1 PARISH OF ALL SAINTS Newport North Ministry Area FEBRUARY 20 2 PARISH DIRECTORY MINISTRY AREA LEADER Revd. Rebecca Stevens Telephone 01633 852047 FOCAL MINISTER, ASSICIATE PRIEST Rev. Chris Watkins All Saints Church Telephone 01633 556583 ASSISTANT CURATE & ASSOCIATE PRIEST Rev F Jones CHURCH WARDENS M/s N Gibbon Mr Gabriel Brown PCC SECRETARY Mrs S Gillard TREASURER Mrs R Tate ORGANIST Mr J Schofield UNIFORM ORGANISATIONS: RAINBOWS Miss Lauren Moore BROWNIES Miss Lauren Moore GUIDES Miss Lauren Moore BEAVERS Mr Andrew Gordon CUBS Mr Kevin Woodman –Gough SCOUTS Mr Andrew Gordon CONTACT [email protected]WEBSITE www.allsaintschurchnewport.co.uk FACEBOOK www.facebook.com/AllSaintsNewport
Transcript
1
PARISH OF ALL SAINTS Newport North Ministry Area
FEBRUARY 20
2
PARISH DIRECTORY MINISTRY AREA LEADER Revd. Rebecca Stevens
Telephone 01633 852047
FOCAL MINISTER, ASSICIATE PRIEST Rev. Chris Watkins
I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and New Year. I found myself
reflecting this month on the Lord’s Prayer, and would like to encour-
age you to do the same.
So, can I ask you to find a time this month to reflect specifically on the
meaning found in the Lord’s Prayer. One way to do this is to say the
Lord’s Prayer slowly and think about each line using the prompts be-
low:
Our Father
God is our father
We are part of his family
Who art in heaven
Heaven is our home
The Father intercedes for us here
Hallowed be thy name
The Father is holy and He is perfect
We wish to be holy too, just like The Father
Thy kingdom come
We wait for The Fathers kingdom
We wait in hope for when he comes again
The Fathers kingdom is of peace, and true happiness
7
Thy will be done
Whose will are we seeking?
We do not follow our own will but the will of The Father
The Father wills us to be with him in paradise
On earth as it is in heaven
Our lives on earth are a taste of what awaits us in our heavenly home
Give us this day our daily bread
He gives us our daily portion. Just what we need.
We ask of him like a child asks his father
We hunger for God
Forgive us our trespasses
The father is always willing to forgive
We realise that we are in need of forgiveness
The father will run to us
As we forgive those who trespass against us
The Father has forgiven us, so we too must forgive each other
The Father is full of mercy, so we too must show mercy
When we forgive someone we show the love of The Father to that per-
son.
Lead us not into temptation
The Father leads us in the right direction
He leads us away from the things that will not make us happy
8
Deliver us from evil
Father, deliver us from all evil, and lead us to our true home
Amen
You might like to finish off with your own thanksgiving prayer,
thanking Jesus for teaching us this prayer and ask the Holy Spirit to
continue to inspire our hearts to help us call God our father.
I hope you find this as thought-provoking and challenging as I did.
Every Blessing,
Revd Becca
9
Chris Writes.
Over a number of years, I have been wondering about how, I and church congregation view and understand the significance of that part on the service we call, “The Peace”, and what is really means for the congrega-tion gathered together.
I can remember when we started to embrace this, then, new form of physical litany, in the 1970’s, and how some members of the congrega-tion where is worshiped at that time, found it quite an intrusion into the service, while others said, “what a good idea”. At that time the idea was to pass the peace to those who were near, and has over the years devel-oped into a movement around the church to greet everyone gathered. However, if we are really honest with ourselves, do we really under-stand the significance of ‘the Peace’ within our celebration of the Holy Eucharist?
Let us look first at what it isn’t, or perhaps more accurately what has it turned into?
It is not a time to stroll around the church and have chat about the weather, or enquiring, “how we are”, or the football scores and the ex-changing pleasantries.
