7 T H DECEMBER 2014

Twice this year I’ve had fun with a

bunch of old German. We needed

two ancient texts from a JS Bach

motet and a JS Bach chorale trans-

lated into more singable, modern

English for the Abbey Choir. It gave

me an excuse to listen to Bach on a

rainy afternoon and somewhere in

the back of my mind this was me

collaborating with Johann Sebas-

tian Bach himself; although he was-

n’t actually in the room.

But it gets better. Myself and the

actors for The Malmesbury Nativity

have eight scenes to prepare in the

next few weeks. You may have no-

ticed that the prologue changes

each year. In 2012 Grandma and

Grandad were discussing how

Christmas gets earlier ‘every year’,

until Grandad fell asleep listening

to the football results. (Queen of

the South 4, King Athelstan 5.) In

the 2013 prologue Grandma had

passed away and Grandad was sit-

ting quietly on his own, too sad to

open his Christmas cards, until vis-

ited by his daughter Hannah

(Twynnoy) and his grandson Billy

(William) In the 2014 prologue Han-

nah’s husband is serving overseas

in the Army and Hannah is very

close to her due date. So our mini-

soap opera continues, but yet again

scenes 3,4,5 and 6 are totally un-

changed. Not a word cut or added.

We entirely trust the text itself be-

cause most of it was written by St

Luke and the rest (the Magi bit) was

written by St Matthew. We get to

collaborate with two of the gospel

writers. That beats even Johann

Sebastian Bach.

So now a question. What do you

believe abut the word of God. Do

you believe ‘the word of God is liv-

ing and active, sharper than any

double-edged sword’ as the writer

of Hebrews does? (Heb 4:12) I do.

Now another question. Is the word

THE MALMESBURY NATIVITY Vicar’s Blog

of God any less active if the words

are spoken by an actor in a costume

or does it have to be a vicar at a lec-

tern with a funny voice? (And have

you noticed how many Anglican

clergy seem to have been taught to

speak rather oddly?)

This is the very heart of The Malmes-

bury Nativity. Four young Wiltshire

undergraduate and post-graduate

actors are given St Luke and St Mat-

thew as their texts. And in each of

the last two years about 1,250 have

encountered the word of God– liv-

ing, active, Spirit-breathed.

Bring everyone you know, bring

your neighbours, bring your family,

bring your butcher, but above all,

bring yourself.

The Malmesbury Nativity

Dec 20th at 4pm & 7pm

Dec 23rd at 4pm

Christmas Eve at 4pm & 6pm

Tickets £2.50 (Adult), Children free.

NEXT SUNDAY: Dec 14th

8am BCP Holy Communion

10.30am Holy Communion

4pm Informal Worship,

Junior Church & The Grid

6.30pm Nine Lessons & Carols at

Brokenborough with

Bishop Mike

ABBEY DIARY

THIS WEEK

EACH DAY 9am Morning Prayer

WED 10th 10.30am Communion

THUR 11th 10.30am Time for Chat

7pm Choir Practice

FRI 12th 10am Primary School

Christmas Service

6-9pm Late Night

Shopping

SAT 13th 10am The Meeting Place

THIS SUNDAY: December 7th

8am BCP Holy Communion

10.30am Holy Communion

4pm Informal Worship,

Junior Church & The Grid

6pm The Mix at IMPACT in

Swindon

ADVANCE

Advent & Christmas diary on the back

page and in the brochure.

After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time

of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem 2 and

asked, ‘Where is the one who has been born king of the

Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to wor-

ship him.’ 3 When King Herod heard this he was disturbed,

and all Jerusalem with him. 4 When he had called together all

the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked

them where the Messiah was to be born. 5 ‘In Bethlehem in

Judea,’ they replied, ‘for this is what the prophet has written:

6 ‘“But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,

are by no means least among the rulers of

Judah; for out of you will come a ruler who

will shepherd my people Israel.”’

7 Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from

them the exact time the star had appeared. 8 He sent them to

Bethlehem and said, ‘Go and search carefully for the child. As

soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and

worship him.’ 9 After they had heard the king, they went on

their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went

ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child

was.10 When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. 11 On

coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother

Mary, and they bowed down and worshipped him. Then they

opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold,

frankincense and myrrh.12 And having been warned in a

dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their coun-

try by another route.

Additional Reading: Isaiah 60:1-9

MATTHEW 2 :1-12

DA I LY READ INGS 1. Take some time to discuss to-

gether what you heard on Sun-

day.

2. From this passage name at least

five discipleship characteristics of

the Magi that can inform our

own discipleship.

