Come to the Informal Service at St John’s on 7 Jan at 11:00 – 11:45. The service includes a bible reading, prayers, worship songs and some activities for all ages. This month the theme is Epiphany.
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Pet Service – 14th January
The animals will hopefully come in two-by-two on Sunday 14th January at 3pm when St Mark’s Church in Upper Hale hold their pet service. The service, which will allow people to give thanks to God for the animal kingdom and have their pets blessed will be followed by a Bring-and-Share buffet tea.
We are an Inclusive Church
The three churches in the Parish – St George’s, St John’s and St Mark’s – are now, officially inclusive. We belong to Inclusive Church.
For those who are unfamiliar with this – as I certainly was a couple of years ago – it means that we as churches have signed up to the following statement of faith:
“We believe in Inclusive Church – church which does not discriminate, on any level, on grounds of economic power, gender, mental health, physical ability, race or sexuality. We believe in Church which welcomes and serves all people in the name of Jesus Christ; which is scripturally faithful; which seeks to proclaim the Gospel afresh for each generation; and which, in the power of the Holy Spirit, allows all people to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Jesus Christ.”
It means we appear on a website https://inclusive-church.org directing people to churches where they may feel welcome whoever they are.
But isn’t that all of us? Aren’t we all welcoming and inclusive? We hope so, but the more I have thought about true inclusion, the more I have seen it as something we often fail at. I am a prime example. I’m great at coming up with ideas of how we can make ‘those people over there’ feel welcome. Great, I want to include them, it’s just that by my attitude I am dividing ‘them’ from ‘us’, forgetting that we are all the body of Christ. It’s not a case of ‘us’ being a body and ‘them’ being another body. We are the body. You can read more of my thoughts on this here.
Inclusive church is about finding out who might want to come to church but feels unable to. It may be something physical such as access or not being able to follow the service easily. It may be because someone is struggling financially and feels embarrassed about not being able to contribute. It may be because someone is bisexual and has picked up the idea that they are wrong in God’s and society’s sight. I can remember how as a new and totally overwhelmed mother I felt unable to be part of a local church – it was just too much.
There can be a host of reasons why we may feel unwelcome in a church and often Christians are as insensitive, prejudiced and downright judgemental as anyone else, so excluding people from a place where they should feel welcome and safe.
However, we can try, we can learn – and I am planning to run some Inclusive Church events in the next year to help us with this – we can listen to others, we can pray and we can listen to God. Then we may realise that we are one body. Then we may grow in faith and love.
Stella Wiseman
Realms of Glory
I’m not sure how best to describe it. Words like “plague” or “ infestation” don’t seem quite appropriate, and anyway, are probably sacrilegious. “Visitation” is probably safest if I want to avoid divine retribution.
Basically, St Mark’s is full of angels.
It all began a couple of months ago. We had our mini arts and music festival (“Arts at St Marks”) in October. After this was cleared away, the church looked a bit bare. Lesley S then came up with the idea of filling the place with angels during Advent. Shortly after that, Alison R hit upon “Realms of Glory” as a title for the theme. I announced it for a few weeks during November and then it happened. The angels started to fly in…
The first ones to arrive were a trio from Margaret. I’d previously announced that I’d like some to be flying above us, suspended from the cross ties below the ceiling. These seemed perfect for the job, so on the Monday morning, with the ladder firmly secured in place, I draped my old climbing rope over the tie and hauled the first angel up. This produced a certain silence from Lesley and Margaret. It really didn’t look like an angel. It looked quite scary. The juxtaposition of the ladder, rope and body also looked like we’d just lynched our first victim.
Just then, one of the mothers from Surrey slings came in and said, quite accurately, that it looked like one of Harry Potter’s dementors. A certain amount of hysterical laughter followed.
As we didn’t want people to go away with nightmares, we found a more benign location, on the wall behind the keyboard, where they look suitably angelic and not at all threatening.
However, this was just the start. We had a whole load more angels arrive from Hale Beavers and then the floodgates opened. They’re everywhere. Each time I go up to the church more have arrived. They’re on windowsills, dangling from the projector screen and almost everywhere else. We’ve even got a life-size (?) one standing by the entrance to welcome visitors to the church.
