Thought for the week by Rev'd Vicci

Friends

I woke up this morning to a mixed sense of curiosity and concern.  What is Donald Trump doing now?  What are the latest executive orders?  Can he really pardon all those people involved in the Capitol Hill riots?  In four years’ time, will he have somehow enacted a law that allows him to govern for even longer?  What effect will any of this have on the rest of the world?  What about climate change and the World Health Organisation?   

However, I cannot possibly continue to get on with life with one eye on Donald Trump, and anyway, I have no control over what he says and does.  As I gave myself a strong talking to this evening along those lines, I suddenly realised that if I had been scouring my Bible every couple of hours as avidly as I had been scouring the news for the next bit of information to come out of the White House, it would have been much more to the point. 

Karl Barth said, “Take your Bible and take your newspaper and read both.  But interpret newspapers from your Bible.” 

American politics is not our hill to climb.  However, we can note that Leviticus 19:33-34 says “When a foreigner resides among you in your land, do not mistreat them.  The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born.  Love them as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt.  I am the Lord your God.”  As we read, we may re-confirm our own commitment to welcoming the asylum-seeker, the refugee, the migrant worker.  We can note the many, many verses on healing in the Bible and do everything that we can to ensure that healthcare remains accessible to all who need it, both in this country, and internationally.  We can read Amos 5:24 “But let justice roll on like a river, and righteousness like a never-failing stream”  and vow to make it mean something, at least in our own lives.

It is not our job to critique the politics of another nation, but discernment is considered to be a spiritual gift, and we should exercise it.  Carefully checking the ideas we are hearing on the news against our Bibles, our reason, our tradition and experience, we can ensure that we will know the things that we would not want to let go of in our own political discourse. 

God bless, Vicci

Thought for the week by Rev'd Vicci

Friends

I have had an unusual number of encounters with ambulances over the last few days.  I always feel a moment of heightened adrenaline as I try to assess where the siren is coming from, and which manoeuvre I can most helpfully make.  Pulling over to the side is often the right decision, but you can risk damaging your tyres on unfamiliar verges.   Sometimes as well, you are better off getting out of the way entirely and that was the decision I took today when the lights had changed and I felt (correctly!) that I had time to turn across the junction before the ambulance got to it. 

As I looked in the rear-view mirror with some sense of satisfaction, I saw the ambulance tear across the junction a good five seconds after I had decided to cross.  I wondered, how often do I get out of people’s way spiritually, and how often am I tempted to stand in the middle of the road and encourage them to think what I think.

Jesus rarely told people what to think.  He told the disciples sometimes, when he felt they should have known better, and perhaps the Sermon on the Mount can be seen as quite prescriptive, but often he would simply tell stories and then get out of the way so that people could do their own thinking about what those stories meant.  I wonder what is more important to our development as Jesus’ people: the full theological understanding of the meaning behind the parable of the Good Samaritan, for example, or the wrestling with what it might mean from our own understanding, and therefore what it tells us about God.  After all, however thoroughly we understand the idea of the ambulance service, it’s only when we dial 999 and the paramedics show up that we start to have a real experience of what their response is all about.  Based on that experience, we either believe the ambulance service to be a good thing, or a bad thing, but it’s the experience that counts. 

Wrestling with the meaning of the parables by interpreting them through the lens of our own lives is how we really come to know and understand God, and that means sometimes we have to step aside from the clever and the learned and get out of our own way so that we can hear God speak. 

God bless, Vicci

A Reflection based on Psalm 29: by Ken Tuckey

1 Ascribe to the LORD, O mighty ones, ascribe to the LORD glory and strength.

2 Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name; worship the LORD in the splendour of His Holiness.

Friends

Oh! The cold weather attacks these bones of mine as we slowly acclimatise to UK winter. But we were warmed these last two weeks of 2024 by the singular pleasure of our Son and his daughter being here over Christmas and thus we had a joyful time with both our grandies here in England and our grandie from SA (South Africa).

Of course the SAFA contingent were desperate for snow, and sure enough, God gave us snow, light but still snow, on their last night in England. What joy!

It reminded me of a happy time when I hiked with that eldest son into the Drakensberg mountains of South Africa. The ‘Berg’ as we call it, is a mountain chain following the east coast of SA from the north east boundary with Mozambique all the way to Cape Town.

Southern hemisphere winter is July, as I’m sure everyone knows, so in the 80s and 90s when we lived in SA, each year my Scouts and I planned a school-holiday July-hike in the hopes of seeing, and of course playing, in snow on the high ‘Berg’ peaks. Only happened twice in 20 years but still we persevered.

I remember, one year, camped at 2,900m, that our son and I walked to the edge of the escarpment at Tugela falls, on a full moon night and, sitting on the edge with our legs dangling in the void, we were filled with awe.

