Business Harvest Festival

You are invited to the Business Harvest Festival at St Stephen Walbrook at 12.45pm on Thursday 12th October, followed by a light lunch. Our preacher on this occasion will be The Ven. Luke Miller, Archdeacon of London.

Traditionally, harvest is a time when the country gives thanks for the natural gifts of the land and the safe harvesting of them.

At St Stephen Walbrook, we give thanks for that but, as you may know, have a tradition of inviting representatives of local businesses to bring a symbol of their work and place it on the Henry Moore altar at the start of the service. Some examples of symbols presented in the past have been books, building development plans, food, financial accounts, a bottle of wine, a trowel, an insurance policy, a scaffolding bolt, and items of clothing. All will be returned after the service.

We very much hope that you will be able to join us and also include your business associates in the invitation. If you are able to attend, please do consider bringing a symbol of your work with you to place on the altar. Do stay afterwards, if you can, for a light lunch.

It would be a great help for catering purposes if you could let us know whether you or your colleagues can join us and present a symbol of your work. Please RSVP to office@ststephenwalbrook.net or phone 020 7626 9000.

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Cat Stevens - Morning Has Broken.

Business Harvest Festival

You are invited to the Business Harvest Festival at St Stephen Walbrook at 12.45pm on Thursday 12th October, followed by a light lunch. Our preacher on this occasion will be The Ven. Luke Miller, Archdeacon of London.

Traditionally, harvest is a time when the country gives thanks for the natural gifts of the land and the safe harvesting of them.

At St Stephen Walbrook, we give thanks for that but, as you may know, have a tradition of inviting representatives of local businesses to bring a symbol of their work and place it on the Henry Moore altar at the start of the service. Some examples of symbols presented in the past have been books, building development plans, food, financial accounts, a bottle of wine, a trowel, an insurance policy, a scaffolding bolt, and items of clothing. All will be returned after the service.

We very much hope that you will be able to join us and also include your business associates in the invitation. If you are able to attend, please do consider bringing a symbol of your work with you to place on the altar. Do stay afterwards, if you can, for a light lunch.

It would be a great help for catering purposes if you could let us know whether you or your colleagues can join us and present a symbol of your work. Please RSVP to office@ststephenwalbrook.net or phone 020 7626 9000.

You may also be interested in our next plus+ presentation which will take place at 6.30pm on Thursday 19 October (preceded by Evening Prayer at 6.15pm), when The Revd Sally Muggeridge will speak from personal experience about campaigns to increase the numbers of women on Boards.

plus+ presentations are a new series of events exploring the place of faith in the world of business. Future dates for plus+ presentations include:

• 9th November Barbara Ridpath, Director of St Paul's Institute, will speak on Transitions: how to make life-changing career changes by choice or necessity. 
• 18 January 2018, our presenter will be Professor Richard Higginson (Director of Faith in Business, Ridley Hall Cambridge) speaking about Christian entrepreneurs living out their faith. 
• 15 February 2018 - Revd Dr Fiona Stewart-Darling, Canary Wharf MultiFaith Chaplaincy. 

Finally, our current art exhibition is 'Creations' by the sculptor Alexander de Cadenet. Alexander is exhibiting, until 3 November, a series of bronze and silver sculptures featuring ‘consumables’ that contain deeper spiritual messages. The works include a selection of his ‘Life-Burger’ hamburger sculptures and 'Creation' – a larger scale shiny bronze apple with three bites taken from it – two adult bites and baby bite in between. His sculptures explore the relationship between the spiritual dimension of art and consumerism and, at their root, are an exploration of what gives life meaning. These are themes which also link to this season of Harvest.

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Fred Pratt Green - For The Fruits Of His Creation.

Start:Stop - Doing our common business for the love of God

Bible reading

‘Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.’ (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18)

Meditation

Brother Lawrence was a member of the Carmelite Order in France during the 17th Century. He spent most of his life in the kitchen or mending shoes, but became a great spiritual guide. He saw God in the mundane tasks he carried out in the priory kitchen. Daily life for him was an ongoing conversation with God. He wrote: 'we need only to recognize God intimately present with us, to address ourselves to Him every moment.'

