Happy Christmas

Happy

Christmas

Christmas Lunch at Shepherd's Dene

We like our food at St Hilda's.  No sooner was one Christmas meal digested than we were off for another, this time at Shepherd's Dene,

We'd made our choice of menu some time ago and, of course, I couldn't remember.

But Ann Brown, who organised the trip, had it all down to a fine art: when we got on the bus she gave us all a note of what we'd ordered along with a quiz and a raffle ticket.

I had pate, turkey and crumble and all were excellent.

I managed a few quiz questions, but mostly I sat and relaxed after a large lunch.

Shepherd's Dene is the Newcastle Diocese retreat house. Its 2015 programme is here (.pdf) or see their events page

The staff were pleasant and efficient, the setting was delightful, and a very good time was had by all.

Paul Bagshaw

Public meeting in preparation for a new Bishop

PUBLIC MEETING: 

All are welcome to meet

• Caroline Boddington (Appointments Secretary of the Archbishops of Canterbury and York) and 
• Edward Chaplin (Prime Minister’s Appointments Secretary) 

to ask questions about the process of appointing the next Bishop of Newcastle and to express views about the needs of the Church, the Diocese and the region they serve.

The two Appointments Secretaries will be answering questions and listening carefully to views expressed as the process of identifying the next Bishop of Newcastle continues.

Date: Wednesday 14 January 2015

Time: 7.00pm (in order to avoid rush hour on the A1 and around Newcastle)

Venue: Newcastle Falcons Gold South Suite (First Floor), Brunton Road, Kenton Bank Foot, Newcastle upon Tyne NE13 8AF.

The first woman bishop in the Church of England

The appointment of the first woman bishop in the Church of England has been announced.

Rev Libby Lane is to be Bishop of Stockport, suffragan to the Bishop of Chester.

There are reports in the Church Times, Guardian (and a profile), Independent, Telegraph and elsewhere.

From the Diocese of Chester:

Rev Libby Lane. The first woman bishop in the Church of England 

On the announcement being made of her new ministry as a suffragan (area) bishop,

Libby said: 

“It’s a great honour to be nominated as Bishop elect to the See of Stockport.
I am grateful for, though somewhat daunted by, the confidence placed in me by the Diocese of Chester. This is unexpected and very exciting. On this historic day as the Church of England announces the first woman nominated to be Bishop, I am very conscious of all those who have gone before me, women and men, who for decades have looked forward to this moment. But most of all I am thankful to God. 

“The church faces wonderful opportunities, to proclaim afresh, in this generation, the Good News of Jesus and to build His Kingdom. The Church of England is called to serve all the people of this country, and being present in every community, we communicate our faith best when our lives build up the lives of others, especially the most vulnerable. I am excited by the possibilities and challenges ahead.

“It is a particular privilege to be nominated to serve as Bishop among people I have come to know and love over many years; in Stockport, in the Trafford and Cheshire East boroughs. The Diocese of Chester encompasses widely diverse communities, socially, economically, geographically—and the church is here for every one of them.
“I am encouraged by the affirmation and support of colleagues with whom I shall be working. And I am very aware of how great a resource we have in the clergy and people of the churches in this diocese, who every day by their actions make a difference for good.”

The Bishop of Chester, the Rt Revd Dr Peter Forster, said: 

“Libby has had a varied and distinguished ministry, and is currently a first-rate parish priest. She has already demonstrated her ability to contribute nationally through her representative role in the House of Bishops, on behalf of the north-west England dioceses.

“As the first woman bishop in the Church of England she will face many challenges as well as enjoying many opportunities to be an ambassador for Jesus Christ. I have no doubt that she has the gifts and determination to be an outstanding bishop. 

“I am delighted at her designation as Bishop of Stockport after a lengthy process of discernment across the Church of England and beyond.”

Channel 4 News puts Libby Lane's appointment in a global and multi-religious context: women are taking leading roles in Islam, Bhuddism, Judaism as well as Christianity, albeit generally at the very edges of each faith.