Picture it: Tugela Falls on the left, descending 400 metres to the plain, the Amphitheatre to our right and the valley, 500 metres below, laid out before us, stretching away some 40 miles or so to the east. A white cloud filled this wonderland, with several high peaks prodding their tops through the cloud cover.

Unbidden and simultaneously, we both began to sing “when I, in awesome wonder, consider all the things, Thou hand hath made”, and we just soaked in God’s magnificence. Who can ever say that He is not awesome and worthy of all our praise?

This winter’s cold has reminded me of those wonderful times, especially when I see the beauty of these Isles, the snow coating everything and the happiness in the children's’ faces. The sight and peace of a snowy evening, can light up joy in the heart, even though cold comes with the snow! So that was a delight on the Saturday evening and I eagerly anticipated Sunday’s Breakfast church.

Sunday, 5th January 2025, followed when I was facilitating the table discussion using the newspaper headlines at the breakfast service. Sounds easy huh? But the first trial is where to find the newspapers on a frosty, very cold Sunday morning at 08:00. Not many places are open …. but I succeeded and turned up at WMC with three papers.

Next trial was to relate the headlines to the readings of the day and the reflection prepared by Anne. The papers don’t make that so easy either! The headlines being:

• NATO warns UK of ballistic threats. PM urged to raise spending amidst fears.

• Starmer will be out of No. 10 in a year

• In the bleak of Midwinter, 14,000 extra deaths because of A & E delays

• Revealed: Minister lived in home gifted by ally of despot aunt’s regime

What a sorry saga. Not a single word of the outpouring of love by many Christians all over the world as they sought to spread Christ’s love and joy to the needy over Christmas. Makes me wonder if politicians have forgotten that they are supposed to uplift the citizens who elected them and should be creating joyful circumstance for us all? But in amongst this bleakness, we heard of many church outreaches that were following Christ’s commandment to love our neighbours, including the Thames Valley Circuit so all is not lost.

The Sunday was further uplifted as Anne Haggerty helped us to reflect on the example of Tabitha (or Dorcas) and her outreach ministry of Biblical times. That Lady, Tabitha, certainly followed our Lord’s example of helping others by making tunics and garments and giving them to others in the new church community. A lovely lady and loved by her Church.

Her sickness and death, the subject of the reading, challenged me and I asked myself, “Why should such a beautiful person get sick and die? Surely, God would want her continued ministry?”

Then came the explanation and the sense of awe about our God. Her community reached out to Peter, their pastor and disciple, calling him to the funeral but, how wonderful is God’s Hand in the affairs of believers? God performed a mighty miracle, through one of His earthly believers, to show that, “when we have trials and …. troubles everywhere, [we] can take it to The Lord in prayer”.

Peter went to the Lord in prayer, which raised Tabitha from the dead, to continue her ministry. How wonderful for her (she could go on helping others) and the church (what a powerful example of the power of prayer) and an endorsement of faith in our Almighty (Peter shows the way)?

Such readings fill us with wonder and inspire us to put aside our own doubts about the power of prayer. As we read and ponder such miracles, I wonder, how we can raise ourselves to such levels? Shall we all, in all things, “take it the Lord in prayer”?

Let’s make 2025 a year when we put aside doubts and surrender to the call of God on our lives to achieve wonders and miracles.

Let’s close with Psalm 29:11 - The LORD gives strength to his people; the LORD blesses his people with peace.

A Reflection for the New Year based on ‘The Wise Men’, and wise people seeking Jesus - by Alan Crowle

Friends

The Hymn, Wise men seeking Jesus, Vv 1, Travelled from afar, Guided on their journey, By a beauteous star. - This hymn, by James Thomas East, points out that we do not need to go to Bethlehem to find Jesus. Born in1860, Kettering, Died: May 28, 1937, Blackburn, Lancashire, England. Buried: Mellor Methodist Chapel, near Blackburn. A Methodist minister, East served at chapels in England, Scotland and Wales. He was also a prolific poet and wrote many articles.

Matthew 2 vv 1 Magi from the East and wanted to see the new born King Vv 2 But if we desire him, He is close at hand; For our native country Is our Holy Land. In the narrative of Matthew, we find the Magi, figures of wisdom and knowledge, setting out on a quest to find the new-born King. They had seen His star and were drawn to it, compelled to find the source of this special sign. This is a picture of our own spiritual quest. We too are drawn to the light of Christ, compelled to seek Him out.

Vv3 Prayerful souls may find him By our quiet lakes, Meet him on our hillsides When the morning breaks. - We must recognize our need for a Saviour. The wise men recognized the significance of the star and the birth it announced. They knew that this was a King worth traveling great distances to worship. In our own lives, we must come to a similar conclusion. We must recognize our need for a Saviour, our need for Jesus. We must understand that we are in need of salvation, that we are lost without Him.

