Rector's Letters - St Nicholas Church, Barton-le-Clay

December and January

It is only the end of October, but I am trying to get my head round writing for the December / January edition of Outlook, which you are now reading, 6-8 weeks later.

We live in such a fast moving world that what might be in the news as I write will be long gone from it by the time you get to read it. It's no use reflecting on autumn, because it could be mid winter - maybe even snow will have fallen - before you get round to this article.

Yet in all this, there is actually a celebration that has stood the test of time - no I'm not talking about the winter solstice or the New Year jollifications, but Christmas. I'm not thinking here about tinsel, trees and Nativity Tableaux, for all of these have fads and fashions attached to them but the timeless truth that is at its heart.

That timeless element of Christmas is not even the date fixed for it - 25th December (which was actually decided on long after Jesus incarnation). The essence of Christmas is succinctly expressed in one of the most beautiful and profound verses of St John's Gospel 'For God so loved the world that He gave his only Son, so that anyone who believes in Him may not perish but may have eternal life'. (Chapter 3 verse 16). It's the whole "deal" which makes Christmas so important. To think Christmas without remembering Good Friday and Easter robs Christmas of its true depth. The nativity story has no significance without the perspective of what God was up to and the purpose behind the coming among us of Jesus.

Sadly many who throw themselves vigorously into the traditions and celebrations of the season lose sight or never have known that the core of it all is a message of hope and redemption. Singing a few carols, over indulging or having a binge of goodwill and present giving/receiving is no substitute for reflecting - even only briefly - on the goodness of God and his care for us, his children.

I hope you will have time in the run up to Christmas to reflect on this truth and personalise it to yourself. it will make such a difference, give such an added zing to your celebrations. After Christmas, as the decorations come down, let the wonder and joy of John's wonderful words continue to resonate in you, giving you continuing hope and peace of mind and heart.

Best wishes
Graham Newton

October

In August, Angela and I fulfilled a long-held dream - to attend the passion play held in a small German village called Oberammergau. In 1633 the plague hit the village and those villagers who had not succumbed to its first ravages pledged that, as an act of penitence and statement of faith, if the dying stopped, they would perform a play about our Lord's suffering and death every 10 years. It did and they have fulfilled that vow every 120 years since then, starting in 1634, changing to the first year of each decade in 1680. In all that time they have only failed to perform twice - in 1770 and 1940.

The village has a population of about 5,300 now and almost every family is involved in the play - some 2500 people (about 1000 adults, 550 children, a chorus of 50 and an orchestra about the same size, to say nothing of donkeys, horses, sheep, goats, chickens, doves and even camels). The purpose-built theatre has a stage big enough for all these to be on it at any one time e.g. the entry into Jerusalem or the Trial of Jesus before Pontius Pilate. The play is performed 3 times each week between May and October and in that time some 500,000 people will attend from all over the world. Each performance begins at 2.30pm and ends about 10.30pm with a 3 hour break for people to eat etc. Of course everything is done in German, but the planning and care to help the thousands of non-Germans to be able to enter into the experience was amazing and, of course, virtually everyone there knew the story!

The facts alone have a "wow factor" to them. However this was not merely a theatrical extravaganza. At our performance (and I am sure at all the oters too)(the sense that we were not an audience but participants alongside the apostles in the passion of Jesus was palpable. I am not ashamed to say that I felt the impotence of the apostles to help Jesus, and my tears flowed as Jesus was beaten, dragged to the cross and nailed to it (the sound of hammering nails and the baying crowd of nearly 1000 was shattering). Equally moving was the tenderness with which the apostles removed the body from the cross and carried it away for burial.

The text is reviewed for each decade's performance to keep it relevant to the world it is being offered to. They are always concerned to keep it true to the gospels. They had given particular consideration this time lest it be seen as a source of encouragement to the anti-semitic tendencies that are around in Europe today. The play showed, in a way which I believe is central to the Gospel narratives, how Judas, the Jewish hierarchy, Pilate, the apostles and the general populous were all in their own ways imprisoned in their own cultures and their culture's perceptions of Jesus. It challenged us all to reflect on the ways in which we are all in danger of crucifying goodness because of our own imprisoning perceptions.