Brother Lawrence said:

‘Men invent means and methods of coming at God's love, they learn rules and set up devices to remind them of that love, and it seems like a world of trouble to bring oneself into the consciousness of God's presence. Yet it might be so simple. Is it not quicker and easier just to do our common business wholly for the love of him?’

‘The time of business does not with me differ from the time of prayer; and in the noise and clatter of my kitchen, while several persons are at the same time calling for different things, I possess God in as great tranquillity as if I were upon my knees at the blessed sacrament.’

‘Nor is it needful that we should have great things to do. . . We can do little things for God; I turn the cake that is frying on the pan for love of him, and that done, if there is nothing else to call me, I prostrate myself in worship before him, who has given me grace to work; afterwards I rise happier than a king. It is enough for me to pick up but a straw from the ground for the love of God.’

'We ought not to be weary of doing little things for the love of God, who regards not the greatness of the work, but the love with which it is performed.'

George Herbert’s poem ‘The Elixir’ (also sung as the hymn ‘Teach me my God and king in all things thee to see’) that, with these attitudes, drudgery is made divine. A servant who sweeps a room for love of God ‘makes that and the action fine.’ He claims that this attitude and approach:

‘is the famous stone
That turneth all to gold:
For that which God doth touch and own
Cannot for less be told.’

Prayer

Lord God, steer us away from means, methods, rules and devices for reminding us of Your love and presence with us. Instead, give us a simple desire to do our common business wholly for love of You.
Bring us into a consciousness of Your presence, as we do our common business wholly for the love of You.

May we see that times of business need not differ from times of prayer, as we need only to recognize God intimately present with us to address ourselves to Him every moment. Bring us into a consciousness of Your presence, as we do our common business wholly for the love of You.

May we not become weary of doing little things for the love of You, recognizing that You regard not the greatness of the work, but the love with which it is performed. Bring us into a consciousness of Your presence, as we do our common business wholly for the love of You.

Teach us to see You in all things, give thanks in all circumstances and rejoice at all times, as we pray constantly through the actions our common business. Bring us into a consciousness of Your presence, as we do our common business wholly for the love of You.

Blessing

Rejoicing always, praying without ceasing, giving thanks in all circumstances. Doing little things and our common business for love of God. Recognising God in every moment and seeing Him in all things. May those blessings of God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, rest upon us and remain with us always. Amen.

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George Herbert - Teach Me, My God And King..

Bless the creators, O God of creation

Yesterday I was privileged to be able to lead a Service of Thanksgiving for the life of Giles Waterfield at St Martin-in-the-Fields.

Giles Waterfield was: an ever energetic and inspiring character with a towering knowledge that seemed to surpass any disciplinary bounds; a beloved teacher, who took a very personal interest in his students and their lives; a real pioneer in his museum studies; a kind, caring and hilarious friend; a great man of culture bridging the worlds of art history and architectural history; a talented writer and exhibition curator; a person of wit, charm, warmth and kindness.

St Martin's was filled to overflowing with Giles' family, friends, colleagues and students. As one tweet put it, it seemed as though 'every art historian alive was at St-Martin-in-the-fields to pay homage to the extraordinary, inspiring, kind Giles Waterfield.'