Vv4 In our fertile cornfields While the sheaves are bound, In our busy markets Jesus may be found. - We must be willing to act on this recognition. The Magi did not simply acknowledge the star and then go about their business. No, they packed up their belongings and set out on a journey. They took action. In the same way, recognizing our need for a Saviour is not enough. We must be willing to act on this recognition and turn to Jesus. We must be willing to follow Him and to submit to His lordship.

Vv5 Fishermen talk with him, by the great North Sea, as the first disciples, did in Galilee. - We must also be persistent in our search. The journey of the Magi was not an easy one. They travelled a great distance, faced many obstacles, and even had to deal with the deceit of King Herod. Yet, they did not give up. They were persistent in their search for the Saviour. In our own lives, we must be just as persistent. We will face obstacles. We will face opposition. But we must not give up. We must be persistent in our search for Jesus.

Vv6 Every town and village in our land might be, made by Jesus' presence, Like sweet Bethany. - When the Magi finally found Jesus, they did not simply acknowledge Him. They bowed down and worshiped Him. They presented Him with gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. In the same way, when we find Jesus, we must be prepared to worship Him. We must be prepared to give Him our all, to present Him with our lives as a living sacrifice. This worship is the final step in seeking the Saviour.

Vv 7 He is more than near us, If we love him well; For he seeketh ever In our hearts to dwell. - Seeking the Saviour is an active pursuit. We must recognize our need for a Saviour. This is how we seek the Saviour. This is how we find Jesus.

Prayer: ‘Lord help us to seek and find Jesus.’

Thought for the week by Rev'd Vicci

Friends

It only seems like yesterday that we were starting 2024 and I was wondering if it would go as quickly as 2023 had done.  (Answer – absolutely!)  So now here we are about to start the last ten days of the year, with 2025 on the horizon and no let up to the speed with which time is flying. 

I wonder how long it felt to Mary though as she carried her unexpected baby from March, through the long summer to the final moments of birth.  We dismiss that whole experience in a few words of the angel’s pronouncement, the great song of the Magnificat, and the dream that made Joseph change his mind about quietly putting her aside.  What a long year that must have felt as she dealt with the changes in her body and in her expectations.  At some point, surely, she married Joesph, or why would he have been allowed/expected to take her with him to Bethlehem, the place where he had been born.  And so, seated on a donkey, they set off on the final leg of what has been for her a nine-month journey. 

There are people who are donkey-deniers.  They maintain that there was no donkey in the Biblical record, and of course, they are right.  However, it would have been a four-day journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem averaging a 2.5mile an hour pace for roughly eight hours a day.  No woman who has ever been pregnant thinks Mary did that in her 40th week on foot!

There they are then, ending a forty-week journey with a four-day walk/ride and ending up in a place they scarcely know.  In terms of distance, that would be like us travelling to the White Cliffs of Dover, Lulworth Cove, Dorchester, Glastonbury, Bristol, Wolverhampton or Birmingham.  With modern travel options, these are easily achievable in half a day, and yet we are unlikely to be familiar with any of them.   How much harder then for Mary and Joseph who must now try to find somewhere to stay without the benefit of Trip Advisor, Google Maps or even a telephone directory.

I wonder how we would have managed?  I wonder how those who find themselves in similar situations today are managing?  I wonder what we might do, or contribute or pray for with these wonderings in mind?

God bless

Vicci  

Thought for the week by Rev’d Vicci Davidson

Friends The 2.3 per cent of the population who are Christians in India live alongside a majority Hindu population (82%), Muslims (12 %), Sikhs (2%) and a few other minority religious communities. It’s worth reflecting that the 2.3% minority group of Christians in India represent around 26 million people. The celebration of Jesus’ birth does not evoke special curiosity in this context. Hindus celebrate the birthday of gods, goddesses and saints; Muslims celebrate the birth of the prophet Mohamad, and Sikhs honour the birth of Guru Nanak. The people of each faith respect Jesus in their own way. I like this reflection written by Indian Christian Chandran Devanesen.

God of God… Only the sound of an infant crying in the night,

A familiar, homely, human sound like the sound of hooves on flagstones,

Like the rattle of chains tethering cattle, like the crunch of straw in the mouths of oxen, like the rustle of hay tossed into a manger.

Light of light… Only the light of a star falling on an infant crib,

Like the light in a shepherd’s lantern, like the light in the eyes of a mother,

Like the light in the learning of the wise men,

Like the light that lightens each dawn.

Very God of very God… Only a pillow of straw

And in infant in rags and tatters,

Like the weatherworn blankets of shepherds, like dusty, travel-stained garments of travellers, like old clothes thrown to a beggar, like cloths stuffed in a stable window to keep the draught out and the cattle warm.

