Sermons An ancestor of mine was a Church Minister and I have a book of his sermons. To my eyes the sermons are not particularly easy reading! But it is clear fro the book that the sermons were originally available at a price of one penny in leaflet form. This is, of course, the way some Charles Dickens novels first appeared. This has got me thinking. Some churches have sermons recorded – facebook, YouTube, church website etc. But most churches in Cornwall do not offer this facility. So why not distribute your sermon to those who may be interested? Or, better still, why not have a brief note or precis to give to anyone who might be interested? People have lots of paper in their lives; so it may be best to keep it short. Of course this can be distributed via email. Wouldn’t it be great if this prompted some inter action between preacher and congregation? I have attached a note from a sermon I delivered recently. It adopts a meditational approach. This is an approach well known to those who use Selwyn Hughes bible notes. The theme is hope. Let’s enjoy that hope as we “chew the cud” from Romans 15.13. William Hazelton Romans 15.13 and hope Are we gloomy about the world? And our lives? And the C of E?….Or hopeful? Ponder “if you want to walk on water you’ve got to get out of the boat” (Matthew 14.25-32) and note:Hope got Peter out of the boatTrust held him upFear sank himIt all hinged on whether he was focused on Jesus or on the storm Romans 15.13: “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit” Peter’s focus…where is ours Biblical meditation...rediscover the “cow, sheep, goat” in you...”chewing the cud”...bolt down food, regurgitate it into mouth, repeat process...absorb into the blood stream...objectiveReconstruction of our thoughtsRefocusing our emotionsRealignment of our willsVerse:God is a God of hope...does not discourageHope overcomes fearHope may be realised soon...later...eternallyHe seeks right now to to fill us with joy and peace...all joy and peaceHe wants us to overflow…As we trustWork of Holy SpiritImage of sponge...useless without water...pours through us...we need to be refilled...a continuous process Ponder the verse...meditate...may joy and peace fill your heart...may you move on with a spring in your step...a spring given by the Holy Spirit Amen 145 CV ADV3 111222 - Peter Coster's Reflections on the Advent 3 evensong readings.
Prayers answered….. and Other Important News! Prayers Answered Many thanks to all of you who supported Lez and me though prayer in the last few weeks and to those of you who so kindly wrote emails. Lez spent the week in the Cardiac Investigation Unit and is now home armed with a small pharmacy of medication attempting to take things rather more easily and let other folk in church do some of the heavy lifting and running around. She has felt fit enough to do the three days of the craft festival, sing in and direct the Christmas show from a chair (orders of the cast) and go to the toddler group! Her experience in Treliske was a very positive one, apart from the worry and the investigations. The lady who did her angiogram turned out to have a daughter being taught music at Truro college by our son….. and the chaplain Angela, had been our curate in Redruth just to mention a couple of things! Amazing how things work out- thank you God! It also shows the importance of asking for prayer-the reader community is a fantastic spiritual resource longing to be used! Transforming ministry Magazine Some time ago a survey was sent out about who read what in the magazine because of the quite large price increase to the Diocese. The results were varied but many more folk said they did not read it, or, only read the odd article than those found it a particularly useful resource. The resulting discussion in the wardens group concluded that buying the full subscription for all readers was not only too expensive in the current climate but also not good value for money so this year Readers are asked to take out their own individual subscriptions if they would like to. Some funding has been put aside to pay for subscriptions for any readers who cannot afford one and would really find the magazine beneficial. We will repeat the survey next year and review the subject. Local Reader Chaplains and deanery Reader Stewards……. It had been proposed that each deanery should have it’s own Reader Chaplain (the old DRS) who would form the basis of a committee to feed information to the Warden’s Group however this has proved to be a more difficult task that was anticipated! The thought now is that we need to try something different at the same time as keeping those things that are working well, e.g. the wonderful work done by Graham Downes and the St Austell group. So the Warden’s Group would like you all to consider whether you feel called to be part of the chaplaincy team, no matter whether there is already a chaplain / Deanery Reader Steward in post. In the new year there will be the chance to have a vocational conversation with Bishop Hugh and chaplains will be appointed and celebrated at the Reader Day in May. I have the names of the people who transferred from being Deanery Reader Stewards, plus a couple of other people who have expressed a…
