As everyone will know by now, we will be back in Church for regu-lar services from the beginning of this month, and this will be a great joy! So many people have spoken to me about this, and to one another and others, over these last four months, and this is not at all surprising for we are, essentially, relational beings – one to another and, of course, in relation to God.
A lot has been written about the return to public worship lately, and there has been a great deal of discussion within the Church at local, Deanery, Diocesan and national levels about just what we have learned about “being church” during this period of lock-down, and how this might be incorporated/adapted into the church going forward. Suffice it to say that the next few months are going to be very interesting indeed!
As I have written, in prose and in poetry, these last four months have not been easy, and for many people have been desperately hard and sad, and there certainly isn’t going to be a quick or easy route back to “normality” and “business as usual”. In this respect we will all have to be getting ready and prepared for the “new normal” – whatever that eventually looks like.
In the meantime I look forward greatly to welcoming you back (whenever you feel ready) to worship in our beautiful Church – which has missed you all! Not since the beginning of the 13th Cen-tury and King John’s dispute with the Pope in Rome have the par-ish churches of this country been closed for an extended period – so we aren’t the first worshippers in Great Budworth Parish to have been locked out of church, but I sincerely hope we’ll be the last ones! And, for those of you who have been enjoying the weekly online services, please be assured that we’ll also be
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continuing with them twice a month, and will be signposting the Church of England’s online services for the other Sundays of the month.
Some verses which have sustained and encouraged me over these last few months (as well as some of the Psalms of course) are those from that very well known exhortation of Paul in his letter to those earliest Christians in Rome, who were themselves going through very difficult times: “Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will hardship, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?...........No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am con-vinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Amen to that!
May God bless each one of us, and all those whom we love, in this coming month.
The Revd Alec Brown.
Baptisms, weddings and funerals
Please remember in your thoughts and prayers all those who have had to
postpone baptisms and weddings, and those families for whom funerals
have been subject to so many restrictions. The following couples should have
been married this month but have decided to postpone their services till
next year: Lisa Forshaw and Darren Andrews, Chelsea Bratherton and Mike
Hathaway and Zena Finch and Gareth Jackson.
God in the Sciences
Parable: The Strength of a Seed
At this time of year we enjoy the fruits of our gardens, fields and hedgerows: vegetables ripen, crops are harvest-ed, and berries begin to show bright among the leaves. Much of this growth started with a few seeds in spring: the miracle of life coming from small dead-looking things. There is a league table of long-lived seeds. The winners so far are from the narrow-leafed campion, buried by squirrels in the Siberian permafrost over 30,000 years ago. When those seeds finally germinated, they became healthy plants that flowered and produced seeds of their own.
The Bible contains many links between seeds and spiritual growth, and the parable of the sower is the most famous (in Matthew 13). A person may hear or experience some-thing of God which has the potential to germinate into a life of following Him, resulting in the fruit of others coming to know God too. But things can happen that snatch that seed away, killing it before it has finished germinating, or choking its growth.
What about the knowledge of God that gets trampled, churned too deep in the mire of life to receive the warmth and light it needs to develop into faith? Buried seeds don’t always die, but they can lie dormant, remaining alive but inactive until the earth is turned over. The possibility of that moment of connecting with something divine, scrap of knowledge, or snatch of conversation resulting in a changed life may seem infinitesi-mally small, but it’s not zero. The seed may be incredibly tough, just waiting for a chance to grow.
The Gospel narrative plays on the fact that it took a long time for the disciples to under-stand the full implications of Jesus’ teaching: a germination process that took many of them three or more years. They could have been discouraged, but Jesus was not. I don’t think it’s too much of stretch to draw out of the parable of the sower to include the ob-servation that it can take a long time, sometimes decades, for people to work their way through the various barriers, sticking points, and phases of forgetfulness that may keep them from following through on their spiritual experience. When we finally receive – or are open to – the encouragement, challenge, or experience that helps our faith in Christ grow, we can experience the rich fruit of a transformed life.
This series is written by Dr Ruth M. Bancewicz, who is Church Engagement Director at The Faraday Institute for Science and Religion in Cambridge. Ruth writes on the positive rela-
tionship between Science and Christian faith.
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Financial outlook
Churches all over are going to struggle keeping their heads above water, and
this includes St. Mary and All Saints.