God is with us, terribly, simply with us, and the shadows of men and women with arms outstretched to take him

Fall across the manger in the form of a cross.

God bless, Vicci

Thought for the week by Rev'd Vicci

Friends

During Covid there were very few blessings. However, for me, one of them was the invitation to regular Zoom calls with a group of girls with whom I had been at boarding school in the early 80’s. The end of Covid meant that we zoomed less, but two of our number work abroad and when they come to the UK, we all get together for a bit of a celebratory chin-wag. And we tell stories. One of my friends has this wonderful thing she does where if someone arrives in the middle of someone telling a story, and we all get up and say “Hello” and hug etc, when the newcomer has sat down she says (for example) “Vicci was just telling us a story about… Go on Vicci, what happened next?” It’s a very affirming way of being.

I was thinking about this today because of the stories that we are currently exploring in the Cookham Rise Bible Study on the Women in Matthew’s Genealogy of Jesus. We have an extraordinary story to tell in the story of the birth of Jesus, and the rest - wonderful, marvellous stories. It occurred to me today that for the first time in hundreds of years in this country, these stories are not known. Sometimes they are not known well, sometimes they are not known at all. I was at some training for delivery of specialist R.E. in schools the other week and discovered that schools really want us to tell it as we see it, to say “I am a Christian and this is what we believe.” To do that sensitively, recognising that other people believe other things, but to give an authentic account of our faith. It amuses me somewhat that I am now a Kitemarked deliverer of the Christian account in schools, but I have the confidence to know what they want and am now on the specialist website as someone who is trained to deliver it. What they want to hear are the stories of our faith.

Are you a storyteller I wonder? If you are, this is a good time to be telling the Christian story. It saddens me when good Christians say “Yes, well, it’s not all about this shopping and eating excess you know,” without saying what it is about. All those twinkling lights are there because “the light shone in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it.” All those gifts are there to remember that farm workers and foreigners both came and gave what they could, and so can we.

Enjoy Advent and all the stories it has to offer.

God bless, Vicci

Thought for the week by Rev'd Vicci

Friends

During Covid there were very few blessings.  However, for me, one of them was the invitation to regular Zoom calls with a group of girls with whom I had been at boarding school in the early 80’s.  The end of Covid meant that we zoomed less, but two of our number work abroad and when they come to the UK, we all get together for a bit of a celebratory chin-wag.  And we tell stories.  One of my friends has this wonderful thing she does where if someone arrives in the middle of someone telling a story, and we all get up and say “Hello” and hug etc, when the newcomer has sat down she says (for example) “Vicci was just telling us a story about…  Go on Vicci, what happened next?”  It’s a very affirming way of being. 

I was thinking about this today because of the stories that we are currently exploring in the Cookham Rise Bible Study on the Women in Matthew’s Genealogy of Jesus.  We have an extraordinary story to tell in the story of the birth of Jesus, and the rest - wonderful, marvellous stories.  It occurred to me today that for the first time in hundreds of years in this country, these stories are not known.  Sometimes they are not known well, sometimes they are not known at all.  I was at some training for delivery of specialist R.E. in schools the other week and discovered that schools really want us to tell it as we see it, to say “I am a Christian and this is what we believe.”  To do that sensitively, recognising that other people believe other things, but to give an authentic account of our faith.  It amuses me somewhat that I am now a Kitemarked deliverer of the Christian account in schools, but I have the confidence to know what they want and am now on the specialist website as someone who is trained to deliver it.  What they want to hear are the stories of our faith. 

Are you a storyteller I wonder?  If you are, this is a good time to be telling the Christian story.  It saddens me when good Christians say “Yes, well, it’s not all about this shopping and eating excess you know,” without saying what it is about.  All those twinkling lights are there because “the light shone in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it.”  All those gifts are there to remember that farm workers and foreigners both came and gave what they could, and so can we. 

Enjoy Advent and all the stories it has to offer.

God bless, Vicci

Thought for the week by Rev'd Vicci

Friends

This Sunday marks the 1st Sunday of Advent.  Today we will light the first of the Advent candles, the candle associated with Hope.  The Joint Public Issues Team (JPIT) is a partnership between The Baptist Union of Great Britain, the Methodist Church and the United Reformed Church.  Its purpose is to help the Churches to work together for peace and justice through listening, learning, praying, speaking and acting on public policy issues.  JPIT has six hopes for society:

·        A just economy that enables the flourishing of all life

·        A society where the poorest and most marginalised are at the centre

·        A world that actively works for peace

·        A planet where our environment is renewed

·        A society that welcomes the stranger

·        A politics characterised by listening, kindness and truthfulness.