143CV Thought for the Day – Advent Sunday by Didymus EvensongReadings Isaiahch.52, vv1-12 Matt.ch.24, vv15-28 Asthe late and great John Arlott used to say when commentating on test cricket,in his lovely Hampshire drawl, “Oh dear!oh dear! oh dear!”, when another wicket was knocked flying. Oneof the glorious things about the Church of England is that there is always a well-meaningtype who proposes something totally out of context, rather strange if notutterly barmy. Bless them, they reallydo make a pedestrian life much more colourful. Thelatest wheeze (how else can one describeit?) is to set aside the devotions of Advent in favour of a great footballfestival being played in the scorching sand of Qatar, on the premise thatEngland will not have been knocked out, and nobody will come to church. I read an account in the Guardian, and tookit for a joke, strange for an excellent if serious paper. Apparently it wasn’t. And it gets better! I quote from The Guardian:- In an effort to avoid a potentialclash between the Three Lions and the three kings, the Church of England isadvising vicars to reschedule Christmas carol services due to be held on World Cup final day. The guidance to clergy, under theheading “Makingthe most of the World Cup final”, warns of the possible difficultiesof holding a carol service on Sunday 18 December. The Sunday before Christmasis a traditional time for afternoon or evening festive services. With the final due to kick off at3pm, the C of E says services “could still be possible if you choose the timecarefully … but what if there are penalties?! It may be best to avoid that dayaltogether and host a carol service on Saturday 17 instead.” But it adds: “Despite this clash of dates,football and faith don’t have to be at odds with one another.” Football and the church have a “conjoinedheritage”, it says, as several Premier League clubs “started up as parishchurch football teams, set up for the health and wellbeing of those localcommunities”. The guidance suggestsideas for how parish churches could encourage people to “use the World Cup as amissional tool this Advent and Christmas”. And so it goes on. While we laugh or growl at extravagant ideas,wait awhile, for there serious issues involved here, and not just who sings thesolo in the service either. Actually it focuses attention on a number of uncomfortable facts. Firstly the observance of the most importantevent in world history goes over so many heads, despite the belief and teachingof the church. That is sad. Qatar? In many ways a hell-hole,that criminalises homosexuality and discriminates against migrant workers andwomen. It is no better than most of itsneighbours in its savage treatment of those who do not comply or obey. Just think of Iran. Football? The last time we wonwas in 1966 when as host nation we had a bye into the last 16. We had a great team, but so did others. It is just a game, but we hope for successesfor the young men playing. As BillShankly, the famous Scottish manager of Liverpool FC…
141 CV Thought for the Day – Remembrance Sunday by Didymus141 CV REMEMBRANCE 131122 - click this link for the illustrated PDFAfter a number of years, I have been asked to lead a Remembrance Service at Michaelstow. My prayer list will have to be extended to ask our Lord to wipe away the cobwebs of unfamiliarity and focus on the Fallen. One of my difficulties is that I have only one sermon appropriate for the occasion. Here it is:-People of my age often have no medals to wear, unless they volunteered for military service. That is because millions have fallen in the struggles to restore a level of peace in this world. A peace in which my peers and I were born, raised and live. The immense debt that we owe to the Fallen is the peace and tranquillity for which they died. If there were a medal acknowledging that debt, it would be worn with great pride and gratitude.Recently I was watching Act Three in Verdi’s “Macbeth”, when Macbeth became King, having murdered his way to the crown with his wife’s encouragement. At the celebration, he saw the ghost of his friend Banquo, who was killed recently on his orders. Horrified, he twice interrupted his wife’s aria in a mad seizure. Although he was pacified by Lady Macbeth, it seemed that his power so recently gained was already beginning to decay.I realised once more how the Bard of Avon had brilliantly depicted the rise and fall of the tyrant, and how that terrible cycle of cruelty and domination had been repeated over the centuries. The list is long. Indeed that madness has seized Russia now, a people that has given us so much in both the arts and the sheer size of their past sacrifices in the cause of peace.It is a great pity that Shakespeare does not appear to be taught in Russia.Remembering the millions – let’s be honest – whose lives were torn from them, were they military or civil, it is the beginning of John’s 14th chapter which is appropriate now. It is frequently read at funerals, linking as it does the crippling pain of losing someone dearly loved with the hope of resurrection to the life beyond this one. Both versions are attached.When one looks at the photo of war graves, the sheer number of dead is numbing. Remember that this is just one of many in most countries. Now we weep at the carnage in Ukraine being uncovered daily.The cruelty of this wonderful life is that it never stands still. Yes, sometimes we are very glad that life has moved on, that sickness and pain have been overcome. But we are creatures of time, and whatever we might wish or even do, today’s beautiful newly born will be next century’s grandparents. As it might be said, today’s beauty of Creation will be thrown on tomorrow’s bonfire. As time goes on we look with increasing hope to the promises of our Lord. Religion and its concept of an afterlife…