So, what is the peace about?
Within the liturgy of the Holy Eucharist, it’s a solemn part of the liturgy where we share with each other the Peace of Jesus Christ our Lord. I thus wonder while we are queuing, greet one another, to share the peace that the solemnity of the act is lost; the transition into the Offer-tory and the Eucharist Prayer of Blessing and our worship thus interrupt-ed. The Holy Eucharist is very much one act of worship, and the litany, the singing of hymns, the readings, the sermon, the prayers and the passing of the peace is part of that whole, the Holy Eucharist is not bro-ken up into segments, it is one act of worship.
10
Let’s consider what this part, ‘the Peace’ is within the whole act of worship. The celebrant invites the congregation to share Christ’s peace, sometimes with some scriptural words of introduction, and then followed with ‘The Peace of the Lord be with you. (In some con-gregations this is a sign to run around kissing each other, and shaking one another's hands, in others it’s a sign to shake the hands of those close by).
Let us then quickly look at the significance of, ‘he Peace’. This greeting that the celebrant gives to the people. The celebrant is offering to the congregation the peace of Christ, the peace of God to the gathered people, it is therefore important to notice the placing of this greeting. The greeting is placed just before the offertory, the bringing of the gifts of bread and wine to the Altar, and not to be confused with the collection which is a separate thing.
As at the introduction to the service, the priest is issuing a greeting to us, and our response is important for we are joint heirs to God's king-dom, so to reply with those very important words, ‘and also with you’, we are reciprocating the same greeting, the same blessing, that has been given to us, we are, pronouncing a blessing on the celebrant as they have on us.
The purpose of these greetings is to show that we are in concord with one another, we are at peace with one another, and that can only be really be achieved by the peace of Christ. It is also significant that we are doing this before we offer our sacrifice to God in the offertory. For as Jesus said:- "if you are offering your gift at the Altar and there re-member that your brother has something against you, leave you gift there, First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift." (Matt. 5: 24.) This is an opportunity to be at peace with all, through Christ, for it has connotations of forgiveness of one another, forgive-ness that can only be achieved through Christ.
11
The imparting of a sign of peace by the shaking of hands or the "kiss of Peace" is not some new idea. It was medieval custom of handing the peace down from the Altar, from the priest who was celebrating the Eucharist, after he had kissed the Altar. It has, too, some other significance, the congregation wouldn't have participated in the com-munion, and they would only have a glimpse of the Host as it was ele-vated, so it was, perhaps, a kind of spiritual communion with Christ.
In days past it was the congregation’s part in the Eucharist. However, today it is the context of peace with one, another and Christ that we should partake in this act, and the passing of peace with each other is one way of showing our communion with each other, our oneness with Jesus Christ and each other.
I think it is important, too, that we try not to lose the continuity of the whole act of worship as we share the peace, so we need to be aware of the great gift that God gives to us in his Holy Communion, His body and His blood, and that the solemnity is not lost in the bus-tle of sharing HIS peace.
Chris.
12
Messy Church Christmas seems to creep upon us and this last Christmas was no ex-ception. It was summer, then autumn and then really quickly we were into the festive season and it was all go! This year we decided to move away from our Messy Christingle sessions we have had for a number of years and concentrate on Messy Nativity instead. We were very close to Christmas this year, the 21st. December, so lookIng solely at the Christmas story was lovely. We had a fantastic cardboard stable which needed to be coloured in and assembled. Much of this was done on the day, but not all. How-ever it was there for all to see and looked great. There were more of the lovely plaster of Paris figures to paint and little finger puppets of the Nativity story. The Christmas story, or the Nativity, was made vis-ible in the making of the finger game, where paper is carefully folded and re -folded and then numbered. A number is chosen and with the fingers of one hand, the paper is moved in and out until a picture matching the number given is found. A flap is lifted and a story told, this time, of course, the story of Jesus’ birth. Pretty baubles to make in many colours, and with a Christmas message on them, were very popular. As always we had an edible craft. The baby in the manger was built on a paper plate, using a paper cake case, filled with shredded cereal for the straw. Then the baby, which was a jelly baby (!) was laid on the “straw” and finally covered with a rolled out icing blanket, care-fully placed over him. Jesus was then liberally sprinkled with icing sugar!! On another table, the whole manger scene was cleverly de-picted by a lovely paper mosaic stable with the figures cut out in black. They could be hung on the tree or on a window to allow the light to shine through the figures. Our time in the church- our Messy Celebration- was slightly different as we had a story about an elf, who became involved in the Christ-mas story by meeting Mary, Joseph and the other characters and bringing in the baby. Many were involved in the story and took on their parts really well. As usual we sang some of our favourite carols including Away in a Manger and my favourite, Hark the Herald Angels Sing!