As well as a celebration of Giles' exceptional life, the service was, through the prayers, also a celebration of creativity and the contribution of artists more generally. The majority of the prayers used in the service were adapted from the following collection - http://artspastor.blogspot.co.uk/2015/01/prayers-of-artists-prayers-for-artists.html. They included:

Almighty God, you love everything you have made, so we thank you because you made us in your own image and gave us gifts in mind, body and spirit. We thank you now for Giles and what he meant to each of us. As we honour his memory in this service, make us more aware that you are the one from whom comes every perfect gift, including the gift of creativity. As we honour his memory, his creativity and his support of the creativity of others, we remember and give thanks for those who pour their souls into music loud and soft, those who put pigment to surface, carve wood and stone and marble, who work base metals into beauty, those building upwards from the earth toward heaven, those who put thought to paper by computer and by pen; the poets who delve, the playwrights who analyze and proclaim, the dreamers-up of narrative, all those who work with the light and shadows of film, actors moved by Spirit and dancers moving through space. Lord, remember your artists. Have mercy upon them and remember with compassion all those that reflect the good, the ill, the strengths and the weaknesses of the human spirit. Amen.

Teach us, Lord, to use wisely the time which You have given us and to work well without wasting a second. Teach us to profit from our past mistakes without falling into a gnawing doubt. Teach us to anticipate our projects without worry and to imagine the work without despair if it should turn out differently. Teach us to unite haste and slowness, serenity and ardour, zeal and peace. Help us at the beginning of the work when we are weakest. Help us in the middle of the work when our attention must be sustained. In all the work of our hands, bestow Your Grace so that it can speak to others and our mistakes can speak to us alone. Keep us in the hope of perfection, without which we would lose heart, yet keep us from achieving perfection, for surely we would be lost in arrogance. Let me never forget that all knowledge is in vain unless there is work. And all work is empty unless there is love. And all love is hollow unless it binds us both to others and to You. Amen.

Bless the creators, O God of creation, who by their gifts make the world a more joyful and beautiful realm. Through their labours they teach us to see more clearly the truth around us. In their inspiration they call forth wonder and awe in our own living. In their hope and vision they remind us that life is holy. Bless all who create in your image, O God of creation. Pour your Spirit upon them that their hearts may sing and their works be fulfilling. Amen.

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Gabriel Faure - In Paradisum.

Niki Gorick: Religion in the City (3)

Niki Gorick's aim in her ‘Religion in The City’ photo-project is to capture as much as possible of the spiritual life of The City and the day-to-day work of its clergy

Niki is a UK fine art photographer specialising in black & white images of London. She wants to find out what’s going on with religion in The City of London? How do these historical beauties survive today? Are they still a spiritual force? How do they work as non-parish churches without resident congregations? And how do they relate to the financially-obsessed community surrounding them? What exactly is the contemporary clergy up to?

Niki says, "Already, in my new ‘Religion in The City’ photo-project, I’ve come across a diversity I never expected — pop-up art exhibitions, huge wet fish displays for Harvest Festival, a Chinese choir rehearsing, high-calibre debate about policing in Britain today, jazz bands leading congregations into hidden gardens to eat jerk chicken … all I can say is that modern-day ministering appears to be both thriving and full of surprises.

The latest photographs in the series which Niki has taken at St Stephen Walbrook were of the Service of Thanksgiving for the Lord Mayor of London and his work with the City Livery Companies and Ward Clubs which we hosted in July and the 'Women in the City' networking event organised by Sally Muggeridge. Niki said that both were very special and fascinating occasions to capture for the project. Here are a sample of her images:

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Charles Villiers Stanford - Te Deum in C.

Niki Gorick: Religion in the City

Niki Gorick is a UK fine art photographer specialising in black & white images of London. She aims to capture the true character of the city, from its famous landmarks to its vibrant street-life. Her current photo-project is entitled 'Religion in the City' and, as part of this project, she photographed the Thanksgiving Service held at St Stephen Walbrook on Wednesday evening for the Lord Mayor of London.

Niki writes:

'What’s going on with religion in The City of London? Intrigued by the extraordinary concentration of Wren churches and other places of worship in The Square Mile, I decided to find out. How do these historical beauties survive today? Are they still a spiritual force? How do they work as non-parish churches without resident congregations? And how do they relate to the financially-obsessed community surrounding them? What exactly is the contemporary clergy up to?

Quite a lot, as it turns out. Already, in my new ‘Religion in The City’ photo-project, I’ve come across a diversity I never expected — pop-up art exhibitions, huge wet fish displays for Harvest Festival, a Chinese choir rehearsing, high-calibre debate about policing in Britain today, jazz bands leading congregations into hidden gardens to eat jerk chicken…

Over the next year or so, my aim is to capture as much as possible of the spiritual life of The City and the day-to-day work of its clergy – so far, all I can say is that modern-day ministering appears to be both thriving and full of surprises.'

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John Stainer - God So Loved The World.

SERVICE OF THANKSGIVING FOR THE LORD MAYOR’S YEAR IN OFFICE

St Stephen Walbrook will host a service of Thanksgiving for the Lord Mayor's year in office on Wednesday 11th November at 6.00pm. 

 This will review and give thanks to God for the year in office of Alderman Alan Yarrow, Lord Mayor and will be attended by the Lord Mayor and Lady Mayoress, the Sheriffs and their consorts and many other people. 

The service will reflect the theme of the Lord Mayor’s year in office: Creating Wealth, Giving Time, Supporting People and the preacher will be the Revd. Robin Griffith-Jones, Master of the Temple. The Choir of St Stephen Walbrook will provide the music, accompanied by Joe Sentance on the organ. The service will be followed by a wine and canapé reception and, for catering purposes, please let us know you’re coming by…

• By email: Click 'Reply' to this message or send an email to 'office@ststephenwalbrook.net'
• By telephone: 020 7626 9000
• By post: The Administrator, St Stephen's Church, 39 Walbrook, London EC4N 8BN

This service is part of the wider ‘Philanthropy in the City’ programme of events at St Stephen Walbrook between 9th-20th November, including:

• The Exhibition: Philanthropy - The City Story
• The Exhibition by the Society of Catholic Artists
• An Evening Gathering: Volunteering in the City
• ‘Discover and Explore’ lunchtime services
• Launch Event of the Sophia Hubs Network

Full details of these events are available HERE. We hope to see you at as many of these occasions as possible.

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Neil Young - Heart of Gold.

Confirmation Service

Ian Benjamin and Sheila Permal were confirmed tonight at Christ Church Wanstead by The Rt. Revd. Dr. Trevor Mwamba, Assistant Bishop of Chelmsford, Rector of Barking and Vicar of St Margaret's. They were part of 31 candidates from seven churches who were confirmed. +Trevor spoke about possessing an attitude of gratitude and thankfulness.

Ian and Sheila were part of the Lyfe Course that we ran earlier in the autumn and they really took the sessions to heart identifying ways of putting what they were learning into practice in their everyday lives. I had the privilege of baptising Sheila at St John's Seven Kings last Sunday. Thankfulness was again part of the mix as I reflected on the way in which Jesus' baptism answers the questions 'Who am I?' and 'Why am I here?':

'Who are we? We are the beloved sons and daughters of our Father God. Why are we here? To use our God-given abilities to do work for God that only we can do. Take a moment to truly take it in and then say thank you to God your Father for who you are and why you are here.'

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Anton Bruckner - Locus Iste.

Prayer morning with labyrinth

A prayer morning is being organised at St John's Seven Kings for Saturday 1st February from 10.00am – 1.00pm. The morning will include a variety of prayer reflections and activities with input from different members of St John's. There will be a variety of inputs on prayer, various prayer exercises and styles of prayer plus an opportunity to use a prayer labyrinth. Do come along both to pray for St John's and the world and to grow in your own prayer life.

St John’s has been given a prayer labyrinth for our own use and to loan out to other churches. The labyrinth is on heavy duty canvas and comes in two parts connected by velcro. It can fit into a car boot and comes with a blue ground sheet and 36 glass bowls (for use with candles), plus ideas for use. It is painted in dark blue fabric paint but is not waterproof, so needs care if it is used outside. The pattern is a nine circuit Chartres labyrinth which is best used as a simple walking labyrinth.

