Dear friends, As I write this letter the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations are drawing to a close and I hope that you all have been enjoying the festivities. We have given thanks for the Queen’s unswerving loyalty to a servant role, which she never envisaged in her early life, her example of faith, the undoubted good she has done in strengthening links with other countries as Head of the Commonwealth, through visits abroad and in receiving guests from overseas. As the ancient Israelites rejoiced in their Year of Jubilee, when debtors were released from all that they owed and so given a fresh start, let us rejoice in the fact that we live in a democratic monarchy, where our Queen is not there to rule by “divine right”, but to serve her people as a symbol of tolerance, freedom of expression and integrity. Giving thanks for our inspiring Queen is an opportunity to thank God for all that is so good in our lives. Our news is so dominated by the injustices and sadness of the world – violence, disaster, war, terrorism - that it is so easy to be blind to the many joys and acts of goodness and love that are there in everyday life – the dedication of the caring professions, the work of countless charities, good neighbourliness, family love. God made the world “and it was very good!” says the first chapter of Genesis. And so it is! How often our prayers are dominated by requests for help! Perhaps this month we could vow to give God praise, not only for this wonderful created world, but also for the continued acts of love which we witness in lives through whom he works and makes his presence known to us. Talking of “Inspiration”, I am looking forward to visiting the cathedral with Year 4 from Hutchinson Memorial School later this month as they take part in the “Inspire” event there. This will be an opportunity for pupils to spend an interactive and educational day to learn about core Christian belief, its uniqueness and its ability to encourage us to use our lives in the service of others. Going to such a large centre of worship is bound to be a good experience for the children and they will have an opportunity to reflect on faith and learn new things in a different environment. I’m sure that our Queen would approve of this! Love and peace, Irene Rev Irene Smith, OLM in the Uttoxeter Area of Parishes and Minister at Checkley.
Spring has sprung! What a difference a few days make with warm weather! Everywhere new shoots of trees and shrubs are bursting out with that wonderful lime green colour. Blossom has decorated our gardens, streets and fields and now it feels we are at an amazing wedding with confetti all around. Sheep and lambs dance around the fields and cows are gallivanting around so pleased to be outside after a long winter inside. It really makes you feel good to be alive! We are woken in the morning by the chorus of birdsong as they make their preparations for new birth. As an artist I love this time of year as everywhere is so full of colour and everything feels washed and new. With the colours so brilliant and clean. It really is a good time of year! Psalm 23, the Lord is my shepherd, is one of the psalms that really feels appropriate for this time of year. What a wonderful song it is, David certainly knew how to put words together to show his love and confidence in God. And no wonder this psalm is used both for weddings and funerals as it touches our hearts in so many different ways. To express our confidence in the love and care that God will show us no matter where we are in our lives, in sadness and in joy. I think it is also most appropriate for the one big thing we will all be celebrating this June – The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee! The Queen as head of the church has a very strong faith and I’m sure that she too finds this psalm one that she loves. Knowing that her Lord is with her always no matter what life has thrown at her. I hope that whatever you are doing to celebrate the 70 years our Queen has reigned, will be a time of fun and laughter and joy as we all get together in many different ways across the area of churches. Nick Fawcett is a writer whom I admire very much, has written some lovely prayers that speak so easily in words that I and you might use everyday. So I finish with this prayer. Higher than my highest thoughts yet always close by my side, greater than I could ever imagine, yet made known to me in Christ, more powerful than words can express yet having a special concern for everyone. Though I wander far from you, always you seek me out. Though you sometimes seem distant, always you are near. Though you reign over all, you are here by my side, your hand reaching out to bless. Whatever I face, wherever I am, you are there, always at work, your love sure, your goodness constant, whether I see it or not. Loving Lord, we worship you. Amen Maggie Maggie Hatchard, Licenced reader UAP.
I have just finished the first and started the second book about seven sisters titled after the Seven Sisters of Pleiades. There are seven books which look at these different sisters who have been adopted by ‘Pa Salt’ from the four corners of the world. The Seven Sisters is a story about humanity: love, family, joy, loss, fear and pain. And above all, the one gift that is more important than any other, and has kept us humans alive throughout unbearable suffering: HOPE. I enjoy exploring the night sky, and since living in Uttoxeter I have seen The Pleiades and some amazing constellations and clusters along with the individual stars too. I am always dazzled by the infinite array of patterns of light that twinkle down at us. It is good and right that we marvel at the stars and this leads us to declare the glory of the Lord, the creator of the heavens. But we are called to do more than praise God for the stars he created. In Paul’s letter to Philippi, he tells the followers of Christ to ‘shine among them like stars in the sky as you hold firmly to the word of life.’ (Philippians 2:15-16). We are called to shine like stars in dark places; to shine like the brightness of the heavens. I don’t often feel very shiny. So what does the word of God teach us about how to fulfil this command – to shine like stars? Firstly, we need to remember that all light comes from God. He is the source of light. It is he who says ‘let there be light.’ To shine we must experience his light in our lives. It is not our own light but God’s light that will shine through us. Stars shine bright because they change hydrogen into helium in a process called nuclear fusion. That fusion creates their sparkle. What if we saw the power of the Holy Spirit within us as the act of nuclear fusion? We shine because of the Spirit fully at work within us. But where might the dark corners be, the parts of life we don’t let the Spirit into, that might dim that sparkle. Sailors of old would use celestial navigation to find their way home. When we shine like stars, the purpose is to direct those lost in the dark to the Father, the source of all love and light and truth. As the people of Christ sparkle, may that be an encouragement to others and point them home to the greatness of God, sovereign over all. What a mission we have – let’s dust ourselves off and shine for God in these dark days, even if we don’t feel very shiny ourselves. Blessings Margaret Rev MJ Sherwin, Area Rector
April 2022Dear Friends in the Uttoxeter AreaAs I write this Nazanin Zaghari Ratcliffe has just been released after 6 years some of them in prison some in house arrest. It is fantastic to have some good news about freedom. We have lurched from news filled with Covid statistics, and now perhaps like me you can hardly bear to watch the news bulletins and the devastation that is happening in Ukraine, so it was particularly good to hear of Nazanin’s release.How do we react, how do we pray and how do we respond to items on the news?Having travelled to Kyiv when my brother lived there, Kyiv doesn’t feel so far away. It is somehow easier to deal with tragedy which feels a long way off, but this Russian invasion of Ukraine is far too close and the pictures that we see from the brave reporters of innocent civilians are particularly harrowing.A letter in the Guardian the other day suggested that prayer was making no difference to the situation, but the very next day a correspondent said how much worse it might be if we weren’t praying. You could try praying using a map of the country, praying for those pictured on the TV and those in similar situations. Being shot at or bombed is a horrendous type of captivity, a loss of life and precious freedom.Perhaps it doesn’t matter how we pray but it matters that we do.Freedom is often taken for granted, publicity was crucial in securing Nazanin’s release and yet she may find her new choices and her fame challenging to deal with. Let’s pray that she and her family get the support they need, and the lack of attention that will feel like normality.The Bible talks a lot about freedom and Jesus proved the ultimate freedom by rising from death on the cross. Here are some well-known quotations - encouragements and challenges: 2 Corinthians 3:17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 1 Peter 2:16 Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God. John 8:36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.As we celebrate Easter let us appreciate our freedoms, and praise God that we can turn to God in prayer through all the tragedies of the world, and will ultimately experience the complete freedom that God offers us through the resurrection of Jesus by the power of the Spirit.Happy Easter to Uttoxeter Area - we are free indeed!LucyLucy Toyn Reader Uttoxeter Area