13
By this time we were hungry and so the Messy Grace was said and we all enjoyed a well - earned lunch. The session was a lovely lead in to Christmas as it was so close, only four days away, so I must thank all who helped in any way, when we are all so busy, to make the morning a success. It was a super way to begin the celebration of our greatest gift. The gift of God’s own son. This is what Christmas is all about. I hope you all had a great time and have a happy and peaceful 2020.
Frances.
14
PARISH NEWS IN BRIEF.
APPRECIATIONS.
A big THANK YOU to those kind people who gave money in “Memory
of loved ones” towards the cost of flowers to decorate the Church
for Christmas. Talking of money a big thank you to all the people
who gave money for Night Shelter, to all those who helped on Friday
nights and Saturday mornings to host our guests, and last but not
least to those people who kindly took home the linen to wash, and
the bags of rubbish. This is one way in which we can show Christian
love and charity to those who are worse off than ourselves.
SAFE GUARDING COURSE.
This will be held on Saturday 8th February starting at 10.00.a.m. this
course is for Church Officers and people who have dealing with
young people, e.g. people involved with Messy Church. If you are
connected to any activity that involves contact with young people
can you please ensure you have or have applied for a D.B.S. certifi-
cate.
COFFEE AND QUIZ MORNING.
Sadly over the last few months for various reasons numbers attend-
ing this event on the 1st Wednesday of the month have dropped and
consequently the amount being raised is falling. In an effort to im-
prove the situation Father Chris is suggesting we have a special retir-
ing collection on the First Sunday pf the month and trying to encour-
age more people to come along to the coffee mornings. The next
Coffee and quiz morning is on Wednesday 5th February following the
9.30.a.m. Eucharist service. Not only is raising money for a really
good cause but it is also a fun social event, you do not need a de-
gree to join in just be good at guessing, which is what most of the
regulars do.
15
SHOE BOXES.
We have supported this appeal for a number of years. Sue Bird &
Charmaine Parry have put a lot of work money and effort into the or-
ganisation of this. If we wish to continue with this, we need to look
at changing how we arrange the filling of the boxes, and the appeal to
which the shoes boxes go. Members of the congregation could fill the
boxes. This is done in many churches throughout the area, and we
could perhaps join with one of them. We need to consider this, If you
are prepaired to fill a shoe box put your name on the list in the nar-
thex.
THANK YOU
Sue and Charmaine would like to say a big thank you to everyone
who has contributed to the shoe box appeal. Please don’t stop do-
nating your shoes boxes, and please consider how we or if we contin-
ue with this. Meanwhile a very big
THANK YOU
Sue Bird & Charmaine Parry
DATES FOR DIARIES.
PLEASE NOTE A CHANGE OF DATE FOR UNIFORM GROUP SERVICE.
SATURDAY 1ST FEBRUARY. FUND RAISING EVENT. A NIGHT AT
THE MOVIES.
SATURDAY 8TH FEBRUARY. SAFE GUARDING COURSE.
WEDNESDAY. 26TH FEBRUARY. 9.30.a.m. Service of Holy Eucha
rist with imposition of Ashes.