After the performance Angela and I were too emotionally exhausted and spritually moved to talk to anyone. Such words as "amazing", "powerful", "uplifting", "harrowing" were all true but none were enough. It actually took a couple of days before we began to find the words to talk about our feelings. I hope I have been able to give you a flavour of the Oberammergau experience. I so strongly commend it to you - for 2020.

Graham Newton

July 2010

Dear reader

Yesterday we held our annual parish conference. As at previous conferences, there was a lot of laughter, a lot of food, a lot of getting to know you, loads of discussion and lots of ideas for the future. This year our conference title was "Every-one's welcome" and we tried to hear each other's good stories and horror stories about how welcoming or otherwise had been the experience of those at the conference, learn what lessons there were to be had from those experiences and make suggestions for the enhancement of the welcome offered at St Nicholas.

We had prepared for the conference by circulated a questionnaire among the congregation and its results were fed into the discussions too. I was surprised and pleased to discover that of the 17 questions asked, only 3 did not have a 2/3 consensus about the question - despite the fact that I had framed the questions to allow as broad a response as possible. It would seem that all who replied are genuinely aware that, as God welcomes us as His children, so we should respond with welcome to our brothers and sisters in humanity and in the community.

I hope that by now I have whetted your appetite to know what are the suggestions for future action that came out of the meeting. Here they are (in no other order than the one they were presented in):-

That we set up a team of people whose priority is to welcome any newcomers and make them feel at home - whether that means helping them with what's happening through the service or leaving them alone if that is the need of that person (this was suggested by two different groups
That we have bring and share lunches with interesting speakers but with lots of time to get to know each other. These would be open to church and non-church alike and advertised accordingly. (this was also suggested by two groups)
That we find ways for Christians living and worshipping in the village and those who worship elsewhere to come together and worship together.
That we resurrect the provision of welcome packs to be delivered to newcomers to the village giving loads of helpful information, both about church life and about what goes on in the village.
On the Sunday afternoons in July and August we are going to offer refreshments to those who are going walking in the hills (from last year's conference). The church will be open for anyone who wants to go in and have a look (or to pray).
That we have a breakfast for the ladies in the same way as the men do and which is proving so successful.
That we have occasional (e.g. 5th Sundays in the month when they happen) pre-service breakfasts as an informal opportunity to get to know each other better.
That we discover and respond to the needs of people in the village for e.g. marriage preparation or enrichment, or social events for the bereaved, or....
That we look critically and imaginatively at what someone coming to St Nicholas for the first time meets, sees and feels and try to adapt what we do to make it as stress-free as possible.

Well that is quite a list and has plenty to keep us busy for a year. Of course, if you have another idea, you can always pass it through to me and we can add it to the mix. We want everyone to know and feel that everyone really is welcome at St Nicholas.

Graham Newton, Rector

June 2010

Dear reader

I have recently been dealing with the question - are we in the era of the end of the myth of God? The evidence most often cited to support this assertion being, firstly, the steady decline in church attendance, and second, the observation that the vast majority of church attendees are 50+ with the presumption that it will soon die out. Of course, if God were a myth then there would be no permanence - either in the Christian Church or the other Abrahamic faiths. So the very fact that we are part of a continuum that goes back several thousand years is indicative that He is no myth, but a reality that we have been engaging with and who has been engaged with us for an awful long time.

We are, then, faced with questions about why there is a decline at the present time and what we can do to counter the trend of decline. There is, currently, a fashion to move away from organised religion, but this is not a global event. In many places in the world there is a growth and not a decline. So what can we do to buck the national trend? We have to recognise that, compared with many places, we here are in a good place to do just that - we are set in a community that has a real sense of belonging and that people, by and large, value = ours is a viable community with community assets, like schools, a surgery, pubs, shops, a library, churches and ( for good or ill!) a resident priest.

We have buildings that are fit for purpose and are aesthetically pleasing. OUr base group (congregation) is varied (men, women, children, all ages, white collar, blue collar and retired) yet with a common and shared identity. So we do have a lot going for us. What more, then, can we do? I could share my specific ideas, but I'm going to save them for the Parish Conference on June 13th from 1pm to 3pm at St Nicholas Church Hall. The essence of a strategy needs us to be welcoming, open to fresh possibilities and ideas, and flexible in new ways of welcoming those who come in through the door, and fresh possibilities, ideas and ways to worship and love and support each other. Please come along to the Parish conference we value and need the contribution that is uniquely yours.

