Author: Worth Parish

Fr. Roger Brown writes..

Pewsheets

Yesterday I read the obituary of Dr. David Jenkins, the former Bishop of Durham.  He was a very radical, passionate believer and teacher.  I remember hearing him speak at the General Synod about our understanding of the Virgin Birth and the Resurrection. He said the Resurrection was more than ‘a conjuring trick with bones’, that he was ‘not clear that God manoeuvres physical things but was clear that He works miracles through personal responses and faith’.

Bishop Jenkins challenged simplistic clichés and the way we often use words without thinking what they really mean.  Of course he was mocked by the media especially at Easter when he was accused of not believing in the traditional statement about the bodily Resurrection of Jesus.  As a statement of belief it poses more questions than it answers. Words matter and we need to use them with care.
A phrase that is used so very often is speaking of a dead person as having ‘passed away’.  We don’t pass away or pass to the other side.  We die.  Even today people try to avoid speaking about death.  At the heart of Christianity is the belief that Jesus died for our sins.  He didn’t ‘pass away’ for them.  He died.

So let us make sure we do use words with care and conviction.

Fr. Roger Brown

A Thank You Video

Special Services

On September 4th, we came together in a parish-wide service at St Nicholas’ to celebrate the work that Anthony and Steve have done for us. At the service, members of the parish promised to help with various aspects of parish life, in line with our Parish Plan and vision. Many of the couples who have been married in the last two years returned to join us for this uplifting sung service, which was followed by a drinks and a barbecue afterwards on the Rectory lawns.

This video is just a little thank you for the work of Anthony and Steve and their families.

From the Rector…

Pewsheets

“Let mutual love continue” is a fittingly poignant scripture passage to have as a text for my final contribution to the column which goes online and in the pew sheet.

Our vision as a parish is to be a “Christian community growing in faith, hope and love” – and, as I am regularly reminded at weddings, St Paul declares that “the greatest of these is love” (1 Cor 13.13).  So, with the fifth anniversary of the Ball family moving in to the Rectory having just passed, I look back and recall my response to (I think) Bishop Mark at my interview.

Q. “What would you plan to do as Rector?”

A. “I’d want to love the people of the parish into a fuller experience of the joy of life in Christ” (or words to that effect).

Of course, I’ve failed more times that I’d care to admit.  But, even when struggling with parish admin late at night or perceived hostile comments, that motivation of love (received as well as given) has been a constant encouragement.  As another interregnum looms, I pray that I am not kidding myself in feeling there is a spirit abroad of greater confidence, a deeper sense of community and even some excitement amidst the anxiety for the future.  The fruit of mutual love, perhaps?

Going forward please, “do not neglect to do good and to share what you have”.  Most especially share, with each other and those who know it not, that precious gift of joy in the life of Christ.
Thank you for your love – receive mine.

+Anthony

Pewsheet for Week Beginning 28th August 2016

Pewsheets

Click here for the pewsheet for the week beginning Sunday 28th August 2016.

Tip: If this, or any other, PDF document opens at too large a size, here’s what you do:

  1. Open Adobe Reader, for example, by opening a *.pdf document you have on your computer.
  2. From the Edit menu, click Preferences.
  3. With Page Display selected in the left hand list of Categories, on the right hand side of the window, choose a Page Layout and Zoom level that suits you, for example Single Page and Fit Page.
  4. Now any time you open a PDF, it will open at this zoom level.

Pewsheet for Week Beginning 21st August 2016

Pewsheets

Click here for the pewsheet for the week beginning Sunday 21st August 2016.

Tip: If this, or any other, PDF document opens at too large a size, here’s what you do:

  1. Open Adobe Reader, for example, by opening a *.pdf document you have on your computer.
  2. From the Edit menu, click Preferences.
  3. With Page Display selected in the left hand list of Categories, on the right hand side of the window, choose a Page Layout and Zoom level that suits you, for example Single Page and Fit Page.
  4. Now any time you open a PDF, it will open at this zoom level.

Come and see bell ringing in action !

Pewsheets

heritageopendaysAs part of Heritage Open Days, we invite you to come to St Nicholas’ Church Worth RH10 7RT and see Bell Ringing In Action!  There will be tours, talks, exhibitions, refreshments AND a chance to climb the bell tower and see ringing in action!

Come along on one of these dates:

  • Thursday 8th September 7.30 – 9.00pm
  • Saturday 10th September 10.00am – 12.00pm Cream teas and cakes available
  • Sunday 11th September 2.00pm- 4.00pm  Cream teas and cakes available

From the Burstons…

Pewsheets

So here we are – not our last Service in the Parish – and having looked at our diary with several Weddings and the odd baptism in the coming months at St Nicholas’ – you won’t be getting rid of Steve completely for a while! But today is our last service at St Barnabas’. It wasn’t the wow of St Nicholas’ or the smooth words of Anthony that wooed us to the Parish. When we first visited it was the rather less salubrious setting of St Barnabas’ Church Hall.

3I6A0741 A (Steves Wife & Daughters)It was Liz who stood in it and said ‘What potential!’ And we – the Burston family – have been privileged in the past 2+ years to see God release only fraction of that potential – Messy Church and the Youth Club have been highlights for us – and we couldn’t have led them without the amazing volunteers many of you are. It is always dangerous to highlight one individual over another – however – we will in our last pew sheet. Not because this person is any better than anyone else, but because he embodies the quiet way many of you associated with St Barnabas’ go about his or her business.

Mark Dobson has volunteered at Youth Club since it began, every other Friday, wholeheartedly, quietly, humbly and loyally. After a busy week he turns up and serves 30 plus kids with love and encouragement. And that is the story and the potential of St Barnabas’. Clergy as you know – and probably on occasions are relieved to know – come and go, but all you Mark Dobsons (because there are many of you) are the air that breathes life into a place we dearly love and will dearly miss.

Steve, Liz, Grace, Alice, Lily and of course – Digger!!

August Hymns

Pewsheets

Hymns that will be sung this month (no choir) are shown below:

7th             The Eleventh Sunday after Trinity       

327           Awake, awake: fling off the night

641ii         Glorious things of thee are spoken

291           Christ is made the sure foundation (v.5, 7, 8, 9)

757           One more step along the road I go

652           Guide me, O thou great Redeemer

 

14th           The Blessed Virgin Mary  10am Parish Eucharist at St Barnabas’

258           O thou who camst from above

315           Sing we of the blessèd Mother

232           The head that once was crowned with thorns

602           Blest are the pure in heart

394           Tell out, my soul

 

21st           The Thirteenth Sunday after Trinity

766           Praise my soul, the king of heaven

520           Thine arm, O Lord, in days of old

132           O for a heart to praise my God

679           In Christ there is no east or west

814           Thy hand, O God, has guided

 

28th                  The Fourteenth Sunday after Trinity   

584           All my hope on God is founded

704           Let all the world in every corner sing

664           How sweet the name of Jesus sounds

695           Jesus, these eyes have never seen

238           Come down, O Love divine