To Pew or not to Pew that is the question.I am sure that the thorny issue of pews comes up in many many churches for one reason or another and St Andrew's Redruth is no different - with widely differing views on the subject. Some folk would like to see the church remain full of pews as befits a Victorian building where others would like to remove all of them to make the space more flexible. It was interesting to turn this photo up from 1945 of the interior when only 18 pews and a lot of chairs which have long since gone. The great pew debate will differ from church to church because of individual historic significance, how loud the voices are of those passionate about such things and the vision of the Church Wardens and committee members. The debate raises some questions about the vision of each church about their purpose and how they see how their building will serve future generations. This image from before the Church was extended in 1930 shows a mixture of chairs and pews. Chairs at the back, at the front and down the central aisle; cramming the folk in! The argument that the pews are traditional does not quite stack up, unlike chairs, which chosen carefully, can be stacked out of the way! Whether those pews are of historic importance is quite another matter. And there is always the vexed question of how long does something need to happen to make it tradition? In terms of liturgical practise probably three times, but with pews..... who knows? A Couple of Images Showing How St Andrews was Extended in the 1930s. So St Andrews was extended, the old pews were all pushed forwards and gradually they replaced the chairs so the place was full of pews which at the time catered for the needs of the many folk in the town for whom Sunday worship was a central facet of their lives. These days a typical Sunday congregation is 30-40 souls who dot themselves around the pews. There are times when the pews are full however, but these are few. For example, very large funerals, Remembrance with all the uniformed organisations (not since covid) and School nativity / carol services. The biggest regular services are Christmas Eve with the Children (about 170-180) and Christmas Midnight Mass (130ish). So those large numbers need to be catered for occasionally and stacking chairs are not cheap! There is also the nostalgia factor; you know the sort of thing, "yes I know I do not attend services except for funerals, but I do remember that my Granny raised money for that pew and liked to sit there so you can't get rid of that one!" And.... one must not forget the wondrous tangle of hoops, hurdles and red tape that is the 'faculty' which trumps even health and safety and lack of money. "yes we know you need a gate to stop children falling down the granite stairs but it must be a properly designed Victorian looking gate with…
Dear Fellow Readers, Readers Emeritus and Esteemed others Having had a month of resting from Church / Reader things it is time to get things moving again. When I say resting, I still did ZOOM morning prayer each day, attended some meetings for the trial version of the safer recruitment hub, answered copious emails on subjects ranging from the average age of readers to finding volunteers to do the opening worship at synod and from providing face to face basic safeguarding training to what to do when Reader Robes are no longer required…… and my wife got Covid…. Four days after her 4th vaccination. So…. Need to get rid of anything Theologically based? Try the Clergy Clutter Facebook group…. Clergy Clutter UK | Facebook Brian writes: “Now that I have retired, I am wondering if anyone could make use of any of my robes. I have two surplices and a cassock + belt. The cassock is an old one , bought in the early 1960s !! and therefore akin to a blanket. Both surplices are Whipple and are size 40. I am 5ft 10ins and weigh 88 kg.” As I have a stack of theology books that are gathering dust I thought I might try https://www.webuybooks.co.uk/ does anyone have experience of them or any other ideas about what to do with my excess stock? I still have hopes of compiling a prayer list for Readers and would like your suggestions, however in the absence of a list of names here is a prayer from Joy Gunter. Creator God. we are made in your image and called into being by your love. We thank you for calling forth men and women to serve your church as Readers. Bless them we pray, with minds and tongues to speak your word of love and sing the song of the heart, that all your people may be encouraged, built up in their faith and helped to reach out in joyful service and witness, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.’ The Monday Morning Conversations from 10 to 11 o’clock will continue on Zoom and the room will be open every week but I am only going to promise to be there every second Monday though I may drop into the others. There may be volunteers who will sign up to host the other weeks! I also wonder about resuming some face-to-face open chats initially at the Penventon Hotel in Redruth. Let me know if that appeals! (the link is in the usual email.... or just ask me!) Safeguarding and safer-recruitment: I am doing my best to represent you in matters to do with safeguarding at various levels from training, the Diocesan Safeguarding Advisory Panel and the National Trial for the Safeguarding hub. When I get a chance, I do voice your concerns and there is general support that influence needs to be brought on the National Team to make the requirements suitable for smaller churches…. And people who have multiple roles. The Discipline of Prayer: At the beginning of the Covid Pandemic we began morning prayer…