Lana Miller, Campus Pastor at the Eastern Mennonite University, suggests that the labyrinth is a model or metaphor for life: "The Christian life is often described as a pilgrimage or journey with God, a journey in which we can grow closer in relationship with God, and in turn, closer to others.

In life, as in the labyrinth, we don’t know where the path will take us. We don’t foresee the twists and turns that the future holds, but we know that the path will eventually arrive at the centre, God. Sometimes the path leads inward toward the ultimate goal, only to lead outward again. We meet others along the path—some we meet face-to-face stepping aside to let them pass; some catch up to us and pass us from behind; others we pass along the way. At the centre we rest, watch others, pray. Sometimes we stay at the centre a long time; other times we leave quickly.

Ways to use the labyrinth:

1. Ask God a question upon entering and then listen for an answer. For example: Ask God what he wants to tell you and listen for an answer.

2. Pray for yourself on the way in, stop to experience God’s love in the center, and pray for others on the way out (or vice versa).

3. Recite the Lord’s Prayer as you walk. (Instead, you may recite some familiar scripture. Repeat it as you walk).

4. As you move toward the centre of the labyrinth, focus on letting go of distractions or worries that keep you from God. In the centre, spend time reflecting on your relationship with God. Be aware of God’s presence. Then, as you leave spend time giving thanks and praising God for all that he has done.

5. As you move toward the centre of the labyrinth, focus on letting go of distractions or worries that keep you from God. In the centre, spend time reflecting on your relationship with God. Be aware of God’s presence. Then, you will sense the need to move out into the world again. As you leave, walk with Jesus back into the places of ordinary life."

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Taize - Ubi Caritas.

Translating what we hear and read into lives that speak

Today at St John's Seven Kings we hosted a thanksgiving service for the life of John Toll. During the service I said the following:

"The Book of Common Prayer has been and continues to be loved" (as was the case with John) "for its wonderful language, dignified and memorable but always speaking to our human condition. Phrases from it have come into everyday use and have been quoted in literature. 'Till death us do part', 'read, mark, learn and inwardly digest', 'peace in our time'." With the Authorised Version of the Bible, "it has shaped the language of worship both in public services and private prayers." More than that, as Melvyn Bragg has said, "There is no doubt in my mind that the King James Bible not Shakespeare set this language on its path to become a universal language on a scale unprecedented before or since." 
 

John might have disagreed with that because he also loved Shakespeare’s ability "to summarize the range of human emotions in simple yet profoundly eloquent verse which is perhaps the greatest reason for his enduring popularity. If you cannot find words to express how you feel about love or music or growing older, Shakespeare can speak for you. No author in the Western world has penned more beloved passages. Many of the common expressions now thought to be clichés were Shakespeare's creations. Chances are you use Shakespeare's expressions all the time even though you may not know it is the Bard you are quoting."
 

As Bernard Levin said, “... if you have ever refused to budge an inch or suffered from green-eyed jealousy, if you have played fast and loose, if you have been tongue-tied, a tower of strength, hoodwinked or in a pickle, if you have knitted your brows, made a virtue of necessity, insisted on fair play, slept not one wink, stood on ceremony, danced attendance (on your lord and master), laughed yourself into stitches, had short shrift, cold comfort or too much of a good thing, if you have seen better days or lived in a fool's paradise - why, be that as it may, the more fool you, for it is a foregone conclusion that you are (as good luck would have it) quoting Shakespeare ...”

The language of Shakespeare, the King James Bible and the Book of Common Prayer live on when we use their words and phrases in everyday discourse but these words really come alive, as John knew for himself, when we act them out. Shakespeare lives in performance and the King James Bible and Book of Common Prayer become contemporary when we "translate what we hear and read into lives that speak God’s truth afresh in our generation."

That was what John sought to do in every aspect of his full and varied life: in his conscientious work for Plesseys; in his enjoyment of sport and his encouragement of the boys in his football team; in his many friendships and his love of his godchildren; in his care of his mother; in his dedication to the support of live theatre; in the care and commitment shown in his volunteering; and in his enabling of worship through his many years as a server here at St John’s. The words that he loved shaped the man that he became and the man that he became translated what he heard and read into a life that spoke God’s truth in and through all aspects of the full life he lived - in the Arts, the Church, relationships, sport, and work (paid and unpaid).

