I hope everyone has by now recovered from the Coronation of King Charles 111 and its many and varied celebrations, and from Eurovision as well! It was an incredible time in the life of the country, Commonwealth and wider world, and one which I’m sure we will all remember with happiness and pride – even if we did flag a bit at times! A week or so after the event we held a “mock” coronation during the fortnightly Play and Praise Service, with 19 of the Reception and Nursery schoolchildren, and they thoroughly enjoyed it, and all painted beautiful crowns to take home.Amidst all the coverage of the coronation – the pageantry, pomp and ceremony, the music and the many, many words and images – I found the newly written King’s Prayer to be one of the most profound aspects of it all, with its reference to Scripture and words from a greatly loved hymn (I vow to thee, my country), and with great relevance to each and every one of us in our own lives and journeys of faith. You may remember it, but if not, this is what His Majesty prayed towards the end of the ceremony:“God of compassion and mercy whose Son was sent not to be served but to serve, give grace that I may find in thy service perfect freedom and in that freedom knowledge of thy truth. Grant that I may be a blessing to all thy children, of every faith and conviction, that together we may discover the ways of gentleness and be led into the paths of peace, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.”It’s a beautiful prayer isn’t it, and so appropriate for all of us – King Charles has of course often spoken of his desire to be a “defender of all faiths”, and though he didn’t in the end use those words in the ceremony, the prayer above captures his wish exactly – all children, of every faith and conviction.Towards the end of May we celebrated one of the most important festivals of the Church – Pentecost – with the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the disciples gathered in Jerusalem, empowering them in their faith, their witness and their mission and service in the early Church. Twenty one centuries later that same Spirit empowers each and every one of us, and in this month of June we remember all sorts of people in the Church’s calendar who have been empowered to love and to serve God through the centuries, sometimes at great cost to themselves. Saints Peter and Paul are remembered in June, as well as Barnabas, and the memorial of Alban, the first martyr of Britain in about the year 250 A.D., and regarded by many as the true patron saint of England, falls on 22nd June. Hymn writers, deacons, bishops, abbots, social reformers and martyrs are remembered in June, including the Martyrs of Uganda (19th and 20th Centuries) and Bernard Mizeki, who became a catechist in central Africa (in what is now Zimbabwe) and was martyred for his new found faith in 1896, and whose shrine in the granite hills of central Zimbabwe I have had the privilege of visiting.Distant figures they may all be to us living in Britain in 2023 (though some of course – Peter and Paul especially – are much better known than the others) but they would all have understood implicitly the meaning and significance of the King’s Prayer – even if for some of them the paths down which they were led were far from peaceful. I take great comfort, inspiration and encouragement from their lives, and count myself truly blessed to be following in their footsteps, and of course in the footsteps of Christ himself – our true inspiration and guide, “through all the changing scenes of life.”May God bless each one of us in this coming month, in all our work and witness in His service.
Dear friendsMay is going to be a momentous month. The Coronation will be a historic moment in the life of our nation and we are asked to reflect on our history, celebrate who we are and look to the future.With the Coronation Service His Majesty will be anointed as King. It will be rooted in tradition and be steeped in Christian Symbolism.The Archbishops of Canterbury and York have asked us to pray that this might be a moment for the nation and many others round the world to encounter the person of Jesus Christ, the servant King and to hear His call to each of us to serve othersAs we prepare for the King`s Coronation we are asked to serve others, connect with our neighbours and give thanks to god for the wonderful unity we find in the great diversity of our nation The weekend is built on the themes of community, faith and service.If you have not received a copy of the “Daily Prayers for the Coronation” prepared by the Church of England, there are a few copies left, either pop into St Mary`s or get in touch and we will send one to you. Within this, there have been prayers about service, dedication, religious freedom and the environment.On the Coronation weekend, there will be a vigil at 6pm at St Mary`s on the 5th which will be a reflective service and the church will be open until 9.30 for private prayer and then on Sunday 7th May there will be a service of celebration followed by fizz. Then from the 9th to the 13th May, Eurovision comes to Liverpool – love it or hate it – it is a time for Nations to come together and for us to pray. There is an art installation at Liverpool Cathedral called “Izyum to Liverpool” which is a multi channel video installation showing the experience of many as they escaped from Ukraine (1-19 May).On 18th May we celebrate Ascension Day (Acts 1 6-11) Before Jesus ascended, he told his disciples that they would receive power from the Holy Spirit and would be witnesses to the ends of the earth. Sometimes we are so concerned with mundane things that we fail to grasp God`s loving purpose for the whole of creation. Sometimes we need to grow into a new expanded vision of God. Then ten days later we celebrate Pentecost, the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Between those two dates there is “Thy Kingdom Come” which is a global prayer network. The theme this year is “Praying and living the Kingdom” Prayer makes such an enormous difference and often it is how we love and act, that shows people about Jesus. God, send your Holy Spirit, restore our faith, renew our vision, redirect our action, that we may follow you into new adventures and know your blessing. Amen Love Christina
