It has long been the tradition of the Hodnet Deanery, of which St Mary's is part, to hold a Deanery Ascension Day service. As one of 18 churches spread over quite a wide area of north Shropshire, it's one of the only times when we all worship together and we were really looking forward to being outside, suitably attired with chairs and blankets so that we could sing. However, it wasn't to be.We gathered in St Mary's (that's Hales not this one :) ) a beautiful, well appointed, small church that was blessed with fabulous heating (aka hot for those of us who had dressed for outside!). The folding chairs that people had bought came in very handy though as places ran out due to social distancing measures. We couldn't sing out loud but we did worship joyfully with recorded music, readings, reflections and prayers from the Revd Chris Thorpe's new book Ploughshares and First Fruits. Revd Mark Kinder from HMP Stoke Heath spoke about the relaxing of social distancing and our concerns much like the prisoners in Stoke Heath - some can't wait, others like the structure and routine and are fearful. Might we feel the same way about church and what the affect of the pandemic may have had? He pointed out from the readings that we are told to wait for the Holy Spirit as we need it to empower us; that Jesus said go and I will be with you always, to the end of time so we're not on our own. This is God's kingdom, His church and we're His people. We should be <span style="font-size: 1rem;">honest with God about our feelings, pray for the holy spirit, and be assured that the Lord is with us.</span><span style="font-size: 1rem;">We ended writing our hopes for our, others and the churches future on ribbons - expecting that God will answer our prayers, perhaps not as we might expect and in His perfect timing. The ribbons were then tied to an ancient beech tree in the churchyard for all to see.</span>
Run via Zoom by CAP Money Coach Ali Doulton, the CAP Money Course runs for 3 weeks on Monday evenings starting on 14th June.The CAP Money Course is a free course that will teach you budgeting skills and a simple, cash-based system that works. In just a few weeks, you will get to grips with your finances so you can budget, save and prevent debt.Even at this time when cash is discouraged, there are still ways to operate as if you are using cash and some great tips and techniques are shared to help you maximise your budgets as well as look to the future.'I heard about the CAP Money Course from a friend who went on the course. I wanted to pay off my credit card and stay out of my overdraft. It changed my life! I never thought it could be so easy, but the CAP Money system is so simple.' Annie, CAP Money Course delegate
My dad spent his whole working life in the shipping industry, first in the Merchant Navy and then in the operation and management of ports. When he came to retire, a German shipbuilder he’d become very friendly with invited him to come and launch a ship to mark his retirement. But the thing is, men don’t launch ships – apparently. Only women launch ships. So, when he and my mother went off to Hamburg to launch the ship, it was to be my mum who would do the honours. I was very lucky to be able to go with them and what an experience it was. Various lunches, dinners and receptions were held in honour of the launch – and in honour of my mum it seemed. Everywhere we went there would be a brass band playing and lots of hand-shaking and speech making – including my mum. After about two days of this, as we walked through the docks to finally launch the ship, all the dignitaries – and my mum – walking ahead of us, my dad leant over to me and said– “now I know how Prince Philip feels.” And over the past week, as we’ve been remembering Prince Philip, as well as rightly recalling his important charitable work and his support and encouragement of young people through his Duke of Edinburgh Awards scheme, we’ve often recalled how he put so much of his own self-interest aside to be a support for the Queen. He was, as she described him, her strength and stay. And over the past few days I’ve found myself marvelling at how he did that – and what it must have cost him personally. Prince Philip may have spent nearly a lifetime walking three paces behind his wife, but he was certainly no shrinking violet. We know he could be brusque; he could be out-spoken; he relished a good debate and intellectual questioning. So, he wasn’t someone who preferred to be in the background because he lacked confidence. He had excelled in the Royal Navy and served his country with great honour. So, he wasn’t someone who lacked courage and conviction, far from it. But, perhaps through his naval career, he was someone who knew the meaning of service and of duty. He knew the meaning of submitting himself to a higher purpose. We hear the word ‘submission’ and we think: weakness. But, if Prince Philip has taught us anything, it is that true submission: the laying aside of our own agenda, our own desires, for the sake of a greater purpose and a greater calling, in fact requires real strength: strength of character and the strength of conviction that this isn’t all about you, that there is something and someone of greater significance and importance. For Philip that something and someone was the Crown and his Queen. But not just that and not just her. Both our Queen and her husband recognise someone who is of even greater significance and importance than both of them: Jesus Christ. Perhaps the words of John the Baptist in John’s gospel sum up the Duke’s attitude. When John’s disciples are getting anxious, maybe even a bit annoyed at the attention Jesus is attracting, John’s response is ‘No, no, not at all. My whole reason for being is to prepare the way for him and see him take centre stage. He must increase and I must decrease.’ (John 3. 23-30) I wonder how many of us have had to ‘decrease’, so that someone else can ‘increase’. We might do it for a spouse or for our children – but it is hard isn’t? It’s a sacrifice. To intentionally ‘decrease’ our self-importance, personal ambitions and use of power, so that someone else can flourish is very sacrificial. But that’s what Prince Philip did for the Queen. It’s what John the Baptist did for Jesus and in fact it is what Jesus himself did for all of us. God himself was willing to set aside his own power to come as a human being and submit himself to loving and serving us and ultimately dying for us. It was in that apparent weakness and submission, that Jesus showed his greatest strength, conquering death, drawing its sting, so that we could know the hope of eternal life. His Royal Highness Prince Philip the Duke of Edinburgh had that hope. He knew the meaning of strength through submission and sacrifice and he knew the Saviour who had made the ultimate sacrifice for him.
Revd Catherine explains in this short film - https://youtu.be/3UhXtvhMMDw - what's happening at St Mary's during Holy Week.More information is available in our Newsletter.