In the Group Parish of St Germans, we have been meeting monthly at a local hostelry for about 9 years for Pub Theology. This started as a Death Cafe, part of a national and international model of conversation to talk about our own deaths. Initially sometimes there would only be three of us but that was enough for a good conversation and over the years we have had between four and twelve people. The topics have naturally varied: generic topics such as love, politics, evil, sex and economics. Direct biblical discussions on fruits of the Holy Spirit, strange stories in the Bible (Jonah, the flood, Job, Abraham and Isaac), the Pentateuch (five different meetings!), angels and books of the Bible seldom read (Lamentations, Jude, Leviticus (again!) and Obadiah I recall). Recently we have had Christian Univeralism and how the church should respond to the cost of living crisis. In lockdown we met on-line fortnightly which was demanding but much appreciated and interestingly increased attendance. It is easy in church not to actually discuss theological matters and my experience of Pub Theology is that people want to talk about ideas and wrestle with what we believe. It is important to facilitate the meeting so that it is a genuine conversation and all views are respected. The feedback has been good. Ultimately we need fora to think through what we believe, acknowledging we will not agree on everything. I find thinking through community conversation stimulating, creative and one of the many ways God can reveal the truth we all seek to live. Richard Laugharne ReaderSt Germans
Interpreting Amos for Lanner & Four Lanes recently Amos 6.1a, 4-7Complacent Self-Indulgence Will Be Punished6Alas for those who are at ease in Zion, and for those who feel secure on Mount Samaria,the notables of the first of the nations, to whom the house of Israel resorts! 4 Alas for those who lie on beds of ivory, and lounge on their couches,and eat lambs from the flock, and calves from the stall; 5 who sing idle songs to the sound of the harp, and like David improvise on instruments of music; 6 who drink wine from bowls, and anoint themselves with the finest oils, but are not grieved over the ruin of Joseph! 7 Therefore they shall now be the first to go into exile, and the revelry of the loungers shall pass away. A Local Version of Amos 6.Alas for those who put their feet up in Lannerand those who feel safe on the top of the Hill in Four LanesThe parish counsellors and the members of parliament, the bankers &company directors to whom the nations look.Alas for those who lie on Slumberdown mattressesAnd lie on couches from FurnitureworldAnd eat lamb from Trevarthens the butchersAnd beef from the Tesco cold meats cabinetWho sing idle songs to the sound of the organAnd improvise upon the keyboard and guitarWho drink wine from tall glassesAnd anoint themselves with moisturiser from BootsBut are not grieved over the destitution of the poorThey shall be the ones who will feel the exile of guiltAnd their revelry will be no more……put their feet up
Part One - the picture in my head and a general moan. My first memories of church on the cusp of the 1960s were going to Sunday School in the building next to the church and one day being told I was too old for the Sunday School and would go to the main church now. The daunting atmosphere made me turn round a few metres inside the door and walk out never to return. Part of that, I guess, is that my parents did not go to church, my father, an elder in the Church of Scotland, never felt comfortable in the Anglican church in England. So I put my hands up that I start from a fairly negative place.My next church experience in the enlightened 1970s (as an argumentative atheist) at the age of 21 was having to attend church for special occasions with my class of ten- and eleven-year-olds in the North London Church of England Primary School where I got my first teaching job. (God definitely has a sense of humour!) Trying to keep them interested and, above all, quiet was quite a challenge so it did not improve my opinion about the church’s attitude to children, namely that they were definitely wanted to be seen, to be small adults and definitely not heard unless they were singing or reading.Since then, the growth of Sunday morning sports clubs and the demise of organised religion in general has seen a huge drop in attendance by children and families. Much of life and news is captured in bite sized social media clips for both children and adults and the choice of church or a sporting activity and being with one’s teammates is not really a fair contest.What does church have to offer children? That is not the same question as ‘what does being a Christian offer?’ which has a different answer entirely.The large warehouse-based Pentecostal church on the nearby industrial estate offers an indoor skate park side room and ride on toys in the main auditorium for the little ones. The service is loud enough to drown out the noises and so for young parents it might seem a good choice. Other denominations have traditional Sunday School where they have enough children and the children may or may not join the main service at some point.Over the years in our benefice churches, I have seen and experienced a variety of approaches and to say that I hold fairly strong opinions about some approaches is to understate my passionate for education and how we treat our youngsters. Here are a few examples I have experienced over the last 4 decades…. I am sure you have others that you can tell me about later….The full high church experience: Children are encouraged to join the choir, robe and be acolytes, incense boat carriers etc and a room might be provided for parents to remove children who are not coping with the service. My suggestion, once upon a time was to make the Lady Chapel in…
