On November 12th the following services of Remembrance will take place:
In Hale the 9:30 Service at St John’s followed by 10:45 at the War Memorial then a 11:15 Service all-age at St Mark’s.
In Badshot Lea the 10:00 Shortened Service at St George’s followed by 10:50 at the War Memorial.
In Weybourne a service at 4pm at the War Memorial followed by refreshments in the Village Hall.
Home group restarts on Tuesday 31st October, at the home of Bill and Annie Thomas. We will be finding out more about the Eucharist. We would love you to join us. Please speak to Maxine Everitt 01252 318135 for more details.
Connections is a group for over 50s that meet every other Tuesday from 10:00 to 11:30 just come along to St George’s church and enjoy a cup of coffee, some cake and various activities.
If you currently give by Standing Order to Lloyds bank, or do not give regularly, please would you consider signing up for the Parish Giving Scheme? Forms are available at the back of church. This simplifies administration for this parish, gets us the gift aid sooner, and will allow us to shut the Lloyds bank account which levies bank charges on us. Thanks.
At these three simple services we will be lighting candles to remember those who have died.
Please stay for coffee and cake after the services.
If you would like a loved one remembered at one of these services please bring their name on a piece of paper to the service. For more information contact Lesley on 01252 820537 or revd.lesley@badshotleaandhale.org
Reading the passage for a couple of weeks ago I was reminded of exegesis and eisegesis – if you look at who is invited to the wedding banquet you can reach several different conclusions:
sent forth his servants to call them that were bidden to the wedding: and they would not come
So we are called, but we have to respond;
gathered together all as many as they found, both bad and good
Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment?
rejection of God (I have been told that the wedding garment would have been provided, so it was a rejection rather than any other reason);
For many are called, but few are chosen
I would however suggest that the small bits of scripture that I have chosen can only support a position based on eisegesis – I know what I think, here is something that supports it. For exegesis you need to look at all texts which may be relevant and weigh them against each other.
I picked the image I did as for me the overarching narrative of the Bible is of God’s love for us all, so for me all texts have to be read in the light of that love. If an individual text appears to contradict that love then I am less sure of it. I’m still not sure whether that means that I read in or read out – but I do think that I am at least weighing conflicting texts in the balance.
Alan is blogging this Lent. If you would like to see all his blog posts please click here.
Last Sundays reading (Matthew 21.33-46) and next Sundays reading (Matthew 22.1-14) both reminded me of the Johari Window. In both cases Jesus is telling a story against the chief priests and the Pharisees, and particularly in the first they do not recognise it. They identify more with the landowner than with the tenants.
For all of us the things which are most likely to trip us up are the things of which we are unaware. Sometimes others can help us to discover these things, if both they and we can build up the courage to talk about the things that they know about us which we don’t. But there is still an unknown area where no one (apart from God) knows these things, where we have to work at this ourselves (perhaps in prayer).
One clue can be the times that we get really annoyed with someone else – very often it is because sub consciously we are angry that we too do whatever it was made us angry with them.
O wad some Power the giftie gie us
To see oursels as ithers see us!
[I have been on holiday and retreat, and have had to prepare to be away and cope with getting back – “normal” service should now be resumed!]
In 1957, a local Hale lady, Evelyn Caesar, produced a pictorial map of the parish of Hale as it was then. She included a wealth of historical material and her legacy is a very attractive document.
Since Miss Caesar’s time, there have been many changes in the Parish: some buildings have disappeared, others have been built. Perhaps the biggest change of all is the alteration to the Parish Boundary itself: we now live in the Parish of Badshot Lea and Hale and consequently, we need to re-draw our parish map. This is particularly relevant this year as it is exactly 60 years since the original map was produced!
Our aim is not to produce a particularly accurate map, but to put pictures of buildings, parks and other features that mean something to us (we could even draw our own homes!). We also need plenty of people, dogs and cars to put on the streets. Photos of lots of local buildings and parks will be provided, but if you have any pictures that you would like to draw on our map, please bring them along.
You are needed to help with this project: GOOD LUCK!
Alison Ridgeon
NEWS RELEASE
5th October 2017
Arts at St Mark’s as church holds inaugural arts festival
St Mark’s Church, Upper Hale, is holding its inaugural arts festival over the weekend of October 20-22.
The festival, which will include a concert, a ceilidh, art exhibition, arts, craft and music workshop, and a sung service on Sunday morning, has been organised by a group of artists and musicians in the church who were inspired by the wealth of creativity in the parish.
The festival is open to all at no charge and among the workshops on offer on Saturday will be stone-cutting, working with clay, music and an opportunity to redraw the map of Hale in an art workshop.
There will be a concert on Friday evening at 7pm featuring organ music, a ‘Cajun Boogaloo’, Wildflowers choral group, and the rock-a-billy country band Fingersmith and the Rocking Thumbs, and on Saturday at 7pm there will be a ceilidh and a celebration of work from the daytime workshops.
The Sunday service at 11am will be almost entirely sung (including the sermon) and will take place in a church decorated with artwork from Saturday.
Licensed Lay Minister and musician Lesley Shatwell, one of the organisers, will be leading the Sunday service. She said: “I love all kinds of music, but since I have been licensed as a lay minister, I have been wanting to share the variety of religious songs, gospel music and folk hymns; and maybe to see if I could put them together into a completely musical service.
“Creativity was bubbling up throughout our parish and I am not sure who first thought, ‘We could have a festival to celebrate all of this’, but the idea took hold. People offered time and expertise, musicians looked through their repertoire to select the right pieces and suddenly, it is all taking shape very quickly. Admission to the concert is free but donations may be made in aid of parish funds and the century-old organ, known as ‘Emily’, which is in need of refurbishment.
For further details call 07592 571243 or visit http://www.badshotleaandhale.org
The Parish of Badshot Lea and Hale 