As we pray for hope this week, let us pray for a world that is informed by these hopes which speak to Kingdom values.  When Christ said, “I am come that they may have life, and have it to the full” (John 10:10) he is surely speaking to these hopes.  When we are told in Psalm 82:3 “Uphold the cause of the poor” the psalmist is surely speaking to these hopes.  When Matthew reports Jesus as saying “Blessed are the Peacemakers (Matthew 5:9), he is speaking to these hopes.  When Paul writes to the Romans “Ever since the creation of the world his eternal power and divine nature, invisible though they are, have been understood and seen through the things he has made.” (Romans 1:20) he is speaking to these hopes.  When in the letter to the Hebrews we read “Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares” (Hebrews 13:2), Paul is speaking to these hopes.  When we are told in James 1:19 “Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry”, and in Ephesians 4:32 “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ, God forgave you,” and in John 8:32 “You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” it is to these hopes the writers look. 

May this Advent bring you hope, and hope to all those with whom we work, and live and fellowship.

God bless, Vicci

Thought for the week by Rev'd Vicci

Friends

This Sunday is “stir up Sunday” and “Christ the King”.  We are also celebrating the baptism of my newest grandson, scheduled to arrive at a nativity play near you, because we all love it when there is a new baby in the manger.  However, I am not going to write about any of these things today.  The richness of the day is a gift to preachers everywhere; why steal our thunder by offering you a preview?

Instead, I am wanting you to think not about the day you are reading it, but the day I am writing this: November the 19th.  This day is International Men’s Day, a global awareness day for issues that men face, including abuse, homelessness, suicide and violence.  None of these are of course exclusive to men, but it is sometimes forgotten that homelessness and suicide particularly are disproportionately impacting one half of society. 

The Bible often receives a bad press because so many of the stories it tells are about men.  In the society and times in which it is written, this is unsurprising.  But does it offer any wisdom or support for men in particular?  Does the Bible speak prophetically into the difficulties of today’s experiences in terms of maleness? 

The Bible is a collection of writings, some more or less historical, some letters, some wisdom narratives, some poetry, designed to chronicle and aid humanity’s developing relationship with God.  From Adam in the garden, to Moses in the wilderness, through the prophets and on to Peter, James and John in their boats and Zaccheus in his sycamore tree, from Paul on the road to Damascus to John on the island of Patmos, God speaks to those who are prepared to listen.

As we try to hear God’s voice in Scripture today, it is worth remembering that God speaks to all who listen, irrespective of gender.  Psalm 85:8 tells us: I will listen to what the Lord God is saying, for he is speaking peace to his faithful people and to those who turn their hearts to him.

God is speaking to all, but this week in recognition of this day, let us turn our prayers to those men who are struggling, recognising that the world can be a difficult place, and that difficulty may be different across the gender divides, but it does us all a disservice if we pretend that it does not exist.

God bless, Vicci

Thought for the week by Rev'd Vicci

Friends

I was looking for something on the internet the other day and stumbled across this. I thought it might appeal to those of you who, like me, go into the shop for one item and end up with a basket-load. The authorship is unknown – although claimed by several different people online!

Shop in Heaven’s Grocery Store

I was walking down life’s highway a long time ago. One day I saw a sign that read `Heaven Grocery Store’. As I got a little closer, the door came open wide, And when I came to myself, I was standing inside.

I saw a host of angels. They were standing everywhere. One handed me a basket and said, “My child, shop with care.” Everything a Christian needed was in the Grocery Store. And if you couldn’t carry them, you could come back for more.

First I got some PATIENCE. LOVE was in the same row. Further down was UNDERSTANDING, you need that wherever you go.

I got a box of WISDOM, a bag or two of FAITH. I couldn’t miss the Holy Spirit, for She was all over the place. I stopped to get some STRENGTH and COURAGE to help me win the race, And though my basket was getting full, I remembered to get some GRACE.

I didn’t forget SALVATION, for salvation, that was free. So, I tried to get enough of that to save both you and me. Then I started up the counter to pay the grocery bill, for I thought I had everything to do my Master’s will.

As I went up the aisle, I saw PRAYER and I just had to put that in, For I knew when I stepped outside, I would run into SIN. PEACE and JOY were plentiful, they were on the last shelf. SONG and PRAISES were hanging near so I just helped myself.

Then I said to the Angel, “Now how much do I owe?”

He just smiled and said, “Just take them everywhere you go!”

Again I smiled at him and said, “How much do I really owe?”

The Angel smiled again and said, “My child, Jesus paid your bill a long time ago.

God bless, Vicci

Thought for the week by Tim Dee McCullough

There are two things you never want to see being made: laws and sausages. I respectfully submit a third item for consideration: conveyancing, which remains as much a mystery now, as a house owner, as it was beforehand!

Major life transitions such as moving house can be a time of growth or a time of decline; very rarely do we stand still in those times. I often think that how we meet the change is as important as the change itself. If we regard significant upheavals throughout Biblical history, the people we hear about are those who accepted what was happening and made a conscious decision to embrace, influence, or change events. So too is this reflected in the rich and diverse heritage of the Methodist Connexion.

