Benefice of Meir Heath and NormacotWhat to Expect on SundayWe extend a warm welcome to all those able to attend either of our churches for Low (Said) Mass on Sunday. The masses will be at the normal times of 9.30am at St Francis’ and 11.15am at Holy Evangelists’. Unfortunately, due to regulations on cleaning the building, we are unable to offer the usual 8am service. Please note that the following measures will be in place for your health and safety:1. If you have symptoms of the virus, please do not come to church.a. Those who are ‘extremely clinically vulnerable’, as defined by government, are advised not to attend.b. Those who are over 70 and/or clinically vulnerable, should take particular care to minimise contact with others outside of their household/‘bubble’.2. If arriving by car, we ask that you park in alternate spaces, where possible, leaving the adjacent space empty.3. Please do not attempt to park beside the church (unless for disabled access) as people may be queuing. The barrier may be in place.4. If queuing is necessary, please observe 2 metres distancing.5. Please wait outside the building until a steward guides you in and accompanies you to your seat. Please remain in your seat until invited forward to receive Holy Communion.6. Please use the hand sanitizer available inside the church.7. Under the latest Church of England guidance, the Church is operating a policy of 2 metres’ social distance. Please observe this on the way into the church, when taking a seat for the service, and on exit.8. Owing to Church of England guidance, there will unfortunately be no votive candles available in church.9. Mass booklets will be provided on your seat. Please leave them there at the end of the service.10. There will be the opportunity to provide your contact details, which are to be used only for the purposes of the NHS Test and Trace service, in case of necessity. If you wish to complete this, please use your own pen and hand the form to a steward on your way out. If you provide your consent your attendance will be noted on a register. Records will be stored and we will keep your details safely and in compliance with GDPR legislation for 21 days before securely disposing of or deleting them. This is entirely voluntary, and you are free not to participate. It is your choice.11. Members of the congregation are welcome to wear face-coverings if they wish; this is not mandatory.12. There will be no singing in the service, nor will the Peace be shared.13. Communion will be received standing at the chancel step, in the hand. Please use the hand sanitizer provided before receiving communion. Communion will be given in one kind only (the Host).14. The mobility challenged may prefer to receive Communion in their seat. Please speak to a steward before.15. The service is expected to last around 45 minutes. Only the disabled toilet will be available.16. At the end of service, you may be asked to stay in your seat until directed to leave, in order that exit from the church can proceed in a socially distanced manner. Please follow the direction of the stewards.17. As you leave the church, a plate will be available for your offerings.18. Outside the building, after the service, will be the moment to greet other members of the congregation in a socially distanced manner. Refreshments will not be served.Please note that these measures are in place for your and others’ safety. We warmly thank you for your support and co-operation.
Reflection – 6th July 2020To Bend the Knee?One of the most noteworthy news items lately has focussed on the protests against racism in both the USA and in Britain, as well as elsewhere, often invoking the name of the Black Lives Matter campaign group. The origins of the recent upsurge of protest lie in the alleged murder of a black man by a white police officer in a jurisdiction some 3000 miles from here but link in to what is perceived as endemic racism across all Western cultures.One of the more controversial acts in this campaign has been the adoption of the gesture of kneeling on one knee, ‘taking a knee’, which is similar to a genuflection (without the immediate rising) and has long been associated with Black Lives Matter, though its immediate reference is to the manner in which the alleged murder victim met his end. However, it has also been used in both religious and secular contexts as a symbol of homage and loyalty and it is this, as well as the more political aspects of BLM, which has caused many people considerable disquiet at its use.Christians, more than anyone, have to be opposed to racism in any form, just as we must be opposed to any of the other ‘-isms’ which devalue people based on a perceived characteristic. This is because, as the first chapter of Genesis makes clear, all humans are created in the ‘image’ of God and with the potential, through the grace of God made known to us in Jesus Christ, to attain to his ‘likeness’. For Christians, the only real distinction that can be made is between those who are baptized and those who are not yet baptized, for all people are called to baptism and membership of the Body of Christ. There is thus absolutely no place for racism in Christianity and, indeed, the very concept is a denial of the Faith.However, this opposition to racism in no way implies that Christians must agree with all or part of the BLM agenda. Even a rapid survey of its literature demonstrates that it is a deeply neo-Marxist organization, committed to an awfully specific, anti-capitalist, anti-family agenda that many Christians would find uncomfortable, even offensive. Thus, even support for its basic message in no way indicates support for the totality of its programme, which may be perceived as being deeply anti-Christian. Therein lies the problem for Christians living in the modern world.Christians, whilst having a primary focus on the Kingdom of God, which is not of this world, nevertheless live in the world and are part of it and this is as true for the most remote hermits as it is for the ordinary layperson making a living and raising a family. We are called to work in this world in such a way as to help make the conditions of the world more closely resemble those of the Kingdom, though only God can actually bring the Kingdom into being. Therefore, we create and join organizations of numerous sorts to further these aims. Many of these are not only not Christian, but may even be deeply ambivalent about the Faith, with some even expressing various degrees of hostility to it. Yet most Christians feel that some accommodation with what are often unchristian, or even anti-Christian policies and agendas is necessary to further an important goal. So, whilst not condoning the extreme policies of BLM on other issues, many Christians feel it necessary to support their anti-racist stance and are willing to make the necessary sacrifice.Yet ‘bending the knee’ in this manner is fraught with danger, as history demonstrates. In 1917, for instance, numerous Russian Christians found it necessary to support the new Communist regime of Lenin because they held the laudable aim of supporting greater equality for all – but ended up in the Gulag in their millions once their usefulness was past. Likewise, a generation later, German Christians often supported Hitler’s Nazi Party because they saw them as being fellow workers in the fight to end the depression, inflation and mass unemployment Germany was facing. Only later – and too late - would they come to realize the true evil of the Nazi’s murderous regime.We do not even need to look at such obvious examples. Closer to home, we find the very recent example of Stoke’s own Rob Flello, deselected as a candidate by the Liberal Democrats. As a practising Catholic, he opposes both same-sex marriage and abortion, both of which are supported by the Party. In this case, the conflict between a political stance and Christian principles made it impossible for there to be a reconciliation of beliefs.So, Christians find themselves, very often, being required to ‘bend the knee’ to secular principles which run contrary to Christian ones. Yet Christians can only do this so far, in good conscience. A commitment to opposing the insidious evil that is racism should not come at the price of granting approval to the overall political agenda of a deeply anti-Western organization.In what is increasingly a post-Christian society, people of faith are, more than ever, having to perform all kinds of tricks of mental agility to continue to support organizations and causes which have often been deeply important to them. Whether this should be the case is open to question. Yet, at the end of the day, if we are at all serious about our faith, we have to place our loyalty to this first, even at the price, as Flello discovered, of damage to one’s career and personal interests. Christ commanded us to take up our cross and, in our modern world, Christians are finding that, increasingly, they must.Father David
