St Mary & All Saints

“Hate evil and love good, and establish justice in the gate.....” was the admonishment of the prophet Amos to his hearers thousands of years ago in Israel, and is just as appropriate and relevant to us in the 21st Century as we look around us to see what is happening across our world. Climate change and the environment are of course centre stage at the moment, but the on-going refugee crisis in Afghanistan and Syria, as well as wars and conflicts in Yemen and other parts of our world remind us, very starkly, of the continuing need to “hate evil and love good and to establish justice in the gate.”

It is sometimes very difficult to know just what we can do, if anything, to ad-dress the issues which are pressing down on our world and its peoples, but a phrase from the New Testament which I have always found very helpful, and very succinct, encourages us to be “doers as well as hearers of the Word”. Love of God and of neighbour is of course at the very heart of the Bible, and these injunctions/commandments can be explored/unpacked in all sorts of ways – from the very practical and close to home, as it were, to the global, recognising that, in the end, we are all neighbours.

We don’t know what will come out of the COP26 Conference being held in Glasgow this month, but I know that we will be discussing climate change and environmental matters as they relate to the Church at the forthcoming meeting of Diocesan Synod, and am equally sure it will be on the agenda for the newly elected General Synod. Whether as Churches or as individual Christians there will be things for all of us to do, as we try to be “doers as well as hearers” of God’s Word.

In the same way the sponsored sleep out last month (for which very grateful thanks to both sleepers and sponsors) was a practical effort in this regard – I have never met with an Afghan refugee family but it doesn’t require much imagination to realise just what stress, difficulty and danger those families and individuals are experiencing at the moment. They are our neighbours, albeit it at a distance, and if we were ever in a similar position then we would surely be praying for someone or some group or organization to take notice of our plight, and to do something. In this coming month we remember of course the sacrifice of so many men and women in the two World Wars and countless other conflicts, and we give thanks for their courage and their willingness to make the ultimate sacrifice on our behalf and on behalf of all humankind. And, towards the end of the month, we turn once again to prepare for the coming of Jesus, the Prince of Peace, through whose birth, life, death and resurrection we are all enabled to live our lives in the love and service of God, and our neighbour – doers as well as hearers of the Word.

May God’s blessing be upon each and every one of us in this coming month.

The Revd Alec Brown.

St Mary & All Saints

From the Vicar November 2021

From the Vicar October 2021

Associate Minister Rev Christina Westwell

Climate Sunday