Graham Newton, Rector

May 2010

Dear Reader

Do you think society is changing? I do; and paradoxically I think it is changing both for the better and for the worse. It pleases me and I want to affirm a society that abhors prejudice. I would be delighted on the day that all laws against prejudice were abolished BECAUSE they were redundant because everyone had become colour/race/gender/creed/etc blind. I do think we are getting better at that morally healthy sort of blindness although I acknowledge that we still have a long way to go. It does please me when I see at least the buds of genuine acceptance of diversity in our society.

For me Jesus is the exemplar of the sort of inclusiveness that I believe to be a hallmark of the Kingdom. He socialised with the rich and the poor, calling them all to repentance and holiness. He ministered to the needs of both the Jew and the gentile, healing the child of the Syro-phoenician women and the servant of the Roman soldier. He had women and men in his entourage.

So why do I say, "better and worse"? Well, the price that seems to be being paid is the right for all to abide by their individuality and their beliefs. There are those who criticise the followers of Islam for wearing non-western clothing and want to caricature Islam as being, by definition, a faith that is fundamentalist and violent - they need to recognise that Islam, like Christianity, has a spectrum of interpretation that ranges from a fundamentalism that is no different to bigotry to a broadness that is so fluid that it has no structure. This structural range crosses all boundaries of faith and philosophy . There are those too who would ban Christians from wearing a cross or crucifix as a token of their faith, confusing them with those who see it as nothing more than a ‘nice’ fashion accessory . I believe that those who are gay are not deviant, but are living out their god-given genetic make up. I am pleased that society has opened up to accept their way of life and recognise their right to live as they want. But I also believe that those for whom the genetic underpinning of homosexuality is unproven, and who have an issue of morality or holy book prescription about it, have the right to hold their view and live it out in their lives - whether it is in using their homes for bed and breakfast accommodation, or running adoption agencies.

In short the price for a diverse society should not be to reduce everyone to living the lowest common denominator of faith and diversity. There is a richness in human understanding and living that we should celebrate and, as a Christian, I believe ALL the good in it to be God in it. I believe that Christians can and should celebrate and affirm the primacy of our Lord Jesus Christ in God’s revealing of Himself to His creation. I believe that we can do this without being sucked into the crusader mentality that thinks that all other faiths and philosophies are inherently not of God and need to be condemned.

Oh, and we have an election going on... I hope we will all vote. I hope all people of faith will pray and vote. Maybe what I have said here will be of use to you as you reflect how you will vote.

Best wishes
Graham Newton (Rector)

April 2010

As I write this I am looking out of a study window (searching for inspiration) and have just noticed that the first daffodils are opening, at last, in the garden. It is such a joy to see these heralds of spring and all that promises for us, after the long cold winter that we have just had.

It is still the season of Lent and man of us have responded to the Bishop's Challenge to read, learn, and pray a verse of the bible each day and then to do something to make a difference. The verses have popped up on the computer each day and, for those who do not choose to use the Internet, a printed version has been available in church. I, personally. have gained a great deal from this spiritual discipline and I know others , here and across the diocese, have done so as well. Also some of us have joined the with the Methodist congregation for our Lent Course 'Not a Tame Lion'. The material we are presented with is proving to be challenging and thought provoking - exactly what one would expect and need for this to be a real season of preparation for Easter.

We are not beyond the half way point in Lent and are looking forward and preparing for Holy Week and Easter. We will follow OUr Lord's path from his triumphal arrival in Jerusalem through his dreadful death on the cross, culminating in his glorious resurrection. Each year I urge people to make Holy Week truly holy for them, I commend particularly the services from Maundy Thursday onwards as being some of the richest liturgies of the year. If your custom has been to note and ignore my rectorial wisdom (!!!) all I can say is that you are missing out on a liturgical package that could make this Easter the most meaningful and joyful you have known so, this year, why not give it a try?

With my love and prayers and I hope you all have a very Blessed and Happy Easter.