The overall effect is quite remarkable. Combined with the wall hangings, the Amnesty “Candles of Hope” paintings around the chancel and the traditional Christmas decorations, the place looks vibrant and an exciting place, where things are happening. Our thanks and congratulations to everyone who has contributed. It has turned out to be an exceptional tribute to people’s creativity, sense of belonging and pride in the church.
There is much nonsense talked about the spirit of Christmas. However, in some small way I think we can see an example of it here.
Bob Shatwell
Christmas Services at St Mark’s
Christmas Services at St John’s
Christmas Services at St George’s
An Advent Reflection
“…and there, ahead of them, went the star that they had seen at its rising, until it stopped over the place where the Child was. When they saw that the star had stopped, the were overwhelmed with joy. On entering the house, they saw the Child with Mary his mother; and they knelt down and paid him homage. Then, opening their treasure-chests, they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.” Matthew 2:9b-11
I think it’s fair to say that the majority of folk today don’t know what to ‘do’ with Advent. It seems to have become subsumed into ‘commercial Christmas’, the time of frenetic activity that we have allowed Christmas to become. ‘Advent’ only gets mentioned with ‘Calendar’, and most of those are filled with chocolates that bear no connection to what the Season is really about. In the not too distant past, Advent was observed as a penitential season, rather like a mini-Lent, when we call to mind our own mortality, and reflect on how we are through God’s word in the Bible. They can be challenging and uncomfortable words. However, there is a great undercurrent of longing and hope, pointing to the great day when God, through Jesus Christ, will come again and draw all things into perfection.
The verses from Matthew’s Gospel are often seen as justification for giving Christmas gifts to one another, one that our consumer culture has fully hooked onto, and hijacked Advent in the process. But…. take a look at those verses again, and notice that the Wise Men didn’t give gifts to one another. They brought gifts for the child Jesus, of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. They gave the very best and costly gifts that they could. They were extravagant. Three gifts that symbolise Royalty and Priesthood, fit for a King and God.
Can I encourage you to join me, and take time out during Advent, even if it’s just a few moments somewhere in your busy day? Let’s consciously pause, and take stock of what we are preoccupied with during this Advent. Is it the shopping? Worrying about how your bank balance will fair? The relentless Christmas activities and services? Or something else…?
Join the Wise Men in your imagination, and reflect on the joy and wonder that they experienced, allowing it to turn into prayer. Take time out to let yourself be a precious gift to Jesus. No wrapping, no tinsel, just you: become preoccupied with Him. Let’s ask God to refresh our Advent: for us to ponder on the Gift who came; who will come again; and who comes to us now. And then, together, we can celebrate the perfect Christmas. Do share your thoughts with me, I’d love to hear how Advent is for you!
Craig Nobbs
Prudence the Piggy went to HSBC
rudence the pig visited HSBC Bank in Farnham last Thursday to ask the bank to stop investing in fossil fuels and instead put its money into renewable energy.
Prudence bore the signatures of members of the churches of St George’s, St John’s and St Mark’s in the parish of Badshot Lea and Hale, and was presented to the bank by the Reverends Lesley and Alan Crawley, joint rectors in the parish, along with parishioners Helena and David Walker and Sorrell Price.
Lesley Crawley explained that the pig was a petition and was part of the Big Shift campaign by the charity Christian Aid to ask the banks to change where they invested their customers’ money and to put this money into renewable energy for the sake of the planet.
She told a representative of HSBC: “We want the bank to divest from fossil fuels and invest in something either neutral or good to help counter climate change.”
HSBC agreed to accept the petition and to send it to head office, where it will join others from around the UK.
Rev’d Crawley added: “Laura Mead, the regional co-ordinator at Christian Aid, contacted all the banks in Farnham to ask them to accept the Big Shift petition, but HSBC was the only one who would receive us.”
For more information on Christian Aid’s Big Shift campaign, visit www.christianaid.org.uk/campaigns
Stella Wiseman
Photos of the Arts at St Mark’s Festival
On the weekend of 20-22nd October St Mark’s held an Arts Festival, organised by the energetic and talented Bob and Lesley Shatwell. It consisted of an exhibition, concert, workshops, ceilidh and festival service… a mesmerising, colourful exuberant weekend celebrating art and the people of this parish. Here are some photos:
The Parish of Badshot Lea and Hale 