Compline (night -prayer) - Sunday, 17 October 2021

Confident in the eternal loving presence of our God, we place ourselves in his hands.

Compline (night prayer) - Sunday, 7 March 2021

The day comes to its end and we gather the remnant of it before us and reflect, repent and pray over them.
That done, we commend those departed this life to the Lord and head for our beds and sleep.

Compline (night prayer) - Sunday, 29 November 2020

The new week is but a sleep away and so we bring all that has been, repent, rejoice and hand it all to God and head for our beds looking towards a new day of blessings, challenge and opportunity.

Compline (night prayer) - Sunday, 9 August 2020

On a warm night when sleep gets that little more difficult, we come before the Lord and lay down the burden of the day; those things which cause to sleepless nights at the best of times. We reflect, repent, rejoice and intercede for the encounters of the day, its news and the people we have encountered or heard of. Lord, in Your mercy - hear our prayer and let our cry be heard in your ears.

Compline (night prayer) - Sunday, 26 July 2020

The close of the day calls us to reflect on all that has been and to rejoice, repent and to pray for the needs of others and ourselves as we prepare to take ourselves off to bed. Compline - a sublime service of reflective prayer!

Journal: Super Sunday

An amazingly enjoyable Sunday which began with an early morning Communion in what felt like a cold store and the two services in the comfort of the home church, the last one being (as always) a sublime and gentle Taizé.

There is a real danger for those of us who minister in that we assume the mentality of it being 'just another day in the office'. But it isn't, it is so very much more than that; Sunday is our weekly mini-Easter. The Eucharistic feast, our Easter celebration, is the reason that Church still exists as it does, for had we not gathered to break bread and drink wine, we would have drifted into something very different indeed.

It is odd but the Communion service is different each and every time, and that's not because I muddle the words or engage in the art of leaving stuff out or 'wuddling my mords' (like what me Mum used to do!) - No, each service is different because the emphasis and import of words and actions in the service changes each and every time.

The joy of taking the bread and the wine and giving thanks as Jesus did in that Passover meal shared in the upper room with this followers - the 'Baruch Atah Adonai, Eloheinu Melech ha-olam . . . ' moment when we acknowledge our Creator God. The moment when the immensity of the words, "Once for all," bringing to mind the immensity and the completeness of that one atoning act upon the cross that Jesus makes for all humanity.

How can we walk away from this service unchanged?
How can we do it justice other than to offer our lives and experience in our very beings the gift of love which being consumed, consumes us?

Lord, today I have been made different in the encounters with You - may this be true for all of us who 'do' Church and may it be found in the places I visit this week with Your celestial 'happy meal'.

For what satan has meant for evil, You turn to good.

Blessed be your name.


This place of reflection is here for me to dialogue internally and gain insight and perspective. It first appeared in this current form for some of those looking at creating their own journal as part of the their journey to discerning vocation. The Morning prayer is there also for that same purpose: to create the discipline of prayer. Dialogue, insights and experience of others concerning this entry is always welcome - all grist to the m

More than 'Just a service' - Sundays

There is a great danger for those who are engaged in the delivery of church services to find oneself caught in a trap whereby Sunday becomes the  'must do' focus of the week. Add to this the triplet that is the rotating basis of services set by the liturgical calendar (we've just started year B) and there is a great temptation to not only make Sunday 'The show' but to look back to four years past and draw on that!

As a teenager I found myself sitting through services delivered by an extremely old cleric. At each and every Remembrance he would regale us with combat stories and of how he'd shot Germans (not sure whether it was first or second world war to be honest) but it was one particularly amusing anecdote that I'd heard before that made me realise something: I'd heard it all before!

I wasn't aware of the three years cycle until then but over the coming weeks, as I listening more closely, I realised that I was hearing the same sermon as before. It had been reheated and there were some topical references, but there was no doubt about it, it was 'same again' sermons. So, naively, I mentioned it to one of the Wardens who told me that the Vicar had a set of card index boxes with the readings, hymns and sermons on them. All he had to do was look at the liturgical date (i.e. Advent 3), pull out the 'Advent 3' card and that was everything done!

The problem with the whole thing then was that although all the boxes were ticked and  Church appeared to be done, it wasn't; and this is as much a problem for us today as it was then.

For most of us Sunday is still the main service of the week and this requires - no it demands - our fullest attention. We need to be reading and studying and thinking about the scriptures before us (and more besides) and working to open them to those who will be hearing our sermons. First and foremost we need to be opening the scriptures to our congregations, not delivering party political broadcasts or campaigning for whatever cause defines us - after all, it should be Jesus doing that!

Then knowing what we are looking at in terms of the Word, we need to make sure that the musical bits (all of the service is 'worship') are building something congruent. Now in my ancient Vicar's day this was simple because all there was on offer was a psalm (remember them, they seem to have vanished from many services), an anthem and a few hymns but not today. Today we have so many songs and other musical offerings that choosing what we will have for the service is perhaps the most challenging thing Sunday brings.