Advent 3, 2014

For this Advent we have four different preachers who are all part of St Hilda's Church. There was no specific theme or brief beyond, of course, 'Advent' itself.

Advent 3 

• Who was John the Baptist? He himself said he was not Elijah (the precursor to the messiah), nor the promised prophet. (John 1:19 and onwards)
• Then who was he? He was, he said, a voice saying: get ready for the coming Messiah.
• But what about the baptism? That was for outsiders who wished to join the Jewish faith. Not for Jews. John does not answer directly. Instead he says ''I am not fit to untie the straps of his sandals" - the most menial of a slave's tasks.

And our Advent task too is to be prepared, spiritually, to walk with Christ

Carol Ann Shields
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We'll post brief notes of the sermons each week, just to give a flavour. As the weeks go by and Christmas comes closer we'll link each post to the others.

Advent 1: November 30th - Revd Michael Bass
Advent 2: December 7th - Revd Paul Bagshaw
Advent 3: December 14th - Carol Ann Shields
Advent 4: December 21st - Revd Jon Goode

Monkhouse School - La Nativité

We were delighted to welcome Monkhouse Primary School to St Hilda's Church for their Christmas nativity.

Children, staff, parents, grandparents and supporters packed the church and joined in with singing some of the carols.

The children were the stars. They sang tunefully and enthusiastically. They spoke with confidence and clarity. They all seemed to have enjoyed themselves as they told the  Christmas story.

And they did this all in French, as befits a school building international links and perspective.

Advent 2, 2014

For this Advent we have four different preachers who are all part of St Hilda's Church. There was no specific theme or brief beyond, of course, 'Advent' itself.

Advent 2 

Advent is a spiritual journey:

• John the Baptist's journey was from the settled community into the desert, where (like the prophets of old) he met God. 
• Jesus travelled in the opposite direction. After 40 days in the wilderness he journeyed around the area before setting out for the city, Jerusalem. More specifically he travelled into the heart of God's city, to the holiest place on earth: God's temple set on his holy mountain.
• Our journey is different again: to see a little baby. To see God in the smallest, most vulnerable, most dependant person. Our spiritual journey is to be born again, and to become like a little child. 

Paul Bagshaw
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We'll post brief notes of the sermons each week, just to give a flavour. As the weeks go by and Christmas comes closer we'll link each post to the others.

Advent 1: November 30th - Revd Michael Bass
Advent 2: December 7th - Revd Paul Bagshaw
Advent 3: December 14th - Carol Ann Shields
Advent 4: December 21st - Revd Jon Goode

Christmas Dinner

Enjoying a dance

Christmas dinner at St Hilda's was a wonderful evening.

We - about 65 of us - had an excellent roast turkey dinner with sprouts and carrots, sausage, stuffing and roast potatoes all supplied by Charles Nicholson's of Whitley Bay, and followed by individual trifles made by one of the church members.

Tucking in, and entertained by

Entertainment was provided by Glen Courtney from Durham who sang a range of popular songs from past decades. We joined in with some, danced to others, and listened to them all.

(He was very good, but I couldn't see any page to link to - if you know a relevant link for him I'd be happy to include it.)

Some of the workers ready and waiting for the crowd

Lottery prizes were won and distributed during the evening - including the very tasteful table decorations. Crackers were pulled, paper hats were worn, dreadful jokes were explained and everyone went home happy and full.

Thanks to all those who worked hard to who prepare everything and who cleared up afterwards - their labours were much appreciated.

Opinion: What is the Church of England like?

A Church Times article pointed to a YouGov page called 'profiler'. You can type in a label - "Church of England" perhaps, and the likes and characteristics of those who 'like' that label are compared to the general population.

So I looked at 'Church of England'  (1187 people), 'Church of Scotland' (139 people)  and 'Roman Catholic' (104 people). Methodist and Baptist don't appear on the list.

Politically CofE people were a little to the right of centre, CofS people a fraction to the left of centre, whereas the RCs were very strongly to the right. Readers of the Church Times, however, were significantly further to the right than Church of England members in general

For both RCs and the  CofE the North East was the third most significant region. (Curiously London, for the CofE, was significantly below the level that might be expected.)