At the most recent meeting of the Chester Diocesan Synod, of which I am one of the four elected clerical representatives from Great Budworth Deanery, the short act of worship prior to the meeting took the question of sacrifice as its theme. This was looked at from three faith perspectives – Judaism, Islam and Christianity. It was very interesting and moving and of course very appropriate time wise given the Jewish and Muslim religious calendars and with the festivals and seasons of Passover and Ramadan. Sacrifice features in all three faiths of course, though from different perspectives, and as I write this letter in the approach to Palm Sunday, Holy Week and Easter it is the supreme sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross that is uppermost in my heart and mind and soul. Over the weeks of Lent this has been teased out in the readings, prayers and hymns, including the incredibly moving Stations of the Cross Service held on the afternoon of Passion Sunday, but Palm Sunday, Holy Week and Easter confront us with the overwhelming enormity and significance of that sacrifice – for Jesus and those around him, and for all those who over the succeeding centuries would come to know, believe in and follow him, including of course us. Easter is such a significant event – so full of pain and sorrow and seemingly dashed hopes and expectations, and yet at the same time so full also of joy and hope and triumph and new life.A few weeks ago we reflected on the encounter between Jesus and his friend Lazarus, with Jesus’ humanity so wonderfully captured in the shortest sentence in the Bible – “Jesus wept”. And at Easter we reflect not only on that true humanity and identity with all humankind but also on Jesus’ divinity, so wonderfully and joyfully captured as well in a few words – “He is risen”.In the face of all the pain and suffering in our troubled world, from which as Christians we are not immune even if we are not present in the midst of it all, those three words and everything behind and in front of them mean so very, very much to so many, many people throughout our world, including ourselves.“Alleluia! Christ is Risen! He is Risen indeed – Alleluia!”With best wishes for a very happy, peaceful and blessed Easter.The Revd Alec Brown.
Dear friendsOn social media, we are bombarded by pictures of people being happy, celebrating, going on holidays, living their best life – whatever that expression means but for so many, this is not how life is. The outward appearance can often hide hidden grief and bereavements. Through life we experience many bereavements, (in the old definition meaning being deprived of..).it may be a failed relationship, the loss of a job, failing health or the fact that life has not turned out how we hoped it would. There may be explanations for these disappointments or events may seem random. We may blame ourselves or we may blame God.It is fine to be cross with God. The Bible is peppered with people who shout out to him in pain, grief, doubt, betrayal, disappointment and despair.... or just shout at him. We won`t be the first, There are laments in the Bible where deep sorrow, pain and regret are demonstrated. We are allowed to wailLast year I discovered a new author - Kate Bowler was a 37 year old theology professor with an amazing job, married to her high school sweetheart and besotted with her newborn son. Her life is blessed and then she is diagnosed with stage IV colon cancer. In her memoir she reflects on what it means to die when society insists that everything happens for a reason. We have to explain things but sometimes we have no idea why things happen, why life can seem very randomKate gives a list of things not to say when people are experiencing hard times “ Well, at least...”, “ In my long life I`ve learned....”, “It`s going to get better..” “Everything happens for a reason...” The hurt that can be caused by Job`s comfortersIn the 16th Century a Roman Catholic Mystic San Juan de la Cruz, or Saint John of the Cross wrote a poem with the phrase “dark night of the soul” It will be unusual if we manage to live without one or more of these nightsCS Lewis went through many dark nights of the soul following the death of his wife Joy, when he felt that God had slammed a door in his face, bolted it and remained silent.The fact that we question does not for a moment make our faith weak. Philip Yancey in his book “Disappointment with God” said that on Good Friday on the cross, God learned for himself what it meant to be God-forsaken”God may seem absent but he is not. Often when he is seems silent, we hear him through the voices of others or through acts of kindness. He is closer to us than we can imagine but it requires faith to believe that and faith to trustKate Bowler gives advice as to how to help someone who is going through “ a dark night of the soul” – pray, offer a meal, a hug, allow them to talk without interrupting, be silent – or just show up.If you ever need to talk, or have someone pray for or with you, or you just want to rant, we are always here.Praying for you all this LentChristina
