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Website last updated on 7 November 2008. |
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Our Minister
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Telephone Number: 01252 544823
Email: linda.phillips@theinvernet.co.uk
Linda writes (taken from our November 2008 newsletter) ...
Dear Friends,
November is very much a time of remembering the past. For most people this begins with what is now a very light-hearted occasion, the 5th November: -
Remember, remember the fifth of November
Gunpowder, treason and plot.
I see no reason why gunpowder, treason
Should ever be forgot...
I looked on my computer to make sure I had the full words of this nursery rhyme, and was intrigued to discover that after the original Gunpowder plot in 1605, King and Parliament decreed that there should be an annual Sermon preached to commemorate the event, so that this evil plot and the crime of treason would never be forgotten. The first of these sermons was preached by Lancelot Andrewes, then Bishop of Winchester. It would be interesting to know what he said!
We continue the theme of recalling the past with Remembrance Day itself, commemorating the end of the First World War in November 1918, with the traditional two minutes silence at 11 am on 11th November or, these days, the Sunday nearest to the 11th. Today, of course, we remember also those who have died in the many conflicts of the 20th Century and right up to the present day.
But before either of these dates, and very much less familiar to many, we have All Saints Day on the 1st November. Although not observed very much in the Methodist tradition, it’s still an occasion for us to be reminded of some familiar words from the Letter to the Hebrews
12:1] Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, [2] looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith……
We look back to all those who have gone before us in the Christian faith, those we have known personally, those who founded and maintained our own local church, the many millions throughout the world who also followed the same Lord. We look back, and hopefully we can celebrate the past, be encouraged by those who have gone before, and find in those memories the courage to move on into the future, so that others might also one day look back at us with gratitude for everything we did in our time. I have been fascinated to read Libby Godden’s little book A Winding Lane in the Wilderness, and discover Methodist history in these parts, the tremendous amount of work, often against the odds (having to worship out of doors at first, or in a borrowed barn and then a shed), that went into establishing the Methodist Church here. I wonder what those early Methodists would make of today’s ecumenical co-operation, and the many other ways in which church life has changed since their time. In another hundred years, I wonder what the Christians of the future will make of us. I hope and pray that they will remember us as courageous, forward-looking and faithful disciples of Jesus, who left a firm foundation for those coming after us to build on. As we remember and reflect this month, may we also respond to the past by our intention to build a better future for all.
With Christian greetings,
Linda