19.30. Service of Holy Eucharist
with Imposition of Ashes.
16
Rota for February 2020.
Please note the changes from the Rotas that was issued in De-cember, and pick up a copy of the revised Rota from the table in the Narthex.
February 2nd. Candlemas.
Service of Christingle Candlemas & Holy Communion.
Welcomer: Uniform Group.
Reader: Uniform Group.
Intercessions: Uniform Group.
Server & Eucharistic Assistant: Clergy (Afternoon).
Teas: Sheila Gillard & Gabriel Brown.
February 9th. Third Sunday Before Lent. Holy Eucharist.
Welcomer: Wendy Well & Chloe Wells.
Reader: Jim Pritchard.
Intercessions: Clergy.
Server & Eucharistic Assistant: Alison Watkins.
Teas: Nicola Gibbons & Gareth Jones.
February 16th. Second Sunday Before Lent.
Welcomer: Bryn & Marilyn Parry.
Reader: Sheila Gillard.
Intercessions: Louise Perkins.
Server: Chris Spooner
Eucharistic Assistant: Jim Pritchard.
Teas: Jan Skinner & Andrea Wheeler-Jones.
17
February 23rd. Sunday before Lent.
Welcomer: Rose Tate & Jean Everett.
Reader: Ann Moore.
Intercessions: Gabriel Brown.
Server & Eucharistic Assistant John Watt.
Teas: Alison Watkins & Wendy Wells.
18
UP THE HILL AND OVER THE STEPS.
Over Christmas I was lucky enough to spend time away staying with
the family, and one of the days coincided with a Sunday which meant
going to Church. I was a bit apprehensive as it was a church which
some of the family had never attended before, and I wondered how
the little people would react, and it was in England. I was reminded of
this visit today when there were 4 generations of the Waters family in
Church, Dylan was so well behaved, on the Sunday I was away as I said
how would the girls behave in a strange Church, but they too were well
behaved. On arrival we were welcomed and given the necessary books
for the service, only they were not books, we had the weekly notice
sheets much along the lines of ours except that besides the details of
the happenings in the parish during the coming week there was a very
short meditation on the readings of the day, which happened to be on
the “Flight into Egypt”, and we were encouraged to take the leaflet
home with us and read the passage and think about it. The other
leaflet we were handed was the Order of Service for the day. It was 2
sheets of paper, folded in half and contained all the service including
the readings hymns, in order and instructions as to when to sit, stand
when the collection was taken etc, which meant anyone who was a
visitor could follow the service and know exactly where they were in
the service and what to do, so there was no chance of getting it wrong
or loosing your place.
As a matter of habit I picked up the leaflets and brought them home to
read, I found it very helpful to sit quietly and read the mediations only
in this case there were 2, and because they were short I manged not
loose concentration, and I found it gave me another slant on things.
The first meditation related the Church Family to the Domestic Family.
19
“If we say the Church Family is a Christian Family, then we can also
say our Church Family is a Domestic Church. A Community of faith
hope and love. The Trinity models for us what our own families
should like, communicating, giving, caring, and loving. This begins for
the human family with the marriage of 2 people, who give them-
selves in love to each other, and the birth of a child; a child born out
of love, nurtured with love and care and educated in the way to live a
good life. This reflects God’s work of Creation and teachings. Just as
coming together as a family for meals, talking with each other, pray-
ing as a family, and attending Church together the domestic family is
strengthened and helped to cope with situations which occur within
the family unit, so is the Church (Christian) family strengthened when
they come together to do the same, to pray together to share in the
Eucharist, to worship as a family, God’s Family on earth.
20
Michael G Ryan & Son Ltd Independent Family Owned Funeral Directors
Incorporating
Funeral Directors Louise Memorials 106 Malpas Road 74A/B Walford St
Funeral Directors We Provide the complete Funeral service with Respect, dignity and understanding.
24 hour personal attention 365 days a year We cater to suit the particular needs, faith
and Budget of each individual family. Distance and repatriation is not a problem.