March 2010

Today I attended a meeting of those who are members of the Anglican part of the Franciscan Order - we are known as, tertiaries because we are the 3rd element of the order in Anglicanism. The First Order is made up of friars and sisters, living in community but with a calling to mission and ministry in the world. You see them from time to time at events like Greenbelt or on occasions like Christian Aid marches or in parishes too, conducting missions. The second order is exclusively nuns. These also live in community but as a closed community where they remain. They serve God and the Church by a minitry of prayer (it is from this community that we buy our community wafers). The third order (tertiaries) are men and women, single or married, ordained or lay, who live in ordinary homes, but meet to "be" community regularly through the year. Angela and I have both felt a calling to this life and have been professed members since the 1980s.

It is difficult to describe what the Third Order is, as it is a community that does not live as a community. Its origins lie back in the 13th century, although in the Anglican church it only came into being in the early 20th century. Its origin and inception lie with St Francis. His dramatic movement from rich playboy to dynamic reformer of the church is an inspiration to all Franciscans - how he responded to the divine challenge to "rebuild my church" starting from a quick fix of dubious legality and ending by radically overhauling his own life and then the lives of others and finally the Church itself. By the end of his life he had, in a very real sense, rebuil the church and his followers and successors have continued to be at the forefront of modelling and reforming the church ever since.

In this Diocese alone there are over 60 tertiaries and several thousand in the Church of England, to say nothing of the wider Anglican Communion. We are not very obvious, because we do not ear any special clothers and we are committed to serve the church and to resist any temptation to in any way become a church within a church. We, like our brothers and sisters in the first order, are committed to serving the church in ministry and mission and, like our sisters in the second order, try to make prayer and spirituality central in our live. We go down the traditional route of testing our vocations as postulants and novices before we make a life profession. We promise to live by a rule of life that accords with the principles of the order and to give high priority to attending the meetings which promote and develop our communty life together.

If you are interested in a history of St Francis or finding out more about the third order, we have a website - tssf.org.uk - or talk to Angela or me about it.

Pax et Bonum (a traditional Francis greeting meaning peace and goodness)

Graham Newton

February 2010

It will soon be time to think about Lent (Ash Wednesday is 17th Feburary)!!!. Fliers are available for "Challenge" - the Diocesan Lent initiative from our new Bishop. This is what the publicity says about it. "Make a difference in 2010. The Challenge to people, schools and churches across the Diocese of St Albans is : dare to make a difference in your lives, in your communities and in the world by living the words of Jesus.

READ a verse from the bible each day in Lent
LEARN it, PRAY about it and then
DO something to make a difference
SHARE what you have learned and what you have done

You can register on the Challenge website www.challenge2010.org or through your parish; ask your parish priest, churchwarden or other leader. The verses, which are all from Luke's Gospel and record something Jesus said, will be sent by email or by text (for a small charge) or will be available through Twitter and RSS. Alternatively the verses will be available to be downloaded from the website and you, your parish, your school or youth group can print them off.

The website will give further details and ideas about how to make the Challenge a shared exercise within your congregation, class, youth group or among your friends. In particular you will be able to write comments on the website and upload short video clips, via YouTube, so that you can share with others what the verse means to you and how you are seeking to act on it. its simple, its risky, its life changing: are you up for it? Dare to make a difference by living the words of Jesus.

Our Lent Course with the Methodist Church is "Not a tame lion" based on the writings of CS Lewis, using the films Shaddowlands and The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Here is how the course is described. "We would all like a religion that kept us within our comfort zone, but just as CS Lewis' Aslan is not a tame lion, neither is the Christ of the gospels always a comfortable Saviour, saying and doing things that are often unexpected and challenging. 'Nor is this a comfortable Lent course. Lent of course was never intended to be a time of comfort. It was traditionally a time of sackcloth and ashes and rumblings in the stomach, a drab, grey run-up to the glorious resurrection theme of Easter. Discomfort is much less fashionable nowadays. But whatever your Lenten attitude to chocolate or alcohol, maybe, for this Lent at least, you will be willing to submit your spirit to a little bit of mental exercise and your mind to a little bit of spiritual challenge".

The actual course will be held in the Methodist Church on Wednesdays 24th February and 3rd, 10th, 17th and 14th March, preceded by a supper together. There will be preview opportunities on Feburary 3rd (Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe) and 10th (Shadowlands) for those who have not seen them to view the films. To have seen the films is desirable but not essential for doing the course.

Best wishes, Graham Newton

Rector's Letters 2010