St Mary & All Saints

From the Vicar July 2021

From the Vicar

As some of you may know I edit the magazine of the English Clergy Association, “Parson & Parish”, and last year was able to get the Bishop of London (and Patron of the Association) The Rt Revd and Rt Hon Dame Sarah Mullally, who chairs the Church of England’s Recovery Group, to write a piece for the magazine. It was a short but very interesting piece, entitled “Reflections on the Coronavirus”, and Bp Sarah began with a wonderful verse from the Prophet Isaiah: “See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness, and streams in the wasteland.”

Quite apart from Isaiah, Bp Sarah could easily have had in her mind passages from either Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians or Mark’s Gospel – those concerning a new creation and the mustard seed. Paul’s language is quite sublime: “So, if anyone is in Christ there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; everything has become new” and Jesus’ imagery of scattering seed and the almost invisible growth leading to the eventual harvest, as well as the paradox of the mustard seed, is equally evocative and profound.

Those images of the seed growing quietly in the ground, and of the smallest seed growing eventually into one of the largest shrubs are, I think, very appropriate for us at the moment, as we struggle to make sense of what’s going on around us, not only in the wider world but in the Church of God. How do we recover from Covid-19 and all its effects? How do we carry on? How do we try and grow after such an experience? Can we?

These, and many other questions, are of course being addressed by Churches of all denominations up and down the country, as we are doing here in Great Budworth, and the Bishop of London’s article to which I referred earlier was very positive and encouraging for the future, whatever it may hold in store for us. Bishop Sarah finished with piece with these words: “Above all, I am convinced that we have seen the Spirit moving among us, doing new things. Whatever the future holds, the Lord has been opening up his way in the wilderness and calling forth streams in our wasteland.” Comforting and reassuring words indeed, but also encouraging and challenging.

A recent research project by the University of York “Churches, Covid-19 and Communities”, of which I have only seen some highlights, seems to indicate a very real degree of interest in and connectivity with the Church and its work, especially among non-church going people, in different ways but all related to spiritual well being in some way. I will be looking at the whole report much more carefully (when I’ve got a spare hour or three!) but the work that is being done in this Parish, for example, by Christina and Jenny in relation to innovative pastoral outreach and of course online worship and ministry is very exciting and really encouraging. And these “new things” that are fast becoming part and parcel of our “mixed economy” of worship and pastoral care and evangelism were on the agenda of the June Diocesan Synod (which took place via zoom, with over 100 participants from across the Diocese), and will undoubtedly feature in the coming months in PCC and Deanery meetings and as our two new Suffragan Bishops come among us. With Bishop Mark we will all be thinking about and discussing what the future holds for all of us in the Diocese, and in our own Parishes.

“See, everything is becoming new.....” to paraphrase St Paul slightly – and it is clear that there are exciting times ahead of us all. We want those mustard seeds to put forth their large branches, and the seeds that have been sown in so many new and different ways to be growing and for there to be many nests for the children of God!

The Revd Alec Brown.