And then there's the shape of the service. Liturgy is something to be worked at and thought about. The trap that sees us doing the same old, same old, each week because, 'It's the right way!' with the rationale that the familiar gives the people the opportunity 'to see past the familiar'. This doesn't mean change for changes sake or the introduction of novelty items but it does mean we can vary the Eucharistic elements and can engage creatively with the intercession and prayers.

The danger of 'just' doing Sunday rather than working towards it as the pinnacle of our week's Christian walk and presenting something crafted and purposeful is ever present. But we have to remember that Sunday is more than 'just' a service.

Wearing a poppy with pride

It's time for me to point people towards the (ever growing) collection of poppy images that can be used as avatars on Facebook, Twitter and so many other places.

There are all poppies with cap badges, branches and even cadet forces too and by using them during the time when we remember those who have gone. we do this especially through the observance of All Saints, All Souls, Remembrance Sunday, Armistice Day and other events; marking the passing of those who have departed this life and paying our respects to them. It is in the doing of this that we echo Binyon's words 'We Will Remember Them' in a tangible and obvious manner.

So for those who would like a poppy with a badge all you need to do is:

Google Vic the Vicar + Avatar + the name (i.e. Royal Signals or ATC or hussars) and you should find the badge you want.

If you cannot find the badge then add a comment to this blog and I will add it to the collection as quickly as I can.

A new addition to the poppies this year has been one for those who wish to honour the dead (by the way - 'Glorious' means they are in glory - it is not glorifying war) and draw attention to the lives lost through the actions of the Islamic State (IS) - because 'Never Again' means exactly that:

Please wear a poppy to support those who have served the cause of peace and justice throughout the years and have served to protect our land and uphold, and observe, the various conventions that protect the weak and oppressed.

Candlemas - Do what?

believe it or not that was the response I got from an extremely long-term church member this week when I mentioned 'Candlemas' - forty days have passed since Christmas and marks the day when Jesus was presented by Mary and Joseph in the Temple (in fulfilment of the Leviticus 12.1-8 instructions) and this is where Simeon and his missus bump into the babe, giving us the Nunc dimittis (Luke 2.29-32):

Now dismiss Thy servant, O Lord, 
In peace, according to Thy word: 
For mine own eyes hath seen Thy salvation, 
Which Thou hast prepared in the sight of all the peoples, 
A light to reveal Thee to the nations 
And the glory of Thy people Israel.

Mary gets told her heart would be pierced (as will be the child she bore) and the game is on.

The collect for today sums it all up really:

Almighty and ever-living God,

clothed in majesty,

whose beloved Son was this day presented in the Temple,

in substance of our flesh:

grant that we may be presented to you

with pure and clean hearts,

by your Son Jesus Christ our Lord,

who is alive and reigns with you,

in the unity of the Holy Spirit,

one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Here's a wonderful setting of the nunc to give you space to reflect on the prayer above.

I struggle to understand how someone who has been in church for over forty years can think that Candlemas is 'one of those new services' - but then again, ears are for keeping glasses on, not listening.

Aren't they?

Church Hospitality at its best

Was to be found from the wonderful people of St Vincent's Church, Caythorpe.

As members of a Royal Signals regiment came to celebrate Advent in the same building that members of the Airborne Signals prayed in before they left to drop into Arnhem. It was for us a full circle moment as earlier this year we found ourselves in Arnhem for the 69th anniversary of Operation Market Garden.

A big 'Thank You' to Alison Healy for allowing us use of the building, to Jo (one of the Wardens) and those who came and gave us tea, coffee, mince pies and an extremely warm welcome on a reasonably chilly morning.

And most importantly - to those members of the church who came and took part in the mornings' proceedings (and stayed on to talk and engage so wonderfully with us.

Thank you from all of us and we wish you a blesséd and joyous Adventide and Christmas.

Exploring Vocations: Saturday is just an ordinary day

Today began, as most days do, with the daily office's morning prayer. That done it quickly moved through a variety of encounters and engagements which dealt with funeral arrangements and the church's Autumn Fair before moving onto again to more stuff. The reason for writing this is to help some of those I'm engaged with in exploring vocations to understand that Saturday is never to be regarded as 'a day off' (even when some of my colleagues most foolishly bill it as such).

In the same way that some people tell me that having meetings on an evening means that they have to attend having, 'Already worked during the day,' the same is true of Saturday if you're going to take the King's shilling and head into ministry. My warning is simple (a bit like me) in that unless you're willing to do the job, don't take the bob (a reference to the King's shilling as paid when entering military service)!

This is how it goes (officially):

We work on a Sunday - but it is not the only day, despite the many jokes (which you will have to smile at for the rest of your life).

We have a day off during the week(Although some diocesan guidelines now apparently give you on two day off period a month).

The other days are working days where one-third of the day is yours and the rest is work time.

So there you have it - you can take a morning or afternoon off if you're going to be working in the evening but the bottom line is that it's five days and a Sunday as the normal working week.

I hope this gives those of you contemplating a call to ministry something to think about and explains my raised eyebrows over it, 'Just being Sunday and a 'bit' of time during the week!' comment - you know who you are ;-).