Transitions hurt: we’re exchanging an old reality for a new reality. In my career, leading strategic programmes, it can be astonishing how hard people will fight against change because of the fear and pain involved, no matter how much the proposal will improve their day-to-day experience. The same five stages of grief we experience when losing a loved one (denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance) apply just as equally to transitions. It is human for us to react, I find however, we achieve better outcomes when we respond.

Ruth responded to the death of her husband by finding an alternative source of food to support herself and Naomi. Joseph responded to his captivity by making himself useful, from Potiphar to the Pharoah. Esther responded to Haman’s machinations by using her influence and talents to save the Jewish people. Peter responded to the Holy Spirit at Pentecost and we now have the global church. William Wilberforce and the Clapham Sect, not to mention John Wesley, responded to the abject horrors of slavery by ensuring its abolition in the British Empire. Martin Luther King Jr responded to racial injustice by bringing about the most ground-breaking reforms for racial equality in the USA in his time. Would it have been more comfortable for each of these figures to react from fear and stay silent, than to respond? Undoubtedly at first, though I suspect the pain of not responding would have eventually overwhelmed the comfort of standing still.

Some questions to consider this week: What transition(s) are we each facing? How might we each work through these transitions prayerfully? What will be our first step to respond?

Very best wishes,

Tim

Thought for the week by Rev'd Vicci

Friends

Thank you to all of you who have sent congratulations to the family on the birth of Rupert Mark.  What a lovely thing it is to have a baby in the house again!  But what a world he has been born into.  Concerns about the budget, increasingly difficult news from the Middle East, and the 2nd reading of the Assisted Dying bill, started in the House of Lords, are all matters for concern.  For us, as Christians they are particularly so because of our long-held belief, passed down to us by Christ, of the desire of God that humanity should have “life in all its fullness.”  Poverty and want, war and assisted suicide all challenge that belief in different ways. 

What then, are we doing about it here in the Thames Valley?  Well we continue to support our local foodbanks and other charitable activities, and across the Circuit we are running warm spaces, exploring partnerships with the local social services and schools and seeking to become ever more eco-friendly and more inclusive in our working and our welcoming. 

It's harder to know what to do with the situation in the Middle East.  But as I responded to an old friend’s invitation to her Adult Bat Mitzvah (think Adult Baptism) I realised that part of what we can do is to continue to build and strengthen those bonds with people whose heritage lies in that part of the world, Jewish or Palestinian.

The assisted dying bill is something that all Christians should be aware of, and lobby our MPs on.  Whichever side of the argument you come down on, and there are strong cases to be made for either, I wonder if now is the time for it?  It seems to me that the conversation should happen in an environment in which health and social care is working effectively and well, and this is not currently the case.  However, the Circuit Staff are thinking about the possibility of a zoom discussion on this topic, and we would like to know if that might be of interest.

I wonder what world Rupert’s grandchildren will be born into?  After all, poverty, war and ethical concerns are not new.  I suppose that all any of us can do is try to live well in the time given to us, seeking first the Kingdom of God, and trusting him for the rest. 

God bless, Vicci

Thought for the week by Rev'd Vicci

Friends

Methodism is a connexional church and the collective noun for us is “The Connexion”, deliberately spelled the way it was back in the 18th century.  However, what does that actually mean?   The technical description is “a form of church organisation especially in mission areas where scattered churches are held together by itinerant evangelists”.  However, in our understanding, it refers to the way in which Methodist churches are connected and work together to support one another, share resources and carry out mission and ministry.  All of us, at our best, are connected in a network of loyalties and commitments that support, yet supersede, local concerns. 

We do this in practical terms by paying quarterly into the Circuit through the assessment, which allows us as a circuit to employ ministers and an administrator, and also to undertake joint ministry and mission projects.  The big one on the horizon at the moment is the van project, and if you want to know more about that, then speak to your circuit meeting reps or to me next time you see us. 

But thinking about it in a more spiritual sense, we can understand it like this.  If each of us is a small piece or shard of pottery, we can hold a little water, but if those pieces are brought together, glued into a single cup, then they are capable of holding far more water than is ever possible by simply adding up the single pieces.  We are able to go beyond feeling the presence of the Holy Spirit into holding within our togetherness “streams of living water” that allow our cup to be filled and then to overflow. 

The times we spend together in fellowship, in our pastoral groups, in choir or Bible Study, or simply in coffee after worship, allow the pieces to come together and form the cup, and thus for the greater work of God within us as individuals, as a church community, and taking the water out as it were, within the wider community. 

