‘Lent’….A Season for Reflecting, Learning and Growing In my experience, a great many people associate the Christian season of Lent - which helps us ‘journey with Jesus’ through the final stages of his earthly ministry, and winding up crucified on a Roman cross - as ‘giving up something’ you personally enjoy, to help you become more aware of the costly, sacrificial love God offered the entire world through Jesus’ suffering and death. For all who find this a valuable practice, I warmly commend it to you…..but it’s important to add that, whether you embrace this practice or not, Lent can and should be a special time in which each one of us is invited and challenged to engage in deeper and richer opportunities for reflecting, learning and growing as human beings! May I take this opportunity to invite you to join in any - or indeed all - of the following local opportunities which everyone in the communities of Alrewas, Fradley and Wychnor are most warmly welcome to participate in during the upcoming Lenten season:Ash Wednesday ‘United Service’ at All SaintsParish Church, Wednesday 22 February, 7:30pmThe ’40 day’ Lenten journey begins with this important day, with the use of ‘ash’ on our foreheads reminding us of our mortality and our ultimate dependence on God for life in all its fullness, and Holy Communion to fortify us for the journey ahead! This year, there are two different ecumenical ‘Lent Discussion Group’ opportunities on offer, for the communities of Alrewas, Fradley and Wychnor… to stimulate our reflecting and growing alongside one another (both are free-of-charge, offer warm spaces and refreshments, and you would be warmly welcome to join in either - or both - if you wish!):At Alrewas Methodist Church, a morning discussion group (from 10:45 am to 12 noon) will be held on Wednesdays beginning 1st March. It will be exploring the theme, The Kingdom of God is Justice and Peace, produced by the charity ‘Embrace the Middle East’. The course is Bible-based, and there will be plenty of opportunity for reflection, discussion - and a cup of coffee too! At All Saints Parish Church, an evening discussion group (7:00 to 8:30pm, five sessions beginning on Wednesday 1st March), based on the acclaimed film The Greatest Showman, dramatizing the life of P.T. Barnum through an engaging storyline and inspirational songs, as he strives to create a ‘novel’ form of entertainment we’ve come to know as ‘the Circus’ or ‘Big Top’. To help us with our discussions, we’ll be using material from Rachel Mann’s booklet, ‘From Now On’, and selected film clips to help us explore the themes of ‘hope’ and ‘redemption’ in the story; over the five sessions, we’ll be reflecting on how faith, hope and redemption run through our own lives as well, and how - like P.T. Barnum and the members of his circus - we too can face and overcome doubt, temptation and prejudice, and live our lives more authentically. Many people have already seen the film, but if you’ve not seen it before - or would enjoy the opportunity of watching it with others interested in this discussion group - an advance screening of it will take place in All Saints Church on Sunday 26th February at 4:00pm.Of course, the season of Lent culminates with the observance of Holy Week (Sunday 2nd through Saturday 8th April), including special worship opportunities and events focussing on Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, and Good Friday in the churches serving our three communities, and culminating with a glorious celebration of Jesus’ resurrection on Easter Sunday, 9th April…..further details about all of the special opportunities during Holy Week 2023 will be offered in upcoming editions of the Parish News, so please ‘stay tuned’! With every blessing, Vicar John
LICHFIELD FOODBANK – AN IMPORTANT MESSAGE FROM THE TREASURER On behalf of Alrewas PCC, Lichfield Foodbank, and the many people who have benefited from everyone’s generosity, may I extend a huge thank you for your financial support of our Harvest Appeal. As a result of your gifts, the PCC was able to make a donation of £3,650 in the run up to Christmas to be converted into much needed food and other essentials. My conversations with the Chair and Treasurer of the Foodbank when making the donation were very insightful in gaining a much better understanding of the level of need which continues to be met through the support provided in donations of both food and financial gifts. In the latter part of last year, the Foodbank were needing to spend at least £500 per week to bridge the shortfall between the demand for help and the quantities of food being donated. In addition to packaged food, support is also provided in the form of a £10 voucher which can be exchanged for fresh fruit and vegetables at the Lichfield market, and for families with a child under 2 years old, a voucher that can be exchanged in Boots for nappies and milk formula. Donation such as ours are playing a key part in enabling these vouchers to be provided in addition to basic foodstuffs. Over the last few years demand for help has increased exponentially with the Foodbank having needed to spend around £14,000 in 2019 – the year before the pandemic – and this annual spend figure having increased by more than five-fold in 2022. In the light of the continued cost of living crisis, of which we are all acutely aware, it seems certain that the level of need will continue to increase and the experience of our local foodbank is mirrored in foodbanks up and down the country. Having gained a much fuller understanding of the extent of the need locally, the PCC decided to give away all of the money received in the offering plate at the various services on Christmas Eve and on Christmas Day. This enabled us to make a donation of a further £750. In 2023 we anticipate that we will again run a harvest appeal but it also our desire to provide increased support – both food and cash – during the remainder of the year. Donations of food can continue to left in the boxes at the back of church or taken to the Vicarage, and cash donations – clearly marked ‘Foodbank’ – can be placed in the offering plate at any service; in the donations box just inside the main door to the church; or put through the letterbox at the Vicarage. In addition to the above, at its January meeting the PCC agreed to run a second appeal throughout Lent which begins on Wednesday 22 February. During this period, we are asking for cash gifts that will form part of a donation to be made at Easter and which will include all of the offerings taken up at services during the Easter weekend. Thank you once more for your support to date. This has made, and continues to make a huge difference to the lives of many families, and with your help we hope we can build upon this vitally important ministry and provide even more support during 2023. Nick Kilford