Private Chapel of Rest Horse-drawn,Flatbed H.G.V. and Motorcycle Hearse available
Floral Tributes Catering arranged if required
Our Concern is your well-being
at a time when you are hurting most
Louise Memorials Headstones,Wooden crosses,Flower Vases, Remains Caskets
We provide the complete monumental service
Our concern is that your grieving is made less painful
21
Psalm 23 Garden coming to RHS Chelsea
The Bible Society has announced that “We’re absolutely thrilled to be working with award-winning garden designer Sarah Eberle, to bring Psalm 23 to life at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show in May 2020!”
The Psalm 23 Garden at RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2020, designed by Sarah Eberle, will offer visitors the chance “to stop, reflect, and feel refreshed”.
The Bible Society said: “This powerful psalm, with its visual image-ry of green pastures, still waters and the valley of the shadow of death, just cries out to be turned into a garden.
“We hope you’ll love it. And after the Chelsea Flower Show, the garden will find a permanent home at the Winchester Hospice in Hampshire, where it will be a blessing to patients and families.”
The Bible Society says it is also hoping that people will “join us in creating community gardens across the country inspired by the Psalm 23 Garden. You can do this outside your office, in your school grounds, or in your churchyard. Let’s get gardening!”
You can follow the project on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram and join us on the road to Chelsea.
22
Keeping love going
Here is some good news: the divorce rate has fallen to the lowest level for nearly 50 years. It seems that the many children of divorce have in their turn decided to stick at their marriage, and thus avoid the trauma of splitting up.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) data shows that divorce has decreased to the lowest level since 1971. That means that couples who married five years ago have experienced 50 per cent fewer divorces than couples who married in the late Eighties.
Family lawyers believe the reduction in divorce is due to the chil-dren of divorce wanting to protect their own children from the fi-nancial pressures and emotional devastation that a split family can bring.
Anxious and lonely? Come to church!
Young people who go to church are less likely to struggle with anxi-ety than those who do not go to church (22% compared to 33%.) Fewer church goers are also lonely and isolated (16% compared to 31 %)
In a survey almost one third of all young people reported feeling sad or depressed; this was compared with 18 per cent among young practising Christians.
The survey is published in The Connected Generation, commis-sioned by the Barna Group in partnership with World Vision. The full report can be seen at theconnectedgeneration.com.
The Rev Paul Hardingham considers self-discipline during Lent.
Lent Fasting
This month sees the start of Lent, the season of penitence, self-examination and fasting running up to Easter. Fasting can be a ne-glected discipline, but it plays an important part in the Christian life. Jesus began His earthly ministry by fasting in the wilderness for 40 days and He taught His disciples to fast (i.e. not if but ‘when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that it will not be obvious to others that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen.’ (Matthew 6:17,18).
Why Fast?
Firstly, giving up something in my life underlines my desire to put God first in my life. Secondly, fasting shows me how much I de-pend on things other than God in my life, so I can surrender my idols to Him. Thirdly, fasting encourages me to have a deeper hun-ger and dependency for God in my life. Therefore, fasting gives me space to humbly focus on God for His strength, provision, and wis-dom and results in a more intimate relationship with Christ. It also enables the Holy Spirit to reveal my true spiritual condition, lead-ing to brokenness, repentance, and a transformed life, with a heart more attentive to God.
How can I fast?
Usually fasting involves missing one or two meals during the day, although some can’t abstain from food for medical reasons. It might also include abstaining or limiting the time I give to televi-sion, alcohol or social media. However, Lent can also be a time to embrace new spiritual disciplines e.g. joining a study group, ‘random acts of kindness’, or giving more time to prayer and Bible study. Whatever you do, make Lent count this year!
‘Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.’ (Matthew 5:6).Top of Form
24
FUNNY FIVE MINUTES Adam and Eve
Adam and Eve had an ideal marriage. He didn’t have to hear about all the men she could have married, and she didn’t have to hear about the way his mother cooked.