In bearing God's image John brought light to our lives; for we saw in his friendship reflections of God's compassion, in his integrity demonstrations of God's goodness, in his faithfulness glimpses of God's eternal love. As we pray, may God grant to each of us, beloved and bereft, the grace to follow John's good example so that we, with him, may come to God's everlasting kingdom; through Jesus Christ our Lord.        

O eternal Word of God, limitless and free, yet handed down to us through careful human speech, telling salvation's story in the homely and glorious words of our own mother tongue: translate what we hear and read into lives that speak your truth afresh in this generation, that many may come to love you our Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.

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Tomaso Albinoni - Violin Concerto in G Minor.

The impossible demand of constant generosity

A member of our congregation recently asked me for my views on tithing. Tithing involves giving 10% of your income to God and is a practice which comes from teaching in the Old Testament. This person had concerns about the way in which the practice was used among churches in his home country which resulted in pastors becoming rich at the expense of their congregations. Christine will confirm that that is not the case here!

In discussing this issue with him I talked about the passage we have heard this morning from 2 Corinthians 9 in which it says that “God loves the one who gives gladly” or God loves a cheerful giver. I said that, instead of fixing an amount for how much we ought to give and then giving out of a sense of duty, the New Testament encourages us to be generous with all that we have and are, as the only possible response to a God who genuinely gives all he has for us.

The starting point for thinking about our giving as Christians, then, is what God has already done for us. In 2 Corinthians, Paul talks about God supplying all that we need and elsewhere in the New Testament we read of Jesus giving up all he had, even his own life, in order that we might receive all that God has to give us. We often ask ‘what do you give the person who has everything?’ but the question we really need to ask is ‘what do you give to the person who has given everything?’ The answer is that you give generously yourself as an act of thanksgiving for all that that person has done for you. 

However, that does not answer the specific question of precisely what we are to give. One of the attractions of tithing is that it sets a specific measure against which we can then assess our own giving. Are we giving enough or too little? If the measure is 10% of our income then we can easily work out the answer, but if the measure is generosity then we are not so sure. We have to decide for ourselves what to give rather than being told by someone else.

If the measure is 10%, then we know when we have given enough and can stop giving because we have fulfilled our duty but, if the measure is the generosity of God, then we are actually forever in his debt and can never give enough – there is then always more that we can give.

That is the point of our Gospel reading – the story of the Rich Young Man. His question to Jesus was essentially about measurement. How could he know when he had done everything necessary to receive eternal life? Jesus took him through the traditional measures – the keeping of the Commandments – but then made it clear that simply keeping these was not enough. “If you want to be perfect,” Jesus said, “go and sell all you have and give the money to the poor.” 

By saying this, Jesus was making an impossible demand; one that the young man could not meet. Why ask something of the young man that he could not meet so that he went away sad? Why not rather ask him to do something that he could manage – giving 10 or 15 or 20%?  

Jesus was making the point that there are no measures which are enough when it comes to the generosity of God. There is nothing we can give that is enough to earn God’s love and generosity towards us. Instead, it is freely given and once we receive it there is also no limit to the giving that we can do in response to that love. God’s extravagant generosity – giving all he has, even his own life – calls for similar generosity in us.

By making his impossible demand of this young man, Jesus was saying there are no limits, there is no enough, there is no measure; there is only the generosity of giving. So, for each one of us, there is always the challenge to change; to give more, to become more generous.

Each year when we talk about Church finances in our PCC we say that during Stewardship Month we must make clear the difficult financial situation of the church. We must make it clear that if we continue with a shortfall year on year that in a very few years we will run out of money. That is the reality of our financial situation which we haven’t yet resolved. It won’t take many more years before we reach that situation. So, we do need more giving, more Gift Aid, more fundraising, more halls income, more grants and so on. All that is true, but it is not the reason the New Testament gives for our giving.