Weddings postponed, no collections due to no services, no revenue from
church teas, Summer fair cancelled.
Parish Share alone costs us £4860.50 per month! Please continue to give as
normal if you can. Either hold onto your envelopes until we can receive
them, use online banking or just send a cheque (Great Budworth Parochial
church council). We know this is a difficult time for everybody. Thank you
for your support. Margaret Cross
Light
Receive the light and let it be
The most important thing for thee
It cuts through darkness, so we find
There is great detail for the mind
Just take a leaf that you have seen
You can be sure it's not just green
But many hues and shining bright With detailed patterns in the light
And then the garden as it grows
Throws forth the colours of the rose
With gentle petals it can be
Pure beauty for this world to see
But when the light falls down on man
His soul's enriched with love and can
Receive God's power and have the grace
To brighten up the human race.
June Wright
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Continued on page 8
Opening of Church
As most of you will be aware by now, we are re-opening church for public
worship from 2nd August, and we are so looking forward to welcoming you
back. You will also be aware that things won’t be as normal.
We are maintaining the 2m social distancing advice. There is a one- way
system to be followed. Hand gel must be used on entering and leaving
church and should be used before receiving the wafer at Communion.
Communion will be in one kind only (the bread) and there will be no shar-
ing of the peace.
We won’t be kneeling at the communion rail to receive Communion. The
Vicar/Curate will let you know what to do and the churchwarden/s will be
there to help.
Unfortunately, we are not permitted to sing during the services, due to risk
of spreading the virus.
The children’s corner will not be in use, so if you are coming with your
child/children, please bring something small along for them to play with if
needed. I’m afraid they won’t be able to wander around the church due to
social distancing.
A Face covering, at the time of going to print, is not mandatory in church,
but we have been notified by the Church of England that it is strongly ad-
vised that the congregation do wear one. This is to protect other people as
well as yourselves.
We are expected to collect details of all attendees for the NHS Test and
Trace system. It is not obligatory, but we would appreciate your support for
this. There is a consent form which, you will be given at the service (you
may have received one electronically) to complete if you agree. We will
keep your details for this purpose only and will not share them with any-
body else. Data protection rules apply.
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Women of the Bible
Phoebe
Name means pure, radiant or bright
Romans 16 1-2
“I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a deacon, of the church at Cenchre-ae,so that you may welcome her in the Lord as is fitting for the Saints and help her in whatever she may require from you for she has been a benefac-tor of many and of myself as well.”
Phoebe is mentioned by Paul in his Letter to the Romans. She was a leading figure in the Church at Cenchreae. Paul probably met her on his third jour-ney. She was trusted by Paul to take his Epistle to the Romans and in all like-lihood would have also explained it to the Christians there. Paul refers to her as a deacon and a helper/patron of many.
Phoebe is introduced by Paul to the Christians in Rome. They do not know her so he sets out her credentials.
Phoebe is also described as a sister. She is generous, hospitable, one who stands by in times of need. She was also brave, travelling to Rome with such an important letter. She had the trust of Paul and was used by God.
If you are in need of a good lockdown read Paula Gooder has written a book “Phoebe – a story” Gooder uses her Biblical knowledge to explore Phoebe`s life and those of the Early Christians
From the Registers
Rest in peace:
Alan Chapman, whose funeral and burial took place in the Churchyard on 24th July, and
Alan Clifton, whose ashes were interred in the Churchyard on 24th July.
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Please be assured that during these strange and unprecedented times, the ministry
team are available to help where we can. If you are self -isolating and need shop-
ping or medication delivering, please give us a call.
We are available by phone or email or Facebook if you want to talk to us. We can
offer a chat or prayer or both. If you have Facebook, have a look at the church page,
@greatbudworthchurch and see Jenny’s blogs, Alec, and Christina leading worship
from their homes or gardens and the team leading prayers
James and John were stopped in their tracks as they beheld their Lord transfig-ured before them on the mount.
From 1436 Fra Angelico painted a whole series of frescoes for the con-vent from the High Altar to the Chapter House to the cells of the monks. Here in cell no 6 there is a restrained simplicity and directness about the Transfiguration. One of the three disciples looks out towards us, while the other two are caught up in wonder and awe as they look on Jesus with the faces of Moses and Elijah on either side.
Here Fra Angelico is not seeking to impress a wealthy patron: he is providing a focus for devotion and prayer for the monks of his communi-ty.