Adam and Eve
Adam and Eve had an ideal marriage. He didn’t have to hear about all the men she could have married, and she didn’t have to hear about the way his mother cooked.
Love in a bag
I asked my nephew whether he bought his wife anything for Val-entine's Day, and he said he had bought her a belt and a bag. When I commented that I am sure she would appreciate them, he agreed: “Yes, and hopefully the vacuum cleaner will work better now."
Lot’s wife
The Sunday School teacher was describing how Lot's wife
looked back and turned into a pillar of salt, when little Jason
interrupted, 'My Mummy looked back once, while she was driv-
ing,' he said, 'and she turned into a telephone pole!'
25
SUDOKU PUZZLES
EASY
MEDIUM
26
CROSSWORD CLUES Across 8 Interrogated (Acts 12:19) (5-8) 9 ‘Burn it in a wood fire on the — heap’ (Leviticus 4:12) (3) 10 Tobit, Judith, Baruch and the books of Esdras and the Maccabees are part of it (9) 11 Science fiction (abbrev.) (3-2) 13 Clay pit (anag.) (7) 16 Went to (John 4:46) (7) 19 ‘Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to — your bodies as living sacrifices’ (Romans 12:1) (5) 22 David’s plea to God concerning those referred to in 14 Down: ‘On — — let them escape’ (Psalm 56:7) (2,7) 24 Royal Automobile Club (1,1,1) 25 How the book of Ezekiel refers to God more than 200 times (Ezekiel 2:4) (9,4) Down 1 Seas (Proverbs 8:24) (6) 2 One of the sons of Eli the priest, killed in battle by the Philistines (1 Samuel 4:11) (6) 3 Specialist in the study of the Muslim religion (8) 4 ‘Do not rebuke an older man harshly, but — him as if he were your fa-ther’ (1 Timothy 5:1) (6) 5 One of Esau’s grandsons (Genesis 36:11) (4) 6 Taking a chance (colloq.) (2,4) 7 God’s instructions to the Israelites concerning grain offerings: ‘ — salt to — your offerings’ (Leviticus 2:13) (3,3) 12 Confederation of British Industry (1,1,1) 14 ‘All day long they twist my words; they are always — to harm me’ (Psalm 56:5) (8) 15 The crowd’s reaction to Jesus bringing back to life a widow’s son in Nain (Luke 7:16) (3) 16 Disappear (Psalm 104:35) (6) 17 How Jeremiah was likely to die if he wasn’t rescued from the cistern where he was imprisoned (Jeremiah 38:9) (6) 18 What the prophets do to a wall, with whitewash (Ezekiel 13:10, RSV) (4,2) 20 Made by a plough (Job 39:10) (6) 21 Noah was relieved when the flood waters continued to — (Genesis 8:5) (6) 23 Jesus gave the Twelve the power and authority to do this to diseases (Luke 9:1) (4)
27 28
WORD SEARCH In New Testament times 40 days old was an important age for a baby boy: it was when they made their first ‘public appearance’. Mary, like all good Jewish mothers, went to the Temple with Jesus, her first male child - to ‘present him to the Lord’. At the same time, she, as a new mother, was ‘purified’. Thus we have the Festival of the Presentation of Christ in the Temple, 40 days after Christmas. Jesus is described in the Bible as the Light of the World, and so early Christians developed the tradition of lighting many candles in celebration of this day. The Church also fell into the custom of blessing the year’s supply of candles for the church on this day - hence the name, Candlemas. The story can be found in Luke 2:22-40. Simeon’s great declaration of faith and recognition of who Je-sus was is of course found in the Nunc Dimittis, which is embed-ded in the Office of Evening Prayer in the West.
Forty Days Baby Boy Public Appearance Mary Jewish Mothers Temple Jesus Purified Present Lord Festival
Presentation Light World Candlemas Simeon Nunc Dimittis Office Evening Prayer