What the New Testament says is that God is extravagantly generous towards us; he gives us life and he gives us the life of Jesus. There is no limit to what we can give back to him for all that he has given to us and therefore we can and should always be challenged to give more to him in response. How we do that is for us to decide in relation to our money, time and talents in the context of care for our environment and our community. There is no measure to say that we have given enough, instead there is this impossible demand of constant generosity to be a constant challenge to us.

It can sound demanding and pressured and yet we know that real generosity is actually a joyful, liberating experience. It is when we hold on to possessions and go grasping after more that we are exhibiting a mean spirit and therefore experience anxiety and worry. To give is not only liberating, it also enables us to receive from God in all sorts of other ways which bless and enhance our experience of life. This is not a quid pro quo, as some churches seem to suggest. Financial wealth and success does not follow as a result of genuinely giving generously in response to God’s love, but we do in all sorts of other ways knowing love, friendship, trust and peace in ways that are never felt by those who are grasping and lacking in generosity. May all our giving be in these ways and for these reasons!

 

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Rickie Lee Jones - Falling Up.

Post Olympic and Paralympic events

We enjoyed an excellent Men's Breakfast at St John's Seven Kings this morning hearing from three of our Games Makers about their experiences at the Olympic and Paralympic Games - Senthur Balaji was at the Excel Centre for the Olympics, Doug Feather at the North Greenwich Arena for the Paralympics and Bob Keenan who was a driver at the Paralympics. Our Mothers' Union branch will also be having a presentation shortly from other St Johns' members who were Games Makers and on Wednesday 7th November (7.30pm) we will host a deanery Sports Thanksgiving Service.

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Coldplay - Yellow. 

Thanks Greenbelt

Greenbelt was once again a very rich experience both personally and in terms of the amazing range of arts and inputs that formed the programme. Planning for and delivering that kind of diversity is always a stunning logistical achievement but to continue to deliver in the face of the torrential rain that fell on Saturday and the resulting quagmire was a huge achievement.

The Greenbelt team have thanked the volunteers who worked extra shifts and helped keep the festival going while other events around the country had to bail, plus the Greenbelt Angels, regular givers, who keep the Festival going through thick and thin. The Greenbelt organisers themselves also need to be acknowledged and thanked as well for the great programme, for working out how to keep it running in the rain, and for the new developments introduced this year each of which, it seemed to me, worked very well.

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The Proclaimers - Met You.

Giving thanks to God for people and places

Yesterday the Bishop of Barking visited St John's Seven Kings to commission our Ministry Leadership Team and to lead us in thanksgiving for the refurbishment of our Fellowship Room.

The Ministry Leadership Team is a group of those at St John’s who lead, encourage and build up the work of the whole Body of Christ on behalf of the PCC. The Team members are people whose were suggested by the congregation, who have a developing spiritual life of their own and are seeking to nurture and disciple others. The Ministry Leadership Team is working together with those involved in the five different areas of mission and ministry (Children & Youth; Mission; Pastoral; Peace & Justice; and Worship) to take forward their Area of Responsibility, meets regularly with the Staff Team to plan and pray together, and reports to the PCC on progress.

Before commissioning the Ministry Leadership Team, the Bishop spoke about St Paul's prayer for his ministry team from his letter to the Philippians and the way in which the Holy Spirit work to develop his characteristics (or fruit) in our lives. To illustrate this he distributed fruits to the congregation each labelled with one of the fruit of the Spirit - love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

In commissioning the Ministry Leadership Team, Bishop David used the following prayer: Holy Spirit, guide and strengthen the members of this ministry leadership team that they may do your will in the service of Christ. Make them humble, modest, strong and constant to observe the discipline of Christ. Let their life and witness so reflect your character that through them many will be encouraged to grow in their discipleship. As Jesus came not to be served but to serve, may the members of this Team share in his service to the glory of God. Amen.