Deanery ChaplainsThe plan is for the Deanery Chaplains to be commissioned in October at the annual Reader Service but before then each of the prospective chaplains will have to be recruited / appointed.Some of the Deanery Reader Stewards have taken up the important work of chaplain with great enthusiasm since the title of Deanery Reader steward was made redundant and I have been hugely grateful for their support and commitment.The more I speak to Readers, the more I am convinced of the importance of chaplaincy and for more local chaplains. “Why?” you may ask……When you look at he diocesan website there is an encouraging page on Clergy Wellbeing Clergy Wellbeing Archives - Truro Diocese : Truro Diocese which lists a variety of resources for Clergy and some resources for Diocesan staff. In speaking to Readers about their clergy, however, there is a difference between providing a service and people actually using it; or at least using it before the problem gets really serious. Readers are not mentioned.Because we are such a disparate bunch in the Reader community it is hard to describe what the life and duties of a typical reader might be, there is no such thing as a typical Reader! Some Readers are quite content taking evensong and preaching once a month, others are church wardens, running a foodbank and leading worship weekly, while others are balancing Reader duties with working full time and supporting a family.The stresses on Readers are very varied as a result.Depression and frustration at not being able to ministerThrough lack of a working teamLack of engagement with the incumbentIll health or caring for someone with ill healthTransitionToo many duties across too many churchesBeing taken for grantedFeeling they have very little say in choice of a new incumbentFeeling threatened by not getting a new incumbent.Churchwardens not including them on rotasBalancing Ministry and family lifeWhere a spouse or child is ill mentally or physicallyFinancial pressures and the need to work for a livingFaithEven Readers can suffer doubts and anxieties!Mismatches of churchmanship or theology with their local church or new incumbent.An aversion to bureaucracyFinding it difficult to engage with safeguarding training or the requirements of health and safety in the modern churchFeeling that “on the Way” for example is something that is being “done to” them.…and so on. I am quite sure you can think of more!Chaplains are not just there to mop things up and being consoling when things get tough, they are also have a duty to be proactive and to provide the support before it becomes a big issue where someone has to ask for help. Asking for help is a tough thing to do and people have to know they need it. Chaplains who get to know their people are invaluable here.Currently we do not have enough Chaplains to cover all Deaneries and in some Deaneries there are folks who are not Chaplains who would be brilliant at it.If you know someone who you think would be a brilliant chaplain….. possibly covering a…
Chaplain’s Blog Stardate 20-08-22Deanery ChaplainsThe plan is for the Deanery Chaplains to be commissioned in October at the annual Reader Service but before then each of the prospective chaplains will have to be recruited / appointed.Some of the Deanery Reader Stewards have taken up the important work of chaplain with great enthusiasm since the title of Deanery Reader steward was made redundant and I have been hugely grateful for their support and commitment.The more I speak to Readers, the more I am convinced of the importance of chaplaincy and for more local chaplains. “Why?” you may ask……When you look at he diocesan website there is an encouraging page on Clergy Wellbeing Clergy Wellbeing Archives - Truro Diocese : Truro Diocese which lists a variety of resources for Clergy and some resources for Diocesan staff. In speaking to Readers about their clergy, however, there is a difference between providing a service and people actually using it; or at least using it before the problem gets really serious.Readers are not mentioned.Because we are such a disparate bunch in the Reader community it is hard to describe what the life and duties of a typical reader might be, there is no such thing as a typical Reader! Some Readers are quite content taking evensong and preaching once a month, others are church wardens, running a foodbank and leading worship weekly, while others are balancing Reader duties with working full time and supporting a family.The stresses on Readers are very varied as a result.Depression and frustration at not being able to ministerThrough lack of a working teamLack of engagement with the incumbentIll health or caring for someone with ill healthTransitionToo many duties across too many churchesBeing taken for grantedFeeling they have very little say in choice of a new incumbentFeeling threatened by not getting a new incumbent.Churchwardens not including them on rotasBalancing Ministry and family lifeWhere a spouse or child is ill mentally or physicallyFinancial pressures and the need to work for a livingFaithEven Readers can suffer doubts and anxieties!Mismatches of churchmanship or theology with their local church or new incumbent.An aversion to bureaucracyFinding it difficult to engage with safeguarding training or the requirements of health and safety in the modern churchFeeling that “on the Way” for example is something that is being “done to” them.…and so on. I am quite sure you can think of more!Chaplains are not just there to mop things up and being consoling when things get tough, they are also have a duty to be proactive and to provide the support before it becomes a big issue where someone has to ask for help. Asking for help is a tough thing to do and people have to know they need it. Chaplains who get to know their people are invaluable here.Currently we do not have enough Chaplains to cover all Deaneries and in some Deaneries there are folks who are not Chaplains who would be brilliant at it.If you know someone who you think would be a brilliant chaplain….. …