The scene speaks to us of that sense of awe and reverence.
On August 6 we celebrate the feast of the Transfiguration. The Gospel accounts relate that special moment of revelation to the inner group of disciples. The glory shown to them evoked a sense of wonder and mar-vel, but also a sense of loss. For the glory proved elusive and just out of human reach. The moment of revelation passed, and the disciples had to go down the mount again to meet the crying needs of the world, all but forgotten when they were with their Lord on the mountain top.
The monk in his cell would ponder the glory of Fra Angelico’s fresco, knowing that he would be called from his cell to take up his monastic du-ties. But the painting would go with him to sustain and nurture his life. It is the same with us: we have moments of glory. But they pass, and we must return to our daily lives. As we look on this month’s painting, we sense that glory and wonder which can sustain us through life. As Thom-as Jones says in his poem on this episode:
Like a pearl we hold
Close to our hearts
what we have heard and seen.
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Curate`s Musings
Dear Friends,
You will no doubt be aware that there are parts of the Church of England that do not accept the right of women to enter the priesthood or to hold the post of Bishop. That is their theology and the Anglican Church is a broad church which seeks to embrace all views. It was only in 1994 that women were admitted to the priesthood and Libby Lane was the first woman to be consecrated as a Bishop in 2015.
People outside the church find this concept of women being excluded from leadership roles difficult in an age where you cannot legally face discrimina-tion due to sex.
Women matter to God. Unfortunately throughout the history of the church that has not been evident.
On 22nd July it was the feast day of Mary Magdalene, healed by Jesus, she was one of his most loyal followers, remaining at the foot of the cross and meeting Jesus in the garden following his resurrection. It was Mary who told the other disciples about the resurrection earning the title “the apostle to the apostles”. She was however branded as a prostitute by Pope Gregory in the 6th Century with no Biblical support. St Paul is often quoted in the argu-ments against women in ministry yet he valued them, for example he en-trusted his Letter to the Romans to Phoebe- a woman.
Women matter to God. We all matter to God.
I think a huge problem is when the world views people as less. Everyone matters to God. He created each person on earth in his image. Everyone has value and God can work by grace through all of us.
God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who be-lieves in him should not perish but have eternal life. Everyone. Not a select few.
Continued over
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Everyone matters to God. Everyone should matter to us. Not just the people we like but everyone, irrespective of age or gender or views.
God places a high value on individuals.
Never feel that you don`t matter, because you matter to God and to us.
If anyone tries to put you down – look them in the eye and say “I am a child of God and I am fearfully and wonderfully made.”
You matter. Christina
Opening of Church continued from page 5
The toilet facilities will be open during public worship.
Due to the social distancing advice, we are having to limit the number of
people who can attend each service. We ask that you inform us by the Fri-
day prior to the Sunday services if you intend to come along and to which
service if there is more than one on that day.
This is not how we would wish to work, but we have to follow government
guidance. The limits we have set are 20 in number for 8.00am Holy Com-
munion if we use the choir stalls and additional seating, and 42 in number
for the 10.30am services, using the main body of the church, excluding the
side pews. We are trying to use separate areas for each service where
there are two on the same day, to keep the need for sanitizing to a mini-
mum.
there is a lot of guidance from the government to follow, and it is ulti-
mately in all our best interests to respect this. This is a sharp learning
curve for us all, Ministry Team included. We will work through it together.
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Continued over
God in the Arts
Editor: The Rev Michael Burgess considers ‘The Transfiguration’ by Fra Angelico. It is found in the Dominican convent of San Marco in Florence. Our graphic is from Wiki-media Commons at: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Transfiguration_by_fra_Angelico_(San_Marco_Cell_6).jpg
‘My Lord and my God’
TQ – Tingle Quotient – is the name given to those things that can produce a tin-gle down the spine or a frisson of excitement. It could be a piece of music or the sight of an evening sunset at sea. We look, we hear, and our sense of wonder as something sublime unfolds before us produces delight and awe. We see a hint of glory that can even lead us to worship.
I think the monk who lived in cell no 6 at the Dominican convent of San Marco in Florence must have felt that when he entered his room and saw for the first time the fresco of the Transfiguration that Fra Angelico had painted. I am sure the sight would have stopped him in his tracks, just as Peter,