It is so easy to see church worship, usually on a Sunday morning, as a place when we are either fed or not fed, but it is far greater than this, and the times we spend together at any time are also part of that which glues us together into a cup that indeed runs over with the love and blessing of God.

God bless, Vicci

Thought for the week by Rev'd Vicci

Friends

I recently read the unattributed thought: “Prayer is the key for the morning and the bolt for the evening”.  I grew up in a time and place where doors were not locked all day, but the key would be turned at night as the last person went to bed, and then turned in the other direction in the morning, when the first person went out to get the milk in, so it made a lot of sense. 

We know that starting and finishing our day with prayer is a good idea, but of course, we so often “hit the ground running” when the alarm goes off in the morning and fall into bed in the evening too tired to follow through on out night-time prayers, or wake in the morning with the faint realisation that we may have fallen asleep halfway through last night’s devotions.

Yet prayer at its best opens the day well and secures it for the night.  Last Sunday, I was talking about the teaching of Jesus that says it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven.  I spoke of the idea that the eye of the needle was a contemporary term for the postern gate at the side of the main city gates in the time of Jesus, and that it was just wide enough to let your camel in if you had taken off its load.  The main gates were closed at night, but the postern gate could be opened by the guard to let late travellers through.  There’s something about those night-time prayers that close the city gates, and although bad dreams do sometimes creep in through the side gate, mostly it seems our prayers protect us.

Paul tells us to “pray without ceasing” but Jesus seems to be content with the simple shortness of the Our Father, although he tells stories that encourage us to keep on going back with our requests if they don’t appear to be heard.  A previous Archbishop of Canterbury once confessed on national radio that he only felt he really prayed for ten minutes a day, although it took him nearly two hours of attempt to get there.  Prayer, it seems, is difficult.  Nevertheless, it is the very life blood of our practice as Christians, and perhaps in that sentence is the clue.  If we understand ourselves to be practising prayer, rather than expecting it to be perfect every time, perhaps we will become better at it, and then our day really will be supported and strengthened as our spirit communes with the Holy Spirit of God. 

God bless, Vicci

Thought for the week by Rev'd Vicci

Friends

I don’t know if you remember the project that London Underground ran and as far as I know, still runs, “Poems on the Underground.” Many of us when travelling were delighted by a reminder of some poem first met long ago in English lessons, when education required us to learn poetry by heart. I was recently reminded in this way, of the John Donne piece “No man is an island.”

“No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main. If a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as well as if a manor of thy friend’s or of thine own were. Any man`s death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind. And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.

John Donne (1572 - 1631)

There are times when people die, and they are so much a part of our lives, and the lives of our churches, that we really understand what John Donne was saying. Such a person was Alison Mount, the senior steward at Windsor Methodist Church, who died and was promoted to glory last Saturday. I know that people across the circuit will be saddened by that news and will want to send their love and prayers to everyone at Windsor and especially to her family and close friends.

The Methodist understanding of this idea that “any man’s death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind” is expressed in the idea of connexionalism. We are a connexional Church and therefore we care about the welfare of all our congregations and each member of our communities. God is a connexional God, who not only cares for and loves each one of us, but who also connects us one to another through the work of Jesus in our lives, and through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit who resides in each one of us. As the old chorus says, “Bind us together, with cords that cannot be broken. Bind us together with love.”

I said last week that it had been a hard autumn, and it is not yet easier. However, we are bound together by our love for and faith in Jesus, who built his church on us. May we continue to work together to serve him.

God bless, Vicci

Thought for the week by Rev'd Vicci

Friends

As I sit here at my desk reflecting on Harvest Services for Sunday (including one which starts at the allotment at Cookham Rise, for which I am hoping it will be dry!) the rain is driving past my window with some force.  I am reminded in a “these poets really don’t know what they are talking about” sort of way, of the famous poem “To Autumn” by Keats:

Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness,

Close-bosomed friend of the maturing sun;

Conspiring with him how to load and bless

With fruit the vines that round the thatch-eves run;

……

Until they think warm days will never cease,

For summer has o’er brimm’d their clammy cells.

Well, summer has not o’er brimm'd anything, but has left us bereft, and the mists are driven away by the rain, and the mellow fruitfulness requires rapid harvest if it is not to be lost in mud or water-logged beyond hope.  And yet, we need the rain.  Plants need water, and diminished reservoirs need topping up.  We too need water.  Our bodies are between 55% and 60% made of water.  It is perhaps therefore unsurprising that Jesus should refer to himself as “living water”.  Perhaps he is saying something of the importance of being constantly aware of him in our lives.  Or if not constantly, at least whenever we have a glass of water. 

I have mentioned before my belief that grace before meals is an important part of the daily round of the Christian life; a short moment to re-connect us with God.  I wonder if a few moments of thanksgiving, or confession or intercession every time we took a drink of water would increase our prayer intake as well.  After all, streams of living water may flow, but it is up to us to dip our cups in the water of life and drink.