For those of you who are not exploring a vocation, I hope what you've just read above fills in some of the gaps and helps you to value the work hours that so many of the clergy put in to build, maintain and bless the church and those whom they seek to serve in the communities around them.

Perhaps you might like to pray for those who are exploring their own vocations to ministry and pray also for all those faithful men and women who minister in the Church - lay and ordained, paid and unpaid - for we are all co-workers and family.

*An ordinary day filled, as are each and every day in this wonderful life of ministering in the light and life of Christ, with extraordinary people.

Pax

CofE Statistics - A longer view (relative ages) - part the first

So here we are again taking a longer view at the CofE stat's (as shown below); this time we're going to have a bit of a think about the issue of children/young people:

The reality is that we have haemorrhaged a quarter of the children and young people over the past ten years and this is something that those around me are cheering (and we do need to cheer about it) over the 2011 (year-on-year) rise of 1.2% that the 216,900 (average weekly attendance) represents.

Couple this with the 139,751 baptisms (another rise in the year-on-year of 4.3%) and the massive rise (again year-on-year of 11.9%, that's 6,582 in 2011) in the area of blessings, and you can see reasons indeed to be cheerful. But this is something we must not only celebrate but also build upon and consolidate as a matter of importance.

The problem is that where I am some regard us as being 'lucky' because we have young people and children because they are 'unlucky' and have none! I often visit churches where the mantra is, 'We are committed, engaged, enthusiastic and becoming old and we have some/few/no* children/young people.' (*delete as applicable)

One of my first questions relates to the area of baptisms, for these are often a place in the church's life where families with young children are to be found. The dialogue then goes a little like this:

'We do baptisms but we can't get the people to do any real prep' and they don't come back afterwards. In fact we used to give the baptism certificate a week or two after the baptism but they never came back and so we just give it to them on the day and never see them again!'

Another person complained that, 'We can't compete with sport on a Sunday and other things that draw the children away. Neither can we make ourselves relevant with regard to the young families around us!'

And you know what? I think we can - and are in many places :-)

CofE Statistics - A longer view (attendance)

Last week we found ourselves presented with the Church of England's annual statistics for 2011 and the picture painted was one that held out some hope that the tide was slackening and perhaps even beginning to turn.

As much as year on year comparisons provide a 'finger in the air' to see which way the wind is blowing (we're not being rude!) we need to step back a little to get a real feel for the trends to make sense and provide a truer picture. So, thanks to BRIN (British Religion In Numbers - University of Manchester) and others (for the figures quoted are also found in many other places) here's some salient and informative stat's that we need to review and consider:

Click on image for larger view

Of course, everyone who gets church statistics rushes to those which relate to the issue of attendance; after all, they are the defining element aren't they? That and how much money is generated - the two defining issues: numbers and ability to pay - sustainability!

For me, the decline in Sunday attendance and the apparent rise in other day attendance is a reality and this is borne out by the 13% (actual and average) decline in Sunday and the 4% less figure that relates to the rest of the week. But before we smile at the relative success of the weekday we need to realise that we're only talking about less decline and not growth!

Where I am the growth of the weekday communion is indeed, in many churches, offsetting (or at least diminishing) lower numbers on a Sunday and this is good news (of the limited kind) but we mustn't let it divert us from the issues of Sunday attendance and decline (which for many is one and the same thing). Huzzah, we're seeing more footfall during the weekdays - but not enough to compensate for the loss on Sunday (and compensation isn't the goal - it's growth, isn't it?). 

Talking to others I hear the familiar lament, 'Oh dear, there's less in on Sunday and no one comes to the evening service,' and then comes their earth-moving advice that we drop the pm slot because, 'No one wants to come!'

I hope that the next bit doesn't offend but I think the problem is dual in that we have 'hobby Christians'  and 'management of decline' clergy conspiring together and when we add to the mix some of the senior clergy and their motivational speeches and programmes I am reminded of deck chairs, orchestras and sinking ships - something for later methinks. The cheering news is that we do have bishops and their staff who are out there and up for it (three cheers for Bob Jackson, George Fisher and others) and they aren't alone.

But how's about a bit more worrying still stuff? The number of churches where anyone under the age of forty is considered to be young!! The twenty-five percent drop in the usual Sunday attendance in children/young people over the ten year period is encouraging compared to the realities I engage with; the churches bemoaning the age-gap and exhibiting the impotence to address same; the congregations where the only children to be found live in the Vicarage.

Something else to discuss sometime soon!

But that's a start (hopefully in the right direction) - catch you later for more thinking.

Sunday Worship - Christmas 1

Here we are on the sixth day of Christmas and we are not only celebrating Christ's birth in Bethlehem (and His resurrection some thirty odd years later) but looking towards His second coming and best of all, singing carols!

Here is one of my favourites (yes, we are singing it today):

Sunday Worship - Gaudete (or Rose) Sunday

Today, the third Sunday in Advent, is called 'gaudete' or 'Rose' Sunday -  a day in which we slacken of the purple and take up a pink (or rose) colour to things and start to rejoice about the prospect of God coming to us as man in the shape of Jesus.

Here's Steeleye Span doing it justice: