and discussion groups. Topics for the course include: Who is Jesus? Why did Jesus die? Why and how should I read the Bible? Who is the Holy Spirit? Why and how do I pray? How does God guide us? Does God heal today? What about the church?

The course provides a welcoming and unthreatening environment for anyone wishing to explore the meaning of life. If you would like to attend, please contact Louise on 01753 833551.

Anyone wishing to be confirmed this year should attend this course (and have a word with the Vicar).

CHRISTMAS AT ST JUDE'S
Once again, the Crib Service at 4.00pm on Christmas Eve was the best supported over Christmas but lots of you came to the Carol Service and Midnight Mass as well.

Carol Singing went well as over 20 people turned up and raised about £65 in just over an hour. Well done to Ruth Hopkins for her powers of persuasion.

EPIPHANY
Epiphany (6th January) falls on a Saturday this year. It will be celebrated in St Jude’s on Thursday 11th January at 7.30pm with a performance of The Epiphany Mass by Joseph Haydn to be given by students from Royal Holloway. All are welcome.

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 Baptism:
(26th November) Matthew George Dargue; (3rd December) Yasmin Isabella and Casey-Jane Bishop.

Wedding:
(9th December) Paul Matthew Underwood and Alison Carol Pitt.

Interment of Ashes:
Nancy Newland Funerals:
(19th December) Ellen Scammell; (22nd) Phyllis Barnard.

FORTHCOMING EVENTS

METHODIST EUCHARIST
In the Methodist Church, in special cases and where there may be a shortage of clergy, it is sometimes possible for a lay person to celebrate the Eucharist. In our united church, we have one such person in Pastor Linda Ashford.

Advice had been sought from the Diocese and considerable discussion took place at the November meeting of the Church Council where the almost unanimous decision was to accept the advice of the Diocese to approve this part of the Methodist tradition in the spirit of the United Church.

The Diocesan advice is that there must be an Anglican Communion service available at another time on the day, the service to be taken by the Lay Pastor must be the Methodist Eucharist and notice of at least one week must be given.

We would therefore bring to your attention the fact that the 9.30am Holy Communion on 7th January will be celebrated by Pastor Linda Ashford. There is the 8.00am service on that day (according to the Book of Common Prayer).

COFFEE MORNINGS
There will be a Coffee Morning in the Methodist Church porch in Victoria Street on Saturday 6th January from 10.00am. All are welcome.

Coffee Mornings outside St Jude’s Church will take a break now until April or perhaps May. Many thanks to all of you who have supported these.

CALENDAR FOR JANUARY 2007

Back to 2007

Back to Newsletters