God bless,

Vicci

Thought for the week by Rev'd Vicci

Friends

As we celebrate harvest time, we are reminded of God’s abundant provision in nature and in our lives. The harvest season calls us to pause, give thanks, and reflect on the generosity of God, who sustains us materially and spiritually. 

In Deuteronomy 26:10, we are instructed to present the "firstfruits" of the land as an offering to God. This passage highlights the importance of gratitude. The firstfruits were not just about crops, but about acknowledging God’s role as the ultimate giver. In the same way, as we gather our harvest today—whether literal or symbolic—we too are called to offer the best of ourselves: our talents, time, and service to others.

This harvest season also challenges us to think beyond our own blessings and consider those in need. The Methodist tradition teaches that gratitude is incomplete without action. As John Wesley famously said, “Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can.”

So, as we give thanks for the fruits of the earth, let us also look to how we can share that abundance with others, especially those who may not have enough. The harvest is an invitation to both gratitude and generosity, reminding us that the gifts we receive from God are meant to be shared.

A prayer for Harvest:

Loving Creator,
We thank you for the beauty and bounty of the earth.
As we celebrate this harvest time, fill our hearts with gratitude for your abundant provision.
Help us to use what we have wisely, and share it with those in need.
May we bear fruit not just in our fields, but in our lives, as we live out your call to love and serve others.
Amen.

This week, let us cultivate both gratitude and generosity, living out the spirit of the harvest in all that we do.

God bless

Vicci

Thought for the week by Rev'd Vicci

Friends

It seems impossible that this Sunday marks the first day of autumn. Surely it was only just the other day that we started 2024. Where did the summer go? Where did the year go? Time, as we know, just keeps galloping on. Through good times and bad the days run by and they seem to run faster and faster as we get older.

This week, the good and the bad have come so thick and fast that they have almost fallen over each other. There has been much sadness at Windsor as we say “goodbye” to two well-loved members who have gone to Glory, and yet at the same time, three people were given notes to preach at the Local Preachers’ meeting on Thursday – truly something to celebrate.

Jesus’ ministry must have felt similarly exhausting in its ups and downs. He healed the sick, fed the multitudes, only to have them fall away when he told them he had to die – that the good times must share space with the bad. He proclaimed God’s kingdom come, and was condemned for letting his disciples eat without undertaking the full ritual hand-washing. He died, but rose again to meet with Mary in the garden. The speed of the ups and the downs, the highs and the lows, must have been bewildering.

It is no wonder that throughout the Gospel account, we see examples of Jesus seeking to take himself away from the crowds and spend time alone with God. As he walked on the hillside near Galilee, or through the streets of Jerusalem, he was reminded of the great promises of God. These promises of salvation and protection and love can be found throughout the Bible from the Creation to the end of Revelation. God loves us. He protects us. He goes before us to prepare a place. He celebrates with us in the good times and grieves with us in the bad. Nothing can separate us from his love. And while his supporting, nurturing love goes on, he continues to build his Church, and the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it.

Whether this autumn marks for you the beginning of a new time of exploring and studying, training and preparation, or a time of grieving and of letting go, this is true: that “God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” My prayer is that each of us should be able to find just a little slowing down time, to reflect on the truth of that well-loved verse.

God bless, Vicci

Fairtrade Fortnight from Mon, 9 Sept 2024 – Sun, 22 Sept 2024

Fairtrade Fortnight 2024 will run from the 9th of September – 22nd of September. It's 30 years since Fairtrade products first hit the shelves and this year for Fairtrade Fortnight, we're spotlighting how YOU can Be The Change, by choosing Fairtrade every time.

Our goal is more than people just being aware, it’s about them encouraging an active choice to support over 2 million Fairtrade farmers and workers across 58 countries, wherever possible, to ensure they can earn a fairer wage.

This year’s campaign will highlight that however big or small a purchase this Fairtrade Fortnight, you have the power to #BeTheChange.

When you choose Fairtrade, you contribute to a fairer, more sustainable future for food production.

When you choose Fairtrade, you help ensure farmers receive a fairer price for what they grow.

When you choose Fairtrade, you help rebalance power in supply chains.

Taking a step further

Dear Lord,
You call us to a neighbourly love
That is generous in practical ways,
That doesn’t leave by the roadside
Those harmed by sin and greed
But goes out of its way
To bring healing.
Help us to see
How neighbours near and far
Are suffering, their resources stolen
By unjust people and systems.
And fill us, we pray, with your Spirit,
That we may be inspired
To go further each day in using our gifts
Of time and money and talent
Lovingly
In ways that redress injustice
And renew life.
Amen

This information obtained from the Fairtrade Foundation website :  https://www.fairtrade.org.uk