The Most Important New Year’s Resolution to Make…..and KEEP!IF you are thinking of making a New Year’s resolution BUT you are unsure of which one to make, may I warmly commend to you a thought-provoking and challenging reflection from Bishop Mervyn Stockwood, which offers an interpretation of the 13th chapter of Paul’s First Letter to the Christians in Corinth, on how God’s people should be:Though we have services in modern English,and lots of new Eucharistic prayers, and have special Family Services;and although we have a passion for organisationand create sub-committee after sub-committee,and computerise at length and tackle long agendas of business,and raise all kinds of new money,but have not love, we gain nothing.And although we can boast a nice churchwith nice people and useful modern plant with a hall and family room,but have not love, we gain nothing.Love that is genuine is shown by how we get on with people:love accepts people as they are,love answers needs with no strings attached;love shares to the point of giving all;love is happy to see its possessions spoilt in the Lord’s Service.Love that is genuine helps us to acknowledge our own shortcomings,helps us to see the other person as they could be in Christ,spurs us to pray persistently for this to happen,urges us to be ready and able to explain the way of salvation.Love never ends. As for church services, they will pass away;as for administration, it will cease.Be they ever so wonderful – eventually buildings will pass away.BUT GOD’S CONCERNS, shown in sharing with those in need,and the message of Christ, WILL NEVER, EVER PASS AWAY.In this life, there are three enduring qualities – faith, hope, and love.BUT THE GREATEST OF THESE IS LOVE! In this New Year of 2023, may the true living of GOD’S LOVE IN YOUR LIFE be the one resolution you make AND FULFILL, in order to experience a truly blessed New Year both for yourself and others!With every blessing for you and yours this New Year, Vicar John
‘Remembering’ is much more than a ‘nice thing to do’….as human beings, it is a vital activity throughout our lives which helps us to be more fully aware and appreciative of our identity, our story and our value, as individuals, as a local community, and as a nation and world ! When I have the privilege of visiting older members of our benefice – whether in their own home, or a local medical facility or care home - the phrase ‘I remember when…’ gets mentioned, followed by a wealth of past experiences and events which remain meaningful to them, and indeed brings these life-shaping moments once more into our present lives, reminding us of who we are, ‘whose’ we are, and that our history and identity matter deeply. When we are in the presence of family or friends who sadly suffer from the devastating effects of dementia, and are increasingly deprived of the ability to remember, it is a powerful reminder of how tragic it is to lose this key function of our centre of meaning and being. Each autumn, we as individuals and as village communities are offered special opportunities to engage in a ‘season of corporate remembering’, which I remind us of in this column, and warmly invite you and your loved ones to participate in as you are able: As previously mentioned in last month’s edition of Parish News, on Sunday 30th October, 3:00 pm at All Saints Church Alrewas, we shall be holding the Annual All Souls Service Commemorating the Faithful Departed . This service is, first and foremost, for every person in the communities of Alrewas, Fradley and Wychnor who, during the past twelve months, has lost a loved one and has had to deal with the challenges of grief and bereavement; at the same time, this service warmly welcomes each and every person who would like to come and remember afresh the lives of their loved ones who are no longer with us, and to recall and take comfort once more in the promises of God, whose life and love are stronger than death itself. One of the most touching and special moments of this whole service is when the names of the faithful departed are respectfully read aloud, giving each of us the opportunity to remember their continuing presence in God’s perpetual care. On the 5th November, local community celebrations of ‘Bonfire Night’ help us remember as a nation the successful foiling of the terrorist plotting of Guy Fawkes (amongst others) to overthrow the King and Parliament in 1605, and the vital importance of our democracy and freedom – which can be far too easily taken for granted!On Sunday 13th November, we come together in each of our three communities to commemorate Remembrance Sunday, as we take time to remember and give thanks for all who have served our country in the cause of peace and justice, and especially to recall, with genuine appreciation, those whose lives were lost in the fight for freedom (details of local church services are listed within this edition of Parish News). We also are invited to join the British Legion in their annual Poppy Appeal; the poppies hand-made by disabled British veterans and purchased by us, help remember and support the daily needs of thousands of service personnel who, for our freedom, suffered permanent disabilities requiring life-long assistance in nursing and care homes, run and funded solely by the British Legion.And…not just this autumn, but in each and every day of our lives, may we remember and give thanks – with our lips and in our attitude and actions - for the numerous blessings we receive from God, the source of our being and value! Your Vicar and friend, John Allan