3. Discuss them further and decide

which is the most pressing chal-

lenge for yourself and for us as a

congregation.

4. (v11) The Magi bowed down and

worshipped. If one of you is

physically able encourage them

to bow before God for a minute

in silence and then discuss how

this feels physically, emotionally

and spiritually.

5. (v12) How might God warn you?

6. Prayerfully decide together

which of your neighbours or col-

leagues you are going to invite

to a Christmas service at the Ab-

bey.

DISCIPLESHIP

Monday

Psalm 144

Isaiah 30:1-18

Matthew 14:1-12

Tuesday

Psalm 11

Isaiah 30:19-end

Matthew 14:13-end

Wednesday

Psalm 10

Isaiah 31

Matthew 15:1-20

Thursday

Psalm 73

Isaiah 32

Matthew 15:21-28

Friday

Psalm 90

Isaiah 33:1-22

Matthew 15:29-end

G IV ING

To regularly support the mis-

sion and worship of the Abbey

with your Christian giving

please contact Alan McAdam at

alan@malmesburyabbey.com

ABBEY GU I LD C IV I L WAR DRONE

This Monday, wind permitting, the

Wiltshire Archaeological Field Unit

will be returning to the Abbey with

a camera on a flying drone to at-

tempt to take footage of civil war

damage at higher levels. We didn’t

want you to think the Abbey was

being attacked if you saw this as you

passed by.

Please come and join us for Christ-

mas Songs of Praise on Tuesday 9th

December at 2.30pm in the King’s

Church, Abbey Row followed by tea

and mince pies. All are very wel-

come.

8AM BCP S ERV ICE M I SS ION G IV ING

From Sunday 4th January 2015 our

8am BCP Communion at the Abbey

will be moving one hour later to

9am. Exactly the same service, quiet,

17th century English, but at a new

time to encourage a few more faces.

The vicar and churchwardens will

review this new time in the summer

of 2015 so please give us any feed-

back as this new time settles in.

In 2015 the Abbey PCC has allo-

cated £7000 to External Mission. In

2014, as well as supporting Janet

Parke in Zambia, Charlotte Price in

Australia and Phil Williams of Chris-

tian Skaters UK , we also supported

congregational members making

mission trips to Africa, Eastern

Europe and elsewhere. If you would

like support in 2015 please e-mail

Neill before January 15th to discuss

this further.

PRAYER FOR PERSECUTED CHRISTIANS

ABBEY SKATE & NEW WINE 2015

James Cole will inform us of his recent trip to Israel and the West Bank where

he met with local Christians and learned about the situation in the Middle

East. Join us at 18 West Street on Monday 8 December at 7.30pm to find out.

Enquiries 01666 826666 // Box Office 01666 824339

office@malmesburyabbey.com

www.malmesburyabbey.com

issuu.com/malmesburyabbey

For your diary the dates for Malmesbury Abbey Skate 2015 are February 18th-

20th and the dates we are attending New Wine (Week 2) are August 2nd-8th.

The Christmas Story For young Children

(Under seven)

Sunday 21st Dec

at 3pm

Get a free ticket!

2014 ADVENT & CHRISTMAS DIARY

Nov 30th Advent Sunday, 8am & 10.30am Holy Communion

4pm All-age Communion

6.30pm Advent Carol Service by Candlelight

Dec 5th 7.30pm Acoustic Nine Lessons—Gareth Davies-Jones

Dec 6th 7.30pm Malmesbury Community Choir Concert

Dec 7th 8am & 10.30am Holy Communion

4pm Informal Worship with Junior Church

Dec 12th Malmesbury CE Primary School Christmas Service at 10.30am

6-9pm Late Night Shopping—open for mince pies etc

Dec 13th Malmesbury Singers Concert at 7.30pm

Dec 14th 8am & 10.30am Holy Communion,

4pm Informal Worship with Junior Church

Dec 17th Malmesbury School Carol Service at 7.30pm

Dec 20th The Malmesbury Nativity (4pm & 7pm)

Dec 21st 8am & 10.30am Holy Communion

3pm The Christmas Story for Young Children

6.30pm Service of Nine Lessons & Carols by Candlelight

Dec 23rd The Malmesbury Nativity (4pm)

Christmas Eve The Malmesbury Nativity (4pm & 6pm)

11.30pm Midnight Communion (Carols from 11.15pm)

Christmas Day 8am BCP Holy Communion

9.30am Holy Communion

11am Family Celebration

12 noon Coffee & Champagne (bring a bottle!)