Lent, Coffee, People, Mothers, Baptism and Marriage

Those six words are an unlikely mix, but they all mean something about what's happening in our Church this week.


Lent


Our Lent courses this week will be tackling "Life, Death and Eternity". We'll be thinking about our experience of bereavement, or understanding of death and the life eternal, and thinking about the difference that also makes to our life now. It won't be easy, but it will be powerful and important.
Our reflections on the Station of the Cross continue at 4pm this Sunday.




Coffee


Our Coffee shop celebrated its third birthday last week. From left to right: Sheila, May, Pat, Anne, Denise, Lynne, Marie and Janie. All are among the helpers who celebrated with cake (and yes, coffee) last Tuesday.
It's open Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays 11-4.
Cappuccinos, fair trade goods, or home made soup with a crusty roll for £2.20. It's a sign of hospitality too - all are welcome - and we're grateful for it. Do drop by if you haven't been before. You could pass by into the church too perhaps, to light a candle for someone you love.

People
287 people came to our Mothering Sunday service earlier today. That's more people than have attended on a Sunday morning since the turn of the Millennium. I suspect it's the most people on a Sunday morning in the last 25 years.
Why mention that? Do 'bums on seats' matter? Of course, bums themselves aren't particularly important. But they do come with people attached. And we believe people are important and that there's something special people can get when they come to Church. So it's worth celebrating the fact that so many of us were there today.
'Mothering' is especially important too, so it was a beautiful service. And what a beautiful day too!

Baptism
Next Sunday, we're celebrating Philippa Green's baptism at the 2pm service. It's going to be beautiful and meaningful. We look forward to welcoming you if you're one of those attending and, if you're a Godparent or Sponsor, please make sure you're there that little bit early.

Marriage
Last but not least, our marriage preparation course starts tomorrow (Monday) evening at my house, 20 Gaynesford Road and continues on Saturday at Church in the studio. This is a vital part of taking marriage seriously and building a firm relationship for the future. It's also always a really enjoyable course, so that's something to look forward to.

Father Robert

Mothering Sunday

Time to get the flowers ordered by Interflora, or the chocolates from M&S...

Or you could come to Church on Sunday, where we'll be giving out a bunch of daffodils to everyone who is a mother or is like a mother to us.

Because the Church has been surprisingly subtle in its name. This isn't Mother's Day. it isn't just for Mothers. It is for people who bring the characteristics of Mothers. It's Mothering Sunday.

Yes, being a mother is powerful but it's not the only way. One quarter of women born in 1970 will never be mothers. 100% of men born at any time will never be mothers.

But we can try to be mother-like. To bring those characteristics to bear.

See Luke 13.33. "I was like a mother hen gathering her brood under her wings." Thus Jesus.

I'll leave the theological developments of that theme to you.

Join us at 10am on Sunday.

(What about the picture? It's by local artist Anita Klein and just seems to capture the spirit of Mothering. I can't say it's religious, but there's something special about it.)

Chapel on the Hill

As I write, there are more developments: Father John is with a diocesan representative checking out the snagging problems. Below is Ian, hard at work doing some measuring. He and Robin gave the electrics a thorough analysis last week.

Father Robert

Chapel on the Hill developments

Well, we're now "in": we've got the keys to the Chapel. See below Ian (churchwarden), Father John, Martin (churchwarden emeritus) and Bud (churchwarden extremely emeritus) check out the main space.
Yes, there are lots of teething troubles, but yes, it's also an exciting development for us.

I've just returned from the Chapel on the Hill now (Saturday afternoon), and Ian and our electrics man Robin have been checking out some of the circuiting. There will be work going on on all sorts of areas from now on. For example, I'm currently ensuring we get an address and a postcode! Even small things need attending to.

Meanwhile, of course, Lent continues.
Our Lent groups were brilliantly attended once again this week: we were dealing with our personal relationships, and this week, we're dealing with the wider world.

All part of Making the Difference .

And of course Stations of the Cross continue at 4pm.
If you haven't visited us before, you're always welcome.
Remember, our main worship is the eucharist at 10am each Sunday.

Father Robert
PS Thanks to everyone who filled in the "Signs of Growth" questionnaire. I'm sure it will throw up some fascinating information for the diocese and for every one of us.

Lent courses, Stations of the Cross

Our Lent courses are off and running now, and we had a great session about Values.
The lunchtime had 8 people and the evening course had 25 and we're expecting similar numbers on Friday, which is fantastic.
Here's a short-circuited version of one exercise:
What one value do you hold dearest of the following five?
Plain-speaking, caring for others, family, kindness, fairness.
Why are you drawn to one more than the others?
To what extent is this driven out of the Gospel? Can God build on your values, as they are, or do you need to adjust your sights?
Next week, we're thinking about how our values permeate our relationships. It'll be great and it's not too late to join.

If you join us at the Sunday eucharist (8am or 10am) this week, you'll be taking part in a mammoth diocesan survey about why people come to church. It's never been done on this scale before and should be really worth it. Eventually, the results will feed into academics at the University of London and it will tell us more about the heart of our church than anything done before.

Finally, do join us for meditations on the first three Stations of the Cross, at 4pm on Sunday. This is the first of the occasions when we consider Christ's final day. Quiet and beautiful, different members of the Church take it in turns to lead. This will be at 4pm every Sunday for the next five weeks.

Father Robert