Our Fellowship Room was refurbished at the beginning of the year as a result of generous donations from the family of Philippa Page, the London over the Border Council and the AllChurches Trust. The old floor was removed and a new floor laid which now provides level access throughout the entire building, plus the room was completely redecorated. Since its refurbishment, the room is now being used regularly by a Luncheon Club, Asian Women’s Group, and Slimming World group, among other activities and events, enabling valued local services to be provided where they are needed.

As part of the act of thanksgiving, which was attended by the daughters of Philippa Page, Bishop David unveiled a plaque giving thanks to God for the generous donations and grants which enabled the work to be completed. 

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Galactic Cowboys - Fear Not.

Give Thanks

We had an excellent All-Age Mothering Sunday service led by our Youth Group at St John's Seven Kings this morning. Our young people wrote poems and drew pictures to say thanks to their Mums as part of the service theme of 'Giving Thanks':

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Brenton Brown - Joyful.

Appropriate public thanksgiving?

The exhibition of Mexican miracle paintings at the Wellcome Collection (Infinitas Gracias) got me reflecting on the differences between Latin Catholic expressions of faith and those of Western Protestantism.
Usually commissioned from local artists by the petitioner, votive paintings tell immediate and intensely personal stories, from domestic dramas to revolutionary violence, through which a markedly human history of communities and their culture can be read. The votives are intimate records of the tumultuous dramas of everyday life - lightning strikes, gunfights, motor accidents, ill-health and false imprisonment - in which saintly intervention was believed to have led to survival and reprieve.

Votives are gestures of thanksgiving, examples of public gratitude for survival, something that we don't do well in the Western Church where public memorials are either reserved for the wealthy or are controversial when they reflect popular culture. Thousands of these small paintings line the walls of Mexican churches. This, again, would seem to be something that we value in other cultures but which consider as anathema in our own Western churches where minimalism rules and the naïve is undervalued.

The regulations governing churchyards and churches (including the otherwise excellent new guidelines from the Church Buildings Council) would seem to specifically exclude from our churches any local expression of the type of art which is being celebrated through Infinitas Gracias. It may be worth the CBC, DACs and other bodies concerned with the upkeep of churchyards and churches to consider how they would respond to requests for naïve or folk art should these arise.

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Bob Dylan - Senor (Tales Of Yankee Power).

Prayer - Dedication

On Thursday I dedicated a bench at the Chigwell Row Guide Camp in memory of a former parishioner, Jean Cook.

We reflected that Jean was someone who was full of life and who filled her life with many interests and commitments including guiding, folk dancing, teaching, Townswomen's and Trefoil Guilds, and swimming. Her favourite hymn was ‘O Jesus I have promised to serve thee to the end’ and she found encouragement to do so in Jesus' words from Matthew 11. 28: “Come unto me all who are heavily laden and I will refresh you.” One of the main ways in which she was refreshed was through her friends. Found among her things after her death was a poem that we heard read at her funeral which says that we are all made up of the friends we have and that our lives are richer for the different ways in which others have touched and shaped our lives. That was Jean’s experience because of each of her many friends and it was also our experience because of the effect that Jean had on us. And so we prayed ...

God our Father, in loving care your hand has created us, and as the potter fashions the clay you have formed us in your image. Through the Holy Spirit you have breathed into us the gift of life. In the sharing of love you have enriched our knowledge of you and of one another. We claim your love today, as we remember Jean in this place where we dedicate this bench to her memory in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

God our Father, we thank you that you have made each of us in your own image, and given us gifts and talents with which to serve you. We thank you for all those whom we love but see no longer, and thank you especially for Jean, the years we shared with her, the good we saw in her, the love we received from her.
Now surround us, Jean’s friends, with your love, that we may have confidence in your goodness, strength to meet the days to come, and a firm hope in your eternal love and purposes for us, in Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

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Megurine Luka - O Jesus I Have Promised.