Gender: all three churches have more than average men and fewer women. All had more in social classes ABC1 Age: all had fewer young people than expected but this was very strongly pronounced in the CofE.

Members' occupations were quite varied though The Church of Scotland had a significantly high number of members in the military, Roman Catholics had a strong showing in mining and quarrying, and the CofE in Civil Society and Charity.

And it's the Church of Scotland members who are the most comfortable financially - noticeably above the other two.

Lifestyle preferences vary considerably, as might be expected given the range of things to choose from. Unsurprisingly 'religion and  Spirituality' figure at the top of general interests for all three groups.

There was one further very significant difference between RCs and CofE on the one hand and CofS on the other in the  area of media. Whereas members of the first two churches spend 11-15 hours a week online, for CofS respondents it was 46-50 hours. And although RCs watch more television that the CofE, neither comes near the 50+ hours of the Church of Scotland.

Of course, what you make of all this is another questions altogether.  And in some areas numbers must have been quite small which makes any conclusion unreliable.

But: the favourite food of Church of England participants was liver and onions, jam tarts were favourite for Roman Catholics, and Church of Scotland participants went for Lorne sausage (by a long way). Church Times readers preferred faggots (links for US readers). Explain that.

Advent in South Africa

The Archbishop of Cape Town, of The Anglican Church of Southern Africa, Thabo Makgoba, has begun to put his advent reflections online.

Archbishop Thabo Makgoba

He has a tougher patch than most bishops in the UK.

His most recent post describes some of his recent travels and links to various activities in the archdiocese. 

It includes:

I was particularly moved by one of the events I attended this year, when I heard the story of a girl, Nadia, who is a survivor of human trafficking. 

She was abducted from her home at the age of 14. By the age of 16, she had had two children as a result of the abuse she suffered. As she told her story and read a “survivor’s poem” we were all reduced to tears. Her story was painful in itself but what was more piercing was when she said: 

And so Nadia’s story will remain with me as I continue to reflect on the Incarnate Christ in our lives, and His redemptive love, shared by Nadia, who has all the reason in the world to be angry but who challenged us to smile with her. 

“Please do me a favour – smile with me. Because your smile and your hope and your determination make me stronger. If you collapse and cry with me, you make my wounds too deep.”

I think that is in Nadia that our Christmas message lies this year: that despite being raped, exiled, abducted, trafficked and abused, the Christ Child emerges and offers us that hope which supersedes all human understanding.

Advent 1, 2014

For this Advent we have four different preachers who are all part of St Hilda's Church.

There was no specific theme or brief beyond, of course, 'Advent' itself.

We'll post brief notes of the sermons each week, just to give a flavour.  As the weeks go by and Christmas comes closer we'll link each post to the others. 

Advent 1

Advent and love

Advent is about the coming of love. 

We are all interested in the future but are often not sure what it will bring. Looking at the calendar we know that Christmas comes on 25th December. So we need to prepare. 

Despite the commercial pressures we have four weeks to get ready in our hearts and minds for the gift of love. 

We are preparing for the birth of Jesus Christ, Son of God, and Saviour of the world. 

We need to prepare a place for Christ to be born in our hearts.  

We need to seek forgiveness of our sins so that we are pure to receive God's gift of love. 

Here are two statements to think about as you prepare.

1. Love is the only rational option

1. Love wins: love always wins.

Michael Bass
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The posts in this series:

Advent 1: November 30th - Revd Michael Bass
Advent 2: December 7th - Revd Paul Bagshaw
Advent 3: December 14th - Carol Ann Shields
Advent 4: December 21st - Revd Jon Goode

Advent Calendar

Virtually everything's virtual these days.

The Church Urban Fund's virtual Advent Calendar will reveal prayers, pictures, activities and reflections that all of your family will enjoy ~ one picture released each day so there's no chance of getting to the chocolates early.

“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink?” 

“When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?”

“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.”  Matthew 25:37-40

Get the first window opened today.